A roof garden, developed in partnership with the Eden Project, has been created at London’s Southbank Centre by a team of 50 people who have faced adversity in life High above the modernist splendour of London’s Southbank Centre, Estella Hause takes a seat next to Scruffy the dog and surveys her work. “Everything I’ve done I didn’t know anything about before,” she says, waving a muddy hand at a bed of 100 native British wildflowers and grasses on the roof of the Queen Elizabeth Hall. “I’ve learnt about different plants, how deep you plant them, how much you have to water them. I came up and just started helping. Since then they haven’t been able to get rid of me. I love it.” The roof garden, developed in partnership with the Eden Project as part of the Southbank’s 60th anniversary homage to the 1951 Festival of Britain, has been created by a team of 50 people who have faced adversity in life. Most have been homeless, spent time in prison or have mental health problems. Hause, a 30-year-old former drug addict who has been in prison for violent offences, was urged to join by a visitor to the women’s group she attends. Although she has only been involved for a week, she has taken to the work with such zeal that the gardening team’s leader, Paul Pulford, calls her his “right-hand woman”. Pulford, also known as Scruffy (he and his dog share the name), started gardening seven years ago after moving into a Providence Row Housing Association hostel in east London. “I was living on the streets and was addicted to heroin, alcohol, I had mental health problems. I didn’t care whether I woke up the next day or not,” he says. He formed a gardening club that spread to other Providence Row hostels and included taking on community work. For the last two years it has helped create the Eden Project’s silver medal-winning show gardens at the Chelsea Flower Show. “Horticulture has changed my life,” Pulford says. The success of the group, he says, hinges partly on its members’ shared experiences: “Any problems that anyone has, I’ve had them all.” Touring the 1,200 sq metre garden, which includes a mini orchard, vegetable plots and a pergola swathed in sweetly-scented climbers, he points out rare wildflowers and describes how they will attract bees and butterflies. “We’ve created a living work of art,” Pulford says. “We’re celebrating the beautiful flowers of the British Isles.” For Shân Maclennan, the Southbank Centre’s creative director of learning and participation, it is the gardeners who are important. “It allows people who’ve faced certain challenges to put themselves back in the world,” she says. Hause’s delight in her work suggests she is right. “It’s really therapeutic. Normally, when I wake up in the morning, I cry. This week, I’ve woken up every day smiling.” • The 60th anniversary celebrations of the Festival of Britain run until 4 September. Homelessness Alcohol Drugs Social exclusion Mental health Festivals Rachel Williams guardian.co.uk
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E4′s Misfits lands four nods, including for best supporting actor and actress, as Matt Smith becomes first Doctor to be in running for best actor
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Ford reports net income of $2.6bn thanks to demand for greener cars and economic recovery Greener cars and a bounce-back in the global economy helped Ford report its largest first-quarter profit in 13 years. The company reported a net income of $2.6bn (£1.6bn), or 61 cents a share, compared with $2.09bn, or 50 cents a share, during the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose to $33.1bn, up from $28.1bn in 2010. Excluding special items, Ford has posted operating profits for seven consecutive quarters . Ford’s largest first-quarter profit since 1998 was driven in part by the return of US consumers to car dealerships . The company said buyers were favouring smaller, greener cars to cope with rising petrol prices. This week unleaded petrol averaged $3.87 a gallon in the US, up from $2.85 a year ago. Despite the trend to smaller cars, the average sales price rose. US consumers paid an average of $31,508 for Ford models in the first quarter, up 3.9% from $30,319 last year, according to car analyst Edmunds.com. The improvements spanned Ford’s global business. In Europe, first-quarter pre-tax operating profits more than doubled to $293m, compared with a profit of $107m a year ago. Ford South America’s pre-tax operating profit rose to $210m from $203m and in Asia Pacific Africa profits were up to $33m from $23m. Ford said it expected to build 1.5m vehicles worldwide in the second quarter, 12,000 more than a year ago. Alan Mulally, the Ford president and chief executive, said: “Our team delivered a great quarter, with solid growth and improvements in all regions. We continue to accelerate our ‘One Ford’ plan around the world, delivering on our commitments to serve our global customers with a full family of best-in-class vehicles and deliver profitable growth for all, despite uncertain economic conditions.” Ford cut its debt by $2.5bn in the first quarter and said its cash reserves now exceed its debt by $4.7bn. It reported $2.2bn of positive cash flow for the quarter, compared with a $100m outflow a year earlier. Jessica Caldwell, senior analyst at Edmunds.com, said: “Ford’s momentum stems from the company’s balanced product portfolio and its commitment to refresh its line-up at an aggressive pace, which keeps dealers excited and continues the buzz among car-shoppers.” She said that Ford was now well represented in every major product category: “The challenge for Ford will be maintaining this momentum – there’s more pressure when you’re the one to watch.” Ford Automotive industry Manufacturing sector US economy United States Dominic Rushe guardian.co.uk
