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[
"Agence France-Presse"
] | 2016-08-26T13:16:19 | null | 2016-08-26T09:44:05 |
Authorities find more than 650 critically endangered pangolins hidden in freezers in Java
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fenvironment%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Findonesia-seizes-hundreds-of-frozen-pangolins.json
|
en
| null |
Indonesia seizes hundreds of frozen pangolins
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
Indonesian authorities have seized more than 650 critically endangered pangolins found hidden in freezers and arrested a man for allegedly breaking wildlife protection laws, police said on Friday.
Police discovered the pangolins, known as “scaly anteaters”, when they raided a house in Jombang district on the main island of Java after local residents became suspicious about the large number of freezers in the property.
A total of 657 pangolins, which are consumed as a luxury dish in China and used in traditional medicine, were found wrapped in plastic and stored in five large freezers, East Java province police spokesman Raden Prabowo Argo Yuwono told AFP.
Pangolins: the world's most illegally traded mammal – in pictures Read more
The house owner, a 55-year-old man whose identity was not disclosed, was arrested and has been named a suspect, a step in the Indonesian legal system meaning that authorities believe they have enough evidence to consider filing charges.
He could face five years in prison and a fine of 100m rupiah ($7,500) for breaking wildlife protection laws.
“The suspect insisted the Pangolins were not his, a friend asked him to store the animals because he has freezers,” Yuwono said, adding the friend named by the suspect was also being sought.
The suspect, who was arrested during the police raid on 15 August, insisted he had not sold any of the pangolins and refused to tell police where they were to be sent, the spokesman said.
Pangolins are sought after in China and other parts of Asia for their meat, skin and scales. The meat is considered a delicacy, while the skin and scales are used in traditional medicine and to make fashion items such as make boots and shoes.
Protection group the International Union for Conservation of Nature classifies the pangolin species found in Indonesia as critically endangered.
|
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/26/indonesia-seizes-hundreds-of-frozen-pangolins
|
en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/ca2e87151c9b78fc5ca963e755baba038782a17b3e724396c8aa7cac44bc69e9.json
|
|
[
"Jon Henley"
] | 2016-08-26T13:15:10 | null | 2016-08-26T13:02:46 |
PM authorises preliminary €50m in emergency funding for stricken zone as Amatrice hit by 4.7-magnitude aftershock
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Fitaly-declares-state-of-emergency-in-region-hit-by-earthquake.json
|
en
| null |
Italy declares state of emergency in region hit by earthquake
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
A 4.7-magnitude aftershock has hit the Italian town of Amatrice as rescuers and emergency teams continue their search of three flattened hilltop towns and Italy declares a state of emergency in the region.
'I had said adieu': nun tells of Italian earthquake ordeal Read more
With the provisional death toll from Wednesday’s 6.2-magnitude quake standing at 267, including several foreigners, the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, authorised a preliminary €50m (£43m) in emergency funding for the stricken zone.
The powerful aftershock, the latest of more than 500 since the initial quake, hit the area shortly after dawn on Friday, sending up plumes of thick grey dust, shaking buildings that were still standing and fuelling fears of fresh collapses which could hamper the rescue operation.
In a first raft of emergency relief measures, Renzi cancelled residents’ taxes in and around the hardest-hit towns of Amatrice, Accumoli, Arquata del Tronto and Pescara del Tronto, between 60 and 90 miles (95-145km) north-east of Rome.
Most of the confirmed deaths were in Amatrice, where 193 people had died, includingthree Britons: Marcos Burnett, 14, who was on holiday with his parents and sister, and 55-year-old Will Henniker-Gotley and his wife Maria, 51, from south London. Marco’s parents are being treated for minor injuries in hospital.
The UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, said on Thursday that extra staff had been sent to the region. Six Romanians, a Canadian, a Spaniard and a Salvadoran were also killed.
The 2,500-strong population of the medieval hilltop town, voted one of Italy’s most beautiful historic towns last year, was swollen with summer visitors, many from Rome, in anticipation of its popular annual food festival this weekend.
But while 215 people had been pulled alive from the rubble since Wednesday and more than 360 were being treated in hospital, questions were mounting as to why there had been so many deaths in an area known for decades to be the most seismically hazardous in Europe.
After a 2009 earthquake in nearby L’Aquila left 300 people dead, authorities released €1bn to upgrade buildings in the region, but takeup has been low. Despite eight devastating earthquakes in 40 years, experts estimate 70% of Italy’s buildings do not meet seismic standards.
“Here, in the middle of a seismic zone, nothing has ever been done,” Dario Nanni, of Italy’s architects’ council, told Agence France-Presse. “It does not cost that much more when renovating a building to make it comply with earthquake standards. But less than 20% of buildings do.”
As earthquake death toll rises Italy questions why it was so unprepared Read more
The culture minister said 293 historical buildings had been damaged or destroyed by the quake and public prosecutors announced an investigation into whether anyone could be held responsible.
Meanwhile, Renzi announced plans to help the country prepare better and address poor building standards, saying Italy should “have a plan that is not just limited to the management of emergency situations”.
But the prime minister said suggestions that the country could easily construct quake-proof buildings were “absurd”. It was difficult to imagine, he said after a cabinet meeting, that the level of destruction from Wednesday’s quake “could have been avoided simply by using different building technology. We’re talking about medieval-era towns.”
In Amatrice and the surrounding small towns and villages hopes of finding more survivors were fading; no one had been recovered alive since Wednesday night. The focus was now on helping the more than 1,200 people left homeless.
About 5,400 emergency workers, firefighters, soldiers and volunteers, helped by 50 sniffer dogs, continued to sift through piles of cement, rock and twisted metal, many pointing out that the last survivor from the L’Aquila quake was found 72 hours after it struck.
“We will work relentlessly until the last person is found, and make sure no one is trapped,” said one rescue team spokesman, Lorenzo Botti.
Some survivors, having slept in their cars or in tent cities set up outside the towns, were allowed to pick up essential items from their homes on Thursday accompanied by rescue workers.
“Last night we slept in the car. Tonight, I don’t know,” said Nello Caffini, carrying his sister-in-law’s belongings on his head through Pescara del Tronto, which was almost completely destroyed.
Italian earthquake leaves Pescara del Tronto in ruins – in pictures Read more
Italy’s older buildings are not obliged to conform to anti-seismic building codes, and experts estimate it could cost more than €90bn to reinforce all the country’s historic buildings. Targeted improvement work, though, could be effective.
Compounding the problem is the fact that many more modern buildings do not comply with regulations when they are built, and often prove deadlier than older constructions when an earthquake strikes.
News reports in Amatrice said investigators were looking in particular into the town’s Romolo Capranica school, which was restored in 2012 using funds provided after the L’Aquila quake. It all but collapsed on Wednesday, while the town’s 13th-century clock tower remained standing.
“We are able to prevent all these deaths,” Armando Zambrano, of the national council of engineers, told the Associated Press. “The problem is actually doing it. These tragedies keep happening because we don’t intervene. After each tragedy we say we will act but then the weeks go by and nothing happens.”
|
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/26/italy-declares-state-of-emergency-in-region-hit-by-earthquake
|
en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/60dde7732482cb2daa44429221ca862c3c2962e43b7e522d0c62c974a390e915.json
|
|
[
"Clare Brennan"
] | 2016-08-28T08:51:51 | null | 2016-08-28T07:10:25 |
The interests of a London ‘awareness-raising festival’ for the Congo and the realities of life there collide in Adam Brace’s fine play
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fstage%2F2016%2Faug%2F28%2Fthey-drink-it-in-the-congo-almeida-review.json
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en
| null |
They Drink It in the Congo review - on the rocky road of good intentions
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
When I first said I was going to Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo) in 1996, reactions were mostly of two kinds: horror – “The former Belgian Congo? That basket case!” – or a quick rendition of the jolly advertising jingle for a tropical fruit juice. In his intelligent, complex and often funny new play, They Drink it in the Congo, Adam Brace sets out to challenge such stereotypes. He laudably achieves his aim, even while his dramaturgy incorporates some of the views it critiques.
The action begins in London in the present. Stef, a white, Kenyan-born British campaign co-ordinator operating from a Welsh MP’s office in Westminster, is determined to initiate an annual festival to raise awareness of eastern Congo. This situation allows Brace to bring together Stef’s ex-boyfriend event consultant, representatives of aid agencies and members of the Congolese community. Brace simultaneously exposes the competing interests among all these parties and conveys background information about Congo via sharp-dialogued, animated situations that only sometimes feel over-crammed. Questions about how identity is constructed are wittily addressed – as when Stef tells a Congolese poet that his poems need to be more “Congolese” to qualify for inclusion.
Stef tells a Congolese poet that his poems need to be more 'Congolese' to qualify for inclusion
Weaving among the characters and unseen by them is a man of colour wearing a pink suit and bowler hat (Sule Rimi, neatly balancing vivid presence and unobtrusiveness). Whenever a character receives a text or email, he vocalises its content.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Fiona Button (centre) as Stef in They Drink It in the Congo. Photograph: Marc Brenner
The centre of the stage is torn up by Congolese labourers; dust rises. The action shifts back in time to Stef’s visit to the Congo’s border with Rwanda. The Rwandan genocide sparked a 10-year, multinational war in this area, exacerbated by the presence of almost all the world’s coltan – crucial to digital technology. Millions died. War has ended but conflict continues. In a family home, a father (Rimi, exasperated and loving) swaps bedtime stories with a restless child (touching and funny, Joan Iyiola). Attacked by unidentified militiamen, the family is subsequently tended by a white nurse, assisted by a traumatised Stef (Fiona Button’s performance is sensitively calibrated, emotionally powerful).
Back in the present, the still-damaged stage becomes a visual representation of the sore at the heart of our glitzy digital age, of the growing spread of Stef’s trauma into her London life, and of the implacable and violent conflicts that divide the Congolese characters (these particularly affect the women – especially Anna-Maria Nabirye’s affecting Anne-Marie). The invisible figure’s pink suit is now battered and torn, spattered with shattered circuit boards – an image of a ravaged country and people (Jon Bausor’s design and costumes).
This is only Brace’s second full-length play, and some dynamics in the writing feel imbalanced: for instance, the only really multifaceted character is a white woman; violence is a significant feature of Congolese interactions. Strong direction from Michael Longhurst and ensemble playing from cast and musicians bring out Brace’s strengths: dramatically interesting scenes communicate serious situations with a light hand through lively character interactions. This production confirms Brace as a writer to watch.
• At the Almeida, London, until 10 October
|
https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2016/aug/28/they-drink-it-in-the-congo-almeida-review
|
en
| 2016-08-28T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/accd3111f7934748440aa18cb1e0a6feedab62369113feb889eb8378f28dde4a.json
|
|
[
"Peter Bradshaw"
] | 2016-08-26T13:22:30 | null | 2016-08-24T18:47:43 |
Hillary Clinton’s top aide is married to the disgraced New York mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, and she had an errant English sportsman to deal with
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fcommentisfree%2F2016%2Faug%2F24%2Fhuma-abedin-politics-hillary-clinton-anthony-weiner.json
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en
| null |
An idiot husband, a footballing felon: but Huma Abedin rises above it all
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
Anyone who has seen the horribly fascinating documentary Weiner, about the disgraced New York mayoral candidate and sexting addict Anthony Weiner, will have had an up-close-and-personal look at the real political face of 2017, and maybe even the Democratic presidential candidate of 2024. This is Weiner’s stylish wife, the elegant and cerebral Huma Abedin, who is standing by her idiot of a husband. She is also the most trusted aide of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Abedin’s face in that movie is a picture of suppressed dismay. How on earth does such a classy, contained person handle this kind of rackety farce?
Huma Abedin shuns limelight, but is a compelling protagonist in Weiner film Read more
The question occurred to me again this week as more Clinton emails were released. In 2009, poor Abedin had to deal with a request from the media executive Casey Wasserman, who represents English footballers, lobbying to get a visa for a Wolves player with a criminal record to join his teammates in Las Vegas for a “celebration break”. As this case landed in her lap, Abedin must have been wondering what she had done to deserve it. Her email discloses that the Wolves footballer made her “nervous”. Who can blame her? But as she continues in politics, Abedin will have to deal with an endless parade of unnerving people like this footballer, and Anthony Weiner.
Comedy golds
This week the BBC published its poll of the top 100 films of the 21st century, as voted for by film critics around the world – though sadly not me, as I had returned from holiday to find my invitation to participate nestling in the junk folder. The moment the list was published, my Twitter timeline featured comments from David Baddiel, Edgar Wright and Sam Bain on the scandalous fact that no actual comedy featured on the list. And this doesn’t mean the perennially acceptable seriocomic complexities of the Coen brothers or Wes Anderson – just straight-ahead comedy.
Well, comedies are largely looked down on by critics (though not this one). Is it because we’re a bunch of miserable arthouse nerds? I suspect it’s the opposite: critics all fancy themselves as wits and humorists at certain movies’ expense. Laugh-at is easier than laugh-with. Oh well. I would take this BBC list, boot out Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men and Cameron Crowe’s horribly overrated Almost Famous and replace them with Sacha Baron Cohen’s masterpiece Borat and Jemaine Clement and Taika Waititi’s wonderful What We Do in the Shadows. And I want to find a way of inserting Adam McKay’s glorious cop satire The Other Guys, along with Ted. That would be a start.
A bigger splash
The melancholy footnote to this year’s triumphant Olympics comes from the action movie legend Jason Statham. He began his career in the public eye as an athlete, representing England in diving at the 1990 Commonwealth Games in New Zealand, but sadly never at any stage “medalling” – as no one used to say in 1990. Now he has bittersweet emotions about Team GB’s glory.
“It’s a bit of a sore point I never got to the Olympics,” he says. “I just heard they got seven million or something for the diving per year. They deserve it. The divers we’ve got now are just terrific. I started too late. I should have done a different sport.”
Surely not. Greater success in some other event – dressage? – might have led Statham into a disastrous career cul-de-sac. Diving’s loss was a showbusiness’s gain, and Jason is on the long road to national treasure status.
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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/24/huma-abedin-politics-hillary-clinton-anthony-weiner
|
en
| 2016-08-24T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/b6c511d79b3d8c183032d9141cf2aa1cfaaa9642b2c13ca1757ffbde3090940c.json
|
|
[
"Rob Davies"
] | 2016-08-26T18:49:50 | null | 2016-08-26T17:43:52 |
Couriers at demonstration against pay structure say they will campaign at restaurants that use food delivery service
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fbusiness%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Fuber-ubereats-drivers-vow-to-take-pay-protest-to-london-restaurants.json
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en
| null |
UberEats drivers vow to take pay protest to London restaurants
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
Drivers for Uber’s food delivery service, UberEats, are planning to picket London restaurants as part of a protest over pay.
Dozens of scooter and bicycle couriers descended on an Uber office in Bermondsey on Friday to demonstrate against dwindling pay deals, which they say have left some at risk of earning less than the minimum wage.
During a noisy but peaceful protest, drivers chanted “Uber, shame on you” and called on the company to pay the London living wage of a guaranteed £9.40 per hour, plus costs.
The dispute is the latest to hit the “gig economy”, where people in need of cash sign up for occasional jobs but do not receive guaranteed hours or other benefits of full-time employment.
Rival delivery service Deliveroo was recently forced to abandon plans to impose new contracts on workers after a protest by its own couriers.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest One protester said: ‘We just want what’s fair and what’s right.’ Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian
Uber refused to meet a delegation of drivers, saying it would only speak to them individually – an offer that protest organiser Imran Siddiqui said amounted to “divide and rule” tactics.
Siddiqui, who claims he has been blocked from working for UberEats since organising the demonstration, said riders were now planning to take their campaign on the road, touring London restaurants and disrupting their business.
Another worker, who asked to be referred to as Manou, said: “If the restaurants are not making money with UberEats, they’ll use Deliveroo instead. Uber will have less drivers and customers if they don’t listen to us.”
Mohammed Ali, 21, said: “We just want what’s fair and what’s right. We’ve worked our arses off to get this company to where it is now, but we’re just tools to them.”
UberEats drivers plan protest against cuts in pay rate per delivery Read more
Drivers said they were offered generous rates of up to £20 an hour when UberEats launched. But pay has been slashed since then, which some say has left them earning below the national living wage of £7.20 an hour for over-25s.
UberEats drivers are paid a base fare of £3.30 per delivery, plus £1 per mile between the restaurant and the drop location, minus a 25% fee taken by the company. They also get an added “trip reward” of £4 per delivery in peak times and £3 off-peak. Uber said this amounted to a minimum of £13 per hour, assuming the driver makes two deliveries an hour.
“We’re committed to being the best option for couriers in London,” said Alex Czarnecki, general manager of UberEats London. “Unlike other companies, we don’t set shifts, minimum hours or delivery zones – couriers can simply log in or out when and where they choose.”
He said couriers were earning “on average more than the London living wage”.
But pay records passed to the Guardian suggest they are at risk of earning less than the minimum wage. One courier’s records show he earned just £41.78 for seven hours and 19 minutes of work, equating to £5.72 an hour.
All drivers are self-employed, which means they do not receive holiday or sick pay, or any hourly wage while they wait for orders.
The protest follows reports that Uber lost nearly $1.3bn in the first half of 2016. It blamed the loss partly on subsidies it pays to drivers.
|
https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/26/uber-ubereats-drivers-vow-to-take-pay-protest-to-london-restaurants
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en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/e46774e7dee0485aac1b1e43a0d2fd06b8b823088ea15fbbc4300bbbb244f0cb.json
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[] | 2016-08-26T13:28:59 | null | 2016-08-13T05:59:18 |
We live in London and have two kids, but don’t want to go camping
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmoney%2F2016%2Faug%2F13%2Fwhere-to-holiday-uk-august.json
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en
| null |
Where can we go for a last-minute holiday in the UK?
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Every week a Guardian Money reader submits a question, and it’s up to you to help him or her out – a selection of the best answers will appear in next Saturday’s paper.
This week’s question:
I need to find an affordable holiday in the UK for the last week in August – ideally not camping. We’re in London and have two kids. If your useless husband had failed to book anything, where would you go?
Do you have a problem readers could solve? Email your suggestions to money@theguardian.com or write to us at Money, The Guardian, Kings Place, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU.
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https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/aug/13/where-to-holiday-uk-august
|
en
| 2016-08-13T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/d314a9695060e58c1308df29c5ce7c61b82027452dc526bd0f85af7b84ddb1f8.json
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[
"Peter Walker"
] | 2016-08-26T16:50:34 | null | 2016-08-26T16:41:52 |
Party says OCS Group will guard its annual gathering after G4S boycott and Showsec objections put event in peril
|
http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fpolitics%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Flabour-security-deal-to-rescue-party-conference-ocs-group.json
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en
| null |
Labour announces security deal to rescue party conference
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Labour has announced that OCS Group will provide security at its party conference next month, allaying concerns the event could be cancelled.
A question mark had been hanging over the annual gathering after the security firm G4S on Thursday ruled out a last-minute deal to guard it, leaving the party without security just weeks before the event is due to open.
G4S, which had been subject to a Labour boycott, said it was now too late for it to step in and organise protection arrangements the conference in Liverpool.
But Labour’s general secretary, Iain McNicol, said OCS Group would now provide security at the conference venue.
“I am happy to announce we have agreed that OCS Group, the existing provider of security services at ACC Liverpool, will deliver security for the Labour party conference,” he said. “We look forward to working together on what will be an excellent event.”
Last year the party’s national executive committee (NEC) voted to boycott G4S but the GMB union threatened to stage a picket if Labour contracted an alternative provider, Showsec, which does not recognise trade unions. Showsec was the only provider to have bid for the contract.
More details soon …
|
http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/26/labour-security-deal-to-rescue-party-conference-ocs-group
|
en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/176be5e13a9099b14921346d13501e57020a57f8c2aec13fe7ec90b246322ea0.json
|
|
[
"Afp In Washington"
] | 2016-08-29T18:52:09 | null | 2016-08-29T18:39:33 |
Obama administration has been criticized for moving too slowly to respond to the five-year crisis in Syria, amid opposition to refugees from Republicans
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2016%2Faug%2F29%2Fsyrian-refugees-admitted-united-states.json
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en
| null |
US meets goal of admitting 10,000 Syrian refugees ahead of schedule
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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The United States said it would welcome its 10,000th Syrian refugee of this fiscal year on Monday, meeting a controversial target more than a month ahead of schedule.
The US has traditionally been by far the world’s most generous host for refugees but has been criticized by activists for moving too slowly to respond to the Syrian crisis, which has dragged on for more than five years.
UN pays tens of millions to Assad regime under Syria aid programme Read more
Barack Obama’s opponents, including Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, meanwhile warn that Islamic State extremists could infiltrate the refugee ranks to gain entry to the US.
“Our 10,000th Syrian refugee will arrive this afternoon,” national security adviser Susan Rice said in a statement, adding that the administration had met the goal “more than a month ahead of schedule”.
Rice said the number represented a “six-fold increase from the prior year”, and called it “a meaningful step that we hope to build upon”.
She noted that refugee admissions represented only “a small part of our broader humanitarian efforts in Syria and the region”.
“On behalf of the president and his administration, I extend the warmest of welcomes to each and every one of our Syrian arrivals, as well as the many other refugees resettled this year from all over the world.”
Tens of thousands of Syrian refugees remain stranded at Turkish border Read more
Frontline states like Lebanon, Turkey and Jordan have been all but overwhelmed by Syrian refugees, with each home to hundreds of thousands – if not millions – of them, and the arrival of streams of unvetted migrants on Europe’s shores provoked a crisis.
The Syrian refugees admitted to the US are chosen from United Nations camps and then vetted by US security and intelligence agencies. They are classified as “vulnerable”, such as widows, and elderly and disabled people.
Overall, the US will admit at least 85,000 refugees over the year, Rice said, mentioning that others would come from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Myanmar and Somalia.
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/29/syrian-refugees-admitted-united-states
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en
| 2016-08-29T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/529e85c0ab3d54d491af0d68bdfc91715350e2c874b2bdfd0b2401bd31a29d18.json
|
|
[
"Anna Birley"
] | 2016-08-27T08:49:15 | null | 2016-08-27T08:10:02 |
I’ve been called disconnected, disgusting, and a disgrace but I want to overhaul a broken system that should better support our most vulnerable residents
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fpublic-leaders-network%2F2016%2Faug%2F27%2Flocal-government-councillor-help-people.json
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en
| null |
The very people I became a councillor to help often have no idea I'm here
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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I first met Sandra while door knocking for my election campaign. A year later, I bumped into her outside the local corner shop, where she was begging the shopkeeper for any food they could spare.
She told me that she couldn’t fill her fridge because her employment support allowance benefits had been stopped – she had been sanctioned by the Department for Work and Pensions because she had missed meetings when her mum died. This meant her income went down to about £22 a fortnight.
I was elected to the local council in south London a couple of years ago. But it hadn’t occurred to her to come to me for help before she got into this desperate place – for her, and many of the most vulnerable residents, local councillors are a last resort or engaged because of a chance encounter like this. The very people I got into politics to help have no idea that I’m here.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest We go door knocking regularly to encourage local residents to get in touch.
She couldn’t take her medication on an empty stomach and was increasingly hungry, depressed, unwell and immobile. Every sanction meant she couldn’t afford the cost of the bus journey to the obligatory work programme meetings, which meant she got sanctioned again. Her letters to the department had become increasingly desperate, although her poor health and threats of suicide did nothing to change their minds that she was fit to attend.
I work full time – my council role doesn’t pay my rent and I fit my responsibilities around my day job. But I started taking an afternoon off work each time Sandra had a meeting, and would drive her there and back myself. Her first appointment filled her with such panic that she collapsed and I spent the evening with her in hospital. She used to call me at work and I would duck out of the office, terrified that something terrible had happened. I’d later have to explain to my manager why I was distracted.
And then, out of nowhere, she disappeared. Her housing association couldn’t tell me anything and her neighbours hadn’t seen her. Her phone was disconnected and there were no lights were on when I walked past her home. I knew she’d been in despair and was convinced she had killed herself.
In the meantime, my inbox filled with concerns about potholes, tree roots, noisy neighbours and rubbish bins. I’ve started some exciting projects and supported others to run their own. As councillors, we attend regular council meetings, develop policy, campaign against local government cuts and host surgeries where we hear heartbreaking stories every week – residents who are facing eviction from private landlords, who have damp and mould in their homes, who are in limbo waiting for an immigration decision from the Home Office or who work long hours but can’t afford the bills.
When you get in touch, I want to demonstrate my value as your councillor by addressing your concerns. Sometimes the answer isn’t one you’re happy with – cuts to local government budgets mean we can’t do everything we used to do or that we want to do. And often our systems at the council still aren’t as joined up as they could be, although we’re working on that. Occasionally, your emails are peppered with anger – I’ve been called disconnected, disgusting, a disgrace.
I work in a council homeless unit, where not helping people is seen as a good job Read more
When I saw Sandra on the bus this Sunday, alive, well and pleased to see me, I was overcome with relief. She had been away staying with her cousin while she had an operation. Having come out of the cycle of poor health and missed appointments, she hasn’t been sanctioned since.
It’s frustrating to know that there are other Sandras in my borough who also aren’t asking for support. Sometimes I spend so much time reacting to problems that it can be hard to find an opportunity to seek out my most vulnerable residents to ask how I can help.
And, even more frustratingly, Sandra and others like her only need help because the system has failed. That’s not right. It shouldn’t be a battle for people to access help and support; they shouldn’t be punished for a bereavement or for lack of a bus fare. Rather than simply navigating a broken, convoluted system with people like Sandra, I want to overhaul it completely so that it doesn’t punish the vulnerable in their time of need.
In the meantime, I’m doing what I can to answer your emails, to improve the local services that I have some influence to change, to manage the huge cuts being forced on local government and to juggle a full-time job while doing my best for the local community. This is the hardest and most rewarding thing I’ve ever done. I won’t always get it right but please know that I’m trying.
This series aims to give a voice to the staff behind the public services that are hit by mounting cuts and rising demand, and so often denigrated by the press, politicians and public. If you would like to write an article for the series, contact kirstie.brewer@theguardian.com
Talk to us on Twitter via @Guardianpublic and sign up for your free weekly Guardian Public Leaders newsletter with news and analysis sent direct to you every Thursday.
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https://www.theguardian.com/public-leaders-network/2016/aug/27/local-government-councillor-help-people
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en
| 2016-08-27T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/251f71dcdfa5011fdbeacce4107cf0779330178754a595f7d48c5f85ad939837.json
|
|
[
"Guardian Readers"
] | 2016-08-30T12:52:29 | null | 2016-08-30T12:04:17 |
If you’re a lorry driver who passes through Calais we’d like to hear from you
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2016%2Faug%2F30%2Florry-drivers-in-calais-share-your-experiences.json
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en
| null |
Lorry drivers in Calais: share your experiences
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Charlie Elphicke, the MP for Dover and Deal, says France and the UK must work together to deal with border security. Elphicke said lorry drivers passing through Calais faced increasing peril from people seeking to get on to their trucks using desperate measures.
“I spoke to lorry drivers who have been attacked with chainsaws, they’ve been petrol bombed, they’ve been attacked with machetes, their lorries have been stopped by trees. It’s a really serious situation,” Elphicke said.
A lorry driver speaking on the BBC’s Today programme said “it’s not like just a couple of lads wondering around, they’re just big gangs and they’ve got everything to get into anywhere. You get people in vans taking them around and dropping them off to get into your lorries.”
If you work as a lorry driver and pass through Calais we’d like to hear from you. What has your experience been like? Do you take new precautions when you travel through the port? Have you experienced difficulties? Or do your journeys through Calais mainly pass without incident?
You can share your experiences with us (anonymously if you wish) by filling in the form below. We’ll include some of your responses in our reporting.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/30/lorry-drivers-in-calais-share-your-experiences
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en
| 2016-08-30T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/8fa2673501777f1f0338f4f56bb3d834c4f25af8c3aba23df236fdba8e34bf55.json
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|
[
"Photograph",
"Carlos Aguilar Afp Getty Images",
"Mario Ruiz Epa"
] | 2016-08-26T13:25:09 | null | 2015-10-30T17:42:10 |
The Atacama desert is experiencing a rare springtime bloom of flowers after the heaviest rainfall in two decades earlier this year, caused by El Niño weather system. The desert is usually one of the driest places on Earth.
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fenvironment%2Fgallery%2F2015%2Foct%2F30%2Fflowers-bloom-in-the-atacama-desert-in-pictures.json
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en
| null |
Flowers bloom in the Atacama desert - in pictures
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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The Atacama desert is experiencing a rare springtime bloom of flowers after El Niño brought the heaviest rainfall in two decades earlier this year. The desert is usually one of the driest places on Earth. Flowers normally bloom every five to seven years but this year’s showing has been one of the most spectacular
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/gallery/2015/oct/30/flowers-bloom-in-the-atacama-desert-in-pictures
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en
| 2015-10-30T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/a831cdbcea0e23b7317eb92d576bcd767eefdfdbc922be0897647115bb1d4de9.json
|
|
[
"Graham Ruddick"
] | 2016-08-27T16:54:52 | null | 2016-08-27T15:00:06 |
Swiss Rock will cease trading this week as controversial entrepreneur moves family assets out of reach of investigators
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fbusiness%2F2016%2Faug%2F27%2Fdominic-chappell-company-wind-up-swiss-rock-bhs.json
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| null |
Dominic Chappell to wind up company involved in BHS acquisition
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
Dominic Chappell, the former owner of BHS, is planning to put his personal business into administration this week and is restructuring his assets, meaning he could walk away from a substantial tax bill and protect his cash from investigations into the demise of the department store chain.
Chappell has lined up David Rubin & Partners as the administrator for Swiss Rock Ltd. The firm could be appointed as early as this week.
Swiss Rock was paid at least £1.6m by BHS and its parent company as part of Chappell’s controversial acquisition of the retailer.
By putting Swiss Rock into administration, Chappell could walk away from its debts, which are thought to include a tax bill on his earnings from BHS.
Chappell’s actions will further infuriate BHS staff. The last of BHS’s 164 stores will close this weekend after the retail chain collapsed into administration in April, 13 months after it was bought by Chappell’s consortium. The demise of the retailer has led to 11,000 job losses and left a £571m pension deficit. However, Chappell’s consortium, Retail Acquisitions, received at least £17m from BHS during its ownership of the retailer.
Chappell and his associates were labelled as “incompetent and self-serving” by the parliamentary committee that investigated the failure of BHS. MPs said Chappell “had his hands in the till” and helped to oversee the “systematic plunder” of BHS.
As well as lining up administrators for Swiss Rock, Chappell has moved his family home in Dorset out of a £1.5m loan that was handed over by Retail Acquisitions using cash from BHS.
The security on the loan has been switched from the Chappell family home to a property in Portugal, and Land Registry documents no longer list Retail Acquisitions as the lender on the Chappells’ property. The Guardian revealed last week that the home was on the brink of repossession before the £1.5m loan from Retail Acquisitions was used to pay off debts against it.
In addition, the shares in JDM Island Properties, the company that owns the Chappells’ home, have been switched from Colin Sutton, an accountant and friend of the family, to Olivia Investments, the Chappell family’s Gibraltar-based investment fund.
These actions could distance the property from the administrators and investigators trying to recover cash for BHS. The Chappell family home now has no connection to Retail Acquisitions or BHS, so if the £1.5m is ordered to be repaid, then the property cannot be claimed instead.
Chappell confirmed to the Observer that Swiss Rock was likely to go into administration next week. “It is a company that we are no longer using. It was very connected with the acquisition of BHS,” Chappell said.
However, Chappell refused to deny that Swiss Rock would be leaving unpaid debts, including a tax bill. “I am not prepared to go into anything at the moment until we have gone into the detail,” he added.
He also declined to say why he was moving the properties around. “I am not making any comment on that. It is confidential and private.”
Chappell said he would make a written response to the MPs report into the BHS controversy this week.
He told ITV in a television interview that he been “stitched up” by Sir Philip Green when the billionaire tycoon sold BHS to Retail Acquisitions because Green did not deliver on promises to fix the deficit in the BHS pension scheme or ensure that suppliers supported the new owners.
Chappell also insisted he would not return any of the money he banked from BHS, which was more than £4m including the £1.5m loan. “I earned that money,” he said.
The Insolvency Service and the Pensions Regulator are both investigating the former owner of BHS. The Serious Fraud Office is also considering whether to launch a formal investigation.
However, Chappell insisted he had behaved correctly. He added: “My conscience is very clear, that we did the right thing, right the way through.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/27/dominic-chappell-company-wind-up-swiss-rock-bhs
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en
| 2016-08-27T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/27eae9d3800d99d7dfe102e17713bce85b8c61e929fcb3ac36d0ee1c60f343aa.json
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|
[
"Giles Richards"
] | 2016-08-29T18:52:32 | null | 2016-08-29T15:50:12 |
Lewis Hamilton is heading to the Italian Grand Prix happy with his driving after a damage-limitation third place at Spa
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fsport%2F2016%2Faug%2F29%2Fleiws-hamilton-minimised-loss-nico-rosberg-belgium-gp-f1.json
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en
| null |
Lewis Hamilton pleased to have minimised loss to Nico Rosberg
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Lewis Hamilton was bullish in the wake of his third place at the Belgian Grand Prix after losing only 10 points of his 19-point championship lead to his Mercedes team-mate, Nico Rosberg, who won from pole.
The German would have been expecting to make a bigger dent in Hamilton’s title hopes, given that the Briton started on the back row of the grid after being penalised 55 places for taking three new engines. Hamilton, however, put in a remarkable recovery drive to gain 18 places and crucially has ensured he now has a stock of power units for the rest of the season.
“The fight is back on as far I am concerned,” Hamilton said. “The good thing is now I have these engines, so hopefully we will see a cleaner second half of the season because it has definitely not been the easiest so far battling for the title.”
Should the championship go to the wire, saving so many points at this race and winning in Hungary when Hamilton took the title lead for the first time may prove pivotal. “I felt I got back to my comfort level in driving and I expect to take that into the next race,” he said. “To go into the summer break 19 points ahead and only lose 10, well, if someone had said: ‘You are going to lose 10 points at the next race and take three new engines,’ I would have taken that.”
This was the race of a world champion and the sort of performance that sets up his run-in for another title perfectly. He has been overeager in the past to make up places and commit to all-out attack, but on one of the world’s finest circuits Hamilton gave a bravura performance of pitch-perfect control and measured aggression. He acknowledged it had required no little rehearsal and some maturity.
“In my early days in karting we were always last because we had a crap go‑kart, so I had to come through and in cars it sucked at the beginning, so I was always coming from the back,” he said. “In Formula One I’ve had at least one year where I was at the back having to come through to the front. It’s not a stressful scenario because I have been there so many times.
“The only issue is staying out of trouble and how hard you push. My racing instinct is to get the best start possible, jump as many people as you can in turn one and hopefully you have done half the job. That’s what I want to do but the other drivers are hustling for position so all the years of experience came to fruition in the race.”
Aware he would have to take engine penalties after the summer break, Hamilton had said before the race that he felt as though he was still behind Rosberg. Now he is firmly ahead and has one extra power unit in hand over his rival. Starting with the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday, he also has the run-in he would like. In 2014, he won six of the final seven races and in 2015 four from five after Belgium to win the title three races before the end.
Toto Wolff, the executive director at Mercedes, was pleased with the result for both drivers, but expressed fears that Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is heading for a major accident after his battle with Kimi Raikkonen. The pair were involved in an incident at turn one but, more seriously, then clashed at Les Combes and a lap later the Dutchman moved very late to block an attempted pass by Raikkonen. He has done it before, but, as previously, was not adjudged to have been at fault by the stewards.
Wolff tried to sign Verstappen before he joined the Red Bull junior programme in 2014. “He is refreshing for me. He is a young boy I like a lot,” he said. “He comes in here with no fear, no respect, puts the elbows out. It reminds me of the great ones, it reminds me of Lewis Hamilton, of Ayrton Senna. You can see that some guys are starting to think twice about how to overtake him. Until now, all that has proven is that he is on the right track.”
However, the driver’s uncompromising approach is a cause for concern. “The FIA has not penalised it, the only thing that has happened is that he has been given a hard time in the drivers’ briefings,” Wolff said. “Maybe next time he will have a harder time. I just fear it might end up in the wall heavily one day. It is refreshing, but dangerous.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/29/leiws-hamilton-minimised-loss-nico-rosberg-belgium-gp-f1
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en
| 2016-08-29T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/c3029b0dfb1ea9a443bf96d82671e982d084b25987a58310e11fce0ab2cfb906.json
|
|
[
"Nicola Davis"
] | 2016-08-31T12:59:36 | null | 2016-05-03T16:08:25 |
A study of labrador DNA revealed more than a fifth of the dogs carry a genetic variation which could predispose them to food-seeking and weight gain
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fscience%2F2016%2Fmay%2F03%2Flabradors-could-be-genetically-hard-wired-for-greed.json
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| null |
Labradors may be genetically 'hard-wired' for greed
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Labrador dogs are well known for being fond of their food, but new research suggests their greedy nature could be down to genetic mutation.
Labrador retrievers are top dog in the UK, with 32,507 animals newly registered with the Kennel Club in 2015 alone. But the breed is well known for its tendency to develop a portly form, a concern given the variety of health problems - from diabetes to heart disease - linked to obesity.
Owners must take the lead on canine obesity | Brief letters Read more
To find out why the dogs are so food-focused, a team of researchers led by scientists at the University of Cambridge delved into the the dogs’ genetic make up. Their results revealed that more than a fifth of labradors carry a variation in their DNA that could predispose them to weight gain.
Open thread: labradors – are they really the best dogs ever? Read more
“There is some hard-wired biology behind that persistent food-seeking behaviour,” said Eleanor Raffan, a co-author of the research from the University of Cambridge.
For the study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, Raffan, together with other scientists the UK, Sweden and the US, began by looking at differences in the DNA of 18 lean labradors and 15 obese dogs of the same breed. The team focused on examining the DNA sequences of three genes that had previously been linked to obesity in mice. Two of the genes are also linked to obesity in humans.
A single variation within one of the three genes was found to be more common in obese labradors than lean ones: the absence of a short stretch of DNA in a gene known as POMC. This mutation, the authors add, disrupts the formation of two chemicals: β-MSH, which is linked to the ability of an animal to sense the amount of fat it has stored, and β-endorphin, which is thought to be involved in the brain’s reward pathways.
To probe the effect of this mutation, Raffan and colleagues recruited a group of 310 labradors. On average, when factors such as age, gender, and whether they had been neutered were taken into account, dogs with one copy of the mutant gene were found to be 1.9kg heavier than those without, while dogs with two copies were on average 3.8kg heavier than dogs without the mutation.
Intriguingly, when they then examined the DNA of 38 other dog breeds, they found the mutation only appeared in one other type of dog: the flat-coated retriever. “That makes sense because they are closely related to labradors - they were founded from a common ancestor breed called the St John’s water dog,” said Raffan. Now extinct, this breed was used by fishermen to retrieve nets of fish from the cold waters of Newfoundland. St John’s water dogs with the mutant gene might have been at an advantage through eating more.
“In that context, when you are doing really hard work and having to burn a lot of calories to stay warm, snaffling any food in sight might have been a really good idea,” added Raffan. What’s more, she said, dogs with the mutant gene might have been favoured by owners, as they were potentially easier to train with treats, resulting in the mutation being passed down to modern breeds.
The research also revealed another titbit. When the team focused on 81 labrador assistance dogs involved in the study, they found 76% of the dogs had at least one copy of the mutant gene. “That could be a quirk of the data, but the other hypothesis is that in order to become an assistance dog you have to be very well trained and pass a very rigorous selection process,” said Raffan. Since training often relies of food rewards, Raffan believes dogs that are more food motivated as a result of the mutation might do better in the selection process.
But, the authors warn, the mutation is unlikely to be the only factor affecting canine waistlines. “Within our cohort we have overweight dogs without the mutation, we have very food motivated dogs without the mutation and equally we have dogs with the mutation who are lean because their owners keep them very well managed,” said Raffan.
Yaiza Forcada, an expert in small animal internal medicine at the Royal Veterinary College, believes researchers now need to unpick the influence of the mutation. “The next step would be to find out a bit more details about how the mutation affects the dogs at the microscopic level. Knowing these details would open the door to developing treatment for those dogs affected by the mutation,” she said.
Giles Yeo, a co-author of the study also from the University of Cambridge, says the research suggests that for some, weight problems might be at least partly driven by genetics. He says: “Obese people, obese animals are not fat because they are lazy and slothful and bad, but they are fighting their biology.”
|
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/may/03/labradors-could-be-genetically-hard-wired-for-greed
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en
| 2016-05-03T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/b56078ba612f350cb4ba2a1daec13dbdeda9b43c6b850a1b31735f9a983c68c1.json
|
|
[
"Henok G Gabisa"
] | 2016-08-26T13:21:03 | null | 2016-08-24T10:52:01 |
Ethiopia’s Oromo people are systematically targeted and oppressed by its ruling regime. The athlete’s crossed arms protest shouldn’t be ignored
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fcommentisfree%2F2016%2Faug%2F24%2Folympic-medallist-feyisa-lilesa-ethiopia-oroma.json
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| null |
Olympic medallist Feyisa Lilesa’s gesture was a plea for justice for his people
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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When the Ethiopian Olympic marathon medallist Feyisa Lilesa crossed his arms at the finish line, the world asked what the symbol stood for. Little is known about the historical marginalisation and collective persecution of Lilesa’s people, the Oromo of north-east Africa.
Almost all Ethiopian runners come from the Oromia region; but the Ethiopian athletics federation is highly scornful of their Oromo identity. Perhaps the federation’s imperious attitude towards the athletes emanates from its paranoia and mistrust of the people, and fear that one day Oromo athletes might open Ethiopia’s Pandora’s box and spill the beans at an international sports event. Exactly what Lilesa did in Rio - and now he has not returned to Ethiopia.
