World

LONDON — Prime Minister David Cameron said on Thursday former U.S. defence secretary Robert Gates was wrong to say that spending cuts meant Britain’s armed forces were no longer able to be a full military partner of the United States.

His blunt response underlined how sensitive his government is to charges that Britain’s close ties with the United States have been undermined by cuts to its military and parliament’s refusal to okay British involvement in any air strikes on Syria.

It also reflected his determination to carry out spending cuts aimed at reducing large public debts, which top generals and even senior lawmakers in his own Conservative party have suggested to have been too deep.

Britain is the world’s fourth largest military spender after the United States, China and Russia but is cutting the army by 20,000 soldiers over this decade while its navy will lose 6,000 personnel and its air force 5,000.

Earlier on Thursday, Gates, who served as defence secretary under presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, said he lamented the fact that the cuts had limited Britain’s ability to work with the United States.

“With the fairly substantial reductions in defence spending in Great Britain, what we’re finding is that it won’t have full spectrum capabilities and the ability to be a full partner as they have been in the past,” Gates told BBC Radio.

In central London inspecting a new rail project, Cameron bristled at the remarks.

“I don’t agree with him. I think he has got it wrong,” said Cameron. “We have the fourth largest defence budget anywhere in the world. We are a first-class player in terms of defence and as long as I am Prime Minster that is the way it will stay.”

Gates highlighted the fact that Britain, for the first time since World War One, does not have an operational aircraft carrier even though the first of a new generation of carriers is due to enter into service in 2020.

Cameron said what he called a “massive” 160 billion pound ($261.63 billion) investment programme would pay for new aircraft carriers, nuclear submarines, destroyers and frigates.

Britain’s defence ministry said it also disagreed with Gates, saying in a statement that Britain had “the best-trained and best-equipped Armed Forces outside the US”.

Comrades in arms

Britain was the only major power to join the United States on the battlefield in Iraq, and by far its most important comrade in arms in Afghanistan.

More than 600 British troops have died under US command in those two wars, since Prime Minister Tony Blair declared he would stand “shoulder to shoulder” with America after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001.

But parliament’s shock vote against any British military action in Syria in August and the scale of the defence cuts have prompted some British politicians and generals to question whether Britain will be able to project military power in the same way in the future.

Last month, Britain’s top soldier, General Nicholas Houghton, disclosed he was worried that spending cuts would leave the armed forces a hollowed-out force with “exquisite equipment” but without enough personnel to man it.

The opposition Labour Party suggested Gates had a point, saying the cuts had eroded confidence in Britain’s commitment to defence and its ability to continue to play a significant role in the world.

“It should worry David Cameron that Britain’s strongest ally has concerns about his Government’s mishandling of defence,” said Vernon Coaker, Labour’s defence spokesman.

“The Government must ensure that Britain’s defence capability is maintained.”

ISTANBUL — Turkey’s government removed a series of high-profile prosecutors on Thursday stepping up a purge of a judiciary Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan considers embroiled in a plot to undermine him with specious corruption allegations.

The actions hit at the heart of investigations made public on December 17 that have pitched Erdogan into one of the biggest crises of his 11 years in power. They came a day after the government tightened its grip on a panel that controls the appointment of all judges and prosecutors.

Among those removed were the deputy chief prosecutor in the Agean city of Izmir, where arrests in the graft inquiry were made last week, and a judge in the eastern city of Van, where police launched raids this week against Al Qaeda suspects in what Erdogan backers saw as a bid to embarrass the government.

Erdogan remains the most popular politician in Turkey, but it is unclear what effect the current crisis might have as a power struggle continues and March local elections approach.

Erdogan has cast a huge graft inquiry, which has led to the resignation of three ministers and detention of businessmen close to the government, as an attempt by a US-based cleric with influence in police and judiciary to unseat him.

The chief prosecutor and five of his deputies in Istanbul, where the corruption inquiry has been based, were also among 20 people reassigned in the shake-up, the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), headed by the justice minister, said.

There were signs officials appointed to replace those sacked since December were moving to wind down the operation.

The Radikal newspaper said arrest warrants for 45 people, including the prime minister’s son, had been lifted by the new prosecutors and that they would instead be invited to make statements. The Istanbul prosecutor’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

Those removed also included an Istanbul prosecutor who brought a case against a policeman for firing tear gas at a woman from close range without warning during weeks of anti-government street protests last June. The picture of the woman, wearing a red dress, became a central symbol of the demonstrations Erdogan attributed to a foreign-backed plot.

