Lloyd Scott raises £20,000 for Action for Kids by completing course face-down on a sled, dressed as a Magic Roundabout character He has crawled for 26 days across broken glass, nails and dog faeces, enduring cramps, vomiting, and least one trip to A&E for a severe nosebleed along the way. But extreme fundraiser Lloyd Scott, dressed in a 9ft-long Brian the Snail from the Magic Roundabout costume, has finally crossed the finish line of the London Marathon. Scott, 49, from Rainham in Essex, who inched his way along the 26.2-mile course face-down on a sled using his knees and toes to scrape along, said finishing it was an “enormous relief”. Unsurprisingly, he said he was reluctant to repeat the experience. Scott, who started the race on 17 April, has raised £20,000 for Action for Kids. Charities London Marathon London Karen McVeigh guardian.co.uk
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Draft laws that would have punished homosexuality with death are wiped from the agenda as current sittings wind down Uganda’s reviled anti-gay bill, which mandates the death penalty in some cases, remains in limbo after parliament adjourned without a debate. Edward Ssekandi Kiwanuk, the parliamentary speaker, ruled there was no time to take up the bill this session. He has adjourned the parliament and set no date for its return. A source close to proceedings said parliament could technically come back between now and 17 May but most MPs were leaving for their constituencies. Bills not completed in the old parliament are wiped and must be resubmitted. Helen Kawesa, spokeswoman for parliament, told Associated Press that the anti-gay bill could come back up for debate in the next parliament but would probably take time to get back to the floor. David Bahati, the MP who authored the bill, had said he would try to move it forward in the next session if it was not voted on this time. Opponents of the legislation welcomed the setback. Alice Jay, campaign director of the online group Avaaz, said: “The news that the brutal anti-gay law won’t be discussed in parliament today is a victory for all Ugandans and people across the world who value human rights. “This vile bill is a matter of life and death for gay Ugandans, and would have seen the execution, imprisonment and persecution of friends of Avaaz, and thousands of others who have committed no crime at all. We must now ensure this heinous bill can never return to parliament again.” Christopher Senyonjo, a retired Ugandan Anglican bishop, said: “This was a dangerous bill and there is a lot of tension and riots in the country. We feared that they may use this opportunity to do anything to anybody. “This bill must never see the light of day as the mob could use this to inflict terrible crimes against people. The pressure from people around the world has had a big impact and the resulting influence from the international community has played a very important role in stopping this going forward today.” Kakoba Onyango, a member of parliament, told Associated Press the anti-gay bill had taken so long because President Yoweri Museveni did not back it and human rights groups had criticised it. The US state department this week described it as “odious” and said it should never be passed in any form. Human Rights Watch said in recent days a parliamentary committee had recommended passage of the bill and retained the death penalty “aggravated homosexuality”. It added criminal penalties for “conduct[ing] a marriage ceremony between persons of the same sex”. Graeme Reid, director of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) programme at Human Rights Watch, said: “It should be scrapped. The committee’s recommendations fall wholly short of making this a bill worth parliament’s time. “Even if these suggestions are taken on board the bill will remain discriminatory, a profound threat to Uganda’s LGBT community and put Uganda at odds with its fundamental human rights obligations.” Uganda Gay rights Africa Civil liberties – international David Smith guardian.co.uk
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MPs criticise PM’s ordering of lengthy and costly Scotland Yard review of police investigation into child’s disappearance The Metropolitan police review into the abduction of Madeleine McCann could take months or even years to complete and cost millions of pounds. Detectives from Scotland Yard’s homicide command face huge difficulties in examining all the paperwork that details the inquiry into the three-year-old’s disappearance in Portugal in 2007. First they will have to wait for all the documentation to be provided by the Portuguese police, and then all the material must be translated before a team of detectives begins the arduous task of reviewing the whole inquiry. They will also review all the files from police in Leicestershire, the McCann’s home force which provided some support to the Portuguese, and those of private investigators who have been working on behalf of the family for the past four years. Scotland Yard have begun an exercise to work out what size team should be involved in the Madeleine review. It is likely to include detectives from the child homicide unit at the Yard. The prime minister’s decision to order the Met to review the case was criticised by some politicians. Labour peer Lord Harris of Haringey told the PoliticsHome website that he had worries about the way Cameron and the Home Office had behaved. “It raises very big questions about political direction of the police,” said Harris. “Of course it goes without saying that this is a very heart-breaking case, but what we are looking at is a case where the Met has no direct responsibility. “There is clearly an issue