Fifa boss Blatter hails football resilience at Soccerex

Fifa head Sepp Blatter has said that football is bouncing back financially from the economic downturn.
"I think we are seeing sponsorship [in football] starting to rise up again from the bottom it hit during the economic crisis," he said.
He was speaking at the Soccerex football business seminar.
Mr Blatter also hailed footballers as modern-day gladiators and said he hoped next year's World Cup would leave South Africa a more secure country.
The Fifa head covered a number of topics from the realm of football business, including the challenges and legacies of the 2010 World Cup, the global downturn, and television money in the sport.
TV rights
Addressing the broader global economic circumstances, Mr Blatter said that the money TV had pumped into football had helped it get through the recent downturn.
"Football has touched by the economic crisis; one can see that in the lower football professional leagues in France, Italy and Spain, where there is not the same amount of money available," he said.

"But with the World Cup, and higher professional leagues, the [financial] involvement from the general outside economy is still there, largely from TV money."
"The marriage of TV and football over the past 25 to 30 years has been wonderful, and football is one of the best products TV can have."
Looking ahead to the next World Cup, to be held in Brazil in 2014, Mr Blatter said it had been a wise decision to award it to the South American nation, as its economy was now thriving.
"Brazil's economy is in a good way," he said.
"And for Brazil the World Cup will bring in more investment, as it did when we last changed continent and brought the World Cup here to South Africa."
'New gladiators'
He also said that as well as being an attractive proposition for television firms and sponsors, the World Cup was also emotionally helping people hit by the economic downturn.
"The Romans give people bread and entertainment - they gave them gladiators; now footballers are the new gladiators," he declared.
He earned rapturous applause from the thousands of delegates assembled in Johannesburg when he opened his remarks by saying South Africa would win when it played in the opening game of World Cup 2010.
"We will have a wonderful World Cup in South Africa, that is why I am so happy to be here," he said in a keynote speech.

"The World Cup has been a huge cause of investment in South Africa, and it will leave a wonderful infrastructure, not only in terms of transport, but also with telecoms and different hotels and parks."
He also said that the World Cup would leave a legacy for the security industry in South Africa, with Fifa demanding thousands of additional trained security guards for the duration of the 30-day tournament in June and July next year.
"My wish would be that the security industry being developed for the World Cup shall remain afterwards, so that we have done something [towards a] secure country," Mr Blatter added.
Looking at what work had still to be done in the country, he said that this summer's "wonderful" Confederations Cup had identified some potential problems ahead of the World Cup.
"We understand something of the logistical problems - involving transportation and accommodation issues - but these will be solved."
"But when we have identified problems we can solve them. The South African government and other entities, they know about these issues and will deal with them."
Mr Blatter also alluded to the question of World Cup ticket distribution - there will only be 3.5 million tickets available for a country of 44 million - by saying that it is natural that not everyone would be able to attend in person.
"Football belongs to the people, but the World Cup is also on a level of where it cannot be without economic groups, politicians, so there has to be a balance," he said.

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Woods speaks up, says crash is ‘private matter’

