Syrian opposition groups dispute number of dead but residents claim new type of artillery shell is being used against restive city

Syrian forces persisted with one of the deadliest attacks of the 11-month uprising on Sunday, pounding parts of Homs even as residents combed through rubble looking for victims of a sustained barrage over the weekend that killed dozens, if not scores of people.

Homs residents said the flashpoint area of Bab al-Amr was under sustained attack throughout the afternoon, with up to six people killed. There was also a renewed bombardment of the nearby neighbourhood of Khalidiyeh, centre on Friday night of one of the most violent assaults thus far by Bashar al-Assad's forces.

Residents were still trying to come to terms with the savage firepower aimed at their district during a six-hour barrage early on Saturday.

"We counted 300 explosions, at least, in that time," said a Bab al-Amr resident, who calls himself Omar Shakir. "There was nothing we could do for the people there, there are two regime checkpoints between us and them. And today it was our turn."

Mortars fired from an elevated area around a mile and a half away accounted for almost all of Friday nights casualties. The numbers of dead are disputed. A hospital in Homs and two Syrian opposition groups say 250-300 may have died. A third group, the Local Co-ordination Council said the toll may be 50-60. Either way, with many civilians caught up in the onslaught, including women and children, it was an offensive that marked a grim low point in the confrontation between Assad's forces and the protesters and armed deserters now ranged against him.

Residents said a new weapon was being used ? possibly artillery shells, which have a distinctive whine as they approach their target. "They are very unusual sounds, the explosions," said Shakir.

"We have not heard them before in Bab al-Amr. And we have heard a lot of explosions here."

A Khalidiyeh resident, Fadi, said local people had been able to leave their homes to bury the dead and look for survivors.

"There was random shooting into civilian areas. It was indiscriminate and it went on for six hours. The smell in the streets is completely awful," he said. "The blood is everywhere and it is difficult to find all the parts of the people."

Videos posted on the internet purported to show men digging makeshift graves in which to bury unclaimed body parts.

"We were not expecting that the Syrian army would attack in this way," said Fadi of the mounting horror as Friday night's bombardment intensified. "We thought it was some kind of exaggeration that would be over soon, but the explosions kept coming and coming."

By daybreak, the small neighbourhood, which had been closed off to regime forces by the Free Syrian Army lay in partial ruins, with the roofs of numerous buildings pancaked onto the floors below. Dozens of people are still believed to be trapped, with residents having no equipment other than shovels with which to rescue them.

A hospital in a rebel-held area of Homs was also reported to have been hit with at least one mortar round , causing extensive damage to part of a ward.

The Syrian government has denied bombarding Homs and says "terrorist gangs" are responsible for the deaths. Syrian officials say some of the bodies had been kidnapped by opposition elements who had killed them in an attempt to persuade Syria's allies, Russia and China, to move against them in the UN security council.

"They are stupid to suggest that we have mortars like that," said the brother of one man linked to the Free Syria Army, which is comprised mainly of defectors carrying light weapons they used while serving in the regular military.

"Anyone who knows anything about military operations knows that mortars are fired from a fixed position (and are) easy to track by radar, or even through lenses. They can be destroyed by artillery, or helicopters within minutes. This went on for six hours."

Mitt Romney now clear favourite to win Republican presidential nomination after winning three out five opening contests

Newt Gingrich scrambled on Sunday to keep his presidential bid alive after a heavy defeat in the Nevada caucus, vowing as a conservative to hound frontrunner Mitt Romney to the last.

But the exit polls in Nevada showed Gingrich's support among the very conservative and among evangelicals bleeding away, as Republican voters of various shades latch on to Romney as the best prospect of beating Barack Obama.

Romney took 48% in Nevada, a more than twice Gingrich's 23%. Ron Paul was not far behind with 18.5%, and Rick Santorum fourth with 11%.

Nevada establishes Romney as the clear favourite for the nomination, coming after his decisive win in Florida and taken with what is expected to be a run of wins in six other states scheduled to vote this month. He has now won three out of five opening contests.

Gingrich abandoned the usual post-results speech for a press conference during which he angrily accused Romney of running a ruthless and dishonest campaign, dismissing rumours he was about to quit. Gingrich said he would fight all the way to the nomination convention in Florida in August, arguing that his more conservative philosophy would ultimately appeal over Romney's "moderate" policies.

