• Jobless total rises to 2.51m • Unemployment rate at 7.9% • Public sector employment falls by 111,000 • Claimant count rises by 20,300 in August Public sector job cuts imposed as part of the government’s austerity drive have sent unemployment back through the 2.5m barrier, according to official figures released on Wednesday. The Office for National Statistics said the number of people out of work rose by 80,000 in the three months to July, reaching 2.51m. Despite ministerial hopes that the private sector will be able to compensate for the squeeze on the public sector, the ONS said the May to July period had seen the sharpest rise in unemployment in two years. The unemployment rate using the internationally agreed yardstick for calculating joblessness rose to 7.9% for May to July, from 7.7% in February to April. Officials said that employment in the public sector had fallen by 111,000 in the second quarter of 2011, the biggest drop since recent records began in 1999. The government’s alternative measure for unemployment – the claimant count – indicated that an additional 20,300 people were out of work and claiming benefits in August, a smaller increase than the City had feared following an increase of more than 30,000 in July. The claimant count total now stands at 1,580,900. Unemployment on both measures has been rising in recent months as the UK’s recovery from the deep recession of 2008-09 has stalled. Economic output has increased by just 0.2% in the nine months to June. The ONS data showed that employment in the three months to July fell by 69,000, the weakest performance since spring 2010. Employment minister Chris Grayling, said: “Today’s figures underline the scale of the challenge that we face particularly given slower growth across Europe and North America. Unemployment remains lower than it was six months ago but clearly we must continue to focus our efforts on supporting business growth and ensure that people who do lose their jobs have the best possible support to get back into employment.” Unemployment and employment statistics Economics Public sector cuts Economic policy Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Care Quality Commission had to cut inspections to divert resources to registering dental practices The health and social care watchdog was set an impossible working brief but failed to raise the alarm before an inevitable collapse in the number of inspections it carried out, an inquiry by MPs has concluded. Inspection activity by the Care Quality Commission plunged 70% in the second half of 2010-11 compared with the year before, after it was forced to divert resources to registering dental practices, according to the Commons health select committee. Finding that the commission was set up with unclear and unrealistic objectives, that timescales and resource demands were not thought through and that the process of registering care providers was untested, the committee said: “The CQC failed to draw the implications of these failures adequately to the attention of ministers, parliament and the public.” The report caps a torrid summer for the commission, which was established in 2008 to provide a single regulatory body for health and social care services in England. The organisation has faced criticism for failing to raise an alert over the plight of Southern Cross, the leading care home chain that is now being wound up, and for failing to act on a whistleblower’s concerns about the regime of abuse subsequently exposed at Winterbourne View, the private learning disability hospital near Bristol that has since been closed by its operator, Castlebeck. Plans put forward by the commission for an excellence kitemark, for which social care providers would have to pay extra, have been roundly rejected and are expected to be ditched. The select committee says a “significant proportion” of evidence given to the inquiry expressed concerns about the commission’s work. “The overall impression is one of frustration with the CQC and a lack of confidence in its ability to execute its main functions efficiently.” Stephen Dorrell, who chairs the committee, said the decision to shift resources into registering 8,000 dental practices, in order to meet a statutory deadline of April this year, had distracted the commission from its core function and distorted its priorities. Ministers have now agreed to defer for 12 months the registration of GP practices, which had been due for completion by next spring. The commission has asked for a 10% increase in its budget, which was £161m last year, to cope with the workload, but the select committee is “noting” rather than backing the request. Asked if he was surprised that the CQC’s leadership remained in place, Dorrell said: “I welcome the fact that the leadership in place has now made clear that it is doing some things that, in the view of the committee, should have happened some time before.” The CQC, which has undertaken to visit all care providers annually, said inspection figures were now rising rapidly. Between April and June, it had published 2,527 inspection reports on NHS and social care providers, compared with 886 between