The reassignments followed a reshuffle in the panel that appoints judges and prosecutors, the HSYK stated, at a meeting on Wednesday. It was the first overseen by new justice minister Bekir Bozdag, in which two members seen as close to the government were given more say over judicial appointments.

“They achieved their goals yesterday with the operation carried out by the minister,” Ali Ozgunduz, a deputy from the main opposition Republican People’s Party.

“It’s all over. This is a clear coup by the executive against the judiciary,” he told a news conference in parliament. 

’Parallel state’

Erdogan’s AK Party has tabled reforms that would give government even more control over is the HSYK council, which he argues has been infiltrated by followers of a reclusive Islamic cleric creating a ‘parallel state’ apparatus. He argues the purge serves to restore judicial independence.

A parliamentary commission approved the proposals late on Thursday and they are now expected to be discussed in the general assembly, dominated by the AK Party, next week.

“After this, it makes little difference whether a law is passed or not,” Ozgunduz said of Thursday’s events.

Erdogan’s supporters see US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen — a former ally whose network of followers is influential in the police and judiciary — as a prime mover in a smear campaign. Erdogan sees the investigation, like the summer demonstrations and riots, as a foreign-backed plot.

They say the ruling AK Party’s proposals to reform the judiciary will make it more, not less, independent by countering the influence of Gulenists within the legal system.

The affair has exposed a deep rift within the political establishment, shaking markets, helping drive the lira to new lows, and prompting expressions of alarm from Washington and Brussels about threats to the independence of the judiciary.

ANKARA — Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ordered his ambassadors on Wednesday to confront allies with the “truth” that a graft investigation shaking Ankara was the result of a foreign-backed plot to sabotage Turkey’s international standing.

Erdogan, visiting Brussels next week, also mockingly rejected European Union expressions of concern about his moves to tighten control over a judiciary he sees as central to the conspiracy. His finance minister said political turbulence may hinder Turkey in reaching a 4 per cent growth target this year.

What erupted a month ago as a corruption inquiry involving the sons of three ministers and businessmen close to the government has grown into one of the biggest challenges of Erdogan’s 11-year rule and damaged Turkey’s image abroad.

Erdogan said politicians, domestic and foreign media, and financiers were conspiring against Turkish interests.

“We expect you to exert more effort to defeat this treacherous operation targeting Turkey by telling our partners the truth,” Erdogan told the conference of Turkish ambassadors in the capital Ankara.

Details of the corruption allegations have not been made public, but are thought to relate to construction and real estate projects, and Turkey’s gold trade with Iran.

Erdogan’s supporters see US-based Turkish cleric Fethullah Gulen — a former ally whose network of followers is influential in the police and judiciary — as a prime mover in a plot backed by foreign collaborators.

“They are trying to deal a heavy blow to Turkey’s economy. They are making efforts to push interest rates higher. In order to make international investors uneasy, they use every means.

“Most importantly they are working hard to harm Turkey’s image in the world,” Erdogan said.

He has responded by purging the police of hundreds of officers and seeking tighter control over the appointment of judges and prosecutors, raising alarm in Brussels in particular, which has been engaged in years of protracted EU membership negotiations with Ankara.

EU enlargement commissioner Stefan Fule told Turkey’s new EU minister Mevlut Cavusoglu in their first meeting this week that any changes to the judiciary must not call into question Turkey’s commitment to meeting EU membership criteria.

Erdogan rejected such concerns.

“I’m sorry but we won’t be taken in by evaluation like ‘this is contrary to the European Union acquis’. We know how to read and write. We can see what is going on,” he said.

Economic fallout

Erdogan’s AK Party has proposed a draft bill giving government more say over the High Council of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), which makes top judicial appointments, a move the opposition says would violate the constitution and sees as an attempt to stifle the corruption investigation.

President Abdullah Gul, who would have to ratify the bill, called for compromise on Wednesday, saying Turkey’s rival political parties should instead agree on changes to articles in the constitution governing the judiciary.

“There is agreement among the parties that there should be an HSYK which is independent and impartial and within the framework of EU principles,” Gul said, adding prospects for a deal should become clear within a couple of days.

But the main opposition CHP said it would only negotiate if Erdogan withdrew the draft bill first, while a senior AK Party official said he was not optimistic of reaching a compromise.

The feud has shaken investor confidence and raised questions about the credibility of Turkey’s institutions, helping drive the lira — already battered by waning investor appetite for emerging markets — to historic lows.