Elaborating on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday, Gingrich said Romney's record on abortion, gun control and taxes would disqualify him in the minds of conservatives.

"My goal over the next few weeks is to draw a very sharp distinction between Romney's positions, which the Wall Street Journal described as timid and, in terms of tax policies, as being like Obama."

"The challenge is to say: do you really want to go in to a fall election with a moderate candidate? The last two times we nominated a moderate ? 1996 and 2008 ? we lost badly. A conservative candidate can offer a much greater contrast with President [Barack] Obama."

Gingrich acknowledged that the coming votes would be difficult, but said that his goal is to keep the campaign alive until Super Tuesday on 6 March when several conservative states are among 10 having contests, and he is "in much more favourable territory".

"We want to get to Georgia, to Alabama, to Tennessee, to Texas. We believe by the time Texas is over [in April], we'll be very, very competitive in delegate count. The key from my standpoint is to make this a big choice campaign," he said.

But Gingrich faces a struggle to reestablish himself as a credible candidate. Exit polls showed support falling away among conservatives, evangelicals and Tea Party supporters who delivered him victory in South Carolina and Florida; in Nevada they swung heavily towards Romney.

However, the polls also showed little enthusiasm for Romney. Four out of 10 Republican voters in Nevada said they were principally focused on getting Obama out of the White House, suggesting many are prepared to compromise some ideological beliefs to back the man they best believe can do that. Romney is also more trusted on the economy.

In Nevada, Gingrich painted himself as the anti-establishment candidate, taking on not just Washington but the leadership of his own party.

"I was surprised by the degree to which the establishment has closed ranks and made quite clear that they're desperate over the prospect of a Gingrich presidency," he said.

Gingrich may also find his single most important source of support drying up. The New York Times reported that the billionaire casino magnate Sheldon Adelson, who has spent at least $10m on attack adverts for Gingrich, has he will back Romney if it is clear he will be the nominee.

Gingrich previously revived his campaign with strong performances in television debates, which helped his victory in the South Carolina primary, before Romney hit back hard in debates in Florida. However, there are no more debates until next month.

In his victory speech in Las Vegas, Romney, a former governor of Massachusetts, referred to his having won in Nevada during what turned out to be his failed bid for president four years ago, but said that this time it would be different: "This time I'm going to take it to the White House."

UN report says Kase Lawal knew he was dealing with the wanted warlord Bosco Ntaganda

A US trade adviser appointed by Barack Obama orchestrated a deal to buy gold worth millions of dollars from a wanted Congolese warlord, according to a UN report.

Kase Lawal, a Nigerian-born US oil tycoon, transferred millions of dollars to the notorious rebel leader Bosco Ntaganda between December 2010 and February 2011 as part of the deal, the report by the UN's Group of Experts on the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) states.

If true, this would be a contravention of UN resolutions banning individuals or organisations from financing illegal armed groups in the wartorn eastern DRC.

The UN report says Lawal, the chairman and chief executive of the Houston-based oil firm Camac, was aware he was paying Ntaganda.

Obama put Lawal on the US advisory committee for trade and policy negotiations in September 2010, just months before the deal with Ntaganda.

All efforts to reach Lawal failed. Camac said it had no comment on the allegations, but said: "Camac is a law-abiding company and we disagree with the representations made in the report." The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

Ntaganda has been wanted by the international criminal court (ICC) since an arrest warrant was issued in 2006. He funds his exploits by smuggling natural resources in the mineral-rich country, and faces allegations of recruiting child soldiers and presiding over mass rapes and murder of civilians by his troops in the National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP).

The CNDP militia has since integrated into the Congolese national army but its soldiers continue to obey rebel command structures.

Ntaganda, like many rebel leaders in eastern DRC, funds his activities by smuggling natural resources.

The UN says "gold is among the sources of financing most readily available to armed groups".

According to the report, while Lawal was initially under the impression that he was buying gold from an owner in Kenya, he did not abort the deal when he learned Ntaganda was the true owner.

Instead, the UN report says Lawal merely "appeared relieved to finally be engaging directly with the true owner of the gold".

