Murdoch agredido na audiência parlamentar FucktardIdiot says: @ GLDNLNTMRN highly doubt it. i guess they were showing people who retweeted johnnie marbles ?
Continue reading …
The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee says recent economic indicators have reduced the likelihood of a rate rise The Bank of England’s monetary policy committee judged that recent economic weakness had reduced the chance that interest rates would need to rise in the near term, minutes to its July meeting showed. Committee members voted 7-2 to keep rates at 0.5%, as they did in June. Chief economist Spencer Dale and external member Martin Weale voted again to raise rates, while at the other end of the spectrum, Adam Posen repeated his call for more quantitative easing (QE). The MPC said indicators had pointed towards continued modest underlying GDP growth in the second quarter, but some softening in the outlook for the third quarter. It said the risks posed by an escalation of the eurozone debt crisis remained substantial and funding costs faced by major UK banks remained elevated as a result. “Recent developments had reduced the likelihood that a tightening in policy would be warranted in the near term,” it noted. Inflation eased to 4.2% in June but remains more than double the Bank’s target. The MPC said recent increases in food and utility prices meant it was likely that inflation would peak higher and sooner than previously thought, but the majority remained confident that it would fall back to target in the medium term. The Bank said the balance of risks to medium-term inflation has altered little over the month and risks remained substantial in both directions. “If it were to become clear that one of those risks had crystallised – and the medium-term outlook for inflation had deviated materially from the target in either one direction or the other – the committee would respond by changing the stance of monetary policy.” Unlike last month, the minutes made no explicit mention that any member other than Adam Posen had mulled the need for further asset purchases. The Bank bought £200bn of financial assets – mostly British government bonds – with newly created money between March 2009 and February 2010 in an attempt to steer the economy out of recession. In recent months, several policymakers have flagged the possibility that more QE may be needed if the recovery derails. Britain’s economy slammed into reverse at the end of last year and weak economic data have raised fears that GDP may have contracted again in the second quarter. Investors have pushed back bets on the timing of an interest rate rise until the second half of next year, and some analysts believe rates could stay at their record low for a good deal longer. Interest rates Bank of England Economics guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Greater Manchester police say 26-year-old woman, believed to a nurse, is in custody on suspicion of murder A 26-year-old woman, reported to be a nurse, has been arrested on suspicion of murder by police investigating three deaths at Stepping Hill hospital in Stockport . Sources at Greater Manchester police confirmed on Wednesday that the person in custody was a member of staff at the hospital and said inquiries were continuing into the alleged addition of insulin to saline solution. Tracey Arden, 44, George Keep, 84, and Arnold Lancaster, 71, have all died. A fourth patient in his 40s remains critically ill. A woman who became seriously ill and had a seizure is recovering. They are among a total of 14 patients on two acute medical wards – A1 and A3 – whose treatment since 7 July is being examined by police. Thrity-six ampoules of saline in a storeroom are said to have been tampered with. On Tuesday police said they could not rule out the possibility that the person responsible was still at the hospital. A police statement said: “This morning a 26-year-old woman was arrested on suspicion of murder. She remains in police custody for questioning. Inquiries are continuing.” A team of 60 detectives is investigating events at the hospital. Police were called in a week ago after an experienced nurse realised a large number of patients had had a sudden unexpected drop in blood sugar levels. Security was stepped up and staff told to work in pairs when checking and administering drugs. A single keyholder had to be asked for access to locked drugs cabinets. Names and the times that individual drugs were given to patients were also being recorded. Police said on Wednesday that a product containing saline solution found damaged in the maternity ward at Stepping Hill was not contaminated. Preliminary tests confirmed no trace of any substance. Officers were seeking to establish whether the damage was accidental or deliberate. Assistant chief constable Ian Hopkins, who is leading the inquiry, said: “It is important to stress that this product has not been contaminated and, in fact, the damage could very well be accidental, as can happen quite easily in a busy hospital environment. “Extra security measures are in place across the hospital and staff continue to be vigilant, which of course is to be expected. Due to heightened awareness, staff are alerting police to anything they feel might be suspicious or relevant to the investigation and to date there has been no further contamination of any product since the control measures were introduced.” Inquests into the deaths of the three patients were opened and adjourned by south Manchester coroner John Pollard on Wednesday. Crime NHS Health James Meikle guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Around 35 people were arrested during a march through San Francisco protesting a fatal police shooting of 19-year-old parolee Kenneth Harding. (July 19)