Medallist Feyisa Lilesa fails to return to Ethiopia after Olympics protest Read more
At risk to his life, and at the sacrifice of his career, Lilesa was determined to express at the Olympics the collective grievances and institutional discrimination his people suffer in the Oromia region. The courageous crossing of his arms is a gesture of solidarity with the Oromo protest symbol that has been used over the last nine months in defiance of the ruling regime. In a short interview, Lelisa told what many believe is the story of the Oromo: the killings, the maimings, arbitrary detentions, profiling, enforced disappearances and economic injustices perpetrated by the Ethiopian government against the Oromo nation.
The current social and political crisis in Ethiopia was triggered by the Addis Ababa “master plan”, which was perceived by protesters as an attempt to remove the Oromo from the capital city. Even though it later dropped plans for this land grab, the regime claimed that its intention was to develop the city’s business district by further moving into the Oromo territories and neighbouring districts. No prior consultation, discussion or deliberation was had with the Oromo people, the ancestral owners of the land. Some saw this as being part of a grand scheme to ensure the long-term hegemony of the regime’s favoured ethnic group over the rest of the country. The Tigray, the regime’s dominant group, make up only 6% of the country’s population.
As Lilesa’s protest drew national attention, the situation in Ethiopia appeared to be deteriorating and having a serious impact on internal stability. It also cast a shadow of political uncertainty over the country.
The UN has highlighted how Ethiopian military and police forces systematically targeted certain ethnic groups
Contemporary experiences teach us that economic and political inequality increases the risk of internal strife. When one ethnic group captures political power and excludes its perceived rivals, ethno-nationalist conflict is likely to increase, potentially descending into civil war. A heterogeneous society such as Ethiopia, where disparities in wealth overlap with ethnic grievances, is a good case study.
The scale of the Oromo protest over the last nine months has exposed Ethiopia’s ethnic-coded wealth distribution. According to Oxford University’s 2014 Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI), Ethiopia is the second poorest country in the world with about 58% living in acute destitution. Not all Ethiopians have benefited equally from the country’s economic growth.
The Oromia region, the nation’s agricultural breadbasket, is also the nation’s second poorest region in the federation. According to the 2014 MPI, about 90% of Oromo live in severe poverty and destitution, more than 80% of Oromo households do not have access to electricity or sanitation and more than 75% of Oromo do not have access to potable drinking water. Similarly, the UNDP’s 2014 Human Development Index (HDI) placed Oromia well below the national average. Development in Ethiopia is not inclusive, not shared; many rural Ethiopians – the majority Oromo – remain in severe poverty. Oromo people are the most affected by the current drought and by the government’s response to it.
Economic inequality is echoed in the political realm. Amnesty International’s 2014 report, Because I am Oromo, chronicles targeting based on ethnic identity. Long before that, in June 2007, the UN committee on the elimination of racial discrimination had highlighted how Ethiopian military and police forces systematically targeted certain ethnic groups, in particular the Anuak and the Oromo peoples, and reported the summary executions, rape of women and girls, arbitrary detention, torture, humiliations and destruction of property and crops of members of those communities.
My activist partner is on death row in Ethiopia. The UK needs to intervene | Yemi Hailemariam Read more
It is this marginalisation in the Oromia and Amhara regions that has forced the younger generation to protest in the streets, but the government response has been bloody. International human rights organisations report more than 500 lives were lost, but activists believe this figure could be more than 700. An estimated 20,000 or more people have been imprisoned, tens of thousands wounded and disappeared; many more rendered landless, homeless and jobless.
Now, with rallies taking place and with funerals in several corners of Oromia and Amhara lands, the conflict is likely to escalate and the country’s public security and stability to deteriorate. As reports continue to emerge, after several days of internet and social media blackout in the country, there is a growing fear that the regime has, knowingly or not, helped foment inter-ethnic conflict, pitting the Tigray against the Oromo and Amhara peoples. In fact, given the differences among ethnic groups, this could quickly descend into a large-scale conflict.
If there is any lesson the world can learn from Rwanda’s genocide, it is the pressing need to act as swiftly as possible to avoid this kind of worst-case scenario. Lilesa’s gesture is a request to the citizens of the world to stand with the Oromo in their quest for political and economic survival against the unjust face of Ethiopia. It is also a call for the western powers to re-evaluate their foreign policy towards Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa in the interests of real security, dignity, stability, peace and development for all the people – not a select few.
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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/24/olympic-medallist-feyisa-lilesa-ethiopia-oroma
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en
| 2016-08-24T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/e3f773ce45b5dc0ae5b81478a6cef0c22d5249cd4f70a46123bf0962d98d35a6.json
|
|
[
"Anna Tims"
] | 2016-08-26T13:29:19 | null | 2016-08-12T22:45:09 |
Living on the edge will be easy in these properties from Norfolk to Scotland
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmoney%2Fgallery%2F2016%2Faug%2F12%2Fclifftop-homes-in-pictures.json
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en
| null |
Clifftop homes - in pictures
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Happisburgh, north Norfolk
For £345,000 you can buy one of the two quaint cottages at the base of this Georgian lighthouse. There are views to the sea from the open-plan living room and two of the three bedrooms. The awkward layout means you have to cross a bedroom to reach the sofa unless you descend the hall stairs to the kitchen and return up the spiral stair from there to the living room. Sowerbys , 01603 294 109
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https://www.theguardian.com/money/gallery/2016/aug/12/clifftop-homes-in-pictures
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en
| 2016-08-12T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/c87f90f84ea133c0a460c5170c1101ffe02798964cf65ca9a760d04348b65074.json
|
|
[
"David Squires"
] | 2016-08-26T13:21:45 | null | 2016-08-17T16:30:37 |
This week, David turns his attention to the US goalkeeper, who was lacking in Olympic spirit after the quarter-finals of the football competition in Rio
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffootball%2Fpicture%2F2016%2Faug%2F18%2Fdavid-squires-on-hope-solos-inglorious-exit-from-the-olympic-games.json
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en
| null |
David Squires on ... Hope Solo's inglorious exit from the Olympic Games
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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This week, David turns his attention to the US goalkeeper, who was lacking in Olympic spirit after the quarter-finals of the football competition in Rio. And you can find David’s archive of cartoons here
|
https://www.theguardian.com/football/picture/2016/aug/18/david-squires-on-hope-solos-inglorious-exit-from-the-olympic-games
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en
| 2016-08-17T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/6774a36c4112a46706b932e24d1cc6d8d6ceb5464cfa5d7f7ac6d2f4731a7ca6.json
|
|
[
"Jamie Grierson"
] | 2016-08-29T12:50:04 | null | 2016-08-29T11:06:27 |
Vicar leading talks among a new alliance of parishes says senior figures have been ‘watering down’ teaching over the issue
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2016%2Faug%2F29%2Fleading-vicar-warns-church-of-england-could-split-over-homosexuality.json
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Leading vicar warns Church of England could split over homosexuality
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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An alliance of Church of England parishes meeting this week for the first time could be the first step towards a split, the vicar leading the talks has suggested.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the Rev Dr Peter Sanlon, vicar of St Mark’s in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, said a split in the Church of England was a real prospect if its leaders continue to “water down” teaching on issues such as homosexuality.
Representatives of almost a dozen congregations are due to gather in Tunbridge Wells this week to discuss how they will uphold traditional teaching. They have no immediate plan to break away from the church but are forming “embryonic” structures in case the church continues to move in what they consider to be a liberal direction.
Sanlon told the Telegraph: “If senior leaders of the Church of England water down the teaching of the Church of England on key issues like homosexuality, then this synod could easily evolve in to a new Anglican jurisdiction in England.
Church of England aims to agree to disagree over homosexuality Read more
“The archbishop of Canterbury has signalled that he is aware of the possibility that a significant proportion of the church will not accept a change in the church’s teaching. This could be the beginning of that playing out.”
He added: “My overriding concern is to see the mission of the Church of England effectively discharged: the partnerships to do that are not possible between churches which promote ambiguity about teaching on sexuality.”
The Church of England’s traditional teaching is that marriage is a union between a man and a woman. It does not conduct same-sex marriage services, nor permit clergy to bless same-sex civil marriages. Clergy cannot be married to same-sex partners, and any same-sex relationships are expected to be celibate.
Three dioceses – Rochester, Canterbury and Chichester – are to become founder members of the new alliance, which does not yet have a name, but they expect others to join, according to the report.
The warning comes after the archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, reportedly told an audience at the Greenbelt Christian festival this weekend that he was “constantly consumed with horror” at the Church of England’s treatment of gay people.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/29/leading-vicar-warns-church-of-england-could-split-over-homosexuality
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en
| 2016-08-29T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/20a08210832e5974976db20b89af7e68f40dfe6d715de6271a823557973f5f54.json
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[
"Press Association"
] | 2016-08-26T13:15:35 | null | 2016-08-26T10:09:08 |
Europe’s top four leagues will have four automatic places in the Champions League group stage from the 2018-19 season onwards, Uefa have announced
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffootball%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Feurope-top-four-leagues-guaranteed-four-automatic-champions-league-places.json
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en
| null |
Europe’s top four leagues guaranteed four Champions League places
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Europe’s top four leagues will have four automatic places in the Champions League group stage from the 2018-19 season onwards, Uefa have announced.
The move, which is understood to have been championed by representatives from Spain and Italy, has partly been driven by the potential threat of a breakaway European Super League by top clubs
Other changes implemented by Uefa, to take effect in 2018 when the new three-year commercial cycle begins, will see clubs judged on their own records, deleting the country share for the individual club coefficient unless that coefficient is lower than 20 per cent of the association’s coefficient.
Historical success in the competition will also be acknowledged in coefficient calculation with points awarded for previous European titles, while financial distribution to clubs will be increased significantly for both the Champions League and Europa League.
The Champions League will continue to have a 32-team group stage and a 16-club knockout phase and the Europa League remains at 48 teams, although in a new development the winners will automatically qualify for the Champions League group stage as currently they can potentially take part in a play-off round.
“The evolution of Uefa’s club competitions is the result of a wide-ranging consultative process involving all stakeholders and taking into account a wide range of expertise and perspectives,” said Uefa’s general secretary ad interim Theodore Theodoridis. “The amendments made will continue to ensure qualification based on sporting merit, and the right of all associations and their clubs to compete in Europe’s elite club competitions.
“We are happy that European football remains united behind the concepts of solidarity, fair competition, fair distribution and good governance.”
Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chairman of the European Clubs Association, which lobbies on behalf of teams playing in continental competition, said: “I welcome Uefa’s decision, it reflects a serious and fair solution for European club football. I am particularly pleased with the fact that the European football community remains united moving forward.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/aug/26/europe-top-four-leagues-guaranteed-four-automatic-champions-league-places
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en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/5515bd6735b1dc97d057e1fdb71f1e439d29627c2867a5f0d5d107d33cecef08.json
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[
"Press Association"
] | 2016-08-26T13:30:31 | null | 2016-08-26T07:23:45 |
Bill Etheridge wants national broadcaster to be sold off to stop ‘leftwing propaganda being rammed down our throats’
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http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fpolitics%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Fukip-leadership-candidate-calls-for-bbc-to-be-privatised.json
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Ukip leadership candidate calls for BBC to be privatised
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www.theguardian.com
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A Ukip leadership hopeful has called for the BBC to be privatised to stop voters having “leftwing propaganda rammed down our throats”.
Four of the five candidates campaigning to replace Nigel Farage as leader addressed party members in Westminster on Thursday evening during the final leadership hustings of the race.
Ukip leadership candidates: the golliwog fan, the Putin admirer and the semi-professional wrestler Read more
Arguably the loudest cheer of the night was reserved for MEP Bill Etheridge, who suggested the national broadcaster should be sold off.
Etheridge said: “Ladies and gentleman, I’m so glad we have coverage here for this tonight because I know how much they are going to enjoy this: I want the BBC privatised. We pay taxpayers’ money to have leftwing propaganda rammed down our throats.”
He said the BBC should “stop picking our pockets to feed us this stuff that we don’t want to hear”.
Etheridge also acknowledged divisions within his party, as he said a “difference of philosophy, a difference of belief” existed within Ukip.
He said some figures in the party had been “downright disloyal” to Ukip and to Farage, while others seemed to be “in thrall to big money donations”.
“People who have done that, especially the one responsible for hijacking our 2015 manifesto, need to think on before they continue to attack this party,” he said.
Etheridge was joined at the event by fellow candidates Elizabeth Jones, Lisa Duffy and Phillip Broughton. However, the fifth candidate in the race, Diane James, did not attend.
James, the favourite to win the leadership contest, faced criticism from her fellow candidates for not turning up. She has been conducting her own leadership events.
Jones was one of the candidates to directly address James’s absence. She said: “There has been one leadership candidate notable by her complete absence. Even tonight at our finale, at the very final hustings, I would like to ask, where are you, Diane James, in the cut and thrust of our leadership election?”
The candidates faced a broad selection of questions from audience members. They were asked how much they thought the Ukip leader should be paid. Jones said she would work for free. She said: “I don’t need a salary. I will do it for free. I really need to see us leave the EU. I want Brexit to happen.”
Candidates were also asked what they thought the party’s post-Brexit aim should be. All of them stressed the importance of increasing Ukip’s representation in parliament. Broughton said: “Our main purpose going forward should be to win as many Westminster seats as we can. It’s as simple as that.”
The candidates seemed to agree that targeting Labour seats was the best way to make that happen. Referencing Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn’s recent row with Virgin Trains over seating, Duffy said: “Whilst they are looking for empty train seats we are actually going to be taking their votes.”
The winner of the leadership contest will be announced at Ukip’s annual conference in Bournemouth on 15 September.
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http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/26/ukip-leadership-candidate-calls-for-bbc-to-be-privatised
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en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/0633ac9724840b8e81ccf7d6c4d8f9169ed6b3779525fb617bacbc106034a495.json
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|
[
"Roy Greenslade"
] | 2016-08-30T08:52:23 | null | 2016-08-30T07:58:08 |
23 people detained two weeks after another Kurdish paper was shut down by court order and its chief editors were arrested
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmedia%2Fgreenslade%2F2016%2Faug%2F30%2Fturkish-police-raid-kurdish-language-newspaper-office.json
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en
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Turkish police raid Kurdish-language newspaper office
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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More than 20 staff of a Kurdish-language newspaper in Turkey were detained during a police raid on its headquarters.
Among those arrested in the raid on the daily Azadiya Welat in the south-eastern city of Diyarbakır were four people, including a child, who were visiting the offices.
According to a report by the pro-Kurdish Dicle news agency police told staff the raid followed a tip from someone who noted the number of people going in and out of the paper’s office and suspected terrorists were meeting there.
“The detention of at least 23 employees of the newspaper Azadiya Welat is the latest escalation in Turkey’s staggering campaign to silence critical voices,” said Nina Ognianova of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Turkish authorities, she said, “should immediately and unconditionally release all those detained and cease trying to intimidate the press.”
The raid came two weeks after a Turkish court ordered the temporary closure of the country’s oldest pro-Kurdish daily newspaper, Özgür Gündem, for allegedly publishing pro-PKK propaganda.
Days later, an Istanbul court ordered the arrest of Özgür Gündem’s editor-in-chief, Zana Kaya, and managing editor, İnan Kızılkaya, on charges of being members of the PKK, which is regarded as a terrorist organisation.
A member of Özgür Gündem’s advisory board, the award-winning novelist Aslı Erdoğan, was also arrested over alleged links to the PKK.
Twenty-two people detained during the raid were later released.
Sources: CPJ/Hurriyet Daily News
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https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2016/aug/30/turkish-police-raid-kurdish-language-newspaper-office
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en
| 2016-08-30T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/89e1e701689e17b1fa55f0d5dc12bbff82e5ef3e8291e66d3a37ebee87d1c625.json
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[
"Dan Tynan"
] | 2016-08-26T13:15:55 | null | 2016-08-25T21:30:46 |
Facebook is being accused of backtracking on its pledge not to use the data of the 1 billion users of the WhatsApp messaging app it acquired two years ago
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ftechnology%2F2016%2Faug%2F25%2Fwhatsapp-backlash-facebook-data-privacy-users.json
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WhatsApp privacy backlash: Facebook angers users by harvesting their data
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Stop us if you’ve heard this one: Facebook rolls out a new feature and/or acquires a new company, vowing to protect the privacy of its users’ personal information with its last dying breath. A year or two later, it backtracks and decides it wants spin your data into gold after all – and if users don’t like it, they can delete their accounts.
WhatsApp to give users' phone numbers to Facebook for targeted ads Read more
And so it is with today’s news about WhatsApp, the messaging service acquired by the world’s most unavoidable social network in February 2014. In a blogpost, WhatsApp announced it would begin sharing names and phone numbers with its parent company, to allow its more than 1 billion users “to communicate with businesses that matter to you too” – like notifications from airlines, delivery services or your bank, for example.
Facebook will also use that data to make friend suggestions and combine that data with the reams of information it has already collected so that it can tailor ads even more specifically to your interests.
Facebook did not want to comment on the change.
The reaction was nothing if not predictable. Tech news site Gizmodo sums up the feeling of many tech observers: “The sentiment that WhatsApp is an app that protects and cares for your privacy is no longer a reality. It was nice while it lasted.”
Some used Reddit to voice their disappointment, like Redditor Rakajj: “WhatsApp just lost a user. Was just a matter of time once the FB acquisition went through. Guess it’s time to finally give Telegram a whirl.”
And there was the inevitable tweet stream:
— Greg Scoblete (@GregScoblete) The #WhatsApp about-face is a good reminder that you should never take a company at its word. https://t.co/vcjPMmxj7k
— Mark Ward (@mark_ward_) What sms service are people switching to now it's been revealed that WhatsApp is giving all our phone numbers to Facebook?
— Mr. Funk E. Dude (@MrFunkEdude) Facebook lie and take advantage of their users in order to make a buck? What? No way! #Sarcasm https://t.co/D2WbCJhwYO
Yet the backlash runs deeper than a few angry tweets.
Marc Rotenberg, executive director of the Washington-based Electronic Privacy Information Center (Epic), says that by going back on its agreement to keep WhatsApp data private, Facebook is violating an agreement reached with the FTC in 2012.
The agency’s final order requires the social network to obtain its users consent before changing settings that affect the privacy of their information. “The FTC has to act,” Rotenberg says. “It’s absurd that a company can disregard a legal judgement.”
Facebook has a long history of changing its policies in a way that puts the company’s needs ahead of its users’ and kicks the internet outrage engine into full gear.
In November 2007 the social network launched Beacon, a way to capture information about what people did on third-party sites, publishing things like the games they were playing or their recent purchases on their newsfeeds. Howls of protest and a class action suit ensued; Facebook immediately scaled back the Beacon program and then quietly killed it two years later.
In December 2009, Facebook unilaterally made some information that had been private by default, like friends lists, publicly available without warning anyone. It also shared private information with third-party apps, while claiming to do the opposite. These and other offenses earned the social network sanctions from the FTC and 20 years of third-party privacy audits.
In early 2012, Facebook performed an ad hoc psychology experiment on nearly 700,000 users to see if it could manipulate their emotions by flooding their newsfeeds with either positive or negative posts – again, without informing anyone. The Electronic Privacy Information Center filed a complaint with the FTC, and Facebook eventually apologized.
Those are just the greatest hits.
What does Facebook get from annoying its users yet again? If you use WhatsApp to communicate with your airline, bank, delivery service or customer service department at virtually any other establishment, Facebook will know that too – and, at some point in the future, presumably add all those nuggets of potentially monetizable information to your ever expanding yet-strangely perverse advertising profile.
If that’s too much for you, you have 30 days to opt out of data sharing. (WhatsApp offers instructions here, though these steps weren’t available on my iPhone app at press time.) You can switch to a more private messaging service, like Telegram or Signal, which doesn’t rely on an advertising-based business model. Or you can keep calm and carry on using WhatsApp and Facebook – at least, until the next outrage arises.
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https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/25/whatsapp-backlash-facebook-data-privacy-users
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en
| 2016-08-25T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/eee3bab33e79a99b2cc36c8d00f381cc5adaa32b09c5b188cafeb80270ac0925.json
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[
"Associated Press"
] | 2016-08-26T13:16:21 | null | 2016-08-26T11:12:16 |
Viktor Orbán, who has claimed migrants damage Europe’s security, says new barrier is needed in case of possible surge
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Fhungarys-pm-plans-more-massive-fence-to-keep-out-migrants.json
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Hungary's PM plans 'more massive' fence to keep out migrants
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Hungary will build a new, “more massive” fence on its southern borders to defend against a possible surge in the number of migrants, the prime minister, Viktor Orbán, has said.
Orbán, who previously described migrants as “poison”, said on state radio that there might soon be a “greater need for security” and the fortified barrier would be able to stop “several hundreds of thousands of people” at the same time, if needed.
He said such a surge could take place if, for example, Turkey allowed the millions of refugees living there to leave for western Europe.
“Then, if we can’t do it nicely, we have to hold them back by force,” Orbán said. “And we will do it, too.”
Hungary built fences protected with razor wire on its southern borders with Serbia and Croatia last year, when nearly 400,000 people passed through the country on their way west.
Migrants on Hungary's border fence: 'This wall, we will not accept it' Read more
The fences have greatly slowed the flow of people entering Hungary, which is also beefing up its police force with 3,000 new “border hunters” to tighten control at the fences and introduced controversial legislation that allows officials to return migrants to Serbia if they are caught within five miles (8km) of the border.
Hungary has denied repeated allegations that officers have used force to “escort” the migrants and refugees back to Serbia.
Orbán reiterated his call for the stronger protection of Europe’s external borders, saying joint efforts were needed to defend the borders between Serbia and Macedonia, and Macedonia and Greece.
“Immigration and migrants damage Europe’s security, are a threat to people and bring terrorism upon us,” Orbán said, adding that this was caused by allowing the uncontrolled entry of large numbers of people “from areas where Europe and the western world are seen as the enemy”.
Orbán’s virulent anti-migrant stance also includes a government-sponsored referendum on 2 October seeking political support for the rejection of any European Union plans to resettle migrants among its member countries.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/26/hungarys-pm-plans-more-massive-fence-to-keep-out-migrants
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en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/bf91270ae81e69fe0142f39c74f91d19c44ee21f7caef5b9113d8ebc3c8498f6.json
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[
"Press Association"
] | 2016-08-30T16:50:16 | null | 2016-08-30T16:28:27 |
Search under way for 17-year-old who had been in dinghy with four other teenagers at mouth of river Wear
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fuk-news%2F2016%2Faug%2F30%2Fteenage-boy-missing-off-sunderland-coast.json
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| null |
Teenage boy missing off Sunderland coast
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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A 17-year-old boy is missing after four teenagers got into difficulty in a dinghy off the coast of Sunderland.
A search and rescue operation was under way after the boy was spotted in the water with another 17-year-old at 3.22pm at the mouth of the river Wear, near the Old Pier at Sunderland Yacht Club. Emergency services rescued the second boy from the water as well as two teenage girls from the dinghy.
Northumbria police said it was believed the boys had jumped from the dinghy into the water for a swim and got into difficulty. Two helicopters and two RNLI lifeboats were being used in the search off the coast.
More details soon …
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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/aug/30/teenage-boy-missing-off-sunderland-coast
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en
| 2016-08-30T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/b8bc392122013fc0b1cae1f6701365b38849233da828b8506c214ba39640f3ea.json
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[
"Daniel Harris"
] | 2016-08-26T13:18:57 | null | 2016-08-25T08:06:04 |
Wilfried Bony to West Ham? | Mamadou Sakho to Stoke? | Arsenal eye Omer Toprak, Simon Kjaer and José Giménez
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffootball%2F2016%2Faug%2F25%2Ffootball-transfer-rumours-arsenal-phil-jones-manchester-united.json
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| null |
Football transfer rumours: Arsenal to sign Phil Jones from Manchester United?
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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London is a monument to lavishness, dominated by the unarguable morality of conspicuous wealth – and yet it is also home to some of the world’s most notable thrift. Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur are two of the richest football teams on the planet – and yet both are above the vulgarity of exchanging money for goods. Down with the system!
Arsenal, after identifying Shkodran Mustafi as the centre-back that they wanted, refused to provide the £30m that Valencia requested; in the meantime, they seized one point from their first two league games. And now, having been told to pay his £43m release clause, they have somehow convinced themselves that the answer to their problems is “Philip Jones”.
Premier League: transfer window summer 2016 – interactive Read more
The move, though, does also have some logic to it: rather than sign a player who starts making errors and getting injured all the time, it surely makes sense to cut out the middleman and sign someone who has already mastered those arts. Le Professeur strikes again!
But it is also the case that a fit Jones is a far better defender than the internet sometimes suggests, such that the move would suit both buying and selling club – he is good enough to improve Arsenal but not good enough to do so drastically, and would bring in the funds José Mourinho needs to sign the extra defender that he wants for Manchester United. Except the urge to act vindictively is so strong, and the opportunity to act vindictively is so available, so Mourinho has decided to do what he does best, refusing to sell a player to Arsène Wenger, even though he’s not bothered about having him.
So instead Arsenal continue to window-shop their way across Europe, making eyes at Omer Toprak of Bayer Leverkusen, Simon Kjaer of Fenerbahce, and José Giménez of Atlético Madrid. They were also interested in Southampton’s José Fonte but believe that he will move to Old Trafford, though Mourinho has also developed a sudden interest in Omer Toprak of Bayer Leverkusen, Simon Kjaer of Fenerbahce, and José Giménez of Atlético Madrid.
Actually looking to buy players is Slaven Bilic, whose West Ham team is now without Andy Carroll for the usual unspecified period of time. As such, he is in the market for a replacement lump, and after sorting through the various igneous, metamorphic and sedimentaries, has alighted on the obelisk that is Wilfried Bony. Bony’s art-house interpretation of what constitutes football and running has yet to impress Pep Guardiola, so he is available, but has also been linked with a January move to China. Should a deal prove impossible, Bilic is expected to turn his attention to Kevin Kyle, Garry Thompson and Paul Wilkinson.
And Bilic is also plotting an audacious move to sign the hero of Euro 2016, Juventus’s Simone Zaza. Bilic has confirmed his interest in the player, but faces competition from Southampton, who need to replace the penalty-spot prowess of Graziano Pellè.
Meanwhile, Southampton are also in the market for Liverpool’s next expensive flop, ready to give Lille £20m for Sofiane Boufal, breaking their transfer record in the process. Only 22, Boufal is an attacking midfielder whose skills have attracted attention from Chelsea, Tottenham, Juventus, and, er, Watford, but he now looks likely to be heading for St Mary’s.
Talking of Liverpool, they are hoping to divest themselves of Mamadou Sakho for the foreseeable future. Sakho, who was only this summer awarded the iconic No3 shirt made famous by David Burrows, Julian Dicks, Bjorn Tore Kvarme, John Scales, Christian Ziege, Abel Xavier, Steve Finnan, Paul Konchesky and José Enrique, fell out with Jürgen Klopp after breaching club discipline, so is understandably keen to join Mark Hughes’s more easy-going regime at Stoke.
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/aug/25/football-transfer-rumours-arsenal-phil-jones-manchester-united
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en
| 2016-08-25T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/8b7a3d7001f07cd5ac20e10160cdddb952682367cdc2a0e5ad358765db247621.json
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|
[
"Source"
] | 2016-08-26T16:50:47 | null | 2016-08-26T15:31:56 |
Manchester United manager José Mourinho says the Europa League is good for the team as it will keep the players stimulated
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffootball%2Fvideo%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Fmourinho-bastian-schweinsteiger-unlikely-to-keep-playing-video.json
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| null |
Mourinho: Bastian Schweinsteiger unlikely to keep playing - video
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Speaking to Manchester United TV (MUTV) cameras on Friday, the club’s manager José Mourinho says the Europa League is good for the team as it will keep the players stimulated. He adds it is unlikely for German player Bastian Schweinsteiger to keep playing with the team, as there are five players for two positions
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2016/aug/26/mourinho-bastian-schweinsteiger-unlikely-to-keep-playing-video
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en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/b7323f8766573661d075b8b6c67cb0b34a49c5a23e751466b4d998ae4784199b.json
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|
[
"Martin Pengelly"
] | 2016-08-28T18:51:54 | null | 2016-08-28T17:22:18 |
Former New Mexico governor keen to exploit Clinton-Trump polarisation, telling Fox debates are key and he and VP Weld ‘might actually run the table’
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2016%2Faug%2F28%2Flibertarian-gary-johnson-president.json
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| null |
Libertarian Gary Johnson: crazy election cycle means 'I might be next president'
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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The Libertarian candidate for president, Gary Johnson, said on Sunday he “might actually run the table on all this” and win the White House in November, thanks to “the polarisation of Clinton and Trump”.
Mike Pence praises 'plainspoken' Trump amid furor over Dwyane Wade remarks Read more
Johnson, who favours the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and proposes making legal immigration easier, said his candidacy represented what a lot of Americans wanted but couldn’t find in either of the major-party nominees.
“You know how crazy this election cycle is,” he told Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace. “I might be the next president.”
A crucial hurdle for Johnson is to gain inclusion in the presidential debates, for which he needs to register at least 15% support in polls. Asked by Wallace if “it’s game over” if he does not make it on to the debate stage, Johnson agreed but said he was “really optimistic” that he could.
“The Presidential Debate Commission has identified five polls,” he said, referring to the surveys on which qualification with a 15% threshold will be based. “We’re at 10% flat on those five polls. And that’s an increase really of probably about 4% consensus over the last six or seven weeks. So we’re optimistic that we’re going to actually get into the debates.
“We’re spending money right now in many states. In five states right now, I’m at 16%. So I’m just really optimistic.”
A Morning Consult poll released on Sunday put the four-way split at Hillary Clinton at 39%, Donald Trump at 37%, Johnson at 8% – he was at 9% in the same poll earlier in August – and the Green party candidate, Jill Stein, at 3%.
The realclearpolitics.com average of polls put Clinton at 42%, Trump at 38%, Johnson at 8.1% and Stein at 3.3%.
The first presidential debate is set for Hofstra University in New York on Monday 26 September, the second for Sunday 9 October at Washington University in St Louis and the third for the University of Nevada in Las Vegas on Wednesday 19 October. A vice-presidential debate will be held at Longwood University in Farmville, Virginia, on Tuesday 4 October.
Trump is reportedly seeking more favourable terms and has yet to formally agree to take part. Nonetheless, according to the Washington Post, he hosted a debate preparation session on Sunday, at a golf club he owns in New Jersey.
Johnson advocates abolishing a number of government departments and agencies, scrapping the income tax and withdrawing from military engagements. He was until recently chief executive of a marijuana marketing company and if elected would delist the drug as a class one narcotic.
Citing a scenario familiar to watchers of the HBO satire Veep, Wallace asked if Johnson’s aim was to keep Clinton and Trump below the 270 electoral-vote threshold for winning the presidency, which would throw the race into the House of Representatives, a polarised body in which a one-state-one-vote ballot might give Johnson the presidency on a second ballot.
“Well, the object is to win outright,” Johnson said. “And it’s not impossible that if we go into the presidential debates with the polarisation of Clinton and Trump that we might actually run the table on all this. And I’m talking about me and Bill Weld, two former Republican governors re-elected in heavily Democrat states.”
Johnson was governor of New Mexico, Weld of Massachusetts.
Welcome to Iowa, where Trump's purple patch could turn a blue state red Read more
“I don’t think there’s any arguing that we did make differences in our state[s] being fiscally conservative, socially inclusive,” Johnson continued. “I’ll add to that, that we’re really skeptical about intervening militarily to achieve regime change that I think has resulted in a less-safe world.
“So I think that we represent about 60% of Americans with that philosophical belief.”
A difficult exchange followed on Johnson’s policies on immigration, tax, a balanced federal budget and the use of American force, the candidate repeating that he was “not getting elected dictator or king” and Wallace countering that “when you say we’re not going to be elected dictator, you’re saying, ‘Don’t take my policies seriously because they won’t get through.’”
Undaunted, Johnson closed by emphasising his optimism.
“You know how crazy this election cycle is,” he said. “I might be the next president. You know that, right?”
Wallace attempted to answer, but Johnson continued.
“That’s why I’m on,” he said.
“I hope you’ll give me your first interview in the White House,” Wallace said.
“There we go,” Johnson said. “There we go.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/28/libertarian-gary-johnson-president
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en
| 2016-08-28T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/7376ad4166f2c1f7eccce9fa8beb9f8d424204daa5de48bc1fd4b2575b812aeb.json
|
|
[
"Angela Monaghan",
"Nick Fletcher",
"Severin Carrell"
] | 2016-08-26T13:24:11 | null | 2016-08-24T16:41:57 |
The Scottish government’s North Sea revenues plunged 97% in 2015-16 to just £60m from £1.8bn a year earlier
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fbusiness%2Flive%2F2016%2Faug%2F24%2Fgerman-economy-grows-by-04-in-second-quarter-business-live.json
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en
| null |
Scotland's North Sea oil revenues collapse, US crude stocks rise - as it happened
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
09:21
The Government Expenditure and Revenue Scotland (Gers) figures showed that during 2015-16 the country’s tax receipts were £400 less than the UK average at £10,000, after several decades during which oil had pushed Scottish tax receipts above the UK level.
The gap between Scottish tax revenues and spending had also grown sharply, Gers revealed.
While overall tax receipts fell by £400 a head, the Scottish and UK governments spent £1,200 a head more on public services in the country, and on Scotland’s share of UK and overseas spending.
Compared with spending at UK level, that led to a gulf of £1,600 a head between what was raised in taxes and spent in Scotland. Yet overall government spending as a share of the economy increased again to reach nearly 44% of Scotland’s GDP, compared with 40% at UK level.
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2016/aug/24/german-economy-grows-by-04-in-second-quarter-business-live
|
en
| 2016-08-24T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/121ec1d628c2ee0deddc1d77a407fffc3b589cced9e9293d4ccfbd6168582a98.json
|
|
[
"Tom Dart"
] | 2016-08-26T13:16:39 | null | 2016-08-25T10:30:09 |
Hundreds protested ‘campus carry’ law that permits licensed gun owners aged 21 and older to carry concealed handguns in most places at public colleges
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2016%2Faug%2F25%2Fcocks-not-glocks-texas-campus-carry-gun-law-protest.json
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en
| null |
Cocks Not Glocks: Texas students carry dildos on campus to protest gun law
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
It was a typical scene at the start of the new school year – student groups setting out tables and trying to sign up recruits for sororities, clubs and religious organisations. Until the end of the row, that is, where hundreds of people had gathered to pick up free dildos.
Wednesday’s Cocks Not Glocks protest against Texas’s “campus carry” law was held on the first day of classes at the University of Texas at Austin, which has spearheaded resistance to the new rule from students and faculty members at colleges in the state.
The rally took place along a tree-lined avenue beneath the tower at the heart of the campus from where Charles Whitman embarked on a shooting spree on 1 August 1966.
The new law, passed last year by Texas’s Republican-dominated legislature, came into effect on the 50th anniversary of the massacre. It permits licensed gun owners aged 21 and older to carry concealed handguns in most places on public university campuses, including dorms and classrooms.
We have crazy laws but this is by far the craziest, that you can’t bring a dildo to campus but you can bring your gun Rosie Zander, history student
Demonstrators gathered to brandish sex toys in the air or strap them to their backpacks. Or other places. “We have crazy laws here but this is by far the craziest, that you can’t bring a dildo on to campus legally but you can bring your gun. We’re just trying to fight absurdity with absurdity,” said Rosie Zander, a 20-year-old history student.
“We wanted something fun that people could really engage in. Because it’s hard to get involved in the political process at our age, people our age don’t tend to vote or get involved, and this is so easy. Strap a dildo on and you’re showing the Texas legislature this is not a decision we wanted.”
Standing near a pile of empty boxes and a decorative small forest of upright phalluses, Zander said that Cocks Not Glocks has distributed more than 5,000 dildos in the past five days, donated by sex shops. A few metres away, someone waved a poster that declared “Cock and Load” near a sign fixed to a lamppost advising passers-by that this is a tobacco-free campus.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Demonstrators with sex toys. Photograph: Courtesy of Marshall Tidrick
The Campus (Dildo) Carry movement began last year when Jessica Jin, a University of Texas alum, organised a protest aiming to satirise the apparent absurdity of weapons being allowed on campus but not the showing of sex toys, which arguably contravenes university rules and a state law against displays of obscene items.
The choice of device also aims to challenge perceptions that carrying a gun is normal. Jin told the crowd on Wednesday that she felt self-conscious shopping at Home Depot this week with a dildo strapped to her backpack, but protesters should “deal with the discomfort, deal with the weird looks – that’s the way we should be treating gun culture”.
Proponents of campus carry argue that the law will apply to only a small number of responsible gun owners who want to exercise their constitutional rights and enhance their personal safety and that other states have had similar laws for years without major problems.
Critics claim the measure is opposed by the vast majority of students and staff, as well as police; will have a chilling effect on free speech; is more likely to reduce safety than promote it, especially given that many students are young people under stress; may cause “brain drain” among faculty and discourage students to apply; and was introduced not because of public demand but so politicians can appease powerful pro-gun groups such as the National Rifle Association. Attempts to pass further permissive gun laws are likely when the Texas legislature reconvenes next year.
Miguel Robles, a 19-year-old political communications student, wielded a poster that said: “You’re packin’ heat, I’m packin’ meat.” He said that he feels “less safe now that campus carry exists. During class you’re not sure if you can argue or have discussions any more because if someone gets very offended at any moment, [violence] could just spill out … It’s just very unnerving, really,” he added. “I haven’t met anyone that thinks it’s a good idea.”
Someone who does is Jason Buckelew, a 36-year-old who was one of several gun rights advocates mingling with the protesters. He wore a black T-shirt with the slogan “Welcome to Texas. Notice: this is not a gun-free zone.” The bulges in the pockets on the right side of his camo shorts were made by a Glock and a Ruger LCP pocket pistol.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Cocks Not Glocks. Photograph: Courtesy of Marshall Tidrick
“Shooting sprees happen in gun-free zones. It’s just crazy not to arm yourself. You should be able to defend yourself wherever you go,” he said. “They say that having guns on campus will stifle their free speech but then they’re walking around with sex toys, so they’re not very stifled, really.”
Buckelew would have been committing a crime if he had displayed his weapons openly on the campus, but under a state law introduced in January, he can carry handguns visibly in most other public places in Texas – and does. “People think it’s cool that I do it,” he said.
On Monday a federal judge in Austin denied a request by three professors for a preliminary injunction blocking the law. They argue that it infringes free speech by creating an intimidating atmosphere that will stifle the unhindered discussion of controversial issues that is an important part of academic life.
“I do believe in the second amendment and the right to own guns and bear arms, however I don’t think that public university is really the place for that,” said Zenyth Gale, a 22-year-old burlesque dancer and doughnut shop worker with a substantial green phallus attached to the front of her skirt.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Students at the protest in Austin, Texas. Photograph: Zuma/Rex/Shutterstock
“Every mass shooting they say, ‘Oh, if everyone has their own guns, someone will be able to stop it.’ But that just isn’t how it’s turned out. It’s devastating. I mean, after Sandy Hook there’s been no gun reform or anything and I don’t know what it’s going to take after that.”
Jennifer McKay, a senior majoring in history, said she is “very uncomfortable” about the new law. “I think that having guns in classrooms is absurd and this protest is equally absurd and we may as well be sex-positive while making a political statement,” she said.
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/25/cocks-not-glocks-texas-campus-carry-gun-law-protest
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en
| 2016-08-25T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/fd798fe11ec4b63bb0d05a993759401800842c9c8fd7bf929d0d7f7cfefca574.json
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|
[
"Graham Ruddick"
] | 2016-08-26T13:23:48 | null | 2016-08-24T18:32:05 |
Latest annual safety report by the Office of Rail and Road shows Britain has the third safest railway in Europe since 2010
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fbusiness%2Fblog%2F2016%2Faug%2F24%2Fbritains-rail-safety-record-deserves-some-credit-graham-ruddick.json
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Britain's rail safety record deserves some credit
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www.theguardian.com
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The debate about Britain’s railways is missing something important. Amid the talk of traingate, overcrowding, prices and nationalisation, there has been little mention of safety.
This is important, because the safety record for Britain’s rail network is staggeringly good. It is now nine years since a passenger on one of Britain’s trains died in an accident. The last death occurred when a Virgin Pendolino derailed in Cumbria.
Are trains in Britain as overcrowded as Jeremy Corbyn claims? Read more
A brief glance at the history of Britain’s railways shows this run is without precedent. It also compares favourably with the rest of the world.
The latest annual safety report by the Office of Rail and Road shows Britain has the third safest railway in Europe since 2010, based on workforce and passenger fatalities per billion kilometers of train journeys. Only Luxembourg and Ireland have a better safety record. Out of Europe’s 10 biggest railway networks, Britain has by far the safest.
The train crashes near Bad Aibling in Germany in February, which killed 12 people, and in Italy in July, which killed 23, are a reminder that tragedy is never far away.
The ORR report also shows that the for the first time ever there was no fatalities among workers on the railway in the last year, which is another landmark.
This look at Britain’s safety record is not mean to say that the existing system of Network Rail managing the infrastructure and private companies managing the trains is flawless. After the railway was privatised in the mid-1990s there was a string of major accidents at Southall, Ladbroke Grove, Hatfield, and Potters Bar. The Hatfield crash led to the collapse of Railtrack, and a lot needed to be learned from those accidents.
Prices are too high, the government needs to invest more in new infrastructure, and some trains are overcrowded. However, this safety record shows that Britain is doing something right and the existing system is not compromising safety. That is something to build on.
Sports Direct opens up
Who fancies a day out in Shirebrook? Sports Direct is to host an “open day” on 7 September in an attempt to show that working at its warehouse in the Midlands isn’t like working in a Victorian sweatshop after all.
Normally annual general meetings are for shareholders only, with journalists allowed in depending on the mood of the company. This year, though, Sports Direct will let members of the public into the meeting.
Sports Direct allows public to attend AGM and tour Shirebrook site Read more
After the AGM, guests will be taken on a tour of the Shirebrook facility before the board makes a presentation about their strategy, including their “people strategy”.
Guests have even been invited to submit questions to the board, which includes founder Mike Ashley. There is a condition, however, attendees and questions must be registered in advance, so we will see whether Sports Direct is prepared to take on difficult questions from its most ardent critics.
This is clearly an attempt by Sports Direct to fightback against criticism of its working practices and corporate governance, with the latest drama revolving around the the sportswear retailer paying an obscure company owned by Ashley’s brother to deliver online orders outside the UK.