The report says Lawal financed the deal while Edward Carlos St Mary, a Houston businessman and friend of Lawal's, carried out the transaction in DRC. The deal was proposed to the two men by Dikembe Mutombo, a Congolese former NBA player with the Houston Rockets, and three of his relatives.

Despite paying, Lawal never received the gold. St Mary flew to Goma in DRC to finish the deal in a Camac-leased jet, but the passengers were arrested by Congolese presidential security officers as they tried to take off with the gold in February 2011.

St Mary and two Camac employees were charged with money-laundering and illegal transport of a banned material, because at this time the Congolese government had banned mining of gold, tin and coltan in the provinces where the minerals trade was affected by illegal armed groups. The three men were released in late March after Camac's Kinshasa representative paid $3m (£1.9m) in fines.

Substantial sums of money were involved from the start. The report says Lawal told St Mary he had lost "$30m as a result of the whole ordeal, including transport fees, fines, bribes" and the payments for the gold.

Jason Stearns, a former Group of Experts co-ordinator, said: "This is a fine example of the rank disregard of international law by major international companies and businessmen.

"Lawal knew Bosco Ntaganda was involved in the deal, so he was knowingly doing business with a man wanted by the ICC. On top of that, there was a Congolese mining ban in place at the time. And finally, he's probably violating a UN arms embargo on the region."

A source close to the UN who asked to remain anonymous said: "The whole thing was a scam. It's likely the Congolese were always going to arrest [St Mary and the others] and keep the money and the gold. The charge of illegal transport of a banned material was a pretext for the arrests.

"In reality, the Congolese authorities and Ntaganda worked together to ensure full payment was made for the gold, that the gold never left the DRC, and that the arrested men would have to pay a series of heavy fines to secure their release."

St Mary agrees. Speaking to the Guardian from Houston, he said that at one stage he nearly pulled out of the deal, only to be put on the phone to Zoé Kabila, the president's brother, who reassured him the gold dealers were "legitimate". That was before he knew Ntaganda was involved.

Later, in Goma, St Mary said Ntaganda was arguing with Joseph Kabila, DRC's president, on the phone. "They were arguing over how to split the cash," he said. "Even when I first met Ntaganda, he told me he'd just spoken to Kabila and that we'd be able to leave with the gold with no problem."

When the story first broke in early 2011 Lawal tried to pin the blame on his friend St Mary. Since then, relations have soured between the two men, yet St Mary defends Lawal's decision to push ahead with the deal. "Mickey [Lawal ? Kase Lawal's brother, also in Goma] and I told [Kase] Lawal that the owner of the gold was Bosco [Ntaganda].

"But by the time we found that out I think our lives were in jeopardy. To try to pull out then could have cost us our lives. In those circumstances, what else can you do? There was no out.

"There was only one way to go: try to do a deal and get the hell out of there. The problem was the authorities and Bosco were partners in this, and we didn't know that until it was too late."

Conflict persists in eastern DRC, despite a 2003 peace agreement to end a bloody war. Numerous rebel groups and militias operate in the region and there are regular attacks on civilians, including massacres and mass rapes.

Collaboration between Kabila and Ntaganda during the recent presidential and legislative elections lends weight to the accusations.

"Bosco and the CNDP have allegedly been involved in election fraud while campaigning for Kabila's Majorité Présidentielle [coalition]," said Stearns. "Allegations include ballot-stuffing, stealing people's identities and intimidation. It's all been happening in CNDP-controlled areas."

A Goma resident who wished to remain anonymous said: "Bosco and his men are a very visible presence ? they put a lot of pressure on people to vote for their favourite candidates."

Fraud was so rife that the Congolese electoral commission annulledelection results in some areas.

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf has set ambitious targets to restore the country's electricity supply. But will it meet them by 2015?

It is hard to believe how Clara Town, a slum in Liberia's capital, Monrovia, once had access to the country's electricity grid. Pipe-borne water flowed into the community, and some areas even had paved roads. Nine years after the end of more than a decade of civil war, the entire area on the edge of St Paul's river is in the dark, save for the noisy generators here and there pumping smelly diesel-powered electricity into some of the more affluent homes.

Makeshift wires hang dangerously low from the tightly packed concrete homes and tin shacks ? the products of business-minded folk who sell their electricity on. The sun has gone down and it feels like the entire community is out on the streets, taking advantage of the little light that emanates from some abodes. Motorbikes and the odd car rattle down the dusty, potholed roads.