October and December last year. An additional 100 inspectors were being recruited. Social care Health Health policy David Brindle guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Unison, GMB and Unite, who together represent 1.5 million public sector workers, are expected to announce intention to hold strike ballots over planned changes to pensions The leader of the country’s largest public sector union has given notice of an industrial action ballot that could result in more than 1 million members taking part in a national day of co-ordinated action. Dave Prentis, the general secretary of Unison, opened a debate on a motion calling for the TUC to co-ordinate strike action by public sector unions over the government’s proposed reforms to public sector pension schemes. Prentis told delegates that striking was the “last thing” his members wanted to do, but after “eight long months” of looking for an agreement, the union had decided “enough is enough”. He accused ministers of trying to get a “pound of flesh” from ordinary workers by planning measures that would reduce the pensions members had saved for “every week of their working lives”. As David Cameron’s envoy for trade unions, Richard Balfe, looked on, Prentis said that if members did not take a stand now, the government would come back for “more and more”. “Make no mistake congress, this is it. We will take the fight to them.” The GMB and Unite are expected to follow with similar announcements during the course of the debate. A statement is due later on Wednesday after public sector unions meet to discuss tactics. A number of other unions have already announced their intention to ballot. The GMB and Unite unions are expected to tell the TUC of their decision to hold strike ballots as they use the conference stage to attack the planned reforms of public sector pension schemes and condemn “misleading statements” put out by ministers on the case for change. The TUC will hear calls for balloted unions to co-ordinate strike action to make the maximum impact over planned changes to pensions, which will see contributions increase by 3.2%. Unions have held talks about co-ordinating action, with many eyeing the 29 November – the day that the chancellor, George Osborne, to expected to deliver his pre-budget report – as a possible date. An announcement on the plan is expected on Wednesday afternoon, when public sector unions meet the TUC leader, Brendan Barber, after the close of the conference at lunchtime to discuss the way forward. It is understood the GMB will declare a ballot, and that Unison is close to announcing a poll of more than 1 million members. A senior trade union source said strike plans had been developed for “several months” and will include “sustained action.” The source said: “One-day strikes on their own will not be enough. We need to be innovative. Some of these disputes could be indefinite.” The civil service workers’ organisation, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), already has a mandate from its members, and the PCS leader, Mark Serwotka, has already signalled his intention to co-ordinate a national strike alongside other unions. Serwotka has already said that unions have been in talks about following a national day of action with rolling “smart” strikes targeted in specific service areas. The decision of the biggest unions in the country to go ahead with ballots comes just a day after Ed Miliband, the Labour leader, told delegates that strikes over pensions would be a “mistake”. Anger over pension schemes has seen some unlikely suspects propelled into discussing ballot plans. Two civil service unions, Prospect and the FDA, announced last week their respective executives had given the go-ahead for a ballot unless the government amends its proposal to impose a pensions levy on civil servants from April 2012. Opposition to key proposed reforms could also see a union representing school leaders go on strike for the first time in its 114-year history. The National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) – a union outside the TUC umbrella – is expected to announce details of its ballot later this week and subject to the ballot result, intends to co-ordinate with other unions. Russell Hobby, general secretary of the NAHT, said: “Unless negotiations produce real results, the NAHT will ballot its members in late September on industrial action over pension cuts. “If our members vote yes, and they appear definite on the matter, we could see school leaders on strike for first time since the union was established in 1897. It is a desperate time for our members who instinctively do not want to leave their posts even for a day. “They believe they are not only defending existing pension rights but trying to protect the future of education in this country. If we do not value teachers, we cannot hope to signal to the best graduates that this is the right career for them.” Unions who took part in the action on 30 June – including three education unions – are still covered by their ballot should they wish to take further action. The NASUWT – one of seven education unions taking part in a lobby of parliament over pensions on 26 October, announced on Friday it was planning to ballot members over pensions, pay and job cuts. Trade unions Public sector careers Public sector cuts Public sector pay Public sector pensions Conferences Hélène Mulholland Dan Milmo guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
