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GUARDIAN Thu, 19 Aug 2010 07:11:01 GMT
Muslim witness in Australia fraud trial told she must remove her full veil while giving evidence
A Muslim witness in an Australian fraud trial must remove her full veil while giving evidence, a judge has ruled.
Western Australia district court judge Shauna Deane said it would be inappropriate for the woman to testify with her face covered by the niqab but did not specify what the woman could wear. The judge said the woman's decision to wear the full veil came down to "reasons of modesty" and a "personal preference" in her interpretation of Islam, rather than a religious requirement.
Defence attorneys argued that the jury needs to be able to see the witness's facial expressions to assess what she says, while prosecutors said the woman's discomfort without the garment could affect her testimony.
Deane stressed that her decision applied only to this case and was not setting a precedent for other courts, but the issue has sparked national interest and drawn comparisons to France and Belgium, where there are efforts to ban the wearing of Islamic face veils. In Australia, some Muslims wear head scarves, but burqas which cover the entire face are almost never worn.
The woman is an Islamic studies teacher who has been identified only by her first name, Tasneem. She is 36, has lived in Australia for seven years and has worn a burqa since she was 17.
She is a prosecution witness in a case against the director of a company that ran a Muslim women's college in Perth. The director, Anwar Sayed, is accused of inflating the number of students at the school in 2006 and 2007 to claim hundreds of thousands of dollars in state and federal grants.
Prosecutor Mark Ritter told the court that Tasneem usually removes the burqa only when she is with her family.
The judge did not say whether the woman would be able to testify via video.
The burqa debate has prompted comments from politicians campaigning ahead of Australia's federal election on Saturday. Earlier this month, opposition leader Tony Abbott – who hopes to become prime minister – said he found the garments "confronting" and wished fewer Australians wore them.
The first jury in Sayed's case was discharged earlier this month after the trial time ballooned from the original estimate of 10 days to five weeks, which caused attendance issues for several jurors. The trial will resume with a new jury in October.
Islam
Australia
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GUARDIAN Tue, 17 Aug 2010 09:04:33 GMT
Inflation has been at 3% or above throughout this year, overshooting the Bank of England's government-set target of 2%
Inflation eased back as expected last month but is still well above the Bank of England's target, meaning governor Mervyn King has had to write yet another letter of explanation to the chancellor.
The Office for National Statistics said consumer prices inflation fell to 3.1% in July, down from 3.2% in June and as expected by most economists.
Inflation has been at 3% or above throughout this year, overshooting the BoE's government-set target of 2%. King's letter to George Osborne is expected to blame one-off factors such as high commodity prices, including oil and foods, as well as VAT going back up to 17.5% in January.
But economists and the Bank itself expects inflation to remain above target for some time, especially given the government plans to raise VAT again in January 2011.
The rising cost of living will also hit commuters, because July's inflation figure is used to calculate annual fare increases for many rail users.
The measure of inflation used is the retail prices index, which includes housing costs, and it stood at 4.8% in July, down from 5% in June and slightly below a forecast 4.9%.
Often rail fares are calculated on an "RPI + 1% formula", based on July's data, so commuters could see their tickets increase by almost 6% next year. There are fears that this formula could be adjusted to RPI plus 2%, or even 3%.
Still, there are signs that motorists' costs are easing, as the ONS said the biggest downward pressure on overall inflation in July came from transport costs, particularly prices of second-hand cars and fuel as well as from clothing and footwear. The main upward pressures came from food and non-alcoholic drinks, and furniture and household goods.
Inflation
Mervyn King
Bank of England
Katie Allen
Graeme Wearden
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GUARDIAN Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:21:29 GMT
Chancellor says that income distribution is not the only measure of fairness
George Osborne today defended the coalition government's planned spending cuts, claiming they would help create a more progressive society and that income distribution was not the only measure of fairness.
The chancellor was interviewed ahead of a speech he will deliver this afternoon in which he will attempt to hammer home the message that the government's attempts to tackle the deficit will not increase inequalities.
"Progressiveness and fairness ... operate on a couple of levels," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "Obviously, there's income distribution ... but also it operates on other levels: intergenerational fairness ... equality of opportunity ... and social mobility, making sure people have access to the best education whatever their background."
Asked whether there would be fairer income distribution by the end of the end of the coalition's five-year term, Osborne refused to commit to inequalities being reduced on that particular measure.
"I hope we are a more equal and fair society, but I want that to include equality of opportunity," the chancellor said.
The £61bn of cuts planned by the coalition, which could lead to some departments making budget cuts of more than 25%, have led to fears that the most disadvantaged in society could be hit the hardest. There has also been criticism that part of the increase in the tax burden has come partly through VAT, a regressive tax whereby poorer people pay a higher percentage of their income to the Treasury.
But Osborne said the coalition was helping people on low incomes, citing the ringfencing of the NHS and international development budgets, which he said were "examples of the values of fairness" underpinning the coalition. The chancellor said that £44bn of the cuts had already been pencilled in by Labour and said some of the most successful centre-left governments in the world had agreed with the need for fiscal responsibility. "Not living beyond your means is fundamentally progressive," he said. Osborne claimed the coalition government's actions had already helped to stabilise the economy.
He ruled out the possibility of altering the balance between spending cuts and increased taxes, saying the coalition had achieved the "appropriate balance". And he played down the idea that he is locked in a battle with Iain Duncan Smith over the cost of the work and pensions secretary's welfare reforms, designed to simplify the "fundamentally unfair" benefits system. "It's not a question of the cost of the reform, it's a question of the reform leading to a fundamentally fairer society," the chancellor said.
Osborne said the Treasury was making "good progress" on identifying spending cuts, describing the process as a "collective effort". But he said no department's budget had been agreed yet.
Economic policy
George Osborne
Public finance
Haroon Siddique
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 Robert Fisk on CrossTalk: Is Israel a Rogue State?
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Alex Jones on Ian Collins' talkSPORT radio show Thursday 19 June 2008
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NEWS SUMMARY
Depardieu vs Binoche: feud that's got France flummoxed
Curbishley linked with Villa job
Sorting office threatens 400 jobs
Tin helmet councillor suspended
Birth paramedic 'refused to help'
British man piloted Congo death crash plane
Aircraft men 'incredibly lucky'
Hatton fighting career is 'done'
Children to face £80 litter fines
Damien Hirst faces eight new claims of plagiarism
EU critical of France over Roma
Surgery rules Onions out of Ashes
Pakistan cricketers 'were set up'
Call for Magna Carta bank holiday
'The Stig'
Footballer threw punches in club
Rare tree flowers after 23 years
Blast soldier 'joked with medics'
Newlywed denies strangling wife
Man jailed for murdering partner
Ex-officer jailed for child abuse
Savings: Which providers share a banking licence?
Solar lights installed along airport runway
Bloomin' lovely: Tree flowers after 23 years
New start at child abuse nursery
Divers aid search for missing man
Footballer threw punches in club
Search continues for missing boy
Twig row sparks helicopter search
Arrests in assisted suicide probe
Delay for tourist bike hire plans
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