However, the open day is a welcome alternative to the silence from Sports Direct in the past. Ashley normally sits through the company’s annual meeting in silence and with a glum face, leaving the talking to the other directors. He may do the same again this time, but by engaging with its critics, such as trade unions, Sports Direct can learn more about what is workers think of working in Shirebrook. Hopefully MPs on the business, innovation and skills committee who heavily criticised Sports Direct and Ashley in a report on working practises at the company will attend.
Actions speak loud than words though. Ashley was contrite when he gave evidence to the parliamentary committee, but trade unions representing the workers at Shirebrook are still pushing for change.
Defending Apple
Before 23 June, Barack Obama led the calls for Britain to stay in the European Union. But now the US Treasury department is referring to Brussels as a “supranational tax authority”.
Its comment is in relation to the European commission looking into whether to hit Apple with a demand for billions of euros in taxes.
US warns Europe over plan to demand millions in unpaid taxes from Apple Read more
The language from the US is strong, which is unfortunate given that a uniform global approach is needed to take on tax avoidance. If only the US would talk to companies in such strong terms, the commission would not have to get involved in investigations in the first place.
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/blog/2016/aug/24/britains-rail-safety-record-deserves-some-credit-graham-ruddick
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en
| 2016-08-24T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/12831448eeb922054b319d4a5277a9f0d94115b1a0c14de207db746ad43c79d7.json
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|
[
"Dan Tynan"
] | 2016-08-26T13:25:49 | null | 2016-08-25T19:25:26 |
The spyware took advantage of three previously undisclosed weaknesses in Apple’s iPhone to take complete control of the device with the tap of a finger
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ftechnology%2F2016%2Faug%2F25%2Fapple-ios-update-arab-activists-iphone-spyware.json
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en
| null |
Apple issues global iOS update after attempt to use spyware on activist's iPhone
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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A botched attempt to break into the iPhone of an Arab activist using hitherto unknown espionage software has triggered a global upgrade of Apple’s mobile operating system, security researchers said on Thursday.
The spyware took advantage of three previously undisclosed weaknesses in Apple’s iPhone to take complete control of the devices.
It’s a story worthy of a high-tech spy novel. When Ahmed Mansour opened his iPhone 6 on 10 August, he spied two suspicious text messages claiming to offer new information about dissidents being held and tortured in prisons in the United Arab Emirates. Each message held a link to a website where Mansour could obtain more information.
Mansour – a decorated human rights activist who had been targeted twice before by the UAE government – knew better than to click the links. Instead, he forwarded them to security researchers at the Citizen Lab, which examined the links with the help of another security firm, Lookout Mobile.
Bounty hunters are legally hacking Apple and the Pentagon – for big money Read more
What they found was an extremely sophisticated piece of spyware that, when launched, would jailbreak Mansour’s iPhone and take complete control of the operating system, bypassing any security controls Apple put in place.
Detailed reports issued by Lookout and Citizen Lab outlined how the technique worked, potentially compromising an iPhone with the tap of a finger – a trick so coveted in the world of cyberespionage that in November one spyware broker claimed it had paid a $1m dollar bounty to programmers who’d found a way to do it.
When researchers found that the attack had used three separate “zero-day exploits” – attacks never before encountered by security researchers – they decided to name the attack “Trident”, says Mike Murray, vice-president for security research and response at Lookout.
The first attack exploited a vulnerability in the Safari, fooling the phone into launching a browser session. The second located the core of the phone’s operating system, known as the kernel. The third exploit replaced the kernel, becoming a part of iOS. “Once you become the kernel, at that point you are the phone,” Murray says. “You can load any software you want.”
From that point, it would have been possible for attackers to spy on virtually anything Mansour did – phone calls, text messages, Gmail, Skype, and Facebook – as well as scan his calendar, and steal passwords and other personal information.
By tracking the domains used to launch the attack, as well as code embedded inside those sites, Citizen Lab traced it to a private Israeli security firm called NSO Group. That organization sells surveillance software called Pegasus to nation states; in 2012, NSO sold 300 licenses to the government of Panama for $8m.
In a statement that stopped short of acknowledging that the spyware was its own, the NSO Group said its mission was to provide “authorized governments with technology that helps them combat terror and crime”. The company said it had no knowledge of any particular incidents.
Citizen Lab also uncovered links between NSO and a group known to have launched attacks on other UAE citizens known as Stealth Falcon. The hacking group shared a handful of Internet servers with NSO. “So the link we suspect between Stealth Falcon and NSO is that Stealth Falcon is an NSO customer,” says Bill Marczak, senior researcher for Citizen Lab.
Stealth Falcon, in turn, had targeted other UAE dissidents in the past who were later imprisoned or convicted in absentia, Marczak adds. In addition, the material Stealth Falcon used as bait to lure victims into clicking the fatal link “was overwhelmingly geared towards the UAE”, he says.
“The high cost of iPhone zero-days, the apparent use of NSO Group’s government-exclusive Pegasus product, and prior known targeting of Mansoor by the UAE government provide indicators that point to the UAE government as the likely operator behind the targeting,” Citizen Labs’ report concludes.
While nation states targeting individuals is nothing new, this attack was something no one has ever seen before, says Lookout’s Murray.
“I cannot remember a single malware attack that contained three distinct zero-day exploits,” he says. “They picked the iPhone, the hardest platform to compromise. They created spyware with the most comprehensive feature set you can have, and they deployed it in a way that no one would catch it for years.
“Put it all together, this is unprecedented.”
Apple said in a statement that it fixed the vulnerability immediately after learning about it.
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https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/25/apple-ios-update-arab-activists-iphone-spyware
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en
| 2016-08-25T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/eab1ea1a5717e251a423a9f54a62135ffe339fdea2be3cfc7ddb88141f135ced.json
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[
"Martin Kettle"
] | 2016-08-26T13:17:47 | null | 2016-08-25T18:43:44 |
From rail nationalisation to grammar schools, rather than look to the future our parties seek to reclaim a lost postwar British greatness
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fcommentisfree%2F2016%2Faug%2F25%2Fleft-right-politics-dominated-nostalgic-gestures.json
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| null |
On left and right, our politics is now dominated by nostalgic gestures
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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If only we could bring back grammar schools, say Tories. If only we could renationalise the railways, laments Labour. And this yearning to return to the past seems hardwired into the human brain in lots of other ways, not just in politics. The blue-remembered hills where life seemed simpler, summers more summery, winters more wintery, people more trusting, children more childlike, sport more sporting, and where pop music was simply better than today, have us all under their spell in different ways.
That’s certainly true of the BBC, which with an uncanny feel for British retrophilia has embarked on a project to remake classic comedies that feels like a well-timed tribute act for post-Brexit Britain. Whoever thought that the camp smut of Are You Being Served?, the liberal naivety of The Good Life or the racial edginess of Till Death Us Do Part could find a new niche in 21st-century Britain? It’s as though the most important invention in modern technology is the rewind button.
Cinema has paved the way for this. What is the Bond franchise if not an enduringly ironic commentary on a diminished Britain’s longing to be taken seriously in the world? This summer’s remake of Ben-Hur feels like a reaching out to the more muscular and manly screen certainties of the 1950s. There’s even a new movie version of Swallows and Amazons. What could be better than that, for those of us who are forever children of the pemmican and grog world?
It is hardly surprising that this powerfully seductive past plays its part in politics too. Nor surprising that in politics it matters especially, but not exclusively, to conservatives. In the United States, for instance, polls show that Trump supporters think America was better in the 1950s and 1960s than it is today. Clinton supporters think things are better today. Americans as a whole think their country’s best year was 2000, because that was the prelapsarian moment before 9/11.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Last Night of the Proms: a ‘strange embodiment’ of our relationship to the past. Photograph: Christie Goodwin/Redferns via Getty Images
Every country addresses the lure of the past differently. Germany uses the past as a warning. France carries the legacy of 1789 as a national responsibility. Russia remains in thrall to its own frustrated uniqueness. Ireland has managed to put the pain and hatred of the past to one side without denying it, wonderfully in my view.
In Britain, lacking a sufficient common culture to transcend differences of class, nation and race, the relationship to the past remains embattled – despite Danny Boyle’s Olympic opening ceremony four years ago. The Last Night of the Proms remains a strange embodiment of all that. This year’s post-Brexit Albert Hall flagwaving will add new layers of touchiness.
Yet both main political traditions in Britain have a narrative of a past to which they wish to return. The Conservative narrative starts in the defiance of 1940 and speaks of the search to reclaim a lost postwar British greatness. Labour’s story starts in 1945 and speaks of a nation drawn together in war and then peace for a common good which has subsequently been mislaid. Both are still searching, to this day.
The Brexit vote in June was not simply about a yearning for the past. It was an expression of anger about the present and hope for the future too. But it cannot be fully understood without grasping the powerful sense among many British voters that the past was better than today. The slogans of regaining control and getting our country back are each rooted in that. It resonates not just with the Tory but with the Labour tradition.
The former Conservative minister David Willetts talks about this syndrome as “bring-backery”. Bring back grammar schools is its most visible manifestation in Tory circles right now, and is certain to get a fresh boost from a perception that this year’s GCSE results show a failing system. But the bring-back agenda goes further. You don’t now hear so much talk as in the 1970s about bringing back flogging, hanging and national service. But conservative cultural values about race, gender, punishment and modernity were the surest correlation with a Brexit vote in June.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Theresa May outside number 10 Downing Street shortly after becoming prime minister: her desire to bring back grammar schools undercuts her message ‘not to entrench the advantages of the fortunate few’. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/Reuters
Smart politics recognises this feeling for the past without blinding itself to its limitations. The Times columnist Rachel Sylvester wrote that the biggest danger to Theresa May is the temptation of making nostalgic gestures to propitiate her party. Grammar schools are one of these gestures. It is dangerous not so much because of academic selection in itself, which has its place, but because – whether she intends it or not – the bring-back message undercuts May’s statement outside Number 10 in July that “when it comes to opportunity, we won’t entrench the advantages of the fortunate few”. Outside the Tory bubble it signals same-old Tories.
Yet while it makes obvious sense for Conservatives to seek solace with the past, this has not been true of Labour until now. Historically, Labour has seen itself as a party of the future. Its manifesto in 1945 was entitled Let Us Face the Future. Newness is a recurrent theme of all postwar Labour propaganda, and not just under New Labour. But Labour is in turmoil because so many supporters think it trashed its own past in favour of a valueless newness.
Now, under Jeremy Corbyn, Labour has turned to the past. Corbyn speaks of renationalising the railways, not because it would work well but because he thinks state ownership is right. But it’s as if he wants to hold down that rewind button until we reach the 1970s again, a bit like Life on Mars.
One senses he has not had a genuinely new idea in 40 years and is proud of it. And that he won’t be happy until the coal mines are open again and the NUM is on strike against the National Coal Board too.
In one of my favourite operas, Wagner’s Die Meistersinger, a medieval guild of singers is outraged when someone with new ideas about music comes to town. The newcomer reciprocates his rejection by shunning the old styles and rules. Only the wisest master, Hans Sachs, fully understands – and then only with an effort – that the old and the new both matter alike.
Wagner’s lesson is not to spurn the past but to also always do something new. It was always thus. As in art, so in post-Brexit politics.
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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/25/left-right-politics-dominated-nostalgic-gestures
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en
| 2016-08-25T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/66b0b96c4706e4720de75403bb048434948382c021d90e228e21d2e53742e415.json
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|
[
"Pamela Howard"
] | 2016-08-31T14:50:26 | null | 2016-08-31T14:34:11 |
Costume designer whose work enhanced many theatrical productions
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fartanddesign%2F2016%2Faug%2F31%2Fannena-stubbs-obituary.json
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Annena Stubbs obituary
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Annena Stubbs, who has died aged 92, was a talented costume designer for the stage. Over 40 years, she worked with many notable directors and designers, including her husband, the theatre designer Ralph Koltai.
Her collaboration with Koltai started with Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah (1957) for Sadler’s Wells theatre, London, followed by Il Prigioniero (1959), Volpone (1961) and Boulevard Solitude and Murder in the Cathedral (both 1962). In that year, too, she designed the costumes for The Caucasian Chalk Circle and Macbeth, for the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Annena and Koltai worked together throughout the 1960s, Koltai devising settings using innovative materials, and Annena creating equally ingenious costumes. This was an intense and fruitful period for them, with work at the Aldwych theatre, Coventry Cathedral and the Edinburgh festival, as well as Sadler’s Wells. Invitations came to work in Israel, Bulgaria, North America and Hong Kong, in opera, drama and dance.
With Colin Graham, who later formed the English Music Theatre company, Annena designed costumes for several productions at the Aldeburgh festival, including Benjamin Britten’s Curlew River (1964), The Burning Fiery Furnace (1966) and The Prodigal Son (1968). She also designed for The Dutch Courtesan (1964) at the National Theatre, Old Vic, and several productions for the Bristol Hippodrome.
Her designs for Michael Tippett’s seminal opera The Midsummer Marriage (1976), for Welsh National Opera, were much praised for helping to clarify the progress of the leading characters. She used colour to reinforce the trials undergone by the young people in the opera: bright hues were employed to suggest the fertility of youth, and silvery greys for the ancients.
Annena was born into a wealthy Liverpool family, the only child of George and Theodora Stubbs, and a descendant of the painter George Stubbs. She recalled being wheeled around Sefton Park with her nanny, often accompanied by George Melly and his nanny. Annena’s adored mother died when she was in her teens and she suffered a difficult relationship with her autocratic father. During the second world war years, the family moved to north Wales and Annena was sent to boarding school in Warwickshire.
As the war ended, Annena trained as an auxiliary nurse, tending servicemen in the local hospital. Already possessed of a love of drawing and painting, she then attended Chester School of Arts to complete a foundation course. The competition to get into a major art school in London was immense, and to earn a place at Central School of Arts and Crafts (now Central Saint Martins), as Annena did, was considered the highest achievement.
At that time, the Central theatre design course was headed by Jeannetta Cochrane, after whom the Cochrane theatre in Holborn was named, and on the staff were a powerful cohort of costume designers, Nora Waugh, Sheila Jackson and Ruth Keating. Thus the course was heavily oriented towards costume, in which Annena was to shine. Part of the studies included understanding performers through performance, and in 1951 Annena made one of her first ventures into the theatrical world when she appeared in a production at Dartington Hall.
Having chosen to specialise in costume design, within a short time she was receiving glowing reviews and public acclaim. From the start she had an individual style, notable for an imaginative use of colour and employing all the painterly techniques she had absorbed in her training. Her designs on paper were works of art.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Costume design for Othello by Annena Stubbs (1973)
At the Central she met Koltai, a fellow student. They married in 1954. Even after the breakdown of the marriage and their divorce in 1976, their collaborations continued, with Anna Karenina (1981) for ENO, Die Soldaten (1983) for Lyon Opera, The Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny (1984) for Aalborg theatre, Denmark, and two productions for the Hong Kong festival – The Flying Dutchman (1987) and La Traviata (1990).
Annena was invited to create costume designs for productions in Ontario, Canada, and with the director Michael Geliot at Welsh National Opera, as well as at the Welsh Theatre Company, the Edinburgh festival, Buxton festival, Wexford and Dublin. Her designs for Othello at Stratford, Ontario, in 1973 showed her ability to capture the quixotic character of the protagonist both as a noble warrior and an exotic outsider.
During the 70s and 80s Annena was a tutor at the Motley theatre design course in London, and a visiting tutor at Wimbledon School of Art. One of the highlights of her career was to be included as an exhibitor at the Prague quadrennial in 1983 and 1987. Many of her designs are now in the theatre collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Since 1967, Annena had lived in Wandsworth, south-west London, in the home which became her safe haven. She enjoyed walking on the nearby common, gardening, cooking and entertaining, and creating in her home-based studio. Her great interests during her many travels were architecture, culture and costumes, principally from a historical point of view. Her final years were spent painting and drawing in her garden, where she produced fine studies of plants and trees.
She is survived by her partner, Edward Potter.
• Mary Annena Stubbs, costume designer, born 13 August 1924; died 30 July 2016
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https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/aug/31/annena-stubbs-obituary
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en
| 2016-08-31T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/f9adfba79dd7aebcf9a240f72e048ad05881b9d4a311a3e460c7bf53981efab2.json
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[
"Mark Sweney"
] | 2016-08-31T06:50:25 | null | 2016-08-31T05:30:28 |
Watchdog says rum brand was ‘irresponsible’ to imply drinking could enhance personal qualities – even though it did not show the product
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmedia%2F2016%2Faug%2F31%2Fcaptain-morgan-tv-ad-scuppered-for-implying-alcohol-can-boost-confidence.json
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Captain Morgan TV ad scuppered for implying alcohol can boost confidence
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www.theguardian.com
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A TV ad for Captain Morgan rum featuring a raucous boat party has been banned for implying alcohol can make you more confident.
The TV ad featured a party on a sailing ship with a fun-loving man who has the face of the Captain Morgan pirate logo that adorns the rum’s bottles superimposed over his own.
The man is seen dancing with friends to Chic’s Le Freak, upending a sofa and swinging on a rope from deck to deck with text saying “Captain the dance floor”, “Captain the night” and “Put your Captain face on”.
The ad ended with a shot of the Captain Morgan product range and the line “Live like the Captain”.
The Advertising Standards Authority received complaints from Alcohol Concern and a member of the public that the TV ad was irresponsible because it implied that drinking alcohol could contribute to an individual’s popularity or confidence.
Diageo, which owns the rum brand, said the ad shows enjoying a night with friends and “taking charge of a night out and staying in control”.
It said the use of the Captain Morgan face image on the main character did not symbolise alcohol consumption and no booze was shown in the party scenes at all.
The ASA said that viewers would equate the brand and the character with the rum brand.
“Viewers were therefore likely to understand that the central figure’s behaviour resulted from his consumption of Captain Morgan rum,” said the ASA.
“We considered that the use of ‘captain’ as a verb to mean being in charge or in control carried connotations of enhanced confidence, dominance, and ability to lead others.
“In that context we considered that the phrases … would be understood by consumers as invitations to achieve a confident, uninhibited attitude through consuming Captain Morgan rum.”
The ASA said that while the main character was not shown drinking “we considered that the superimposed Captain Morgan face implied that he had already consumed the product and thus linked his confident behaviour to this consumption.”
The ASA banned the ad under rules relating to responsible alcohol advertising.
“We concluded that the ad implied that drinking alcohol could enhance personal qualities and was therefore irresponsible,” the ASA said.
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https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/aug/31/captain-morgan-tv-ad-scuppered-for-implying-alcohol-can-boost-confidence
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en
| 2016-08-31T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/0836520dfa660f8d0709c18a90f35a5c9a6e1f8d27f7e01ed79402203634cfcf.json
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[
"Jeremy Farrar"
] | 2016-08-26T13:28:07 | null | 2016-08-17T14:39:23 |
Why crossing cultures and collaborating beyond disciplines are the only ways to work if we’re to tackle the great global challenges of our time
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fscience%2Fblog%2F2016%2Faug%2F17%2Fwellcomes-work-doesnt-exist-in-a-vacuum-so-weve-brought-science-to-the-fringe.json
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Wellcome's work doesn't exist in a vacuum - so we've brought science to the Fringe
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www.theguardian.com
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When I was asked to give an opening address for The Sick of the Fringe, a project commissioned by Wellcome at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, I thought I knew what I was getting myself into.
I’ve given many lectures and talks at universities and conferences across the country, and the world, but this one was different. With no slides, little preparation, and following a presentation that straddled the worlds of science, technology and performance art, I felt as nervous as I have ever been.
The Sick of the Fringe is a project that supports artists and theatre-makers to get outside their comfort zones, to explore new and different ways of thinking and working, and so, embracing that ethos, I stepped outside mine.
But did I, as director of Wellcome, address a room of people from across art and performance, as well as medicine, academia and research?
Although Wellcome is largely known as a biomedical organisation, we’re much more than that. Henry Wellcome himself – an immigrant to the UK – who established his charitable foundation in the early 20th century, was an entrepreneur, an eclectic collector and a globalist. He was perfectly comfortable within the arts, the humanities, the sciences, in academia as well as within industry, and that is the spirit we preserve at Wellcome today.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jeremy Farrar giving the opening address for The Sick of the Fringe. Photograph: Callum Bennetts/Maverick Photo Agency
Wellcome aims to spend up to £5 billion over the next five years, with a significant proportion of that going to artistic projects that both entertain and inspire emotional, intellectual and critical engagement with science, creating opportunities for a wider range of people to reflect on the research that affects their lives.
Bridges across disciplines
We are currently at a real reflection point in the world. In many ways, we have never had more opportunities, we are in a golden age of scientific discovery, science that has and will continue to transform the lives of millions of people around the world. But we also face some enormous global challenges. Wherever those challenges come from, we will not find solutions to them – and solutions are findable – if we just talk among ourselves.
We are in an increasingly polarised society. Although we have access to huge amounts of information at our fingertips, we risk becoming ever narrower in our views. I worry that we often exist in isolation, talking only to people within our own communities and bubbles: scientists talking to scientists and artists talking to artists is just one example of fragmentation and division.
We don’t have to be passive observers, though. We don’t have to just watch the world go by. We have the capacity to make real change in the world by working together, reaching out beyond our comfort zones and our bubbles, and building bridges across disciplines. And I believe it is our duty to do so.
The great minds of the past, like Henry Wellcome, were not singular in their viewpoints. They were polymaths, as happy talking about art and culture as they were about the sciences. They were artists, doctors, inventors and explorers. Although modern science doesn’t allow us to do that in quite the same way, it does not, and cannot, exist in a vacuum. Science must exist within the broader cultural and societal context.
That became even clearer to me when working on Ebola during the crisis of 2014 and 2015. Alongside our partners in west Africa and across the global health community, Wellcome’s work led to the development of a vaccine in less than two years. That was an incredible achievement, but in truth there wasn’t a solely biomedical solution to Ebola, just as there isn’t a single scientific solution to climate change, to drug-resistant infections, to the challenges of demographic shifts, urbanisation and feeding an ever growing population.
Holistic approach to science and society
With Ebola it took partnership, evidence and most importantly a deep understanding of the communities in the affected countries in which we were working that turned the epidemic around. It is this same holistic approach to science and society that will allow us to really change the world and make it a better place for the maximum number of people.
We would love to continue to working in this way. To be an organisation that bridges gaps, that catalyses others and works together, listening and talking with those who don’t look, think or work like we do.
Although we may not see the impact of this tomorrow, next year or even for 10 or 20 years, working in collaboration and creating opportunities for informed dialogue will make a difference. We can change the course of history and together we can find solutions to some of the world’s great challenges.
And if getting over my nerves about speaking at one of the largest arts festivals in the world is a tiny example of that, then I am delighted to have played that small part.
The Sick of the Fringe is led by artist, performer and Wellcome Engagement Fellow Brian Lobel, and co-directed by producer Tracy Gentles, of In Company Collective. Follow@TSOTFringe(opens in a new tab) on Twitter and use the hashtag #TSOTF16 to connect with the project and the TSOTF community.
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https://www.theguardian.com/science/blog/2016/aug/17/wellcomes-work-doesnt-exist-in-a-vacuum-so-weve-brought-science-to-the-fringe
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en
| 2016-08-17T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/b8a39948abbd122f6f8e3968aa292fa7e9b44299475cb573b370faeaf0692755.json
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[
"Rebecca Smithers"
] | 2016-08-26T13:28:21 | null | 2016-08-06T06:00:26 |
The company advertised the television as Full HD but it wasn’t, and I’m struggling to find a resolution
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmoney%2F2016%2Faug%2F06%2Fpoor-service-amazon-faulty-hd-tv-description.json
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Poor service from Amazon over its faulty HD television description
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www.theguardian.com
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I bought a television from Amazon through its one-day Prime Day promotion – the full description was a Sony Bravia KDL32WD603 32-inch Full HD Smart TV with Freeview, HDD Rec and USB Playback.
The Full HD/1080p description appears more than once on the Amazon page. But after the transaction had gone through, I saw a couple of reviews noting that it wasn’t actually Full HD, but HD Ready – 720p rather than 1080p.
I contacted Amazon customer services, which reassured me the reviews were mistaken, so I agreed to accept delivery. When the TV arrived, lo and behold, it was 720p.
When I contacted Amazon, it offered a return and promised to take the item off its website pending an investigation, but told me it wouldn’t refund me until the item had been collected by courier and checked. When the courier did pick up the TV (after two missed collections) there was a delay in payment, which Amazon blamed on slow bank turnaround, and I was offered £50 of vouchers as a goodwill gesture.
But the TV is still on sale with the incorrect details and it is clear from recent reviews that other customers are being affected by this. Amazon promised to remove the listing and investigate, but four or five days later, it still has not done so. JU, London
The Prime Day price was £239, down from £299 – a good deal for a 1080p set but about £40 too expensive for a 720p one. These days you’d need the equivalent of a PhD in rocket science to understand the jargon and descriptions of high-definition television (HDTV), which provides a much higher image resolution and quality than standard definition television. When you see something advertised as Full HD or 1080p, it is standard in the industry that this means 1920 x 1080 pixels. On the Amazon listing for this TV, that was in the product title and the description. Because the listing groups different-sized sets in the same model group, what seems to have happened is that Amazon took the information for one of the larger models and applied it to the 32-inch version.
We were puzzled at Amazon’s tardiness in coming back to you. When we checked initially, the item was still inaccurately listed, although it has since – following our intervention – been corrected. The company lists millions of products for sale, which it does in conjunction with product manufacturers, but that’s no excuse not to correct them when they are clearly wrong.
The Advertising Standards Authority’s code states that “marketing communications must not materially mislead or be likely to do so” and would take your complaint very seriously – and indeed encourage consumers with similar gripes to write in.
Amazon said in a statement: “We aim to provide the very latest information as well as every day great value on the tens of millions of products available at Amazon.co.uk.” But that doesn’t really answer the query – “aiming” to provide is not actually providing.
Separately, Amazon was ordered earlier this week to clarify its delivery charges for individual products after the advertising watchdog found it had been misleading customers. The ASA found a lack of clarity about items eligible for free delivery after a shopper complained about delivery charges for an AmazonBasics electrical product.
We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number
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https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/aug/06/poor-service-amazon-faulty-hd-tv-description
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en
| 2016-08-06T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/3655fd09800c263bb4e69aac5dc1baeb382485ac29b907b87fa1f677065a0e72.json
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[
"Justin Mccurry"
] | 2016-08-31T08:52:46 | null | 2016-08-31T08:32:24 |
Ministry requests £38bn to address a surge in Chinese naval activity and North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2016%2Faug%2F31%2Fjapan-defence-ministry-record-budget-counter-chinese-north-korea-nuclear-threat.json
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Japan defence ministry seeks record budget to counter Chinese threat
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www.theguardian.com
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Japan’s defence ministry has requested a record budget to counter growing Chinese military activity around a group of disputed islands in the East China Sea.
The ministry is seeking 5.17 trillion yen (£38bn) for the year beginning in April 2017. That marks an increase of 2.3% from last year, and is the fifth annual increase since Japan’s prime minister, Shinzo Abe, came to power in late 2012 vowing to bolster the military to address a surge in Chinese naval activity and North Korea’s nuclear weapons programme.
The latest budget request marks a continuation in the shift in focus away from Japan’s northern maritime border with Russia – where cold war Soviet forces once posed a threat – to an 870-mile chain of southern outlying islands stretching from the Japanese mainland towards Taiwan.
Much of the hardware on the defence ministry’s shopping list is designed to counter potential threats to Japanese territory in the East China Sea, including the disputed Senkaku islands, which are also claimed by Beijing.
At the heart of the strategy is the development of a mobile amphibious force – modelled on the US marine corps – that would be able to respond quickly to an attempt to invade the Senkakus, which China refers to as Diaoyu.
In the single biggest outlay, the ministry wants more than 100bn yen to upgrade Japan’s Patriot Advanced Capability (PAC-3) missiles, seen as the last line of defence against a nuclear or conventional attack by North Korea.
The sense of urgency in Tokyo over missile defence is growing amid evidence that North Korea is making progress in its attempts to build reliable ballistic missiles capable of reaching Japan, including those launched from submarines.
The improvements will dramatically enhance the PAC-3’s range and its ability to target incoming missiles.
The Senkakus are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and potentially huge oil and gas deposits. The uninhabited islets are administered by Japan, but Chinese vessels have stepped up incursions into waters near the territories in recent months.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Japanese ground self-defence troops during live-fire training. Photograph: Aflo/Barcroft
To improve Japan’s ability to patrol the islands, ministry officials want to spend 95bn yen on six Lockheed Martin F-35 stealth fighters, as well as more than 90bn yen on four Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft and six Boeing Chinook twin-rotor helicopters.
Incursions by Chinese planes into Japanese airspace near the Senkakus were met with a record number of scrambles by Japanese fighter planes between April and June, while Tokyo continued to resist Beijing’s requests for talks on the dispute.
This month, the Japanese foreign minister, Fumio Kishida, summoned China’s ambassador in Tokyo, Cheng Yonghua, to protest against Chinese maritime activity in the area, saying it had contributed to a “marked deterioration” in Sino-Japanese ties.
Last week, however, Kishida and his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, agreed it was important to establish lines of communication to avoid accidents near the Senkakus that could quickly escalate into a conflict.
“We reached a common recognition that we have to control friction at sea firmly through the efforts of both countries,” Wang told reporters during a trilateral summit in Tokyo that also included South Korea’s foreign minister.
As a prominent member of a group of conservative politicians who believe the postwar constraints imposed on Japan’s military are unfair and out of date, Abe wants the country’s self-defence forces to play a bigger international role that includes possible involvement in overseas conflicts.
Last summer, his governing coalition pushed through controversial security legislation that reinterpreted Japan’s war-renouncing constitution to allow the armed forces to exercise its right to collective self-defence – or coming to the aid of an ally – for the first time since the end of the second world war.
Despite the broader scope afforded Japanese troops by the new laws, speculation is mounting that Abe, whose coalition dominates both houses of parliament, will attempt to ditch article nine of the US-authored constitution, which restricts Japan’s military to a purely defensive role.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/31/japan-defence-ministry-record-budget-counter-chinese-north-korea-nuclear-threat
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en
| 2016-08-31T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/4c64ee6f1c5ed5c1c02b2fd726679c865765665214275a86f4350947c980e745.json
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[] | 2016-08-26T13:30:36 | null | 2016-08-25T18:11:19 |
Brief letters: Jeremy Corbyn’s jam | Unpopular words | Bolt versus Farah | When Harry calls
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http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fpolitics%2F2016%2Faug%2F25%2Fhow-jeremys-jammy-dodge-beat-the-critics.json
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How Jeremy’s jammy dodge beat the critics
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As a staunch Corbyn supporter anyway, I would like to report that nothing has strengthened my support more that to read that Jeremy was “making jam” (Report, 25 August) when “Labour sources”, ie whingeing critics, were trying to reach him. Here is a man who knows that in the middle of a row fabricated by an alliance of billionaire tax exiles and a rightwing press, the best approach is to ignore it and get out the preserving pan and the soft fruit. A toast (and jam) to Jeremy!
Karl Sabbagh
Bloxham, Oxfordshire
• Re your article mentioning “moist” as an early contender for least popular word (Report, 25 August). Three years ago I was accused of being “moist” by my then 16-year-old son, when I refused to play a 27th game of table tennis. In the then parlance it meant pathetic. Admittedly, not a particular favourite of mine, it found a new admirer in the way it had been given a modern twist. This year however, I was called “certy”.
Christopher Knapton
London
• “The Olympics are over – now what do we do?” (G2, 22 August). Well now would appear an even better time to revisit an idea that emerged after the London Olympics, but never saw the light of day. With Usain Bolt bowing out and Mo Farah wanting to spend more time with his family, these two titans of the track should meet to race at “a mutually inconvenient distance”.
Robert Lawrence
Oxford
• Like Jean Jackson (Letters, 25 August), I have become very fond of “the lovely young Harry”, who occasionally rings to say that one of my brief letters is under consideration. I just wish that he would ring a little more often.
Chris Birch
London
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
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http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/25/how-jeremys-jammy-dodge-beat-the-critics
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| 2016-08-25T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/62ad800e82653de1e40f3709212db914980c2698155bf4c8bd8641288c13b647.json
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[
"Dj Gallo"
] | 2016-08-29T10:52:14 | null | 2016-08-29T09:00:02 |
The 49ers quarterback has spoken out on racial oppression in the US, and he could end up being harmed more severely than a LeBron James or Carmelo Anthony
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fsport%2Fblog%2F2016%2Faug%2F29%2Fcolin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest-effect-on-career-nfl.json
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Colin Kaepernick's anthem protest is all the more brave due to his career slump
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www.theguardian.com
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On 13 July at the Microsoft Theater in Los Angeles, LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony opened the 2016 ESPY Awards with an appeal to end gun violence and racial profiling. James, just weeks removed from bringing Cleveland its first championship in more than 50 years, urged his fellow athletes to speak out on important issues and find ways they can make a difference in their communities. “We all have to do better,” he said.
The three minutes and 30 seconds of not-sticking-to-sports by four of the biggest stars in the NBA was well received – or at least as well received as anything remotely “political” can be in our hyper-partisan times. Only the angriest and most hateful, the folks that have since become known as the “alt right,” chose to bash or nitpick the general message of working to end violence and fixing a tragic problem in American society.
Six weeks later, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick decided it was his time to make a statement and refused to stand for the national anthem before a 49ers-Packers preseason game at Levi’s Stadium.
“I am not going to stand up to show pride in a flag for a country that oppresses black people and people of color,” Kaepernick told NFL Media after the game. “To me, this is bigger than football and it would be selfish on my part to look the other way.”
If you’ve dipped into the hell that is social media since the story broke on Saturday morning, you know that Kaepernick’s message hasn’t been met with quite the same positivity as the one delivered by LeBron and friends. Without a doubt, Kaepernick’s decision to sit for the anthem and avert his eyes from the American flag is optically different than a simple appeal for action. Yet the QB using his platform as an athlete to bring attention to an issue is fundamentally in line with the request made at the start of the ESPYs.
Rex Ryan: US anthem about respect for military as Kaepernick fallout continues Read more
The bigger difference – and one that makes Kaepernick’s actions far riskier and even braver – is the stature of the athlete delivering the message. James, Wade, Anthony and Paul have 15 NBA titles, Olympic gold medals and NCAA championships between them. Whereas Kaepernick might not start over Blaine Gabbert on a team that went 5-11 last season and saw its head coach get fired. People are more willing to listen to athletes whose accomplishments are unimpeachable. It’s why the ESPYs opened with four NBA stars speaking and not Nick Young, Steve Blake and a couple of Sixers. Kaepernick’s words and actions won’t get the same consideration as the same would have coming from Tom Brady or Russell Wilson.
No matter your opinion of Kaepernick’s stance on not standing, he’s sticking his neck out for something at a time of the year when NFL teams are looking for any reason to chop off heads. Either Kaepernick is stunningly naive or impressively devoted to his cause, consequences be damned.
The player ESPN’s Ron Jaworski claimed could be “one of the greatest quarterbacks ever” just three summers ago has now committed the greatest NFL sin of all. No, it’s not “disrespecting the troops” or anything along those lines. (The NFL showed in the past that the league office is fine with disrespecting the military.) Kaepernick’s sin is that he is now labeled as ... A Distraction. [Horrified screams.]
Little is worse in the NFL world than being a Distraction if that Distraction is not producing on the field. Ray Rice isn’t out of the NFL because the league suddenly became pro-women and enlightened on the issue of domestic violence. He’s out of football because he committed domestic violence on video right after he was caught on tape running for 3.1 yards per carry over the entire 2013 season. It’s why Greg Hardy played in the NFL last year and Rice didn’t. It’s why Adrian Peterson is still a first-round fantasy pick while the only football Rice will ever play is the fantasy variety.
Refusing to stand up for a flag isn’t in the same galaxy as abusing someone. But in the NFL world, they both go in the same Distraction file, a file that’s kept right near the front office trash can. Kaepernick’s play has declined every season since taking the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2012 and last year he lost his job altogether midway through the season to a Jaguars reject. There has been little indication in camp that Chip Kelly is ready to give Kaepernick the starting job back. And that was before Anthemgate. That was before he officially became a Distraction. Backup quarterbacks don’t stay employed when they’re a Distraction.
One of the go-to criticisms of Kaepernick since he stated he will not honor the flag of a country that “oppresses black people and people of color” is this one:
— Wayne Allyn Root (@WayneRoot) Excuse me while I vomit. Kaepernick has $114MM contract w/49ers, $61MM guaranteed & avg annual salary of $19 million. But US mean to blacks.
Yet racial profiling does not avoid black athletes with money. Ask James Blake or Thabo Sefolosha. And even if it did, only sociopaths or those empty on empathy would stop caring about his fellow man simply because their bank account has lots of zeroes. You may not like what Kaepernick is saying or how he is saying it, but he has a platform with his $19m that someone making $19,000 does not. If Donald Trump – who claims to be a billionaire 10 times over – can say America loses all the time and is not great, then an athlete worth a fraction of a billion can say the country has problems, too, no?
People listen to those with fame. They listen to athletes. They listen to LeBron, one of the greatest athletes in history. They listened to Muhammad Ali, the greatest boxer of all-time. They would have listened to one of the greatest quarterbacks ever if Kaepernick had become that. They may have even heard him. But Kaepernick isn’t LeBron or Ali. He isn’t even a starting quarterback anymore. He’s just an athlete who wanted to use his voice while he still has one. It’s hard to not see the courage in that.
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https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2016/aug/29/colin-kaepernick-national-anthem-protest-effect-on-career-nfl
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en
| 2016-08-29T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/8390fec363a102ca97413ee865a0a53b849196f8f5812fe7358f5393cc95bfbe.json
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[
"Source"
] | 2016-08-26T13:20:58 | null | 2016-08-26T08:20:07 |
The president of Russia calls the disqualification of Russian athletes from the Rio Paralympics over state-sponsored doping allegations cynical and immoral
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2Fvideo%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Fvladimir-putin-banning-russia-rio-paralympics-immoral-video.json
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Vladimir Putin: banning Russia from Rio Paralympics is immoral - video
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www.theguardian.com
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The president of Russia calls the decision to ban Russian athletes from competing at the Rio Paralympics immoral. Speaking at the Kremlin on Thursday as he welcomes back Russia’s Olympic team to Moscow, Vladimir Putin says the ban is cynical and takes hope away from millions of disabled people. The entire Russian Paralympic team has been disqualified over allegations of a a state-sponsored doping programme
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/video/2016/aug/26/vladimir-putin-banning-russia-rio-paralympics-immoral-video
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en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/1039e786a5222ff683715c79ecd36126df78459971e887670097939aaa181a3f.json
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[
"Paul Doyle"
] | 2016-08-26T13:19:45 | null | 2016-08-25T17:00:09 |
Rolliing report: Manchester City and Celtic will meet in a ferociously tough group, while Arsenal, Spurs and Leicester got relatively cosy draws
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffootball%2Flive%2F2016%2Faug%2F25%2Fchampions-league-2015-16-group-stage-draw-live-leicester-arsenal-tottenham-manchester-city.json
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| null |
Champions League 2016-17 group stage draw - as it happened
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
Manchester City and Celtic will meet in a ferociously tough group, while Arsenal, Spurs and Leicester got relatively cosy draws
|
https://www.theguardian.com/football/live/2016/aug/25/champions-league-2015-16-group-stage-draw-live-leicester-arsenal-tottenham-manchester-city
|
en
| 2016-08-25T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/3d404b27e2eeb78ab921412b547969960bdb83017eedcac37cb6d1bc2e793f2a.json
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|
[
"Dean Burnett"
] | 2016-08-30T16:59:27 | null | 2012-09-27T00:00:00 |
Dean Burnett: A guide to picking up women that incorporates established science
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fscience%2Fbrain-flapping%2F2013%2Fsep%2F18%2Fhow-to-pick-up-women-with-science.json
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en
| null |
How to pick up women (with science)
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
It's a sad fact, but women lack free will. Although they appear as complex and individual as any male (often much more so), it seems women are slaves to inherent biological "programming" which means they will be physically intimate with any man who employs a specific set of behaviours and phrases. This claim may seem far-fetched, but it is a widely held belief. A Google search for "how to pick up women" produces 725m results. In contrast, a Google search for "funny cats" produces 179m results. Remember, this is the internet.
But the thing about these guides to picking up women is that, despite the vast number of them and the dedicated researchers, known as pickup artists, looking into them, very few utilise legitimate science. That's where I come in.
Men are always saying to me "Dean, you're married; how the hell did that happen?", but I can read between the lines and see what they really mean. I understand; it can't be easy asking for relationship advice from someone as successful, handsome and self-aware as I am.
I've never been part of the dating game and have never attempted to chat up an unfamiliar woman, but being a straight white male with a media platform means I'm allowed to speak with authority about groups and communities I have no involvement with. So, based on established scientific principles, here are a few techniques (or "moves") that men can use that are almost certain to effectively woo any woman.
The skinner
Named for the discoverer of operant conditioning, this potentially-sinister-sounding technique involves providing a reward whenever a woman you find attractive displays positive behaviour towards you. This will cause her to associate this behaviour with reward, and engage in it more often, thus increasing her favourable actions toward you.
Typically, the reward you use should be a pleasant foodstuff such as sweets or chocolate. However, you shouldn't make your actions too obvious, or any positive association could be neutralised by suspicion or doubt. To prevent this, you should visibly provide these positive rewards to others. Ideally, do this with children, to demonstrate your willingness to engage with infants and triggering further positive associations with you via the female caring instinct. You will need to keep a large supply of rewards on your person, so a large coat with many pockets is advised.
It's well known that if there's one thing women can't resist, it's a man in a long coat offering sweets to children he doesn't know.
The bird of paradise
Human society seems to have decided that it is women who should be more colourful, exotic or elaborate in appearance. Increase your chances of attracting a woman by turning this arrangement on its head and following the example of some of the most famous mating tactics in nature, those of the birds of paradise.
To attempt the "bird of paradise", a man should dress as colourfully and elaborately as he can. Hawaiian shirts, cravats novelty hats, clown shoes, cartoon boxer shorts worn over trousers; if you've got them, wear them. If you haven't got them, get them, and then wear them, all at once.
Then learn some elaborate dance, like tap or breakdancing, or any combination thereof.
Then seek out women in bank queues, bus stops, self-service checkouts, places where her own attire won't be especially elaborate. Also, surprise is especially important when making an impression.
Seek out a suitable female in these locations then present yourself to her in your outfit and doing your dance. The best thing about this approach is no words are needed, just actions – they'll tell a woman all she needs to know. Even in a worst-case scenario, you might meet a cute psychiatric nurse.
The Darwin
As Charles Darwin and his theories of evolution have shown, mate selection is often based on desirable genes. A lot of mating behaviour seems to have a genetic basis, and many of the traits that make up a species can be traced back to sexual selection. This results in some creatures going to extreme lengths to demonstrate the quality of their genes, such as the Peacock's ridiculous tail.
Using the Darwin move, you can skip the hard work. Get a DNA test, get your results, carefully edit any parts that imply negative genetic traits, print the information, then staple it to your forehead. Now approach any woman you have set your sights on. She can see directly how healthy your genes are, and also that you have an impressively high pain threshold for when duelling with other males, which is likely to be necessary when wandering pubs with a DNA test stapled to your face.
The prokaryote
If attracting a female mate seems to complex and difficult, why not try reproducing via direct cell division in the manner of prokaryotes? Admittedly, most humans hardly ever essentially clone themselves by dividing right down the middle and have both halves form a new whole, but it's a process that's been used for about 3.8bn years, so how hard can it be?
The vertical hoist
One of the more effective ways of picking up a woman is finding a willing woman and, while holding her firmly in a manner that allows you to retain balance, exert an upward force that exceeds the force created by her own weight in kilogrammes times acceleration due to Earth's gravity. You can do this with your own body or via some winch and pulley system.
You may think this is an overly literal interpretation of the term "pick up a woman", but if you've read this and taken it seriously then I'm afraid you lose the right to criticise on those grounds.
But if you're a man reading this and any of these techniques strike you as good ideas, please do try using them. Odds are, it's probably for the best that you don't reproduce.
• Dean Burnett is always happy to dispense relationship and other advice on Twitter, @garwboy
|
https://www.theguardian.com/science/brain-flapping/2013/sep/18/how-to-pick-up-women-with-science
|
en
| 2012-09-27T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/f26a1cb6bbc5663d3dc4509ce70eec197e38429c2199bd8b0f908871f4f61299.json
|
|
[
"Mark Brown"
] | 2016-08-26T14:49:32 | null | 2016-08-26T13:24:41 |
Items from collection, which includes personal correspondence, posters and programmes, will go on display in the autumn
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fculture%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Fv-and-a-museum-acquires-tommy-cooper-archive-jokes-props-no-fez.json
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en
| null |
V&A acquires Tommy Cooper archive of jokes, props - but no fez
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
There are thousands of meticulously filed gags, props for his generally disastrous illusions, a tiara that he wore as a panto ugly sister – but a newly acquired Tommy Cooper archive has a significant gap.
“I know, I know!” said the V&A curator Simon Sladen, “We don’t have a fez! That icon. If anyone has one they would like to donate, we would be more than delighted to accept.”
The museum has acquired Cooper’s personal archive of jokes, personal correspondence, posters, photographs, programmes and props. But there is no example of his trademark fez, most of them having been sold over the years at memorabilia auctions.
The archive amounts to 116 boxes. Particularly interesting is how meticulous Cooper, known for his shambolic routines, was when it came to comedy. He kept rigorously organised A-Z files of jokes and long lists of precisely where props should be placed during his routines.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tommy Cooper’s gag file. Photograph: PA
Sladen said: “We enjoy watching him not knowing what is happening next, things going wrong, knocking things over. The only way you can do that effectively and with so much skill is with meticulous planning, and that is what is so interesting about the archive.”
Cooper scrupulously catalogued thousands of his gags, so that if he wanted a joke about dancing, deafness, dentist, dieting, divorce or do-it-yourself, they were at his fingertips. The Bs include beatniks, birds, books, bowling, boxing and bullfighting.
The archive also contains numerous handwritten running orders and lists of audience lines such as “Don’t laugh, I feel better than I look” and “I’m so nervous tonight I’m afraid I’ll say something funny”. Many of his gags and ideas are written on the back of posters and cardboard from shirt packaging.
There are several stage props, including one for his “head-twister” illusion, and a tiara that Cooper wore as an ugly sister in a 1949-50 panto that toured Morecambe, Stockton and Oldham.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A prop for Cooper’s head-twister illusion. Photograph: PA
The archive has been acquired for an undisclosed sum from Cooper’s biographer, John Fisher. Given that Cooper died in 1984 – he had a heart attack during a performance at the London Palladium broadcast live on ITV – the acquisition has clearly not happened just like that.
“The formality of how the museum world works means there were a lot of stages to go through,” said Sladen. “The final decision to acquire it was made on [the anniversary of] the day he passed away – we didn’t realise it at the time. It’s one of those odd moments when you think: gosh, this was definitely meant to be.”
The news has been welcomed by Cooper’s friend Ken Dodd, who said in a statement: “Tommy was truly a great and wondrous comedian. He possessed and was possessed by the comic spirit. He loved laughter and he loved to laugh. I’m sure he would have been very proud to see so many people enjoy his sense of humour.”
Cooper’s daughter Vicky said the acquisition was wonderful. “My dad would be very proud knowing he was now represented in the national collection of theatre and performance, sitting alongside the likes of Ronnie Barker’s archive and costumes worn by Morecambe and Wise and Stan Laurel,” she said.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A props table plan. Photograph: The Tommy Cooper Esta/PA
A selection of material will go on display at the V&A’s theatre and performance galleries in the autumn, and the whole archive will be available for research once cataloguing has been completed.
“Going through the archive has been absolutely wonderful and the problem is you’ve got to make sure you don’t get sidetracked with laughing too much,” said Sladen.
“It is a real privilege, very exciting, and I hope we will get people coming who are maybe starting out in comedy or people who want to tap into his mind, how he worked. He has done so much archiving for us that should anyone need a gag about a bicycle or a roof or a dog, we can find that very easily.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2016/aug/26/v-and-a-museum-acquires-tommy-cooper-archive-jokes-props-no-fez
|
en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/764f9ed70f9119065b717e74ac950bca7d08394d7e9f0b3150751fe3b93df2c7.json
|
|
[
"Saeed Kamali Dehghan"
] | 2016-08-30T18:52:27 | null | 2016-08-30T18:11:20 |
Iranian Cheetah Society says situation is critical as numbers of the subspecies continue to dwindle
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fenvironment%2F2016%2Faug%2F30%2Ftwo-female-asiatic-cheetahs-remain-in-wild-in-iran-say-conservationists.json
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en
| null |
Two female Asiatic cheetahs remain in wild in Iran, say conservationists
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
Conservationists say only two female Asiatic cheetahs are known to be alive in the wild in Iran, which hosts the last surviving population.
Asiatic cheetahs, also known as Iranian cheetahs, are a subspecies of the fastest animal on earth and classified as critically endangered, with fewer than 40 believed to remain in Iran.
As part of efforts to raise the animal’s profile, in the past decade cheetahs have been displayed on the national football team’s kit and on stamps, but it has become increasingly imperilled.
Tuesday was Iran’s national cheetah day, marking an event more than two decades ago when a cub named Marita survived an attack by a group of villagers in which his mother and two siblings were killed. Marita became a national symbol.
Morteza Eslami, head of the Iranian Cheetah Society (ICS), a Tehran-based NGO, said camera traps in areas with the most Asiatic cheetahs had seen just two females in recent months.
“The situation is very critical,” he said. “We have been monitoring the situation closely in the past five years and the population of female Asiatic cheetahs has significantly dropped.”
Delaram Ashayeri, an independent conservationist, said: “Unfortunately the number of female cheetahs has been dwindling. In areas where camera traps have been operating for a long time … we are not seeing many female cheetahs or we’re seeing only carcasses.”
In the past 15 years, 48 cheetahs are believed to have died, seven from natural causes, 21 at the hands of farmers, 15 in car accidents and five as a result of hunting.
Of the two female cheetahs believed to be still alive, one is in Turan national park and the other in the nearby Miandasht reserve.
“In some of our other environmental areas we haven’t had any reports of female cheetahs for at least two years now, including in an area near the city of Yazd where only four male cheetahs survive,” Eslami said.
Two Asiatic cheetahs – a male, Koushki, and a female, Delbar – are held in captivity at Tehran’s Pardisan Park research centre. They have not yet successfully mated.
India mourns crocodile-wrestling 'Queen mother' of tigers Read more
Eslami said the fate of Asiatic cheetahs was important because two other big cats, the Caspian tiger and Persian lion, had become extinct in Iran. The Caspian tiger is extinct worldwide; a small population of Persian lions remains in India.
ICS has launched an online petition calling on the president, Hassan Rouhani, to intervene, including to prevent the construction of new roads and mines close to the natural habitats, erect fences around existing roads, increase the number of conservationists and encourage greater participation of indigenous people.
Eslami said despite last year’s nuclear agreement which resulted in the removal of sanctions, Iranian conservationists still had limited access to international funding and equipment.
“I don’t want to sound pessimistic because if it wasn’t for the past work of conservationists, cheetahs would have become extinct by now, but despite the critical situation, we still have hope today,” Eslami said. “But more needs to be done.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/30/two-female-asiatic-cheetahs-remain-in-wild-in-iran-say-conservationists
|
en
| 2016-08-30T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/fe8e3008d906261fc358ad4034a40b6afe2b1fc0f1245bd49e37f72a39326419.json
|
|
[
"Alan Travis"
] | 2016-08-30T12:50:17 | null | 2016-08-30T12:09:08 |
French politicians want a centre where UK asylum claims can be processed in France. Why has the plan caused so much outrage?
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2016%2Faug%2F30%2Fcalais-asylum-hotspot-proposal-main-questions-answered-uk-refugees.json
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en
| null |
Calais asylum hotspot proposal: the main questions answered
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
A call by Xavier Bertrand, a French regional politician, for an EU “asylum hotspot centre” to be set up so that refugees can have their claims for asylum in Britain processed on French soil has provoked tabloid outrage in the UK.
Bertrand, president of the French region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie, in which Calais is situated, has also warned that failure to establish such a system could jeopardise the 2003 Le Touquet treaty under which British border checks moved from Dover to Calais.
Here we look at some of the main questions that the proposals present.
Isn’t an EU asylum hotspot a potentially sensible idea to sort out the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Calais camps?
Theresa May has actually been a strong supporter of the EU’s recently adopted policy of setting up hotspots for the swift identification, registration and fingerprinting of migrants arriving in other parts of Europe so that those who are vulnerable refugees can be given the support they require.
As May told the Commons on 16 September last year: “I set out our strong support for the [European] commission’s ‘hotspots’ proposals for screening centres in those parts of Europe most acutely affected at the moment. These centres will identify those in need of international protection and give them quick access to asylum procedures. They must become operational immediately.”
In January, the immigration minister, James Brokenshire, now Northern Ireland secretary, said the UK government “supports the principle of hotspots” and considered their swift and effective implementation to be a priority, adding they would contribute to better management of the EU’s external border.
But this weekend, senior Home Office sources said that the declaration of a hotspot to deal with the Calais situation was a “non-starter”. Britain has sent experts to Italy and Greece to help process asylum claims of those who have made it across the Mediterranean but it has been said that such a system is “doomed to fail” if it happens on Britain’s borders.
Why is the UK so opposed to this approach in Calais?
Theresa May’s whole asylum policy has been to minimise the impact of the European refugee crisis – the biggest since the second world war – on Britain and has so far largely succeeded. The root cause of the Calais crisis lies in her refusal to open up a legal route for refugees who have made it to Europe, often risking the sea crossing in open boats, to claim asylum in Britain.
Dover MP warns against 'tit-for-tat' battles with France over border security Read more
The latest asylum figures show only 2,563 Syrians made it to British shores to claim refugee status in the 12 months to this June – the sixth-largest group. A further 2,682 Syrians were brought directly to Britain from the Middle East through Britain’s vulnerable persons resettlement scheme.
These are tiny numbers compared with the 300,000 Germany expects to take in this year. The one opening in this “fortress Britain” policy – a concession to child refugees in the Calais camps with close family links in Britain – has yet to lead to any significant number being brought to Britain.
So what can be done with the people in the so-called Jungle camp?
If the home secretary, Amber Rudd, believes an EU hotspot solution to be a non-starter she could do well to revive the deal David Blunkett did with Nicolas Sarkozy in 2003 to close an earlier version of the camp in Sangatte. Britain and France agreed that the UK would take the Iraqi Kurds and the Afghans in the camp with British family links in a process overseen by the UN. The refugees were given four-year work visas.
The deal paved the way for the Le Touquet treaty and Britain agreed to pay the security bill for the security fences at the port of Calais and the Eurotunnel entrance.
Why don’t the 10,000 refugees in the Calais camps claim asylum in France?
A significant number have made claims to stay in France but many others only speak English or have strong links, including family, with Britain and so want to come to the UK.
So what is the crisis?
Security at the port has broken down in recent months when French port workers have taken industrial action because of a dispute over a British company taking over a French ferry line. This had improved but the unions are threatening a fresh blockade next week that will heighten the crisis.
Are May and Rudd likely to give serious consideration to any solution that involves allowing refugees in France to claim asylum in Britain?
No. May outlined a new asylum strategy in her Tory party conference speech last October – designed not only to further reduce the numbers of asylum seekers reaching Britain but also to deny any right to settlement to those that do successfully claim refugee status in the UK. She attacked those who reached Britain as the “wealthiest, luckiest and the strongest” and argued that only temporary protection should be provided to all but the “most deserving” refugees.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/30/calais-asylum-hotspot-proposal-main-questions-answered-uk-refugees
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en
| 2016-08-30T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/6174930390f99e0eec0a119a850460226fe1b8e00027457303cded9017f590f1.json
|
|
[
"Press Association"
] | 2016-08-26T13:05:35 | null | 2016-08-26T12:29:48 |
Police formally identify the five friends who drowned, as their relatives criticise the lack of lifeguards at East Sussex beach
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fuk-news%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Fcamber-sands-to-use-lifeguards-over-bank-holiday-weekend.json
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en
| null |
Camber Sands to use lifeguards over bank holiday weekend
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
Lifeguards will be deployed at Camber Sands this bank holiday weekend after five friends died during a day trip to the popular beach on England’s south coast.
Council officials said the temporary RNLI lifeguard service at the beach near Rye, in East Sussex, had been put in place to “reassure the public and advise on safety”.
The development came as police formally identified the deceased men as Kenugen Saththiyanathan, 18, his brother Kobikanthan, 22, and their friends Nitharsan Ravi, 22, Inthushan Sriskantharasa, 23, and Gurushanth Srithavarajah, 27. All were from Greater London.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Clockwise from top left: Kobikanthan Saththiyanathan, Nitharsan Ravi, Gurushanth Srithavarajah, Kenugen Saththiyanathan and Inthushan Sriskantharasa Photograph: Facebook
Three of the men were pulled from the sea on Wednesday afternoon and two others were found later that evening when the tide receded. Their deaths have now been passed on to a coroner, Sussex police said.
While it is not clear how the accident unfolded, one theory was that the men had been playing football on a sandbar before being cut off by a strong tide on what was the hottest day of the year in Britain.
Relatives of some of the men have criticised the lack of lifeguards at Camber Sands and suggested they may have stood a chance of survival if the beach had been manned.
Ravi’s family said they felt very angry at the lack of response from the authorities after the death last month of Gustavo Silva Da Cruz, a 19-year-old Brazilian who got into difficulty while swimming.
Ravi’s younger brother, Ajirthan, 19, said: “There wasn’t any lifeguards cruising around, because they would have quickly noticed these boys drowning, and could have at least saved their lives.”
The Satthiyanathan brothers’ father, Arumukam, 51, of Erith, south-east London, told the Sun: “I brought my children from Sri Lanka because it is not safe back there. But there were no lifeguards on the beach where they died. If there had been, my sons would have at least had a fighting chance of survival.”
A spokesman for Rother district council said that, despite there being no lifeguards, there were summer patrols at Camber Sands to advise people of potential dangers.
In recent years the beach had attracted people from outside the area who were unfamiliar with the sea and the dangers it posed, he said.
An online petition launched a month ago to campaign for lifeguards at Camber Sands has now received more than 6,800 signatures.
Resident Emily Van Eyssen, 44, said money raised through car parking charges at Camber should fund lifeguards during the summer.
Ajirthan Ravi said his brother had died after trying to rescue two of his friends. “Ken and Inthushan got stuck in water. So what they do is the three boys try to save them.”
He said attempts failed and Srithavarajah was recovered first, but declared dead straight away.
“My bro and Kobi had heartbeats and managed to survive for a few minutes but after first aid they couldn’t recover.”
Both died within 15 minutes of being pulled from the water, he said.
The bodies of Kenugen Saththiyanathan and Sriskantharasa were discovered later that evening, he said, adding that he thought their legs had become caught in the “slippery mud” and sand on the seabed.
Supt Di Roskilly, of Sussex police, said: “This has been an incredibly tragic incident and we are offering their next of kin support at this difficult time and our thoughts are with them.”
Amber Rudd, MP for Hastings and Rye, said a statement she was saddened to hear about Wednesday’s events and her thoughts and prayers were with those affected.
Rudd, the home secretary, added: “This morning I spoke to Katy Bourne, Sussex police and crime commissioner, to discuss what steps can be taken to try to prevent something similar from happening in the future.
“Local leadership are very aware that this is something they need to come together to address and so we are going to be convening a group of local leaders to work out what additional actions can be taken to stop such awful incidents from happening. Camber Sands has strong riptides and we need to find ways to put additional protection in place.
“In addition, I have spoken to Cllr Keith Glazier, leader of East Sussex county council, and he has assured me that Rother district council and the police are conducting a thorough investigation into the causes of this terrible tragedy.”
The MP also paid tribute to the emergency services, the beach inspector and the members of public who sought to save the men’s lives.
An RNLI spokesman said: “In response to recent tragic events at Camber Sands, the RNLI is working with Rother district council to provide reassurance to the public by providing a temporary RNLI lifeguard service which will work alongside the existing local authority personnel.
“The charity will provide a team of five to six lifeguards and appropriate equipment over the bank holiday weekend, Saturday to Monday, 9am to 6pm, on Camber Sands who will work alongside the local authority beach patrol teams.”
In addition to the lifeguard service, the RNLI will also be providing a face-to-face team to provide safety information to visitors at the beach.
|
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/aug/26/camber-sands-to-use-lifeguards-over-bank-holiday-weekend
|
en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/0985418df600fad3635a019385a552b731c927370511c390de6cde6f0ebfb3dd.json
|
|
[
"Jamie Grierson"
] | 2016-08-29T10:49:52 | null | 2016-08-29T10:28:44 |
Claims that a young boy had been pulled into a Volkswagen Transporter in Redhill sparked massive police operation
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fuk-news%2F2016%2Faug%2F29%2Fsurrey-missing-child-man-arrested-on-suspicion-of-fabricating-report.json
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en
| null |
Surrey missing child: man arrested on suspicion of fabricating report
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
A man has been arrested on suspicion of fabricating a child abduction report that sparked a major police operation and national media coverage.
Surrey police received a report on Thursday that a boy, aged about six or seven and wearing a red T-shirt and navy jeans, was taken into the side of a black Volkswagen Transporter in Redhill. The force initially described the witness account as “credible”.
But detectives have arrested the witness, a 26-year-old from Redhill, on suspicion of perverting the course of justice after carrying out an extensive investigation and finding no evidence to corroborate the account.
Police officers reviewed hours of CCTV, conducted house to house inquiries, interviewed commuters at a railway station near the alleged abduction, checked potential vehicles matching the description and searched databases of missing children, the force said.
Det Supt Pete Fulton said: “The risk to life and safeguarding children are our first priorities when presented with a report like this which is why we took the course of action we did. Time was of the essence which is why we asked for help from the public and media to find out what happened as soon as we could.
“Reports of this nature are extremely rare and we are sure the public understand that when information such as this is received we treat it extremely seriously and must do all we can to find out investigate what’s happened.
“It is understandable this has caused a considerable amount of concern and confusion in the area which will last beyond just these few days.
“We will continue to work with the community and realise that this has been disruptive and had a large impact, however I hope that you are reassured that we take your safety extremely seriously.
“The witness has been re-interviewed at length about their account and at this stage and as a result of our inquires no further information has come to light to corroborate the report.
“There has been no report of any missing child in connection with the case and we have carried out extensive inquiries.”
The suspect has been released on bail.
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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/aug/29/surrey-missing-child-man-arrested-on-suspicion-of-fabricating-report
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en
| 2016-08-29T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/fa5edd532bc73860cd7f2b41ab318738bfbfe223f9821d1ec4a5809f5e6155ba.json
|
|
[
"Kevin Mitchell"
] | 2016-08-29T12:52:23 | null | 2016-08-28T21:00:42 |
Johanna Konta, the British No1, is keeping her cool before a testing first round match in the US Open against the American Bethanie Mattek-Sands
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fsport%2F2016%2Faug%2F28%2Fjohanna-konta-start-us-open-bethanie-mattek-sands.json
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en
| null |
Johanna Konta keeps emotions in check before tough start to US Open
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
It is easy to regard Johanna Konta’s impressive rise from nervous underachiever to genuine contender for major honours as the result of a dry, programmed preparation, as is often reflected in her language.
The word “process” has become an almost parodic feature of her lexicon. She talks about staying in “the moment”, and any attempt to pierce her carefully constructed psychological armour is met with polite deflection. But she is no robot, whatever the impression of her archer‑like serve and clean, well-chosen ground strokes.
It becomes obvious in conversation with Konta that there is still a lot of emotion bubbling under, the jitters that her one-time Fed Cup captain Judy Murray said always sublimated her considerable potential. If those nerves did not jangle still, Konta would struggle for motivation under pressure – which will no doubt arrive at various “moments” when she begins her US Open campaign on Monday against Bethanie Mattek-Sands. It is likely to be on one of the big show courts, possibly even Arthur Ashe. The pressure and the spotlight will be fierce.
Johanna Konta beats Venus Williams in first WTA final to win Stanford Classic Read more
The American – who, with Jack Sock, beat the British No1 and Jamie Murray on her way to gold in the mixed doubles at the Rio Olympics – is Konta’s polar opposite, rushing towards flamboyance and gestures, dressed confidently, it seems, in a variety of publicity-grabbing outfits.
“We hadn’t played each other ever and now we are playing each other twice in three weeks,” Konta said with a laugh. “She is playing very well, she has an incredible amount of experience, she is coming off the back of something that is incredibly inspirational and life‑changing so I think it’s no secret that a lot of American players play better here. I’m expecting a very inspired Bethanie and I will do my best. She is a popular player and a gold medallist so I’m sure there’s an incentive for it to be a big court. Whatever we’re on, we’ll make it a good one.”
Where Mattek-Sands has a look-at-me attitude to life and her career, Konta prefers the quieter route to prominence. “I haven’t really looked at myself as someone that needs to prove a point to anyone,” the British player said.
“I look to constantly be a better version of myself every time I step out on court. That has come out with some good wins and good things on paper but if my ranking were to drop or to rise, it wouldn’t affect my goals or how I want to keep improving. That’s why I employ the people I employ, for me it’s about working on the here and now, working on the process that matters to me but in terms of what my forehand looks like or how much or how many points I need to defend here or there, that’s not my job.”
Johanna Konta: ‘You’re going to go through phases of hating the sport’ Read more
Did she recognise change in herself over the past year or so, rising from the outer reaches of respectability in the rankings to No14 seed here, and almost crashing the top 10 in Canada a few weeks ago? She also has the considerable financial incentive of $3.5m (£2.6m) prize money to go with this title, as well as a slice of the $1m available for being near the lead of the US Open series bonus challenge. “I’m exactly the same person,” the 25-year-old said. “I’m definitely older and that much wiser as well, I hope.
“I think I have had a lot of experiences in a short space of time at this level. There wasn’t so much of a warm-up period [in her career]. It was very much just on the WTA Tour this year and that has been an incredible experience, one that I hope to continue every year for the rest of my career. Otherwise I think I’m just as happy, hard-working and motivated as I was last year.
“I do feel that this year has gone very, very quickly, it just feels like so much has happened in such a short space of time. But I hope to be feeling the same way this time next year.
“The tour keeps moving, tournaments keep coming and going, and I think the better job I do of staying present and healthy and enjoying what I’m doing the more reasons I give you guys to write about me.”
|
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/28/johanna-konta-start-us-open-bethanie-mattek-sands
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en
| 2016-08-28T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/36becf4356ca3a0648b5ec4d9954483b3ee52fa5628e14b3f9b81368bd6d1346.json
|
|
[
"Peter Walker",
"Michael White",
"Sadiq Khan",
"Rutger Bregman"
] | 2016-08-26T13:30:24 | null | 2016-08-25T13:18:37 |
Ronnie Draper of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union said action was taken over something he wrote on social media
|
http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fpolitics%2F2016%2Faug%2F25%2Flabour-party-suspends-pro-corbyn-union-chief-ronnie-draper.json
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| null |
Labour party suspends pro-Corbyn union chief
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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The Labour party has suspended a trade union leader who strongly supports Jeremy Corbyn, leaving him “disgusted and in shock”.
Ronnie Draper, the general secretary of the Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU), which has nearly 20,000 members, told the Press Association he had been sent a letter announcing he was suspended pending a hearing.
In a tweet he added:
— Ronnie Draper (@Ronniebfawu) Just been suspended from the Labour Party, a member most of my life. Democracy in action @jeremycorbyn @NSSN_AntiCuts @resistunite #bfawu
Draper said the action was supposedly taken over something he wrote on social media. Labour refused to comment, saying the party did not discuss national executive committee (NEC) decisions on individual members.
Draper’s union is among those backing Corbyn in his leadership battle against Owen Smith. He has regularly tweeted in support of Corbyn, saying a vote for him was “a vote for progressive, compassionate, working-class policies”.
The suspension comes amid a bitter internal battle within the party connected to the leadership bid, especially over who will be allowed to vote in the forthcoming election.
The party’s compliance unit is working through applications to check whether the 180,000 new registered supporters who signed up to take part in the vote are eligible, or if some are members of, or public advocates for, other groups.
Adding to the recriminations was a high court battle over whether 130,000 full members who joined Labour in the past six months were eligible to vote.
After the NEC ruled they were not, a group of members won a high court challenge against the decision, only for this to be overturned on appeal.
Corbyn’s campaign team attacked the appeal decision, and the party’s HQ for fighting the appeal, castigating it as wrong “both legally and democratically”.
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http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/25/labour-party-suspends-pro-corbyn-union-chief-ronnie-draper
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en
| 2016-08-25T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/695d3ba8d03b8f05bed69b8739c8408d30ef2e36b2da480de06f046a124e5f00.json
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[
"Source"
] | 2016-08-26T13:16:57 | null | 2016-08-23T19:01:37 |
Barack Obama visits Baton Rouge on Tuesday, telling residents affected by historic flooding that the country will continue to support them and help them rebuild their lives
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2Fvideo%2F2016%2Faug%2F23%2Fobama-flood-ravaged-louisiana-residents-you-are-not-alone-video.json
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Obama tells flood-ravaged Louisiana residents: ‘You are not alone’ - video
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Barack Obama visits Baton Rouge on Tuesday, telling residents affected by historic flooding that the country will continue to support them and help them rebuild their lives. Obama also takes a dig at Donald Trump, saying ‘this is not a photo op issue’ . The floods have killed at least 13 people and damaged tens of thousands of homes
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/video/2016/aug/23/obama-flood-ravaged-louisiana-residents-you-are-not-alone-video
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en
| 2016-08-23T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/a66dba67db55a0f6d8328fd6b4604b7ccbe0fe090a69022cc93f63e0bba92609.json
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|
[
"Severin Carrell",
"John Harris",
"Jakub Krupa"
] | 2016-08-26T13:13:27 | null | 2016-08-25T15:22:45 |
Former education secretary’s appointment suggests government is switching focus from second independence referendum
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fuk-news%2F2016%2Faug%2F25%2Fsnp-veteran-michael-russell-appointed-scottish-brexit-minister.json
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SNP veteran Michael Russell appointed Scottish Brexit minister
| null | null |
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Nicola Sturgeon has brought a combative and veteran former minister back into government as her new minister for Brexit.
Michael Russell, a former education secretary and Scottish National party chief executive under Alex Salmond, will lead the first minister’s efforts to influence the shape and detail of Theresa May’s deal on leaving the EU after nearly two years on the backbenches.
His appointment follows strong signals from Sturgeon earlier this week that she is switching the focus from planning a fresh independence referendum as her chief priority to accepting Scotland will probably leave the EU with the rest of the UK.
As she named Russell as her Brexit minister on Thursday, Sturgeon said: “In the period ahead of article 50 being triggered, influencing the UK position will be crucial to our efforts to protect Scotland’s interests and our relationship with Europe, especially the single market.”
Russell will stand aside as a part-time professor of Scottish culture and governance at Glasgow University – a role created for him after he left his post as education secretary following Salmond’s resignation as first minster when he lost the 2014 independence referendum – while he remains in government.
A pragmatist on the centre-right of the Scottish National party, Russell is by some distance one of the most experienced figures at Holyrood and in the SNP. He served as party chief executive under Salmond before devolution, and held several ministerial posts.
His role as minister for UK negotiations on Scotland’s place in Europe, where he will report directly to Sturgeon, will focus on building political alliances in Scotland to strengthen his hand in any policy conflicts with the UK government in London.
“Following the overwhelming vote in Scotland to remain in the EU, it is essential that Scotland comes together to defend our national interest. Accordingly in these discussions, it is important that the nation speaks, as much as possible, with one voice,” Russell said.
“I will therefore want to listen and learn from the widest range of individuals, communities, organisations and companies about their hopes and fears for the future.”
Scottish Labour’s Europe spokesman, the MSP Lewis Macdonald, said Russell’s first task should be to release all Scottish government minutes on Sturgeon’s meetings in Europe and any legal advice on Brexit’s impact on Scotland and its future in the EU.
“The Scottish people have a right to know what was discussed in Brussels. Anything less would be unacceptable from the SNP,” Macdonald said. “Labour gave Nicola Sturgeon our full support to negotiate with the UK government and EU institutions to find the best deal for the people of Scotland. That support came with an expectation of transparency.”
The Scottish government’s switch of emphasis away from a second independence vote, which has also included the SNP postponing a heavily trailed plan to launch a pro-independence project this summer, came as the latest official figures confirmed the country has a huge budget deficit.
The government expenditure and revenue Scotland data, released on Wednesday, disclosed an increased £14.8bn net fiscal deficit between tax raised and public spending last year, equal to 21% of overall spending and 9.5% of its GDP – more than double the figure for the UK as a whole, which fell last year.
Critics pointed out that this would probably leave Scotland with the largest deficit in the EU if it became independent – higher than that of Greece, and three times higher than the 3% deficit limit set by EU rules.
Derek Mackay, the recently appointed finance secretary who is also due to oversee preparations for a possible independence referendum, insisted that was no bar to Scotland staying in the EU.
Implying that if Scotland did become independent, its membership would be a continuation of the UK’s current membership, he said on BBC Radio Scotland that no one had asked the UK to leave after the financial crash in 2008.
“Take financial year 2009/10. Coming out the financial crisis, the UK deficit in terms of relative to GDP was over 10%,” Mackay said on Good Morning Scotland. “No one suggested the UK was bankrupt then and would have to exit the EU.”
Murdo Fraser, a Tory MSP, said the SNP plan regarding the deficit was to “shut their eyes as tight as possible in the hope everyone else does too”.
“If ever an independent Scotland did seek EU membership, it would need to convince other EU nations that it had a plan to bear down on the huge deficit we’re running. The last thing the EU would want is to take on the risk of another bailout,” Fraser said.
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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/aug/25/snp-veteran-michael-russell-appointed-scottish-brexit-minister
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en
| 2016-08-25T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/a86a7a1d0445c634cbf2a8d7482f9d03a2fcb0aeedbbdb66c77e386ea084137d.json
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[] | 2016-08-29T10:52:03 | null | 2016-08-29T09:08:25 |
Dozens more injured after car laden with explosives is driven into compound run by militias in southern port city of Aden
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2016%2Faug%2F29%2Fyemen-suicide-bombing-aden.json
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| null |
Yemen suicide bombing leaves at least 45 dead
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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A suicide bomber has killed at least 45 people after driving a car laden with explosives into a compound run by local militias in Aden, Yemen, Médecins Sans Frontières said, in one of the deadliest attacks to hit the southern port city.
The official said that after the attack on Monday at least 60 other people had been taken to a nearby hospital run by the medical charity in Aden’s Mansoura district.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack, but it resembled previous suicide bombings in the city which Islamic State said it carried out.
A security source said the attack targeted a school compound where conscripts of the Popular Committees, forces allied to the internationally recognised president, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, were gathered for breakfast.
Residents fled when the blast rocked the area and debris was sent flying, one witness said.
Islamist militants have exploited an 18-month-old civil war between the Houthis and Hadi’s supporters, and launched a series of attacks targeting senior officials, religious figures, security forces and compounds of the Saudi-led Arab military coalition which supports Hadi.
|
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/29/yemen-suicide-bombing-aden
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en
| 2016-08-29T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/8be66df69813f6e71913babf248ba0e6188c1332752ab468d016409c4adf7e19.json
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[] | 2016-08-26T20:51:36 | null | 2016-08-26T19:51:22 |
Russia has launched an appeal against the decision to ban its athletes from the Paralympics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fsport%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Frussia-launches-appeal-with-swiss-federal-court-against-cas-paralympic-decision.json
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en
| null |
Russia launches appeal with Swiss federal court against Paralympics ban
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
The Russian Paralympic Committee has launched an appeal in the Swiss federal court against the court of arbitration for sport’s decision to uphold a blanket ban on their athletes competing at next month’s Rio Games.
“The appeal has been launched in the Swiss court,” the Interfax news agency quoted the RFC president, Vladimir Lukin, as saying on Friday.
The appeal will be held on Monday. This week Cas rejected an RPC appeal against the ban issued by the International Paralympic Committee.
|
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/26/russia-launches-appeal-with-swiss-federal-court-against-cas-paralympic-decision
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en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/8ff37188bac3ac9e48e75afec2a52623d2ab31622d5b4a0b2c0cc81ce15ae039.json
|
|
[
"Jon Card",
"Polly Toynbee",
"Nish Kumar"
] | 2016-08-26T13:24:15 | null | 2016-08-25T06:30:04 |
Cancelled meetings and lost business mount up as entrepreneurs express fury at a failing railway and government inaction
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fsmall-business-network%2F2016%2Faug%2F25%2Fbusinesses-cost-southern-rail-cancelled-meetings.json
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en
| null |
Businesses count the cost of Southern rail disruption
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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It’s been a summer of travel misery for businesses that use Southern Railway. In July, following numerous cancellations and delays, Southern implemented a reduced timetable, cancelling approximately 341 trains a day. It says some have since been restored, but the service remains unreliable. Operating company Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) is at loggerheads with the RMT union and its passengers have endured several strikes, with more on the cards.
The impact on the economy is substantial. Southern is the UK’s largest rail franchise, covering routes from Sussex, Surrey, Hampshire and Kent into London. GTR, led by CEO Charles Horton, also operates the Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express rail companies, and its parent company, Govia, runs London Midland and South Eastern train companies. So the trouble has implications for other parts of the country, too, and other rail companies are doubtless keeping watch.
Caught up in the chaos are numerous entrepreneurs who are having to cancel meetings and endure staff lateness and trading losses. Among them is Guy Pattison, founder of Long Run Works communications agency. Pattison lives near Lewes, East Sussex, and has an office in Brighton. He says he is now forced to book accommodation prior to meetings, because he “can’t rely on Southern trains to make the early morning connections out of London”. He says he has lost business and can’t attend networking meetings because of the state of the trains.
“We’ve missed dozens of face to face meetings in London,” says Pattison. “We’ve also been ducking out of evening networking events early, or skipping them altogether, to make sure we can get home. Being out and about is the best form of marketing for an early stage business and it’s that hidden cost that hurts the most.”
I'm the boss – 10 tips to become a great leader Read more
The visitor economies of the south coast have also taken a pounding because of railway failures. The Brighton Argus recently ran a front page with pictures of empty beaches on sunny days alongside stories of hoteliers who have seen a drop in bookings. Meanwhile, Brighton and Hove Football club said it lost around £300,000 over two matches because of RMT strike action.
Max Leviston, general manager of the seafront aquarium Sea Life Brighton, says since the disruption began last April, visitor numbers have fallen 5%, during a period he’d expect a rise. He points to figures from Visit Brighton showing that about 40% of visitors to Brighton come by train, and says the city’s economy relies on rail. “As a tourist attraction in Brighton, we are experiencing first-hand how travel uncertainties and rail strikes are punishing the city’s economy. Visitor numbers are down, not just at our aquarium, but for the city and, dare I say, countywide,” says Leviston.
GTR, however, told the Guardian that the disruption is due to the RMT’s refusal to “talk to us sensibly” about the company’s plans to alter the role of the guard and modernise the network. This plan means renaming guards as “on-board supervisors” and removing from them the job of operating the doors. GTR says its new rolling stock enables the operation of driver-only operated trains. It has guaranteed there will be no job losses and says the strikes over safety concerns are “unnecessary and pointless” as driver-only operated trains are safe and used on many other routes.
Strikes aside, GTR still needs to explain why it cannot operate a full timetable, or even a reduced one, without substantial cancellations and delays. The company blames “unprecedentedly high levels of conductor sickness and reluctance among train crew to work overtime”. The RMT, however, told the Guardian it was untrue and an “insult” to say staff were taking additional sick days. It blames the disruption on “intransigent and hopeless management [who are] useless and unfit to run a whelk stall, never mind our biggest rail franchise”. It says its industrial action is against plans to close ticket offices and reduce staff, pay and passenger safety.
The RMT is regarded by many as one of the UK’s most militant and bullish unions, and it makes a convenient target for GTR. But entrepreneurs such as Amanda Davey, founder of Tilia Publishing UK and a regular user of the Southern network, are not buying GTR’s “blame the unions” line. She says her business has missed critical trade shows due to Southern’s poor service and is calling on GTR to be stripped of its franchise.
“I am concerned that too much attention is being paid to what is being said by the company [GTR] that holds the monopoly in this region,” she says. “All Govia appear to have done is tell the same-old story and blamed the unions again. Nobody is perfect in this, but believing one side tells all the truth is only going to continue a risible farce for longer. A new management team needs to be airlifted in.”
Railway experts say that this is more simply a dispute over who gets to open and shut the doors. Dr John Disney, a senior lecturer at Nottingham Trent University and consultant to the Department for Transport, questions whether GTR will be able to manage the problems. He references another Govia franchise, London Midland, which has suffered substantial delays and cancellations, saying there are “parallels” with Southern. Disney says Govia had managed the Southern network efficiently until 2014, when the franchise was increased in size, encompassing Thameslink, Great Northern and Gatwick Express, under the management of GTR. He says the problems with this new “mega franchise” – union issues, infrastructure weaknesses and GTR’s “human resource issues” – may be too much for GTR. “It really seems to be beyond them sorting out,” says Disney. “They are in a mess, let’s not under-estimate it.”
So far the Department for Transport has ruled out stripping GTR of the franchise, or being involved directly in talks with the RMT. Meantime, it is businesses, commuters and anyone else who uses the service who is suffering.
What it's like doing business in war-torn countries Read more
Dr Clifford Conway of Brighton Business School, who lectures in small business and enterprise, says: “There are roughly 10,500 registered businesses and a large number of freelancers in Brighton and these types of businesses rely on having flexible travel available. For small businesses, such as those in the creative industries space with clients in London, there’s a big issue of confidence. They may be concerned that clients will desert them for competitors in Soho or other parts of the country.”
Conway says the tourism industry of Brighton, worth an estimated £780m and bringing in more than 8.5 million visitors every year, relies heavily on the summer period. The disruption on the rail network will almost certainly have hit this.
“The i360 has just opened in Brighton, so this should be boosting the tourism industry in the city. But the impact of strikes and disputes is likely to have been quite significant.”
Sue Terpilowski, London policy chair at the Federation of Small Businesses said: “While our members will be working flexibly where possible to minimise the disruption to their businesses during the Southern strike, they are losing patience. There will be lasting implications on already tight margins for London’s small businesses at a time when the cost of doing business in the capital is rising.
“For those businesses in the hospitality or retail sectors the impact will be felt more keenly. Many restaurants, hotels and shops will experience cancelled bookings and lost sales that will not be recovered.”
Sign up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network here for more advice, insight and best practice direct to your inbox.
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https://www.theguardian.com/small-business-network/2016/aug/25/businesses-cost-southern-rail-cancelled-meetings
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en
| 2016-08-25T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/46a111cc25c0c5afc4ff77d22829328292252196b3016accbbd690521c819570.json
|
|
[
"James Riach"
] | 2016-08-28T22:51:47 | null | 2016-08-28T21:30:43 |
After another lively display against Hull, Marcus Rashford is ready to make the switch from sub to certainty in José Mourinho’s starting lineup
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffootball%2F2016%2Faug%2F28%2Fmarcus-rashford-jose-mourinho-manchester-united.json
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| null |
Marcus Rashford stakes new claim for United starting spot with stellar cameo
| null | null |
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‘One lie, repeated many times.” That was José Mourinho’s mantra before his Manchester United team had even kicked a ball in the Premier League, when responding to questions about the lack of academy players he had trusted over the years. Surely now he has a golden opportunity to end such talk – one of the main concerns before he was appointed – that his approach to management is at odds with a club where youth promotion and success have lived symbiotically for many years?
José Mourinho has revived Manchester United’s winning mentality, says Wayne Rooney Read more
Marcus Rashford, the precocious talent who few had heard of this time last year, has given him that opportunity. Another game, another fearless display from the 18-year-old, this time at Hull City, on an evening where he not only scored the winning goal but also provided the kind of zest and attacking vivacity that the game, and United’s play, desperately needed.
