Early Tuesday-As NATO warplanes hit Libya, government spokesperson Mussa Ibrahim announced that there were at least three casualties and 150 left wounded. “According to the information we have there are three dead and 150 wounded,” he told journalists on a bus taking them to a hospital shortly after the strikes. Ibrahim revealed, NATO had carried NATO Warplanes Strike-Three Dead,150 Wounded is a post from: Daily World Buzz
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IPCC finds Leicestershire police failed to help woman who killed herself and disabled daughter after years of abuse by youths Four police officers will face misconduct charges over their force’s failure to properly help the family of Fiona Pilkington, who killed herself and her severely disabled daughter in 2007 after years of torment by youths, the police watchdog said. An Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) report into Leicestershire police’s dealings with Pilkington concluded that the force’s main failure was in not identifying the family as vulnerable, which meant police did not provide a structured, cohesive response to the antisocial behaviour they endured. The IPCC commissioner, Amerdeep Somal, said he was alarmed to discover that Pilkington and her family had contacted police more than 30 times during the 10-year ordeal. “Fiona, her mother, her neighbours and MP had all contacted the police to inform them that she had repeated and justifiable concerns about her family’s predicament,” he said. “Yet, no one person gripped these reports and took charge to strategically manage and oversee what should have been a targeted police response. “There was nothing in place to ensure the Pilkington family were considered by police as vulnerable or repeat victims, contrary to the force’s own strategy. Systems were in place for officers to have linked the catalogue of incidents but these were not well utilised. Police missed several opportunities to take robust action, inadequately investigated criminal allegations on some occasions and failed to record information on their own intelligence system.” In October 2007, Pilkington, then 38, drove herself and her 18-year-old daughter, Francecca Hardwick, to a layby near her home in Barwell, near Hinckley. She also took the family’s pet rabbit to soothe Hardwick, who had severe learning disabilities and a mental age of about four. She then set the Austin Maestro on fire, killing them both. An inquest two years later heard how the family had been kept virtual prisoners in their home by youths who threw stones, flour and other objects, and kept up a relentless stream of abuse. The jury ruled that failings by police contributed to the deaths, as did the failure of Leicestershire county council and Hinckley and Bosworth borough council to share information. The IPCC said that as a result of its investigation an inspector, a sergeant and two constables would face a misconduct meeting. Another constable is receiving “management action from the force for unsatisfactory performance”. The watchdog said it had made a series of recommendations to Leicestershire police connected to information sharing and the handling of vulnerable people, which the force has accepted. Police Disability Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
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Fukushima Daiichi operator accused of delaying announcement of meltdowns in reactors 2 and 3 as IAEA inspectors arrive The operator of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant said fuel rods in two more reactors were likely to have suffered a meltdown soon after they were crippled by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami in north-east Japan. Confirmation by Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) that fuel in the cores of reactors 2 and 3 had melted came days after new data confirmed a similar meltdown in reactor 1 about 16 hours after the disaster. The utility, which last week suffered the biggest annual loss by any Japanese firm outside the financial sector , said most of the melted fuel in all three reactors was covered in water and did not threaten to compound the world’s worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl. The temperature of the fuel rods, which are believed to have melted and settled at the bottom of flooded reactor pressure vessels, remained well below dangerous levels, the company said. “It is unlikely that the meltdowns will worsen the crisis because the melted fuel is covered in water,” said a Tepco spokesman, Takeo Iwamoto. It said the fuel rods in the reactors 2 and 3 had started melting two to three days after the earthquake and tsunami, which knocked out vital cooling systems. Tepco officials repeated their insistence that the reactors had been crippled by the waves, but speculation has mounted in recent days that the quake itself had been responsible, casting doubt on Tepco’s claims that the plant was able to withstand even the most violent seismic shifts. Tepco said it had been unable to confirm the meltdowns until it had finished analysing data, but Koichi Nakano, a political science professor at Sophia University, suggested the revelation was timed to minimise its impact on the public. “In the early stages of the crisis Tepco may have wanted to avoid panic,” he told Reuters. “Now people are used to the situation … nothing is resolved, but normal business has resumed in places like Tokyo.” Tepco’s handling of the crisis will come under closer scrutiny with the arrival in Tokyo of a delegation from the International Atomic Energy Agency. The United Nations nuclear inspectors will visit the Fukushima plant and present their findings at a meeting of ministers from IAEA member-states on 20 June. Tepco has suffered recent setbacks that may derail attempts to bring the plant under control in the next six to nine months, the deadline the firm announced just over a month ago. On Monday, it said makeshift containers being used to store tens of thousands of tonnes of contaminated water were almost full. The company has yet to complete a system to reprocess the water for reuse in the reactors, raising fears that contaminated liquid could leak into the sea. A Tepco spokesman said dealing with contaminated water that has gathered in reactor buildings and trenches could take until the end of the year, adding that the volume of water being used to cool the damaged reactors could rise to about 200,000 tonnes. Tepco is working with the French nuclear engineering firm Areva to reprocess the water. Japan’s shift towards renewable energy, meanwhile, is expected to gather momentum later this week. The prime minister, Naoto Kan, will unveil plans at the G8 summit in Deauville, France, to require all new buildings to be fitted with solar panels by 2030, the Nikkei business newspaper said. Kan has already announced a comprehensive review of Japan’s nuclear energy policy and ordered the temporary closure of an atomic plant in central Japan that is considered particularly vulnerable to earthquake damage. But he is also expected to tell G8 leaders that Japan will continue to use nuclear energy after making safety improvements. Some have criticised Kan and Tepco for failing to quickly release information about the extent of the damage at Fukushima Daiichi. “I am very sorry that the public doesn’t trust the various disclosures the government has made about the accident,” Kan told parliament. Japan disaster Nuclear power Japan Energy G8 Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk
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Gov. Scott Walker tours the hardest-hit areas of Lacrosse, Wisconsin after a tornado touches down. The governor promises to work to get the city state aid. (May 24)
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NATO warplanes unleashed their most intense bombardment yet on Libya’s capital overnight. (May 24)
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Microsoft’s proper preview event for the next big release of Windows Phone may be mere hours away, but there’s still time for a bit of good old fashioned web sleuthing before then. Latest on our radar is this Microsoft Developer Network page listing out all the APIs in Silverlight for Windows Phone 7.1 . That’s right, your eyes do not deceive you, there’s a whole extra decimal added to the OS number, ostensibly signifying the move to the Mango update we’re all so hungry for. Fuller details will be forthcoming later on today, but for now, pencil in the number 7.1 alongside the dream specs of your next Windows Phone. Windows Phone 7.1 is the likely name for Mango OS update originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 24 May 2011 05:41:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
Continue reading …Harold Camping’s new favorite phrase: Better late than never. The California preacher has an easy explanation for why the rapture never came to pass on Saturday: He was five months off. Doh! The actual rapture will be Oct. 21—he had originally said that was the day on which the…
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Green campaigners express dismay as MPs back shale gas prospecting despite evidence of environmental dangers There should be no moratorium on prospecting for shale gas in the UK despite concerns about its negative environmental impacts, a report from an influential group of MPs has advised . The UK could have “considerable” shale gas resources, particularly offshore, said the energy and climate change select committee, and should exploit these to reduce reliance on energy imports. But the MPs acknowledged that exploiting shale gas could be environmentally damaging and could spell severe problems for the renewables industry , which is facing a lobbying onslaught from gas industry representatives seeking to position their fuel as “green” because it produces less carbon than coal. Tim Yeo, the Tory MP and former minister who chairs the committee, said: “Shale gas could encourage more countries to switch from coal to gas, which in some cases could halve power station emissions. But if it has a downward effect on gas prices it could divert much needed investment away from lower carbon technologies like solar, wind, wave or tidal power.” France recently agreed a moratorium on new shale gas projects, and similar steps have been taken in several US states, after widespread reports of shale gas wells leading to contamination and dangers to homeowners. However, the MPs dismayed green campaigners by dismissing evidence that shale gas exploration can be dangerous and damaging to the environment. Drilling for shale gas requires blasting the dense underground rocks in which the gas is found with vast quantities of water mixed with chemicals. In the US, the pioneer of shale exploration, communities have had their water supply polluted with methane, meaning that in some places the water can be set on fire. Keith Allott, head of climate change at WWF-UK, said: “Concerns about water contamination and the greenhouse gas footprint of shale gas are serious and deserve to be thoroughly investigated.” He cited US research that found more than 1,000 cases of contamination from gas drilling, and a recent study that found shale gas had a bigger greenhouse gas footprint than coal. There is likely to be much less shale gas in the UK than in the US, with most of the recoverable supplies believed to be in the Bowland Shale, near Blackpool. Cuadrilla Resources, a UK-based company drawing on US expertise, has so far drilled two exploratory wells in the area, with some local opposition. The MPs said there was only a risk of water contamination when the walls of the gas wells were not sufficiently well made, leading to cracks or other failures. “There is no evidence that hydraulic fracturing poses any risk to underground water aquifers provided the well casing is intact before the process commences,” they said. They called on the Environment Agency to monitor the chemicals used in the process, which in the US have included benzene and lead, and for the Department of Energy and Climate Change (Decc) to “monitor closely the current exploratory activity in the Bowland Shale in order to both assess the likely impact of large scale shale gas extraction in the UK and also to promote public confidence in the regulation of this activity”. The MPs also warned against branding shale gas as low-carbon, and as a “transition fuel” that could be used for the next decade before the widespread move to renewables is complete. “Although gas emissions are less than coal, they are still higher than renewables,” the committee concluded. “Shale gas has the potential to shift the balance in the energy markets that Decc has tried to create away from low carbon electricity generation. The UK needs to manage this risk if its aim is to increase the proportion of the UK’s energy from renewable sources.” Craig Bennett, the policy and campaigns director at Friends of the Earth, said: “Instead of seeing shale gas as a miracle fix, the government should focus on developing the clean, safe energy alternatives at our fingertips like solar power and wind.” Allott added: “Shale gas is a dangerous distraction from the urgent need for us to tackle climate change. Chasing after risky and hard-to-get fossil fuels like shale gas, tar sands or drilling for oil in the Arctic may seriously undermine the move towards renewables as the only effective and sustainable solution to our energy challenges.” Shale gas Energy Climate change Fossil fuels Gas Fiona Harvey guardian.co.uk
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• M&S profits fall 3.3% in UK • Customers find stores ‘difficult’ to shop in • Outlets separated according to customer type • Retailer sees ‘challenging’ trading conditions ahead High street bellwether Marks & Spencer narrowly beat City expectations on Tuesday by declaring a 13% increase in profits in its last financial year. The retailer also gave an update on its revamped store design, a result, it said, of customers saying they find the shops difficult to navigate. Underlying profits before tax rose 12.9% to £714m, with revenues up 4.2% to £9.7bn. “Our customers have told us they find our stores difficult to shop [in]. We are addressing this by segmenting our stores better, by creating a more inspiring in-store environment, and improving in-store navigation and packaging architecture,” M&S said. Stores have been separated according to the kind of customers they attract, and will be stocked differently according to which segment they fall into. “While the last store modernisation programme improved the core infrastructure of our stores, it has not delivered an inspirational shopping environment for our customers. Moreover, 90 of our stores remain unmodernised. Our aim is to complete this programme over the next three years and work on delivering an improved in-store environment across general merchandise and food,” the statement said. A new director of space, Neil Hyslop, is in charge of the revamp. As part of a broader revamp, customers will also soon start to see clothes branded as “M&S Woman” and “M&S Man”, the retailer said. It is also drafting in European designer Marcel Wanders to introduce new home products. Real estate decisions will be overseen by a new property board, M&S said, to approve capital expenditure in the UK and internationally. Capital expenditure rose to £492m from £389m the year before, as investment in new stores increased from £50m to £151m. Like-for-like revenues in the UK rose 2.9% in the year to 2 April 2011, despite the sharp slowdown in fourth-quarter general merchandise sales . “General merchandise gross margin was down as a result of increased markdowns, commodity price inflation and adverse currency pressures which more than offset the benefits of better sourcing,” the retailer said on Tuesday. The results are the first full-year figures delivered by chief executive Marc Bolland, who took up the role a year ago after leaving supermarket Morrisons. Freddie George, an analyst at broker Seymour Pierce, said the UK was the weakest aspect of the results: “In the breakdown of results, UK profits were a little light of forecasts at £678m, down 3.3% against the previous year because of weaker gross margins in general merchandise,” he said. M&S said it expected trading to be difficult this year: “We have had a good start to the new financial year but we expect trading conditions in the year ahead to be challenging due to rising pressure on consumers’ disposable incomes and high commodity prices.” UK operating costs were up 3.5% over the year, as the retailer took on new stores and its rents were revised upwards. The final dividend rose to 10.8p, a 13.7% increase. M&S shares led the FTSE 100 fallers in early trading, dropping 1.5% to 391p. Marks & Spencer Retail industry Marc Bolland Alex Hawkes guardian.co.uk
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Arriving late last night from Ireland, Barack Obama today begins the first official day of his state visit to Britain – meeting the Queen, David Cameron and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge 10am: Obama, of course, flew in to Britain early to avoid the ash cloud. Not so Latvian prime minister Valdis Dombrovskis who has just called off his UK visit tomorrow and Thursday because of the Grimsvotn volcano’s spewings. 9.50am: No “beast”, the Obama car, yet visible on the streets of London so royal biographer Penny Junior is telling the BBC about preparations for tonight’s state dinner. The horseshoe-shaped table will take an astonishing seven hours to prepare, some of which time will be taken up measuring the distance between place settings so they are a uniform distance apart. Good topics of conversation with the Queen are dogs and horses (luckily Obama has a dog ). Junor also tells us: “The royal family is not that interested in wine, they are more spirit drinkers.” 9.25am: Andrew Sparrow has more on the special relationship on his politics blog: One of the depressing features of an American presidential visit to the UK is that it always triggers a banal debate about the “special relationship”. The Americans think that it’s just a symptom of British insecurity (which it probably is). British prime minsters also tend to wish that they didn’t have to keep banging on about it, but they fear that if the “special relationship” doesn’t get a mention, the press will claim that Britain has sufffered a diplomatic downgrade on their watch. So every time we go through the SR rigmarole. 9am: NPR reports on the White House’s efforts to convey Obama’s “split-screen focus” on events at home while he travels abroad . Drinking Guinness in Moneygall was juxtaposed on TV news, it says, with footage of a Missouri town devastated by a tornado. 8.45am: Fresh from a Guinness-drinking embrace of his ancestral roots in Ireland, US president Barack Obama today continues his European tour with a state visit to Britain – a country some have suggested he was somewhat less keen on . You may remember when Obama’s gift of DVDs to Gordon Brown was seen as an ominous development in that perennial favourite of the British media, the state of the special relationship. But that’s all changed now, we are told. Not only are they to meet the new Duke and Duchess of Cambridge but the US president and his wife will also receive a ceremonial welcome and state banquet at Buckingham Palace, to be followed with a speech to both houses of parliament and Downing Street barbecue. Obama and David Cameron have furthermore written a joint article in the Times declaring “Ours is not just a special relationship, it is an essential relationship – for us and for the world.” The two leaders will, of course, also hold political talks. Here are some of the main points likely to come out of the visit. • Deficit Cameron is hoping for an endorsement of the coalition’s deficit reduction plan, which will insulate him to an extent from Labour charges that the cuts are too deep and too fast (the Conservatives already claim that Obama’s own budget cuts are at a similar pace to Britain’s). Patrick Wintour’s report today says: “Privately, Conservative sources are increasingly confident that the Treasury and its American counterpart are now seeing eye to eye on deficit reduction after being at odds for some months” • The “essential” relationship Officially upgraded from merely “special”, the set-piece development will be the announcement of a US-British national security council to work together on international challenges and share intelligence. An Obama administration official told Reuters it will help enable “a more guided, coordinated approach to analyse the ‘over the horizon’ challenges we may face in the future.” Libya, as Britain sends in attack helicopters , will feature in their talks, though Hillary Clinton said yesterday after talks with William Hague that the US “continues to fly 25% of all sorties” and wanted other Nato members to do more. • Meeting the Queen And then there is the ceremony – visits to the royal art collection, meeting William and Kate, a 21 gun salute, a US presidential motorcade, a state banquet and – probably keenly observed – present giving. Barack Obama Simon Jeffery guardian.co.uk
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