Local residents and climate activists head to Southport to protest against plans by Cuadrilla Resources to drill for shale gas in Lancashire The first of an expected 150 climate activists and local residents began to converge on a field near Southport on Friday to protest against the environmental impacts of the UK’s first shale gas well. “Camp Frack” , named after “fracking”, the process of pumping vast quantities of water underground and fracturing rocks with chemicals to release shale gas, is setting up outside the Lancashire village of Banks. It is close to a drilling rig that Cuadrilla Resources is using to drill up to 3.5km deep. The company, which is backed by the former BP chief Lord Browne and money from Australia, has a licence to explore 437 square miles of Lancashire, but suspended operations this summer after two earthquakes struck Blackpool . It has so far sunk two exploratory wells and says a further three may be needed. Britain has around 150bn cubic metres of recoverable shale resources, according to the British Geological Survey , which could meet the nation’s gas requirements for 18 months. Cuadrilla is expected to disclose its first estimate for the amount of shale gas found inside its Lancashire licence area next week. According to the chief executive, Mark Miller, the signs are “encouraging”. “Acre for acre, I think the gas in place here is very comparable to – and in some cases exceeds – some of the good [resources] in the US,” he said last month . But local people and green activists have argued that the “fracking” process is inherently risky. In the US, where shale gas is being hailed by industry as a potential substitute for oil, fears have been raised about the effect of the chemicals used, explosions, links with seismic activity and allegations of illness. A Cornell University study also concluded that greenhouse gas emissions from shale gas are higher than those for coal. Environmentalists are calling for a delay in fracking until a major review of the practice has been published by the US Environmental Protection Agency . But the UK government says it is confident its own safety regulations are strict enough. Sonny Khan from Cumbrian charity South Lakeland Action on Climate Change said: “Our concern is that fracking is being pushed upon us and that our real concerns over safety and greenhouse gas emissions are being brushed aside in the rush for profits. Companies present shale gas as a safe low-carbon fuel but the evidence is that there are very serious risks associated with fracking which have yet to be addressed.” Lesley Graham, from the group Ribble Estuary Against Fracking, who lives four miles from Banks, said: “I am very concerned. There are daily reports from the US saying this is dangerous, but this rig has just appeared here without any real consultation. What checks have been done? There are so many unanswered questions.” But Cuadrilla, which mines for coal in Hungary and has more than 2m sq km of exploratory licences across Europe, said it was liaising with police over Camp Frack because it was concerned about potential damage to its equipment. “We take local concerns seriously. We have had dozens of people visit the site so far, we are very transparent. We are listening to people but we do not believe there is any risk of water contamination but we are taking samples,” said a spokesman. The camp’s organisers say it will consider a national campaign against shale gas, but that Southport will focus on “raising local awareness about the problems with shale gas and an action day of peaceful protest mainly focused on the nearby active drilling rig.” The Southport Liberal Democrat councillor Sue McGuire said: “As far as I’m concerned fracking will impact on everyone within the Ribble Estuary and that includes Southport and Preston. I don’t think we can simply believe everything that Cuadrilla’s PR company print so I’m going to Camp Frack to find out as much as I can about the hydraulic fracturing process.” Shale gas Gas Activism Protest John Vidal guardian.co.uk
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World leaders will meet to agree a deal on curbing health problems caused by bad diet, alcohol and smoking World leaders at a meeting of the United Nations on Monday will agree a deal to try to curb the spread of preventable “lifestyle” diseases, amid concern that progress is already being hampered by powerful lobbyists from the food, alcohol and tobacco industries. Cancers, heart disease, diabetes and lung conditions already cost rich countries dear in terms of the health bills and productive life span of their citizens. But the scourge of what the World Health Organisation calls the “non-communicable diseases” (NCDs) is rapidly spreading across all parts of the globe, fuelled by obesity as a result of bad diet and sedentary lifestyles, together with alcohol and smoking. These diseases were responsible for around 36m of the 57m global deaths in 2008, including about 9m before the age of 60 – and many are preventable. While countries such as the UK have imposed smoking bans, taxed cigarettes and alcohol heavily and restricted junk food advertising to children, most developing countries have yet to address these issues – and the food and tobacco industries are accused of adopting marketing and production strategies there that would be unacceptable in Europe or in north America. The scale and disastrous potential of these diseases has led the UN to call only its second high-level summit on a health issue on Monday – the first was over Aids in 2001. Months of negotiation have led to a draft declaration that will be signed at the summit. But while experts commend its tough depiction of the problem and its calls for all governments to take action, there is widespread concern that an absence of targets – the World Health Organisation (WHO) proposed cutting preventable deaths by 25% by 2025 – will reduce its impact. “If you are in public health, this is a great step forward. I’m thrilled there is a high-level meeting,” said Robert Beaglehole, emeritus professor at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, who was formerly director at the department of chronic diseases at the WHO. But while the first part of the declaration said all the right things about the seriousness of the problem and the economic damage it will cause low- and middle-income countries, “the action statements are disappointingly weak”, he said. “If you don’t have a serious goal, how do you assess progress?” Without goals, he added, “accountability becomes a problem”. Ann Keeling, chair of the NCD Alliance, a global federation of disease-fighting organisations, has similar feelings. “It’s incredible that we have got this far – that we have got to the UN at all. We’re happy with the language [of the declaration]. What we’re not happy with is that, having recognised the problem and talked about the need for more resources, it doesn’t agree any time-bound commitments, or very few. Some were on the table at various stages and disappeared and a couple of important things are kicked into 2012.” Among the targets that failed to make it was a limit on salt consumption. Although much of the developed world has maximum daily recommended levels, a proposal by Norway to ask member states to bring down daily salt intake to 5g per person was blocked by the EU, Australia, Japan, the US and Canada. Experts such as Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at St George’s in London and chairman of the campaigning group World Action on Salt and Health, think government negotiators were swayed by their own trade interests. “The EU is very much in the hands of the food industry, in our view,” he said. It is not just the salt producers who have vested interests, but also manufacturers of food products that are high in salt such as bread.” While the declaration is strongly-worded on tobacco control, there are again no targets set. Critics say that while the US is tough on tobacco at home, its officials still feel obliged to support its tobacco exports – the US is the biggest exporter of tobacco in the world. Concerns at behind-the-scenes lobbying have led to a vocal movement to address conflicts of interest at the summit and within any global strategy against NCDs. More than 100 organisations, led by those who have fought the marketing of the baby milk corporations in the developing world but including those working on food, alcohol, tobacco and essential medicines issues, called on the UN to recognise the difference between such campaigners and groups representing industry, and develop a code of conduct for engaging with those who had a commercial interest in the outcome. They have had little success – the final declaration calls for all stakeholders “including the private sector and civil society” to engage “in collaborative partnerships to promote health and to reduce NCD risk factors” including through the promotion of healthy diet and lifestyles. Keeling, of the NCD Alliance – some of whose member organisations are themselves criticised for accepting industry funding – says the controversy is unfortunate. “We absolutely agree the private sector has to have a regulated or possibly no role in policy development,” she said, but industry had to be part of the solution. While voluntary agreements to reduce salt, fat and sugar with food companies may have only a limited impact without regulation, she points to companies working in remote rural areas in poor countries that offer health benefits for their workers. Chevron, for instance, has “a large and important workplace programme on cardiovascular disease” in places in Africa where there is no state-run healthcare to speak of. Nobody is seeking to minimise the seriousness of the problem. Among an avalanche of reports released before the summit is one from the World Bank, warning that these preventable diseases “increasingly threaten the health and economic security of many lower- and middle-income countries”. Most cannot “treat their way out”, it says. It cites the Ukraine, where a quarter of 18- to 65-year-olds have a chronic disease and with growing numbers of young people affected, the country could “lose the next generation”. Health United Nations Alcohol Smoking Obesity World Health Organisation Sarah Boseley guardian.co.uk
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Muammar Gaddafi’s home town and Bani Walid close to being captured, say rebel commanders Libyan rebel fighters are involved in heavy fighting in a final battle to capture Muammar Gaddafi’s hometown of Sirte, one of the last three significant strongholds still held by the old regime. Rebels are also advancing in strength on Bani Walid, a key tribal centre south of Tripoli, where the dictator’s fugitive son Saif al-Islam is said to have been sighted in recent days. Reports from the rebel frontline described civilians leaving the town and explosions and heavy gunfire inside it. Claims on Thursday night that Sirte had fallen to forces loyal to the National Transitional Council gave way to a standoff followed by renewed clashes on Friday morning. An al-Jazeera correspondent described heavy fighting and intense sniper fire around the industrial zone to the south-west of the town. Sirte, on the coast between Tripoli and Benghazi, was hit repeatedly by Nato missiles and bombs from the start of the conflict in March, but has remained in the hands of Gaddafi forces since. If it does fall, the rebels will control Libya’s entire Mediterannean coastline. Yousif bin Yousif, a rebel commander from Misrata, told al-Jazeera that the entrances to the city were in their hands as elements of the 32nd Brigade – the elite unit commanded by Gaddafi’s son Khamis – were holed up in villas on the coast. The rebels said they were expecting a last stand in the centre of town. The Misrata rebel council said the Sirte attack was being mounted by 900 “technicals”, flatbed pickup trucks mounted with machine guns or rocket launchers. Attempts were made to persuade Gaddafi forces – many from his Gadadfa tribe – to surrender but they responded by firing Grad rockets. Bani Walid is the centre of the powerful Warfallah tribe. Its capture will leave only Sebha in the south, on the edge of the Sahara, in the hands of the old regime. Amid mounting excitement about the latest military advances consolidating the February revolution, Libyans have been marking the 80th anniversary of the 1931 execution of Omar al-Mukhtar, hero of the resistance against Italian colonialists. Residents of Benghazi are planning a big rally to commemorate him. Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, has meanwhile arrived in Tripoli as part an Arab Spring tour that took him to Egypt and Tunisia earlier this week, and which he has been using to promote Turkey’s ambitious regional role and to drum up business. Turkish media reported complaints that the long-planned trip had been deliberately upstaged by Nicholas Sarkozy and David Cameron on Thursday. Libya Middle East Africa Muammar Gaddafi Arab and Middle East unrest Ian Black guardian.co.uk
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Chancellor urges European colleagues to show they ‘recognise gravity of situation’ before talks in Poland The chancellor, George Osborne, has warned that “time is short” for finding a solution to the eurozone crisis and called on European leaders to send a “clear signal” that they are dealing with it. Osborne was speaking at the Daily Telegraph’s Festival of Business event in Manchester on Friday before getting on a plane to join other European finance ministers in the Polish city of Wroclaw amid growing concern over the crisis. In an indication of the seriousness of the situation, the US treasury secretary, Tim Geithnerin, will also be attending the talks. Osborne called for a “much better international response”, saying: “I will be looking for my European colleagues to send a clear signal that they truly recognise the gravity of the situation and that they are dealing with it.” The chancellor said Britain should not engage in “schadenfreude” over the problems of its European neighbours in the eurozone, saying the fact that Britain’s two biggest export markets “have all but stopped growing” was hitting global confidence and having an impact on UK shores. “A successful euro is massively in our interest,” he said as he warned that a “lack of belief in the ability of political systems in the eurozone and in North America to respond” was worsening the crisis. “Time is short and the eurozone must now implement, as quickly as possible, their 21 July agreement, resolve the uncertainty with respect to Greece, specify how they intend to fulfil the commitment made at last week’s G7 meeting to take all necessary actions to ensure the resilience of banking systems and financial markets. Crucially, my European colleagues need to accept the remorseless logic of monetary union that leads from a single currency to greater fiscal integration.” He said excessive debt across the world was the “root cause” of worsening economic situations, adding: “What started as a debt crisis in the banking sector in 2008 has now turned into a wider crisis of sovereign, banking and private sector debt. And Britain cannot blame the rest of the world for these debts, for we were one of the biggest contributors to them.” He said his “decisive action” to introduce an emergency budget last summer “on our own terms” had put the UK “ahead of the curve” in the challenging economic times. Osborne also used his speech to court business leaders to help the government face down “the forces of stagnation” resisting reforms he said were necessary to allow businesses to generate growth. Telling the audience they were the “real engine of growth”, he said the government was working “flat out to help your businesses not only survive but thrive”. But he claimed that while the government was doing all it could to help the sector succeed, including reducing business taxes and “burdensome red tape”, special interest groups were trying to prevent ministers from pushing through changes designed to aid recovery. Citing the controversy over proposals to shake up planning legislation, Osborne said the presumption in favour of “sustainable development”, which could help businesses and create jobs, had “even been opposed by the Telegraph”. He said he wanted the business community to give “loud and clear support” for proposals to reduce more than 1,000 pages of planning regulations to 50 to make it easier for them to develop their businesses. On the growing lobby opposing some of the planning reforms, which includes some of his Conservative colleagues, he said: “Don’t underestimate our determination to win this argument.” ; George Osborne Economic policy European debt crisis European banks Economics Euro European Union Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …This was going to be a relatively quick post about the good news, as announced by the Castle Coalition in a Tuesday press release after being teased a few days earlier by ” Little Pink House ” author Jeff Benedict, that a Lifetime Channel movie is going to be made about the Kelo vs. New London eminent domain drama. Then along came “culture blogger” Alyssa Rosenberg over at the hard-left ThinkProgress .
Continue reading …Explosive device thrown at car after police answered alarm call in Newtonabbey, north Belfast Two police officers suffered minor injuries after an explosive device was thrown at their vehicle in north Belfast during the early hours of Friday morning. The officers were attacked after answering an alarm call at a branch of Toys R Us on Mill Road, in Newtownabbey, at around 12.20am. Two members of Toys R Us staff were on the scene when the device exploded, but neither was injured. The Police Service of Northern Ireland Chief Inspector Derek McCamley described the attack as “despicable” and said it was fortunate that no one had been more seriously hurt. “We have launched a full investigation and will carry out an examination of the scene,” he said. He added that those behind the attack were “cowardly individuals who only seek to bring devastation and harm to their own community”. People living close to the scene of the attack reported hearing a loud bang but said they thought it was fireworks. Earlier, the local Democratic Unionist assembly member, Paul Girvan, said he believed the callout was an attempt to lure police to the scene. “This does appear to be a tactic that is used by dissident republicans to bring police attention into the area and used as an opportunity to attack security forces,” he said. “I would have to condemn it and implore anyone who has information to volunteer that to the PSNI.” Northern Ireland Police Crime Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
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• One miner reported dead • Divers forced to turn back from mine because of debris • Local MP Peter Hain says situation is “grim” 9.52am: The twittersphere is full of messages of sympathy and support for the miner who has been discovered dead at Gleision colliery. @Ceri_Granv writes: Terrible news from the Swansea Valley this morning. All my thoughts are with the miners and their families at Gleision Colliery. @welsh37 posts: Sad day one of the swansea miners has died, my thoughts are with their family. @alicat21 writes: Thoughts with the miners families. They must be experiencing a living hell. Tragic . 9.31am: Messages of sympathy from local MP Peter Hain and also the current Welsh secretary over the death of one miner who has yet to be identified. Hain who is at the scene said: I’ve spoken to the families – they’ve gone through a small hell. What’s been made worse, as has been reported, a miner has been found dead but they don’t know who it is so you can just imagine what they are going through. It is almost worse than not knowing – knowing a bit but not knowing exactly and our hearts go out to everybody. Sky news has reported that David Cameron has rung Hain to ensure that the rescue teams are getting everything they need to free the remaining three miners. Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan has also offered her condolences: I am extremely saddened to hear that one of the miners has been found dead. My heartfelt condolences go out to the families at this distressing time. I know that the emergency services have been working extremely hard. I am being continually updated and my thoughts are with all involved as they continue to manage this most difficult situation. 9.11am: More from that press conference. Chris Margetts, from South Wales Fire and Rescue Service said this about the circumstances of the dead miner and where he was found. The search and rescue continues. Obviously we’ve had the disappointing news of discovering one of the miners [dead]. The miner that we found was in a different section of the mine. He was basically on the exit side on the body of water. So therefore the search and rescue mission continues because there are still air pockets on the other side of the body of water and there is a blockage down there yet to be searched. So it is quite possible under the circumstances that as the incident has occurred, the team has split. And depending on where they were located, which is the best route to take and the miner we have found so far has obviously tried to make it up to the main exit where two the guys did make it out and unfortunately he hasn’t made it. 9.07am: Speaking to the Today programme, Gary Evans of the south and mid Wales cave rescue team described the situation down in the mines for the divers attempting to get to the three trapped miners. He said he had been working until 2:30 this morning and his description gives a flavour of how difficult the rescue is. These divers are amazing in what they can do. They were travelling in zero visibility and they made progress without any real difficulty but it was the debris in the water that prevented them from gaining further access to the tunnel….they couldn’t get beyond the flooded section Really the things about the mines is there is not a lot of room down there. And all the emphasis in about pumping that water out. Right now it is very noisy there’s people back and forward trying to make sure the pumps are working and certainly the conditions I was in it was very difficult, pitch black water, very cold. So not a great place to be working but there is a job to be done there. 8.59am: A police press conference has revealed that one miner has been found dead. Police do not yet now the identity of the body. Superintendent Phil Davies told reporters at the scene: “A miner has been found. He is deceased. We are not in a current position to recover him from the mine and therefore we don’t know the identity of that person. “This is a dynamic, ongoing search and rescue operation and all emergency services are working hard to get all the miners out of there as soon as possible.” 