Brazil continues to ignore Snowden asylum appeal

An online petition started in November on the websites of the civic activism Avaaz has attracted over 1 million signatures. The petition was initiated by David Miranda, partner of American journalist Glenn Greenwald, who conducted the first media interviews with former NSA contractor Edward Snowden. Miranda plans to present the petition to Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff once it has attracted 1,250,000 supporters.

But it is not only the campaign's signatories who believe Snowden would be in good hands if he received asylum in Brazil: Snowden himself has appealed for it. The request, however, has so far remained unanswered, according to Snowden\'s official support website. In July 2013, Brazil's foreign minister stated that Snowden would not be grated asylum in the country. Meanwhile, the Brazilian president has claimed that no official application has been submitted on Snowden's behalf.

A hot topic

The discussion gathered extra steam in December, following an open letter Snowden wrote to the people of Brazil stating, 'Until a country grants permanent political asylum, the US government will continue to interfere with my ability to speak.' Some interpreted this statement as a renewed appeal for asylum.

Several Brazilian politicians have expressed support for granting asylum to Snowden, and they would like Snowden to reveal more details about the US government's spying activities. Brazil was one of the countries particularly heavily targeted by the US National Security Agency, which monitored Rousseff's phone calls and e-mails, as well as those of Petrobras, Brazil's largest oil company.

'If Snowden was here in Brazil, we could fully clarify the spying scandal that has sparked outrage not only here but also around the world,' Brazilian Senator Ricardo Ferraco told the Brazilian press in December. Ferraco is responsible for reporting on the activities of the parliamentary investigation commission that has been looking into the NSA spying activities in Brazil.

Fear of diplomatic fallout with US

Despite the widespread support for Snowden in Brazilian society and media, Virgilio Caixeta Arraes, a professor of international relations at the University of Brasilia, said he doubts the Avaaz petition will change the government's mind. 'At the moment Brazil has no interest in picking a fight with the US,' Arraes told DW.

Snowden is seen by many as people around the world as a whistleblower who drew back the curtain on egregious surveillance programs conducted by the NSA, while others regards him as a traitor who stole US state secrets.

Political scientist Antonio Celso Alves Pereira from the University of Rio de Janeiro was also skeptical, 'As commendable as Snowden's deeds are and as much as he deserves to be accepted by our country, the Brazilian government doesn't want to increase strain on the already tense relations between us and the US.'

Brazil's upcoming presidential election, scheduled for October, is another complicating factor, added Arraes.

'In an election year, the government doesn't want any conflicts with the US that could negatively impact economic relations with North America,' he explained.

Rousseff's cancelation of a scheduled meeting with US President Barack Obama last year was already a bold statement, Arraes pointed out, adding that Rousseff would not dare to create any additional tension.

Since mid-2013, Snowden has been in Russia, which has granted him temporary asylum. Petitions in his support have been run in various countries, including Germany, but so far none of the 21 countries that Snowden has appealed to has offered him permanent asylum. Most of them claim that the legal conditions for asylum have not been met.

Austrian actor Maximilian Schell dies, aged 83

Maximilian Schell passed away early Saturday in an Innsbruck hospital, according to his agent Patricia Baumbauer.

The 83-year-old actor died from complications related to 'a serious and sudden illness,' Baumbauer said.

His wife, Iva, was at his side at the time of his death.

He had reportedly been taken to the hospital when he collapsed on the set of a television production for the German channel ZDF last week.

Multi-faceted career

'I don't actually have a profession. I wander through life and through all areas of art,' Schell once said.

Schell was born to actor parents in Vienna on December 8, 1930. With the inclusion of Austria into Nazi Germany in 1938, his family emigrated to Zurich, Switzerland, where he spent the remainder of his youth.

The man - who later became the most-famous German-language film actor in the USA during the post-war era, appearing on-screen with some of the most famous actors of the day - began his career during the 1950s alternately writing, directing and acting for the stage in Switzerland and Germany.

Schell's film debut came in 1955 with the West German film 'Children, Mothers and a General' ('Kinder, Mütter und ein General), followed several years later by 'The Young Lions' (1958), in which he starred alongside Hollywood heavyweights Marlon Brando and Montgomery Clift.