Continue reading …Sonos Play:3 compact streaming media Hi-Fi gets official for $299, we go ears-on
July 20, 2011 No Comment
Chances are you’ve already seen the Sonos Play:3 thanks to the leaktacular thing we call the internet. Now the tiny streaming Hi-Fi system is official and ready to start beaming that shiny new Spotify account you just scored all around your home. Inside the relatively compact chassis is a trio of digital drivers, one tweeter and two mid-range, as well as three Class-D digital amps. Unlike its big brother, which has been rebranded the Play:5 (instead of the S5 ), there’s no active subwoofer on board, but it does sport a passive bass “radiator” that adds a surprising amount of depth to this little shelf speaker. The $299 streamer requires a Bridge ($49) to actually kick out the jams but, once you’ve got the basic system in place, you can tack on additional Play:3s and even combine them as a stereo pair for better separation of those all important right and left channels. There’s even an accelerometer built in that automatically switches from standard to mono and tweaks the EQ settings when the speaker is turned on its side. We only spent a brief period of time with the Play:3, but it was surprisingly loud and quite clear even at neighbor-annoying volumes — though, we’re reserving final judgment until our review unit shows up. In the meantime, check out the galleries and the PR below. Continue reading Sonos Play:3 compact streaming media Hi-Fi gets official for $299, we go ears-on Sonos Play:3 compact streaming media Hi-Fi gets official for $299, we go ears-on originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jul 2011 03:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …The House of Representatives passed the Tea Party-backed “cut, cap and balance” plan today, sending the measure to the Senate, where it stands next to no chance of passing. The measure, which requires trillions in spending cuts and a balanced-budget amendment to the Constitution in return for raising the debt…
Continue reading …
US intelligence blamed for issuing messages falsely reporting death of movement’s leader spiritual Mullah Mohammad Omar Two Taliban spokesmen said their mobile phones, emails and a website had been hacked into and messages issued on Wednesday falsely reporting the death of the movement’s supreme leader, Mullah Mohammad Omar. The one-eyed, reclusive leader is one of the most wanted men in the world, and is believed to be living in Pakistan, probably in the city of Quetta. Pakistan and the Taliban movement both deny this and say he is in Afghanistan. “This is the work of American intelligence, and we will take revenge on the telephone network providers,” said spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, when contacted by Reuters to confirm the veracity of one text message. The messages came from phone numbers used in the past by Mujahid and a second spokesman Mohammad Qari Yousuf and said “spiritual Leader Mullah Mohammad Omar Mujahid has died” and “May Allah bless his soul”. Yousuf said the hacking was an attempt at psychological warfare by Nato-led forces. “The enemies have sophisticated technology so they can easily manipulate our website and our phone numbers. The enemies are spreading rumours because they are facing a decisive defeat and their morale is weakened,” he said . The death of Omar was reported in May, by media including Afghanistan’s private TV station TOLO. That report was dismissed by security officials in Pakistan and diplomats, US military commanders and government officials in Afghanistan. With a $10m (£6m) US bounty on his head, Omar fled with the rest of the Afghan Taliban leadership to Quetta after their government was toppled in late 2001. They formed the “Quetta shura”, or leadership council. Taliban Afghanistan Pakistan US military United States guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Former leader of Krajina enclave inside Croatia is wanted by war crimes tribunal in The Hague for ‘ethnic cleansing’ Goran Hadzic, the last war crimes fugitive from the Yugoslav wars, has been arrested, according to Serb officials. They gave no details but confirmed a report by B92 television news in Belgrade that Hadzic had been caught after spending eight years on the run. Serbia’s president, Boris Tadic, has called a press conference at which he is expected to formally announce the arrest, made two months after the climactic arrest of the Bosnian Serb, Ratko Mladic, who is in the custody of The Hague war crimes tribunal. With Hadzic’s arrest, the tribunal has secured the capture of all 161 war crimes suspects it indicted. “Not a bad record,” a Hague official commented. Hadzic’s capture will add weight to Serbia’s bid to become a member of the European Union. He led the ethnic Serb enclave of Krajina inside Croatia from the collapse of Yugoslavia and the start of the Balkan wars in 1991 until the region