8.55am: Good morning. Welcome to our live blog of the rescue operation to save four miners who are currently trapped in a Welsh mine after flood waters broke through to the mine system from an old abandoned shaft. • One miner has been reported as dead. • The incident began on Thursday morning and the trapped miners have been named as Phillip Hill, 45, from Neath, Charles Bresnan, 62, David Powell, 50, and Garry Jenkins, 39, all from Swansea valley. • Last night divers had to abandon their efforts after about 30 metres due to the hazardous conditions of the water. • Local MP Peter Hain and shadow Welsh minster said “The fact that they have been trapped for so long is very, very disturbing,” he said. • We are expecting a news conference shortly. Wales Mining Shiv Malik guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Is Julius Malema South Africa’s president in waiting? | Justice Malala
September 16, 2011 No Comment
Justice Malala on the ANC youth leader whose support is surging despite defeat in the high court Three years ago the final school results of the leader of the African National Congress’s Youth League, Julius Malema, were leaked on the internet and subsequently published by the press. They showed that the firebrand had achieved a G in woodwork, and had performed even more dismally in other subjects. South Africa was united in its laughter. Cartoons and email jokes hopped between offices. Malema, whose English was not what one could call polished, did not help matters by launching a personal attack on the accent of the education minister – and then being forced into a grovelling apology. In 2009, he launched a campaign to nationalise mines and expropriate white land without compensation, which was consistently contradicted by leaders of his own party and ridiculed in the press. Malema was not a force to be reckoned with, the consensus was. That was then. Yesterday, the “buffoon” of South African politics was named as one of Africa’s 10 most powerful young men by international business magazine Forbes. “The ANCYL wields enormous power in South African politics, and played a pivotal role in the election of incumbent president, Jacob Zuma, during the 2009 presidential elections,” Forbes said. It is not far off the mark. Malema has come from nowhere and, in just three years since his controversial election in 2008 as ANC Youth League president, has inserted himself at the very centre of debate about South Africa’s future political direction. On the two touchiest issues in South Africa – macro-economic policy and race relations – Malema is the central player . This week, after a high court judge ruled that Malema’s favourite struggle song, ” Dubhula iBhunu ” (“Shoot the Boer”) constituted hate speech and was therefore banned, Malema slammed the judiciary, saying it was being used as a “back door” to usher apartheid back in. “We’re being subjected again to white minority approval of what we must do and we cannot allow that,” he said. “The oppressor has gained too much confidence and we allowed that space. We have reached a time [when] we must place the oppressor where he belongs.” Malema does not make just white people – and many middle-class black people – jittery. His call for the nationalisation of mines, expropriation of white land without compensation and an overhaul of the economy to benefit the poor have already noticeably chilled investor sentiment towards South Africa. According to a UN report in 2011, South Africa’s share of foreign direct investment fell 70% last year from 2009. Malema has become what his growing number of supporters call an “unstoppable tsunami”, a phrase once used to describe Zuma as he made his bid to unseat Thabo Mbeki from office. Many say he has become too popular and too powerful to rein in. Malema is in a titanic struggle with Zuma, who once declared him a future president, and has been brought before the ANC’s disciplinary committee on charges of bringing the party into disrepute. This is after he said the league would send a team to neighbouring Botswana to consolidate opposition parties and to help bring about regime change, as the government there was “in full co-operation with imperialists”. These are not Malema’s only troubles. He has faced intense media scrutiny and exposure of his lavish lifestyle. He has more than eight known properties, recently demolished a 3.6m rand (£308,000) house and is building a new one valued at 16m rand with a bunker, and is mocked for his flashy cars and collection of watches. The “economic freedom fighter”, as he calls himself, is being investigated by the revenue services, the office of the public protector and the elite crime-fighting unit, the Hawks. Yet Malema’s influence continues to grow and his travails are watched with interest. It is an extraordinary journey for a young man (he is only 30), who was born and raised in poverty in one of South Africa’s poorest provinces, Limpopo. In the foreword to a new book (An Inconvenient Youth: Julius Malema and the “new” ANC) by Irish journalist Fiona Forde, philosopher and political scientist Achille Mbembe writes that one of the main tensions in South African politics today is the realisation that there is something unresolved in the constitutional democratic settlement that suspended the “revolution” in 1994 but did not erase apartheid from the social, economic and mental