"The criminals, they are plenty because it is dark," says Ma Kanneh, 33, as she stirs a huge pot of boiling rice over a charcoal stove at the front of a large concrete house. More than 50 people live in the 16 rooms inside this almost windowless cavern. Kanneh shares hers with six others. "No light. The whole city is dark. We're suffering," she says. The young mother and her family have no bathroom. They wait until it is dark before going out to the back of the house to bathe. "We can buy candles ? On the table here is the candle our children use [to do their homework]," she says.

Before the war, Liberia's energy supply relied heavily on the hydropower plant at Mount Coffee, 30km north-east of Monrovia. It was destroyed in the fighting, and what little remained was looted, along with the country's entire transmission and distribution equipment. The operations of the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC) ceased completely.

By 2010, LEC was up and running again, fuelled by huge generators using expensive high-speed diesel oil. The tariff ? 54 cents per kWh, one of the highest in the world ? and lack of money for new connections are part of the reason it has been so difficult for people to access it.

Liberia's president, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, spoke of the need to "bring back electricity" when she became the continent's first female president in 2006. Six years on, during her first annual message of her second term last month, she claimed her government had indeed "restored electricity to Monrovia". It is true. There are street lights in parts of the city. Government buildings, NGOs, hospitals, some schools and the UN all have electricity. However, the average Liberian is still in the dark. Just 0.6% of Monrovians have access to electricity, marginally higher than in the rest of the country.

This all begs the question, how is Liberia going to meet its energy targets to connect 30% of the country's urban population and 15% of the rural population to the national grid by 2015?

According to Liberia's 2009 national energy policy, nine out of 10 Liberians rely on biomass, wood and charcoal for their daily energy needs. The government's energy targets also propose a rapid shift away from biomass. The aim is to have 40% of traditional-energy-using households to have access to modern cooking facilities by 2015. The cost of cooking with kerosene, LPG or electricity is up to six times more than charcoal, of which Liberia has one of the lowest prices in Africa, so the idea of the average Liberian being able to afford such a shift is doubtful.

However, the lack of electricity and its affect on Liberia's development is high on the agenda for Sirleaf. In last month's message she announced that the reconstruction of the Mount Coffee hydro plant will start this year. "The only way to create a robust economy is to supply access to ? electricity," she said. She talked about how she is "? determined to build the infrastructure of the next generation", in the next six years. Work has already begun to connect 21 low-income communities in Monrovia to the national grid. In the next two years, a $10m World Bank grant will help to increase the capital's access to electricity to 8%.

Kanneh in Clara Town, one of the low-income areas chosen to start the project, looks up proudly at one of the newly reconstructed electricity poles. The LEC estimates bills would be around $20-$25 a month, a big proportion of a family's salary, considering official statistics claim the average Liberian lives on less than a dollar a day.

But for Kanneh, one of the 2,500 people in Clara Town who could have access to the national grid, the idea of being taken out of the darkness is welcome. "If you put light all over, then maybe we can be safe," she says.

"Let one man's shame be a symbol for all" was the Daily Mail headline. Likewise, one Facebook page has a petition to shame Fred Goodwin into giving up his pension. And Shame is, of course, the title of Steve McQueen's new film about sex addiction.

So how valuable is shame as a means of changing behaviour? According to the American social critic Christopher Lasch, the trouble with modern culture is that we have lost "the shared social and legal boundaries that shame one policed." This is why a number of legal theorists have argued for the shaming of criminals as an alternative to prison or financial penalties. There is little transformative potential in simply paying a fine as if one were just paying an unwelcome bill, they argue. This sort of punishment is just too anonymous. Shaming criminals, on the other hand, makes a very clear public statement about right and wrong. Those caught urinating in public ought to clean the streets with a toothbrush. Those who pick up prostitutes should have their names published in the newspapers. According to several thinkers, shame is a valuable way to reinforce social values.

