In a somber, off-kilter Paris, mass murder leaves emptiness

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(Cell: 0431 138 537, Email: Saqlain@Dukesrealestate.com) Click here to invest in South Australian Residential Commercial, Rural Properties, Schools & Businesses. Shias holding a vigil tonight at Islamic Center of America in Dearborn for victims in Beirut, Baghdad, Gaza, Paris: pic.twitter.com/YJi5boLlQg =================================== The Paris attacks could be the work of foreign intelligence services in order to “facilitate a NATO strike against Syria,” says a former US Army psychological officer. On Saturday, Daesh (ISIL) claimed responsibility for a series of coordinated attacks in Paris that killed at least 129 people and injured some 352 on Friday night. The terror organization called the attacks “the first of the storm” and denounced France as a “capital of prostitution and obscenity.” In an interview with Press TV, Scott Bennett pointed to two scenarios, arguing that the attacks could be either carried out by ISIL terrorists or “a foreign entity.” They could be “a sort of Zionist Mossad, MI6, CIA operation, or trained fighters that have been trained and financed by the United States and Saudi Arabia and others,” he explained. Bennett said “it’s very possible that this (Paris attacks) was a fabricated assault.” If that is the case, Bennett said, “Then we see a larger pattern, a larger trigger of war which resembles the Gulf of Tonkin (Vietnam War) and the 9/11 attacks. We’re seeing all of this language repeated in the past; we’re seeing the world coming behind the United States after the false-flag attacks of 9/11, and we now see the world coming behind France.” “So this may have been designed to be a false-flag attack in order to shift momentum from the war-footing, ship NATO and the United States, France and the United Kingdom into an offensive position and help get them a moral high ground that they can now use to exploit a buffer or no fly-zone in Syria, they can use this for new sanctions and request for investigations in Iran and they can use this to destabilize Russia,” he added. “The important thing is for Russia, Iran and China to be ahead of that in order to not be blamed for any of this connection because it’s very possible, that if this was a fabricated assault, then it very easily could be claimed on people who are connected with [Syrian President Bashar al-] Assad, or connected with Iran or even with Russia,” he concluded. Observers say while the US and its allies claim they are fighting against terrorist groups like ISIL, they in fact helped create and train those organizations to advance their policies in the Middle East. ================= 14 November 2015 - 19H45 Paris attacks: the possible consequences © AFP / by Adam Plowright | A child holds-up a hand drawn French flag as people gather on November 14, 2015 in Turin, a day after deadly attacks in Paris PARIS (AFP) - The Paris attacks were unprecedented in their scale in France and shocking in their method. The repercussions are likely to be wide and long-lasting. Here are five areas to watch: Syrian peace talks Peace talks to end the Syrian civil war had drifted along for years before a snowballing refugee crisis in Europe this summer and Russia's dramatic entry into the conflict in September gave them new urgency. Given growing evidence of a Syrian link, the attacks in Paris will hike pressure on world leaders to overcome their deep divisions and solve a problem that is a key source of Islamic extremism. "If they?ve done anything they?ve encouraged us today to do even harder work to make progress and to help resolve the crises that we face," US Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday at a second round of peace talks in Vienna. Western military involvement in Syria Some of the Paris attackers were overheard telling hostages the attacks were in retaliation for France's bombing of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria. Paris's air strikes were also referenced by the group in a statement claiming responsibility. In step with increased diplomatic activity, the attacks appear likely to stiffen Western resolve to continue battlefield pressure against Islamic State -- with the risk of being sucked further into the conflict. IS had been on the defensive this week, facing losses to US-backed Kurdish fighters around the town of Sinjar in Iraqi Kurdistan, increased bombing from Russia and the reported death of one of its most infamous executioners, Jihadi John. French President Francois Hollande sounded defiant in his reaction on Saturday, saying he considered the carnage "an act of war" and promising a response that would be "pitiless". European refugee crisis Europe is facing its biggest refugee crisis since the Second World War as hundreds of thousands flee conflicts or oppression in Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan to seek safety overseas. Already facing anti-immigration sentiment, the attacks could further complicate efforts by European governments to persuade their populations to accept this burden. Fears have been regularly stoked by reports that