• More stats for this game than you can shake a stick at • Hit F5 or turn or autorefresh for updates • Email barry.glendenning@guardian.co.uk 14 min: “Squeeze ball position,” says referee George Clancy, awarding Scotland a penalty after Georgia winger Alexander Todua had sprinted down right wing and tried and failed to squeeze the ball between his legs upon being tackled. Scotland clear their lines courtesy of Dan Parks. 13 min: Georgia win a penalty just inside their own half and the camera immediately cuts to a guilty looking Scotland flanker Ross Rennie. I have no idea what he did there, but he’s allowed Merab Kvirikashvili the opportunity to kick for touch again. 10 min: Scotland win a line-out about five yards from the Georgia try-line. After a busy period of rucking, Scottish scrum-half Rory Lawson plays the ball out the left, where centre Nick De Luca knocks on. Georgia get to clear their lines. 8 min: “It’s all about the intensity of the game … the level of intensity and the level of contact,” expounds ITV match analyst Scott Hastings, as a pair of Scots double up to put a stop to the gallop of Georgian centre Tedo Zibzibadze. It’s been a bruising encounter so far, but not as attritional and forward-driven as the pundits suggested it would be before the game. 5 min: Excellent carrying by Georgia’s talismanic flanker Mamuka Gorgodze, who sets up a Georgia scrum inside the Scotland 22. Scrum-half Irakli Abuseridze pings the ball back to fly-half Kvirikashvili, who slices a left-footed drop goal attempt wide of the left upright. That’s a poor effort – he was under the posts and should have put his team ahead. 2 min: Just inside his own half, Georgian second-row Vakhtang Maisuradze charges into a wall of Scottish opposition and Nathan Hines is penalised for being offside Scotland get penalised for offside. Merab Kvirikashvili kicks for touch. Kick-off: It’s a very pleasant evening in Invercargill, types minute-by-minute reporter from London bunker, with the wind and rain of the weekend having dissipated. Georgia kick off, courtesy of fly-half Merab Kvirikashvili, but concede a penalty for handling on the ground in the ensuing ruck, allowing Dan Parks a free kick for touch. Not long now: Out on the pitch, a topless man in a grass skirt summons the teams from the dressing room by blowing into a giant conch. Meanwhile back in Blighty, ITV1 pundit Gareth Thomas claims “it’s going to be a really interesting physical encounter, like an arm-wrestle for the first 10 minutes”. He adds that Scotland fly-half Dan Parks is likely to “kick the leather off the ball” in his efforts to get Scotland into good positions, but both he and his fellow pundit Thom Evans concede that Scotland are vulnerable today. With matches against England and Argentina to come, this encounter with Georgia is decidedly “must-win”. Good morning and welcome to our minute-by-minute coverage of the Pool B match between Scotland and Georgia at Invercargill, commercial centre of New Zealand’s southland region, one of the southernmost cities in the world and a place where many of the main thoroughfares are named after Scottish rivers: Dee Street and Tay Street take a bow. The Scots have a nervy win over Romania under their sporrans and today face equally hardy east European opposition whose main strengths can be found from numbers one to eight. In the buildup to the game, Georgia’s manager Richie Dixon, a Scot, spoke of his side’s hopes of taking the game to Scotland in the scrum but conceded that Georgia are at a disadvantage because their opposition have played a game already. “I think Georgia has built a reputation on the fact that their forwards are good at scrummaging and our aim is to maintain that,” said Dixon. “Our problem is that Scotland now have a game under their belt and we are coming in cold. It’s really up to us to make sure that when we hit the ground, we hit the ground running.” Thirteen of Georgia’s starting line-up ply their trade in France and the star turn is undoubtedly openside flanker Mamuka ‘Gorgodzilla’ Gorgodze, who plays for Montpellier and was named by L’Equipe as the Top 14′s leading overseas player in the 2010-11 season. Agen’s Dimitri Basilaia will play at No8, while Toulon prop David Kubriashvili is on the bench, emphasising the strength in depth of the Georgian pack. “We have versatility in our back row and we feel for this particular game Mamuka at No7 and Dimitri at No8 is how we will start this game,” said Dixon. “It’s not a new formation for us. He [Gorgodze] plays very frequently at No7 for Montpellier and has played for us a number of times there. We feel, for this particular game, this particular combination is the way we want to go.” Scotland coach Andy Robinson has made 11 changes in personnel to the team that struggled to beat Romania, although he insists this