Syria's chemical weapons to be shipped in delicate US-Danish operation

Headquarters in The Hague of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, which has developed the plans to remove chemical weapons from Syria. Photograph: Peter Dejong/AP

A Danish cargo vessel is due to load Syria's chemical arms stockpile and transfer it to a specially adapted US ship in a delicate and unprecedented operation early in the new year, according to the world'schemical weapons watchdog's current plans.

The plans being drawn up by the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have not been finalised. It is not yet clear, for example, whether the transfer between the two ships of about 500 tonnes of lethal chemicals, including nerve agents, will be done on sea or when both vessels are docked.

Both options have serious challenges. A sea transfer from one ship to another with such a hazardous cargo would be fraught with danger. But so far, no Mediterranean port has agreed to host the transfer on land, say weapons experts briefed on the plan by the OPCW yesterday in The Hague.

The US ship, the Maritime Administration MV Cape Ray, is being fitted in Norfolk, Virginia, with two field deployable hydrolysis systems (FDHS) that will neutralise the chemical weapons agents with the addition of fresh water and other reagents, such as sodium hydroxide and sodium hypochlorite. The Danish ship has so far not been identified but is believed to be a roll-on, roll-off ("ro-ro'') vessel like the Cape Ray.

The direct docking of the Cape Ray at the Syrian port of Latakia is not seen as an option given the hostile relations between Washington and Damascus.

If all goes according to plan, the chemical weapons should leave Latakia by the year's end and the Cape Ray should be ready to sail by 4 January. It will begin processing the chemicals in international waters, but can only do so in calm seas.

The process will be entirely self-contained. The chemical weapons will be piped into the US-made FDHS reactors, which have their own power generators, laboratory and air-filtration systems, and the effluent will be channelled through more pipes to roughly 180 effluent containers on lower decks.

There are enough containers for two-thirds of anticipated waste products. The remaining third will be stored in the containers of reagents used in the FDHS reactors, once they have been emptied. The procedure will not involve any emissions into the environment, the chemical weapons experts briefed on the plan said.

There has been no final decision on where it will be off-loaded for incineration but the effluent could be stored in containers for many months.

The process will be carried out by 36 technicians, monitored by OPCW officials, and the Cape Ray and its 25-strong crew will have a US navy escort, which could provide back-up medical facilities in case of accidents.

"It looks solid," said Jean Pascal Zanders, a Belgian expert who runs a blog on chemical weapons called The Trench. "With regards to safety and security they seem to have things covered. There will be no sea dumping, and no release into the air."

US officials have told the OPCW the process would normally take a month, but they are allowing 45-60 days in case choppy seas delay the work. The deadline for the destruction of chemical weapons by the OPCW is the end of March.

"They have enough time," said Ralf Trapp, a former OPCW official. "It's definitely workable and this is well-established technology. The main concern is getting the material to the port."

The chemical weapons, including sarin and VX nerve agents, are currently in one- and two-tonne drums and a range of less orthodox canisters. But none are thought to be in warhead form in proximity to explosives. They are currently being packed into standard 20-foot containers for road shipping from two marshalling centres, outside Damascus and Homs, ready to be driven to Latakia under OPCW monitoring but Syrian government security.

"This part of the operation is the biggest nightmare because you don't control all the parties to the conflict and after so much fighting, the infrastructure is far from perfect," Trapp said.

After the most dangerous part of the stockpile has been removed, the OPCW plan will focus on the less toxic precursors, which can be directly destroyed in commercial incinerators. The OPCW is considering about three dozen bids by companies around the world. The deadline for the complete destruction of the Syrian chemical arsenal is the middle of next year.

Ethiopia hailed as 'African lion' with fastest creation of millionaires

Michael Buerk's famished Ethiopia of 1984 has become a nation achieving 93% GDP growth in six years, finds study

Office blocks under construction in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. But the reality is also many very poor neighbourhoods. Photograph: Thomas Mukoya/Reuters

"Dawn. And as the sun breaks through the piercing chill of night on the plain outside Korem it lights up a biblical famine, now, in the 20th century. This place, say workers here, is the closest thing to hell on earth."