about the resources being used and are they in effect saying that the Met is the default investigator for every case in the world involving a British citizen? “It’s not just a question of direct costs, it’s a question of opportunity costs too. Our detective capacity is limited as it is.” The prime minister’s official spokesman said that Cameron and Theresa May had asked the Met to review the evidence in response to a request by the McCann family because of the “exceptional” nature of the case. “There has been a huge amount of public interest in this case since it began, Madeleine McCann has been missing for a long time, there is the international dimension,” the spokesman said. “The prime minister has been clear that he wants to do everything he can to support the family.” The spokesman denied that Cameron and May had been directing police on an operational matter. “It was done at the request of the home secretary. It was agreed by Sir Paul Stephenson. That is not a direction,” he said. Scotland Yard has had some high-profile success in solving cases which at first sight seemed intractable. After 16 years a new investigation of the Rachel Nickell murder led in 2008 to her killer Robert Napper being brought to justice following a DNA breakthrough. It was a review by a senior homicide detective of all the evidence gathered in an investigation into a serial rapist in south London that led to the conviction of Kirk Reid in 2009 . After eight years in which no one had been arrested for scores of rapes it took the detective just a few hours with the paperwork to identify Reid as the main suspect. Five days later he had matched his DNA to two of the assaults and Reid was finally brought to justice. The approach in the Madeleine review will be the same as in any re-examination of cases in the UK, a police source said. “What we do is painstakingly look at all the evidence, the paperwork, the CCTV, any suspects who came to light and were investigated. Sometimes it takes fresh eyes to see what was always there.” Madeleine of Rothley, Leicestershire, vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in May 2007. Her parents were dining in a restaurant about 100 metres away and were checking on Madeleine and her siblings every half an hour. The Portuguese inquiry was halted formally in July 2008. Madeleine McCann Police Metropolitan police Crime Portugal DNA database Theresa May David Cameron Rachel Nickell Robert Napper Sandra Laville guardian.co.uk
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Man ran into supermarket on Spanish island, grabbed knife, killed woman then ran out carrying head, reports say A man has beheaded a woman in a supermarket on the Spanish resort island of Tenerife in the Canary Islands, according to local authorities. The suspect, believed to be a homeless Bulgarian man with a police record, was detained by security guards after he ran out of the supermarket with the head in his hands. A witness told broadcaster Cadena Ser he saw the man drop the head on the pavement after coming out of the store. “I parked my car and saw a man running out with something bloody in his hands and a security guard chasing him. He threw it to the ground, it almost hit me and what he had been carrying was a woman’s head.” Regional interior ninistry delegate Dominica Fernandez said the suspect was believed to have entered the shop and stolen a knife, which he then used to kill and behead the woman, whose identity has not been released. Fernandez told journalists the attack appeared to be random and that the man was well known in the area. The events took place shortly after 10am in the southern town of Arona, about 10 miles north of the beach resort of Los Cristianos. Spain Europe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Hey, conservatives, take a good hard look. And yeah, that means you too, Sarah Palin , you queen of xenophobic fevered fantasies. See that guy in the video? He’s not a thug. He’s a poet. A black poet. Get used to it and get over yourselves . I have had enough of the ginned-up nonsensical “be afraid of the black guy” meme. I don’t want to hear Donald Trump decry accusations of racism with his stupid, idiotic claims that “a black guy won The Apprentice” a couple of seasons back and I don’t want to hear Sean Hannity quake in his little itty-bitty boots over the very idea that there’s a black poet in the White House who Fox News liked before they didn’t . Ta-Nahesi Coates : But Common is the dude in the Gap ad. His mother is a teacher. Shirley Sherrod is a victim of white supremacist terrorism, who lectures black people on seeing their own prejudice. Eric Holder went to Stuyvesant. Michelle Obama’s mother was a homemaker. Her parents forfeited a full athletic scholarship to send Michelle Obama’s brother to Princeton. They used to watch the Brady Bunch together. If Common is disturbing, Shirley Sherrod wants to discriminate against white people, MIchelle Obama is obsessed with Whitey, and Barack Obama has a hatred of white people, then the rest of us are in real trouble. When you talk about “nonthreatening” this really is the best we’ve got. Also this : So much of this sort of stuff just boils down to “We don’t like you, and we need to fill dead air by discussing how much we dislike you.” But the sight of Fox profiling, then attacking, Common, profiling LL Cool J, and lauding Ted Nugent is a metaphor for a conservatism that has trouble going beyond anti-liberalism. Also, small man parts. I suggest scared white conservatives start to get used to it and get over themselves by learning this little dance. It will make them feel…assimilated. Full text of the poem performed at the White House follows. “I woke