is not a damning indictment of the players who struggled to assert their dominance in their opening game. “It’s a cracking side that we’ve selected,” said Robinson, who has kept Max Evans and Allan Jacobsen as winger and prop respectively, moved Sean Lamont from centre to wing and switched Kelly Brown from flanker to No8. “It’s very difficult for the players to play two matches in four days. We need to be very physical and be able to smash the Georgians to the floor.” Teams Scotland: 15-Rory Lamont, 14-Max Evans, 13-Nick De Luca, 12-Graeme Morrison, 11-Sean Lamont, 10-Dan Parks, 9-Rory Lawson (captain); 8-Kelly Brown, 7-Ross Rennie, 6-Ally Strokosch, 5-Jim Hamilton, 4-Nathan Hines, 3-Euan Murray, 2-Scott Lawson, 1-Allan Jacobsen. Replacements: 16-Ross Ford, 17-Geoff Cross, 18-Alasdair Dickinson, 19-Richie Gray, 20-Richie Vernon, 21-Chris Cusiter, 22-Chris Paterson. Georgia: 15-Revaz Gigauri, 14-Irakli Machkhaneli, 13-David Kacharava, 12-Tedo Zibzibadze, 11-Alexander Todua, 10-Merab Kvirikashvili, 9-Irakli Abuseridze (captain), 8-Dimitri Basilaia, 7-Mamuka Gorgodze, 6-Shalva Sutiashvili, 5-Vakhtang Maisuradze, 4-Levan Datunashvili, 3-David Zirakashvili, 2-Jaba Bregvadze, 1-David Khinchagishvili. Replacements: 16-Akvsenti Giorgadze, 17-David Kubriashvili, 18-Giorgi Chkhaidze, 19-Viktor Kolelishvili, 20-Bidzina Samkharadze, 21-Lasha Khmaladze, 22-Malkhaz Urjukashvili. Referee: George Clancy (Ireland) Touch judge: Tim Hayes (Wales) Touch judge: Simon McDowell (Ireland) Video referee: Shaun Veldsman (South Africa) Rugby World Cup 2011 Scotland rugby union team Georgia rugby union team Rugby union Barry Glendenning guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Architects’ report claims new three-bedroom houses are being constructed 8% smaller than guidelines advise The Royal Institute of British Architects has criticised the “shoe box” sized homes now being built in Britain. Ahead of its inquiry into housing needs, RIBA claims that many of the new homes being constructed are too small for the number of people expected to live in them. The institute says the average new three-bedroom house is 8% smaller than the recently adopted standard for homes in London, with floor space of 88 sq metres (947 sq ft). That is 8 sq metres short of the recommended space, the equivalent of a single bedroom. One-bedroom properties, at an average of 46 sq metres, are 4 sq metres short of the recommended size, it adds in its recent report The Case for Space. RIBA suggests that potential buyers are being short-changed and fobbed off with “shameful shoe box homes”. The London Housing Design Guide, adopted in the past year or so, lays down, among other features, minimum space standards for new properties, based on factors such as the average quantity of furnishings as well as number of occupants. The RIBA inquiry, to be conducted by Sir John Banham, a former director-general of the CBI and former chair of the Tarmac group, is expected to report by next summer and will feed into the government’s proposals to alter planning rules. The inquiry will seek the views of architects, builders, planners and purchasers. Banham said: “”There are some fundamental issues that need to be addressed to ensure we have more of the right kind of affordable homes in villages, towns and cities … new thinking and financing approaches will be needed.” Anna Scott-Marshall, RIBA’s head of policy, said that the organisation’s Future Homes Commission would address issues such as housing costs, building quality, design and layout, including factors such as the amount of light in a property. “We need to look into affordability and the mechanisms that need to be in place to enable people to buy,” she said. Housing Real estate Housing market Planning policy Architecture Stephen Bates guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Young girl among dead as latest in string of violent assaults in public places fuels concern over mental illness and stress A man with an axe has attacked children and parents walking on a city street in central China, killing four people and wounding two, according to a local official. Villagers have identified the perpetrator of the attack, on the outskirts of the city of Gongyi, as a local farmer with a history of mental illness, the city government spokesman said. He said one young girl was among those killed while another was seriously wounded when the alleged assailant, Wang Hongbin, began attacking people on a main street in Gongyi’s Shecun township at about 8.40am. The spokesman said Wang had been detained but gave no other details. Gongyi is in the heavily populated Henan province, in China’s grain belt. A string of attacks at schools, retirement homes and on city streets in China has left dozens of people dead and scores more wounded since the start of 2010. Last month, a worker slashed children with a knife at a daycare centre for migrant workers in eastern China, wounding eight of them. Reports said the female attacker had suffered a “psychotic episode”. In one of the worst attacks, seven children and two adults were killed at a kindergarten in the north of the country in May last year. While seemingly unrelated, the attacks have prompted calls for more attention to serious mental illnesses and concern over rising stress levels in Chinese society. Assailants in most attacks were mentally unstable, bore grudges against their victims or were angry over personal failures. Schools around China boosted security last year, with more guards at entrances. China guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Security forces kill remaining insurgents after attack on foreign embassies and Nato base from high-rise building An assault by Taliban insurgents on the heart of Kabul’s diplomatic and military enclave ended after 20 hours when security forces killed the last of six attackers, a spokesman for the ministry of the interior has said “The operation just ended and six terrorists were killed by police. Details on casualties will be announced later,” the spokesman, Sediq Sediqqi, said on Twitter. The insurgents had holed up in a multistorey building still under construction and launched their attack early on Tuesday afternoon, firing rockets towards the US and other embassies and the headquarters of Nato-led foreign forces . Afghan security forces backed by Nato and Afghan attack helicopters fought Taliban insurgents floor by floor in the building in the longest sustained attack on the capital since the US-led invasion a decade ago. One or two fighters held out overnight in the high-rise building, the site of the most spectacular of four co-ordinated attacks across the city. Suicide bombers had targeted police buildings in other parts of the city. At least nine people were killed and 23 were wounded in four attacks, and the ability of the Taliban to penetrate Kabul was a clear show of strength before a planned handover of security to Afghan forces in 2014. The insurgents were armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers, AK-47 assault rifles and suicide bomb vests, a Taliban spokesman said. But the amount of time during which the squad held off foreign and Afghan troops prompted speculation they had access weapons and ammunition hidden in the building before the attack. Gunfire continued throughout the night, with residents of nearby buildings staying indoors with their lights off, as children panicked and helicopters flew low overhead. “It would go silent for 30 to 35 minutes and then there were explosions and the sound of heavy machine guns,” the Taliban spokesman said. Explosions were interspersed with gunfire all afternoon on Tuesday and several rockets landed in the wealthy Wazir Akbar Khan district, near the British and other embassies. One hit a school bus but it appeared to have been empty at the time. “There was almost certainly either a breakdown in security among the Afghans with responsibility for Kabul or an intelligence failure,” said Andrew Exum, from the Centre for a New American Security. On the day the attack started, a US Senate panel approved a $1.6bn (£1bn) cut in projected US funding for Afghan security forces, part of a significant reduction in outlays for training and equipping Afghan army and police expected in the coming years. The US and British embassies and the Nato-led coalition said all their staff were safe. Violence is at its worst since US-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban government in late 2001, with high levels of foreign troop deaths and record civilian casualties. The assault was the second big attack in the city in under a month after suicide bombers targeted the British Council headquarters in mid-August, killing nine people. In late June, insurgents launched an assault on a hotel in the capital used by westerners, killing at least 10. Afghanistan Global terrorism US national security United States Nato guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Moody’s has cut Société Générale and Credit Agricole’s credit ratings – just hours ahead of crucial talks between Germany, France and Greece 8.45am: Here’s some early analysis of the French banking downgrade from Jill Treanor, our banking correspondent: Markets have been expecting the downgrade by Moody’s to come today or on Thursday, because the agency had warned it might downgrade them three months ago. Since then, the French banks been trying to prevent such a move: SocGen announced €4bn of asset sales on Monday – but was still downgraded. BNP Paribas’s balance sheet reduction programme announced earlier today appears to have stalled a downgrade for now. But Greece isn’t the only worry as Moody’s talks about the “structural challenges to banks’ funding and liquidity profiles” for the sector. This may be more of a concern. Just as happened to UK banks in 2007 and 2008, funds in the US are much more reluctant to lend money to French banks. The boss of SocGen described this yesterday as a “new world which is a bit disturbing”, but stressed at the presentation in New York that the bank was able to find dollars from elsewhere and alter its funding needs in the markets. All the French banks need to convince the markets that they can keep funding themselves, otherwise the rumours of a government bail out will refuse to go away. You can read the full report of SocGen CEO Frédéric Oudéa’s trip to New York here . 