That television news report by the BBC's Michael Buerk in 1984 framedEthiopia for a generation as a place of famine and in need of salvation.

Almost 30 years later the country is hailed by pundits as an "African lion" after a decade of stellar economic growth.

Now further evidence of its turnaround has arrived with research showing that Ethiopia is creating millionaires at a faster rate than any other country on the continent.

The number of dollar millionaires in the east African nation rose from 1,300 in 2007 to 2,700 by September this year, according to New World Wealth, a consultancy based in the UK and South Africa.

That figure puts the country well ahead of Angola, up by 68%, andTanzania, which had a 51% increase. Zambia and Ghana completed the top five.

The study finds that the rise in millionaires has been closely tied to GDP growth, in which Ethiopia has also fared best over the past six years achieving 93%, followed by Egypt (81%) and Angola (61%).

The authors note, however, that Ethiopia started from a very low base, and its per capital wealth is still just $470 (£287), compared to $3,187 (£1,948) in Egypt and $7,508 (£4,588) in South Africa.

Andrew Amoils, a senior analyst at New World Wealth, said: "The economic and wealth growth in Ethiopia over the last five or six years has been really strong. There has been a lot of privatisation and certain sectors are growing well. It's a huge upswing but it started from a low base."

As in other parts of Africa, however, the growth is not necessarily shared.

"The millionaires are growing at a faster rate than the middle class, which doesn't really exist in a lot of African countries, including Ethiopia," Amoils said. "Angola, for example, has had massive millionaire growth in the last 10 years but that hasn't spilled through to the average Angolan."

But whereas much of Africa's boom has been driven by mineral resources, leading sectors for millionaires in Ethiopia include agriculture, manufacturing and transport.

The richest Ethiopian is said to be the businessman Mohammed Al Amoudi, who divides his time between Ethiopia and Saudi Arabia, where he now has citizenship.

A construction boom is underway in the capital, Addis Ababa, but Amare Abebaw, a social entrepreneur, said the rest of the world does still did not appreciate the country's extraordinary transformation.

"When I go home and watch TV I still see the famine from the 80s and I wonder how do they still show this on the BBC when things have improved here? It is painful for us. We know it is part of our history but we want to focus on the present."

Nevertheless, while the number of millionaires is definitely increasing, they remain a fraction of the population.

"There are a few at the top but the majority of people are at the bottom, like in other countries," Abebaw said. "There are self-made millionaires and people are proud to know them. There are others were you don't know where they got the money from, and suspicions may arise from the population."

South Africa is the top African country for millionaires with 48,700 in 2013, followed by Egypt with 22,800 and Nigeria with 15,700.

Richard Dowden, director of the Royal African Society, said he had witnessed the rise of tower blocks, traffic jams and people now "walking with a purpose" in Addis Ababa.

He added: "You don't see many Ethiopians in flashy cars, like you do with Luanda or Lagos [citizens in their respective countries]. Flaunting your wealth is not part of the culture."

The Ethiopian government claims credit for the growth but is criticised as authoritarian by human rights groups; there is only one opposition MP.

In a recent blog post, Dowden noted that the former prime minister Meles Zenawi once observed: "There is no connection between democracy and development.

20 NATO containers, trailers head to Karachi through Chaman

Trucks carrying NATO and US military vehicles waiting at Kojak Pass on Quetta-Chaman highway. PHOTO: INP/FILE

QUETTA: As many as 20 Nato containers and trailers carrying military equipment entered Pakistan from the Chaman border in Balochistan across the Vesh Mandi border of Afghanistan on Wednesday. The containers left for Karachi for further shipment.

The containers carrying military hardware, goods and tanks that were parked on the Afghan side of the border got clearance on Wednesday to enter Pakistan.

Stringent security measures have been adopted in the bordering town. The containers moved towards Karachi in a huge convoy. Nato has started its exit from Afghanistan a few months ago.

Custom officials are giving clearance to Nato containers after checking all required documents at the Chaman border.

The Nato supply to Afghanistan from Karachi via Balochistan is also continuing without interruption. However, comparatively fewer containers were seen at the Chaman border headed into Afghanistan.