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Death of Abu Hafs al-Najdi, also known as Abdul Ghani, in early April is ‘significant milestone’ for US-led coalition One of the most important al-Qaida fighters in Afghanistan was killed earlier this month, the US-led coalition has revealed. Nato’s International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) said on Tuesday the killing of Abu Hafs al-Najdi, also known as Abdul Ghani, in an airstrike in eastern Afghanistan was a “significant milestone in the disruption of al-Qaida” in the country. The veteran Saudi Arabian militant was on an Isaf hitlist since at least 2007. He was killed on 13 April, along with several other insurgents in the Dangam district of Kunar province, a heavily wooded and mountainous area that neighbours Pakistan. Ghani was finally pinpointed after he met another top al-Qaida leader named Waqas, who was also killed. In the last few months, fears have grown that the group has staged a major comeback after falling into near irrelevance in Afghanistan. For some time intelligence analysts have said the number of al-Qaida fighters in the country had fallen to perhaps fewer than100, and that what remains of the group that carried out the 9/11 attacks was either killed, captured or restricted to operating over the border in the comparative safe havens of Pakistan. However some reports have claimed the group is regrouping and even establishing training camps. It is thought to be particularly active in Kunar and other areas of north-eastern Afghanistan, where US troops have been forced to abandon entire valleys after Isaf commanders concluded that after years of bloody stalemate they were not making any headway against an entrenched resistance to the foreign presence. A statement by Isaf said the Islamist militant group remained a “top priority for Afghan and coalition forces”, and that 25 al-Qaida fighters have been killed in the last month alone. Ghani, who the coalition said was the second-highest priority insurgent in all Afghanistan, operated primarily in the province of Kunar. Isaf said he directed al-Qaida operations in the province, as well as training fighters and obtaining weapons. He was also responsible for organising high-profile attacks, including on Isaf bases, and was thought to be responsible for a suicide attack that killed a tribal elder on the same morning of his own death. It added that he also played a crucial role in keeping a flow of money to fighters operating on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani border. “Abdul Ghani was able to streamline control of assets and provide considerably more funding to insurgent fighters,” Isaf said. “This led to increased funds to provide weapons, explosives and equipment to multiple insurgent attack cells.” Afghanistan US military al-Qaida Global terrorism Nato Jon Boone guardian.co.uk
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Under the premium movie-on-demand service, film lovers will be able to stream new releases for as little as $2 YouTube is launching a movie rental service in a partnership with Hollywood film giants including Sony and Warner Brothers, to rival Netflix and Apple’s iTunes. The world’s most popular short-form video website will expand into streaming big-name, full-length blockbusters in May, according to reports . Under the premium movie-on-demand service, film lovers will be able to stream new releases for as little as $2 (£1.20), though prices will differ for each movie. Three of the six major film studios – Sony Pictures Entertainment, Warner Brothers and Universal – have reportedly agreed licensing terms with the Google-owned video giant. Paramount, Fox and Disney have not yet committed to the plan, it is understood. The service is expected to be limited to the US for the foreseeable future. A spokeswoman for YouTube declined to comment. Google has strengthened its relationship with Hollywood and programme makers in recent months in an attempt to keep up with competitors, including the market-leading Netflix and iTunes. In the US, Netflix dominates the nascent online movie streaming market. With 23.6 million subscribers, the US-only site now commands as many eyeballs as Comcast , the largest cable operator in the US. Apple’s iTunes, meanwhile, offers a formidable roster of new releases to download and to rent virtually. Despite a low-key foray into independent movie-streaming – announced at the Sundance film festival in January 2010 – YouTube has yet to offer any big-name titles. The site’s global reach, attracting more than 100 million users around the world, is understood to have complicated negotiations with film studios, which usually sign licensing agreements on a country-by-country basis. The deal has been further complicated by existing partnerships between Hollywood studios and streaming services including Netflix. YouTube has signed up a number of high-profile media executives, including former Netflix boss Robert Kyncl, in recent months as the site tries to move away from its user-generated video image. Two Paramount executives, Alex Carloss and Malik Ducard, have also joined YouTube recently, along with the Universal Sports chief Claude Ruibal. Kyncl, now YouTube’s vice-president of TV and film entertainment, hinted at the movie-on-demand plan at a conference earlier this month. “Imagine if you had a video store on YouTube, where you could rent or buy the movie without being sent elsewhere,” he said. “Obviously, there are things coming, but we can’t talk about them yet.” YouTube, which was bought for $1.6bn (£970m) by Google in 2006, generated about $544m in revenue last year and is thought to have recently become profitable. •