It was not the first time either. Rashford has continually done so since making his surprise debut in the Europa League last season, coming in at short notice when Anthony Martial pulled up in the pre‑match warm-up to score twice against Midtjylland.
He did so again in the Manchester derby. He did so against West Ham United in the FA Cup. He did so on his England debut against Australia and he did so in Lens at the European Championship, when Roy Hodgson’s side were struggling to break down Wales.
In many ways it is remarkable that United’s fans had to wait 251 minutes of the league season before seeing him in action. They were not to be disappointed when they did, Rashford producing a cameo performance that increased the pressure on a tiring Hull before providing the decisive impact in injury time.
Mourinho calls him “the kid”, a moniker that once befell a certain Spanish striker before his move to Liverpool, and Rashford became the first teenager to score under the Portuguese coach in the Premier League. The next youngest was Arjen Robben during their Chelsea days, who was only a few months shy of his 21st birthday.
It is becoming difficult to make an argument for Rashford’s exclusion from the starting XI against Manchester City after the international break, should all Mourinho’s players return to Carrington fully fit. From thereon in, he has to be an integral part of United’s plans rather than a bit-part player handed 20-minute bursts here and there.
Rashford’s displays have been too consistent to suggest that he is riding the crest of a wave. Every time he plays, he makes an impact. Before he scored the winner at Hull he had already forced an excellent save from Eldin Jakupovic and delivered an inviting ball across goal that only just evaded Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
He has the deadly combination of pace, skill and composure and, although Hull’s caretaker manager Mike Phelan said afterwards that his appearance off the bench reminded him of one of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s great cameos with United, such a role seems unlikely in the long-term.
Asked if Rashford was better utilised as a late substitute rather than a starter, Mourinho said: “I think top players are better on the pitch than on the bench. But coming against a tired team that was trying to hold off high-intensity waves of attacking football, for sure he comes fresh and comes sharp and he causes them problems. But I think top players have to have more time on the pitch than on the bench. I just want to say that he’s a very good player and a very good boy. He has the perfect head for an 18-year-old: very stable, not in the moon, so I think he has everything. He’s going to play a lot of matches.”
Rashford will soon join the England Under-21 squad – which Mourinho believes will benefit the player more than a senior call-up – and the dilemma the United manager could have is how the youngster slots into his starting team. Ibrahimovic’s place is a given, meaning Rooney, an out-of-form Martial and Juan Mata come under scrutiny.
Phelan, a man who has seen many United players progress from youth to first team, described Rashford as an “exceptional talent”, while Rooney said the teenager is “one of the brightest talents in Europe”.
He is arguably the most positive thing to emerge from the Louis van Gaal era at Old Trafford and, for Mourinho, represents a ready-made opportunity to place his faith in youth. Unlike with previous players at former clubs, there is little risk in playing Rashford. No transition period from under-age football to the highest level is required.
Mourinho can forget colour-coded lists and youngsters who played 10 minutes for him once upon a time. Rashford is ready to make more of an impression than any of those before him.
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/aug/28/marcus-rashford-jose-mourinho-manchester-united
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en
| 2016-08-28T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/650a2930f90c8a3914e267c75f6c17adb9af03d9ac571019dd7e535a6778c61d.json
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|
[
"Source"
] | 2016-08-26T13:19:25 | null | 2016-08-25T10:52:29 |
Goalkeeper Hope Solo has been suspended for six months by US Soccer for her disparaging comments about the Swedish team at Rio 2016
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffootball%2Fvideo%2F2016%2Faug%2F25%2Fus-goalkeeper-hope-solo-six-month-ban-calling-swedish-team-cowards-video-report.json
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US goalkeeper Hope Solo's six-month ban for calling Swedish team cowards - video report
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Goalkeeper Hope Solo has been suspended for six months by US Soccer for her disparaging comments about the Swedish team following the meeting between the two sides at Rio 2016. Following the quarter-final, which Sweden won on penalties, Solo said the Swedes were a ‘bunch of cowards’. US Soccer president Sunil Gulati labelled Solo’s remarks as unacceptable on Wednesday
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/video/2016/aug/25/us-goalkeeper-hope-solo-six-month-ban-calling-swedish-team-cowards-video-report
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en
| 2016-08-25T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/2c407d6411b8fe200d5bd654d54be09c4af55b6711b6645897998c1021461a97.json
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[] | 2016-08-28T18:49:59 | null | 2016-08-28T18:30:54 |
Letters: As healthcare professionals we welcome Owen Smith’s bid to lead the Labour party and his commitment to the NHS
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Medical professionals who back Owen Smith for the Labour party leadership
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As healthcare professionals we welcome Owen Smith’s bid to lead the Labour party and his commitment to the NHS. The NHS is at a crossroads, and under continued Tory control its future as a world-class, universal healthcare provider, free at the point of use, is at risk.
Owen will invest £60bn more in the NHS than the Tories and is calling for an immediate halt to Tory privatisation and the reversal of their catastrophic reorganisation.
At a time when accident and emergency departments are closing, junior doctors are striking to protect their patients and waiting times are soaring, the need for a Labour government has never been so clear.
Despite savage Tory cuts to public services and the risk of a faltering economy post-Brexit, the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership is languishing behind the Conservatives in poll after poll. Owen leads Jeremy among the electorate, with 62% of people thinking he would make a better prime minister compared with Jeremy’s 38% in a recent BMG poll. It is Owen who can form a Labour government and deliver the leadership that the NHS and the country desperately needs.
It doesn’t matter how many thousands of supporters Jeremy addresses at rallies; if he cannot win over the millions of people who once saw Labour as their natural home, then the fate of our public services will be left to the Tories.
A Labour government is an essential step in providing the NHS with the resources and leadership it needs so we can deliver the world-class care that the people of the UK deserve.
Nothing less will do. That’s why we are backing Owen Smith.
Dr Sarah Clark CT2 Medicine, London & Holborn and St Pancras CLP women’s officer
Dr Martin Edobor National chair, Young Fabians
Prof Liz Lightstone Professor of Renal Medicine, London
Dr Daniel McGuinness ST5 Nephrology, London
Mr Keith Seymour Consultant surgeon, Northumberland
Dr Reena Aggarwal ST6 Obstetrics & Gynaecology, London
Dr Ratesh Bajaj ST4 Cardiology, London
Dr David Jones Consultant intensivist and anaesthetist, Merthyr Tydfil
Dr Thomas Oates NIHR clinical lecturer, London
Dr Zoe Kantor Neonatology SHO, London
Lindsay Gordon Community nurse, Reading
Dr Lucy Bradbeer GP ST1, London
Ruth Hodson Theatre scrub nurse, north Wales
Karen Cousins Retired specialist nurse practitioner, Northumberland
Dr Brian Morrissey ST1 Radiology, Aberdeen
Dr Nicola West CT2 Medicine, London
Stephen Naulls Medical student, London & Cleethorpes CLP Youth Officer
Dr Chloe Fairbairns FRCA, anaesthetic registrar, Leeds
Dr Alexander Scott Consultant in anaesthetics and intensive care, West Yorkshire
Jenny Davies Specialist podiatrist, Cardiff
David Davies Occupational therapist, Merthyr Tydfil
Julie Wintrup Occupational therapist, Newbury
Dr Sarah Dickson ST1 ACCS, London
Dr Thomas Halstead GP ST1, West Cambridgeshire
Andy Hill Nurse assessor, Birmingham
Dr John Mullany ST3 Clinical Radiology, Liverpool
Dr Neeraj Singh ST7 Anaesthesia and Intensive Care, Eastbourne
Ivana Bartoletti NHS information professional, London
Maria Coleman Renal Nurse, Cardiff
Dr Thomas Fox ST6 Psychiatry, Bromley
Sam Charlton Student nurse, Preston
Dr Lynn Miller Consultant cardiologist, Fife
Dr Lucy Carter Clinical research fellow, Oxford
Nikki Williams Registered nurse, Cottingham
Bryan Neale Retired registered nurse
Alexandros Onoufriadis Research fellow, London
Vasanthi Prathapan Clinical trials manager and research nurse, London
Sharon Jones NIHR BioResource co-ordinator, London
Dr Marc Osterdahl CT2 Medicine, London
Dr Jeff Unsworth ST6 Acute Medicine, Liverpool
Julie Goldie Senior nurse, London
Anna Lynch Quality improvement nurse, London
Dr Michael Northend Haematology registrar, London
Dr Sophie Edwards Care of the elderly consultant, London
Dr Jane Roberts Consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist, London
Felicia Olney Psychotherapist, London
Dr Sebastian Kraemer Consultant psychiatrist, London
Dr Prathap Pillai Respiratory Medicine, London
Rhanya Chaâbane Clinical trials practitioner, London
Terry Baker Carer, UK
Bridget Langstaff Deputy regional manager, National Treatment Agency, PHE
Dr Justin Shute Psychiatry consultant, London
Paola Di Meglio Senior investigator scientist, Francis Crick Institute, London
Debbie Boyes Former registered nurse, Bridport
Dr Ben Caplin Senior clinical lecturer and honorary consultant, London
Lewis Atkinson Surgery services manager, Tyne & Wear
Monika Temple Retired nurse and DOH civil servant, London
Dr Iain McCullagh Consultant anaesthetist and intensivist, Newcastle
Joanne Barber Newly qualified nurse, Wigan, Wrightington & Leigh
Dr Rachel Stanbrook CT2 Medicine, Leicester
Curtis McLellan Student occupational therapist, Coventry
Gillian Black Retired nurse and former director of community nursing services, Lambeth
Dr David Owen Consultant physician, London
Dr Mike Mclaughlin A&E registrar, London
Dr Andrew Stein Consultant in renal medicine, Coventry & Rugby
Dr Harriet Nerva Core medical trainee, Croydon
Joseph Wright Senior IT manager, London Ambulance Service
Dr Sean Morris GP trainee, London
Laura Drake Health visitor, Bristol
Dr Tim Fallon Consultant ophthalmologist, London
Candida Coghlan Research nurse, International Centre for Circulatory Health, London
Dr Peter Dilworth Retired GP, Liverpool
Dr Harry Costello CT1 Psychiatry, London
Dr Sophie Nocton GP trainee, London
Dr Jane Young Consultant radiologist, London
• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com
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http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/28/medical-professionals-who-back-owen-smith-for-the-labour-party-leadership
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| 2016-08-28T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/4298a375d79bea56b014532a807ad177448c70368053747e140aa2e125a40c72.json
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[
"Emma Brockes"
] | 2016-08-26T13:20:30 | null | 2016-08-25T17:42:35 |
Twisting paths, myriad forks in the road and interchanges galore: even New Yorkers fear crossing the dead zone at the heart of Central Park
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Lost in Central Park, New York’s twilight zone
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Like Londoners – and, I assume, Parisians, Berliners, Muscovites and long-time residents of Beijing – New Yorkers pride themselves on being instantly recognisable to each other as locals, in contrast to the ranks of aimless tourists who clog up the city. It is a moment to be relished when, walking around Times Square, the tour bus touts take one look at your scowling face and head-to-toe black wardrobe and drop their pitch, or, emerging from the subway, you know instinctively and without looking for landmarks, which way is uptown.
There is, however, one test that even the most professional New Yorker can’t always pass, a challenge akin to negotiating the most intricate parts of London’s one-way system, and that is the dead spot in the middle of Central Park.
Last week I lost a friend who has lived in the city her entire life – 40-odd years – to the Central Park Triangle for almost an hour, a twilight zone into which she fell while trying to walk across the park, east to west, to meet me for lunch. For those who haven’t attempted this, I should point out this is not like taking a stroll through Hyde Park. The paths twist and turn, there are myriad forks in the road and infuriating spaghetti junction-type interchanges. Twenty minutes late, she texted me in a panic to say she was in an overgrown part of the park she’d never seen in her life, which was not only deserted, like something from scary 1970s New York, but gave her no view of the perimeter skyline to indicate which way was out.
After walking for 30 minutes she was right back where she started. “Blair Witch Project”, I texted and settled in to see what happened next, which was this: she kept me on speaker so she wasn’t alone, and after asking several people which way was west – each time with the caveat “I’m a New Yorker, but …” – a group of Italian tourists came to her aide by using the compass apps on their phones. There may be bankers in the East Village and Disney in Times Square, but there is still a wild beating heart at the centre of Manhattan.
The toy that drives me crazy
Anarchist group installs nude Donald Trump statues in US cities Read more
In the children’s park behind my apartment block, a threat of a different kind, in the form of a Ford SUV Raptor, a $100 model car built to the scale of a three-year-old, with a handle to push it, and around which the kids flock every time it shows up. It’s a large plastic toy with no motor, so it shouldn’t offend. On the other hand, it looks just like a Hummer – a visual which, to a certain kind of faint-hearted liberal, is as unwelcome as a toy machine gun.
Every time I see it, I find myself sniffing with disapproval at the parents and hoping the environmental lobby takes note: if they want to win young hearts and minds, they need to bring out a kids’ size Prius, complete with toy battery, leads and a pamphlet about low emissions.
The pen is mightier
The statue of a naked Donald Trump that a street art collective put up in Union Square last week – huge gut overhanging a tiny groin and with the note “The Emperor Has No Balls” attached – was swiftly removed by city authorities, in what was seen as a killjoy response. This was before they released the accompanying statement.
I happen to know the man who wrote it, my friend Sam Biederman, who, as assistant commissioner for communication at the Parks department, just raised the status of the press release from zero to small work of art: “NYC Parks stands firmly against any un-permitted erection in city parks, no matter how small.” Bravo!
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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2016/aug/25/lost-central-park-new-yorks-twilight-zone
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| 2016-08-25T00:00:00 |
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[
"Jake Cohen"
] | 2016-08-26T13:18:13 | null | 2016-08-24T14:00:22 |
Shirt sales don’t pay off transfer fees, image rights are more important than ‘war chests’ and clubs are more likely to use an agent than a fax machine to seal a deal
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Transfer window: exposing the widely held myths about how clubs sign players
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There are some widely held myths about how the football industry works, especially when it comes to finances. This is largely due to an intentional lack of transparency – mainly regarding transfer fees and wages – that is in stark contrast to the NBA and NFL, where player costs are publicly reported and every deal is viewed through the lens of how it will affect teams’ salary caps. With football clubs privately owned and free from most public reporting standards, fans receive most of their information about player costs and wages through the media.
But why are player costs important? After all, it’s not our money, right. Disregarding that it kind of is our money – the huge increase in Premier League TV revenue, for example, is being paid for through Sky and BT subscription fees from UK viewers – with domestic and Uefa financial regulations, clubs are prevented from spending much more than they earn. In practice, this results in individual spending caps for each team. Understanding how clubs calculate player costs helps us to see how they really value certain players, as well as how the money is being spent, which players provide good value, and which players do not.
Premier League: transfer window summer 2016 – interactive Read more
Traditionally, in order to report on the financial nature of a particular transfer, a journalist must first have sources who were involved in the deal. That requirement alone means that well over 99% of those writing about football will be left completely in the dark. For those few journalists who have cultivated well-placed sources, the numbers they are told will vary depending on which side of the table the source is on.
If a journalist is trying to nail down the transfer fee, a source on the buying club might just quote the initial fee, whereas a source on the selling club might quote what the fee would be if all of the performance-based add-ons are met (without distinguishing how likely it is that said add-ons will be triggered). Similarly, when trying to find out a player’s wages, a club source is more likely to quote the basic wage, whereas the player’s agent might also include image rights and performance bonuses.
Naturally, these numbers can vary wildly depending on where the information is coming from, and the journalists can only report what he or she has been told. This is why we often see conflicting figures reported, and especially when a player from another European league is bought by a Premier League club.
The journalists covering the selling club will likely report what that club is saying, and perhaps the player’s agent, whereas the journalists here in England naturally have more contacts at the buying Premier League clubs, which can lead to discrepancies in the details.
While those who report on football finances do a good job of shining light on an important area – we would be left completely in the dark otherwise – there are a number of gaps that we, as fans, have collectively filled in with inaccurate myths about how the industry works. As a result, and in light of the transfer market being in full swing, The Set Pieces decided to bust a few myths surrounding the transfer market.
Shirt sales alone do not pay for a superstar’s transfer fee
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Shirt sales are important but they won’t pay back the cost of signing a player. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA
No club has ever directly recouped a player’s transfer fee through shirt sales. Adidas, Nike, Puma and other kit suppliers get 85-90% of shirt sale revenue and this is the industry standard.
While there are some exceptions – a club such as Bayern Munich, which is part-owned by Adidas, may be given a slightly more favourable revenue share, and generally, once a certain (very large) number of shirts are sold, the revenue split on additional sales will skew more favourably to the club – these are the exceptions to the general rule.
As an example, Manchester United have a 10-year kit deal with Adidas worth £750m. This is one of the largest kit deals in football and easily the largest in the Premier League. However, the primary reason Adidas is paying Manchester United £75m per year is not simply to have a tiny logo emblazoned on United’s kit and use the club for marketing purposes. Of course, being associated with one of the few truly global clubs in football helps them capture market share in emerging markets and further solidify its presence in existing markets. But for the supplier, kit deals are licensing deals, and that’s where the real value lies to Adidas.
Football clubs are, by nature, football clubs. They’re meant to do football things. They don’t have the infrastructure required to manufacture and distribute millions of kits. Many can’t even handle running online shops, the logistics of which they outsource to third parties.
For any cynical readers who may not be so inclined to take our word for it – after all, it is a popular myth – just look at how United and Adidas announced the deal in July 2014, where the partnership is described, quite clearly, as a licensing package. In fact, Adidas CEO Herbert Hainer triumphed the deal as a “collaboration [that] marks a milestone for us when it comes to merchandising potential. We expect total sales to reach £1.5bn during the duration of our partnership.”
Despite the nonsense you may have heard about Zlatan Ibrahimovic shirt sales generating £50m for Manchester United, which would far exceed his wages, it’s simply not true. In fact, United don’t even automatically receive the 10-15% industry-standard royalty payment, no doubt because the up-front £75m annual payment is so large. United’s royalty payment only kicks in once a certain number of shirts are sold.
Just under three million Manchester United shirts were sold last season. As a case in point, let’s assume that Ibrahimovic helps sell an additional 300,000 shirts. A 10% increase is a very optimistic projection, especially considering Ibrahimovic is a Nike athlete and won’t be engaging in any Adidas promotional activities on his own. His image rights deal with United will almost certainly allow the club to feature him in Adidas promotional activities, as long as he appears with at least two other United players and the activity does not imply that Ibrahimovic is giving a personal endorsement to Adidas.
Additionally, while many United fans may choose to buy an Ibrahmovic shirt, over, say, a Chris Smalling shirt, a lot of those fans were already going to buy a shirt in the first place.
Let’s also assume that United’s royalty kicks in after three million shirts are sold, and the club receive a 15% royalty on each subsequent shirt sold. Assuming a price of £70 per shirt, that’s an additional £21m in gross sales from 300,000 shirts. Manchester United’s cut of that would be just over £3m. Now, £3m is not an insignificant amount, but it offsets less than 20% of what Ibrahimovic will likely cost the club this season (wages, agent fee, signing bonus, image rights deal).
So, at best, United are likely to see around £3m in additional revenue. While certainly not a paltry sum, it doesn’t come close to covering his costs, let alone help United earn an additional £50m. Put simply, there’s a reason why Adidas has earned more in the last six months than Manchester United, one of the highest-earning football clubs in the world, has earned in its 138-year existence.
Fax machine use does not hold up transfer deals
Facebook Twitter Pinterest David de Gea’s failed move to Real Madrid had nothing to do with a faulty fax machine. Photograph: Ben Hoskins/Getty Images
All clubs must to designate employees to be “TMS managers”, who are responsible for ensuring that transfers are processed correctly. The ultimate responsibility for training the TMS managers lies with the national FA but in practice the training usually occurs internally at club level, and big clubs often have several employees who have been trained as TMS managers.
Fifa TMS readily admits that the level of training and experience varies quite a bit from country to country, club to club. So, when a club has sub-par training or chooses the wrong employees to take on the role of TMS manager, problems can occur, which was possibly the reason for the failed transfer of Manchester United’s David de Gea to Real Madrid on deadline day last summer.
For anyone interested in learning more about the Transfer Matching System, Gab Marcotti wrote an excellent article in which he interviewed the general manager of FIFA TMS, and I have previously interviewed the head of integrity and compliance.
Net spend is not as important as fans might think
Despite what you may have heard, “net spend” is completely irrelevant to how big clubs do business and is not something they consider when calculating player costs. Consider the following: Manchester United signed Henrikh Mkhitaryan from Borussia Dortmund for £35m. Mkhitaryan will likely be earning the equivalent of at least £180,000 per week over the length of his four-year deal.
In practice, clubs such as United, for whom cash flow is never an issue, often pay the entire transfer fee up front or in a few instalments over a short period of time (less than 12 months). This helps reduce the overall cost of the transfer, and most selling clubs will much prefer to see the entire fee paid quickly, as opposed to several instalments over two or three years.
However, on the books – and this is how clubs actually calculate player costs – United, like every single other football club in Europe’s top eight leagues, will record the transfer fee as £8.75m in each of the next four years, not £35m now.
This is a universal accounting practice called player amortisation, and it is fundamental to how clubs calculate player costs. Rather than recording the entire purchase when it was made, the club will spread the transfer fee over the length of the player’s contract.
Naturally, wages must also be included in the calculation of player costs. Ideally, agent fees and image rights payments will be included as well, but to keep things simple, we’ll focus on the two big expenditures: amortisation and wages.
With Mkhitaryan costing Manchester United £8.75m per year in amortisation and £9.36m in wages (£180,000 per week multiplied by 52 weeks), his overall cost to the club is just over £18.1m per year. That £18.1m per year is what clubs look at with regards to player costs, not just the transfer fees coming in and out.
Let’s compare the Mkhitaryan deal to that of another recent Premier League signing from the Bundesliga: Arsenal’s £30m purchase of Granit Xhaka from Borussia Mönchengladbach. Xhaka signed a five-year deal and will reportedly earn around £125,000 per week at Arsenal. The transfer fee will be spread out over Xhaka’s contract at £6m per year (£30m divided evenly over five years). So including Xhaka’s wages, the overall cost to Arsenal is £12m per year.
While the transfer fees for Mkhitaryan and Xhaka are similar, Mkhitaryan is costing Manchester United 50% more than Xhaka is costing Arsenal on an annual basis.
To further illustrate why net spend doesn’t tell you anything about how clubs do business, consider United’s signing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic on a free transfer. While the “net spend” on that deal is zero, he adds well over £10m to Manchester United’s player costs this year.
Footgolf: it's harder than it looks Read more
If those were the only transactions United and Arsenal made this summer, their “net spend” figures would be similar (£35m and £30m, respectively). However, after applying the business and accounting principles that the clubs themselves use, we see that Arsenal added £12m to its total player costs for the coming season, while United added over £28m. Rather than a difference of less than 20% in actual spending (which is what net spend would show), the actual difference is over 200%.
Clubs do not have transfer budget, war chests and kitties
If anyone tries to tell you “big club x” has “y amount” to spend they are likely talking nonsense. Ask them to show their work on how they arrived at that number.
As we just discussed, there’s a lot more that goes into player costs than transfer fees. Unless the number being offered up clearly includes wages (which is more than half of the equation), and ideally at least a nod towards agent fees and image rights payments, you can safely disregard it as not reflective of that club’s available resources to bolster its squad.
Players are not alone in using agents
Clubs frequently employ agents as well to help find buyers and extract top fees for players they want to sell. The tandem of Kia Joorabchian and Giuliano Bertolucci are notable examples of agents who work on behalf of clubs. They helped Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur sell Ramires and Paulinho to Chinese clubs last year. Manchester United also used agents to help sell Robin van Persie and Nani to Fenerbahce.
It’s worth noting, though, that Joorabchian and Bertolucci are also Ramires’ and Paulinho’s agents, and Manchester United hired Van Persie’s agent for the Fenerbahce deal.
In the case where the club asks the player’s agent to also represent them, the agent should always make sure the player understands the natural conflict of interest that exists, recommend that the player seek independent advice, and get the player’s approval in writing. When the player’s agent acts on behalf of the club, it will be the responsibility of the club to pay the agent for his or her services, rather than the player.
Image rights are worth more than you think
Why is the Saturday 3pm kick-off sacrosanct? It's a rubbish time for football Read more
Rarely mentioned when discussing transfers and wages (notable exceptions include when a manager’s former club managed to retain the trademark to his name or when one of the best players in the world stands trial for tax fraud), the image rights deal between the player’s image rights company and his new club comprises a significant portion of the player’s compensation and the overall cost to the club.
Image rights deals can be complex and, depending on which side of the table a journalist’s source was sitting on when the deal was negotiated, the image rights may not be included in the information they receive when they ask how much the player will be earning on his new deal.
For example, a player might be earning £85,000 per week in wages but, after including image rights payments, the player is likely earning the equivalent of over £100,000 per week (usually it’s around an additional 20% plus a share of the net profits the club receives from appearance and endorsement activities the player carries out on its behalf).
Bonus payments conditioned upon team and individual success as well as agents fees can also significantly add to a club’s cost with regards to securing a player’s services on the transfer market.
• This is an article from The Set Pieces
• Follow Jake Cohen and The Set Pieces on Twitter
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/the-set-pieces-blog/2016/aug/24/transfer-window-market-myths
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| 2016-08-24T00:00:00 |
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[
"Julia Kollewe"
] | 2016-08-30T18:50:16 | null | 2016-08-30T17:44:35 |
Retiring founders pass on their Shropshire-based restoration company to its 60 employees in John Lewis-style ownership move
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Multimillion-pound classic car business given to staff
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The co-founder of a classic car restoration company in Shropshire has given the business to its 60 staff.
Peter Neumark, who has owned and chaired Classic Motor Cars since it started in 1993, has turned it into an employee ownership trust, which means the staff own and run the business themselves. They will share profits, in a similar way to the John Lewis Partnership, which pays out annual bonuses as a percentage of salary to staff. Part of the bonus (the first £3,600) will be tax-free.
The Bridgnorth-based company, employs more than 60 people, including seven apprentices, and has restored many famous Jaguars, including an E-type Le Mans race car from 1961. Last year it turned over £5.2m. All employees will join the trust. Future apprentices – Classic Motors plans to take on four to six every year for the next three years – will join the trust after a certain period of time.
Neumark said he was “nearer 70 than 60” and his co-founder Nick Goldthorp was also approaching retirement age, “so we felt we had a duty to oversee a passing of responsibility, and who better than the workforce themselves”.
Luke Martin, 31, who joined the company as an apprentice 12 years ago and has become head panel beater in charge of body fabrication, said: “We are all a bit shocked, it took a while to sink it. We’ve got this amazing opportunity to put ideas on the table and shape a business. It gives everyone drive to work a little bit harder when it’s your business.”
The firm was set up mainly with Neumark’s investment. His majority shareholding has now been transferred into a new entity, the Classic Motor Cars Ltd Employee Shareholder Trust. The company made a small profit in the tens of thousands of pounds last year, which was affected by the cost of moving into new premises.
Neumark said: “This sort of structure best exemplified by the John Lewis Partnership was deemed to be the best home for the company to ensure its future.”
The day-to-day management of the business will be controlled by an operational board, which will report to a board of trustees, chaired by Neumark. Martin will become a trustee after a staff vote.
Tim Leese, managing director of the new operational board, said more than 300 businesses in the UK were owned by their employees and that it was a growing sector. He said the reaction from Classic Motors staff had been “unbelievable”, although they were sceptical when the plan was first aired 12 months ago, he said, with the “odd comment – is it a tax fiddle?”.
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/30/multimillion-pound-classic-car-business-given-to-staff
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| 2016-08-30T00:00:00 |
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[
"Angela Monaghan"
] | 2016-08-30T08:52:17 | null | 2016-08-30T08:40:29 |
Apple could be ordered to pay billions in back taxes in Ireland when the EU competition officials announce their ruling today
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Apple faces large Irish tax bill in EU ruling - business live
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Apple could be ordered to pay billions in back taxes in Ireland when the EU competition officials announce their ruling today
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2016/aug/30/reports-to-offer-latest-clues-on-brex--business-live
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| 2016-08-30T00:00:00 |
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[
"Zoe Williams"
] | 2016-08-26T13:23:21 | null | 2016-08-23T17:29:55 |
A psychologist has scored the presidential candidate for his psychopathic tendencies. And, on first glance, his results don’t look good. But did we really need a scientist to tell us he lacks empathy?
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‘Is Trump a psychopath? I’d call him a narcissist’
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It’s not an easy evaluation to pull off, “worse than Hitler”. It has proven impossible to match the extent of Hitler’s destructiveness. In the absence of that, to say that anyone – Donald Trump, as a wild for-instance – is worse becomes an insult to the memory of Hitler’s victims, since it asserts that the dictator’s nature and his efficiency can be separated, and his true singularity lay not in evil but in administrative prowess. But if you approach it a bit more systematically and show your workings, you can get round that – which is what an Oxford researcher, the psychologist Dr Kevin Dutton, has done.
Dutton has ranked world leaders throughout history on the Psychopathic Personality Inventory – Revised (PPI – Revised), and awarded Trump a score of 171, two points more than Hitler. There’s not much in it at that level, though it doesn’t assure their capacity for genocide – Henry VIII trumped both at 178. Hillary Clinton doesn’t fare brilliantly in the test, scoring 152; that’s between Napoleon and Nero.
How psychopaths can save your life Read more
There are 56 traits in the test, not all of them negative: social influence and fearlessness could go either way; even egocentricity has its uses. Cold-heartedness is harder to make a case for. Many of them are qualities that businessmen and women are admired for – ruthlessness, charisma, dishonesty, a lack of concern about the future. It has been a commonplace for years to note that psychopaths and highly successful people in business share a lot of characteristics. It is only relatively recently that this has become a field of academic inquiry – Joel Bakan, law professor at the University of British Columbia, and Jonathan Aldred, an economics fellow at Cambridge, have started to delve into the social effects of a corporate world that doesn’t just accept amorality but positively valorises it. None of them are positive, but we probably didn’t need the PPI to tell us that Donald Trump was not a force for good.
Obviously, Dutton didn’t conduct face-to-face interviews with the figures, and therefore contravenes the so-called Goldwater rule, a code of honour among psychiatrists whereby you don’t diagnose people, especially in public, who you have never met. (Only psychiatrists sign up to this; psychologists don’t, possibly with the defence that their diagnoses have less consequence – they couldn’t have you sectioned without a doctor, for instance.)
Trump manager says 'undercover voters' will deliver win in US election Read more
However, if we can turn a blind eye to that and pile in, with Trump I have always found the narcissism diagnosis more convincing. Simon Baron-Cohen, who developed the empathy quotient test, makes the distinction between cognitive empathy (you find it easy to intuit what other people are feeling) and affective empathy (you can’t guess what other people are feeling, but when you know, you feel it too). People with autism score very high on affective empathy and low on cognitive empathy, and people with psychopathy are the opposite; put simply, they can read people easily but don’t care about them. Donald Trump seems to lack any qualities of perceptiveness or insight that would allow him to read other people, even for nefarious purposes, and in that has the classic stamp of the high narcissist. Goldwater, schmoldwater.
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https://www.theguardian.com/science/shortcuts/2016/aug/23/donald-trump-psychopath-hitler
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en
| 2016-08-23T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/825c45105377cf397e0ee56da33767a573f99661956733de883efd3045b62e40.json
|
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[
"Press Association"
] | 2016-08-28T10:49:42 | null | 2016-08-28T10:05:40 |
Labour peer’s son says public inquiry’s investigation of his father should wait until after civil court cases
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http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fpolitics%2F2016%2Faug%2F28%2Fgreville-janner-family-pushes-for-delay-child-abuse-inquiry.json
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| null |
Greville Janner's family pushes for delay in child abuse inquiry
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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The family of Greville Janner wants the public inquiry into child abuse to delay its investigation of the late Labour peer.
Lord Janner, 87, who died in December, is alleged to have abused youngsters over a period spanning more than 30 years dating back to the 1950s, with offending said to have taken place at children’s homes and hotels.
The allegations against him are due to be examined at hearings of the public inquiry next March.
But his son has said that as civil proceedings by some of his alleged victims have been started, the claims should go through the courts – where his father’s accusers can be cross-examined – before they feature in the inquiry.
Daniel Janner QC told the BBC he had prepared a submission for the home affairs select committee, which is due to question the home secretary, Amber Rudd, next month.
He said: “We very much hope that the committee will question carefully why the inquiry is planning to make findings of fact in relation to my late father when he is dead, when he cannot answer back, when he has never been convicted of any offence and is entirely innocent.
“Moreover we are denied the right to cross-examine what we know to be false allegations and we say this process actually discredits the important work of the inquiry.
“Civil proceedings are in train and it is in those civil proceedings that we do get the right to cross-examine, when those allegations can be tested.”
He said he and his two sisters intended to use their inheritance to clear the family name.
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http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/aug/28/greville-janner-family-pushes-for-delay-child-abuse-inquiry
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en
| 2016-08-28T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/ddaea663a234c17fc38c91deecf9f11a3e394f3ef943a5f9c22c03720af3f65b.json
|
|
[
"Vic Marks"
] | 2016-08-29T18:52:30 | null | 2016-08-29T17:43:12 |
Ian Bell scored 94 and Sam Hain hit 86 as Warwickshire beat Somerset to book their place in the Royal London One-Day Cup final
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fsport%2F2016%2Faug%2F29%2Fwarwickshire-somerset-royal-london-one-day-cup-semi-final-match-report.json
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Warwickshire defeat Somerset to book place in Royal London Cup final
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Warwickshire’s old internationals dictated the course of an absorbing semi-final won by the home side by eight runs. Ian Bell hit an unbeaten 94 that was measured until the final over of Roelof van der Merwe’s spell when he took 16 from three balls.
Jeetan Patel, the Kiwi off-spinner, but now a much-loved adopted son of Brum, then picked up five wickets, all of them lbw, to derail Somerset’s run chase. So Warwickshire now meet Surrey in the final at Lord’s on 17 September.
Bell won a good toss for the sun was out, the pitch was dry and runs in the bank have a special currency in a taut semi‑final. Warwickshire progressed serenely via Jonathan Trott and Sam Hain; Somerset’s bowlers – all seven of them – were quickly in containment mode.
The only encouragement for them was a hint of turn and occasional uneven bounce. Ninety runs had been compiled before Trott presented a return catch to Van der Merwe, who was Somerset’s most dangerous bowler – though his figures would be badly dented by Bell. Hain hit a steadfast 86 and Warwickshire finished with a substantial though not impregnable 284 for four. With hindsight Somerset might have been better off playing another specialist spinner, Jack Leach, on this surface. Instead they stuck with the combination that had taken them so far in the tournament.
With the bat Somerset were always just out of reach, thanks mostly to Patel, who bewitched successive batsmen into swinging across the line against fizzing off-breaks. Nonetheless they managed to cause the home side some anxiety from unlikely quarters. In the final overs the No9 Ryan Davies contrived a sparkling 46 from 33 balls while No10 Tim Groenewald cracked a defiant 30 in 21 balls. However, Oliver Hannon-Dalby, with the burden of bowling the last six balls, kept his head impressively when 15 runs were still required.
Perhaps Patel’s first wicket was his most important. He had just floated up an off-break to Peter Trego, who was leading Somerset’s run chase, and it was walloped for six over midwicket. This persuaded Patel to start fizzing the ball down more quickly. Two balls later Trego was lbw and thereafter Somerset were slow to recognise the source of Warwickshire’s greatest threat. Four more batsmen would depart hitting across the line against Patel – usually they stared at the big screen as they made their doleful way back to the pavilion in a manner that hinted at some sort of betrayal. This was a futile exercise for several reasons: they were already out and in any case the screen peculiarly declined to replay any of those dismissals. In these games, despite the TV presence, there is no recourse to a third umpire.
Even so Somerset threatened in the closing overs. James Hildreth escaped a stumping chance on 17. It was a difficult one, especially for a man who had been relaxing in Stoke a couple hours earlier. Alex Mellor, Warwickshire’s reserve keeper, had scurried to Edgbaston, having been summoned after Tim Ambrose tweaked a hamstring when batting. Somerset generously allowed a replacement behind the stumps so after eight overs of their innings out skipped Mellor as a grateful Ambrose limped off.
At 161-7 the game was surely up for Somerset but Davies then conjured a 71-run partnership alongside Hildreth and the Somerset supporters found their voice. This was a spirited effort but they could no more than frighten Warwickshire.
Yorkshire coach Jason Gillespie to stand down at the end of the season Read more
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https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/29/warwickshire-somerset-royal-london-one-day-cup-semi-final-match-report
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en
| 2016-08-29T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/395ed4d70e0a086420a36a00f616757131b45a9bd92ab24efb2e33e82b2a0439.json
|
|
[
"Source"
] | 2016-08-26T13:13:18 | null | 2016-08-26T08:42:13 |
Jeremy Corbyn tells Labour leadership contender Owen Smith to grow up over his question as to which way he voted in the EU referendum
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fglobal%2Fvideo%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Fi-thought-we-had-grown-up-corbyn-retaliates-to-owen-smiths-query-eu-vote-video.json
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| null |
I thought we'd grown up: Corbyn retaliates to Owen Smith's query over his EU vote - video
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Labour leadership contender Owen Smith questions Jeremy Corbyn as to which way he voted in the EU referendum. The two party leadership rivals clash during a hustings event in Glasgow. Smith asks Corbyn repeatedly to say whether he actually voted in, saying ‘I’m not sure he did’. The Labour leader insists he did, likening Smith’s query to Daily Mail reports
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https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2016/aug/26/i-thought-we-had-grown-up-corbyn-retaliates-to-owen-smiths-query-eu-vote-video
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en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/6003d0d6efca8e607d88d0226925cb73dcae2eb98e63eba258a3ca5765198a83.json
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|
[
"Helen Thomson"
] | 2016-08-27T02:58:51 | null | 2015-08-21T17:40:58 |
New finding is clear example in humans of the theory of epigenetic inheritance: the idea that environmental factors can affect the genes of your children
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fscience%2F2015%2Faug%2F21%2Fstudy-of-holocaust-survivors-finds-trauma-passed-on-to-childrens-genes.json
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en
| null |
Study of Holocaust survivors finds trauma passed on to children's genes
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Genetic changes stemming from the trauma suffered by Holocaust survivors are capable of being passed on to their children, the clearest sign yet that one person’s life experience can affect subsequent generations.
The conclusion from a research team at New York’s Mount Sinai hospital led by Rachel Yehuda stems from the genetic study of 32 Jewish men and women who had either been interned in a Nazi concentration camp, witnessed or experienced torture or who had had to hide during the second world war.
They also analysed the genes of their children, who are known to have increased likelihood of stress disorders, and compared the results with Jewish families who were living outside of Europe during the war. “The gene changes in the children could only be attributed to Holocaust exposure in the parents,” said Yehuda.
Holocaust survivors' grandchildren call for action over inherited trauma Read more
Her team’s work is the clearest example in humans of the transmission of trauma to a child via what is called “epigenetic inheritance” - the idea that environmental influences such as smoking, diet and stress can affect the genes of your children and possibly even grandchildren.
The idea is controversial, as scientific convention states that genes contained in DNA are the only way to transmit biological information between generations. However, our genes are modified by the environment all the time, through chemical tags that attach themselves to our DNA, switching genes on and off. Recent studies suggest that some of these tags might somehow be passed through generations, meaning our environment could have and impact on our children’s health.
Other studies have proposed a more tentative connection between one generation’s experience and the next. For example, girls born to Dutch women who were pregnant during a severe famine at the end of the second world war had an above-average risk of developing schizophrenia. Likewise, another study has showed that men who smoked before puberty fathered heavier sons than those who smoked after.
The team were specifically interested in one region of a gene associated with the regulation of stress hormones, which is known to be affected by trauma. “It makes sense to look at this gene,” said Yehuda. “If there’s a transmitted effect of trauma, it would be in a stress-related gene that shapes the way we cope with our environment.”
They found epigenetic tags on the very same part of this gene in both the Holocaust survivors and their offspring, the same correlation was not found in any of the control group and their children.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Children in the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp. Photograph: Imagno/Getty Images
Through further genetic analysis, the team ruled out the possibility that the epigenetic changes were a result of trauma that the children had experienced themselves.
“To our knowledge, this provides the first demonstration of transmission of pre-conception stress effects resulting in epigenetic changes in both the exposed parents and their offspring in humans,” said Yehuda, whose work was published in Biological Psychiatry.
It’s still not clear how these tags might be passed from parent to child. Genetic information in sperm and eggs is not supposed to be affected by the environment - any epigenetic tags on DNA had been thought to be wiped clean soon after fertilisation occurs.
However, research by Azim Surani at Cambridge University and colleagues, has recently shown that some epigenetic tags escape the cleaning process at fertilisation, slipping through the net. It’s not clear whether the gene changes found in the study would permanently affect the children’s health, nor do the results upend any of our theories of evolution.
Whether the gene in question is switched on or off could have a tremendous impact on how much stress hormone is made and how we cope with stress, said Yehuda. “It’s a lot to wrap our heads around. It’s certainly an opportunity to learn a lot of important things about how we adapt to our environment and how we might pass on environmental resilience.”
The impact of Holocaust survival on the next generation has been investigated for years - the challenge has been to show intergenerational effects are not just transmitted by social influences from the parents or regular genetic inheritance, said Marcus Pembrey, emeritus professor of paediatric genetics at University College London.
“Yehuda’s paper makes some useful progress. What we’re getting here is the very beginnings of a understanding of how one generation responds to the experiences of the previous generation. It’s fine-tuning the way your genes respond to the world.”
Can you inherit a memory of trauma?
Researchers have already shown that certain fears might be inherited through generations, at least in animals.
Scientists at Emory University in Atlanta trained male mice to fear the smell of cherry blossom by pairing the smell with a small electric shock. Eventually the mice shuddered at the smell even when it was delivered on its own.
Despite never having encountered the smell of cherry blossom, the offspring of these mice had the same fearful response to the smell - shuddering when they came in contact with it. So too did some of their own offspring.
On the other hand, offspring of mice that had been conditioned to fear another smell, or mice who’d had no such conditioning had no fear of cherry blossom.
The fearful mice produced sperm which had fewer epigenetic tags on the gene responsible for producing receptors that sense cherry blossom. The pups themselves had an increased number of cherry blossom smell receptors in their brain, although how this led to them associating the smell with fear is still a mystery.
• The subheading was amended on 25 August 2015 to clarify that the new finding is not the first example in humans of the theory of epigenetic inheritance. The researchers described it as “the first demonstration of transmission of pre-conception stress effects resulting in epigenetic changes”.
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https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/aug/21/study-of-holocaust-survivors-finds-trauma-passed-on-to-childrens-genes
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en
| 2015-08-21T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/ae438f706a31395c7c68f25878823013589776e9f8ca5a110d448900f970601f.json
|
|
[
"Associated Press"
] | 2016-08-26T14:51:36 | null | 2016-08-26T13:45:34 |
Cowboys quarterback lasts just 90 seconds in 27-17 pre-season loss to Seattle, but team says he’ll be back for week one
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fsport%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Ftony-romo-dallas-cowboys-injury-nfl.json
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en
| null |
Cowboys star Tony Romo says he's fine despite leaving game with back injury
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Three plays were all it took for Dallas to get yet another injury scare over Tony Romo.
The quarterback lasted just 90 seconds into the Cowboys’ 27-17 preseason loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night before leaving with what appeared at first to be a potentially significant injury, but ended up being minor.
Romo was tackled from behind by Seattle’s Cliff Avril on the third play from scrimmage as Romo scrambled from the pocket.
He immediately grabbed at his back, crumpled on the field while trainers sprinted from the Dallas sideline and images of Romo’s injury problems from last year immediately flashed to mind.
Turned out it was all just a scare. Romo walked off the field without assistance, threw passes on the sideline and lobbied for a return to the game. Dallas coach Jason Garrett opted to play it safe and Romo donned a baseball hat as a spectator the rest of the night.
“That was a perfect timed situation. I was going into the slide and he obviously caught me from behind,” Romo said.
“In a weird way I feel good about the fact that was probably as tough of a hit I took on the back as I’ve had in the last five years. In that regard I feel very lucky that it could hold up and keep going.”
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones immediately felt the anxiety, but said there should be no issue with Romo being ready for week one. Romo said his back felt fine other than typical soreness.
“I just think everyone had a scare,” Jones said. “And he was not hurt. He said he wasn’t hurt. He wanted to go back in. He could have gone back in and played but I praise Jason. It was his decision.”
Avril said he checked with some Dallas players to make sure Romo was OK.
“I thought he was going to try to throw it so I tried to swipe down and get his arm but I guess the force just, whatever, messed his back up. I’m never in the business of trying to hurt anybody,” Avril said.
What Romo saw from the sideline was an impressive initial flash from rookie running backEzekiel Elliott and a solid performance by backup QB Dak Prescott against one of the top defenses in the NFL.
Elliott rushed for 48 yards on seven carries, including a 13-yard run where he knocked Seattle safety Kam Chancellor backward.
Prescott was solid playing against most of Seattle’s starting defense, finishing 17 of 23 for 116 yards, including a 17-yard TD pass that Jason Witten snatched away from KJ Wright.
“I think I adjusted really well,” Elliott said. “It makes my job easier when I play behind that great offensive line. I can only think of one run where someone tackled me that wasn’t on the second level.”
Russell Wilson and Seattle’s No1 offense played into the second half, scoring on four of its final five possessions including a pair of TD tosses by Wilson.
He found Paul Richardson on a perfectly placed nine-yard crossing route in the second quarter, then improvised, spun, scrambled and hit Tyler Lockett on a nine-yard strike midway through the third quarter on his final play.
Wilson finished 16 of 21 for 192 yards, while Christine Michael averaged 8.3 yards per carry as Seattle got its running game going in the second half.
“Christine looked great tonight, I really thought he looked like a beautiful runner out there, hitting it and making really decisive cuts and stuff that got him in the secondary,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “There’s no reason to think otherwise, he’s going to be like that for us.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/26/tony-romo-dallas-cowboys-injury-nfl
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en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/6453188782c884054a117df4bf3e95008c7f34ee06cc12f935c5fafcf6166497.json
|
|
[
"Press Association"
] | 2016-08-30T00:50:15 | null | 2016-05-13T13:03:26 |
Blaise Lewinson, 17, stabbed to death 17-year-old Stefan Appleton using type of machete home secretary has vowed to ban
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fuk-news%2F2016%2Fmay%2F13%2Fteenager-jailed-for-life-over-machete-killing-in-london-park.json
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en
| null |
Teenager jailed for life over machete killing in London park
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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A 17-year-old has been jailed for life after hacking another teenager to death with a Zombie Killer machete.
Blaise Lewinson stabbed Stefan Appleton, also 17, in the leg and chest using the 25in (63cm) serrated blade in a north London park last year.
Lewinson can be named after the judge, Richard Hone QC, lifted reporting restrictions, saying he should be identified as a deterrent to others and because of the public interest.
A jury deliberated for 14 and a half hours to convict Lewinson of manslaughter. He was cleared of murder.
Sentencing Lewinson, who appeared at the Old Bailey in London in a white shirt and tie, Hone said he regarded the killing as “very close to murder”.
He told him: “You were in the middle of your GCSE examinations, but you preferred to commit serious knife crime in a busy London park filled with young families.”
The judge called him a dangerous offender who was fascinated with illegal knives and said he had shown no true remorse.
He said: “The use of this utterly ferocious weapon, even with the reduced intent, caused the loss of Stefan Appleton’s young life. He plainly was unarmed and you stabbed him on the ground while he was defending himself.”
Stefan Appleton was killed with a Zombie Killer knife in Islington, north London, last year. Photograph: Metropolitan police
Hone added: “What you did that evening and in the aftermath, coupled with your history of previous offending and non-compliance with court orders, justifies my conclusion that this is one of those rare cases where the court should pass a discretionary life sentence.”
Lewinson must serve at least nine years before he can be considered for release on licence.
His conviction last month came days after Theresa May announced plans to ban the sale, manufacture and importation of Zombie Killer knives, which she said “glamorise violence and are clearly targeted at young people”.
The trial had heard how Stefan, a student, had been with friends at Nightingale park in Islington on Wednesday 10 June last year while children played nearby.
Lewinson jumped off the back of a stolen scooter, pulled out the machete-like blade and chased after Stefan and his friends, the court heard.
When Stefan tripped and fell, he was stabbed on the ground, once in the leg and once in the chest. He died in hospital.
The court heard that as he rode off, Lewinson shouted “RP”, standing for Red Pitch, a rival to another gang in the area.
He fled to Bristol and tried to book a flight to Spain before returning to London to hide. He was arrested a few days later.
Teenage victims of knife crime in London this year – their stories Read more
About six months before the killing, Lewinson had been caught with a lock knife at a McDonald’s restaurant, which he claimed to have bought at an antiques shop despite having completed a knife crime prevention programme.
The court heard Lewinson instigated the moped robbery and, after the killing, arranged for a friend to burn it while he destroyed clothing, got rid of the knife and persuaded a 15-year-old girl to conceal a crash helmet.
Hone said he had shown “cunning and careful planning”, lying to police and even making phone calls from prison to associates to make sure the helmet would not be found and get the teenage girl to lie in evidence.
Sallie Bennett-Jenkins QC, defending, stressed Lewinson had only been 16 at the time. She said he had trouble “verbalising his feelings” and had no significant history of violence, even winning an award while in custody for his commitment to education.
But the court heard that while on remand Lewinson fought with other inmates, threw liquid at prison staff and was caught carrying makeshift weapons and a mobile phone.
Hone told him: “You have been assessed, correctly in my judgment, as posing a high risk of violent and psychological harm to your peers and a high risk of reoffending.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/may/13/teenager-jailed-for-life-over-machete-killing-in-london-park
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en
| 2016-05-13T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/421f2b09fdaffc625e33514c52079f72cbf6532086439ae7a44878d76f273e12.json
|
|
[
"Paul Campbell"
] | 2016-08-26T13:18:25 | null | 2016-08-24T10:44:21 |
Featuring Tom Hanlon’s remarkable goals for Pollok against Neilston, the strike that helped Brazil win gold in the Olympics and a fancy flick from Los Angeles
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffootball%2F2016%2Faug%2F24%2Fbest-goals-week-neymar-lionel-messi-hat-trick.json
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en
| null |
The best goals of the week: Neymar, Lionel Messi and an astounding hat-trick
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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@gyasinho just pulled off one of the most ridiculous goals we've ever seen. #CHIvLA
A video posted by LA Galaxy (@lagalaxy) on Aug 23, 2016 at 1:49pm PDT
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/aug/24/best-goals-week-neymar-lionel-messi-hat-trick
|
en
| 2016-08-24T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/9c5e288f12c661ca1e29bcbbc7e38c56c993f5cd89d244c2b6c8e19f04fe38d8.json
|
|
[
"Agence France-Presse"
] | 2016-08-29T08:52:01 | null | 2016-08-29T06:51:00 |
Gao Chengyong, 52, a grocer from Gansu, has confessed to 11 murders after being caught thanks to DNA, says China Daily
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2016%2Faug%2F29%2Fpolice-snare-chinas-jack-the-ripper-after-28-year-search-for-killer-reports.json
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en
| null |
Police snare 'China's Jack the Ripper' after 28-year search for killer - reports
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Police believe they have captured a serial killer dubbed China’s “Jack the Ripper” for the way he mutilated several of his 11 female victims, state-run media have reported, nearly three decades after the first murder.
Gao Chengyong, 52, was detained at the grocery store he runs with his wife in Baiyin, in the north-west province of Gansu, the China Daily said.
The newspaper said he had confessed to 11 murders in Gansu and the neighbouring region of Inner Mongolia between 1988 and 2002, citing the ministry of public security.
The rising power of China will create new political fissures in the west | Gideon Rachman Read more
Gao allegedly targeted young women wearing red and followed them home to rape and kill them, often cutting their throat and mutilating their bodies, according to reports. The youngest victim was eight years old.
Some victims also had their reproductive organs removed, the Beijing Youth Daily added.
“The suspect has a sexual perversion and hates women,” police said in 2004, when they linked the crimes for the first time and offered a reward of 200,000 yuan ($30,000) for information leading to an arrest.
“He’s reclusive and unsociable, but patient,” they said at the time.
The original Jack the Ripper was a serial killer active in east London in the late Victorian era, who is widely believed to have murdered five women, mutilating several of them. Those killings have never been solved.
Gao was identified after a relative was put under house arrest in Baiyin over allegations of a minor crime and had his DNA collected and tested, the China Daily said.
Police concluded the killer they had been hunting for 28 years was a relation, and Gao’s DNA matched the murderer’s, it added.
There were no immediate explanations as to why the killings stopped in 2002.
|
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/29/police-snare-chinas-jack-the-ripper-after-28-year-search-for-killer-reports
|
en
| 2016-08-29T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/8f8e4f430af0a1721f1d50a54204000ece91ec0e9e108bfbbf8ebe09a8ae5f7d.json
|
|
[
"Source",
"Aasdap Lente Viva Filmes"
] | 2016-08-26T13:28:04 | null | 2016-08-11T18:18:29 |
Dr Miguel Nicolelis explains the findings of the Walk Again Project, the collaborative project aimed at helping paraplegic people regain control of their lives using robotics
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fscience%2Fvideo%2F2016%2Faug%2F11%2Fbrain-training-technique-offers-new-possibilities-for-paraplegic-people-video-report.json
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en
| null |
Brain training technique offers new possibilities for paraplegic people - video report
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
Dr Miguel Nicolelis explains the findings of the Walk Again Project, the collaborative project aimed at helping paraplegic people regain control of their lives using robotics. The project published its findings after ten months’ research into the use of virtual reality and exoskeleton technology with paraplegic people. However, it was found that the pairing of technologies lead to unexpected positive results for patients, all of whom reported increased movement on command and greater sensation after 2000 hours of training with the systems
|
https://www.theguardian.com/science/video/2016/aug/11/brain-training-technique-offers-new-possibilities-for-paraplegic-people-video-report
|
en
| 2016-08-11T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/0db9375507cd6acd9153ac9009526b8fcdbc9e7e0683e455b6a31aa66c09ed22.json
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[
"Martin Kettle"
] | 2016-08-31T12:53:23 | null | 2016-08-31T12:41:39 |
Pairing Bruckner’s ninth symphony with Bach’s intimate Cantata No 82 was a daring but successful choice, with Christian Gerhaher an eloquent soloist
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmusic%2F2016%2Faug%2F31%2Fgustav-mahler-youth-orchestra-jordan-bruckner-bach-royal-albert-hall.json
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en
| null |
Gustav Mahler Youth Orchestra/Jordan - exemplary, persuasive Bruckner, intimate and restrained Bach
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Bruckner looms large in the final stretch of this year’s Proms, with Daniel Barenboim and Christian Thielemann at the helm next week in three of his middle-period symphonies. But this Bruckner mini-festival started at the end, with an outstanding account of the uncompleted ninth symphony by the Gustav Mahler Jugendorchester, under the baton of the music director of the Paris Opera, Philippe Jordan.
Jordan flies under the radar in the UK by comparison with next week’s superstars. But his account of the ninth symphony was out of the Brucknerian top drawer. It had exemplary clarity of texture – important with Bruckner’s complex harmonies – eschewed unwritten meaningful pauses and built inexorably across the three extant movements. Perhaps the opening movement could have been given a little more room to breathe, but by the time Jordan reached the grinding orchestral discords near the end of the slow movement – which were followed, as written, with an immensely meaningful pause – the more potent for its singularity, this performance had found its own persuasively authentic way to lay bare the doubts and struggles that underlie so much of Bruckner.
It was daring to pair Bach’s intimate Cantata No 82 Ich Habe Genug with Bruckner’s rich orchestral panorama. But there was inner logic too, because both are three-part works of solitary believers, one a northern Lutheran, the other a southern Catholic, contemplating death. That the coupling succeeded was in no small way a tribute to the baritone Christian Gerhaher, whose vocal artistry manages to draw a listener in as few others, even in a space as large as the Albert Hall, and to the eloquent restraint Jordan and his players achieved, with Bernhard Heinrichs giving a fine account of the oboe obbligato.
• On BBC iPlayer until 28 September.
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https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/aug/31/gustav-mahler-youth-orchestra-jordan-bruckner-bach-royal-albert-hall
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en
| 2016-08-31T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/e96e6d87e283a19f5a0e305ce4a9fc1d42f2518e432b9bb84925b5d635119867.json
|
|
[
"Associated Press In Havana"
] | 2016-08-28T22:52:00 | null | 2016-08-28T21:57:49 |
Announcement follows Havana peace accord to end five decades of war that will go to October referendum
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2016%2Faug%2F28%2Ffarc-commander-cease-hostilities-colombia-government-rodrigo-londono.json
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en
| null |
Farc commander says hostilities with Colombia government to cease
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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The commander of Colombia’s biggest rebel movement, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or Farc, has said its fighters will permanently cease hostilities with the government from the first minute of Monday, as a result of a peace accord for ending five decades of war.
How to make peace? Colombia's historic deal has lessons for Syria Read more
Timoleón Jimenez made the announcement on Sunday in Havana, Cuba, where the two sides negotiated for four years before announcing the peace deal in midweek.
“Never again will parents be burying their sons and daughters killed in the war,” said Jimenez, who is also known as Timochenko. “All rivalries and grudges will remain in the past.”
Colombian president Juan Manuel Santos announced on Friday that his military would cease attacks on Farc, beginning on Monday.
Colombia is expected to hold a national referendum on 2 October, to give voters the chance to approve the deal for ending a half-century of political violence that has claimed more than 220,000 lives and driven more than 5 million people from their homes.
After the agreement is signed, Farc guerrillas are supposed to begin handing their weapons over to United Nations-sponsored monitors.
News of the deal was welcomed by regional governments and the UN. Barack Obama also welcomed the deal.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/28/farc-commander-cease-hostilities-colombia-government-rodrigo-londono
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en
| 2016-08-28T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/48c879a67b1b8a296daa6d39cdb977283f8d08726392e3b18cd9c25c08c7cc3d.json
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[] | 2016-08-31T12:50:30 | null | 2016-08-31T12:02:41 |
The prime minister begins the first cabinet meeting since the summer break by reiterating that ‘Brexit means Brexit’
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fglobal%2Fvideo%2F2016%2Faug%2F31%2Ftheresa-may-tells-cabinet-no-back-door-attempts-to-stay-in-eu-brexit-video.json
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en
| null |
Theresa May tells cabinet 'no back door attempts to stay in EU' - video
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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The prime minister begins the first cabinet meeting since the summer break by reiterating that ‘Brexit means Brexit’. Theresa May tells her top team, who gathered at Chequers, there will be ‘no attempts to say in the EU by the back door’
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https://www.theguardian.com/global/video/2016/aug/31/theresa-may-tells-cabinet-no-back-door-attempts-to-stay-in-eu-brexit-video
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en
| 2016-08-31T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/373b74d1a4dcbd4cc31b13b8293a2450361e8245a5f09e247381d747c033af22.json
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|
[
"Katie Allen"
] | 2016-08-26T13:10:10 | null | 2016-08-19T09:29:43 |
A week of economic data for jobs, spending and the housing market has given the first firm evidence of the impact of the Brexit vote
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fbusiness%2F2016%2Faug%2F19%2Fboom-or-gloom-the-economic-impact-of-brexit-so-far.json
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en
| null |
Boom or gloom? The economic verdict on Brexit … so far
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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There were warnings of recession before the EU referendum and more such gloomy forecasts have followed the vote to leave. But after a week of official economic data – including inflation and unemployment – gave a clearer impact of the immediate consequences of the poll, what do the numbers so far tell us?
Employment is up, shoppers kept spending and a weaker pound has boosted UK tourism. At the same time, inflation has picked up, house prices have wobbled and businesses say they are nervous about hiring and investing.
Here is what we have learned from the data:
Monthly jobs data can be volatile, but fears that a Brexit vote would trigger widespread job losses were not realised in July. Official figures this week showed that the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance actually fell in the month following the referendum, the first such drop since February. The data also showed the employment rate was at a record high in the run-up to the vote, standing at 74.5% for the three months to June.
Business surveys have suggested some firms are reluctant to hire new workers since the vote and some reports have pointed to jobs being cut. But if the last recession is anything to go by, employers will be reluctant to part with skilled workers before they have a clearer idea of the business climate. Still, the Bank of England is predicting 250,000 job losses and believes the unemployment rate will rise from 4.9% now to 5.6% in two years’ time.
Inflation rose to the highest level in 20 months in July but at 0.6% remained relatively low and well below the Bank of England target for 2%.
Economists are warning of steeper prices rises in the coming months as the full impact of the weaker pound following the Brexit vote is felt. The drop in the UK currency makes imports more expensive and retailers and manufacturers will probably pass on those higher costs to end consumers. The Bank of England predicts inflation will stand at 2.4% in two years’ time.
Hot on the heels of the solid jobs numbers this week, came news of a bounce in high street sales. Warm weather trumped Brexit fears, it seemed, as shoppers splashed out on sandals and summer tops.
Official figures showed retail sales volumes rose by 1.4% in July after a 0.9% drop in June. That was much stronger than the 0.2% increase predicted by economists in a Reuters poll but echoed industry reports of solid growth in consumer spending last month. There was also a boost to sales from tourists coming over to snap up luxury goods such as watches, made cheaper by the weak pound.
Some commentators warn that job cuts will start to bite later this year and spending will then fall. But for now, a relatively stable housing market, low inflation, low interest rates and low unemployment are keeping the tills ringing.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Retail sales rose in July. Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo
House price expectations House price expectations.
Analysts had predicted a drop in house prices following the Brexit vote. So far the early signs have been mixed but nothing points to dramatic falls.
Lender Halifax said house prices fell 1% in July. But on a less volatile three-month basis they continued to grow. Figures from its rival Nationwide showed prices rising 0.5% in July. But the building society warned that any impact from the vote might not be fully evident in July’s figures.
A survey of estate agents by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) suggested sales and demand from homebuyers dipped in July. But the group expected activity to settle in coming months and surveyors were feeling more positive about prices over coming months and the year ahead.
That is reassuring news for homeowners, says Kallum Pickering, senior UK economist at the bank Berenberg. “Tentatively, data on market expectations improved between June and July, suggesting that the Brexit bark might have been worse than the bite. There’s little evidence yet that points to a Lehman re-run in the UK housing market.”
Household confidence measures Household confidence measures.
The British public’s confidence in the economy recovered in August, according to a survey from data company Markit. The rebound in sentiment followed a slump in July as consumers fretted about the impact that leaving the EU would have on disposable incomes.
Expectations for finances over the next 12 months picked up to 49.8 on the Markit household finances index in August, from 47.1 in July. Anything below 50 signals deterioration, so households believe the outlook is stable, though they are still feeling cautious.
Other measures of consumer confidence also signalled a sharp initial drop in July. But data on consumer spending suggested people were still shopping, eating out and going to the cinema.
The budget deficit The budget deficit.
The public finances were in surplus a month after the Brexit vote as the government earned more in tax income than it spent, but the performance was weaker than expected.
Stronger corporation tax receipts contributed to a £1bn surplus this July, according to the Office for National Statistics. But that was lower than a £1.2bn surplus in the same month last year and below economists forecasts for £1.6bn in a Reuters poll. Overall, as this chart shows, for the financial year so far the deficit is smaller than in the previous year.
July is typically a strong month for the public finances, with companies settling their corporation tax bills and self-employed people paying their income tax. Economists said it was not yet clear what impact the Brexit vote would have on the public finances over the coming months and years. The ONS itself cautioned: “Estimates for the latest period always contain a substantial forecast element and so any post-referendum impact may not become clear for some time.”
The pound against the euro The pound against the euro.
Sterling tumbled against the euro and the US dollar in the wake of the referendum result. That could make life easier for exporters, by making their goods cheaper to overseas buyers. However, it raises import costs.
For UK holidaymakers, the weaker pound has added to the cost of their summer break and they are finding that £1 buys less than a euro at some airports’ bureaux de change. In the week that sterling slipped to a new three-year low against the euro following the Brexit vote, researchers found that bureaux de change at Stansted and Luton airports were offering just 99 cents for every pound exchanged.
At one point on Tuesday, £1 was worth just €1.1476, its lowest level since August 2013. Sterling has since rallied a little, with £1 buying €1.1595 on Friday. That compares with €1.30 the day before the referendum in June, and €1.42 in August 2015.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Holidaymakers have found the cost of their breaks more expensive. Photograph: Manuel Bruque/EPA
FTSE 100 FTSE 100.
The FTSE 100 share index hit a 14-month peak of 6,941.19 earlier this week and is not far off setting a new all-time high.
Action from the Bank of England to shore up the economy and its promise of more to come has helped. There has also been a boost from the weaker pound to those FTSE big hitters that earn a substantial amount of sales from overseas. The drop in sterling flatters the finances of companies that report profits in dollars and it helps exporters. It also makes the pound-denominated share index cheaper to buy into for foreign investors.
We won’t get the official take on post-referendum GDP growth until October. But early surveys of the construction, manufacturing and services sectors, point to the economy shrinking in the third quarter, say their compilers. There was a record fall in the all-sector purchasing managers’ index (PMI) in July, which was published earlier in the month. Markit’s chief economist Chris Williamson said that pointed to a 0.4% drop in GDP in the July-to-September quarter, a stark contrast to growth of 0.6% in the previous three months.
Technically, a recession is two consecutive quarters of contraction. For now, the Bank of England is cautiously optimistic that will be avoided after it stepped in with more electronic money creation and a cut in interest rates to a record low. Signs since then that consumer spending, the main driver of UK growth, is holding up will bolster those tentative hopes.
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/19/boom-or-gloom-the-economic-impact-of-brexit-so-far
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en
| 2016-08-19T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/97c1a7b8d64f53e0cbd2c9eb1d49f14cedc8d006c917278a92dd6acd5e825810.json
|
|
[
"Raphael Honigstein"
] | 2016-08-26T13:18:34 | null | 2016-08-25T12:54:54 |
This season’s Bundesliga has a new cast of characters and plenty of intrigue, even if it is unlikely to have much of a title race
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffootball%2F2016%2Faug%2F25%2Fbayern-munich-bundesliga-season-dortmund.json
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en
| null |
Can anything stop Bayern making it five Bundesligas in a row? Only complacency
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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It’s a new season, with a vast, rather sexy new cast (211 players bought for a combined €400m), new leading roles at a third of all clubs (plus new coaches to come at Werder Bremen and Eintracht Frankfurt very soon), a rich newcomer (RB Leipzig) who will fly the flag for the footballistically under-represented east of the country – “Da Zone” as kids used to call it in the 80s – and double up as the new baddie everyone will love to hate.
Will the “new delight in the league” (Kicker) be tempered by the fear the 54th instalment of the Bundesliga could bring an all-too-familiar denouement, however? A fifth league title in a row for Bayern Munich, who kick off the new campaign on Friday at home to crisis-ridden Werder Bremen, is the expected outcome in most quarters.
The Bavarians’ squad have more depth than a Jean-Michel Cousteau documentary after the arrival of Mats Hummels and Renato Sanches for a combined €70m. The only slither of hope for the rebellion is the Red Empire will be too busy shooting for the stars in Europe with the Champions League specialist Carlo Ancelotti at the helm to take matters down on planet Germany too seriously. Complacency may just bring down the Death Star.
Low crowds and chaotic La Liga fixture list cannot deter from guarantee of drama Read more
But it’s a one-in-eight shot for Borussia Dortmund, according to the bookies. “Bayern win the league with their hands in their pockets,” Ancelotti said a few months before he agreed to become Pep Guardiola’s successor. The Italian must ensure those words do not come back to haunt him.
The Black and Yellows, for their part, have outspent the champions, pumping €110m into the squad by way of adding seven recruits who range from the underrated (Sebastian Rode) to future superstars (Ousmane Dembélé) and former ones (Mario Götze) in need of a new beginning. Thomas Tuchel’s reboot of the squad is one the most exciting projects in European football, with added interest provided by the uncertain outcome.
Dortmund fans seem unsure whether the high turnover will quickly produce a team capable of challenging for silverware; there were some whispered complaints about the loss of terrace favourites such as Kuba Blaszczykowski, too. Player by player, Dortmund will have an abundance of quality, especially in attack, though – enough to indulge Tuchel’s heavy-rotation policy and make BVB’s game even more varied.
The Hertha Berlin coach, Pal Dardai, has tipped Bayer Leverkusen “to do a Leicester”, with the new arrivals Kevin Volland (Hoffenheim) and Julian Baumgartlinger (Mainz) in the Jamie Vardy and N’golo Kanté roles respectively. And the Germany international Julian Brandt can be Riyad Mahrez. It’s not an wholly absurd suggestion but still unrealistic in the light of the two superpowers ahead of the Werkself.
Others have tipped stable, cleverly run Borussia Mönchengladbach and Schalke, who are at last run by one of the smartest guys in the league (sporting director Christian Heidel) and have a young, energetic coach (Markus Weinzierl) to take the team forward. It is worth remembering hopes had been high for Weinzierl’s predecessor André Breitenreiter at this stage a year ago.
Once again the Bundesliga will be the most open and, if you will, competitive league in Europe, with no fixed hierarchy below the handful of top clubs, no obvious relegation candidates bar the pretty skint Darmstadt sans miracle worker Dirk Schuster (now at Augsburg) and a dozen sides who might well unexpectedly end up in Europe or in a dogfight, or, in fact, in both during the course of the season.
Juventus to dominate Serie A title race but there will be plenty of drama | Paolo Bandini Read more
Interestingly enough, the absence of a genuine title race since 2011 – Dortmund (2012) and then Bayern (x4) won the championship at a canter – has done little to suppress the appetite for Germany’s favourite sport. League chief Christian Seifert has managed to increase the value of the domestic TV rights by 85%, securing an annual income of €1.16bn from the 2017-18 season onwards. It’s still only half of the Premier League’s value and has to be divided among the 36 clubs in Bundesliga and Bundesliga 2 but the increased demand shows Bayern’s hegemony – and Dortmund’s perceived stranglehold of second spot – does not deter viewers.
While a wider range of championship contenders would undoubtedly help the brand internationally, the bigger concern inside Germany is still the proliferation of small clubs without strong fanbases at the expense of giants fallen or sleeping. If clubs such as Hamburg, Werder, Köln and Schalke do not make the most of their considerable resources, the clamour for external investment will grow.
By and large, the Bundesliga has been able to deal with the challenges of football’s rapid globalisation rather well by focusing on stadium experience and the production of players to keep down transfer spending but their largely organic, slow way of doing business could come under threat during the next wave of Chinese-driven takeovers in England and Italy.
Whether domestic audiences would put up with a markedly less German version of the Bundesliga selling off bits to stay competitive in Europe will be the key questions for the show-runners in Frankfurt in the years to come
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/aug/25/bayern-munich-bundesliga-season-dortmund
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en
| 2016-08-25T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/0c0c6429e3494e4b9394223851188c266537d963c925d09aa9b9ae83375f9894.json
|
|
[
"Patrick Kingsley"
] | 2016-08-29T18:52:13 | null | 2016-08-29T17:23:47 |
Images of rescue operation in the Mediterranean capture plight of those desperate to reach Europe
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2016%2Faug%2F29%2Fdramatic-photos-show-refugees-fleeing-libya-being-rescued-at-sea.json
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en
| null |
Dramatic photos show refugees fleeing Libya being rescued at sea
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Startling images have emerged of refugees being rescued off the coast of Libya, showing what has become an everyday occurrence in the southern Mediterranean Sea over the past three years.
A day on a refugee rescue ship: 'this job must be done, there must be no sinking' Read more
Photographs show Italian rescuers coming to the aid of asylum seekers on a smuggling boat that was so overcrowded that several had been forced to dangle their legs over the side. During the commotion of the rescue, some leapt into the water to reach safety.
The images were taken during the rescue on Monday of approximately 3,000 people, many from Eritrea and Somalia, who had set off in about 20 wooden fishing boats a few hours earlier.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A man holds himself to the side of a boat after jumping into the sea during the rescue operation. Photograph: Emilio Morenatti/AP
The scenes highlight the dangerous tactics of Libyan smugglers, who put so many people on each repurposed fishing trawler that it is highly unlikely the migrants will reach Italy without being rescued by the charity boats and military missions operating in the area.
While the numbers migrating between Turkey and Greece has fallen substantially since March, after the completion of an agreement between the EU and Turkey, crossings between Libya and Italy remain at near-record levels. More than 100,000 people have left north Africa for Italy so far this year, on a par with last year’s rate, and only slightly less than the record figures in 2014.
Most of the migrants this year are fleeing war and poverty in Nigeria and Ivory Coast, or dictatorships in Eritrea and Gambia. Others are migrant workers who hoped to make a living in Libya, but were forced to flee the country due to the civil war there, and the ensuing breakdown of law and order.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A man carries his five-day-old son after been rescued. Photograph: Emilio Morenatti/AP
Migrants in Libya often work in conditions that amount to slave labour. Others are kidnapped for ransom, and many are tortured. In a recent interview on a Mediterranean rescue ship, aid workers from Médecins Sans Frontières said the wounds that migrants bore were often indescribable.
“You can have the biggest imagination in the world, and you can’t imagine the kind of violence they’ve been subjected to,” Paola Mazzoni, an MSF doctor, said in June.
Without the money for a plane ticket home, thousands opt to make for Europe instead of journeying back through the Sahara to their countries of origin, in a deadly desert trek that is considered even more dangerous than the voyage across the Mediterranean.
Since 2014, charities such as MSF, the Migrant Offshore Aid Station and Save the Children – as well as anti-smuggling missions run by European navies – have attempted to rescue those risking the sea journey. Critics say they are encouraging more migrants to make the journey – but when rescues were suspended in early 2015, more migrants left Libya than ever before, and more migrants drowned.
This month, an MSF boat was attacked and raided by the Libyan navy for reasons that remain unclear.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/29/dramatic-photos-show-refugees-fleeing-libya-being-rescued-at-sea
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en
| 2016-08-29T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/564144fed2aa2dbe11e2bc14c65eee2fae321937b8644f80538c8675ce4e1aac.json
|
|
[
"David Squires"
] | 2016-08-26T13:21:43 | null | 2016-08-23T05:15:04 |
David Squires looks back at the second matchday in the Premier League as everyone rushes to knock footballers for not being Olympians
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffootball%2Fpicture%2F2016%2Faug%2F23%2Fdavid-squires-football-olympics-week-two-premier-league.json
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en
| null |
David Squires on … football v the Olympics and week two of the Premier League
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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David Squires looks back at the second matchday in the Premier League as everyone rushes to knock footballers for not being Olympians. You can find David’s archive of cartoons here
|
https://www.theguardian.com/football/picture/2016/aug/23/david-squires-football-olympics-week-two-premier-league
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en
| 2016-08-23T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/06603b961fb2dc12d4e7e52fa06933e1babb54fd4147c34c5d9d72dee5313804.json
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|
[
"Anna Tims"
] | 2016-08-26T13:29:25 | null | 2016-08-10T06:00:04 |
From a water tower in Cheshire to a brewery in Dorset and a Costa Blanca villa, you can rev up the barbecue or hot tub in style at these properties
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmoney%2Fgallery%2F2016%2Faug%2F10%2Fhomes-with-roof-terraces-in-pictures.json
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en
| null |
Homes with roof terraces - in pictures
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Away: Altea, Costa Blanca, Spain
The bay shimmers below the several terraces of this three-bedroom villa in the hills above town, although it’s a 10-minute drive down to the beach. A private pool occupies the bottom layer beyond the en suites, you can perch outside your front door in the middle and, up on the roof, there’s a built-in barbecue area and space for an outdoor living room. The car gets its own roof terrace. Price: £617,076. Property & Spain , 020 8339 6036
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https://www.theguardian.com/money/gallery/2016/aug/10/homes-with-roof-terraces-in-pictures
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en
| 2016-08-10T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/cb3e8d9d78a2bca0e271f45dcaa07dc1c389caa45443074c8a72b28957413cdf.json
|
|
[
"Mark King",
"As Told To"
] | 2016-08-26T20:59:11 | null | 2012-05-31T00:00:00 |
Facing questions from Ann Robinson and John Humphrys, the Countdown lexicographer was at panic stations
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmoney%2F2012%2Fjun%2F01%2Fsusie-dent-my-greatest-mistake.json
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en
| null |
Susie Dent: my greatest mistake
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
I was invited to appear on Test The Nation, the live BBC television programme hosted by Phillip Schofield and Ann Robinson, where members of the public and celebrities answer general knowledge-type questions. It was going to be a big test for me, too, because it was prime-time TV and I'd only just gone full-time on Countdown; in 2005 I wasn't as experienced in television as you'd imagine.
I hardly remember being in make-up or the green room. I do remember seeing John Humphrys, sitting very calmly, with just a faint look of ennui. But my mind was racing and I was really worried about how fierce Ann Robinson would be, particularly if I didn't do very well. I also knew that John Humphrys can be fierce about spelling and grammar, so I didn't want to make any mistakes. Suggs was also taking part and I'd wanted to meet him for ages, so I was a bundle of nerves.
I just about remember Phillip Schofield asking me about the state of English, and something about Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. The audience was having a great time and it was all going well – I got through the first round OK, and even made a joke unintentionally that really boosted my confidence.
There was a short break from the questions and then round two started. I was much more confident this time, but, perhaps because of this, my mind began to wander. Ann Robinson asked me: "What might a weight watcher do? Eat less potatoes or stop eating potatoes?" I just replied: "Potatoes." And stared into Ann's steely glare.
I felt like a complete idiot for losing my concentration and was a little upset at the time. The good thing about it is, I now try ridiculously hard to concentrate when I'm doing TV or radio, so it taught me a very big lesson.
I always listen to every word that's said when I'm working because I'd hate to make the same mistake twice – I can't believe I started daydreaming on live television. There was another question about the word "hero" versus the word "tomato" and I don't think I messed that one up – maybe I answered "potato" again.
When I watched the footage it didn't look too bad and my family said I was fine. I can laugh about it now. I don't know what John Humphrys thought. I've shared a car with him and he was amazing and very friendly, so I don't think he thought too badly of me.
I've looked for the footage on YouTube, but luckily no one seems to have found it – which is probably for the best.
Susie Dent is the English judge in the 2012 Academy Excellence Awards.
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https://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/jun/01/susie-dent-my-greatest-mistake
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en
| 2012-05-31T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/98c1a40280f56da23c2ae97f7a023afff5024dfdb5568d7f2710bea89c0f2535.json
|
|
[
"Nazia Parveen"
] | 2016-08-26T16:48:59 | null | 2016-08-26T15:35:02 |
Dr Wendy Potts was suspended after patient complained about blog in which she wrote about having condition
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fuk-news%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Fgp-found-dead-after-being-suspended-over-bipolar-disorder-blog.json
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GP found dead after being suspended over bipolar disorder blog
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www.theguardian.com
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A GP who kept a blog about living with bipolar disorder was found dead after being suspended from work when a patient read her online entries and complained, an inquest has heard. In the weeks leading up to her death, Dr Wendy Potts had written candidly about her condition and the effect it had on her life.
A patient at her surgery saw her online posts and contacted management, questioning whether she should be able to practise as a GP. The inquest heard that Potts later told her partner: “How can I have been so stupid?”
Potts, who had two children, was suspended after the October half-term break, which is said to have deepened her symptoms. By the time of her death, her suspension had been lifted, but she had not been allowed back to work. Her partner, Mark St John Jones, found her body at the family’s home in Chapel-en-le-Frith, Derbyshire, on 24 November last year.
Jones said Potts, 46, had kept a blog in which she stated that she had bipolar disorder. He told the court that a patient had read the blog and complained to the surgery, which was not named during the hearing.
The court heard Potts was under psychiatric care and her medication was increased after the suspension. Before she died, the suspension was lifted but other investigations were still being completed. Jones said Potts had experienced other work-related stress, including dealing with the death of a patient, and had previously tried to take her own life.
Dr David Walker, a consultant psychiatrist, said he was not aware of this attempt. “She chose not to tell me this had happened,” he added.
Potts’s mother, Joan, told the court about a manic episode her daughter had experienced in February 2014. She said: “She was shouting, jumping on the settee and talking in rhyme. It was very strange – I’ve never seen anything like it before. We didn’t see anything like it again.”
Afterwards, Potts did not work for three months. Joan Potts added that her daughter “felt she had got more than she could cope with” after she and her partner bought a smallholding in Cardigan, west Wales, in May.
However, Jones said: “Wendy wrote in her blog that this was what she wanted. She wanted to get away from work.”
Derbyshire’s assistant coroner, James Newman, adjourned the inquest to obtain a report relating to Potts’s suspension.
• In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14. Hotlines in other countries can be found here.
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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/aug/26/gp-found-dead-after-being-suspended-over-bipolar-disorder-blog
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| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/4bf6889b3e321f59250ef9f24aae307ba10f8db196d3a2f9971c00ef71a7d7ae.json
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[
"Mona Sarfaty"
] | 2016-08-26T13:16:34 | null | 2016-08-24T13:22:59 |
An anthrax outbreak in Russia came from a 75-year-old caribou carcass thawing out. It’s a warning sign of worse to come
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fcommentisfree%2F2016%2Faug%2F24%2Fclimate-change-thawing-deadly-diseases-anthrax.json
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Climate change is thawing deadly diseases. Maybe now we'll address it?
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www.theguardian.com
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Earlier this month, an outbreak of anthrax in northern Russia caused the death of a 12-year-old boy and his grandmother and put 90 people in the hospital. These deadly spores – which had not been seen in the Arctic since 1941 – also spread to 2,300 caribou. Russian troops trained in biological warfare were dispatched to the Yamalo-Nenets region to evacuate hundreds of the indigenous, nomadic people and quarantine the disease.
Americans are likely to associate anthrax with the mysterious white powder that was mailed to news media and US Senate offices in the weeks following 11 September 2001. The bacteria – usually sequestered in biological weapons labs – killed five people and infected 17 others in the most devastating bioterrorism attack in US history.
But in Russia, the spread of illness was not the result of bioterrorism; it was a result of global warming. Record-high temperatures melted Arctic permafrost and released deadly anthrax spores from a thawing carcass of a caribou that had been infected 75 years ago and had stayed frozen in limbo until now. This all suggests that it may not be easy to predict which populations will be most vulnerable to the health impacts of climate change.
In 2013, the National Academy of Sciences hosted a forum on the influence of global environmental change on infectious diseases. In his keynote speech, Dr Jonathan Patz stood in front of a large slide of a mosquito and warned: “Global warming’s greatest threat may also be the smallest.” The forum focused on many causes of disease, from fungi, bacteria, viruses and mold spores, to vectors like bats and mosquitoes. Climate change can exacerbate the spread of infectious disease by changing the behavior, lifespans and regions of diseases and their carriers.
This can sometimes be hard to prove directly. It can be challenging, for example, to isolate the avenues by which climate change drives emerging infections in warm climates where travel, trade, land use and dense urban living can all lead to the spread of disease. At other times, the signal is bright. Looking way up north in the Arctic – where there are far fewer people, less travel and trade, and fewer infectious diseases – the signal that climate change is a source of disease outbreaks is clear.
It is usually so cold in the tundra that the ground is perennially frozen in deep layers that can date back 3m years. But the usual circumstances no longer apply at the top of the world. The Arctic is warming twice as fast as the rest of the globe. In fact, the area of the anthrax outbreak was 18F (10C) hotter than average, with temperatures reaching 95F (35C). In addition to releasing ancient microbes, melting layers of permafrost also release methane, a greenhouse gas 30 times more potent than carbon dioxide, that in turn causes further warming.
It is not just animal carcasses that are thawing. Indigenous groups living in the tundra do not bury their dead deep underground, opting instead for wooden coffins arranged in above-ground cemeteries. This raises the potential for infections to spread from this source as well.
Could some of the severe infectious diseases that have threatened the planet in the past be reactivated as our northernmost regions thaw? It’s not just climate scientists that are concerned about the health threats of a warming world. Public health experts and physicians are also speaking out. The Lancet Commission released a report in 2015 asserting that climate change could reverse the last 50 years of public health advances.
