Between 2006 and 2009 carrier bag use was down by 40% but in 2010 the downward trend was reversed British consumers are packing away their green credentials along with their weekly shop, as last year an increasing number of us bundled our purchases into single-use plastic carrier bags instead of seeking out environmentally friendly alternatives. Plastic bag use plunged after 2006 , when the government, retailers and green campaigners spearheaded a push to cut down on the 11bn plastic carriers Britons used each year, most of which find their way into landfill or – much more damagingly – into waterways and the sea, where they are a hazard to marine life. By 2009, bag use was down by about 40% to under 6.5bn. But last year, that downward trend was reversed. Perhaps owing to recessionary worries, people forgot their hessian sacks and filled up on plastic again – more than 6.8bn were used, up about 5% on the previous year, according to the government’s Waste and Resources Action Programme (Wrap). The British Retail Consortium said part of the increase was likely to be down to shoppers making more short trips to stores, rather than a single big weekly shop. But the retail trade body said the small increase should be put in context of the “massive” progress made since 2006, and said plastic bags were only one of the many ways in which retailers were cutting their environmental impact. Bob Gordon, head of environment at the British Retail Consortium, said: “It’s encouraging to see the majority of consumers are continuing to reuse their carrier bags and are taking as few new bags as possible. We urge customers to keep that up, particularly when changing shopping habits, including more trips to stores, present a challenge to maintaining the progress made in recent years.” He rejected calls for a bag ban or charges, which could penalise shoppers at a time of financial hardship. “The overall numbers remain the sort of result other environmental campaigns can only dream of,” he said. “But it’s time to accept bags are not the be-all and end-all of environmental issues.” Plastic bag data is difficult to compare over the past five years, because of changes in the way the statistics are collected. Between 2008 and 2009, the data was collated on a mid-year basis, from June to May, but from last year Wrap decided to return to presenting it on a calendar year basis. In 2006, nearly 11bn single use carriers were used, but after campaigning this fell to 10bn the following year and was down to just over 7bn by 2008-09 before bottoming out at under 6.5bn by 2009-10. But for the full year of 2010, bag use rose again to 6.8bn. The campaign against disposable plastic bags , which green campaigners have pursued for years but which gained traction from 2006 when Wrap collated its first comprehensive statistics, enjoyed a high profile for several years. In 2007, it received a massive boost from the launch of Sainsbury’s stylish cotton shopping bag from designer Anya Hindmarch, emblazoned with the legend “I’m not a plastic bag”. The product – which sold for £5 in the supermarket – went on to have a lucrative after-life on eBay, reportedly changing hands for as much as £200 a time. But while retailers say they are continuing their efforts to reduce bag use, there is less publicity around the issue. However, in some parts of the UK, legislators are taking an interest. In Wales , shoppers will be charged 5p per bag from this October, and a consultation on charging for bags kicked off in Northern Ireland last week. Scotland shelved its proposals for a charge, but they could yet be revived. In Wales, the imminent charge may have helped to cut bag use – the total was down by 7% last year, compared with the rise in England and Scotland. John Griffiths, Welsh environment minister, said a charge was the best way to drive down carrier use, as voluntary agreements with retailers would not achieve enough. He said: “These figures show a real difference between carrier bag use in Wales and that in other parts of the UK where no mandatory charge is planned. This proves that the carrier bag charge, which is due to be introduced in Wales on 1 October, is the only way to ensure a real and lasting reduction in the use of carrier bags.” Plastic bags Waste Consumer affairs Fiona Harvey guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Two suicide bombers kill at least 15 people and injure 30 in an attack on a local bank in Saddam’s home town Two suicide bombers have killed at least 15 people and wounded more than 30 in the Iraqi city of Tikrit as police and soldiers were collecting their salaries at a local bank. The attacks were the latest to target local Iraqi security forces as the last US troops prepare to pull out of the country more than eight years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. One suicide bomber detonated his explosives among officers who were gathered outside the Rafidain bank in the centre of Tikrit, 150 km (95 miles) north of Baghdad, and moments later