landscape. “It is the stalemate Malema would like to puncture,” Mbembe writes. “It is in the failure of the South African government and society to build creatively on the extraordinary rupture, or promise, of 1994 and radically confront black poverty that Malema sees his political opportunity. “His ascendancy highlights the current dangers South Africa faces: a gradual closing of life chances for many; an increasing polarisation of the racial structure; a structure of indecision at the heart of politics itself; and a re-balkanisation of culture and society.” Mbembe’s assessment comes within the backdrop of an increasingly unequal South Africa. University of Cape Town economics professor Haroon Bhorat said in 2009 that South Africa overtook Brazil as the country with the widest gap between rich and poor. This explains Malema’s massive popularity in shack settlements, where he is feted as a saviour of the poor. Last weekend, he drove from his home in the plush Johannesburg suburb of Sandton, known as the shopping mecca of the continent, to Alexandra township, one of the poorest places in South Africa. He was his usual radical self. “Anybody who says we have contravened an ANC policy by saying they [whites] have stolen the land, they must tell us which policy we contravened,” he told the crowd. Malema has crafted his campaign for “economic freedom in our lifetime” as a struggle similar to that waged by Nelson Mandela and his comrades to radicalise an ANC that would not take up the armed struggle in the 1950s even as apartheid became increasingly entrenched and bitter. In the squatter camp on Saturday, he cast himself as a martyr: “If we have come to the end, let it be so. If you are angry with Julius, don’t destroy the ANC Youth League. It doesn’t belong to Julius … but because you do not come from the youth league, because you know nothing about the politics of the ANC, you want to destroy the work of Nelson Mandela.” He then cut a cake delivered in a Porsche by a celebrity known for eating sushi off naked women. The crowd loved it. This is part of the contradiction of Malema. Even as he is vilified by the press for his association with crass celebrities and the flaunting of his incredible wealth with inexplicable origins, ordinary people say “what’s wrong with Juju making money”. In him, many see themselves. In him, many see a man who takes on an untransformed South Africa and champions their cause. “His popularity is not unlike that of Robert Mugabe,” says Forde, who had unfettered access to him until she started asking difficult questions. “Democrat or demagogue? I think he is a demagogue.” For the next few days, though, all eyes will be on whether Malema is suspended or expelled from the ANC. Whatever decision is made about him, it will determine whether he participates in the ANC’s Mangaung conference in December 2012. The ANC Youth League has already made it clear that it demands “generational change”, meaning that the older generation of ANC leaders must make way for a younger breed. Zuma is one of those the league wants to see replaced. If he loses this week’s battle to Malema, then he has no chance of a second term and the ANC faces a radically changed future, largely scripted by a young man who came from nowhere to refashion the ANC of Mandela. Malema’s chances cannot be under-estimated. Zuma has already failed to rein him in once, when Malema shrugged off charges in 2010. Like Zuma when he was facing corruption charges, many are now saying Malema is the ANC’s new “man with nine lives”. His fate is not his alone. It is South Africa’s too. South Africa Africa ANC (African National Congress) Jacob Zuma Justice Malala guardian.co.uk
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Media say report blames systems and staff mismanagement for failing to deal with problems after lightning struck train An investigation into a deadly bullet train crash in China has found that faulty signal systems and mismanagement were mainly to blame, reports said on Friday, though the accident was triggered by a lightning strike. China’s state council, or cabinet, is reviewing the findings from the probe into the July disaster, which killed 40 people, injured 177 and prompted checks for the entire bullet train program, the Caijing financial magazine and other reports said. The lightning strike caused one bullet train to stall and a sensor failure allowed a second train to keep moving on the same track and slam into it. The Daily News newspaper cited experts warning that the faulty signal systems are still in use at dozens of stations along high-speed rail lines. Caijing cited one of the experts participating in the inquiry, Wei Zhen, as confirming that it had been completed. But it said Wei, a professor at the Hefei University of Technology, did not reveal details of its findings. The Daily News, reiterating earlier reported findings, said the crash occurred because a signal that should have turned red when lightning stalled the first train stayed green. Railway staff also failed to notice something was wrong. The Beijing National Railway Research & Design Institute of Signals and Communications Co, which made the signal, has publicly apologised after the crash. Although the railways are rushing to fix the faulty systems, some experts believe train services should be stopped until all the problems are fixed, the Daily News reported. It cited an unnamed expert saying that the crash occurred because of an unusually heavy lightning storm and that the signals normally should