As risk is added to risk, the signals of our changing climate underscore the urgent need to put climate change solutions in place. Even more than we know, our health may depend on it.
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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/aug/24/climate-change-thawing-deadly-diseases-anthrax
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en
| 2016-08-24T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/cb1bb11066bcdda82a59e16be21b4c62a3a0002ee0e03b4f4571fc83fbad449d.json
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[
"Press Association"
] | 2016-08-26T13:16:47 | null | 2016-08-26T10:04:34 |
Arsenal are closing in on a double deal for striker Lucas Perez and defender Shkodran Mustafi, but Arsène Wenger insists the signings will not be a reaction to fans calling out for new players
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffootball%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Farsenal-lucas-perez-shkodran-mustafi-arsene-wenger.json
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Arsène Wenger confirms Lucas Pérez and Shkodran Mustafi set for Arsenal moves
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www.theguardian.com
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Arsenal are closing in on a double deal for the striker Lucas Pérez and the defender Shkodran Mustafi, but Arsène Wenger insists the signings will not be a reaction to fans calling out for new players.
Premier League: transfer window summer 2016 – interactive Read more
With Granit Xhaka the only major signing of the summer transfer window to date, Arsenal supporters have been crying out for further new recruits. Wenger’s situation was worsened as the Gunners lost their opening Premier League game at home to Liverpool, before drawing 0-0 at Leicester last weekend.
Arsenal did sign the Bolton defender Rob Holding and the young Japanese striker Takuma Asano – who has not been granted a work permit – but a failed move for Jamie Vardy contributed to a difficult summer for Wenger – as Paul Pogba, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, John Stones and N’Golo Kanté were signing for their rivals.
But now Wenger looks like adding to his numbers with deals for Deportivo La Coruna’s Pérez and Valencia’s Mustafi expected in the coming days, although not before Saturday’s trip to Watford. Perez, 27, was reportedly close to joining Everton before Arsenal stepped in, but Wenger insists he was not reacting to the fans’ lust for spending money.
“I’m happy when our supporters are happy,” he said. “But my job is to make the right decisions, if that is exactly similar to the contract of the players and that maintains the supporters being happy – that is even better. I focus first on making the right decisions for the club.
“We are working on the deals. We are not close enough to announce today that they will sign for us, and will we sign anybody before the end of the transfer window? I am 99% confident.
“It was a strange transfer market. I expected it to be easier than ever but it was more difficult than ever. Not a lot has happened. It looks like when you meet other clubs and you have an English passport, you hit these prices which are very difficult to understand compared to the quality of the players. It looks like it will be frenetic for me in the last three days. Everybody has sat on their pounds until now. We know they will all splash out now. I expect the next three days to be very, very busy, so be on alert!”
Premier League: 10 things to look out for this weekend Read more
Asked if he expected to do any more business after looking to wrap up deals for Perez, who scored 17 La Liga goals last season, and the Valencia captain Mustafi, Wenger said: “We already have a big squad, and we are already short on the numbers now. We have a requested number, and we can’t have any more players any way.”
Wenger may trim his squad, albeit it temporarily, with a loan move in the offing for the defender Calum Chambers, who started alongside Holding in the defeat to Liverpool.
“Future? No,” he said when asked if Chambers’ future would be affected by the signing of Mustafi, adding: “The fact that he could go out somewhere and play? Yes.”
Someone who has already left the club on loan is the Costa Rica forward Joel Campbell, who has joined Sporting Lisbon for the remainder of the season. The 24-year-old, who is now onto his fifth loan spell since moving to the Emirates Stadium, had impressed after finally breaking into the Arsenal side last season – but Wenger knows he wants to play more football.
“I believe that he’s a bit of a victim of the size of the squad,” the Frenchman said.
“He is now at an age where he needs to play more regularly and I don’t rule out that he comes back here and plays. He has gone to Sporting Lisbon and I think it’s an interesting championship. Portugal always has an interesting championship and let’s see how it goes for him.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/football/2016/aug/26/arsenal-lucas-perez-shkodran-mustafi-arsene-wenger
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| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/3f1d9d789ee261d9cb1d32a25a0ffd1d49fbac1414c5421e6f7bb05e993a331f.json
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[
"Anne Perkins"
] | 2016-08-26T18:50:21 | null | 2016-08-26T14:00:21 |
Sudden infant death syndrome cost thousands of lives in the 70s and 80s - until Peter Fleming’s conversations with bereaved families led to his discovery that babies should sleep on their backs
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fsociety%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Fback-to-sleep-sudden-infant-death-syndrome-cot-death-peter-fleming.json
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Back to sleep: the doctor who helped stem a cot death epidemic
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Number of cot deaths in England and Wales falls to lowest on record Read more
Parenting manuals have a lot to answer for. They brought useful advice and reassurance, true. But along with those came an epidemic that killed tens of thousands of babies. Sudden infant death syndrome – Sids – is always a tragedy, but it is no longer commonplace. It became an epidemic between 1970 and 1991, and, at its peak, babies in some of the world’s richest countries were dying at the rate of one in every 250 live births each year. The rate in the last year for which figures were available in England and Wales only, 2013, is one in every 3,000.
The Back to Sleep campaign, launched in 1991, changed the advice on sleeping position from front to back, and has had a public health benefit comparable to such breakthroughs as the moment Victorian epidemiologist John Snow took the handle off the Soho water pump in 1854 and stopped a cholera outbreak in its tracks.
At the centre of the Sids revolution was Bristol doctor Peter Fleming. He is now semi-retired, but is currently exploring a link between subtle features of the newborn hearing test and arousal mechanisms that might answer the grievous unsolved riddle of why Sids happens.
In 1978 Fleming, who had qualified in Bristol, returned from a job at the Toronto children’s hospital in Canada with funding from the US National Institutes of Health that enabled him to set up his own respiratory lab. He wanted to look in particular at the relationship between breathing and temperature control in infants.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Prof Peter Fleming, whose research in the 1980s was crucial to the reduction of Sids death rates. Photograph: Martin Godwin for the Guardian
Fleming is both very clever – he has a PhD in nonlinear mathematical modelling, AKA chaos theory – and very humane. When he found that Bristol offered no counselling or support for families whose baby had died unexpectedly, he began to offer it himself. He saw the families in the emergency department and later in their homes and told them what was known – and how much was unknown – about what was then still widely called cot death.
“Lots of people still thought that the parents must be at fault in some way if their baby had died. They were made to feel very guilty. I wanted to get support, and information, to these families.”
The progress in public understanding is reflected in the change of terminology. When it was called cot death it was considered primarily a social problem, a parental failure that still carried a hint of the most unnatural of crimes, infanticide. When it became sudden infant death syndrome (or sudden unexplained/unexpected infant death syndrome, SUID), it became a medical problem that was capable of scientific resolution.
The Guardian view on a public health triumph: the numbers say it all | Editorial Read more
Early in the 1970s, a US congressional committee called it “one of the last great unresolved childhood catastrophes” and announced federal funding. Meanwhile, bereaved parents were organising too. In 1971 the Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths was set up in the UK by a grandmother determined to explain her grandson’s death. (It recently rebranded itself as The Lullaby Trust, because it believed its previous name was too austere and off-putting.) A decade later there was an international federation of similar organisations. In 1984, Fleming, working closely with the trust, set up the Avon infant mortality programme.
“I didn’t look at the sleeping position. But in 1987, with two colleagues, I started a temperature and infection study, and we did include the sleeping position, because scientists in the Netherlands and Australia had no data but they did have a lot of careful observation that made them think it was important.” Far from starting his study in equipoise, with a mind open to every possibility, Fleming only considered the sleeping position question in order to exclude it.
There were no immediately definitive results. “It was incremental. Very few things are ever black and white. It is rarely clear-cut. It is about changing the risk,” Fleming says. This is why the maths matters. “You have to try to understand complexity. You have to see whether a small change can make a difference.”
It helped that, like many of the Bristol families whose experiences were central to Fleming’s research, he came from a working-class family. He grew up in Medway in Kent, where his father worked in the naval dockyard and his mother in the office of a local factory.
For his study, Fleming and his team talked to the bereaved families as soon as possible after the death, to gather information about the baby and the family, what they normally did, what might have been different – all the variables that might have influenced the outcome. He promised the families that they would know the results of his research before it was published: “It’s really important that the people involved feel they own the work. It is a collaborative effort. I want to work with people, not instruct them.”
GPs, midwives and health visitors were all involved. If a GP got a call about a dead or an unresponsive baby, their next call would be to Fleming. “I spent a lot of time with just-bereaved families in council houses. It didn’t bother me, because I was not inclined to see them as different from myself.”
Over the next two years, he and his team gathered data from 70 bereaved families, and from another 140 families whose babies had been born very close to the time of a Sids baby. The control group were identified by asking the health visitor for the details of the two babies next on their list. They were “the babies next door”. “There was 99% collaboration from the families,” Fleming said. “People were very, very positive about wanting to do something.”
My brother died from a cot death before I was born. Yet I still miss him | Giles Fraser Read more
The team was confident that their population-based study, with a control group drawn from the same population, at the same time, was as close as possible to achieving the holy grail of true comparability. Yet despite their confidence in the robustness of their data, presenting the preliminary results at the first ever meeting of the International Society for the Prevention and Investigation of Perinatal and Infant Deaths in March 1989 was a nerve-racking moment. Fleming’s findings were received by his knowledgeable audience with incredulity. “They could not accept that something so simple could be so important,” he says.
It was like being asked to believe two impossible things before breakfast. Here was a non-medical intervention that could, for no clear reason, stop babies dying of a syndrome that was also unexplained. But Fleming believed it himself. And when he went back to do a bigger study in Bristol, he found that health professionals who already knew of his findings were advising all new mothers to put their babies on their back to sleep.
Understandably, bereaved families whose babies died after Fleming’s first study believe his results should have been publicised at once. But “Nice [the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence] would have laughed at my research. They want things done properly – randomised control trials and all that sort of thing. It wasn’t enough to convince scientific colleagues, and it certainly wouldn’t meet the standards for any public health campaign,” he says.
Fleming published his paper in the British Medical Journal and went back to do more research. Soon, a New Zealand study [pdf download] produced similar findings. The quest now was for evidence with which to argue for a new public health campaign. Unable to conduct a study with a bigger sample in Bristol because newborns were no longer being put to sleep on their fronts as a result of his first findings, instead Fleming found himself conducting a self-initiated, population-wide observational study of newborn babies sleeping on their backs. As his first study predicted, the number of Sids deaths fell from around one a week to less than one a month, and then to just three a year. While he was in the midst of the long process of getting this study published in the Lancet, another family’s tragedy tipped the whole project into the headlines.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Anne Diamond, whose four-month-old son died in 1991. She spearheaded the Back to Sleep campaign, which led to Sids deaths falling dramatically. Photograph: Karen Robinson for the Observer
In July 1991, Sebastian, the four-month-old son of Anne Diamond – then a household name with a daily TV show – died in his cot. Diamond’s response was to use all her fame and journalistic experience to investigate what people knew about why it had happened. When she met Fleming, and learned of the findings in the Avon and New Zealand studies, she marched on the Department of Health.
She galvanised the health secretary, Viriginia Bottomley, into accepting the need for a strong public health message. In December 1991 the Back to Sleep campaign was launched. Sids deaths in the UK fell instantly, and with astonishing speed. In 1989 there were 1,545 Sids deaths. Now there are barely 200 a year.
The Sids epidemic can be dated from the time it first appeared on death certificates in 1970, until the public health campaign in 1991. In Britain alone, it probably cost 10,000 lives. It is still hard to explain how it happened. The first recorded advice to put babies to sleep on their front is from 1943. Dr Spock changed his advice to recommend front sleeping between the first and second editions of his famous handbook in 1955.
Some studies associate the syndrome with the rise of the parenting expert, others with the industrialisation of baby care that turned it into a round of bottle-feeding and rigid routines. Others point to the fading respect for culture and experience. The only medical evidence for the benefit of front sleeping came from studies of very premature babies who are still put face down; but even they are never now sent home until they can breathe well enough to prosper on their backs. It was a tragic lesson in the danger of taking a small, sick subset of a population and extrapolating a public health message for well babies.
The architectural writer Gillian Darley lost her son Joseph when he was 11 weeks old, during a midday sleep on a cold, murky day in early April nearly 30 years ago. “I was visiting a friend. He was in his moses basket. I don’t remember being told what to do, it was just what everyone did,” she says. “It was received wisdom. The underlying thing is – like those terrible stories of children who disappear on their gap year and whose bodies are never found – the lack of closure. It’s not a constant presence, but if it was possible to say what was the trigger, it would take a whole load off my subconscious.”
Understanding that trigger is no closer. But the risk factors are now well understood: maternal smoking and co-sleeping. No one questions the former. Co-sleeping, however, has become the subject of intense controversy, not least because warnings of the dangers of taking babies into their parents’ beds has led some mothers to choose instead to nurse babies on sofas, where accidents such as suffocation are more likely. Fleming believes the direct risk from co-sleeping is very small, but the Lullaby Trust takes the view that, like advertising, public health cannot do complexity, and so continues to warn against co-sleeping.
Sharing bed with baby in first year may raise risk of sudden infant death Read more
Sids was once a curse that struck randomly across classes. Now it hits in wildly disproportionate numbers the poorest, least-educated families. More than 70% of deaths now occur in poor households, and often to young mothers.
Francine Bates, Lullaby’s chief executive, says that justifies sticking to one clear, simple message: don’t smoke, don’t co-sleep.
“It’s fundamentally wrong and preventable that it’s poor babies who are dying now,” she says. “It’s unacceptable. We’ve still got a job of work to do. Behind the statistics, there are still hundreds of babies, and hundreds of devastated families.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/society/2016/aug/26/back-to-sleep-sudden-infant-death-syndrome-cot-death-peter-fleming
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| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/3d35e64eea66a242386eaba027ee9e6b1fb67cffbd589d871d22c8d430a24c62.json
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[
"Liz Lightfoot",
"Ac Grayling"
] | 2016-08-30T10:59:47 | null | 2016-08-30T06:15:23 |
The first students to pay £9,000 fees graduated last year. Was it worth it?
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Back home and in debt: life after university tuition fees
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www.theguardian.com
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When university tuition costs nearly trebled from £3,375 a year to £9,000 in 2012, students were promised value for money, more choice and higher lifetime earnings than non-graduates. But the first students to pay the new fees, many of whom graduated last summer, are not having it easy.
According to the National Union of Students, nearly half of those who graduated in 2015 are back living with their parents. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has warned that the “graduate premium” – the difference between graduate and non-graduate earnings – is likely to shrink as more people get degrees.
The ‘graduate job’ gravy train is shuddering to a halt Read more
And there could be more bad news on the horizon. Sharon Walpole, the chief executive of Not Going to Uni, says some large employers plan to reduce their graduate intake when the apprenticeship levy — a tax on employers with a wage bill of £3m or more – is launched in spring 2017. “Businesses forced to pay huge sums to fund apprenticeships are planning to replace some of their graduates with apprentices to recoup their investment. There’s a real risk that they will be cutting jobs just as graduates are coming out with debts equal to a third of the average mortgage,” Walpole says.
So we asked recent graduates if university is still worth it.
Leah Maclean, 22, graduated from the University of Nottingham with a first in history and politics. “There are a lot of great graduate schemes but there is also a lot of competition. Amazon was about the 15th one I applied for and the only one that offered me a place. I was lucky because not only did I get to join an international company that is taking me in the right career direction but I was also assigned to fashion, an area I really enjoy. I got a sign-on bonus and a good enough salary to be able to afford to live in rented accommodation in London.
“University was expensive,” she says. “I got a letter when I started paying it back in April and it said I owed £50,000. It was about £10k more than I expected – I didn’t know that the interest had been mounting up from the first term.”
More than a third of UK graduates regret attending university Read more
Sam O’Connor, 22, who graduated with a 2:2 in biomedical science from Queen Mary University of London and now works in marketing for the London Imaging Centre, says: “When you spend the money to get a degree you expect to get a return on your investment, so I hope my earnings will be high enough to pay it back without too much trouble. I owe about £42,000 and don’t feel I got the amount of education I paid for. I came in with very good A-levels and fired up to do well but the course didn’t engage me. The lab work was good but the lectures were pretty mundane and there was a lot of ‘remember this and regurgitate it on a test paper’.
“I took on marketing-based roles for my university snow sports club and, about halfway through my course, I decided to go in that direction and not pursue a science-based career. It was the right decision, though job hunting was disheartening at first. I did a short internship and then some marketing for a ski-boot fitting company. It was a good experience but a bit of a struggle financially. Then, through a recruitment agency, I found a marketing internship with a private company providing [medical] diagnostic images. They gave me a job two months into the three-month internship and I’m earning around £23,000. The medical knowledge I gained from my degree is very useful when I speak to clinics and doctors.
“I’d been living in London as a student but I’ve moved back home to a village near Guildford while I find another place to rent. I get on well with my parents and I’ve friends around because a lot of them are living back home too.”
Rachel Kreuder.
Rachel Kreuder, 22, graduated from Anglia Ruskin University with a 2:1 degree in psychology. She is back home, unemployed and planning her next move: “I was working so hard in my final year that I didn’t get to apply for jobs so I thought I would give myself a year to earn some money and learn to drive. I got a sales assistant job in a jewellers and it was boring. I saw other people going straight into graduate jobs and what I was doing seemed a waste of time. I was unhappy and stressed so I left and did seven months as a teaching assistant.
“I decided teaching wasn’t for me and I was in a bit of a panic about it all, then somebody mentioned social work and I realised I could work in mental health, something that really interests me.
“I don’t regret going to university but I wish I had gone into it a bit more beforehand. My psychology degree alone isn’t enough to go into social work so it will take me up to two years to get the qualifications and training I need.
“I don’t know exactly how much I owe in student loans but based on what other people owe I think it is probably around £40,000. I’m not worried about it yet. I’m back at home and that’s fine; it’s different but I’ve settled back in pretty well.”
Will the Teaching Excellence Framework be a licence for universities to raise fees? Read more
Joe Alexander, 22, graduated from the University of Exeter with a 2:1 in politics and sociology and worked for a digital media company until it folded: “I first applied to Sony Music and got through all the stages. Then, after the final interview for a marketing role I received a voicemail saying they had decided to keep on the present intern. I wasn’t sure what to do next so I got in touch with an agency called Inspiring Interns. They invited me to their office and helped me make a short video to introduce myself that went on their site. When I got home there were emails inviting me to four interviews.
“I was offered a job in business development with a digital media agency. I really enjoyed it, but unfortunately the company folded a few months ago. Now I’m looking for a new challenge but with a lot more experience behind me. I’m lucky to have been able to move back to live with my parents in London where there are more jobs.
“University was definitely worth it. However, it’s alarming that the fees are set to increase even higher. University is not for everyone but we should all have the right to attend. It’s ludicrous to put financial obstacles in the way of people not so fortunate, and potentially risk a Brexit-style divide between young people who think they can or cannot afford a university degree.”
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https://www.theguardian.com/education/2016/aug/30/university-tuition-fees-are-they-worth-it-students
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| 2016-08-30T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/0e1069e5e73a37a5f3d9e11e2ba5f8208466d7b91394ec9d955326227b7fe28d.json
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[
"Guardian Sport"
] | 2016-08-26T20:50:53 | null | 2016-08-26T19:47:14 |
USA striker will miss World Cup qualifiers in September but there is no immediate timetable for his return to action
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ffootball%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Fclint-dempsey-seattle-usa-sidelined-world-cup-mls-irregular-heartbeat.json
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Seattle and USA striker Clint Dempsey sidelined with irregular heartbeat
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www.theguardian.com
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Clint Dempsey is being tested for an irregular heartbeat and will miss the Sounders’ derby against Portland and the USA’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
The Seattle Sounders announced Friday that Dempsey is undergoing medical evaluations and will not play in Sunday’s game at Providence Park.
“As the medical process unfolds and information is gathered internally, no other details are being made publicly available at this time,” the statement said.
But Garth Lagerway, the Sounders’ general manager, told the Seattle Times: “Everybody here – us, US Soccer, Clint – we’re all on the same page. Let’s get to the bottom of this, let’s see what’s going on and let’s do what’s best for Clint.”
There is no clear timeline for a more specific diagnosis or a potential return to action.
Dempsey, 33, has scored eight goals this season, including five goals and an assist in the Sounders’ current five-game unbeaten run. He scored two goals in the 3-1 win over Timbers last week before sitting out Seattle’s 1-1 draw with Houston on Wednesday.
Dempsey, formerly of Fulham and Tottenham, has 52 national team goals, and scored three in this summer’s Copa America Centenario.
USA play Saint Vincent & the Grenadines on 2 September and host Trinidad & Tobago four days later. Jürgen Klinsmann’s team sit second in their qualifying group with two wins from four.
The top two from each group qualify for the final round, known as the “Hex”, from which the top three advance directly for the finals in Russia.
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| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
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[
"Staff"
] | 2016-08-30T04:50:05 | null | 2016-08-30T04:44:41 |
Jackson dies a week after he came to the aid of Mia Ayliffe-Chung, who was allegedly stabbed to death in Australian backpacker hostel
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Briton Tom Jackson dies in Queensland hospital after backpacker stabbing
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Tom Jackson, the Englishman who tried to help fellow backpacker Mia Ayliffe-Chung when she was allegedly stabbed to death by Smail Ayad in north Queensland, has died.
Jackson, 31, was critically injured when he was stabbed in the eye, head and torso after he went to the aid of Ayliffe-Chung when she was allegedly fatally stabbed by Ayad last Tuesday.
Jackson died on Tuesday in Townsville hospital, Queensland police confirmed. Ayad has been charged with the murder of Ayliffe-Chung and the attempted murder of Jackson. That charge would now be upgraded, police said.
Politicians jostle to cry 'lone wolf' over stabbing of British backpacker in Queensland Read more
Jackson’s father, Lee, travelled to Australia to be by his son’s hospital bedside after the attack and said over the weekend he was immensely proud.
“There are many and varied reasons why we are, and always will be, immensely proud of Tom. His actions in response to this horrific attack only add to that sense of pride,” he said in a statement released on Sunday by Townsville hospital.
Ayad is also accused of killing a dog and injuring a dozen police after his arrest following the attack at the hostel in Home Hill, 100km south of Townsville.
On Friday Ayad appeared by videolink in Townsville magistrates court, where his case was adjourned until 28 October.
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https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/aug/30/briton-tom-jackson-dies-queensland-hospital-backpacker-stabbing
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| 2016-08-30T00:00:00 |
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[
"Philip Cowley",
"Robert Ford"
] | 2016-08-28T00:49:41 | null | 2016-08-27T23:05:16 |
Voters may be ignorant about the details, but they never fail to grasp the bigger picture – politics reflects who we are and how we think
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Sex, religion, age - the secret life of British voters revealed
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“If we would learn what the human race really is at bottom,” observed Mark Twain, “we need only observe it at election time.” Not a lot has changed since Twain wrote that in 1885, except that the more we learn about elections, the more we realise how right he was.
On left and right, our politics is now dominated by nostalgic gestures | Martin Kettle Read more
People sometimes make the mistake of trying to justify the study of elections and voting on the basis that they are an important part of democracy. They are – but things can be important without being interesting. Elections are important and interesting. They’re interesting because they involve people – candidate
s, activists, voters, non-voters – and like most things involving people, explaining what they do and why they do it is not always straightforward. Sometimes it is depressing, sometimes it is uplifting, but it is always revealing.
The ideal voter of democratic theory is a rational man or woman, someone who gathers all the evidence about the issues of the day and the plans of the parties, weighs it all up responsibly, cogitating at length, and then delivers a mature and informed judgment at the ballot box. Actual voters aren’t much like that – which is why they are so interesting.
In practice, voters’ choices reflect the whole rich tapestry of human nature: swayed by emotions as well as reason, salesmen as well as products, by tribal attachment as well as cool calculation. Britain offers a particularly interesting case study for election researchers. We have more and more elections to study – with an electoral cycle that now coughs up an important set of contests on a yearly basis – which use an increasingly eclectic set of electoral procedures.
There’s the growing use of referendums – with two UK-wide contests in the last decade alone, plus separate ones in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. No one thinks those we have recently seen will be the last either. Then there are the voters, who are becoming ever more unpredictable, and continue to surprise even seasoned election watchers – both this June’s referendum vote for Brexit and last May’s Conservative Westminster majority confounded many.
Yet those who think the decisions voters make are ignorant or even irrational do them a disservice. The judgments rendered by the electorate are sometimes misinformed, and often harsh, but they are rarely irrational.
The judgments rendered by the electorate are sometimes misinformed, and often harsh, but rarely irrational
Take the vexed political issue of immigration. Many experts on the issue despair at the ignorance voters display: they seem hopelessly wrong about the numbers coming, the reasons they come and the impact they have on the economy. Yet although they are muddled on the details, voters are remarkably responsive on the big picture. Concern about the issue tracks numbers closely: when migrant numbers go up, more voters cite it as a concern. Voters noticed the pledges by successive governments to bring numbers down, they noticed when these pledges failed, and they noticed that one important reason for that failure was rising immigration from the EU. The growing number of voters who wanted immigration reduced drew the logical conclusions from all of this: the old parties had failed on the issue, so they turned to a new one (Ukip); controlling migration looked close to impossible within the EU, so they voted to leave.
This pattern of behaviour – ignorant about the details, but responsive on the big picture – is one we see quite often. It has a lot to recommend it. When a room gets too cold, we respond by turning up the heating. When the room gets too hot, we turn it off. We usually manage to do this without knowing the precise temperature. Voters often display a similar thermostatic logic. Of course, voters aren’t consistently rational even on the big picture stuff. But usually when they apparently go off the rails, there is an interesting logic underlying what they do, throwing light on the strengths and weaknesses of how we reason more generally.
The approaching party conference season will provide plenty of examples of how politics is an expression of, and a reflection of, who we are and how we think. The parties will appeal to tribal loyalties and tribal enemies because all of us are swayed by tribal affinities, though we don’t like to admit it. Politicians will appeal to our hearts over our heads because our decisions are often swayed more by our emotions than we like to believe. Politicians will promise contradictory things, because voters often demand contradictory things. And even those who never watch a minute of this will be forming judgments based on conversations at work, with friends or around the family dinner table – as well as longer-standing allegiances, identities and beliefs.
This is why we love to study politics for a living – it reflects human nature in all its contradictory and capricious variety. The ballot box is not just the cornerstone of our democracy – it is a window into ourselves.
Philip Cowley and Robert Ford’s More Sex, Lies and the Ballot Box is published by Biteback on 1 September
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Two nuns after voting at the polling station at St John’s parish church, Hyde Park, London, in 2010. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Gay Labour supporter in Reading. Photograph: Geoffrey Swaine/Rex/Shutterstock
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tory supporters in the Edward Heath era. Photograph: k/Rex/Shutterstock
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Party members are still enthusiastic. Photograph: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
Facebook Twitter Pinterest SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon takes a selfie with a young voter. Photograph: Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Labour supporters shelter from the rain in 2010. Photograph: Dan Kitwood/Getty Images
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Liberal Democrat vote has collapsed since 2010. Photograph: Matt Cardy/Getty Images
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| 2016-08-27T00:00:00 |
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[
"Jon Henley",
"Oscar Lopez In Amatrice"
] | 2016-08-26T16:51:02 | null | 2016-08-26T16:21:07 |
Government declares national day of mourning on Saturday, as aftershocks continue to damage access roads to devastated areas
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Italy quake: grief and trauma in hilltop towns as hopes fade of finding survivors
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On a bench in a camp outside what was left of Amatrice, Elsa sat and cried. Her home had collapsed in the earthquake that reduced the hilltop town to rubble, she said. She had spent the last two nights here, in a tent.
A blessed relief: her children had survived. But her aunt and many of her friends were among the 218 who died in Amatrice in the early hours of Wednesday, when the powerful 6.2-magnitude quake struck.
“Everything is destroyed, everything is broken,” said Elsa, 66, who asked that her surname not be used. “We have nothing. Amatrice is finished. I wish I had died too. I’m an old woman. What do I have to live for?”
'I had said adieu': nun tells of Italian earthquake ordeal Read more
As powerful aftershocks damaged key access roads on Friday and hopes faded that more survivors would be found, the government declared Saturday a national day of mourning for the 278 who died in Amatrice and its neighbouring towns.
A state funeral attended by the president, Sergio Mattarella, will be held for some of the victims, and the prime minister, Matteo Renzi, declared a state of emergency, authorising an initial €50m (£43m) in aid and cancelling residents’ taxes.
The head of the civil protection agency, Immacolata Postiglione, insisted the search for survivors would continue. “I confirm, once again as we have from the start, that the units doing the searches and rescues, including with dogs, are absolutely fully active,” she said.
But while 215 people have been pulled alive from the rubble, no survivors have been found since Wednesday night and rescue workers on the ground conceded there was very little chance of it happening now.
The mayor of Amatrice, Sergio Pirozzi, told reporters that three days after the quake, finding someone alive “would take a miracle”.
Fifteen people are still missing, Pirozzi said, and workers would continue digging until all the bodies had been recovered. “I want to thank all the volunteers,” he said. “I am eternally grateful – they have saved hundreds of lives.”
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Firefighters and emergency rescuers look at excavators used to search for quake victims in Amatrice. Photograph: Andreas Solaro/AFP/Getty Images
Already weakened buildings crumbled further after the biggest of Friday’s tremors, measured at magnitude 4.7, while damage to two vital road bridges risked leaving the town “without any connection” to the outside world, Pirozzi said.
Nearly 1,000 aftershocks have rocked the stricken area straddling the regions of Umbria, Marche and Lazio in the central Apennine mountains since the original quake in the early hours of Wednesday.
Most of the confirmed deaths were in Amatrice, where 218 people died including three Britons: Marcos Burnett, 14, who was on holiday with his parents and sister, and 55-year-old Will Henniker-Gotley and his wife Maria, 51, from south London. Marco’s parents are being treated for minor injuries in hospital.
The UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, said on Thursday that extra staff had been sent to the region. Eight Romanians, a Canadian, a Spaniard and a Salvadoran were also killed and more than 360 people were being treated in hospital.
The 2,500-strong population of the medieval hilltop town, voted one of Italy’s most beautiful historic towns last year, was swollen with summer visitors, many from Rome, in anticipation of its popular annual food festival this weekend.
Italian earthquake leaves Pescara del Tronto in ruins – in pictures Read more
Forty-nine people also died in nearby Arcquarta del Tronto and its tiny hamlet of Pescara del Tronto, which was almost completely razed, with most of the remainder from neighbouring Accumoli.
Some survivors were allowed to pick up essential items from their homes on Friday, accompanied by rescue workers. “Last night we slept in the car. Tonight, I don’t know,” said Nello Caffini, carrying his sister-in-law’s belongings on his head through Pescara del Tronto.
More than 2,100 people spent Thursday night under canvas in tent cities. Luca, 48, a volunteer with the Italian aid organisation ANPAS, had spent the past two days setting up one such camp for 250 people outside Amatrice.
“They’re traumatised,” he said. “Here at least they can sleep, have three meals a day, shower. And maybe start rebuilding their sense of community.”
For many, however, the only thing binding the community together was grief. “The pain is communal, the tragedy is collective,” said a 40-year-old man who only gave his last name, Torrino.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A man stands near his destroyed car, by a church that collapsed in Pescara del Tronto. Photograph: Awakening/Getty Images
Standing not far from the camp, he held his young daughter’s hand as he surveyed a crumbling house. The front wall had fallen away completely, and Torrino pointed out an exposed bedroom, the bathroom, the kitchen. “Eight people in my family died,” he said.
A hundred metres further down, many more families were gathered outside the makeshift morgue set up by Italian authorities for relatives to identify their dead. They stood anxiously, holding each other, waiting for the worst.
When the identity of another body was confirmed, entire families broke down in tears, men and women openly weeping.
Standing with the mourners was Father Bogdan, 33, a priest from the Romanian Orthodox Church, who had come from Rome the day of the earthquake and spent the last two nights sleeping in his car. “People need spiritual help as much as material aid,” he said. “We’re here to provide hope.”
Waiting anxiously nearby was Mario Cortoni, 60, who runs a refugee organisation and lives six miles from Amatrice. Thirty Kurdish, Afghan and Pakistani refugees had been living in Amatrice, he said, and 29 survived.
'They just keep digging': Italy quake rescuers' desperate search for survivors Read more
Cortoni was waiting to find out if a 27-year-old refugee from Afghanistan was among the dead. “I’m not hopeful,” he said. “He was such a smart guy. He had escaped war and persecution, came to Italy nine months ago. And now look what’s happened. It’s just horrible.”
Asked where she would be sleeping on Friday, Elsa said: “This tent. I have nowhere else to go. But what are we going to do when winter arrives? It starts getting cold in September. What will we do?”
As other residents passed, she asked them about their families. “How is Veronica? Paolo? Have you heard from your wife?” More often than not, the questions were met with a shake of the head. “So many dead,” Elsa said. “So many dead.”
As the massive rescue and relief effort continued, there were mounting questions as to why there had been so many deaths in an area known for decades to be the most seismically hazardous in Europe.
After a 2009 earthquake in nearby L’Aquila left 300 people dead, authorities released €1bn to upgrade buildings in the region, but takeup has been low. Despite eight devastating earthquakes in 40 years, experts estimate 70% of Italy’s buildings do not meet seismic standards.
Italy’s culture minister said 293 historical buildings had been damaged or destroyed by the quake and public prosecutors announced an investigation into whether anyone could be held responsible.
Renzi announced plans to help the country prepare better and address poor building standards, saying Italy should “have a plan that is not just limited to the management of emergency situations”.
But the prime minister said suggestions that the country could easily construct quake-proof buildings were “absurd”. It was difficult to imagine, he said, that this level of destruction “could have been avoided simply by using different building technology. We’re talking about medieval-era towns.”
Italy’s older buildings are not obliged to conform to anti-seismic building codes, and experts estimate it could cost more than €90bn to reinforce all the country’s historic buildings. Targeted improvement work, though, could be effective.
Compounding the problem is the fact that many more modern buildings do not comply with regulations when they are built, and often prove deadlier than older constructions when an earthquake strikes.
News reports in Amatrice said investigators were looking in particular into the town’s Romolo Capranica school, which was restored in 2012 using funds provided after the L’Aquila quake. It all but collapsed on Wednesday, while the town’s 13th-century clock tower remained standing.
“We are able to prevent all these deaths,” Armando Zambrano, of the national council of engineers, told the Associated Press. “The problem is actually doing it. These tragedies keep happening because we don’t intervene. After each tragedy we say we will act but then the weeks go by and nothing happens.”
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| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
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[
"Kevin Mckenna"
] | 2016-08-28T00:49:38 | null | 2016-08-27T23:05:16 |
For years they were places that people left, never to return. Now, thanks to the internet, small businesses are thriving and populations are rising
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Scotland enjoys the rebirth of its idyllic island life
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In those far-flung outposts of Britain’s influence where diplomats circle the Chesterfields of an evening and gossip over brandy, an old story is never far away. It is the story of a meeting – never recorded – that took place between officials of Britain and Norway to discuss the matter of how one might go about depopulating one’s islands. It is whispered that the government of Norway, restored once more following the Nazi occupation of the second world war, approached the UK seeking advice on a robust strategy towards its islands.
Happily for future generations of Norwegians, their postwar government ignored what Britain told them, which was to evacuate the islands on the grounds of cost and security and gradually cause them to run down. Norway’s island communities thrived and became a powerhouse, while Britain’s suffered from a policy that has since been described as one of “benign neglect”. In Scotland, which has 99 populated islands – two-thirds of the UK’s total – it wasn’t until the creation of the Highlands and Islands Development Board in 1965 that its islands began to thrive once more.
Still, the cost of public services in these areas, per head of population, is higher than anywhere else in the UK.
Islands are an economic and administrative nightmare for those countries who were bequeathed them in the Earth’s infant years. So much toil and trouble for so few people: why can’t folk just be sensible and live on the mainland where they can be reached much more cheaply? Don’t they realise how difficult it is to defend these places?
Earlier this month, the tiny Hebridean island of Muck (population: 30) sent out a global appeal via social media for a primary teacher for its seven children. The school’s popular teacher had quit and none of the initial six candidates followed up on their initial interest, as the reality of life on an island without a shop and cut off from the mainland for several months in the year began to dawn on them.
Yet following the Facebook appeal, Highland Council has been swamped with applications from all over the globe for the £35,000 a year post, which brings with it a three-bedroom flat and, in the opinion of the last teacher, Julie Baker, “a short commute and stunning views over the sea to Ardnamurchan Point”. These places might be remote and require small triumphs of human endurance, but people will always want to live in them.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest A lesson in progress on Muck in 1966. Photograph: Rex
The hi-tech accoutrements of modern life and the instant gratification that they bestow might once have been considered a threat to an island existence, rendering it all but obsolete; instead it has brought a renaissance in remoteness. The internet and social media have made life on an island that little bit less remote and made the task of running a business on it a lot less costly. In the last census the overwhelming majority of Scotland’s islands saw their populations increase.
Mike Russell, Scotland’s new Brexit minister, is the MSP representing Argyll and Bute in the Scottish parliament. He might also reasonably be called the UK’s minister for islands, as 23 of them lie within the boundaries of his constituency.
“The economy and business of the islands is not just important to the people who live and work there,” he said, “but they are also of crucial importance to the economy of Scotland and the UK. Around two per cent of Scotland’s population lives on our islands and we, as a government, have a moral duty to ensure that they are treated equally and that our public services, which the rest of us take for granted, are accessible to them too.”
Russell is married to an islander and lived in the Western Isles for several years. He is acutely aware of the lazy assumptions and mocking antipathy that sometimes characterises mainland attitudes towards islanders. “In all my years living among islanders and dealing with them I have found them not to be any different than anyone else. The myth of curious and strange island ‘ways’ is just that – a myth. Certainly, you need to be possessed of a degree of endurance to prevail in climatic extremes, but there are great rewards too.”
Mainland UK, it seems, has never been more attuned to the economic importance of the islands. Last week the Scottish government announced that legislation for its long-awaited islands bill would be brought forward within the next 12 months and that a wide-ranging public consultation would help shape it.
Scotland’s island constituency numbers around 250,000 people and they are beginning to make their views known. Like many others during the referendum on Scottish independence, they were engaged and enfranchised by the debate. A common theme running through the hundreds of responses to the legislation was that a “one-size-fits-all” approach to legislation, policy and services does not pay heed to the unique requirements of life on Scotland’s islands.
Residents want government legislation affecting public services to be “island-proof”, meaning that it must exhibit greater understanding of island issues. This, according to the Scottish government, would bring “more sustainability; greater accountability of authorities; empowerment of communities; consistency with European provision; more efficient use of resources; and wider benefits to the Scottish and UK economies”.
On Arran, the seventh-largest Scottish island, there is optimism that some recent depressing trends can be reversed. This gorgeous island is bounded by the Ayrshire coast on one side and the Argyll peninsula on the other. It has been described as “Scotland in miniature” and a one-hour drive over its sinewy roads tells you why. Mountains, lochs, fields and oceans are gathered in and around an island of breathtaking beauty.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Tourists on the isle of Arran with a view to Goat Fell mountain across Brodick Bay. Photograph: Alamy
Laura Helliwell, born and bred in Arran, had, like many others in her Arran High School class, moved away from the island, but recently returned to manage the Ormidale Hotel, which has been run by three generations of her family since the 1930s. “It wasn’t just the hotel that brought me back, it was the opportunity to bring my children up in this environment. The schools on the island are great and there is a real community spirit conveying values that I want my children to be exposed to.
“Even if they move away from here I want their values to be shaped by having spent their childhoods here. The vast majority of my classmates growing up have all moved from here but, in recent years, some of them have begun to return, probably for the same reasons as I did.”
Like other islands around the UK, Arran has become a haven for retired people. When you add some very tasty house prices on the island into the mix, it doesn’t look like the population will be getting any younger any time soon.
The island’s population stands at around 4,600 and the trend is pointing towards further depopulation as the elderly diminish in number and its young people leave. Yet local businessman Derek Shand, who is also a contractor for Business Gateway Services in Arran and Cumbrae, is optimistic about Arran’s future.
“Last year we had 41 business startups and 39 are still with us and reporting good outlooks. We have 165 employers employing 1,645 employees. Their biggest challenge is sourcing staff and securing affordable accommodation. The island can also employ almost 500 seasonal staff, and recent tourism trends tell us that the season is growing and the shoulder months are reducing.”
In last week’s Arran Banner, the weekly newspaper that has served the island since 1974 and which is bought by more than 90% of the island population, the latest excellent academic achievements of Arran High School are recorded and celebrated and there are signs that, though many will pursue careers on the mainland, some will return with children and try to build a life here.
Shand says: “The current trend shows returning children of islanders buying or leasing their own businesses or taking over from their parents. For the first time in many years we have a very strong young farmers’ club with sons and daughters returning from mainland colleges. There are still 63 registered farms or smallholdings on Arran.”
The introduction of the road equivalent tariff, which caps ferry fares at the same rate as bus travel, has been a boon to the Scottish islands. As the ferry fares have reduced, so the footfall has increased. Some businesses, such as the renowned Arran Aromatics and the Arran Brewery, have seen an increase in customers. An island development officer has been appointed and there is a recognition, at last, that a traditional island community can thrive and be fit to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
Laura Helliwell is pleased with the bookings she has taken for the season so far. “I think people are now beginning to recognise that new technology and the internet have the potential to be good for remote island communities. It has brought our places to the doorsteps of people living continents away.
“They can see us on their laptop screens and then make a booking without worrying about the language barrier. Prestwick airport is nearby, bringing cheap Ryanair flights, so that helps too.”
On a pier surrounded by fields and mountains and where you first encounter Arran, a new ferry terminal is beginning to take shape. Further up the road, land for a new island helipad is being developed. There are four hotels for sale and three restaurants. There are “for sale” signs on handsome dwellings perched on their own little Edens all over the island.