WINDERMERE, Fla. (AP)—Despite presenting his side of the car-crash story and asking that it remain “a private matter,” Tiger Woods may still not be in the clear.
Troopers arriving at his Isleworth home requesting an interview were turned down for a third straight day, but the Florida Highway Patrol said it will continue to investigate. Yet the tabloid-fueled rumors now swirling around one of the world’s richest and most-recognizable athletes could turn out to be more troublesome still.
About an hour before the troopers arrived Sunday afternoon, Woods released a statement on his Web site taking responsibility for—but providing few details about—the middle-of-the-night accident that left him dazed, bruised and bloodied. “This is a private matter and I want to keep it that way,” Woods said. “Although I understand there is curiosity, the many false, unfounded and malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible. …
“I appreciate all the concern and well wishes that we have received,” the statement concluded. “But, I would also ask for some understanding that my family and I deserve some privacy no matter how intrusive some people can be.”
Yet several public-relations experts believed there was little chance of that request being honored.
“The goal of putting out a statement, or having a press conference, is to make sure questions are answered so you’re not continuing to have questions that are crisis-related,” said Mike Paul, whose firm, MGP & Associates, frequently works with athletes. “There are still over a dozen questions we have regarding his reputation because the statement is not enough.”
The world’s No. 1 golfer remained hunkered down at home in an exclusive gated community outside Orlando. He was scheduled to compete at the Chevron World Challenge, which starts Thursday in Thousand Oaks, Calif. The tournament director, however, did not know whether Woods would play or even attend.
When troopers arrived at Woods’ home Sunday, his attorney, Mark NeJame, gave them Woods’ driver’s license, registration and insurance, as required by law for such accidents. This time, the meeting was not rescheduled.
But patrol spokeswoman Sgt. Kim Montes said investigators spoke with the neighbor who made the 911 call on Saturday and might seek out others who were at the scene as well.
“If we have somebody who we feel is pertinent to the investigation, then we will interview them,” she said.
In the 911 call released by the FHP on Sunday, the unidentified neighbor told the dispatcher, “I have a neighbor, he hit the tree. And we came out here just to see what was going on. I see him and he’s laying down.”
The caller did not identify the neighbor as Woods. When asked if the victim was unconscious, the neighbor replied, “Yes,”
Parts of the call were inaudible because of a bad connection. At one point, the voice of a woman is heard yelling, “What happened?”
Yet even the release of the 911 tape and Woods’ statement failed to answer that question and several other.
— Where he was going at that time of the night?
— How did he lose control of his SUV at such a speed that the air bags didn’t deploy?
— Why were both rear windows of the Cadillac Escalade smashed?
— If it was a careless mistake, why not speak to state troopers trying to wrap the investigation?
Montes said authorities towed the Cadillac SUV that Woods was driving and have already documented the damage to the vehicle and the point of impact. According to the FHP accident report, Woods had just pulled out of his driveway when he struck a fire hydrant and then a tree. His wife told Windermere police she used a golf club to smash the back windows to help him out.
“The only person responsible for the accident is me. My wife, Elin, acted courageously when she saw I was hurt and in trouble. She was the first person to help me. Any other assertion is absolutely false,” Woods said.
The reference in his statement to “false, unfounded and malicious rumors” may have involved a story published last week in the National Enquirer alleging that Woods had been seeing a New York nightclub hostess, and that they recently were together in Melbourne, where Woods competed in the Australian Masters.
The woman, Rachel Uchitel, denied having an affair with Woods when contacted by The Associated Press. On Sunday, she flew to Los Angeles and was met by high-profile attorney Gloria Allred at the airport.
Uchitel didn’t speak to reporters except to ask that she be left alone. Allred, however, confirmed to the AP that she would be representing Uchitel.
“We plan to meet and then we’ll decide on the next step, which we do not plan to announce to the press,” the attorney said in an e-mail.
AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson in Jacksonville, and Associated Press writers Linda Deutsch in Los Angeles, and Sarah Larimer in Miami contributed to this report.

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Mideast markets nosedive amid Dubai woes

Steep fall comes as trading resumes in UAE following extended holiday

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - Dubai's main stock exchange dropped more than 7 percent and Abu Dhabi markets slid more than 8 percent on the first day of trading in the United Arab Emirates since officials went public that conglomerate Dubai World was struggling with its $60 billion in debts.
Shares of DP World, a profitable port operating division of the debt-ridden Dubai World, were off nearly 15 percent in early trading Monday when the market opened. The overwhelming majority of companies whose shares traded Monday on the Dubai Financial Market, the city-state's main bourse, were also deeply in the red.
"The sentiment is gone from investors' perspective," said Mohammed al-Ghussein, managing partner of Atlas Financial Services in Dubai. But "we expected that since we heard the news last week."

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Ex-autoworker goes on trial for 27,900 deaths

U.S. deported Demjanjuk to Germany over alleged crimes at Nazi camp

MUNICH - John Demjanjuk goes on trial Monday on charges of being an accessory to the murder of 27,900 Jews at a Nazi death camp, opening the final chapter of some 30 years of efforts to prosecute the retired Ohio autoworker.
The 89-year-old was deported in May from the United States to Munich, and has been in custody since then. He could face up to 15 years in prison if convicted for his alleged activities as a guard at the Sobibor camp in occupied Poland.
Demjanjuk has been deemed fit for trial, though his family says he suffers from a bone marrow disease and could have only months to live. In deference to his fragile health, his trial at the Munich state court has been limited to two 90-minute sessions per day.