work. Whether they would be replaced would depend on a variety of factors, including cost, it said. “There were also many problems with management and co-ordination and some of the workers are not well qualified,” the Daily News cited the report as saying. However, assigning responsibility for the mismanagement is proving controversial it added. The Wenzhou crash was a heavy blow for the showcase high-speed railway programme and has invigorated public criticism over the costs and speed with which it has been rolled out. It also precipitated month-long inspections of dozens of projects and 3,700 miles (6,000 kilometres) of bullet train lines. China has 13 high-speed railways in operation, with 26 under construction and 23 more planned, although approvals of new projects were frozen following the Wenzhou crash. Earlier plans called for expanding the network to 10,000 miles (16,000 kilometres) of track by 2020. China guardian.co.uk
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Report finds newly registered doctors, and those from abroad, need better support to practise safely on the NHS Newly qualified and foreign doctors need to go on a basic induction course before they start working in the UK amid fears they may be not be fully prepared to start treating patients, according to the General Medical Council. Those entering the UK health service for the first time should be given a basic induction, the GMC said. It made the suggestion after a new report, published on Friday, found some new doctors start clinical practice with little or no preparation for working in the UK, while some locums are taking on duties without appropriate training. Last year a government-ordered review into out-of-hours healthcare called for proper inductions for all doctors who had never worked out-of-hours or in the NHS before. It came after a coroner ruled David Gray, 70, was unlawfully killed by German doctor Daniel Ubani in February 2008 when he injected him with 10 times the recommended dose of painkiller diamorphine. An inquest heard Ubani, 67, was providing cover for GPs in and around Newmarket, Suffolk, when called to treat Gray at his home in Manea, Cambridgeshire. The GMC report found doctors going into the health service for the first time – including those from abroad, as well as newly registered doctors, need better support to practise safely. Its recommendations include an induction programme for all doctors new to the UK health service. Plans for the induction are due to go to the GMC council before the end of the year. According to the regulator, every year roughly 12,000 doctors from the UK, Europe and countries around the world start working in the UK for the first time. The report, which uses GMC and other data, said more needs to be done to make sure induction is consistent for all doctors, especially those from outside the UK. An induction programme would make sure they get an early understanding of ethical and professional standards they will be expected to meet, and become familiar with how medicine is practised across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The report found while there were some good local schemes for doctors new to practice, there was evidence of new doctors undertaking clinical practice with little or no preparation for working in the UK, or locum doctors taking on duties without appropriate training. Earlier this month a six-figure sum was handed to the family of a young father who died from blood poisoning on Christmas Day after he was misdiagnosed by a locum GP. Malcolm Drake, 23, from Blurton in Stoke-on-Trent, died in 2007 from sepsis after he developed an abscess following a perforation in his bowel as a result of undiagnosed Crohn’s disease. He was sent home twice from hospital, the second time misdiagnosed with a muscle strain by locum GP Dr Aw – working out of hours and on his first day at the hospital, law firm Irwin Mitchell said. Stoke-on-Trent primary care trust has since admitted the locum should have sought an immediate second opinion. The GMC said it plans to work with doctors’ employers and professional organisations to develop a basic induction programme for all medics. GMC chief executive, Niall Dickson, said: “While there is much to celebrate about medical practice in the UK, the challenges are also clear – we must do more to make sure that all doctors understand the standards expected of them. “Developing an induction programme for all doctors new to our register will give them the support they need to practise safely and to conform to UK standards. “This will provide greater assurance to patients that the doctor treating them is ready to start work on day one. “We hope this report will contribute to a better understanding of the challenges the profession faces as well as challenging us and those we work with to redouble our efforts to improve standards and protect patients.” The GMC said challenges included an ageing population with more complex health needs, and tension between a health service that must deliver care with constrained funding and within European working time rules. It also said common areas of complaints about doctors covered clinical investigations or treatment; respect for patients; and communication with patients. It said revalidation – where licensed doctors have to regularly show the GMC that they are up to date and fit to practise – would be introduced in 2012, helping to embed professional standards. Doctors NHS Health guardian.co.uk
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