There are opportunities in these places to detach yourself from the world, but to remain in touch all year round.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Approaching Lindisfarne castle by foot on the holy island. Photograph: Alamy
OFFSHORE HAVENS
Lindisfarne
Population: 180
A tidal island off the north-east coast of England and one of the most famous of the UK’s ancient places of pilgrimage. It was a centre of Celtic Christianity, especially under Saint Aidan and Saint Cuthbert.
St Agnes
Population: 82
St Agnes is the southernmost populated island of the Isles of Scilly, and Troy Town Farm on the island is the southernmost settlement in the UK. It is regarded by many as one of the most beautiful of England’s small islands.
Lewis and Harris
Population: 20,500
The largest island off the coast of the UK and Ireland. Despite the name’s suggestion, they are one and the same island in the Outer Hebrides. The famous Callanish standing stones are in Lewis, the northern part.
Summer Isles
Largely uninhabited
The Summer Isles are an archipelago lying in the mouth of Loch Broom. The largest, Tanera Mòr, is currently being sold at a cut-price £1.9m by the owner and his family, who owned a small aquatic sports business and several holiday cottages on the islands.
Skye
Population: 10,008
The Isle of Skye, recently voted fourth-best island in the world by National Geographic magazine, is perhaps Scotland’s best-known and most romantic island, with its rugged landscape, tiny fishing villages and medieval castles. It is the largest and most northerly major island in the Inner Hebrides.
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"Sibylla Brodzinsky"
] | 2016-08-28T12:51:50 | null | 2016-08-28T11:00:30 |
Wars are easier to start than stop. So how did Colombia do it – and what can the world learn from that breakthrough?
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How to make peace? Colombia's historic deal has lessons for Syria
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It’s far easier to start a war than stop one, especially when the conflict has lasted longer than many people have been alive, making peace an unfamiliar prospect.
But Colombians showed the world this week that it can be done. After 52 years of hostilities, the Colombian government and leftist rebels of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or the Farc, finalised a deal to end their war. A bilateral ceasefire is to go into effect on Monday after decades in which 220,000 people – mostly non-combatants – have been killed, more than 6 million internally displaced and tens of thousands disappeared.
Previous attempts to reach this point failed time and again. So how did they get there this time and what lessons are there for Syria and other nations in conflict?
Make peace with who you can when you can
Former president César Gaviria recently recalled that his son had once asked him how peace would be achieved in Colombia. “In bits and pieces,” he told him. Making peace between multiple factions is like three-dimensional chess – a fact that will not be lost on those trying to bring peace to Syria. Reducing the complexity is essential, the Colombia experience shows.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Farc rebels in 1999. Photograph: José Miguel Gómez/Reuters
Colombia has actually been doing this piecemeal for more than 30 years. The Farc is but one of many illegal armed groups that have existed in Colombia. The M-19, Quintín Lame, EPL – all have negotiated peace deals. The AUC, a federation of rightwing paramilitary militia groups – which fought the Farc as a proxy of a then-weak military – demobilised in the early 2000s.
It helps if one side has the upper hand
In the 1990s, flush with proceeds from Colombia’s booming drug trade, the Farc had Colombia’s military on the run. The rebels, who numbered about 18,000, seemed to be winning the war. It was in that context that the Farc and government of the then-president, Andrés Pastrana, began peace talks in 1999 that dragged on with no significant progress and finally broke down in 2002.
Colombia moves quickly to hold referendum on a peace deal with Farc Read more
By then, however, the Colombian military had become one of the largest recipients of US military aid. Equipped with new helicopters, better trained soldiers and new means of collecting intelligence, they were able to tip the balance.
By the mid 2000s, under a fierce military campaign ordered by the then president, Álvaro Uribe, it was the rebels who were on the run, beaten back into remote jungles and mountains, with thousands of their members deserting. For the first time ever in the war, the military targeted and killed top Farc leaders.
In this respect, Colombia’s experience mirrors that of the Bosnian war, in bloody deadlock for three years until Nato intervention in 1995 routed Serb forces and made it in their interest to secure a peace.
Leadership is key
In lengthy wars like Colombia’s, it will probably take a generational shift at the top to find leaders genuinely committed to seeking a negotiated solution.
Farc founder Manuel “Sureshot” Marulanda died a peaceful death in his rebel camp in 2008 aged 78. He had led the rebel group as its top leader since the group’s founding in 1964, following a military airstrike on a peasant enclave. Decades later he still complained of the chickens and pigs the soldiers killed. He cut an unlikely peacemaker.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Manuel Marulanda (left) in battle in the 1960s. Photograph: AFP
His death brought a new Farc generation into power, as Alfonso Cano took over. It was Cano who began initial secret talks with the president, Juan Manuel Santos, in 2011. After he was killed in a bomb raid on his camp later that year, the new leadership under Rodrigo Londoño, aka Timochenko, decided to continue to explore the possibility of a peace process.
On the government side, Santos was elected in 2010 to succeed Uribe, under whose two-term presidency the Farc suffered their heaviest losses. As Uribe’s defence minister, Santos had overseen many of those operations and had been expected to continue the same policies. Instead, recognising the opportunity to finish what he had started, he persuaded the Farc to begin peace talks.
Incentive
Both the Farc and the government understood that neither side had won and neither had been defeated. That meant both sides had to make compromises at the negotiating table. Trying to establish how far each side was willing to go on each point kept the negotiators busy for four intense years.
The Marxist Farc gave up their demand for comprehensive agrarian reform and agreed to sever all ties to drug trafficking, a business that had made them hundreds of millions of dollars.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest The Colombian government signs the peace accord with the Farc. Photograph: Ernesto Mastrascusa/EPA
The government, in exchange, granted the Farc access to political power, by guaranteeing they will hold 10 seats in Congress in 2018, even if the political party they will create does not get enough votes in the legislative elections that year.
And the Farc leaders, even those who carried out kidnappings, indiscriminate attacks on civilians and forced recruitment of minors, can avoid jail time by confessing their crimes and serving “alternative sentences” such as long-term community service.
Timing
Armed struggles have fallen into disfavour throughout Latin America, once a hotbed of insurgencies. A decade ago, leftist leaders were in power across the region. In Brazil and Uruguay, former leftist guerrillas had become presidents through the ballot box. Hugo Chávez, who started his self-styled socialist “Bolivarian revolution”, was consolidating himself in Venezuela. Those regional references gave the Farc confidence.
But regional tides have shifted since then. Brazil’s Dilma Rouseff is facing impeachment, Chávez succumbed to cancer three years ago and his successor, Nicolás Maduro, has driven the country into the ground. These are hard times both for the left and for the revolutionaries.
Mood
Societies don’t stand still. Change gradually leads to tipping points beyond which the old order seems incongruous. Antagonisms that seemed justified 30 years ago no longer make any sense. This is particularly true of Colombia.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Colombia’s Lost City: the country is being discovered by tourists. Photograph: Alamy
In the past 15 years it has seen levels of violence drop and investment rise. Tourists began to discover the country after an international advertising campaign told foreigners that in Colombia “the only risk is wanting to stay”. Football stars such as James Rodríguez, the singer Shakira and the actor Sofia Vergara started replacing Pablo Escobar as the face of the country.
For the first time in decades Colombians were feeling good about themselves and their country. The war became an anachronism.
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https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/28/how-to-make-peace-colombia-syria-farc-un
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en
| 2016-08-28T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/b61b553c41532bfc9afd9a84d06547bb2bfc2e3105e5b9409c34b7b4830586f8.json
|
|
[
"Oliver Milman"
] | 2016-08-26T13:24:40 | null | 2016-08-24T12:00:19 |
Environmental groups warn president’s climate legacy could be at risk over research showing areas cleared for oil and gas extraction contain marine life
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fenvironment%2F2016%2Faug%2F24%2Foffshore-driling-oil-obama-dolphins-whales-climate.json
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en
| null |
Obama's offshore drilling puts whales and dolphins in peril, groups warn
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Environmental groups have turned on the Obama administration over offshore oil and gas extraction, warning it puts whales and dolphins in peril and risks undermining the president’s commitment to putting the brakes on climate change.
Barack Obama, who recently called global warming an “genuine existential threat”, has enjoyed largely solid support from green groups that have praised his leadership on the issue. But Obama’s environmentalist allies are increasingly frustrated over federally approved fossil fuel drilling, just as the US president attempts to put the finishing touches on his climate legacy.
On Wednesday, leases for oil and gas exploration across 23.8m acres of the Gulf of Mexico will be auctioned off to fossil fuel companies. A total of 218.94m acres, about double the size of California, will have been offered up for leases in federal waters by the end of next year, with further leasing planned by the government in a new five-year program that will extend this process.
In response, protesters stormed the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s office in New Orleans on Tuesday, demanding the cancellation of the lease sales because of the link between climate change and the kind of flooding that has devastated large parts of Louisiana. Several protesters were arrested.
“While climate change affects everyone, communities of color and low-income communities continue to be hit hardest by the lasting impacts of climate disasters,” said Anne Rolfes, founding director of the Louisiana Bucket Brigade.
“Thousands of oil spills, sinking lands and extreme weather creating turmoil for countless people. What more will convince the Obama administration to stop treating the Gulf like a sacrifice zone to fossil fuel interests?”
Another green group, the Center for Biological Diversity, is also ramping up its opposition to offshore drilling, releasing a report that found that burning all of the fossil fuels in federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico would release a staggering 32.8bn tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
The group claimed that expanding drilling in the gulf is contrary to America’s pledge to help keep global temperatures to 1.5C above pre-industrial times and risks unleashing more extreme weather, drought and sea level rise upon swathes of the US.
“We can’t address climate change while expanding drilling the gulf. This report shows that new oil and gas leasing in the gulf would be a carbon bomb that will deepen our climate crisis,” said Kristen Monsell, oceans attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “President Obama needs to align his energy and climate policies before leaving office, starting in the gulf.”
In March, activists disrupted a lease sale in New Orleans, chanting “shut it down” and brandishing banners in front of bidding companies. The action didn’t disrupt the process, however, with BOEM now overseeing around 4,400 active leases in the Gulf of Mexico.
Conservationists are also fretting over the impact of oil and gas exploration in the Atlantic Ocean. While the federal government has ruled out any drilling off the eastern seaboard in the immediate future, seismic airgun blasting is still being pursued by companies in waters stretching from Delaware to Florida.
Research from Duke University’s Marine Geospatial Ecology Lab has been released as animated maps by green group Oceana, showing that bottlenose dolphins, fin, humpback and sperm whales are all present in areas deemed suitable for the airgun testing.
A number of leading marine scientists have warned that airgun testing, where air is fired at the seabed to determine if oil or gas deposits reside there, can be extremely harmful to the ability of whales and dolphins to communicate with each other or find food. The Obama administration has been pressured to end the practice.
“These maps confirm what we’ve long feared, that dolphins and whales along the east coast are at risk from dangerous seismic airgun blasting for oil and gas,” said Claire Douglass, campaign director at Oceana.
“Hearing that whales and dolphins could be injured is one thing, but seeing the scale of the threat is another. President Obama should stop seismic airgun blasting and protect our coast.”
But fossil fuel companies have warned against any winding down of offshore drilling, claiming that it creates jobs and helps the US become less dependent on energy sources from other countries.
“If we are going to continue to drive investment in America, create jobs, and provide affordable energy, we must look to the future,” said said Louis Finkel, executive vice president of the American Petroleum Institute, which supports a US “energy renaissance” by drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
This stance has been embraced by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has an “America first” energy policy that would drastically ramp up domestic coal, oil and gas production. His rival Hillary Clinton has promised a swift transition to clean energy sources but has come under fire from progressives for her ties to the oil and gas industry and for leaving the door open to fracking.
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https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/aug/24/offshore-driling-oil-obama-dolphins-whales-climate
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en
| 2016-08-24T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/d7cc8c61f4d00c776fa4ee27f885152c3b4cc501a0bdef9a1776509f48196522.json
|
|
[
"Sean Farrell"
] | 2016-08-26T13:30:01 | null | 2016-07-18T10:58:39 |
Société Générale warns high-end properties could even halve in value as companies move top staff abroad
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmoney%2F2016%2Fjul%2F18%2Fbrexit-could-cut-london-house-prices-by-more-than-30-says-bank.json
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| null |
Brexit could cut London house prices by more than 30%, says bank
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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London property prices could fall by more than 30% in the wake of Britain’s vote to leave the EU and may halve in the most expensive parts of the city, according to analysts at the French bank Société Générale.
Brexit may be the trigger to end London’s seven-year house-price boom as companies move employees out of the UK, forcing sales of high-end properties, the company’s real estate analyst Marc Mozzi said in a note to clients.
Commercial property has been at the centre of post-Brexit fears as investors have tried to get their money out of property funds, but residential real estate could be hit harder, Société Générale said.
“While in recent stress tests the major UK banks were assessed with declines of about 30% in commercial real estate prices, we fear that London residential could experience an even more severe downturn,” it said.
Prices are already falling on properties previously valued at £1m or more, and may have further to go, particularly in the priciest parts of town. London’s highly paid investment bankers and hedge fund managers congregate in boroughs such as Hammersmith and Fulham as well as Kensington and Westminster.
Société Générale added: “We see a classic housing bubble in London and Brexit as the trigger for the correction … Given the current ratio of prices to incomes in London, a price correction of even 40-50% in the most expensive London boroughs does not seem impossible.”
London property prices have more than doubled since they began to recover from the financial crisis in 2009. Last month, the average London house price was £472,000 – 12 times average London earnings, compared with a long-term average of six times, Société Générale said.
Brexit could push those stretched conditions to breaking point by forcing about 3,000 senior employees of financial firms to sell their London houses to relocate to Europe, Mozzi said. That would be more than a year of transactions in the market for homes costing £2m or more, leading to big potential declines in prices.
Many non-UK banks and other financial companies base their European operations in Britain because EU membership allows them full access to the single market. That “passporting” arrangement may end when the UK leaves the EU, forcing companies to relocate businesses to Europe.
Mozzi cited a report by the accountants PwC before the referendum that said Brexit could result in between 70,000 and 100,000 fewer people employed in the financial sector. The report, published in April, compared likely post-Brexit numbers in 2020 with a forecast for jobs if the UK stayed in the EU.
Savills, the estate agent, was less gloomy. It said London sellers were already adjusting prices, interest rates are expected to stay low and the pound’s fall could attract overseas investors to buy property.
“The vote in favour of Brexit suggests that political and economic uncertainty is likely to remain a feature of the market for some time to come. Of course it is not all negative news. We expect the newly formed UK government to be highly motivated to protect London’s position as a major global financial centre in any negotiations with the EU,” Savills said.
Mozzi said the pound’s fall was unlikely to have a lasting positive effect on investors, who will hold off if they fear further falls in the value of sterling will reduce the value of purchases.
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https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/jul/18/brexit-could-cut-london-house-prices-by-more-than-30-says-bank
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en
| 2016-07-18T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/99011d0b8df55d3f825dd05e133deac682b08b707209e397e9beac27c580ae21.json
|
|
[] | 2016-08-26T13:20:18 | null | 2016-08-25T09:27:49 |
Company is looking to launch regular delivery service in late 2016 after conducting trial run in Auckland
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fbusiness%2F2016%2Faug%2F25%2Fdominos-planning-drone-pizza-delivery-service-new-zealand-auckland-trial.json
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en
| null |
Domino's planning drone pizza delivery service in New Zealand
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Domino’s Pizza is planning to become the world’s first company to offer a commercial drone delivery service after conducting a trial run in New Zealand.
The pizzamaker carried out a demonstration delivery by drone in Auckland on Thursday, and afterwards said it aimed to launch a regular service in late 2016.
Amazon and Google are among companies looking to make deliveries by drone, and aviation authorities in the US, the UK, Australia and New Zealand have been relaxing rules for this purpose.
Last month, US convenience store chain 7-Eleven trialled the first single commercial drone delivery of coffee, doughnuts and a chicken sandwich.
Don Meij, the chief executive of Domino’s Pizza Enterprises, said: “We’ve always said that it doesn’t make sense to have a 2-tonne machine delivering a 2kg order.”
Last year, New Zealand became one of the first countries to allow commercial drone deliveries. Speaking after the Domino’s test flight, the transport minister, Simon Bridges, said: “Our enabling laws and regulation means we have the ideal environment.”
But Philip Solaris, the director of drone company X-craft Enterprises, said Domino’s could be hampered by a rule requiring drones to be kept in sight at all times.
“I can’t truly see how commercially viable that idea is, because you would have to literally have somebody walking along to keep it in the line of sight, watching it at all times,” he said, adding that Domino’s would need to avoid “random hazards [such as] power lines, moving vehicles, children in the backyard playing”.
The Domino’s and 7-Eleven deliveries were carried out using drones from US-based company Flirtey.
Domino’s said it was looking into opportunities for drone delivery trials in Australia, Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Japan and Germany.
Drone deliveries will be legal in Australia next month, providing they stay at least 100ft (30 metres) away from houses.
In the US, drones will be permitted for deliveries from 29 August, but not across state lines or above members of the public.
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https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/25/dominos-planning-drone-pizza-delivery-service-new-zealand-auckland-trial
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en
| 2016-08-25T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/da246bf48d81057d2dc9c1e99ee87d061c0109438f88e0684396b4578cb4d685.json
|
|
[
"Timothy Garton Ash",
"Atiba Madyun",
"Jimmy Camp",
"Kyle Foley",
"Katrina Jorgensen",
"Jay Caruso"
] | 2016-08-26T13:23:12 | null | 2016-07-21T18:48:10 |
This presidential campaign is built on anger, and the wounds it inflicts will be slow to heal
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fcommentisfree%2F2016%2Fjul%2F21%2Fdonald-trump-hillary-clinton-show-trial-republican-convention-built-on-anger.json
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en
| null |
Trump’s best chance of winning? A Hillary show trial
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Lock her up! Lock her up!” they chant at the Republican convention in Cleveland, Ohio – “her” being Hillary Clinton. Hatchet-jawed General Mike Flynn, a former head of the defence intelligence agency, sweeps both his arms like a football coach to stoke the anger. The next day, New Jersey governor Chris Christie introduces himself as a former federal prosecutor and then rolls out a fulminating, partisan indictment of her alleged failures as secretary of state in Libya, Nigeria, China, Syria, Russia and Cuba (“a coddler of the brutal Castro brothers”), inviting the massed delegates to respond with their verdict after every indictment point. “Guilty! Guilty!” they chant, sometimes spontaneously reverting to “Lock her up!” It’s a political show trial, an auto-da-fé, a witch-hunt, and Hillary is the blue witch.
Earlier, the mother of one of the Americans killed in the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi says: “I blame Hillary Clinton personally for the death of my son.” My heart goes out to this woman, but not to the party organisers who put her on stage as part of this deliberate strategy of fomenting anger against the Democrats’ presidential candidate. In speech after speech, Donald Trump punches home his message: “Hillary Clinton is a liar. Hillary Clinton is corrupt.” Taking it to the extreme, Trump’s adviser on veteran affairs, Al Baldasaro, tells a radio show that “Hillary Clinton should be put in the firing line and shot for treason.”
The kerfuffle about Melania Trump borrowing phrases from Michelle Obama’s speech has been mildly entertaining, as was the booing of frustrated presidential hopeful Ted Cruz, but this targeting of Clinton and all-round stoking of anger is the main legacy of the Republican convention so far.
Such is the level of vitriol against Clinton from one side and Trump from the other, in an atmosphere already febrile in the wake of police killings and the killings of police, that one must surely fear the possibility of an act of violence by an unbalanced person carrying an easily available gun. This country has, after all, witnessed the assassination of two Kennedys and the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan. Yet amazingly, while large rucksacks and even umbrellas with metal shafts have been excluded from a security zone in downtown Cleveland, people are still allowed to carry guns. Ohio is an “open carry” state and its governor says he cannot violate the state law.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Al Baldasaro, right, told a radio show that Hillary Clinton ‘should be shot for treason’. Photograph: Richard Drew/AP
Nobody knows whether Trump can make it to president. Most experts assure us that he cannot gather enough votes among women, more highly educated voters, Hispanics and African Americans, that he does not have the war chest, campaign expertise and ground machine for targeted canvassing that Clinton has, and so on. But then, most experts assured us that he could not become the Republicans’ candidate for president. What is almost certain, however, is that for the next four months America will experience a bruising, poisonous, negative campaign that will make Britain’s Brexit referendum campaign look like an Anglican archdeacon’s tea party. Trump’s strategy is less Project Fear than Project Anger.
David Brady, an expert on American politics here at Stanford, explains to me that Trump needs to pick up some other major segment of the electorate. On top of his core support among white voters with only secondary education, what about, for example, married women, with whom Mitt Romney scored well? Even with his wife and children being showcased at the convention, and even with his Christian conservative running mate, Mike Pence, Trump will find it difficult to make them like him.
What he may just manage to do is to make them dislike and distrust even more the candidate everyone refers to simply as “Hillary”. Hence those vitriolic attacks. It is a truth universally acknowledged that Hillary is not an attractive candidate. I have already lost count of the number of friends who tell me that they are going to “hold their noses” and vote for her. In fact, perhaps the only Republican candidate that Hillary could beat is Trump. On the other hand, perhaps the only Democrat that Trump could beat is Hillary.
Broadly speaking, there are two sets of causes of this strident polarisation, the first common to many advanced western democracies, the second peculiar to the United States. Contemporary populism exploits the discontent of less affluent, less educated, mainly white people who feel themselves economically, socially and culturally left behind and marginalised by the results of globalisation. The feelings of blue-collar Trump supporters in the rust belt of the United States seem altogether comparable with those of Brexit voters in the poorer post-industrial towns of northern England. They blame their woes particularly on immigration, though their once secure jobs may actually have gone to China, or to robots in an Amazon warehouse.
They also blame those woes on remote, metropolitan elites. Polls conducted by the American National Election Study show that whereas in 2002 only one-third of respondents believed America was run by “a few”, early this year three-quarters of Americans said they believe this – and 58% thought quite a few of those running the government are crooked. YouGov polling indicates that the belief in a crooked elite is most prevalent amongst Republicans who make less than $50,000 a year and have no more than a high-school education. These are Trump’s footsoldiers. To this extent, Trump is the American version of Brexit, or Brexit the British version of Trump.
Republican convention live: Cruz speech sets up test for Trump on day four Read more
Peculiar to the United States, by contrast, is the fact that while most American voters, like most European ones, are somewhere in the centre, the political system generates maximum polarisation, whereas European politics have (at least until recently) always tended to gravitate towards the centre, where the voters are.
I have written about this phenomenon year after year, and its well known causes: the primaries, which give undue influence to highly polarised party activists, gerrymandering, the outsize role of money (especially since the Citizens United decision of the supreme court, which made it possible for corporations to make unlimited contributions to campaign finance), the barriers to an independent candidacy, and the extreme partisanship of much of the media. Almost everyone acknowledges that reform is needed, but no one has yet managed to deliver it.
It has been fascinating to watch, from across the pond, how rapidly British politics has reverted to robust civility since the referendum one month ago – with the partial exception, admittedly, of the Labour party leadership contest – and to the practical business of government, with sworn enemies in the campaign now working side by side. Even if Trump does not win, I fear that the wounds opened up by America’s campaign will be slower to heal; and that is bad news for us all. The world needs an America that is pulling itself together, not tearing itself apart.
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https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/21/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-show-trial-republican-convention-built-on-anger
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en
| 2016-07-21T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/4ba0ff0b1c526aeb61e0f712400f7f6bac5e89c0843890fe780cc31a4e6fded1.json
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|
[] | 2016-08-29T06:59:34 | null | 2016-08-29T06:00:53 |
I’ve been with the same company for years and can’t visualise what my transferable skills are
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https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fmoney%2F2016%2Faug%2F29%2Fi-want-to-quit-the-music-industry-but-dont-know-what-else-i-could-try.json
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en
| null |
I want to quit the music industry, but don't know what else I could try
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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I’ve been at the same company for many years (almost from straight out of university) in the music industry, managing rights for artists and songwriters. I am as senior as I can be (it’s a small business) and have been for a while. I know I need to move on, I just can’t think where to.
I check jobs sites regularly for opportunities in the industry but they’re usually more specialised and a bit more junior or a lot more senior – I get the impression my counterparts in larger companies and the major labels are promoted internally.
I’m also a terrible networker and peers often don’t know who I am or how much responsibility I have. This, combined with feeling jaded about the industry, has made me open to other roles, but I’m having trouble visualising what my transferable skills are.
Contracts and licences are something that I draft and negotiate regularly, and understanding how these tie into the whole business is key to my job. I’m good with spreadsheets and handling large amounts of data, and am responsible for accounting royalties. But I have no formal legal, accounting or data qualifications.
There’s also regular client interaction and account management, and my job involves a hell of a lot of problem solving, investigating why things have gone wrong and putting out fires. There’s also project management and probably other skills I’m forgetting. I find it difficult to articulate and translate all of this into roles in other industries.
I also have a literary and creative side, which I’d love to combine with my business experience, though that may be wishful thinking (friends have suggested working for artist or literary agencies). Is there a job for me outside the music industry?
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https://www.theguardian.com/money/2016/aug/29/i-want-to-quit-the-music-industry-but-dont-know-what-else-i-could-try
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en
| 2016-08-29T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/a7701c7e644205225e9a12df9e7794c4e77ffd3569e220308e0ebbebb8091527.json
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|
[
"Australian Associated Press"
] | 2016-08-26T13:21:24 | null | 2016-08-26T12:40:38 |
Brisbane remain in the hunt for a top-four finish after stunning NRL leaders Melbourne with a dominant 26-16 victory at AAMI Park
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fsport%2F2016%2Faug%2F26%2Fbroncos-stun-melbourne-storm-to-keep-their-nrl-top-four-hopes-alive.json
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| null |
Broncos stun Melbourne Storm to keep their NRL top-four hopes alive
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
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Brisbane remain in the hunt for a top-four finish after stunning NRL leaders Melbourne with a dominant 26-16 victory at AAMI Park. Looking to atone for a crushing 48-6 loss at the hands of the Storm in round 17, the Broncos produced some of their best football of the season on Friday night to secure their fourth-straight win, moving level with the Cowboys and Bulldogs in fourth spot on the table.
Two first-half tries to centre Tom Opacic set the tone for Brisbane, who dominated possession in the opening term and withheld a determined Storm outfit after the break to ensure the race for the top four goes down to the wire. The visitors clicked into gear from the outset, showing sublime ball-handling skills to stun the home side twice in early stages.
Jarryd Hayne signing won't hurry Titans sale, says NRL boss Todd Greenberg Read more
Sam Thaiday celebrated his 250th NRL game in style thanks to a stunning one-handed offload that caught the Storm defence off-guard to set up Opacic’s opening try after three minutes. Jordan Kahu’s acrobatic effort in the right corner doubled his team’s advantage five minutes later.
A rare foray deep into Brisbane territory resulted in Melbourne second-rower Tohu Harris reaching over from close range after 26 minutes to halve the early deficit. But the visitors struck back with a Kahu penalty goal before cashing in on Marika Koroibete’s dropped ball deep in Storm territory, allowing Opacic to score his second four-pointer with two minutes left in the half.
Melbourne looked more energetic after the break but could not wear down Brisbane’s defence. The Broncos made them pay with a polished back-line move that sent Darius Boyd over for a 20-4 lead after 55 minutes. Ben Hampton appeared to breathe life into the Storm when he crossed for his first try of the season with 15 minutes left.
But fortune favoured Brisbane when a kick from broken play rolled into the Storm’s in-goal area, with Cooper Cronk slipping in pursuit to allow Jai Arrow to wrap up the match. The Storm could have secured the minor premiership with a victory, but now face the prospect of a winner-takes-all clash with Cronulla for the JJ Giltinan Shield in the final round, provided the Sharks beat the Roosters on Saturday night.
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https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/aug/26/broncos-stun-melbourne-storm-to-keep-their-nrl-top-four-hopes-alive
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en
| 2016-08-26T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/ef9f0fe5af38f03c6b808892957d22d206fbc634ed70f7dbd139570fbe9e7111.json
|
|
[
"Angelique Chrisafis",
"Rachel Woodlock"
] | 2016-08-28T18:51:56 | null | 2016-08-28T17:14:18 |
Government faces dilemma over whether to enforce ruling that banning burkinis violates ‘fundamental freedoms’
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2016%2Faug%2F28%2Ffrench-mayors-burkini-ban-court-ruling.json
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en
| null |
French mayors refuse to lift burkini ban despite court ruling
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
A majority of mayors who have banned burkinis in about 30 French coastal resorts are refusing to lift the restrictions despite the country’s highest administrative court ruling that the bans are illegal, leaving the state facing a dilemma about how to react.
More than 20 mayors have defiantly kept in place decrees under which municipal police can stop and fine any women in full-body swimsuits at the beach despite the ruling from the state council that the burkini bans are a “serious and manifestly illegal violation of fundamental freedoms”.
In a test case expected to set legal precedent, the court suspended the burkini ban in one French Riviera town, Villeneuve-Loubet, which was obliged to immediately scrap its decree. But the ruling was dismissed by many other mayors.
The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, who has called for calm and warned against stigmatising Muslims in France, is expected to make an announcement on the issue on Monday. The Green housing minister, Emmanuelle Cosse, said mayors who refused to take the court ruling into account were playing with fire.
Most of the bans are still in place along the French Riviera, including in Nice and a swath of resorts along the Côte d’Azur. The mayor of Cannes, David Lisnard, from Nicolas Sarkozy’s Les Républicains party, was the first mayor to ban burkinis this summer and said he would not budge. He said the ruling “does not in any way change my conviction that ostentatious dress, whatever the religion, is a problem in the current context”. He said burkinis were “Islamist” and a sign of the “salafisation of our society”.
Only two mayors lifted their bans in the wake of the Villeneuve-Loubet ruling: the Socialist mayor of Oye-Plages near Calais and the centrist mayor of Eze in the Alpes-Maritimes. Mayors from the rightwing Les Républicains party and from the far-right Front National are keeping their bans in place, insisting that the Villeneuve-Loubet case does not apply to them.
The burkini bans – which are now seen as illegal – pose a major problem to the French state, which is responsible for making sure the rule of law is respected. In theory, the state could now instruct local prefects to take action to force mayors to withdraw the bans. Human rights groups have also said they will pursue the towns through courts.
The Socialist prime minister, Manuel Valls, who had caused divisions in his party by supporting the mayors’ bans, insisted that the political debate on burkinis must continue. In a written statement on Facebook, he said the burkini was “the affirmation of political Islam in the public space”.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Manuel Valls provoked controversy with his remarks. Photograph: Thierry Orban/Getty Images
The issue of the burkini and Islam in France has been pushed to the top of the political agenda in the run-up to next year’s presidential and parliamentary elections by Sarkozy, who is running a hardline campaign on French national identity in a bid to win his party’s nomination to run again for president. Sarkozy reiterated that he wants a nationwide law to ban burkinis and also wants to ban Muslim headscarves from universities and private companies.
Alain Juppé, the mayor of Bordeaux, who remains favourite to be chosen as the right’s candidate, launched his campaign against Sarkozy this weekend, striking a conciliatory tone. He is against a nationwide law against burkinis, saying it would be illegal and anti-constitutional, and that it was pointless to push for a new law “amid media agitation”. He told Europe 1 radio that politicians should stop using inflammatory rhetoric to “throw oil on the fire”.
Holding a rally west of Paris on Saturday, Juppé nonetheless proposed creating a special accord between the state and Muslim leaders to lay out clear rules for respecting French secularism.
“It is legitimate to ask them to have a knowledge of the principles of the organisation of the republican state, especially French-style secularism,” he said.
The short-term burkini bans, which began to be issued by mayors at the end of July, have sparked a heated political row about the French principle of laïcité – secularism built on the strict separation of church and state – amid accusations by rights groups that politicians are twisting and distorting the principle for political gain, and using it to deliberately target Muslims following a series of terrorist attacks.
Following reports of some women being stopped by police for simply wearing a headscarf and loose clothing while standing on the beach, controversy has grown.
Benoît Hamon, a former Socialist government minister seeking the left’s presidential nomination, said on Sunday that the burkini debate was “targeting Muslims once again” and criticised Valls for supporting bans.
|
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/28/french-mayors-burkini-ban-court-ruling
|
en
| 2016-08-28T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/49026d43a8c1d556f573ac76d0a98eb1ff3af2de28aaf5013d199ad4ebebb002.json
|
|
[
"Ben Jacobs",
"Nicky Woolf",
"Scott Bixby"
] | 2016-08-31T04:52:35 | null | 2016-08-31T03:04:03 |
Republican presidential candidate – who wants to build a border wall – will meet Enrique Peña Nieto on Wednesday ahead of major immigration speech
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fus-news%2F2016%2Faug%2F31%2Fdonald-trump-mexico-president-nieto.json
|
en
| null |
Donald Trump confirms trip to Mexico for talks with President Peña Nieto
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump has confirmed that he will travel to Mexico on Wednesday to meet with President Enrique Peña Nieto in Mexico City.
Moments before taking the stage for a rally in Everett, Washington, just north of Seattle, Trump tweeted that he had “accepted the invitation of President Enrique Peña Nieto, of Mexico, and look very much forward to meeting him tomorrow”.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) I have accepted the invitation of President Enrique Pena Nieto, of Mexico, and look very much forward to meeting him tomorrow.
The meeting will happen hours before Trump is scheduled to deliver a major address on immigration in Phoenix, Arizona, in which he will aim to clarify his increasingly murky stance on the issue.
It was confirmed by the official Twitter account for the Mexican presidency, which tweeted:
— Presidencia México (@PresidenciaMX) El Señor @realDonaldTrump ha aceptado esta invitación y se reunirá mañana en privado con el Presidente @EPN.
Translated, the tweet says that Trump “has accepted the invitation and will meet privately tomorrow with the president”.
Peña Nieto – who has previously compared Trump to Hitler and Mussolini – said via Twitter that he had invited both presidential candidates to Mexico “to discuss bilateral relations”, adding: “I believe in dialogue to promote the interests of Mexico in the world and to protect Mexicans wherever they are.”
The Trump campaign did not respond to repeated requests for comment. However, Josh Green, a reporter for Bloomberg News, said Trump would be accompanied on the trip by former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani and Alabama senator Jeff Sessions.
Trump surrogates: Republican's position on immigration has not changed Read more
Trump, who launched his campaign in 2015 with the announcement that immigrants from Mexico were “bringing rapists”, had been scheduled to appear at fundraisers in California on Wednesday morning, before delivering his immigration address in Phoenix at 6pm local time (9pm ET).
The trip to Mexico City to meet with Peña Nieto – who has previously invited Trump to debate him in Mexico – will likely occur somewhere in the middle of the day.
The proposal was first broached with the US embassy in Mexico City earlier this week, a fast-tracking of an international visit by an American presidential candidate that is typically planned over the course of weeks.
In recent days, Trump has been increasingly vague on his position about the legal status of the 11 million illegal immigrants currently in the US. During the Republican primary, Trump appealed to the conservative base by calling for a “deportation force” to remove all undocumented aliens from the country.
However, on a recent trip to Iowa, Trump said the policy issue was driven by the media. “In recent days, the media – as it usually does – has missed the whole point on immigration. All the media wants to talk about is the 11 million or more people here illegally,” he said at a fundraiser for Republican senator Joni Ernst.
In front of a crowd in Everett on Tuesday evening, Trump made no mention of his upcoming diplomatic mission, focusing instead on campaign favorites, including a rambling story in rhyming couplets about an ungrateful and poisonous snake, intended as an allegory about Islamic refugees to the US.
Also notably absent from the speech was perhaps Trump’s most essential motif: the wall he proposes to build along the US-Mexico border.
Trump’s approval ratings among Latino voters are historically bad, and his relationship with Peña Nieto’s government is even worse. Trump has long pledged to force Mexico to pay for the 2,000-mile (3,220km) border wall, a suggestion the Mexican president responded to coldly.
“No way,” Peña Nieto told CNN earlier this year.
Peña Nieto has fallen on hard political times in recent months. The latest polls put his approval rating at just 23%, according to Mexico News Daily, as the president has been hit by personal scandals, as well as allegations of human rights abuses by police officers. Protests by teachers opposed to his educational reforms have led to widespread unrest and several deaths.
It is hard to see how inviting Trump to meet him would help Peña Nieto domestically, as Trump is, unsurprisingly, considerably less popular in Mexico than the president. In March, city legislators passed a non-legally binding bill to ban Trump from Mexico’s capital.
Peña Nieto’s predecessor, former president Vincente Fox, has been considerably more vocal in speaking out against the Republican nominee, calling Trump’s ideas “racist” and saying “I declare: I’m not going to pay for that fucking wall.”
Trump reveals plan to finance Mexico border wall with threat to cut off funds Read more
A spokesperson for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton said the focus should remain on Trump’s immigration speech in Arizona. Jennifer Palmieri, communications director for Hillary for America, said: “From the first days of his campaign, Donald Trump has painted Mexicans as ‘rapists’ and criminals and has promised to deport 16 million people, including children and US citizens. He has said we should force Mexico to pay for his giant border wall. He has said we should ban remittances to families in Mexico if Mexico doesn’t pay up.
“What ultimately matters is what Donald Trump says to voters in Arizona, not Mexico, and whether he remains committed to the splitting up of families and deportation of millions.”
Launching his presidential bid last year, Trump claimed “the US has become a dumping ground for everyone else’s problems”, pointing the finger at Mexico.
“They’re sending us not the right people,” he said. “They’re sending people that have lots of problems and they’re bringing their problems.
“They’re bringing drugs, they’re bringing crime, they’re rapists, and some I assume are good people but I speak to border guards and they tell us what we are getting.”
|
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/aug/31/donald-trump-mexico-president-nieto
|
en
| 2016-08-31T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/d1aaf56b4b9a986c2ebcc95e7af2f116ea996c48a84306eafdcca7f5c012fcf9.json
|
|
[
"Leigh Alexander"
] | 2016-08-26T13:26:10 | null | 2016-08-11T11:00:33 |
Just as there is no single, standardised world map, our digital maps take various forms – and it matters who is drawing them and how they’re drawn
|
https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ftechnology%2F2016%2Faug%2F11%2Fgoogle-maps-palestine-neutrality-tech.json
|
en
| null |
Google Maps Palestine row: why neutrality in tech is an impossible dream
| null | null |
www.theguardian.com
|
Imagine if it would have more of an impact for Palestine to be recognised as a sovereign country by Google than by the UN. It’s a suggestion that’s caught fire – a five-month-old online petition demanding Palestine be labeled and bordered in Google Maps has gained more than 250,000 signatures just over the past few days.
The issue is far more nuanced than the instantaneous outrage about Google “wiping Palestine from the map” would suggest. Google has never actually labeled the country, which isn’t officially recognised by the US or much of the west. The swiftness of the backlash, though, is not just about the wish for justice on behalf of an occupied people, but about the belief – now punctured – that our technology is neutral, that it presents an unbiased, infallible version of the world.
Prior to the sailing expeditions that began with the Renaissance, humanity had no map of the world. In 1891 a German geographer called Albrecht Penck proposed and set out to lead an International World Map project, by which all maps would be designed based on a single international standard. According to Jerry Brotton’s book A History of the World in Twelve Maps, Penck bemoaned a lack of consistency among scales and even styles of extant maps, and dreamed of collaborating with the cartographic agencies of the world to create a great atlas of 2,500 maps, all where one inch would equal 15.78 miles, or one centimetre per kilometre.
Penck’s standardised world atlas would never be finished. Although the UNplanned to carry it on in the 20th century, commitment waned during world war two. Despite the sunk cost, relatively significant in its time, only a few hundred maps were created. Still, it remains the closest humanity has ever come to a global mapmaking standard. Despite the common notion of maps as universal and inarguable, they remain a riot of inconsistent measures, evolving coastlines, and constantly shifting ideas about nations and their sovereignty.
Not even Google can do what Penck could not: create a vision of the globe that is true for all who see it. But in fact it has tried – one thing many of us are learning for the first time off the back of the Palestine controversy is that Google Maps sometimes shows disputed borders differently depending on where the user is searching from. An ongoing project called Disputed Territories has documented this: for example, it reports, America and much of the west views Crimea in the Ukraine as a site of Russian occupation, and it appears on the map as such. However, to map users in Russia, the boundary is solid, an official annexation.
While it might seem imperialistic for Google to decide how the US should see the rest of the world, perhaps it would be equally troubling to see the company wade into global verdicts on the righteousness of every international occupation. That it allows its sketch of the geopolitical climate to reflect the perspective of who is viewing it, rather than impose the prevailing popular opinion in the west, may not be neutral or unbiased, but it is probably the most fair.
Where we wade into difficulty is the lack of transparency that average users have about how these services work. We frequently assume technology has no preference, but it often does, even something such as hiring by algorithm doesn’t necessarily remove human discrimination, as many believe.
During high school, our history and social studies teachers had us bring in multiple newspaper clippings of the same news story from both liberal and conservative outlets, and taught us to identify bias in headlines, word choices and chosen angles. It was impressed on us how important it was we know that “the news” was not a single trustworthy monolith, and that we should learn to compare different sources and perspectives as critical readers in order to understand the world. We need similar education – for adults as well as young people on the opacity and capriciousness of privately owned technology platforms, and how the things we assume to be standardised utilities are hugely influenced by biases in the data used to build them.
Until researching this article I didn’t know that there had never been a single, standardised world map project but of course it makes sense that the project fell apart during the second world war. And many people don’t know that there is more than one standard Google Maps (or Apple Maps, which doesn’t show Palestine either, or Microsoft’s Bing Maps, which does) depending on where in the world you are. Or that there are different search results for different people, and that those search results can be biased, even discriminatory.
Our many digital maps must account for multiple views of the world – but their existence also must inform us that ours is only one among them. An expanded mapping utility that encouraged users to view the world from many different perspectives, complete with current facts, could be a marvellous educational tool.
But no matter what, we need far more transparency from tech companies about the way biases affect what we see when we use their services - and about how the reliable neutrality of a trusted machine is as impossible as Penck’s dream of an international world map.
|
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/aug/11/google-maps-palestine-neutrality-tech
|
en
| 2016-08-11T00:00:00 |
www.theguardian.com/7e1521353a634578ee3661883ca37ad940511cabc94a52c95ec65356bd13b7c6.json
|
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