In 1962, the internationally acclaimed film 'Judgment at Nuremberg' landed the Austrian-born an Oscar - the first to be awarded to a German-language actor in the post-war era - and launched him to worldwide fame.

He spent the following decades alternating between directing and acting, and also appearing in numerous American films.

Schell married three times. He and his first wife, Russian actress Natalia Andreichenko had one daughter- Nastassia (born 1989) - who later became an actress.

TTP want Imran, Sami, Ibrahim, Aziz in govt’s negotiation team

PESHAWAR: The Majlis-e-Shura of banned outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) has demanded of the government to include Imran Khan, Maulvi Samiul Haq, Mufti Kifayatullah and Professor Ibrahim in the government’s negotiation committee.

According to local Taliban sources, the TTP Majlis-e-Shura has constituted a nine-member political Shura headed by Qari Shakil to negotiate with the government.

No objections have been raised over the names of the government’s committee members despite having reservations, the Taliban sources added.

Outgoing Ofsted chair: PM appointing Tory supporters to public bodies

Lady Morgan makes accusation after hearing she will not be appointed for a second term as chair of education watchdog

Lady Morgan: no second term. Photograph: Stephen Hird/Reuters

David Cameron is surreptiously appointing Conservative party supporters to key positions in public bodies, the outgoing chair of schools inspectorate Ofsted has warned.

Baroness Morgan of Huyton, a former adviser to Tony Blair, made the accusation after she was told she would not be appointed for a second three-year term as chair of the education watchdog.

Morgan said her removal was part of a pattern which had seen a series of non-Conservative supporters on bodies including the Arts Council and the Charity Commission replaced with loyal Tories.

“I am the latest of a fairly long list of people now who are non-Conservative supporters who are not being re-appointed. I think there is absolutely a pattern. It’s extremely worrying,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

The deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, is believed to have raised the issue with the cabinet secretary, Sir Jeremy Heywood, in an attempt to stop Tory ministers making “party political” appointments.

Morgan, who has agreed to stay on until the autumn while a successor is found, stressed she had not fallen out with Michael Gove, the education secretary, and that the impetus behind the appointments appeared to come from No 10.

“One of the really important things about public appointments is that they are made on the basis of merit and they are seen to be transparently made. I think there is something going on in the centre that’s mitigating against that,” she said.

“I think there is an absolutely determined effort from No 10 that Conservative supporters will be appointed to public bodies. I think that is an issue for the cabinet secretary and the Cabinet Office to look at.

“It has been a quiet, quiet drip. I’m not talking about Labour people being replaced, I’m talking about non-Conservative supporters being replaced by Conservative supporters.

“There is a lot of concern about it. Often they are people who have been working really well with their organisations and, indeed, with their host departments, so I do think this is coming from No 10. I don’t think it is coming from individual departments.”

Morgan’s departure from Ofsted was seen as a particular surprise as she was regarded as strong supporter of Gove’s free school and academies programmes.

Gove paid tribute to her “tremendous contribution” to the work of Ofsted.

“She has brought great knowledge and insight, leading the board strongly through a period of significant change, both managing the smooth transition when there were changes in chief inspector, and leading the reforms to the inspectorate and its work,” he said.

“I hope that she continues to play an active role in helping to shape the education landscape to improve standards for all children and young people.

January was England's wettest winter month in almost 250 years

Last month's seasonal total was higher than any since 1767 and three times the average level

Flooding beside the River Avon in central Bristol on 1 February. Photograph: Ben Birchall/PA

The deluge that has engulfed southern and central England in recent weeks is the worst winter downpour in almost 250 years, according to figures from the world's longest-running weather station.

The rainfall measured at the historic Radcliffe Meteorological Station at Oxford University in January was greater than for any winter month since daily recording began there in 1767, and three times the average amount.

The latest Met Office data shows that the region from Devon to Kent and up into the Midlands suffered its wettest January since its records began in 1910.

But Ian Ashpole, the Radcliffe Meteorological Observer, said: "The Radcliffe measurements more than double the length of the Met Office record and give us a better grip on how things are changing."

Flooding has been identified as the most dangerous impact of climate change for the UK and is hitting harder and faster than expected, according to scientists. Thousands of homes have been flooded since December, and much of the low-lying Somerset Levels remains under water.