Finance Minister Mehmet Simsek said the political turbulence was among factors which could prevent Turkey reaching its target of 4 per cent economic growth this year.

“It makes investors tense both domestically and abroad. This tension will be reflected in consumption and investment decisions,

 and hence in growth,” he told a news conference.

Erdogan has overseen strong economic growth in Turkey since coming to power in 2002, transforming its reputation after a series of unstable coalition governments in the 1990s ran into repeated balance of payments problems and economic crises.

The AK Party’s reputation for economic management has been one of the cornerstones of its three successive election wins over the past decade, a record Erdogan wants to maintain in the run up to local elections in March and a presidential race which he is expected to contest in August.

NEW DELHI — Indian police rounded up a group of homeless men Wednesday over the alleged gang-rape of a 51-year-old Danish tourist who lost her way near the main backpacker’s area of the capital, officers said.

The woman approached the suspects for directions early on Tuesday evening while trying to return to her hotel in the bustling Paharganj district of New Delhi, reportedly after visiting a city museum.

Up to six “youngsters” allegedly assaulted and robbed the victim, who was travelling alone and had been in New Delhi since Monday after visiting the Taj Mahal, police and a receptionist at her hotel told AFP.

“We have detained a group of men and we are questioning them over the incident,” special commissioner of police Deepak Mishra told AFP.

A senior investigating officer in the Paharganj police station told AFP on condition of anonymity that the victim was held hostage at knife-point for three hours and had been kicked and slapped.

Her mobile phone and cash were also stolen.

The alleged attack just minutes from Connaught Place in the heart of the capital is the latest involving a foreigner in India and again raises questions about the safety of women in the world’s second most populous country.

Last month, India marked the first anniversary of the death of the student who was gang-raped on a moving bus in the capital in an attack that sent shockwaves across the nation.

‘Vagabond’ attackers

The Danish victim refused to be medically examined and was clearly traumatised by the experience, but gave a detailed statement overnight in the presence of her country’s ambassador, police said.

“We have identified around four to six people who are the prime suspects in the case,” the investigating policeman said, adding that they appeared to be “vagabonds”.

“She told us that the attackers were mostly youngsters,” he added.

She has since left India.

A Danish foreign ministry spokesman said the victim “will be offered support and care when she comes home to Denmark” while declining to give any other details.

The crime scene was inside the grounds of the Railway Officers Club on State Entry Road with the victim saying she was dragged to a secluded area shrouded by trees near a statue, police said.

A police forensic team visited on Wednesday morning and police are in possession of the clothes the victim was wearing at the time of the attack.

Kuldeep Singh, a receptionist at the victim’s hotel, said the woman had appeared calm when she returned at about 8:30pm (1500 GMT) but then confided in a fellow traveller.

“She first came to me at the reception desk and told me that she needed 200 rupees to give to the auto driver as she had been robbed,” Singh said.

The case comes after a Polish woman was allegedly drugged and raped by a taxi driver earlier this month while travelling with her two-year-old daughter to New Delhi.

Female tourists afraid

Women tourists in Paharganj said they were aware of past cases and the new incident had rung alarm bells.

“I felt very unsafe with walking the streets and seeing what you see and everybody staring at you, but you can’t not travel to India because of it,” said Jessica Orpwood, a 21-year-old student backpacker from New Zealand.

Protests over sexual violence in the last year have prompted India’s parliament to toughen laws for rapists and other offenders, while other judicial and police reforms that have encouraged women to report attacks.

But daily accounts of brutal assaults continue to be reported in the country’s newspapers.

A schoolgirl was raped by eight men in the eastern city of Ranchi this week while they held her male friend, The Hindustan Times reported on Wednesday.

A judge last month sentenced three Nepalese men to 20 years in jail for the gang-rape of a US tourist in June in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh.

Six men were sentenced to life in prison last July for the gang-rape and robbery of a 39-year-old Swiss woman cyclist who had been holidaying in the central state of Madhya Pradesh.

Bridget McCaffrey, another backpacker from New Zealand, said news of the latest assault had come as a shock “but considering in the last year what’s been happening in India with women, maybe not so much”.

“If I were to come back to India it would be with a group or with my partner again, I wouldn’t be coming alone as a single female traveller,” she said.

BEVERLY HILLS, California- The film "12 Years a Slave" took the coveted Golden Globe for best drama and "American Hustle" won best musical or comedy on Sunday in a kick-off to the Hollywood awards season that foreshadows a wide scattering of honors for a year crowded with high-quality movies.