IS operatives could be hiding among the 800,000 migrants who have arrived this year, mostly on the shores of Greece and Italy. Many on the far-right were quick to link the attacks -- so far without foundation -- to the refugee crisis which has distilled fears about the so-called "Islamisation of Europe." Poland's incoming right-wing government said Saturday it would no longer accept refugees under an EU plan to relocate migrants from Greece and Italy to other countries. "After the tragic events of Paris we do not see the political possibility of respecting" the EU quota, announced incoming European affairs minister Konrad Szymanski. Security measures in Europe Already accustomed to seeing heavily armed security forces guarding schools and synagogues since the Charlie Hebdo attacks in January, residents of the French capital will now face an even more muscular presence. An extra 1,500 soldiers were mobilised to reinforce police in Paris on Saturday, while European governments held emergency talks to review their security arrangements. "Last night's attacks suggest a new degree of planning and coordination and a greater ambition for mass casualty attacks," said British Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday. More armed police and visible security checks appear inevitable. 'Borderless' Europe Removing national barriers is a key part of the EU project, with Europeans allowed to travel without passports or visas in the 22-nation Schengen zone. The refugee crisis had already strained this system to breaking point, with a host of countries including Germany and Sweden re-imposing border controls while Austria, Hungary and others are building border fences. EU President Tusk said this week that "saving Schengen is a race against time" but Friday's attacks have already complicated efforts. France, Belgium and Germany stepped up border controls, while any indication that the attackers or their weapons had travelled undetected across European borders would add to calls for more scrutiny over people and goods. by Adam Plowright ============================================ After Paris attacks, pressure builds for big military response to Islamic State WASHINGTON | By Phil Stewart, Warren Strobel and Matt Spetalnick image: http://s4.reutersmedia.net/resources/r/?m=02&d=20151114&t=2&i=1094962411&w=644&fh=&fw=&ll=&pl=&sq=&r=LYNXNPEBAD0OV French military patrol near the Eiffel Tower the day after a series of deadly attacks in Paris , November 14, 2015. REUTERS/Yves Herman French military patrol near the Eiffel Tower the day after a series of deadly attacks in Paris , November 14, 2015. Reuters/Yves Herman The Paris terror attacks are likely to galvanize a stronger global military response to Islamic State, after a U.S.-led air war that has lasted more than a year has failed to contain a group now proving itself to be a growing worldwide threat. The United States, long accused of taking an incremental approach to the struggle, is under growing political pressure at home and abroad to do more and it is expected to examine ways to intensify the campaign, including through expanded air power. U.S. officials say Washington will look in particular to European and Arab allies to step up their military participation in the war in Iraq and Syria. It remains far from clear whether Paris and Washington would be willing to radically expand the scope of their current military engagement, given a deep aversion to getting dragged into a large-scale ground war in the Middle East. But President Barack Obama has been committing more to the fight in recent months, and lawmakers and counter-terrorism experts see the Paris attacks strengthening arguments for additional military might. Islamic State claimed responsibility for Friday's attacks, which killed 129 people in Paris, in the worst bloodshed in France since the end of World War Two. In the past two weeks, there have been other major Islamic State-claimed attacks. Two explosions in suicide attacks in a Shi'ite Muslim district of southern Beirut in Lebanon killed 43, and 224 died when a Russian aircraft crashed in Egypt's Sinai Peninsula. Senator Dianne Feinstein, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, said it had become clear that Obama's strategy of limited air strikes coupled with support for ground forces in Iraq and Syria "are not sufficient to protect our country and our allies." "The fight is quickly spreading outside Iraq and Syria, and that's why we must take the battle to them," Feinstein said. Bruce Riedel, a former senior CIA expert on the region who has advised Obama, said the string of recent attacks had put to rest once and for all the debate whether Islamic State would stay focused on the war in Iraq and Syria. "It is a game changer in this sense: there were those who debated whether the Islamic State would stay focused local – or go global. I think that debate's over now," said Riedel, now at the Brookings Institution. FRENCH CARRIER ON THE WAY Republicans seeking the party's nomination to be its candidate in the 2016 presidential election have also been ratcheting up the pressure after the Paris attacks. One of them, former