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Blatter calls emergency FIFA meeting

(CNN) -- FIFA president Sepp Blatter has called a crisis meeting of the executive committee of the world governing body after the Republic of Ireland's controversial defeat to France in the World Cup playoffs.
Thierry Henry's blatant handball to set up William Gallas for the decisive goal in the tie left FIFA exposed to widespread criticism, particularly after it ruled against a replay of the playoff.
Henry nearly quit Les Blues
In the same week, German prosecutors announced the results of their investigations with European governing body UEFA into a massive betting ring, who have allegedly rigged the results over 200 matches, including Europa League and Champions League matches.
Blatter has not made a public comment as the row over Henry's handball raged, but on Monday FIFA issued a statement announcing the special meeting in Cape Town on December 2, two days ahead of the draw for the World Cup finals in South Africa.
"Due to recent events in the world of football, namely incidents at the play-offs for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa, match control (refereeing) and irregularities in the football betting market, the FIFA president has called an extraordinary meeting of the executive committee," read the statement.

It did not go into any detail about the incidents referred too, but there was also widespread fan violence at the African playoffs between Algeria and Egypt as well as the furore created by Henry's assist, which was not spotted by referee Martin Hansson.
Irish football officials, who have made repeated demands to FIFA for a replay gave their reacton to the announcement later on Monday.
"Should we be asked to make any contribution, the FAI would be happy to do so for the improvement of the game," a statement read.
FIFA has been urged to introduce video replays and employ extra match officials in the wake of the incident which was seen by millions who watched the match on television.
A total of 17 arrests have already been made in the German corruption probe which a UEFA official at the press conference in Bochum last Friday called the "most serious" facing his organization.

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Death toll nears 100 from Saudi floods

Mecca, Saudi Arabia (CNN) -- The death toll from the torrential rains and heavy floods that engulfed western Saudi Arabia this week rose to 98 on Saturday, with dozens of people still missing, Information Ministry officials said.
However, none of the casualties were Hajj pilgrims making the obligatory journey for Muslims around the world, officials said.
The Hajj -- the fifth pillar of Islam -- requires devotees to journey to Mecca at least once in their lives if they can afford to do so.
The Hajj began Wednesday, and pilgrims were inconvenienced by the afternoon-long downpour on the first day of the annual observance.
But the rain had cleared by Wednesday night, making it easy for pilgrims to make their way to Mount Arafat on Thursday, a sweltering and windy but cloudless day where pilgrims trekked to seek forgiveness for their sins.
The deaths occurred in the port city of Jeddah, in Rabigh (north of Jeddah), and in the Mecca region, Saudi authorities said.
Meanwhile, Emir Khaled al-Faisal, who oversees the Mecca area, met with Jeddah's head of infrastructure, Habeeb Zain-Alabdeen, regarding plans to improve the city's drainage system by the end of 2010, the official Saudi Press Agency reported Saturday.

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Small explosion near Russian train derailment

Moscow, Russia (CNN) -- Another explosive detonated Saturday near the site of a deadly Russian train derailment, an incident caused by what authorities say was an "act of terror."
Investigators say an improvised explosive device caused the express train to derail on Friday night, killing at least 26 people and injuring about 100 others.
"Elements of an explosive device" have been found at the site, authorities said, and the explosion made a small crater.
Later Saturday morning, Russian Railways head Vladimir Yakunin told Russian TV that a second device went off in the area on the parallel track of the railway in the opposite direction. He said no one was injured in what was a smaller explosion than the first one, but it prompted the need for some repairs.
"One can say with certainty that that was indeed an act of terror," Vladimir Markin, spokesman for the investigative committee of the Russian prosecutor's office, told CNN about Friday's derailment.
He wouldn't elaborate on exactly what kind of "elements of an explosive device" the investigators discovered earlier, but said the crater found beneath the railroad bed was "1.5 meter by 1 meter in size."
He said investigators were "studying the site of the accident, questioning the witnesses and conducting all kinds of forensic and technical examinations."
Federal Security Service Director Alexander Bortnikov said "criminology experts have come to a preliminary conclusion that there was an explosion on Friday night of an improvised explosive device equivalent to seven kilograms of TNT.
"Several leads are being pursued now. A criminal case has been opened under Article 205 ("terrorism") and Article 22 ("illegal possession or storage of weapons or explosives") of the Russian Criminal Code."
There was no immediate word on who or what group might have been behind the action. But Russian Interior Minister Rashid Nurgaliyev said on TV that there were possible suspects in this crime.
"There are several people who could be involved in this crime," he said. One of them, he said, is a "stocky-built man of about 40 years old, with red hair."
"There are some traces left at the crime scene which could help in the investigation," he said. "We are getting a lot of information now, and I am very thankful for people who have responded to our requests to render their assistance in investigating this crime," he said.
"I would also like to say that we have (collected) a lot of material evidence that could give us leads to resolving the crime."
A total of 681 people -- 20 of them employees -- were on the Nevsky Express as it traveled from Moscow to St. Petersburg on Friday night. The Nevsky Express is Russia's fastest train, equivalent to a bullet train.
The crash happened at 9:25 p.m. (1:25 p.m. ET), when the train was 280 kilometers (174 miles) from St. Petersburg, Russian state radio said.
At least three carriages carrying more than 130 people derailed and turned on their sides, and emergency workers were working to free anyone who may still be trapped inside.
Yakunin told Russian TV that the company will pay a compensation of 500,000 rubles ($17,240) to the victims' families and 200,000 rubles ($6,897) to those injured.
The crash happened 44 minutes after another high-speed train, the Sapsan, had successfully traveled from Moscow to St. Petersburg on the same rails, a representative of the Russian Transport Police said Saturday.
In August 2007, an explosion on the tracks derailed the Nevsky Express, injuring 60 people in what authorities called a terrorist act. Some 27,000 passengers on 60 trains were facing delays on Saturday as a result of the derailment, Russian State TV reported.