up with the sunshine. A sunshine I had never seen. There was light at the end of it. Reminded me to forever dream. I was dreaming I walked into the White House. With love on my sleeve. And love for each and every one of you. Reminding you to believe. These are the words of a believer achiever. Leader of the globe, feed the souls of those in need. I bleed the blood of the struggle. Walking over troubled puddles. The hustle is in my chest. No hustle no progress. Extremities of life in this process. The birth of a son. The death of another. With love I caress both mothers. And told ‘em whose in control is the one that’s above is. I walk where money talks and love stutters. The body language of a nation. Going though changes. The young become dangerous. Spent into anger. Anger gets sent through the chamber. It’s tough when your own look like strangers. We are the sons of gangsters and stone rangers. If he could how would Ernie Barnes paint us? Look at the picture. It’s hard not to blame us. But time forgives in the shy where the young die often. Do they end up in a coffin because we haven’t taught them? Is it what we talkin’, we really ain’t walking. Dudes, hustlers, paid. How much did it cost them? I find myself on the same corner that we lost them. Real talkin’ in their ear like a walkman. My thoughts been around the corner to the world. So when I see them I see my baby girl. The Lord lives among us. The youngest hunger, recover. Means to get it by anyways necessary under pressure. Children feeling lesser with the spill upon the dresser. Killer, willer aggressors. Destiny’s children, survivors, soldiers. In front of buildings their eyes look older. It’s hard to see blessings in a violent culture. Face against rappings. Sirens holsters – that ‘aint the way that Langston Hughes wrote us. So controllers on the shoulders of Moses. And Noah. We go from being precious to Oprah. Cultivated to overcome. Ever since we came over. Seize the day in the way that you can see the determined. The soul that keeps burning. Shorty’s know to keep learning. Lessons in my life are like stripes that we earning. I took Grant’s advice that Christ is returning. Like a thief in the night. I write for beacons of light. For those of us in dark alleys and park valleys. Street hits spark valleys of the conscience. Conquerors of a contest . Even the unseen know that God watches. For one King’s dream he was able to Barack us. One King’s dream he was able to Barack us. One King’s dream he was able to Barack us.”
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Actor is first celebrity to settle claim since tabloid admitted hacking several public figures’ voicemail messages Actor Sienna Miller accepted £100,000 compensation from News of the World on Friday after the paper accepted unconditional liability for all her phone-hacking claims. The unexpected agreement came mid-way through a high court battle with the paper. Miller is the first celebrity to settle their claim since the tabloid, part of Rupert Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN), admitted hacking the phones of several public figures. Miller had originally demanded £400,000 in damages over the hacking. Michael Silverleaf QC, NGN’s barrister, previously told the court that this was “ludicrous” sum. The actor has always insisted that she was not concerned with the financial aspect of the settlement. “The crucial point in our view is to know the extent of the wrongdoing,” said Hugh Tomlinson QC, Miller’s barrister. He added that she had made the last-minute agreement “precisely because all her claims have been admitted [comprising] misuse of private information, breach of confidence, publication of articles derived from voicemail hacking and a course of conduct of harassment over a period of 12 months as resulting from all that. “Her primary concern is not how much money is rewarded by way of compensation but what the extent was of the hacking that took place,” he said. “What she wants is to have is disclosure and proper answers from the News of the World as to what took place so she can have effective non-monetary relief and can be properly compensated,” Tomlinson said. Silverleaf told the high court that the story about her troubled relationship with fellow actor Jude Law that had been published after her voicemail was hacked was merely “hurtful” to the 29-year-old celebrity. He said £100,000 was fair because it was more than what she would receive if she had suffered a “life-changing experience” such as the loss of an eye or facial scarring. “What she wants is a public inquiry that goes beyond what the remedy in civil law provides,” Silverleaf added. “The complainant’s career, reputation or life has not been affected in the long term. She said she was upset at the time. She does not suggest she suffered any long-term harm, there is no suggestion in the pleading.” At least 24 breach of privacy claims have now been lodged against the News of the World by celebrities. They all believe their mobile phone voicemails were eavesdropped using stolen information such as pin codes obtained by Glenn Mulcaire, a private investigator working for the paper. The newspaper has admitted hacking at least eight public figures’ voicemails. Rupert Murdoch’s News International announced last month it was setting up a £20m compensation fund. A News International spokeswoman said: “We are pleased that we have managed to bring this case to a satisfactory conclusion. Several weeks ago we admitted liability in certain cases and offered a genuine and unreserved apology. We hope to resolve other cases swiftly. “For the record, reports that we have been ordered to disclose 8,000 emails to Ms Miller are inaccurate. The error stems from a reference in court to the fact that a total of 8,000 emails were being searched to ascertain whether any Sienna Miller related material was amongst them.” A statement from both Miller and NGN will be read to the court at a hearing next Friday. •