another blew up a car when emergency workers arrived, police said. “Just a few minutes after I entered I heard a huge explosion. We ran outside to see what was happening, I saw bodies and the wounded all over the place,” said Assam Dhiyab, a policeman who was collecting his unit’s wages. A Tikrit hospital official said at least 15 people were killed and more than 30 wounded in the blasts. Most of the casualties were Iraqi soldiers. Television footage showed a column of black smoke rising from the blast site. “Initial indications are that the first explosion was a suicide bomber wearing an explosive vest with a large amount of explosive,” said police lieutenant Mohammed Naif. “According to witnesses the bomber was targeting a group of soldiers and officers of the Iraqi army.” Tikrit, Saddam’s hometown, is dominated by Sunni Muslims and suspected Sunni Islamists tied to al-Qaida have carried out frequent attacks in the town, including two of the deadliest in the country this year. On 18 January a suicide bomber attacked a police recruiting centre, killing 60 people and wounding more than 100. On 29 March militants took hostages at the provincial council headquarters and fought gunbattles with the security forces. At least 53 people were killed and scores wounded. On 3 June, two blasts in the city, one targeting worshippers in a mosque, killed 21 people and wounded 70. Three days later a suicide bomberblew up a car at the entrance to a complex of palaces once used by Saddam, killing 13 people. Violence in Iraq has dropped sharply from the height of sectarian killing in 2006 and 2007, but insurgents and militias still carry out daily attacks and assassinations in an attempt to undermine the government. Local police and soldiers have been increasingly targeted both by Sunni and Shia armed groups. Insurgents often set off one blast and then detonate another when emergency forces arrive. The remaining 46,000 US troops in Iraq are due to leave by the end of this year. Iraqi forces say they can contain internal threats but acknowledge that they need more training to plug capability gaps. Iraq Middle East guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
An Air Canada flight returned to Sydney airport on Thursday after crew members saw smoke coming from an oven in the galley, an airline official said. (July 28)
Continue reading …
Freida Pinto and Henry Cavill launched their new upcoming Greek epic ‘Immortals’ at Comic-Con and say it’s not a sequel to the producer’s previous film, ’300,’ but they embrace the similarities. (July 28)
Continue reading …
Watch Stevie Nicks & Adam Levine Perform “Leather and Lace” (VIDEO) Stevie Nicks & Adam Levine “Leather and Lace” EGeac says: Adam Levine and Stevie Nicks sing “Leather and Lace” at the Hollywood Bowl http://goo.gl/fb/Z1Dzb
Continue reading …
Win for Hollywood studios as UK high court rules BT must block access to Newzbin2 Hollywood film studios won a landmark UK high court ruling on Thursday forcing BT to block access to an illegal file-sharing website accused of operating “on a grand scale”. The Motion Picture Association, the trade body whose members include Warner Bros, Fox, Disney and Paramount Pictures, has been granted an order requiring BT — the UK’s biggest internet service provider — to block its customers’ access to the website Newzbin2. Thursday’s verdict will be viewed by the creative industries as a landmark that could set a precedent for the widespread blocking of illegal filesharing websites by ISPs, helping to stem the flow of digital piracy in the UK. “In my judgment it follows that BT has actual knowledge of other persons using its service to infringe copyright: it knows that the users and operators of Newzbin2 infringe copyright on a large scale, and in particular infringe the copyrights of the studios in large numbers of their films and television programmes,” said Justice Arnold in his ruling at the high court in London. “[BT] knows that the users of Newzbin2 include BT subscribers, and it knows those users use its service to receive infringing copies of copyright works made available to them by Newzbin2,” Arnold added. BT had argued that forcing it to ban its 6 million UK customers from accessing a website would usher in a new wave of online censorship. However, the creative industries claim website blocking could save them hundreds of millions of pounds in illegal downloads. The MPA said that Newzbin2 makes unlawful copies of television programmes and films, and receives in excess of £1m a year from its 700,000 users. “This ruling from Justice Arnold is a victory for millions of people working in the UK creative industries and demonstrates that the law of the land must apply online,” said Chris Marcich, MPA managing director for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. “This court action was never an attack on ISPs, but we do need their cooperation to deal with the Newzbin site, which continually tries to evade the law and judicial sanction.” The film industry’s fight to block Newzbin stretches back to March last year, when the high court ordered the site to take down all of its pirated material and pay damages to the studios. The three men behind Newzbin Ltd – Chris Elsworth, Thomas Hurst and Lee Skillen – sold all of their shares in the company to David Harris shortly before the trial. Newzbin Ltd went into administration soon after the ruling and avoided the huge payouts. Months later a clone site appeared operating anonymously from Sweden. Rights holders said they had no choice but to force BT to block UK users’ access to the website, saying all other legal avenues had been exhausted. Simon Milner, director of group industry policy at BT, said the latest judgment means rights holders will now have to prove in court that a website infringes copyright before it is blocked. Milner added that the judgment puts the Digital Economy Act voluntary blocking scheme, drawn up at industry roundtable meetings earlier this year with Ed Vaizey, the culture minister, in an uncertain position. “[The judgment] is actually helpful and we welcome it because it clarifies a complex area of law and shows that rights holders can use the copyright laws in this country. It means they have to prove a site is infringing before [a] court and get a court order,” he said. Milner did not reveal how much it will cost ISPs such as BT to block infringing websites. Other internet providers, including TalkTalk and Virgin Media, declined to join BT’s battle against the film studios, the court was told in June. Speaking after Thursday’s judgment, a spokeswoman for TalkTalk said the ruling had “no direct or immediate” impact on the ISP, the second largest in the UK, but that it would consider any similar court orders brought by film studios against it. The Internet Service Providers’ association, which represents Britain’s ISPs, said: “Concerns about over-blocking, ease of circumvention and increased encryption are widely recognised which means that blocking is not a silver bullet to stop online copyright infringement.” Filesharing Internet Computing Piracy Piracy Digital media BT Telecommunications industry Online TV Josh Halliday Mark Sweney guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Former legal high used by 4.4% of all people aged between 16 and 24, as use of illegal drugs in decline long-term Mephedrone, the former legal high known as “meow meow”, is as popular as cocaine among teenagers and young adults, despite being banned last year. according to official figures published today. Home Office figures drawn from the authoritative British Crime Survey estimate that around 300,000 16 to 24-year-olds, or 4.4% of their age group, used mephedrone in the past 12 months. This is a similar level of popularity to the use of powder cocaine by teenagers and young adults. The BCS survey, drug misuse declared 2010/2011, say that mephedrone and cocaine rank joint second in popularity behind cannabis for this age group. Mephedrone ranks alongside ecstasy in popularity among all drug users aged between 16 and 59, with 1.4% of all adults reporting they had used them in the past year. The results of the annual survey of drug use in England and Wales show that almost 3 million people (8.8% of adults) used illicit drugs in the past year. They also show that one million of them – or 3% – used class-A drugs, with a fall in the use of cocaine accompanied by a rise in the use of methadone. Around 2.2 million people aged 16 to 59 used cannabis last year and the survey also indicates a rise in popularity in ketamine in recent years. The use of illegal drugs among the younger age group of 16 to 24 has, however, undergone a long-term decline, from 29% of the age group reporting they had used an illicit drug in 1996 to 20% in 2010/2011. Home Office minister, James Brokenshire, denied that the alarming figures for the use of mephedrone, which was made illegal in April 2010, demonstrated that the ban had been ineffective. He said the BCS figures covered patterns of use before and after the ban had come into force. He stressed that just because a drug had been sold as a legal high it did not mean it was harmless. But the interviews undertaken by the BCS for this year’s report would have took place between April 2010 and March this year. Respondents were however asked about their illicit drug use in the previous 12 months, and so could have related to the period when mephedrone was a legal high. Mephedrone Drugs policy Drugs Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Judge appointed by David Cameron to look into phone-hacking scandal says terms of inquiry have expanded considerably Lord Justice Leveson, appointed by David Cameron to look into the fall-out from the phone-hacking scandal, has warned that the expansion of the terms of reference of his inquiry has been so broadened that he may not be able to complete the first part of the inquiry within the planned timescale of a year. He was speaking as his inquiry team met for the first time in London