But all of this makes me feel deeply uncomfortable. For the trouble with shame punishments is that they target too much ? the whole person rather than simply the act itself. It is surely one role of a liberal state to uphold the intrinsic dignity and humanity of all its citizens. This is the secular equivalent of the Christian idea that human beings are made in the image and likeness of God. In the ancient world, criminals often had their crimes tattooed on their foreheads. After his conversion to Christianity, the Emperor Constantine issued a decree that branding be banned: "let him not be marked on the face, so that which has been fashioned in the likeness of divine beauty, may not be disgraced." Both the secular and religious versions of this sentiment are deep sources of resistance to shame punishments. And this suerly applies as much to Fred Goodwin, as to the rest of us.

Beijing hardens line against European Union emissions levy that is also opposed by the US and India

China has banned its airlines from paying the new European Union carbon charge, state news agency Xinhua has reported ? stepping up the international battle over the scheme.

The new levy applies to all airlines flying to and from EU countries. Companies that do not comply face fines and ultimately could be banned from using EU airports.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said on Monday that airlines were not allowed to pay the EU charge, increase freight costs or add other fees, according to Xinhua. It cited authorisation from the state council, China's cabinet.

Hinting at possible retaliation, Xinhua added: "China will consider adopting necessary measures to protect interests of Chinese individuals and companies, pending the development of the issue."

The EU's ambassador in Beijing, Markus Ederer, told a press briefing that it hoped to resolve the issue through negotiation. Beijing's announcement comes one week before a China-EU summit.

Although the scheme came into force from 1 January, fees do not have to be paid until March 2013. Supporters believe including aviation in the emissions trading scheme is crucial because the industry's carbon output is soaring.

China, the United States, India and others are bitterly opposed to the scheme, leading to warnings that it could spark a trade war.

A US attempt to overturn the scheme was rejected by the European court of justice in December.

Chinese airlines have already vowed to ignore the scheme. China argues it is unreasonable to apply the levy to developing nations and wants the costs of reducing carbon to be passed on to aircraft manufacturers.

Critics also argue that regulation of the industry should be negotiated at the United Nations' International Civil Aviation Organisation. But European leaders say they have been waiting for years for the ICAO to act.

Connie Hedegaard, the EU's climate action commissioner, has stressed that the scheme allows for "equivalent measures" ? other forms of carbon reduction ? to be taken into account.

Chai Haibo, deputy secretary of the China Air Transport Association, told Bloomberg: "I believe all sides will negotiate again and find a solution ... I can't imagine that the worst case, such as the EU grounding Chinese flights, could happen."

Collapsing wall kills child and tsunami alert is issued but no evacuations ordered

One child died and a local tsunami alert was issued after a magnitude 6.7 earthquake followed by two aftershocks struck off the Philippines island of Negros on Monday morning.

The Philippines Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said it warned residents along coastal areas to be on the watch for unusual waves as it raised a tsunami alert at level two but did not order evacuations.

The institute warned structurally weak buildings may sustain damages. The US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said that based on all available data a Pacific-wide tsunami was not expected.

People rushed out of schools, malls and offices during the quake. Officials in some areas suspended work and cancelled classes.

A child died when a concrete fence of a house collapsed in Taysan town in Negros Oriental province, said Benito Ramos, who heads the Office of Civil Defence.

A mall in San Carlos city in neighbouring Negros Occidental province was damaged when its windows were shattered by the shaking, he said. The quake was also felt in Cebu, where it lasted about 30 seconds.

The Philippines is located in the Pacific "Ring of Fire" where earthquakes and volcanic activity are common. A 7.7-magnitude quake killed nearly 2,000 people in Luzon in 1990.

The quake was about 6.2 miles underground and centred three miles off the shore of Tayasan, Negros Oriental. It was felt at magnitude 7 in Dumaguete City and intensity 6 in Bacolod City, according to the institute.

The US Geological Survey put the quake at 6.7 in magnitude and a depth of 12.4 miles.

Half an hour later there were wo aftershocks, of 4.8 and 5.6 magnitude on the USGS scale.

"Damage is possible in areas hit by at least intensity 5 and if the buildings are structurally weak," said Renato Solidum, head of the volcanology and seismology institute.

London hearing to decide whether radical cleric should be freed after extradition to Jordan was blocked by Europe court

A radical Muslim cleric described as a grave threat to Britain's national security could walk free on Monday.

Abu Qatada, who is being held at Long Lartin high-security prison in Worcestershire, will apply to be released on bail as he fights deportation to Jordan.