Florida governor Jeb Bush, said that the Islamic terrorists were engaged in "an organized effort to destroy Western civilization" and the U.S. needed to take the lead against them. "This is the war of our time," Bush told conservative radio talk show host Hugh Hewitt on Friday night. France, which has described the Paris assault as an act of war, can quickly ramp up its contribution to the air campaign against Islamic State targets. Even before the Paris attacks, France had announced that its sole aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, would be deployed to the Middle East, arriving on November 18. "We’re only a matter of days before the French carrier departs and heads to the Persian Gulf to do strikes," said former FBI official Martin Reardon, now with The Soufan Group consultancy. "I think France will do more." Obama, only last month, agreed to send U.S. special operations forces to Syria to coordinate with opposition fighters on the ground - something he had ruled out previously. He also deployed more U.S. aircraft to a base in Incirlik, Turkey. U.S. officials say they are in discussions with allies, including from Arab nations, to also increase their roles in the air campaign. Talks are also underway about whether allies might deploy special operations forces, in Iraq and Syria. Riedel and other former U.S. officials said one quick way the United States and its allies could do damage to Islamic State would be to expand pressure on its leadership. Such pressure has been steadily growing with precision strikes in recent months. The same day as the Paris attacks unfolded, the United State carried out an operation to kill the Islamic State's leader in Libya. A day earlier, it announced the death in Syria of a more symbolic target, striking an Islamic State figure, known as "Jihadi John," who once taunted the West in hostage execution videos. U.S. officials say such strikes show the United States could widen the field of battle. "We're looking at going after ISIL wherever we can hit them," one U.S. official said using another name for the Islamic State. So far, however, the United States has refrained from direct bombardment of known Islamic State headquarters buildings in its self-proclaimed capital of Raqqa, Syria. That, individuals with knowledge of the matter said, is in part because of the risk of large-scale civilian casualties. It remains to be seen whether the self-restraint will continue, and whether the Obama administration will generally loosen rules of engagement for airstrikes that some in Congress and elsewhere have called too restrictive. Another question, officials and analysts said, is whether the United Kingdom will expand the airstrikes and airborne intelligence assets it has already used over Iraq to Syria. London has not struck at Islamic State in Syria and although British Prime Minister David Cameron is said to be eager to take that step, he faces resistance from U.K. lawmakers. "The question is really, will this change the British parliament?" the U.S. official said. (Editing by Martin Howell) Read more at Reutershttp://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/15/us-france-shooting-military-idUSKCN0T31HY20151115#0ZI0chEbcw3PdIPA.99 ========================== By JOHN LEICESTER Nov. 14, 2015 4:32 PM EST A woman reacts as she stands outside Le Carillon restaurant Saturday, Nov. 14, 2015 in Paris.... Read more PARIS (AP) — The indiscriminate taking of so many lives squeezed life out of Paris itself. Not all life but enough to create a sense of emptiness. Although far from extinguished, the City of Light is now unmistakably dimmed. On somber streets, scattered with the dead leaves of autumn, Parisians went through the motions of trying to pick up where they left off before suicide attackers slaughtered 129 people, the latest official count. So much felt wrong and out of kilter. The Eiffel Tower closed and, in doing so, became a 324-meter (1,063-foot) tall symbol of how much is changed. Its glittering lights, so powerful they usually radiate beams far and wide across the city, were also switched off Saturday night in mourning. Disneyland Paris shut its doors. Instead of an Andy Warhol exhibition, the only thing out-of-town visitors Yvette and Guilhem Nougaret saw at the Museum of Modern Art was a sign announcing its closure "because of the circumstances." Shoppers expecting to fill their carts with groceries for the week trundled Saturday to outdoor markets only to find them shuttered and empty, on government orders. Bags of ice that fishmongers would have used to keep wares fresh on their stalls lay unused, melting tears. As they always do, people still sat and smoked at the sidewalk tables of cafes, but did so knowing that dozens were gunned down and killed doing exactly that just hours before. "I wouldn't sit outside," waitress Flora Jobert said as she served a thick espresso, advising her customer to shelter inside. "I mean, you never know." Sirens wailing, blue lights flashing, a police car sped past. "It's been like that all morning," Jobert said. Along with fear, there also was deep and roiling anger. A retired lawyer, a fashion designer, a