8.24am: French banks shares have fallen sharply again following Moody’s downgrade — and despite Christian Noyer’s admirable optimism : Société Générale has been hardest hit, losing 4.2% in the first 20mins of trading. Credit Crédit Agricole is faring slightly better, down 3.2% at pixel time. The biggest faller, perhaps surprisingly, is BNP Paribas, whose shares have tumbled by 5.1%. It dodged a downgrade – and announced a €70bn asset sale plan. City analysts, though, reckon BNP is on borrowed time. As Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets, puts it: Surely it can only be a matter of time before BNP Paribas follows in their wake, as the bank announces a restructuring plan to increase capital, probably in order to head off a downgrade at the pass. 8.12am: France’s answer to Mervyn King, Bank of France governor Christian Noyer , has just responded to the downgrade — with a classic Gallic shrug. Speaking to a French radio station, Noyer described the downgrades of two of France’s largest banks as “relatively good news”. Moody’s decision just means French banks now had equivalent ratings to European peers, he argued: French banks have an excellent rating, the same level as other major European banks, HSBC, Barclays, Deutsche Bank, Credit Suisse. There’s no really bad news on the way, and Moody’s says the level of capital of French banks allows them to absorb any potential losses on sovereign debt.” The downgrade was “very small”, Noyer added. 8.02am: The City had been braced for Moody’s to downgrade the French banks, since it put the sector on negative watch three months ago. The move is a blow to Europe’s political leaders as they attempt to persuade the financial markets that Greece’s problems can be contained. Moody’s said that funding conditions in the banking sector had worsened since it started its review – particularly bad news for French banks, which hold $56.7bn (£36bn) of Greek debt. Here’s the full details of the downgrade: The debt and deposit ratings for SocGen were moved from Aa3 to Aa2. The bank’s overall strength rating, currently at C+, remains under review, Moody’s said, with a one notch downgrade likely. Credit Agricole’s overall bank strength rating was downgraded from C+ to C, while its long-term debt and deposit ratings were moved down to Aa1 from Aa2. BNP Paribas’s rating, meanwhile, remains on review as Moody’s considers its reliance on wholesale funding, the ratings agency said. In SocGen’s case, Moody’s said that the bank could cover losses on Greek, Portuguese and Irish debt, but added: “Nevertheless, SocGen’s wholesale funding, the majority of which is short-term, is still high in absolute terms and may pose a vulnerability given considerable market tension.” The debt and deposit ratings were downgraded to reflect changes in Moody’s assumptions about the level of support the French government might provide in the event of a crisis, it added. Credit Agricole’s exposure to Greek debt had led to its downgrade: “Moody’s has concluded that although GCA has considerable capital resources to absorb potential losses arising over time from these risks, the exposures themselves are too large to be consistent with existing ratings.” Moody’s had said in June that it was putting the three banks under review. 7.45am: Good morning. It’s another crunch day for Europe, as the debt crisis that has convulsed the region for months intensifies. As dawn broke over the City of London, Moody’s slashed the credit ratings of two of France’s biggest banks – Société Générale and Credit Agricole. Both have major holdings of Greek debt – leaving them vulnerable to a default. A third bank, BNP Paribas, was spared a downgrade, for now, but is planning to sell €70bn (£60.6bn) of assets to patch up its capital reserves. The move comes as Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel prepare to hold crisis talks with Greek prime minister George Papandreou . Italy will also be in focus, as the Italian parliament votes on Silvio Berlusconi’s controversial austerity plan. Back in the UK, the latest unemployment data is released at 9.30am – an opportunity to see how Britain’s own economy is faring. So, a big day for the eurozone, and beyond. We’ll bring you the latest action and reaction throughout the day. European debt crisis Europe France Financial crisis Société Générale European banks Banking Graeme Wearden Alex Hawkes guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Michigan is getting aggressive on childhood obesity: Under a new initiative, doctors will be required to report kids’ body weight and BMI stats to a state registry, the AP reports. The children’s identity would remain anonymous, but the move could still trigger concerns about privacy or the government overstepping its…
Continue reading …Bad: A 22-year-old male elephant stepped on a land mine in Myanmar and mangled its left foot, reports AP . Worse: He joins three other elephants being treated for the same thing at a facility in Thailand. The Friends of the Asian Elephant group has named the new patient Pa Hae…
Continue reading …