Lawyers for the home secretary, Theresa May, are expected to oppose bail while British diplomats continue to seek assurances from the Jordanian authorities that evidence gained through torture would not be used against him.

Such evidence is the main reason Qatada, once described by a Spanish judge as "Osama bin Laden's right-hand man in Europe", won an appeal to the European court of human rights in January. The judges ruled that sending Qatada back to face terror charges without such assurances would deny him his right to a fair trial and be a "flagrant denial of justice".

May has vowed Qatada, held for six and a half years, will be kept behind bars while she considers all legal options to send him back. The Home Office has said he "poses a real risk to national security".

At a hearing in central London, Qatada's defence team will urge an immigration judge to release him. The judge, Mr Justice Mitting, has said: "Six and a half years of detention requires the eligibility for bail to be considered urgently.

"I accept that it's possible that negotiations with the Jordanian government may produce a rapid solution but past experience ... leads me to believe that is likely to be an unrealistic expectation."

The Special Immigration Appeals Commission (Siac) will hold a full bail hearing on Monday morning.

January's verdict is the first time the Strasbourg-based court has found that an extradition would be in violation the right to a fair trial as required by the European convention on human rights, which is enshrined in UK law under the Human Rights Act.

The home secretary has three months to lodge an appeal with the court's grand chamber.

The Henry Jackson Society thinktank has said the ECHR ruling "undermines national security" while the former home secretary David Blunkett said Qatada was "extraordinarily dangerous and we don't want him on our streets".

Qatada, 51, is also known as Omar Othman. He featured in hate sermons found on videos in the flat of one of the 9/11 bombers.

Since 2001, when fears of the domestic terror threat rose in the aftermath of the attacks, he has challenged and ultimately thwarted every attempt by the government to detain and deport him.

Law lords ruled almost three years ago that he could be sent back to Jordan and Lord Phillips, now president of the supreme court, said torture in another country did not require the UK "to retain in this country, to the detriment of national security, a terrorist suspect".

But the European went against that judgment, agreeing with a 2008 decision of the UK court of appeal that there were reasonable grounds for believing Qatada would be denied a fair trial in Jordan.

State paper denies giving 'free rein' to Bashar al-Assad's crackdown and points to UN mandate 'abused' in Libya by Nato

China's top Communist party newspaper has defended Beijing's rejection of a UN resolution calling for Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to resign. The People's Daily said western campaigns in Libya, Afghanistan and Iraq showed the error of forced regime change.

The commentary is China's clearest defence of its decision to join Russia on Saturday in vetoing a draft United Nations resolution that would have backed an Arab plan urging Assad to quit after months of bloodshed.

The commentary suggested that Chinese distrust of western intervention lay behind the veto, which was described as a "travesty" by Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state.

"The situation in Syria continues to deteriorate and numbers of civilian casualties keep rising. Vetoing the draft security council resolution does not mean we are giving free rein to letting this heart-rending state of affairs continue," said the paper, which echoes government thinking.

China, unlike its western critics, was acting "responsibly" for the sake of the Syrian people, it said. The author used the pen name Zhong Sheng, which can mean "voice of China" and is often used on articles giving Beijing's position on foreign policy.

"Currently the situation in Syria is extremely complex. Simplistically supporting one side and suppressing the other might seem a helpful way of turning things around, but in fact it would be sowing fresh seeds of disaster."

China's vice-president, Xi Jinping, is visiting the US next week and the Syria veto could add to frictions. Xi is the Communist party's likely next top leader.

Beijing and Washington have also sparred over Iran, which faces tightened western sanctions over its nuclear ambitions.

The People's Daily commentary laid bare broader Chinese concerns about western-backed intervention in the Arab world and beyond. China is one of the five permanent UN security council members that hold the power to veto resolutions.

In March China abstained from a council vote that authorised western military intervention in Libya. That resolution became the basis for a Nato air campaign that led to the overthrow of Muammar Gaddafi. Beijing and Moscow regarded the campaign as going beyond the resolution.

"Libya offers a negative case study. Nato abused the security council resolution about establishing a no-fly zone and directly provided firepower assistance to one side in the Libyan war," said the People's Daily.

It cited Iraq and Afghanistan in its case against the Syria resolution. "[These] calamities of Iraq and Afghanistan should be ample to wipe clear the world's eyes. Forceful prevention of a humanitarian disaster sounds filled with a sense of justice and responsibility.