to discuss how it would proceed. He said “in the first instance the inquiry will focus primarily on what I am calling the relationship between the press and the public and the related issue of press regulation”. He said he would have powers to compel named witnesses to attend and would be discussing with the DPP the extent to which he will be able to look at the scale of specific media wrongdoing before the criminal inquiries have been completed. In a prepared statement, he said: “It may be tempting for a number of people to close ranks and suggest that the problem is or was local to a group of journalists then operating at the News of the World but I would encourage all to take a wider picture of the public good and help grapple with the width and depth of the problem.” He said it was critical that the inquiry concentrated on “the central and most important issue”, adding the “focus of the inquiry is the culture practices and ethics of the press in the context of the latter’s relationship with the public, the police and politicians.” He said in September he would be holding in the first instance “a series of seminars on the ethics of journalism and the practices and pressures of investigative journalism”. He added: “At some stage there needs to be a discussion of what amounts to the public good, to what extent the public interest should be taken into account and by whom”. He added he would later hold seminars on press relationships with the police, politicians and the political process. In one of his few specific commitments he said one aspect of the inquiry may look into why “no action was taken in 2006 following a report by the information commissioner” into the use of private detectives and eavesdropping. He stressed the 2005 Inquiries Act under which he is operating gave him powers to require witnesses to attend and provide documentation. He said he would not at this stage be seeking to invite editors or proprietors to provide files on which they had based stories into “the utterly inappropriate behaviour of small sections of the press”. Leveson’s aides stressed that the Lord Justice of Appeal’s repeated references to the press in his statement should not be taken to mean that he would be ignoring the role of broadcasters or social media. The terms of reference were widened by a group of select committee chairmen determined to look at the role of the BBC in seeking to dominate the broadcasting and websites . Leveson also addressed concerns that he may be seen as close to News International due to the fact that he has attended two parties at the home of Matthew Freud, the publicist and husband of Elisabeth Murdoch, the daughter of News Corps chairman, Rupert Murdoch. He said he had met Freud by chance at a dinner in February 2010 when Freud had offered to do some work free of charge on the issue of public confidence in sentencing. Leveson is chair of the Sentencing Council. With the knowledge of the Lord Chief Justice, Leveson attended two large evening events at Freud’s London home in London in July 2010 and January 2011 to discuss these issues. He said he had not spoken with anyone from Freud Communications since January 2011. Another inquiry member Lord Currie said although he was a past chairman of Ofcom, the broadcasting regulator, that did not mean he favoured statutory regulation. In a statement he said: “That is not the case. I believe self regulation with good governance in place, can be superior. Each case needs to be judged on it merits.” Phone hacking Newspapers & magazines David Cameron National newspapers Newspapers Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
ISLAMABAD-The abductors often show up in sleek pickup trucks, wearing civilian clothes but sometimes flanked by Pakistani troops. They often beat and blindfold their victims before spiriting them away. And while the prisoners may wind up dead, odds are the captors will never face justice. Despite ousting a military ruler three years ago, Pakistan’s civilian leaders have failed to stop security agencies from carrying out such “enforced disappearances” in Baluchistan province, where Baluch separatists have led a long-running insurgency, according to a Human Rights Watch report released Thursday. The security practice of abducting people has grown rapidly since Pakistan officially sided with…
Continue reading …
KIMBERLY DOZIER The Associated Press ASPEN, Colo. – The top commander of U.S. special operations forces said Wednesday that Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida is bloodied and “nearing its end,” but he warned the next generation of militants could keep special operations fighting for a decade to come. Navy SEAL Adm. Eric T. Olson described the killing of bin Laden by a special operations raid on May 2 as a near-killing blow for what he called “al-Qaida 1.0,” as created by bin Laden and led from his hideout in Pakistan. Olson said the group had already lost steam because of the revolts of the Arab Spring, which proved the…
Continue reading …