| Commonwealth Games Day Five as it happened England's Rebecca Adlington and Liam Tancock win golds on a busy day in the pool, while Northern Ireland's Wendy Houvenaghel takes silver in the velodrome and England's archers win a controversial silver on day five of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. news.bbc.co.uk |
Fitness fanatics 'have high sex drives' Fitness fanatics really do have higher sex drives, according to scientists who say they have identified a link between exercise and personality. telegraph.co.uk |
Thirty years in jail for 'cool' killer of Devon pensioners Desperate for money, Odai Salah befriended well-to-do couple and murdered them in their Torquay flatA failed businessman who murdered a well-to-do elderly couple at their seaside home and stole from them to try to pay off his heavy debts was jailed for 30 years today.Odai Salah befriended Rosemary Windle and Maurece Smith, both 71, by claiming he could put them in touch with business contacts in the Middle East. But in January he armed himself with a knife and went to their flat in Torquay, Devon, where he strangled Windle and stabbed and suffocated Smith.Salah, 28, returned at least twice to the murder scene to create the impression the couple were alive, giving himself more time to use the cheques and credit cards he stole.Jailing Salah at Exeter crown court, Mr Justice Jack said: "I am satisfied the reason for your killing Maurece Smith and Rosemary Windle was to get at their money." The judge told Salah: "Lying is in your blood." He described him as cool and calculated and devoid of any moral sense; he was a clever man but with a "warped intelligence".Paul Dunkels, prosecuting, had told the jury: "This was a cold-blooded execution by the defendant of an elderly couple in order to get money from them. He saw Rosemary Windle and Maurece Smith as an opportunity to get money. He murdered them and then stole from them.He took their cheque books and credit cards and used them."Originally from Jordan, Salah came to the UK as a student in 2002. He studied at the school of law and social sciences at Glasgow Caledonian University. He set up a business distributing Lebanese food and wine but it failed in 2009.Dunkels said: "The defendant had been in financial difficulties for some time. He had resorted to various deceptions to get money or credit. Credit-card companies, banks and other organisations that had lent money to him were pressing him for repayment or for arrears of monies due to be paid. He had no money to repay them."Dunkels said Salah met the couple late in 2009. The victims were comfortably off, with Windle running a successful business selling linen and other goods to wealthy clients in the Middle East. Smith suffered problems with his hips and knees and walked with crutches.Dunkels said: "[Salah] was falsely representing himself to the victims as someone who could put valuable business their way. His purpose must have been to convince them that he had financial standing so as to win their confidence and to then somehow persuade them to advance money to him."It was not clear what triggered the attack, Dunkels said. "Perhaps he realised that he could not sustain the story of taking them all to Lebanon for big business any longer and that they could not be persuaded to hand over money to him willingly."After murdering the couple, he went to a bank and tried to pay a forged cheque for £27,000 into his own account. Nine minutes later he went into another bank and tried to pay in another forged cheque. Next day he posed over the phone as Smith to try to pay off a £4,658 debt.When police went to the flat they found Smith's body in an armchair covered with blankets and pillows and a cushion over his face. A broken knife blade was found under his body. Windle's body was found in the garage lying on the floor covered by a blanket.Salah had told the jury that he did not kill the couple. He admitted his finances at the time were "horrible" but said his future finances were looking excellent.Outside court, Detective Superintendent Steve Carey said: "Salah is an arrogant and practised liar. He was a desperate man who had run out of money and who was looking for any way to fund his lifestyle."CrimeSteven Morrisguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Welsh farmers fear a 'big cat' is killing their sheep There are fears a big cat may be behind a series of attacks on livestock near a village in Pembrokeshire. bbc.co.uk |
US embassy cables: Kazakhstan - the big four Monday, 25 January 2010, 08:14S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 03 ASTANA 000072 SIPDIS STATE FOR SCA/CEN, EEB EO 12958 DECL: 01/25/2030 TAGS PGOV, PINR, EPET, EINV, KCOR, RS, CH, KZ SUBJECT: KAZAKHSTAN: MONEY AND POWER REF: ASTANA 0061Classified By: Ambassador Richard E. Hoagland: 1.4 (b), (d)1. (S) SUMMARY: During a private dinner, KazMunaiGaz First Vice President Maksat Idenov named, in his view, the four most powerful gate-keepers around President Nursultan Nazarbayev: Chief of Administration and General Services of the President's Office Sarybai Kalmurzayev, the President's Chief of Staff Aslan Musin, State Secretary-Foreign Minister Kanat Saudabayev, and the tandem of Prime Minister Karim Masimov and Nazarbayev's billionaire son-in-law Timur Kulibayev. According to Idenov, in Kazakhstan, market economy means capitalism, which means big money, XXXXXXXXXXXX. The following details are a single snapshot of one version of current reality. The significant point is that Nazarbayev is standing with Idenov, not Kulibayev, to maintain international standards to develop the massive Kashagan and Karachaganak hydrocarbon projects. END SUMMARY.2. (S) On January 21, KazMunaiGaz First Vice President Maksat Idenov and the Ambassador had a one-on-one dinner in a nearly empty restaurant (times are still hard!) at the Radisson hotel in Astana. When the Ambassador arrived, Idenov was barking into his cell phone, "Mark, Mark, stop the excuses! Mark, listen to me! Mark, shut up right now and do as I say! Bring the letter to my office at 10:00 pm, and we will go together to take it to (Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, MEMR) Mynbayev at his house." On ending the call, Idenov explained he was talking to British Gas (BG) Country Director for Kazakhstan Mark Rawlings who had missed the deadline to deliver a letter about arbitration on the Karachaganak super-giant oil-field project (reftel). Still clearly steamed, Idenov XXXXXXXXXXXX "I tell him, 'Mark, stop being an idiot! Stop tempting fate! XXXXXXXXXXXX Idenov asked, "Do you know how much he (Rawlings) makes? $72,000 a month! A month!! Plus benefits! Plus bonuses! Lives in Switzerland but supposedly works in London. Comes here once a month to check in. Nice life, huh?"3. (S) Idenov calmed down and said, "Let's look at the menus." Then he immediately started typing on his PDA and turned the screen toward the Ambassador, saying, "Let's look at the 'four courses.'" On the screen were four names: Kalmurzayev, Musin, Saudabayev, and Masimov-Kulibayev." Idenov said, "The Big Four around Number One." (NOTE: Sarybai Kalmurzayev, currently the head of Administration and General Services in the Presidential Administration, was, among other jobs, a former head of the Financial Police and, before that, in the 1990s, in charge of privatization. Aslan Musin is the current Chief of Staff for Nazarbayev. Kanat Saudabayev, a personal friend of Nazarbayev for nearly 40 years, is Minister of State and Foreign Minister. Karim Masimov is Prime Minister, and Timur Kulibayev is currently the favored presidential son-in-law, on the Forbes 500 list of billionaires (as is his wife separately), and the ultimate controller of 90% of the economy of Kazakhstan. END NOTE.) In response to a question, Idenov said that Masimov has a degree of freedom, but never acts without permission from "the hyphen" (Kulibayev). Then Idenov stood up abruptly and carried his PDA to a ledge about 20 feet from the table and asked the Ambassador to turn off his cell phone.4. (S) Idenov said he wanted to explain why he has been less visible for at least the last half year. Starting last spring, all the "Big Four" (on the menu) began blocking him from seeing President Nazarbayev. In October, KMG PresidentASTANA 00000072 002 OF 003Kairgeldy Kabyldin told Idenov, "Kulibayev doesn't want to work with you any more." Idenov said he replied, "Fine," immediately returned to his office, wrote his letter of resignation, and packed up his personal files and photos of his family." He said Mynbayev immediately called and asked, "My dear friend, what are you doing?!" Idenov said he was fed up and was going to the Middle East to work -- "I want out of here!" PM Masimov called and said, "Nazarbayev wants to know how you're doing. He'd really like to see you when you have time." Idenov, who said he'd been trying to see the President for months but had been blocked by the "Big Four," went to see the President and told him, "Kabyldin says Kulibayev doesn't want to work with me any more." Idenov said the President told him to calm down: "It's probably just evil gossip. I'll have Karim (Masimov) talk to Timur (Kulibayev). Then Idenov went to Masimov and told him, "OK, I'll stay, but how do I deal with this?" Masimov said he'd talk to both Kabyldin and Kulibayev.5. (S) Soon, intermediaries arranged an Idenov-Kulibayev meeting. Idenov said they both pretended to ignore the core problem -- Kulibayev's, he alleged, avarice for large bribes. Idenov averred he told Kulibayev, "Please watch your image and reputation. You have a real opportunity to improve your own image and the image of the nation." Idenov said Kulibayev was "like a Buddha with a Paris manicure," and both understood life would continue. Idenov said he believes he has, so far, the president's protection. "But the games continue," he said. Idenov alleged that both XXXXXXXXXXXX-- and Kulibayev is salivating to profit from them -- but, so far, Idenov stands in the way. "So long as Nazarbayev says he wants Kashagan and Karachaganak developed according to international standards, that's what I'll do."6. (SBU) (NOTE: Fugitive former CEO of BTA bank, Mukhtar Ablyazov, accused of embezzling over $1 billion, recently leaked "documentary evidence" to the international media that China's state companies have bribed Kulibayev over $100 million in recent months for oil deals. END NOTE.)7. (S) The Ambassador asked if the corruption and infighting are worse now than before. Idenov paused, thought, and then replied, "No, not really. It's business as usual." Idenov brushed off a question if the current maneuverings are part of a succession struggle. "Of course not. It's too early for that. As it's always been, it's about big money. Capitalism -- you call it market economy -- means huge money. Listen, almost everyone at the top is confused. They're confused by their Soviet mentality. They're confused by the corrupt excesses of capitalism. 'If Goldman Sachs executives can make $50 million a year and then run America's economy in Washington, what's so different about what we do?' they ask."OTHER TIDBITS8. (S) MODEST WEALTH. Idenov alleged that MEMR's Mynbayev is among the richest in Kazakhstan but "flies under the radar" because he is a relatively modest and very hard-working technocrat. His great wealth derives, in part, from his former ownership of KazKommerzBank -- "But he never flaunts it."9. (S) VULTURES. Idenov alleged that GazProm and China National Petroleum Company "continue to circle like vultures," hoping that the Kashagan and Karachaganak consortia will implode, and then they can pick up the pieces. "Won't happen on my watch!" Idenov vowed.10. (C) HOW TO ORDER LAMB. Idenov insisted the Ambassador order a bottle of wine for their dinner but then never touched his first glass. Instead, he gulped three cans of Coca-Cola while inhaling his food. When both he and the Ambassador ordered lamb chops, Idenov advised, "Well done,ASTANA 00000072 003 OF 003never rare -- this is Astana, not London!"11. (S) COMMENT: Idenov is effusive, even theatrical, by nature. When he trusts, he spills his heart. Of course, there's no doubt he also spins his own narrative, as we all do. And so, this dinner is simply a snapshot -- but, we would judge, a relatively accurate glimpse of one version of current reality. The significant point is that Nazarbayev is standing with Idenov, not Kulibayev, to maintain international standards to develop the massive Kashagan and Karachaganak hydrocarbon projects. END COMMENT. HOAGLANDKazakhstanPrince AndrewMonarchyUS foreign policyOilUnited StatesThe US embassy cablesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |