· Prime minister agrees to postpone building plans
· Some concessions made in private, say diplomats

The Israeli prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, last night caved into US demands over the Middle East peace process, opening the way for a resumption of talks with the Palestinians.

It was a humiliating climbdown for Netanyahu after a week of pressure from the Barack Obama administration.

Netanyahu, in a telephone call to the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, who was in Moscow for Middle East talks, agreed to various demands she had set out last Friday.

In a statement from his office, he said he proposed, as Clinton had demanded, "confidence-building steps" that would make it easier for the Palestinians to join the talks. He did not specify what these would be but these could include easing Israeli roadblocks in the West Bank, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from more parts of the West Bank and the release of Palestinian prisoners.

He did not announce, as the US had demanded, a freeze on the construction of Jewish homes in Ramat Shlomo, in East Jerusalem, the key point at issue.

But diplomats in Washington, Moscow and Jerusalem said Netanyahu had given a private promise that there will be a temporary freeze on any new construction. The work, while not cancelled, is to be postponed for several years.

The Israeli ambassador to the US, Michael Oren, told the Washington Post: "The goal of both sides at this point is to put this behind us, and go forward with the proximity talks as quickly as possible."

The concessions bring to an end a rare clash between the US and Israel which began early last week when the US vice-president, Joe Biden, made a visit to Israel to coincide with what he hoped would be a resumption of peace talks.

But during his visit Israel announced a plan to build 1,600 Jewish homes in East Jerusalem. The Palestinians promptly pulled out off the proposed talks and the US described the Israeli announcement as a snub and an insult.

Clinton last Friday had a tense 41-minute phone call with Netanyahu expressing US anger and set out her demands: confidence-building measures, a moratorium on new construction in East Jerusalem, and a promise that the resumption of negotiations would be on matters of substance, not just talks about talks.

There was no indication last night whether Netanyahu had agreed to the latter, but it is unlikely, given the events of last week, that the US would have settled for anything less.

Diplomats said that some of the concessions by Netanyahu were being made public and others were being kept private, partly as a face-saving exercise for the Israeli prime minister.

The climbdown is politically awkward for Netanyahu, coming only days after he publicly said that no Israeli government in the past 42 years had given a promise not to build in East Jerusalem, and he will face criticism, particularly from his rightwing coalition partners.

He held a long meeting with cabinet colleagues on Wednesday night to discuss the concessions he would have to make.

Obama and Clinton stand to gain from the Israeli retreat, which will heighten their reputation among the Palestinians and in the Arab world. Obama and Clinton were left looking weak after a similar stand-off with Israel last September when peace talks failed to get under way.

The US Middle East envoy, George Mitchell, had cancelled a trip to Israel earlier this week in protest, but is to resume his visit on Sunday. Clinton is to see Netanyahu in Washington next week.

A US state department spokesman, PJ Crowley, said Clinton and Netanyahu had discussed "specific steps" to improve the outlook for Middle East peace talks. Netanyahu's spokesman, Nir Chefetz, said the prime minister had proposed "mutual confidence-building steps" that both Israel and the Palestinians could take.

• Israel
• Palestinian territories
• United States
• Binyamin Netanyahu
• Hillary Clinton

Ask MAKE is a weekly column where we answer reader questions, like yours. Write them in to mattm@makezine.comor drop us a line on Twitter. We can't wait to tackle your conundrums!

Liz writes:

I'd like to install an outdoor wired (or wireless) low light stationary camera outside my residence - I'd like it to annunciate to a mirror sort of similar to the rear view mirror camera that only activates once the vehicle is in reverse. Is there a way to develop a mirror capable of switching to the camera on cue by using a light switch or something along those lines? The "mirror" would be located adjacent to my front door and framed aesthetically as it's primary role would essentially be a mirror until you needed to access the camera. Thank you in advance for giving us a heads up!

Oh, that sounds like a fun project! You can't really buy a mirror that can be turned on or off (at least to my knowledge). Instead, what you want is a 'one-way' or half-silvered mirror. These are the kind of mirror that you might see featured in a movie about an interrogation room, where observers can hide in an an adjacent room and look through.

The mirror doesn't really only allow light to pass in one direction, though. Instead, it has a fine metal coating on it that reflects one half of the light that goes through it, and lets the other half pass through as if it were a regular pane of glass. The trick is that the secret observation room is kept much darker than the investigation room, so that any light that does make it the wrong way through the mirror is overpowered by the reflection from the main room. If the observers mistakenly turned on their lights (or lit a cigarette), the people in the investigation room would be able to see them!

If you build a little cabinet to hide the display for your camera, and put a piece of one-way mirror glass over the front, then I think you will get the effect that you want. To be able to see the feed from the camera, just turn on the display, and it will instantly visible. Look for TV mirror glass- it's a product designed to do exactly what you are looking for. I was able to find a few manufacturers that are selling small sample sizes for ~$20, which should be more than adequate for a small camera monitor. Good luck with your project!

Papers reveal Tory campaign to keep peer's tax privileges

William Hague was said to be aware 10 years ago of a deal struck by senior Tories that eventually resulted in Lord Ashcroft secretly remaining a non-dom after obtaining his peerage, according to official documents released today.

Hague, the former leader of the Conservative party who had been lobbying for the billionaire to secure a seat in the House of Lords, has repeatedly insisted that he was only told earlier this year that Ashcroft was a non-dom, and therefore not paying full UK tax on all his earnings.

But previously confidential parliamentary correspondence published today showed that Hague's chief whip, James Arbuthnot, was instrumental in lobbying for Ashcroft not to have to give up tax privileges on his massive overseas earnings – despite assurances given by Hague that he would pay "tens of millions" to the Treasury.

The papers also include a letter from Arbuthnot which suggests that Hague was fully aware of the deal between the Cabinet Office and Ashcroft.

This raises fresh questions for Hague, the shadow foreign secretary, who was forced to speak about the issue today for the first time after some of the documents were leaked to the BBC. He has denied being aware of the full details of the deal.

After a decade of refusing to clarify his tax status, Ashcroft revealed three weeks ago that he was a non-dom, appearing to contradict assurances made on his behalf by Hague, who fought hard to secure his seat in the Lords 10 years ago.

The political honours scrutiny committee repeatedly made it clear that Ashcroft's elevation was dependent on him giving a promise that he would return to the UK and become a UK taxpayer. The peerage was agreed after Ashcroft gave a "solemn and binding undertaking" in writing that he would become permanently resident in the UK. Instead of becoming a permanent resident, however, he became a "long term resident" – a distinction that allowed him to avoid paying UK income tax on all his worldwide earnings.

The correspondence released today by the public administration committee revealed for the first time that Arbuthnot was deeply involved in the negotiations that led to the downgrading of Ashcroft's undertaking.

Arbuthnot, who was said to be acting as an intermediary for Ashcroft, insisted that the billionaire – under the terms of the assurances he had given – could take up his seat in the Lords despite not being domiciled in the UK for tax purposes.

Sir Hayden Phillips, a senior civil servant, eventually agreed with Arbuthnot in July 2000 that Ashcroft needed only to become a long-term resident in order to comply with the undertakings he had given. In turn, Arbuthnot replied within hours, saying: "I confirm that I agree with your understanding of the position." He added: "The leader of the opposition is satisfied that the action adequately meets the terms of Michael Ashcroft's undertaking to take up permanent residence in the UK."

The terms of that deal shocked members of the political honours scrutiny committee. Lady Dean, one of the two surviving members of the committee, said today: "We were continually of the view that Lord Ashcroft would maintain his undertaking to take up permanent residence ... It looks like the commitments and undertakings given were not carried through."

The papers released today also show the scrutiny committee was determined that Ashcroft should honour the assurances he had given. The secretary of the committee had even suggested the businessman might be asked to show copies of Inland Revenue forms as proof that he was a full UK taxpayer; the IR Form P86, denoting arrival in the UK, and IR DOM1, proving he had become domiciled and would pay full tax. It repeatedly asked for evidence that this had been done before the undertaking was revised. The documents also show that all parties emphasised Ashcroft should live in the UK to become a full working peer and attend parliament regularly. But his Lords records show he has not spoken in a debate in the last year and has attended only 15% of votes.

A spokesman for Hague insisted tonight that he had delegated the issue to his chief whip. "He didn't know any of the details [in 2000]. He asked James Arbuthnot to deal with the issue and make sure Downing Street was satisfied. He did. That was it," he said. However, Hague did concede today that he should not have promised that Ashcroft would pay tens of millions of tax.

The foreign secretary David Miliband said that the letters proved that Hague was "intimately" involved in the process. He said: "It is now clear there has been a decade of deception at the top of the Conservative party and I repeat my call ... that David Cameron sacks Lord Ashcroft."

• Michael Ashcroft
• Conservatives
• William Hague
• Party funding
• House of Lords

• Museveni criticised for not signing bill into law
• Will new law impact on rural communities?

The Ugandan president, Yoweri Museveni, has been criticised for not signing a domestic violence bill into law.

Alice Alaso, the secretary general of the Forum for Democratic Change (FDC), the main opposition party in Uganda, said the president had yet to give the bill assent, despite it being passed by parliament. It was given the green light by the cabinet more than a year ago. Alaso said this meant women's rights were continuing to be undermined in Uganda.

"We have passed several laws which the president has assented to, except for the domestic violence law, yet women have continued to be abused," she said.

During celebrations to mark International Women's Day in Katine last week, the state minister for youth and children's affairs, Jessica Alupo, said the delay was because the president was still studying the bill. Apparently sections of the bill have been opposed, although she did not elaborate on which sections.

The bill will afford legal protection to people in abusive relationships for the first time.

Currently, most women have no say in affairs relating to their home life, and many have lost their lives through domestic violence.

The bill is intended to protect sufferers of domestic violence, punish perpetrators and set guidelines for courts on the protection and compensation of abused women.

The bill defines a domestic relationship as "a family relationship, a relationship akin to a family relationship or one in a domestic setting that exists or existed between a victim and a perpetrator". These relationships include those between spouses, relatives and between householders and domestic workers.

According to figures from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics in 2007, 68% of married women aged 15 to 49 had experienced some form of violence inflicted by their spouse or intimate partner.

According to the 2006 Uganda Law Reform Commission study, domestic violence is most common in northern Uganda, where it was reported to have occurred in 78% of homes. Most women do not report cases of domestic violence to authorities and police rarely intervene or investigate.

Often women are reluctant to file a complaint for fear of reprisal, embarrassment, poverty, ignorance of the law or not knowing where to report abuse.

A report published on the Refworld website, citing figures from various sources, found that 60% of men and 70% of women in Uganda condone "wife beating" if, for example a woman burns food or refuses sex.

In rural areas like Katine, where the African Medical and Research Foundation (Amref) is implementing a development project funded by Guardian readers and Barclays, cases of domestic violence are often handled among the community, rather than by the police. In most cases this means women are returned home to their partners. Often parish leaders are initially brought in to settle disputes between couples. More serious cases are passed on to sub-county leaders or the district gender officer, who may encourage police involvement.

Cases of domestic violence have hindered women's emancipation in Katine, said Christine Agwero, a women's representative on the Katine sub-county council. Often women do not attend meetings or take up leadership positions because they are threatened by their husbands, she said.

Speaking at International Women's Day, Agwero asked the government to protect women and provide them opportunities to empower themselves economically.

At the mid-term workshop held in Soroti last year to discuss progress in Katine, Agwero voiced her concerns about the lack of women in attendance and the threat of violence some face when they want to get involved.

"Seriously, we need to bring women on board to participate in committees. It needs both parties... we need to move together to bring development," she said.

She explained that a major obstacle to women taking a more active role was lack of education, which affected their confidence. "If not well educated, women fear answering questions [in meetings]."

She added: "Women are busy, but not so busy. Some men don't feel women should be at the meetings because they will have to take care of children if women go."

The workshop heard from other attendees that women had been beaten up by their husbands for attending village savings and loans associations, which have had a positive impact on women's lives in the sub-county, given them a means to save and invest money.

Alaso said that the longer the delay in implementing the law, the worse the situation will get for women in rural communities.

Once the law is passed, it will be up to local government officials to ensure it is interpreted correctly in their communities and that men and women know their rights.

• Women
• Governance
• Politics and history
• News
• Uganda

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Nigeria's acting president, Goodluck Jonathan, has announced the dissolution of the country's cabinet.

C'est dire le chemin parcouru. Il y a tout juste un an, le cabinet de Christine Albanel qualifiait de "cinq gus dans un garage qui font des mails à la chaîne" les membres de la Quadrature du Net, lorsqu'ils s'opposaient au projet de loi création et internet sur la riposte graduée. Précédemment, la ministre de la Culture elle-même avait estimé que seuls des "groupuscules" s'opposaient à l'Hadopi.

Quentin Dickinson, mon collègue de Radio France, et moi-même venons d'être distingué par le prix Richelieu pour notre défense, "contre vents et marées, de la pratique du français dans l'environnement résolument anglophone des institutions européennes". Ce prix, décerné par l'association "Défense de la langue française" et qui récompense chaque année des journalistes, nous sera remis le 27 mars, à Paris, à l'Institut de France, par Angelo Rinaldi, de l'Académie française. C'est chic, non? C'est la première fois que des journalistes couvrant l'actualité européenne sont ainsi distingué, ce qui montre à quel point l'unilinguisme anglophone menace la diversité culturelle de l'Europe, alors que sa préservation est un élément central du projet européen. Dans le cadre de la semaine de la francophonie, voici une version longue du papier que j'ai publié mercredi dans Libération.

En quelques années, la retraite ordonnée du français dans les institutions européennes s’est transformée en sauve-qui-peut et l’anglais règne en maître presque incontesté à Bruxelles. On note bien ici ou là quelques îlots de résistance (comme à la Cour de justice de l’UE), mais la capitulation sans condition finale ne fait guère de doute. « La langue de l’Europe, c’est la traduction », a dit Umberto Eco. « La langue de l’Union, c’est l’anglais », lui fait écho Bruxelles.

Désormais, les documents qui sortent en français de la Commission représentent moins de 20 % des textes, le reste étant en anglais. Des services entiers, comme la direction générale économie et finance (DG Ecfin) ou celle de la concurrence, ne travaillent plus qu’en anglais. Alors que la salle de presse de la Commission est censée être bilingue français-anglais, seuls les communiqués de presse d’une page sont encore traduits (et souvent avec retard) alors que tous les documents de fond sont uniquement en anglais. On en est même à changer les noms pour effacer toute trace d’une autre langue que l’anglais: la direction générale « transport » est devenue « move » et le Parlement européen a supprimé la signalétique en français de son hémicycle strasbourgeois.

Le site internet de l’Union comporte de plus en plus de pages uniquement anglophones et les sites des agences sont, pour la plupart, en anglais « only » (Europol, Eurojust, l’Agence européenne de l’armement, l’Agence de sécurité alimentaire, etc.). La Banque centrale européenne, pourtant sise à Francfort et dotée d’un président français, en la personne de Jean-Claude Trichet, ne travaille qu’en anglais, alors que la Grande-Bretagne n’est pas membre de la zone euro. L’Eurocorps lui-même, qui ne compte pourtant aucun soldat anglophone de naissance, a choisi de ne plus parler qu’anglais...

Cet unilinguisme se traduit par un privilège exorbitant accordé aux médias anglophones, qui disposent d’un avantage concurrentiel sans pareil, et désormais aux anglophones de naissance. Ainsi, sur 27 chefs de cabinet de commissaires, 6 sont « native english speaker » (contre 2 francophones) et sur 35 porte-paroles de la Commission nommés, 13 « native » (contre 5 francophones de naissance). Pour la première fois, la Commission a même recruté un porte-parole américain... À terme, il vaudra mieux être Néo-Zélandais ou Australien pour travailler dans les institutions qu’Espagnol, Polonais ou Français.

A la demande de la Chambre de Commerce Internationale (CCI), le cabinet TERA Consultant a livré une étude sur le poids de l'industrie créative dans l'économie européenne, et l'impact du piratage sur l'emploi à horizon 2015. Son scénario le plus pessimiste prévoit 1,2 millions de pertes d'emplois en cinq ans. Le plus optimiste 611 000 emplois perdus. Mais quelle crédibilité faut-il lui accorder ?

Hydrogen peroxide, H2O2, is not something most people normally think of as "fuel." After all, it's got no carbon in it. Most people know that, as an oxidizer, it can enhance the burning rate of fuels, but the familiar "fire triangle" teaches us that combustion requires both an oxidizer and a fuel, plus a source of ignition, to get started. Turns out, depending on how concentrated it is, hydrogen peroxide can, under the right conditions, explode all on its own. The 3% aqueous solution in your medicine cabinet is completely safe, but the hazards increase rapidly as the amount of H2O2 goes up and the amount of H2O goes down. Up around 85% peroxide, the stuff is literally rocket fuel, and its spontaneous decomposition in the presence of a catalyst like, say, metallic silver or manganese dioxide, happens incredibly fast. The rocket motor in Wendell Moore's famous Bell Rocket Belt (Wikipedia) operated on this principle.

Shown above is a video of the Dragonfly DF1, an experimental aircraft under development by Swisscopter US. Instead of a traditional gasoline engine, the Dragonfly has peroxide-powered rocket engines on the tips of its main blades, with a mechanical take-off to drive the tail-rotor. Large tanks of high-test peroxide supposedly provide 50 minutes of flight at 40 mph.

So why would anyone want a helicopter that works this way? Turns out an H2O2 rocket motor is vastly simpler than a gasoline engine, mechanically, and thus (at least theoretically) less failure-prone, and therefore safer. All you need to make an H2O2 rocket is a tank of high-test peroxide, another tank of inert gas to pressurize it, and a nozzle with a silver-coated screen to spray the stuff through. [via DVICE]