Pentagon spokesperson Mark Wright said on Tuesday that the US had “voluntarily halted” shipments of cargo leaving Afghanistan through the Torkham border crossing in K-P. Torkham was meant to be a key transit point used by the Americans and Nato to withdraw military hardware from Afghanistan, as part of a troop pullout set to wrap up by the end of 2014.

The decision came after PTI-led activists setting up unofficial checkpoints to block Nato supply routes in K-P since November 24, after a call by PTI chairman Imran Khan.

Imran demanded the government block Nato supplies after a US drone strike that killed the late Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) leader Hakimullah Mehsud, but Islamabad has shown no appetite for such a move.

Imran Khan on Tuesday said his party was considering blocking Nato supply routes in other provinces as well.

Aside from Torkham and Chaman, the United States has alternative routes available to Afghanistan’s north through Central Asia, though those options take longer and are more expensive. About half of US cargo is being taken out through Pakistan, with the remainder being removed by aircraft or a combination of planes and then ships at regional ports

Hewlett Packard to cut 1,124 UK jobs

Job losses in Bracknell, Sheffield and Warrington part of global plan to combat falling demand and overhaul the company

Hewlett Packard is to cut jobs at a number of UK sites in the new year, according to union leaders. Photograph: Steve Parsons/PA

Hewlett Packard (HP) has announced plans to cut more than 1,100 UK jobs at the start of next year.

The computer manufacturer said it would cut 1,124 jobs in the first three months of next year as part of its global plan to combat falling demand and overhaul the company.

The Unite union said the jobs were attached to HP's bases in Bracknell in Berkshire, Sheffield and Warrington in Cheshire. HP said it had not spelled out where the cuts would fall.

Unite said workers were told about the cuts on Wednesday and that a union representative would attend a meeting in Bracknell where the plans would be outlined.

The union's national officer Ian Tonks said: "For the last five years HP has been addicted to a culture of job cuts in the UK to such an extent that its highly skilled workforce has little faith in the way the company is being managed and will be going forward. Unite will be doing everything possible to mitigate these job losses which are a hammer blow to the UK's IT sector and very distressing for employees in the run-up to Christmas."

The union said it expected 618 jobs to go at its Bracknell hub, where employees work at multiple locations. A further 483 jobs will be cut at Warrington and 23 at Sheffield, the union said.

Unite said many of those facing redundancy either work from home or have been contracted out to companies.

In a statement, HP said: "The proposed UK workforce management plan is part of HP's global multi-year productivity initiative that was announced on 23 May 2012, and updated at its securities analysts meeting on 9 October 2013, to address current market and business pressures in support of HP's turnaround in Europe, the Middle East and Africa."

HP's share price has almost doubled over the last year as investors have warmed to new boss Meg Whitman's efforts to overhaul the company - even as sales of computers have fallen. But her plan has been at the expense of HP's workforce as Whitman has cut thousands of jobs at the computer giant's operations around the world.

Personal computer sales have fallen in each of the past six quarters, hitting HP's traditional business as consumers opt for tablets and smartphones. This year will see the biggest ever drop in shipments of PCs with demand continuing to fall into 2014, according to research firm International Data Corporation.

Unite said HP's European operations had little autonomy and that job cuts were driven by its head office in the US.

HP said it would help workers find other jobs within the company and give them help to find other jobs if they needed it.

The pharmaceutical giant Pfizer has announced 150 job losses at its plant in Newbridge, County Kildare, Ireland. The factory employs 700 workers out of about 3,200 employed in Ireland by the US drugs company.

UK axes £100m southern Africa aid programme over 'serious concerns'

Ministers to scrap five-year TradeMark Southern Africa programme due to concerns about financial oversight

Justine Greening told MPs: 'While we have found no evidence of fraud, these investigations have revealed a number of serious concerns including weakness in delivery, management, oversight and financial monitoring.' Photograph: Lewis Whyld/PA

Britain is axing a £100m aid programme to reduce poverty in Africa after accidentally channelling some money through the Zimbabwe government and finding "serious concerns" about financial oversight.