musician — people interviewed at random — all insisted: Life must go on, no surrender to terror. They clung to those thoughts like lifebuoys. "I'm scared," said Patricia Martinot, a cleaner, who still mustered the courage to take her dog, Dream, out for his morning walk and reported to work at dawn, traveling through unusually empty streets. She looked battered, but not bowed. "The TV has been on all night," Martinot said. "I haven't slept." On subdued Metro and suburban trains, passengers stared into the distance, lost in thought. Cesar Combelle, a bass guitarist, was awakened Saturday morning by his sister, who called him panicked, thinking he might have been among at least 89 concert-goers killed at the Bataclan hall, where witnesses described floors running with blood and bodies piled on top of each other. "I feel like we're descending back into the Middle Ages, that we're slipping back into religious war," said Combelle as he headed into the city center for band practice. "What really worries me are the political consequences and the military response that's going to lead us to war." But in the face of such blind hate proudly claimed and celebrated by the Islamic State group, Parisians also were defiant. Outside the Bataclan, a man on a bike towing a piano emblazoned with a peace sign stopped and played John Lennon's "Imagine." Then, after a smattering of applause, he rode off again. Video of the poignant moment made the rounds on social media, shared like a beacon of hope and resilience against darkness. A graphic image of the Eiffel Tower as a peace symbol went viral. At an impromptu shrine of flowers at the Bataclan, a hand-written message declared: "Know this, terrorists: The French fight those who steal away life." For many, this spree of six attacks by three apparently coordinated attack teams felt different, more visceral, than the massacres at Charlie Hebdo magazine and a kosher supermarket in January that killed 20, including three shooters. Not just because the death toll was so much higher, but because these killings were viciously indiscriminate, turning life and death into a lottery, with victims simply in the wrong place at the wrong time, gunned down and blown up seemingly at random as they unwound from the week on a Friday night — sipping beers on sidewalks, sitting in cafes and watching American rock band Eagles of Death Metal perform. Three suicide bombers also detonated their explosive vests outside the national Stade de France stadium, where France's soccer team was playing an exhibition match against Germany. By shooting journalists who ran cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, the Charlie Hebdo gunmen targeted France's mind, assaulting values of free expression that the French cherish. Friday's suicide attackers — a new strain of terrorist for France — landed more of a blow to the heart by massacring people who were simply out having fun. "It is unbridled barbarity," said Michel Touffait, a retired lawyer who looked visibly shell-shocked. Finding his local market and bank closed in the state of emergency and its ATM machine empty unsettled him even more. "The president says we're at war," he whispered. "It's terrifying." Choosing a rock concert at the Bataclan and the hipster 10th and 11th districts of the city — places for in-the-know Parisians, instead of more obvious tourist spots — as their killing zones suggested that at least some of the seven attackers, now all dead, must have known the French capital or scoped it out intimately. That insider knowledge made the attacks more personal, suggesting to Parisians that enemies are in their midst, not thousands of miles (kilometers) away in the Middle East and Africa where France's military is actively involved in fighting extremism. Paris prosecutor Francois Molins said one of the Bataclan hostage-takers was born in France. The rampages also injured 352 people, 99 of them in critical condition. "What's very scary is that this time it was against public areas, anonymous people. It wasn't at all directed. It was just against 'the French.' We all could have been on the sidewalk of a cafe or at a concert," said Etienne Jeanson, a fashion designer who purposely didn't cancel an outdoor photo shoot on a swanky boulevard Saturday because "we're not going to stop our way of life just because of some big bastards." Eyes burning with anger, he said President Francois Hollande must redouble the fight against the Islamic State. "Just blow it all up," he said. "When there's gangrene, you have to treat it. Cut the leg off." ================= Obama says twisted ideology behind attack on civilized world By JOSH LEDERMAN and JULIE PACE Nov. 15, 2015 5:53 AM EST U.S. President Barack Obama waves as he arrives in Antalya, Turkey, Sunday, Nov. 15 2015 for the... Read more ANTALYA, Turkey (AP) — President Barack Obama pledged Sunday to redouble U.S. efforts eliminate the Islamic State and end the Syrian civil war that has fueled its rise, denouncing the extremist group's horrifying terror spree in Paris as "an attack on the civilized world." Opening two days of talks with world leaders in Turkey, Obama pledging