"But are not the unstoppable attacks and explosions over a decade after regime change a humanitarian disaster?"

? Giants win 21-17 after late Ahmad Bradshaw touchdown
? Eli Manning wins second Super Bowl MVP award
? Mario Manningham catch on final drive sets up winning play
? Giants 21, Patriots 17 ? read our minute-by-minute report

Now we can talk about legacies. All week Eli Manning and Tom Coughlin have refused to play along with journalists' what-ifs and hypothetical scenarios. Would a second Super Bowl triumph in five years be enough to secure both the Giants quarterback and head coach's future spots in the NFL's Hall of Fame? We're not worried about all that. Let's just play the game.

Well, they did play. For the third time in five years ? and the second at a Super Bowl ? the New York Giants defeated the New England Patriots courtesy of a fourth-quarter comeback, Ahmad Bradshaw giving them the lead with 56 seconds to go on a touchdown he didn't even mean to score.

With his team trailing by two points and facing second and goal from the six, Bradshaw knew it might be more dangerous to score and give New England the ball back than to stop short of the endzone and take time off the clock ? allowing his team to kick the field goal that would have still given them a one-point lead. The Patriots' defence seemed to have had the same thought ? parting to allow the back through, and as Bradshaw tried to go down at the one-yard line, his momentum carried him over the line.

"We did not talk about it. Did not," said the offensive tackle Kareem McKenzie when asked afterwards if there had been any instruction in the huddle before the play about staying out of the endzone. The head coach Tom Coughlin admitted to conflicting emotions. "I was torn," said Coughlin. "But there was only two ways to go ? There are risks in field goals, too; there are no guarantees.

In the end, it did not matter. With just one time out left, the Patriots were unable to engineer a response, the game ending on a desperate heave from Tom Brady into the endzone that would fall incomplete. Five years after seeing their perfect season ended by the Giants at Super Bowl XLII in Arizona, the Patriots once again found themselves walking down the tunnel as the confetti fell at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Manning once again found himself named as the game's Most Valuable Player, not that he himself was buying the hype. "I don't think that's the story," he said when it was put to him that he had twice outperformed New England's Tom Brady ? one of the great quarterbacks of the past decade on this stage. Brady has also been the great rival of Eli's older brother and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton ? whose home stadium this game was played in ? yet the Giants quarterback rejected the notion that this had been his success.

"I think the story is that the New York Giants are world champions. That's what I'm proud of. That's all that matters. The only important thing is for this organisation ? the Giants, these guys that are on the team, the coaches ? [to have] an opportunity to say 'We are the world champions'. That is the story."

Coughlin himself rejected comparisons with Bill Parcells, the two-time Super Bowl-winning head coach of the Giants, under whom he and the Patriots' Bill Belichick once worked together as assistants. "I'm not about comparisons or anything of that nature. I'm very thankful and very grateful for the opportunity that I've had as a head coach of the New York Giants."

Just as in 2008, the signature moment arrived in the form of a remarkable catch on the final drive. For David Tyree you can substitute Mario Manningham, who showed startling body control as he dived to pull in a 38-yard pass down the left sideline while being hit by the New England safety Patrick Chung. It is a catch that will be replayed and replayed ? perhaps only to be rivalled only by the also stunning drop by New England's Wes Welker on the previous drive.

Then again, the start to this game was not without its surprises. Bookmakers had variously rated the possibility of the first score of the game being a safety at anywhere upwards of 50-1, but the odds on one arriving in this manner would have been many times higher still.

On the Patriots' first offensive play of the game, Tom Brady dropped back to pass but quickly found himself under pressure from the Giants' Justin Tuck. Although he launched the ball downfield before the defensive end could reach him, there were no receivers in the vicinity of the pass. The flag came down immediately for intentional grounding. With Brady standing in the endzone at the point of release, that meant a safety had to be awarded.

If it seemed unthinkable that a quarterback as experienced as Brady would make such an avoidable mistake, then New York's next score came on the back of an even more costly Patriots penalty. The Patriots linebacker Brandon Spikes looked to have achieved a critical turnover when he recovered a fumble by the Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz at New England's seven-yard line, only for his team to be penalised for having 12 men on the field. Instead of losing possession, New York got a first and goal at the six.