Justine Greening, the development secretary, told parliament she was scrapping the five-year programme, which has been helping to build roads, raise trade standards, and eliminate agricultural diseases.

She said millions had already been spent on various projects run by TradeMark Southern Africa, but £46m will now be clawed back by the government following investigations by auditors and the Independent Commission for Aid Impact.

"While we have found no evidence of fraud, these investigations have revealed a number of serious concerns including weakness in delivery, management, oversight and financial monitoring," she said.

She said weak governance also resulted in £80,000 of payments through the Zimbabwe ministry of agriculture for a fruit fly eradication programme in contravention of UK government policy.

"I am fully prepared to stop funding to programmes that do not offer value for money or that fail to achieve their objectives and I have given notice to commence shutting down TradeMark Southern Africa with immediate effect," she said.

Greening will also begin an investigation into her own department to "strengthen oversight and financial control" in Southern Africa.

Since 2010 David Cameron has repeatedly reaffirmed his commitment to spending 0.7% of the UK's income on foreign aid, but he has so far failed to enact a coalition pledge to enshrine that promise in law.

At the same time, the budget for helping the world's poorer countries has come under sustained criticism from Tory rightwingers, many of whom argue that Britain can no longer afford to send billions abroad at a time of austerity.

Cameron has also faced criticism from charities over the prospect of "stealth" cuts to aid after he signalled he was prepared to take more funding from the aid budget for peacekeeping missions and security, rather than the Ministry of Defence.

Since she became development secretary in 2012, Greening has emphasised her role in getting value for money out of aid spending.

Earlier this year, she said the UK's aid programme to South Africa, £19m a year, would end in 2015. That decision, which the government said had followed talks with Pretoria, provoked a diplomatic row with the South African government.

Government to tackle unit pricing on food and drink items

Consumer affairs minister Jo Swinson says changes to labelling are needed to help shoppers identify the best deals

Retailers are required to display both a selling price and a unit price, but the unit measurements can differ. Photograph: David Sillitoe

The government is to set up a working group in the new year in a further attempt to put an end to the inconsistent use of "unit prices" on food and drink.

A taskforce including representatives of the UK's largest food manufacturers, leading supermarkets and local council enforcement officers will look at whether current legislation is acting as a barrier to retailers making further improvements and consumers getting the clarity they need when shopping.

Under the so-called "price marking order", retailers are required by law to display both a selling price and a unit price on the shelf labels of food and drink products. The unit price is the price by weight or volume that allows shoppers to compare the true cost of items, even if they come in different sizes.

But popular products where the unit price is often confusing include washing powder, which can be bought as powder, liquid or tablets; teabags; ketchup; mayonnaise; and ice cream. For example, mayonnaise and ketchup can be unit priced as both per 100g or per 100ml.

Announcing the launch of the group, the consumer affairs minister Jo Swinson welcomed progress made by retailers, and said the onus was now on manufacturers to make a further breakthrough to more consistent labelling. She said that while she hoped to be able to obtain industry agreement on the issue, she did not rule out changing the law if that was a better alternative.

Swinson hailed the progress made by some supermarkets in improving label visibility. Both Tesco and Waitrose are increasing the font size of their labels, while the Co-op is stripping out unnecessary information for consumers such as barcodes.

Sainsbury's has changed 30,000 shelf-edge labels over the past 18 months in an attempt to make things clearer, while Morrisons has changed 2,000 labels and both Asda and M&S are reviewing their practices.

Swinson said: "This year around £74bn will be spent in the 10 largest supermarkets, which make up around half the market. So it's a win-win situation if the big 10 are giving consumers a fairer way to understand the prices they are paying."

The working party will include representatives of the British Retail Consortium and the Food and Drink Federation. The BRC's director for business and regulation, Tom Ironside, said: "We are delighted that the minister recognises the commitment made by our members to give consumers clear and accessible information about the products they buy.

"Our food retailers will continue to work with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to build on recent achievements, ensuring that the approach is as coherent and consistent for the consumer as is possible."