was overrun by Croatian forces in 1995. Hadzic was charged in 2004 by the tribunal in The Hague with leading the “ethnic cleansing” of Krajina, driving out Croats and other non-Serbs. The indictment included war crimes and crimes against humanity, including “persecutions on political, racial or religious grounds, extermination, murder, torture, deportation and forcible transfer” as well as “wanton destruction … or devastation”. A total of 10,000 people died in the fighting in Croatia, another 100,000 were killed in Bosnia and an estimated 10,000 in Kosovo. Following Mladic’s arrest on 26 May Tadic said it lifted a stain from Serbian history. The EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, said it moved Serbia closer to EU membership. Writing in The Guardian , she said: “We never expected the process to be quick or easy. The wounds of history take time to heal. There is much unfinished business throughout the region. But the hope of joining the EU, and sharing in its ideals and prosperity, has provided a powerful incentive to settle old differences.” Serbia War crimes Europe European Union Julian Borger guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
• Famine now exists in the Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions • Aid agency accuses European governments of ‘wilful neglect’ The UN has officially declared two parts of Somalia to be in famine amid the worst drought in east Africa for 60 years. Mark Bowden, humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said on Wednesday that famine conditions now existed in the Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions of the country. But he warned: “If we don’t act now, famine will spread to all eight regions of southern Somalia within two months, due to poor harvests and infectious disease outbreaks. “We still do not have all the resources for food, clean water, shelter and health services to save the lives of hundreds of thousands of Somalis in desperate need.” He added that the lack of resources is alarming. “Every day of delay in assistance is literally a matter of life or death for children and their families in the famine affected areas.” UN humanitarian agencies have welcomed the recent statement by al-Shabaab, Islamist insurgents affiliated to al-Qaida, requesting aid in southern Somalia, but said the inability of food agencies to work in the region since early 2010 has prevented the UN from reaching the very hungry – especially children – and has contributed to the current crisis. The Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions are understood to be controlled by al-Shabaab. The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, said it was seeking further security guarantees from the rebel group that it can deliver greater amounts of assistance in the area to prevent more hungry people from becoming refugees. The drought in east Africa has left an estimated 11 million people at risk, but Somalia has been the worst hit country as it is already wracked by decades of conflict. The most affected areas of Somalia are in the south, particularly the region of Lower Shabelle, Middle and Lower Juba, Bay, Bakool, Benadir, Gedo and Hiraan, where the UN says an estimated 310,000 now suffer from acute malnutrition. The Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit (FSNAU) said the crisis represented the most serious food insecurity situation in the world today, in terms of scale and severity. “Current humanitarian response is inadequate to meet emergency needs,” it said. “Assuming current levels of response, evidence suggests that famine across all regions of the south will occur in the coming one to two months. A massive multisectoral response is critical to prevent additional deaths and total livelihood/social collapse and most immediately, interventions to improve food access and to address health/nutrition issues are needed.” Andrew Mitchell, the UK’s international development secretary, said: “In Somalia, men, women and children are dying of starvation. The fact that a famine has been declared shows just how grave the situation has become. “It is time for the world to help but sadly the response from many countries has been derisory and dangerously inadequate. Britain is playing its part, with help for more than 2 million people across the Horn of Africa. Now others must do the same.” A famine is measured by rates of hunger, malnutrition and deaths, but the key to it is that it must be widespread. Technically, a famine is a mortality rate of more than two people per 10,000 per day; acute malnutrition reaching more than 30%; water consumption becoming less than four litres a day; and intake of kilocalories of 1,500 a day compared with the recommended 2,100 a day. Hundreds of thousands of people have fled Somalia due to the drought and conflict, and refugees are dying of causes related to malnutrition either during the journey or very shortly after arrival at aid camps. On Sunday, the UNHCR began emergency airlift flights in Nairobi to help hundreds of thousands of Somalis who have taken refuge in neighbouring countries. A giant cargo jet chartered by UNHCR landed in Nairobi with 100 tonnes of tents for the Dadaab refugee camp complex near the Kenya-Somalia border. The UN says nearly half of the population in Somalia is facing a humanitarian crisis and in urgent need of aid. The number of people in crisis has increased by more than 1 million in the last six months. More than 166,000 Somalis have fled the country since the start of the year, with more than 100,000 of those leaving since May. UN agencies have asked for $1.6bn to pay for essential programmes in east Africa, but have only received half that amount. Oxfam has accused several European governments of “willful neglect” over the crisis in east Africa. The NGO said the international response to the drought in Somalia, Ethiopia and Kenya has been surprisingly slow. “There is no time to waste if we are to avoid massive loss of life. We must not stand by and watch this tragedy unfold before our eyes,” said Fran Equiza, Oxfam’s regional director. “The world has been slow to recognise the severity of this crisis, but there is no longer any excuse for inaction.” Oxfam said the UK had led the way in pledging new aid, but said France had failed to match words with any additional funding and that neither Italy nor Denmark had provided any new aid. “The worst affected areas have endured decades of marginalisation and economic under-development,” said Equiza. “If more action had been taken earlier we would not now be at the stage where so many people are facing starvation.” One in 10 children in parts of Somalia is at risk of starving to death, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said last week. The independent aid agency, one of very few with access to Somalia’s worst-hit areas, said that even in the Bay and Lower Shabelle regions, Somalia’s traditional breadbaskets, nearly 11% of children under five had severe acute malnutrition. An appeal by the Disasters Emergency Committee , an umbrella group of UK charities, has raised £20m since it launched its east Africa appeal. Famine Malnutrition Food security Somalia Africa Mark Tran guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
New Zealand prime minister confirms, but then plays down, investigation over Israeli victim who held five passports New Zealand intelligence services have launched an investigation into a possible Israeli spy operation in Christchurch after suspicious activity was observed in the immediate aftermath of the February earthquake, the New Zealand prime minister, John Key, has confirmed. But Key insisted the investigation had been completed with no evidence found of wrongdoing. Inquiries centred on a potential breach of the national police computer system. According to a report in the Southland Times , the investigation was prompted by the departure from New Zealand of three Israeli citizens within hours of the 22 February quake and the discovery of as many as five passports on one of three Israelis killed. There were reports of an unauthorised Israeli search and rescue team that was refused entry to Christchurch’s cordoned-off central business district. There was widespread speculation in New Zealand that the country could be facing asequel to the events of 2004, when Helen Clark’s government imposed diplomatic sanctions on Israel after two suspected Mossad agents were convicted of passport fraud in Auckland. The Israeli government apologised the following year. The prime minister, who is visiting the US, initially did little to dampen suggestions of another diplomatic imbroglio when he evaded reporters’ questions, insisting “it is not in the national interest to discuss those matters”, while confirming he had taken “a number of calls” from the Israeli premier, Binyamin Netanyahu, in the hours after the Christchurch earthquake. Later in the day Key moved to dismiss spying claims. In a statement he said the investigation had been concluded and there was no evidence of subterfuge. “Security agencies conducted the investigation and found no evidence that the people were anything other than backpackers.” Key said he had been advised that reports of Israeli citizens carrying multiple passports were ill-founded and he was satisfied with police assurances that there had been no unauthorised access to the police computer system. “The investigations that have been undertaken have been thorough and have found no evidence of a link between the group and Israeli intelligence.” The author of the Southland Times article, Fred Tulett, stood by his story, saying that contrary to Key’s remarks the investigation was continuing. He maintained that five passports had been in the possession of the Israeli who was killed, Benyamin Mizrahi. One of them was a European passport. His companions handed over a second passport, his Israeli one, when they left the country, Tulett said. The Israeli ambassador for the South Pacific, Shemi Tzur, said any suggestion of a Mossad presence in Christchurch was “science fiction”. The Israeli citizens had returned home following the death of a friend whose van was crushed, he said. The Israeli rescue teams, he added, were refused entry because they lacked the necessary authorisation but were there for the right reasons and were left “angry and upset”. He told the Southland Times: “Yes, there was some regrettable history of Mossad involvement in New Zealand in 2004, and they have apologised for that and we have put it beyond us. Now we are moving forward.” New Zealand Israel Natural disasters and extreme weather Toby Manhire guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …