Highlights of this day in history: Andrea Doria begins to sink after a collision in the North Atlantic; An Air France Concorde crashes outside Paris; First ‘test-tube’ baby born; Golfer Ben Hogan dies; ‘A Chorus Line’ opens on Broadway. (July 25)
Continue reading …The depressing details of Amy Winehouse’s last days and hours continue to emerge , with the latest claims including reports that she bought cocaine, ecstasy, heroin, and ketamine late Friday night. Sources also say she was drinking heavily at the same time, and her emphysema could also have played a role….
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Want your woman to put down the white wine spritzer or cosmopolitan and suck down a classic hops-brewed beverage? Toss her an Animée. Animée. The name evokes something the likes of a female name – and that’s exactly who Molson Coors hopes will gravitate toward the beverage. To be released in the U.K. this fall,
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Health secretary sends letter to Treasury warning the plans will not meet coalition’s ‘commitment to gold standard pensions’ The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, has privately attacked the government’s public sector pension reforms. In a letter to Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander, Lansley warns that the plans, which were outlined last month, will not meet the coalition’s “commitment to maintain gold standard pensions”. He describes the proposed measures as “inappropriate” and “unrealistic,” and warns they are likely to hit women particularly hard. He also says they may encourage public sector workers, particularly those on lower pay, to simply stop contributing to their pensions, relying instead on state benefits to keep them afloat during their retirement, which would, he says, “increase pressure on the social security budget”. Last month Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, put forward plans to force public sector workers to retire later, contribute more into their pensions, and for retirement payments to be based on an average of entire career earnings, rather than final salary. The letter, leaked to the Telegraph, was written by Lansley two months ago. In it, he refers to a paper sent to the Cabinet setting out the pension proposals. He writes: “The paper … assumes that public sector workers, many of whom are women, will work a 48-year career [to get a full pension] … In the NHS currently, the average full-time career for those taking a pension is only 18 years and it seems unrealistic to suggest that pension scheme design should be based on the assumption that a predominantly female workforce would need to work full-time 48-year careers in future to receive a full pension. It is also difficult to see how this meets our commitment to maintain gold standard pensions.” In his five-page letter, the health secretary also claims that the reforms would be particularly unfair to NHS workers, many of whom already pay more for their pensions than civil servants or other government employees. The government is already facing the prospect of major strike action in the autumn on its plans to reform public sector pensions, and the emergence of dissension within its own ranks on the issue is likely to alarm David Cameron. It was previously thought that Conservative ministers were unanimous in their support of the reforms. Having been told of Lansley’s concerns over the reforms, the Labour party has called on him to speak out publicly. Public sector pensions Public services policy Andrew Lansley Danny Alexander Liberal-Conservative coalition Conservatives Liberal Democrats guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Health secretary sends letter to Treasury warning the plans will not meet coalition’s ‘commitment to gold standard pensions’ The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, has privately attacked the government’s public sector pension reforms. In a letter to Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander, Lansley warns that the plans, which were outlined last month, will not meet the coalition’s “commitment to maintain gold standard pensions”. He describes the proposed measures as “inappropriate” and “unrealistic,” and warns they are likely to hit women particularly hard. He also says they may encourage public sector workers, particularly those on lower pay, to simply stop contributing to their pensions, relying instead on state benefits to keep them afloat during their retirement, which would, he says, “increase pressure on the social security budget”. Last month Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, put forward plans to force public sector workers to retire later, contribute more into their pensions, and for retirement payments to be based on an average of entire career earnings, rather than final salary. The letter, leaked to the Telegraph, was written by Lansley two months ago. In it, he refers to a paper sent to the Cabinet setting out the pension proposals. He writes: “The paper … assumes that public sector workers, many of whom are women, will work a 48-year career [to get a full pension] … In the NHS currently, the average full-time career for those taking a pension is only 18 years and it seems unrealistic to suggest that pension scheme design should be based on the assumption that a predominantly female workforce would need to work full-time 48-year careers in future to receive a full