Only two films garnered more than one award at the 71st Annual Golden Globe Awards, an important but not entirely accurate barometer for the industry's highest honors, the Academy Awards to be held on March 2.

"American Hustle," a romp through corruption in the 1970s directed by David O. Russell, was the top winner with three Globes for its seven nominations, while modest AIDS film "Dallas Buyers Club" starring Matthew McConaughey, took home two acting awards for him and co-star Jared Leto.

British director Steve McQueen's brutal depiction of pre-Civil war American slavery in "12 Years a Slave," based on a true story of free black man Solomon Northup who was sold into slavery, only won one award out of its seven nominations. It was entirely shut out from the acting honors, for which it had been a presumed favorite.

But best drama is the top award of the Golden Globes and McQueen thanked actor and producer Brad Pitt, who played a small part in the film but a big role in getting it made. "Without you this movie would never had gotten made, so thank you, wherever you may be," McQueen said.

Among those that left empty-handed were two darlings of critics, the Coen brothers' paean to the 1960s folk scene "Inside Llewyn Davis" and Alexander Payne's homage to the heartland, "Nebraska."

The first big night of the Hollywood awards season is the purview of the 90 some journalists in the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), who wield outsized clout in the awards race as buzz around these honors influences members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in their voting for the Oscars.

Oscar nominations are to be announced on Thursday and "12 Years a Slave" and "American Hustle" are likely to be in the list of 10 nominees for best picture, going head-to-head unlike in the Globes, where they competed in two separate categories.

The Globes have a mixed record when it comes to predicting the Oscar best picture, though last year's best drama winner, "Argo," did go on to win the Academy Award for best movie.

WIDE ARRAY OF RECOGNITION

In a setting more intimate and whimsical than the tightly scripted Oscars, A-listers and powerbrokers pow-wowed over cocktails and returning co-hosts Tina Fey and Amy Poehler poked fun at the most powerful in the glamorous audience.

It was a night in which there seemed to be a prize for most every film, a reflection of a banner year for quality cinema in which critically acclaimed films piled up in the last half of the year.

The top drama acting awards went to Cate Blanchett for her turn as a riches-to-rags socialite in Woody Allen's tragicomedy "Blue Jasmine" and McConaughey for his portrayal of unlikely AIDS activist Ron Woodroof for which he lost 50 pounds (22.7 kg).

"Ron Woodroof's story was an underdog, for years it was an underdog, we couldn't get it made ... I'm so glad it got passed on so many times or it wouldn't have come to me," said McConaughey, widely lauded for a string of strong performances this year.

Russell, who reunited cast members from his previous films, reaped the rewards of loyal actors.

Amy Adams won best actress in a musical or comedy for her role as the conniving partner to a con-man played by Christian Bale in "American Hustle," while Jennifer Lawrence took best supporting actress for her turn as his loopy wife.

"David, you write such amazing roles for women," Adams told the star-studded room as she accepted the award. She starred in Russell's 2010 "The Fighter," while Lawrence won the best actress Oscar last year for his previous film, "Silver Linings Playbook."

DICAPRIO THANKS SCORSESE

The HFPA is known to also reward big Hollywood names and this year Leonardo DiCaprio won best actor in a musical or comedy for his role as a fast-living, drug-popping, swindling stockbroker in the "The Wolf of Wall Street," his fifth collaboration with director Martin Scorsese.

"As the history of cinema unfolds, you will be regarded as one of the great artists of all time," DiCaprio told Scorsese as he accepted the award.

Mexican filmmaker Alfonso Cuaron won best director for his existential space thriller, "Gravity," a film starring Sandra Bullock as an astronaut tumbling through space that has won praise for its groundbreaking technical advances.

Director Spike Jonze took home the Globe for best screenplay for his quirky computer-age comedy "Her," starring Joaquin Phoenix.

The HFPA honored Woody Allen with the Cecil B. DeMille award recognizing outstanding contribution to the entertainment field. Famously averse to awards shows, the 78-year-old Allen sent one of his favorite actresses, Diane Keaton, to stand in for him.

The Golden Globes are also the opening salvo for red carpet fashion, and this year Hollywood's leading ladies appeared to favor shimmery champagne, silver and gold, along with bright reds and vibrant floral shades for their gowns.

In the television awards, "Breaking Bad" won best drama for its offbeat story about a school teacher turned drug kingpin, a show that concluded last year with its much acclaimed fifth and final season.

"This is such a wonderful honor and such a lovely way to say goodbye to the show that meant so much to me," said Bryan Cranston, who accepted the award for best actor in a drama series.