Ashpole said: "The figures here are pretty representative of the broader area as all the weather stations in the region have been recording very high rainfall and the rain fronts have been coming in over broad areas."

Oxford's Radcliffe Observatory was founded to assist astronomers, but while the telescopes have now gone, the weather station has continued its work and now has one of the longest-running series of daily measurements in the world.

A total of 146.9mm of rain fell in January, smashing the previous record of 138.7mm in 1852. The new record is three times the average recorded for the month over the last two and a half centuries. It was also the wettest winter month – December, January or February – ever recorded, beating December 1914, when 143.3mm fell.

In addition, the 45-day period from 18 December saw more rain at Radcliffe than for any such period in the observatory record. The total of 231.28mm demolished the previous high of 209.4mm, which fell from 1 December 1914.

But Met Office forecaster Callum MacColl said the relentless series of brutal storms showed no sign of letting up: "There will be more wet and windy weather from the Atlantic this week. And the 15-day outlook sees the unsettled theme very much continuing."

Andrew Barrett, a storm expert at the University of Reading, said: "The conditions are exactly right to bring wet weather across Britain. There's effectively a storm factory over the Atlantic, caused by cold polar air pressing up against warm, tropical air, causing weather systems to form. These have then been steered across Britain by a strong jet stream." Scientists are examining whether the melting of the Arctic ice cap, due to global warming, has led the jet stream to track further south, meaning more storms are channeled across the UK.

On Saturday, the Environment Agency had five severe flood warnings in place, indicating a danger to life, in parts of the south-west and the Midlands. There were also 156 standard flood warnings, meaning flooding was expected and that immediate action was required, with only the north-east region unaffected. The Met Office was also warning of severe weather along the entire west coast of England and Wales, where very strong winds were expected on Sunday, with the additional risk of large waves over-topping sea walls.

Did you know?: Welcome back, LaBeouf!

Rock the Kasbah is one of the three movies that LaBeouf will soon be seen in.

We lamented over actor Shia LaBeouf’s short-lived career when he announced that he was “retiring from all public life” after being panned for plagiarising comic book writer Daniel Clowes in his short film Howard Cantour.com. But guess what? He’s back!

LaBeouf is trading in the possibility of a Florida resort home in favour of returning to work on director Barry Levinson’s indie comedy Rock the Kasbah, reports Huffington Post.

The film will enter production in June. Written by Mitch Glazer, the movie depicts a washed-up rock manager who gets trapped in Kabul, Afghanistan after taking his remaining client on a USO tour in the country.

He discovers a young and talented female singer there via Afghan Star, the country’s rendition of American Idol.

Rock the Kasbah is one of the three movies that LaBeouf will soon be seen in. The other two are Lars Von Trier’s two-part saga Nymphomaniac, which will open in March, and the World War II drama Fury that is slated to release in November.

Italy police recover blood cloth from relic of Pope John Paul

A broken glass of a niche where the reliquary with the blood of the late Pope John Paul II was located is seen next to a painting of the late Pope in the small mountain church of San Pietro della Ienca, near the city of L'Aquila January 28, 2014. PHOTO: REUTERS

ROME: Police on Friday recovered the piece of cloth stained with the blood of the late Pope John Paul, a day after they found the stolen gold and glass case which once contained the relic.

They told a news conference in L’Aquila, east of Rome, that they found the fragment in the garage of two men who were detained for having stolen the reliquary last week.

Bishop Giovanni D’Ercole told the same news conference he had pieced together the reliquary and the cloth after police found them in bits on successive days.

The recovered piece of fabric was missing just a few filaments of cloth and gold thread, he said.

“I think John Paul has forgiven them. I think we have to do the same,” D’Ercole said of the men, believed by police to be drug addicts.

The reliquary and a crucifix were stolen from the isolated mountain church of San Pietro della Ienca last weekend.

The cloth was a fragment of the cassock that John Paul was wearing on May 13, 1981 when he was shot in an assassination attempt.

Relics of saints and other holy figures are often displayed in reliquaries to be venerated by the Catholic faithful.

The late pope, who is due to be declared a saint on April 27, loved the mountains in the Abruzzo region because they reminded him of those in his native Poland. He would slip away secretly from the pressures of the Vatican to hike and ski there in the early years of his papacy.

His secretary, now Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz of Krakow in Poland, gave the local community the relic.