U.S. solidarity with France in the effort to hunt down the perpetrators and bring them to justice. He said "the skies have been darkened" by the horrifying terror spree, but offered no details about what the U.S. or its coalition partners might do to step up its assault against the extremist group. "The killing of innocent people, based on a twisted ideology, is an attack not just on France, not just on Turkey, but it's an attack on the civilized world," Obama said after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. In addition to the Paris attacks, IS is blamed for two bombings in Turkey this year that killed about 130 people. The specter of the Islamic State threat and Syria's civil war hanged over the Turkish seaside city of Antalya as Obama and other leaders descended for the Group of 20 summit of leading rich and developing nations. Although the overlapping crises were already on the lineup for the two days of talks, they were thrust to the forefront by elaborately coordinated attacks that killed 129 in the French capital just two days earlier, in the most destructive attack in the West blamed on the extremist group. World leaders gathering for the G-20 are looking to answer a critical question: Beyond tough talk, how will the world respond to bloodshed now extending far beyond the Islamic State group's foothold in the Middle East? Leaders in Europe, the U.S. and beyond have pledged to step up the response, with French President Francois Hollande vowing a "merciless" war on the Islamic State. Yet despite plenty of tough talk, there were few signs of an emerging consensus about exactly what that means. Asked by reporters whether he would consider additional action against IS following the Paris attacks, Obama declined to tip his hand. Obama's meeting with Erdogan came at the start of a 9-day trip to Turkey, the Philippines and Malaysia that has already been largely overshadowed by Friday's attacks in Paris and the related issues of Syria's civil war and the resulting migrant crisis. Obama said the U.S. stands with Turkey and Europe in the effort to reduce the flow of migrants, and Erdogan predicted a "strong message" on fighting terrorism would result from the summit. ============================================================= Sun Nov 15, 2015 | 9:16 PM EST France launches air strikes in Syria; Paris investigation widens 7:25 PM EST | 01:13 France launches air strikes in Syria France launches air strikes in Syria; Paris invest...X By Emmanuel Jarry and Robert-Jan Bartunek PARIS/BRUSSELS (Reuters) - French warplanes pounded Islamic State positions in Syria on Sunday as police in Europe widened their investigations into coordinated attacks in Paris that killed more than 130 people. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for Friday's suicide bombings and shootings, which have re-ignited a row over Europe's refugee crisis and drawn calls to block a huge influx of Muslim asylum-seekers. French police have launched an international hunt for a Belgian-born man they believe helped organize the assaults with two of his brothers. One of the brothers died in the attacks, while the second one is under arrest in Belgium, a judicial source said. A further two French suicide attackers have been identified, police said, while the identity of four other assailants, who all died in the violence, was still under review. France has been bombing Islamic State positions in Iraq and Syria for months as part of a U.S.-led operation. Following Friday's mayhem, Paris vowed to destroy the group. Underlining its resolve, French jets on Sunday launched their biggest raids in Syria to date, hitting its stronghold in Raqqa. "The raid ... including 10 fighter jets, was launched simultaneously from the United Arab Emirates and Jordan. Twenty bombs were dropped," the Defense Ministry said. Among the targets were a munitions depot and training camp, it said. There was no word on casualties or the damage inflicted. The Paris attacks were seen causing a short-term selloff in global stock markets on Monday, but few strategists expected a prolonged economic impact or change in prevailing market directions. SEVEN HELD IN BELGIUM The investigation into Friday's attacks, the worst atrocity in France since World War Two, led swiftly to Belgium after police discovered that two of the cars used by the Islamist militants had been rented in the Brussels region. By Sunday, Belgian officials said they had arrested seven people in Brussels. But one of the people who had hired the cars slipped through the fingers of the police. He was pulled over on the French-Belgian border on Saturday, but later released. Police named the man they were seeking as Salah Abdeslam, saying the 26-year-old was "dangerous". Although he was born in Brussels, French authorities said he was a French national. "The abject attacks that hit us on Friday were prepared abroad and mobilized a team in Belgium that benefited ... from help in France," French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told reporters after meeting his Belgian counterpart in Paris. Stunned by the carnage, thousands of people thronged to makeshift memorials