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Crown prince and princess try to comfort relatives of Lorca earthquake victims, and PM pledges to help city rebuild Spain’s prime minister and the crown prince and princess have attended a crowded funeral mass for victims of Spain’s deadliest earthquakes in more than 50 years . Prince Felipe and Princess Letizia hugged and shook hands with relatives of the nine people killed in Wednesday’s twin tremors in Lorca. At one point the prince stooped down to speak to a boy and affectionately ruffled his hair. The prime minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, earlier toured the city to see the widespread damage that forced an estimated 3,000 people to spend another night sleeping in tents in makeshift camps. He said the government would help the city rebuild and return to normal as soon as possible. “It is my conviction that we are going to meet this test. The earthquake was hard and strong. But this country is stronger. Its desire for solidarity and reconstruction are stronger.” The Spanish cabinet approved an emergency aid programme for people who lost their homes or businesses. The plan includes money for people to rent elsewhere while their homes are repaired or rebuilt, and €25m (£30m) in credit lines for people to repair their places of business, farms, factories or vehicles. There were four coffins at the funeral mass, in part because some of the families of the deceased wanted private funerals, officials said. Lorca’s mayor said on Thursday that more than half of the 550 buildings inspected so far by engineers and architects were uninhabitable. Spain José Luis Zapatero Natural disasters and extreme weather Europe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …10,000 Protesters Turn Out To March On Wall Street, Call For Millionaires Tax
May 13, 2011 No CommentOrganizers called for the reinstatement of the state’s “Millionaire Tax,” and ending subsidies for companies that don’t actually create jobs. They called for Bloomberg to “make the banks pay”: Thousands of teachers, social workers, union members and more took part in a march Thursday against Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plans for wide-ranging budget cuts — and against the Wall Street bankers they blame for the city’s budget woes. Activists reported that the NYPD had arrested several marchers, but the demonstration took on a mostly joyful cast, with colorful signs, raucous chants and even a stilt-walker. The May 12 Coalition’s organizers promised a big turnout of more than 10,000 marchers, and while immediately pinning down the crowd’s size proved difficult, at least that number turned out. Demonstrators from the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) alone, which faces more than 4,000 teacher cuts if Bloomberg’s budget is enacted as is, numbered in the thousands. Rev. Al Sharpton, UFT President Michael Mulgrew and an array of city councilmembers and state elected officials laid the blame for the budget cuts squarely at Bloomberg and Wall Street’s feet. “Wall Street recovered, hedge funds got stimulated, and now they want to lay off teachers and close day care centers,” Sharpton said. “We’re going where they sent the money,” he said of the march.
Continue reading …Driver in Rome is suspended after being videoed using his elbows to steer through the city’s notorious traffic Romans are inured to bus and taxi drivers trying to steer while talking on a mobile. But it would seem that at least some draw the line at using two telephones. A bus driver in the Italian capital has been suspended from duty after being videoed while speeding through the city’s notoriously dangerous traffic using a mobile with one hand and a smartphone with the other . He was steering with his elbows. The soundtrack shows he was taking instructions on the mobile on how to set up email on his smartphone. Visitors to Rome will be interested to know that the video was made on a journey from the Anagnina metro station to Ciampino airport – a route much used by low-cost airline passengers on their way out of the city. The regional official responsible for transport, Francesco Lollobrigida, said the driver had been suspended and an inquiry would be held. Italy Road transport Mobile phones Europe John Hooper guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Driver in Rome is suspended after being videoed using his elbows to steer through the city’s notorious traffic Romans are inured to bus and taxi drivers trying to steer while talking on a mobile. But it would seem that at least some draw the line at using two telephones. A bus driver in the Italian capital has been suspended from duty after being videoed while speeding through the city’s notoriously dangerous traffic using a mobile with one hand and a smartphone with the other . He was steering with his elbows. The soundtrack shows he was taking instructions on the mobile on how to set up email on his smartphone. Visitors to Rome will be interested to know that the video was made on a journey from the Anagnina metro station to Ciampino airport – a route much used by low-cost airline passengers on their way out of the city. The regional official responsible for transport, Francesco Lollobrigida, said the driver had been suspended and an inquiry would be held. Italy Road transport Mobile phones Europe John Hooper guardian.co.uk
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