pension. It is also difficult to see how this meets our commitment to maintain gold standard pensions.” In his five-page letter, the health secretary also claims that the reforms would be particularly unfair to NHS workers, many of whom already pay more for their pensions than civil servants or other government employees. The government is already facing the prospect of major strike action in the autumn on its plans to reform public sector pensions, and the emergence of dissension within its own ranks on the issue is likely to alarm David Cameron. It was previously thought that Conservative ministers were unanimous in their support of the reforms. Having been told of Lansley’s concerns over the reforms, the Labour party has called on him to speak out publicly. Public sector pensions Public services policy Andrew Lansley Danny Alexander Liberal-Conservative coalition Conservatives Liberal Democrats guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Health secretary sends letter to Treasury warning the plans will not meet coalition’s ‘commitment to gold standard pensions’ The health secretary, Andrew Lansley, has privately attacked the government’s public sector pension reforms. In a letter to Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander, Lansley warns that the plans, which were outlined last month, will not meet the coalition’s “commitment to maintain gold standard pensions”. He describes the proposed measures as “inappropriate” and “unrealistic,” and warns they are likely to hit women particularly hard. He also says they may encourage public sector workers, particularly those on lower pay, to simply stop contributing to their pensions, relying instead on state benefits to keep them afloat during their retirement, which would, he says, “increase pressure on the social security budget”. Last month Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, put forward plans to force public sector workers to retire later, contribute more into their pensions, and for retirement payments to be based on an average of entire career earnings, rather than final salary. The letter, leaked to the Telegraph, was written by Lansley two months ago. In it, he refers to a paper sent to the Cabinet setting out the pension proposals. He writes: “The paper … assumes that public sector workers, many of whom are women, will work a 48-year career [to get a full pension] … In the NHS currently, the average full-time career for those taking a pension is only 18 years and it seems unrealistic to suggest that pension scheme design should be based on the assumption that a predominantly female workforce would need to work full-time 48-year careers in future to receive a full pension. It is also difficult to see how this meets our commitment to maintain gold standard pensions.” In his five-page letter, the health secretary also claims that the reforms would be particularly unfair to NHS workers, many of whom already pay more for their pensions than civil servants or other government employees. The government is already facing the prospect of major strike action in the autumn on its plans to reform public sector pensions, and the emergence of dissension within its own ranks on the issue is likely to alarm David Cameron. It was previously thought that Conservative ministers were unanimous in their support of the reforms. Having been told of Lansley’s concerns over the reforms, the Labour party has called on him to speak out publicly. Public sector pensions Public services policy Andrew Lansley Danny Alexander Liberal-Conservative coalition Conservatives Liberal Democrats guardian.co.uk
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China’s state news agency is reporting that a 4-year-old girl has been rescued about 21 hours after two high-speed trains crashed in China, killing at least 35 people. Rescuers found the girl as cleanup efforts were almost finished. (July 24)
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China’s state news agency is reporting that a 4-year-old girl has been rescued about 21 hours after two high-speed trains crashed in China, killing at least 35 people. Rescuers found the girl as cleanup efforts were almost finished. (July 24)
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RAHIM FAIEZ Associated Press= KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Insurgents in southern Afghanistan hanged an 8-year-old boy six days after they abducted him, the Afghan government said Sunday. The boy’s captors had demanded that his father, a police officer, supply them with a police vehicle and he refused, said a statement from President Hamid Karzai’s office. The militants hanged the boy Friday in Helmand province’s Gereshk district. “President Karzai both strongly condemns this act and rejects it as a brutal and cowardly crime that is not acceptable in any religion or culture,” the statement said. It referred to the killers as “terrorists,” but did not say if they belonged to the Taliban or…
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(CNN) — The maid who accused former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexually assaulting her in a New York City hotel room has ended her months-long silence and gone public. Nafissatou Diallo spoke to Newsweek magazine for an article posted on its website Sunday, as well as to Robin Roberts of ABC News as part of an interview set to air Monday on “Good Morning…
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