The latest move follows a campaign over the past two years by the consumer group Which? to get widespread change and more transparency in pricing. Through its Price It Right campaign it has encouraged consumers to sign up to a national pledge calling for clearer, more consistent unit pricing on food.

The Guardian's Money section, meanwhile, has featured dozens of "daft deals" that reveal confusing and misleading pricing on special offers and discounts, with multibuys, for example, more expensive than buying the items individually.

Nigella Lawson: I have used cocaine twice and smoked the odd joint

'I have never been a drug addict,' TV cook tells court as she gives evidence in trial of former assistants accused of fraud

Nigella Lawson told the court: 'I have never been a habitual user. There were two times in my life that I have used cocaine.' Photograph: Sang Tan/AP

Nigella Lawson has told a court she has used cocaine twice in her life and "smoked the odd joint".

The TV cook and author made the revelations under oath as she gave evidence to the trial of two former personal assistants who are accused of defrauding her and her ex-husband of hundreds of thousands of pounds.

"I have never been a drug addict," she told Isleworth crown court in London. "I have never been a habitual user [of cocaine]. There were two times in my life that I have used cocaine."

The first, she said, was when her first husband, John Diamond, discovered that he had terminal cancer.

She said he had taken the drug as an "escape" and that she had joined him even though she was not seeking a similar escape as she knew she had to look after him and their children and earn a living.

She told the court that the second occasion was just over three years ago.

"There was another time, in July of 2010, when I was going through a very, very difficult time," said Lawson.

"I felt – how can I put this – subjected to intimate terrorism by Mr Saatchi [Charles, her ex-husband]. I felt totally isolated, in fear and just unhappy."

She said a friend of hers had offered her some cocaine and she had taken it, only to find it "completely spooked" her. She said she had immediately gone to tell her doctor, adding that he would agree that she could not possibly be described as a drug addict or habitual user.

"I did not have a drug problem," she told the court. "I had a life problem."

She said she had subsequently sought counselling for that problem.

A court artist's sketch of Lawson giving evidence at Isleworth crown court. Photograph: Elizabeth Cook/PA

Lawson also admitted to taking cannabis in the last year of her marriage to Saatchi. "I have to be honest, I have smoked the odd joint," she said. "I found it made an intolerable situation tolerable."

But she said she had now stopped using all drugs.

"It [cannabis] is a false friend and not a good idea. I found the answer was in changing the situation and trying to create a tolerable situation for me and my family. I have to say, since freeing myself from a brilliant but brutal man, I'm now totally cannabis, cocaine, any drug, free."

Lawyers for Elisabetta Grillo and her sister, Francesca, have claimed Lawson allowed them to spend freely on Saatchi's account because they knew she was a daily drug user, taking cocaine, class B drugs and prescription medicines, and she did not want them to share this "guilty secret" with her husband.

When Saatchi gave evidence, he told the court he did not know whether his former wife had taken drugs. "If you ask me whether I actually knew whether Nigella ever took drugs, the answer is no," he said.

Earlier on Wednesday, the 53-year-old TV chef said Saatchi had threatened to destroy her and menaced her with allegations of drug use as their marriage disintegrated.

Lawson said she had endured bullying and abuse and felt that the case had become a trial of her alleged drug use.

She told how she tried to pull out of giving evidence because she believed Saatchi was using the case to air grievances after their marriage fell apart.

Representing Elisabetta Grillo, who with her sister Francesca is accused of the fraudulent spending of £685,000 from the couple's account, Anthony Metzer QC asked Lawson about a statement she gave to police in October saying she did not want to give evidence in the trial. She said that at that time "to say my relationship with Mr Saatchi is not good is nowhere near [the truth]".

"He said to me if I didn't go back and clear his name he would destroy me," she said, standing and speaking clearly on the fourth day of the trial.

Lawson arrives at the court. Photograph: Rex

"He started spreading false allegations of drug use, in particular the awful incident at Scott's, and I felt his way of getting things out was to use this case and in September a new addition to the defendants' defence statements came out which Mr Saatchi had menaced me with in August.

"I said: 'What allegations? There aren't going to be any.' These were spread on a PR blog dedicated to salvaging Mr Saatchi's reputation and trashing mine. I felt this would not become a fraud case and I would be put on trial and that is what happened. It comes after a long summer of bullying and abuse and I find it another chapter in that."

Saatchi was photographed at Scott's restaurant in Mayfair with his hand clutching Lawson's neck. He accepted a police caution for assault and told the court last week the row was not about drugs and that he "was holding her head by the neck to make her focus".

The court had previously heard Saatchi had been sent accounts by the Grillos that Lawson was a habitual drug user, after which he sent her an angry email on 10 October mocking her as "Higella".

"Nigella, I was sent this by a newspaper and I could only laugh at your sorry depravity," the email began. It continued: "Of course now the Grillos will get off on the basis that you were so off your head on drugs that you allowed the sisters to spend what they liked. And yes, I believe every bit the Grillos said."

Lawson said she decided to give evidence "to do my civic duty".

"It is very difficult for me, very difficult for my children but I wanted to do the right thing," she said.

Judge Robin Johnson had earlier cautioned Lawson, who was wearing a black skirt, black suede boots and a black shirt with a white collar, that she did not need to say anything in the witness box that might incriminate her in the commission of a criminal offence.

Lawson faces the cameras outside the court. Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA

She then told the court how Elisabetta Grillo, 41, had become a "rock" and "a stalwart" around the time her first husband, John Diamond, was dying of cancer. She said Grillo's subsequent alleged betrayal had wounded her and broken her family's heart.

"I loved Lisa," she said. "My children loved Lisa. She came to us at a very difficult time in our house and she was a rock. I would have done anything for her."

Lawson said she had struggled to understand how Grillo could have behaved in such a manner.

Asked by Jane Carpenter, prosecuting, how she had felt, she replied: "She broke our heart. I don't know what to say about Lisa. It's very difficult when you find out that someone you have loved and trusted could behave that way. In my heart of hearts I don't believe Lisa to be a bad person but I do believe that she doesn't have a very strong moral compass."

She said the news had been especially difficult for the children as Elisabetta Grillo was their link to their father. "The sense of betrayal wounded me," she said.

Lawson also said she felt her natural generosity had been abused.

"I've always felt that if I have good fortune in my work I am happy to share that," she said, adding that she recalled – "rather ironically" – telling the sisters to treat themselves on her card after she bought herself a pair of £60 shoes after a stressful period of filming.

Lawson with her then husband Charles Saatchi. Photograph: Dave M Benett/Getty

"Sixty pounds? What was that for them?" she said. "They must have been laughing at me."

Asked for her impression of Elisabetta Grillo's younger sister, Lawson described Francesca Grillo, 35, as a "slight fantasist" who had told her children that she was an international lawyer.

"She would make strange claims and was detached in a way," said Lawson.

"Because I didn't love Francesca in the same way [as Elisabetta Grillo], her betrayal did not wound me in the same way.

She added that "a strange sense of entitlement" appeared to have "crept up on" Francesca Grillo.

Lawson also told the court that none of her employees was allowed to use their "work" credit cards for personal expenditure.

Asked by Carpenter whether the sisters had been allowed to use their cards for their own needs, she replied: "No. No one was."

Last week the court heard they ran up a total bill of £685,000 over the course of a four-year "greedy free-for-all", spending as much as £76,000 in one month alone. They are alleged to have used credit cards supplied to them by Saatchi and Lawson for the purpose of making purchases for the family, to buy high fashion items for themselves at boutiques including Miu Miu, Chanel and Louis Vuitton as well as on cash withdrawals, hotels and flights.

Lawyers for the sisters have claimed that Lawson allowed them to spend freely on the account of Lawson's former husband, Saatchi, because they knew she was a daily drug-user taking cocaine, class B drugs and prescription medicines and claimed she did not want them to share this "guilty secret" with her husband.

A pre-action letter written by Saatchi's lawyers, which was partly read out in court, said: "The claimants [including Saatchi] are also concerned that Ms Lawson gave the defendants [the Grillos] permission to use the accounts for personal purposes whilst under the influence of drugs and/or that Ms Lawson has no credible recollection of events as a result of drug abuse."