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Tiger Woods: Injuries Caused by Wife, Not SUV

Tiger has yet to be formally interviewed by the Florida Highway Patrol -- that should happen this afternoon. But we're told Tiger had a conversation Friday -- with a non-law enforcement type -- detailing what went down before his Escalade hit a fire hydrant. We're told he said his wife had confronted him about reports that he was seeing another woman. The argument got heated and, according to our source, she scratched his face up. We're told it was then Woods beat a hasty retreat for his SUV -- but according to our source, Woods says his wife followed behind with a golf club. As Tiger drove away, she struck the vehicle several times with the club.
We're told Woods became "distracted," thought the vehicle was stopped, and looked to see what had happened. At that point the SUV hit the fire hydrant and then hit a tree. We're also told Woods had said during the conversation Friday he had been taking prescription pain medication for an injury, which could explain why he seemed somewhat out of it at the scene.

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England ready for fast turnaround

England's Paul Collingwood said the quick turnaround between the third and fourth one-day internationals in South Africa would suit the team well.
After a crushing 112-run defeat by an inspired Proteas side in Cape Town on Friday night, Sunday's fourth one-dayer starts at 10am local time (0800 GMT).
The series is intriguingly poised at 1-1 with two matches remaining.
Durham's Collingwood said: "We're straight back into a game tomorrow, but in many ways that's a good thing."
England's in-form batsman with scores of 105 not out and 86 in the series, the 33-year-old all-rounder was woken up by a 6.30am alarm call on Saturday for the short flight to the Eastern Cape.
My confidence is high, and it's amazing what you can do when confidence is that high
Paul Collingwood
"It felt as though we'd just come off the cricket pitch, it is a quick turnaround but that's the way it is," he said.
"Obviously, I feel in very good form at the moment - I'm seeing the ball well. I'm enjoying the wickets out here, I gained a lot of confidence from playing in the Champions Trophy on faster and bouncier wickets.
"My confidence is high, and it's amazing what you can do when confidence is that high."
He is one of a clutch of first-choice players who have been struggling with injury niggles, but reports his back trouble is not hindering him too much.
Collingwood said of his back: "It's settling down. I think I've just got to control it as much as possible. Touch wood, everything feels fine at the moment - and I hope we can get another win."
Meanwhile, James Anderson (knee), Graeme Swann (side) and Stuart Broad (shoulder), who all played in Friday's match, are all expected to play.
South Africa, meanwhile, go into the match full of confidence after scoring a massive 354-6 on Friday.
Their only concern is over the likely absence of strike bowler Dale Steyn, who suffered a hamstring strain and did not complete his full allocation at Newlands.
Amla admits there is a hole to fill but believes - with Wayne Parnell and Morne Morkel returning to take eight wickets between them in Cape Town, and Charl Langeveldt still available - South Africa have the necessary resources.
"If Dale doesn't play we will miss him dearly," he said. "But the positive side is it gives someone else the opportunity to rise to the occasion."