at four of the sites where the attacks took place, laying flowers and lighting candles to remember the dead. Two more Frenchmen identified as Paris attackers: prosecutor French Muslims fear repercussions from Paris attacks Paris attacks: an international joint venture in violence "We are living a nightmare," said Caroline Pallut, whose 37-year-old cousin Maud Serrault died when gunmen attacked the Bataclan concert hall, killing at least 89 people -- the bloodiest single incident on Friday night. "It is all so senseless. She had only just got married." The death toll rose to 132, with three more people dying on Sunday from their wounds. Some 103 have been identified, including many young people and many foreigners, out relaxing on a Friday night in one of the world's most visited cities. In a sign that at least one gunman might have escaped, a source close to the investigation said a Seat car believed to have been used by the attackers had been found in the eastern Paris suburb of Montreuil with three Kalashnikov rifles inside. ATTACKER NAMED Police have formally named just one of the attackers: Ismael Omar Mostefai, 29, from Chartres, southwest of Paris. He was identified by the print from one of his fingers that was severed when his suicide vest exploded. French media named the two other French assailants as Bilal Hadfi and Ibrahim Abdeslam. RELATED VIDEO Video 00:46 Seven people detained following raids in Brussels: Belgian prosecutors Video 00:58 Obama: Paris attacks an "attack on the civilized world" Video 01:13 World shows solidarity after Paris attacks Police said they had found a Syrian passport near one of the other dead gunmen. Greece said the passport holder had crossed from Turkey to the Greek islands last month and then registered for asylum in Serbia before heading north, following a route taken by hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers this year. The news revived a furious a row within the European Union on how to handle the flood of refugees. Top Polish and Slovak officials poured cold water on an EU plan to relocate asylum seekers across the bloc, saying the violence underlined their concerns about taking in Muslim refugees. Bavarian allies of German Chancellor Angela Merkel called for a reversal of her "open-door" refugee policy, saying the attacks underlined the need for tougher controls. "The days of uncontrolled immigration and illegal entry can't continue just like that. Paris changes everything," Bavarian finance minister Markus Soeder told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper. France has declared three days of national mourning and President Francois Hollande will make a rare address to the joint upper and lower houses of parliament on Monday at the Palace of Versailles, just outside Paris. JITTERY MOOD Related Coverage Stunned for a day, Parisians return to square of solidarity Hundreds flee gathering in central Paris in apparent false alarm France calls EU meeting to boost cross-border security Canada sticks to refugee plan but security pressures mount after Paris attacks Illustrating the jittery mood in the French capital, hundreds of people gathered at a makeshift memorial in Place de la Republique scattered in panic on Sunday night when they thought shots had rung out. It was a false alarm, police said. Speaking in Vienna, Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari said his country's intelligence services had shared information indicating that France, the United States and Iran were among countries at risk of an attack. At a G20 summit in Turkey, U.S. President Barack Obama vowed to step up efforts to eliminate Islamic State and prevent it carrying out attacks like those in Paris. EU leaders urged Russia to focus its military efforts on the radical Islamists. France was the first European state to join U.S. air strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq, in September 2014, while a year later it extended its air strikes to Syria. Russia began its own air campaign in Syria in October, but has been targeting mainly areas controlled by other groups opposed to its ally, President Bashar al-Assad, Moscow's critics say. France had already been on high alert since Islamist gunmen stormed the satirical weekly Charlie Hebdo and a kosher supermarket in Paris in January, killing 17 people. Those attacks briefly united France in defense of freedom of speech, with a mass demonstration of more than a million people. But far-right populist Marine Le Pen is now making gains by blaming France's security problems on immigration and Islam. "By spreading out migrants through the villages and towns of France, there is a fear that terrorists will take advantage of these population flows to hit out at us," she said after meeting the French president on Sunday. (Additional reporting by Matthias Blamont, John Irish, Leigh Thomas, Ingrid Melander, Michael Nienaber, Matt Spetalnick, Dasha Afanasieva, Stephen Kalin, Saif Hameed, Anthony Paone, Marine Pennetier, Barbara Lewis, Robert-Jan Bartunek, Claire Watson and Rodrigo Campos; Writing by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Philippa Fletcher and Kevin Liffey)