Two plays later Manning connected with the same receiver for a two-yard score. The Patriots fans at Lucas Oil Stadium had roared their approval as the Giants' first drive came to an end with two sacks of Manning in three plays, but anyone who paid attention to the Giants' NFC Championship game win over the San Francisco 49ers ? in which Manning was sacked six times and hit 18 ? would have known that he can take such punishment better than most. By this point he was nine of nine for 77 yards and the score.

The Patriots could manage only a field goal on their next drive, and the Giants looked primed to extend their advantage as they drove back into New England territory. Although they stalled at the Patriots' 41, New York were able to force a quick three and out before setting off once again.

This time, though, it was their turn to be undone by a penalty ? a holding call against the guard Kevin Boothe on third and one costing them a first down at the New England 36. Manningham failed to reel in a long bomb from Manning on the next play, though the Giants might still have assumed theirs was not such a bad position to be in when Steve Weatherford's subsequent punt was downed at the New England four-yard line.

Just four minutes left in the half when the Patriots took over, and Tom Brady had completed just five of eight passes for 49 yards. Their offence seemed to be suffering the ineffectiveness of their record-breaking tight end Rob Gronkowski, moving without his usual conviction following the high ankle sprain suffered against the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game.

And yet suddenly they exploded to life, Brady completing his next 10 passes ? including a 20-yard strike to Gronkowski ? as the Patriots marched up the field for the touchdown that would give them a 10-9 lead at half-time, keeping their opponents off balance by staying in a no-huddle offence for much of the drive.

On third and three from the four, Brady received excellent protection as he waited patiently for Danny Woodhead to find space between two defenders before delivering the ball to him for the score. The drive had officially been 96 yards, but factoring in two further penalties against New England, they had actually gone 108.

The Patriots head coach Bill Belichick had imposed 30-minute breaks in the middle of practice sessions this week in order to simulate the extended half-time break during a Super Bowl ? more than twice as long as it would be in a regular season game. The ruse seemed to work as his team raced straight down the field for another score.

Brady had begun this game seeking to equal Joe Montana by winning a fourth Super Bowl, but he surpassed another record set by his childhood idol when he connected with Welker for a five-yard completion to the Giants' 28 ? his 14th consecutive completion. That figure was up to 16 when he delivered a 12-yard strike to Aaron Hernandez in the endzone. Even Chad Ochocinco had got in on the act with a 21-yard reception at the start of the drive.

The Giants responded with a field goal, though even that felt like a victory for New England. A promising drive had died out after the wide receiver Hakeem Nicks took a brutal hit from Patrick Chung ? dropping a pass that would have given his team a fresh set of downs near the 10-yard line. Momentum began to turn back, however, as the Patriots went three and out, with Brady leaving the field looking dazed after a sack by Justin Tuck.

New York raced down to the Patriots' 11-yard line, but after Ahmad Bradshaw twice failed to take advantage of some good blocking, Manning was sacked by Rob Ninkovich and Mark Anderson on third down. Once again the Giants had to settle for three.

Just as a poor decision from Brady cost New England at the start of the game, however, another would do so again here. There were shades of Manning's miraculous escape and completion to David Tyree, as the quarterback slipped away from the Giants pass rush 10 yards near his team's 40-yard line and launched the ball downfield in the direction of Gronkowski.

If the match-up looked favourable ? the tight end single covered by a middle linebacker in Chase Blackburn ? the pass immediately looked ill-advised: underthrown to a player who had looked below his battling best all game. Blackburn stepped in front to intercept at the Giants' eight-yard line.

The teams exchanged possessions, a New York drive stalling after they crossed halfway, before the Pats did the same. For New England, though, the missed opportunity was greater. A blown coverage had left Wes Welker wide open as he streaked upfield on second and 11 from the 44, yet when Brady delivered the ball to him, the wide receiver ? usually one of the most reliable pair of hands in the entire league ? let it slip through his fingers.

With that, the stage was set for the Giants and for Manningham, whose catch arrived on the first play of a drive that began at the New York 12 with three minutes and 46 seconds left to play. And which ended with a quarterback and a head coach one step closer to that Hall of Fame, even if they still didn't seem much inclined to talk about it.