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'Terrorist attack' suspected in Russia train crash

MOSCOW (AFP) – Investigators believe the derailment of a passenger train between Moscow and St Petersburg was caused by an act of terrorism, the head of Russian Railways, Vladimir Yakunin, said Saturday.
"To put it simply, a terrorist attack" is the explanation at present considered most likely by experts investigating the derailment, Yakunin said on state television from the scene.
Rescue workers searched for bodies after train derailed overnight, reportedly killing 39 people and injuring nearly 100 more.
Television pictures showed the mangled metal of several overturned carriages of the Nevski Express, an expensive train that runs on the heavily traveled Moscow-St Petersburg route and is popular with foreign tourists.
The train derailed between Russia's Tver and Novgorod regions while heading north to St Petersburg late Friday, officials said, amid reports that witnesses heard a loud bang and a crater was found near the tracks.
"In all there are 39" dead, Alexander Basulin, an official at the emergency situations ministry, was quoted as saying by the ITAR-TASS news agency. Health Minister Tatyana Golikova said 95 people were injured and hospitalised.
An unnamed security official was quoted by the Interfax news agency as saying that a one-metre-diametre (three-foot wide) crater was found near the scene of the disaster.
"Witnesses say they heard a loud bang before the accident. This could be proof of an attack," the source said.
The crater could have been caused by an "explosion from a device placed underneath one of the wagons," the RIA-Novosti news agency quoted another security official as saying.
Prosecutors have opened a terrorism investigation into the train incident, Marina Gridneva, a spokeswoman for the Prosecutor Generals Office, told Vesti-24 television.
"Two wagons were completely overturned.... Several people were completely crushed under the metal. I heard screams, moaning," Andrei Abramenko, a police officer who happened to be travelling on the train, said on Vesti-24.
The television station showed footage of rescuers working among the wreckage under powerful searchlights.
Four wagons of the 14-carriage train, carrying around 660 passengers and nearly two dozen staff, derailed at 9:34 pm (1834 GMT), according to the emergencies ministry.
At least three foreigners were on the train, ITAR-TASS reported, citing a source at Russian Railways. Other reports said that one Italian was among the hospitalised passengers.
The Nevski Express, a high-end train line aimed at relatively well-off Russians which runs along one of the country's most popular routes, has been attacked before.
In August 2007, a bomb on the same line derailed a train, injuring 60 passengers, with Chechen separatist or ultra-nationalist groups suspected.
Emergency services rushed to the scene of Friday evening's crash, and by 0100 GMT all the injured had been evacuated to local hospitals, Russia media reported.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the FSB security service and the Prosecutor Generals Office to investigate the causes of the derailment, the Kremlin said in a statement.
In Washington, the White House said it was "deeply saddened by the terrible loss of life and injuries" from the railway accident, spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

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Rice sights on Iraq as 9/11 unfolded: UK diplomat

Washington, November 28: A former British ambassador to the United States says then-National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice talked to him about Iraq and Saddam Hussein hours after the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon on Sept. 11, 2001.
Sir Christopher Meyer, who served as Britain's top diplomat in Washington from 1997 to 2003, also told an inquiry into the Iraq war that the timeline the US and Britain set to invade Iraq made it impossible for the UN to determine if Saddam Hussein had active weapons of mass destruction programs.
He also criticized former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, saying that a "stronger prime minister" like Margaret Thatcher would have been able to exert more influence on Washington and allow more time for diplomacy, while insisting on a plan for what would happen after the invasion.
On September 11, 2001, Rice reportedly told Meyer that "there's no doubt this was an Al-Qaeda operation [but] we are just looking to see if there could possibly be any connection with Saddam Hussein."
Rice's comments at the time are "important because they suggest that the United States quickly tied the attacks with Saddam's regime," writes David Stringer at the Associated Press. "Years later, President George W. Bush's administration was forced to acknowledge that they could find no connection between Saddam and the attacks."
Meyer, the former ambassador, also told the inquiry that the "unforgiving nature" of the Bush administration's plans for an Iraq invasion effectively made it impossible for chief UN weapons inspector Hans Blix to determine if Saddam had an operational weapons of mass destruction program. The Guardian reports:
Sir Christopher Meyer said the "unforgiving nature" of the build-up after American forces had been told to prepare for war meant that "we found ourselves scrabbling for the smoking gun".
He added: "It was another way of saying 'it's not that Saddam has to prove that he's innocent, we've now bloody well got to try and prove he's guilty.' And we – the Americans, the British – have never really recovered from that because of course there was no smoking gun."
The US had first prepared for invasion in January but the date was later moved to March. "All that said, when you looked at the timetable for the inspections, it was impossible to see how [Hans] Blix [chief weapons inspector] could bring the process to a conclusion, for better or for worse, by March."
Meyer also suggested that an April, 2002 meeting between Blair and President George W. Bush at the president's ranch in Crawford, Texas, may have marked the turning point when the UK decided to follow the US unquestioningly into a war in Iraq, and it may have been the moment when Tony Blair realized that weapons of mass destruction were little more than a pretext for the actual purpose of the war -- regime change in Iraq. The Daily Telegraph reports that Meyer said:
“The two men were alone in the ranch so I’m not entirely clear to this day what degree of convergence (on Iraq policy) was signed in blood, if you like, at the Crawford ranch.
“But there are clues in the speech Tony Blair gave the next day, which was the first time he had said in public ‘regime change’. He was trying to draw the lessons of 9/11 and apply them to the situation in Iraq which led - I think not inadvertently but deliberately - to a conflation of the threat posed by Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein.
“When I read that I thought ‘this represents a tightening of the UK/US alliance and a degree of convergence on the danger Saddam Hussein presented’.”
Meyer also criticized Tony Blair for not insisting more strongly that the US put more effort into a diplomatic resolution to the Iraq conflict, comparing the Labour Party prime minister unfavorably to Britain's Conservative prime minister in the 1980s, Baroness Margaret Thatcher. The Independent reports:
Insisting he was not making a “party political point”, Sir Christopher said he had asked himself “what would Margaret Thatcher have done” in handling Britain’s relationship with the US. “I think she would have insisted on a clear, coherent diplomatic strategy and I think she would have demanded the greatest clarity about what the heck will happen if and when we remove Saddam Hussein,” he said.
COVER-UP?
The British government's inquiry into the Iraq invasion, led by Sir John Chilcot, is being described in the British media as the largest, most expansive investigation yet into the Iraq war and its causes. But some critics say that an arrangement between the government of Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the Chilcot inquiry to keep certain documents secret could result in a cover-up.
"A previously undisclosed agreement between Sir John Chilcot's inquiry and the government gives Whitehall [the British government] the final say on what information the investigation can release into the public domain," reports Andrew Grice, political editor of the Independent.
A protocol agreed by the inquiry and the government includes nine wide-ranging reasons under which Whitehall departments can refuse to publish documents disclosed to the investigation. Crucially, disputes between Sir John and the government over disclosures would be resolved by the Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell [the highest-ranking bureaucrat in the British government].
The agreement allows the Government to stop publication of material which would "cause harm or damage to the public interest" such as national security, international relations or economic interests; breach the disclosure rules of the security services; endanger life or risk serious harm to an individual; breach legal professional privilege; prejudice legal proceedings or a statutory or criminal inquiry; breach the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act or Data Protection Act; or be commercially sensitive.
Observers have already noticed the arrangement between the inquiry and the British government at work, and have suggested that information is already being concealed from the public.
"The limitations of the Chilcot inquiry are obvious," writes Diane Abbott at the Guardian. "It is a group of establishment trusties, evidence will not be on oath and the government is doing its best to keep key documents from the inquiry. Even yesterday, in the very first week of the inquiry, former British ambassador to Washington, Sir Christopher Meyer, mentioned four key documents that he knew existed but the Chilcot inquiry had not seen."
But Abbott noted that important information about the run-up to the Iraq war is making it through to the public, despite the government's efforts to restrict it. "Despite everything, the truth is coming to light," Abbott writes.

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Obama to attend beginning of U.N. climate meeting

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will go to Copenhagen for a U.N. climate change meeting on December 9, hoping to add momentum to an international process despite slow progress on a domestic bill to cut carbon emissions.
Obama planned to make a visit at the beginning of the climate negotiations in Denmark, an administration official told Reuters on Wednesday, before picking up the Nobel Peace Prize at a ceremony in neighboring Oslo.
Obama did not plan to return for the end of the December 7-18 meeting, when roughly 65 other heads of state and government are expected to attend, the official said.
Obama has made climate change a top priority of his administration, but a bill to cut U.S. emissions is bogged down in the U.S. Senate. The U.S. House of Representatives has passed its version of climate change legislation.
Most nations have given up hopes of agreeing to a binding legal treaty text in Copenhagen, partly because of uncertainty about what the United States will be able to offer.
Environmentalists had hoped Obama would be present for the leaders meeting at the end of the talks to give legitimacy to a "politically binding" agreement that host Denmark still hopes to achieve.
In such an agreement, developed nations would set goals for cutting emissions by 2020, developing nations would agree to slow the rise of their emissions, and the rich would come up with new aid and clean technology to help the poor cope with climate change.

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