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London still expensive but teachers, nurses and firefighters can afford homes in more towns than they could in 2007 Housing has become more affordable for nurses, policemen and firefighters since property prices peaked in 2007, a report by the Halifax has revealed. House prices in 38% of towns are now within reach of people earning the average key worker salary of £30,486 per year, up from just 3% of towns in 2007. However there has been a decline in properties affordable to key workers during the past decade with just 38% falling into the right price bracket now compared to 64% in 2001. The statistics are based on a ratio of average earnings collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to house prices collected by the Halifax, although the average salary figures exclude workers in entry level or trainee roles. Overall, employees in the five key worker groups – nurses, teachers, police officers, firefighters and paramedics have seen an increase in the number of towns where they could buy property since 2007. According to the Halifax firemen have benefitted the most: only 1% of towns were affordable for them in 2007 compared to 28% today. Nurses have also seen more property become affordable, climbing from 7% to 22% in the last four years. Halifax say the current boost in affordability is due to a fall in house prices and an increase in earnings. However the increase may be short lived as the two-year pay freeze announced by the Chancellor George Osborne take effect during the next six months. The three year pay deals for 140,000 police officers and around 725,000 teachers in England and Wales will expire in September. Nelson in Lancashire had the most affordable property with a house price to average key worker earnings ratio of 2.1, followed by Lochgelloy in Fife (2.4) and Bootle in Merseyside (2.5). But key workers continue to be priced out of many London boroughs including Chelsea (16.5), Westminster (13.6) and Camden (12.4). The biggest improvement in affordability was in Wrexham, north Wales where the average house price to average key worker earnings ratio dropped from 6.2, to 3.7. There are now no affordable areas in London compared with two ten years ago – Barking and Dagenham. The North topped the table as the most affordable region (3.7), closely followed by Yorkshire and the Humber, the north-west and Wales (both 3.8). Greater London (7.1) and the south-east are (6.7) the least affordable. Nitesh Patel, housing economist at Halifax, said: “Over a longer period, the number of affordable towns in 2011 remains significantly lower than a decade ago. In 2001, two-thirds of towns were affordable compared to just a third today.” House prices Property Mortgages Carri-Ann Taylor guardian.co.uk
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Chancellor makes cautious prediction before Wednesday’s publication of official statistics for economic growth in the first three months of 2011 The chancellor, George Osborne, has told the cabinet that the economy is on the right track ahead of Wednesday’s first-quarter official growth figures, a key test of how fast the economy has recovered since its shock 0.5% contraction in the last quarter of 2010. But Osborne said the underlying position remained difficult in what looks like a cautious prediction ahead of the official statistics. The cabinet meeting was the first to be held since serious infighting broke out between Liberal Democrat and Conservative members of the coalition over the way in which the no campaign is conducting its battle to convince voters to reject a switch to the alternative vote in the 5 May referendum. Chris Huhne, the energy secretary and one of the most vociferous critics of the no campaign tactics, was absent from the Tuesday morning meeting, attending a meeting in Brussels. Huhne has spoken of taking legal action against the no campaign and described some of the Conservative chairwomen’s remarks to those of the Nazi propagandist Joseph Goebbels. But the prime minister’s spokesman claimed there was some good-natured banter on the margins of the cabinet. David Cameron apparently made no reference to the in-fighting and did not call for a return to collective cabinet responsibility. Both he and the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, are trying to manage a difficult fortnight in the hope that once the local elections and the referendum are over the two sides will return in part to their previous relatively warm relations. Vince Cable, the business secretary, last week called for the British people to vote yes in order to usher in a progressive century that would see the Conservatives beaten . On Tuesday he confined his remarks to the coalition’s growth strategy. The Office for Budget Responsibility, the independent fiscal watchdog, said in the March budget that gross domestic product (GDP) will rise just 1.7% this year, rather than the 2.1% it predicted in November – already a downwards revision from the previous budget. Another 0.1% was cut off its the prediction for 2012, now down to 2.5%. Osborne has 24 hours advance access to key economic data such as the preliminary estimate of first-quarter GDP due to be released at 0830 GMT on Wednesday. The tone of his remarks will either be seen as expectation management, or a reflection of the still choppy economic picture. Economists polled by Reuters have steadily downgraded their expectations for the first quarter, which is expected to show quarterly growth of just 0.5%. Osborne reported back to cabinet colleagues on the IMF spring meeting at which the IMF also revised down its 2011 forecast for the UK to 1.75%, its third downgrade in a year. The revision reflects the front-loading of the cuts praised by the IMF. The prime minister’s spokesman said: “We are trying to rebalance the economy. That is always going to be difficult.” The cabinet was also given an update of the Nato operations in Libya, where the foreign secretary, William Hague, said progress was being made, but the UK was in there for the long haul. Economic policy Economic growth (GDP) Economics George Osborne Liberal-Conservative coalition Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk
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Bodies lying on the streets of Deraa as residents come under artillery and sniper fire, according to witnesses Fresh gunfire was reported in the Syrian city of Deraa, which has been at the centre of three weeks of unrest, as the government pushed on with a crackdown against pro-democracy protesters, despite growing international condemnation. Bodies were left lying on the streets of Deraa on Tuesday as residents sought shelter from artillery and sniper fire, witnesses said, a day after tanks rolled into the city, marking a dramatic escalation in efforts to crush the uprising . A resident told the Associated Press that families had been unable to recover the bodies of protesters killed by gunmen loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. “We are being subjected to a massacre,” the man screamed over the telephone as cracks of gunfire reverberated in the background. “Children are being killed. We have been without electricity for three days, we have no water.” Another resident told Reuters that there had been intermittent gunfire throughout the night followed by artillery rounds and intense machine-gun fire at around 7.30 on Tuesday morning. “Sometimes you suddenly hear a burst of heavy machine-gun fire coming in all directions as though to just scare people and terrify them,” he said. He said citizens were cut off not just from the outside world but from other parts of Deraa. “A brother doesn’t know what’s happening to his brother and we are still besieged,” he said. “They have cut off the city’s inner neighbourhoods from each other and army and snipers are still encircling almost every quarter.” The foreign secretary, William Hague, issued a strongly worded attack on the violence, amid reports that deadly attacks and arrests targeting protesters were continuing. The foreign secretary urged Assad to heed calls for reform and end a brutal campaign of repression that has reportedly seen troops open fire on crowds and tanks rolling into towns and cities. His comments came as human rights groups said dozens of people were being rounded up by security forces. More than 350 people have been killed since unrest began in Syria five weeks ago. Hague said: “I condemn utterly any violence and killings perpetrated by the Syrian security forces against civilians who are expressing their views in peaceful protests. This violent repression must stop.” He accused Assad of making empty promises to ease draconian restrictions on dissenters, saying his lifting last week of a 48-year-old emergency law had failed to fulfil pledges of reform. He said Britain was in talks with EU and UN security council partners over ways to “send a strong signal” to the Syrian government. He made no mention of sanctions but said further measures were on the table. “Words are not enough: the emergency law needs to be lifted in practice and the legitimate aspirations of the people met,” he said. The White House expressed alarm at the violence and warned it was considering sanctions. The Obama administration condemned “the brutal violence used by the government of Syria”, describing it as deplorable, and adding: “The United States is pursuing a range of possible policy options, including targeted sanctions, to respond to the crackdown and make clear that this behaviour is unacceptable.” The US state department has told American citizens to leave Syria as soon as they can, and has ordered non-essential embassy staff, and all diplomatic families to leave the country. Thousands of government troops raided thousands of homes in the Damascus suburb of Douma on Tuesday to round up suspected protesters, eyewitnesses told Nadim Houry, a Human Rights Watch Syria researcher. He said the crackdown was believed to be worse in Deraa, at the centre of the rebellion, where tanks were deployed on Monday. He said: “An estimated 5,000 members of the security forces circled the town and went in knocking door-to-door arresting people. According to one family three members of their family were detained. They [the security forces] had a list of names that they were looking for. “The situation in Deraa is even more worrying but unfortunately the city remains completely cut off. We know that the Syrian army with tanks and the like entered the city on Monday morning. There are no available details at this stage of exactly what’s happening. All we have are short clips on YouTube showing the army shooting on the city.” Soldiers were said to have opened fire at random in Deraa on Monday, with snipers firing from rooftops and men armed with guns and knives conducting house-to-house searches. Although these reports have not been verified, videos posted online appear to support the claims of witnesses. Rami Abdul-Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that arrests also occurred early on Tuesday in the northern coastal city of Jableh. He said phone lines to Deraa were down. Human rights organisations have warned that the latest crackdown signals an attempt by Syrian regime to deliver a fatal blow to the pro-democracy movement. Syria dismisses that claim, insisting its actions are a response to an Islamist-inspired uprising. Jordan’s powerful Muslim Brotherhood has also condemned the crackdown, denouncing Assad’s “violent way” of dealing with protesters. Syria has banned its own Muslim Brotherhood group. Arab and Middle East unrest Syria Middle East Barry Neild guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Lawrence O’Donnell Skewers Franklin Graham for Pretending He Doesn’t Know President Obama is a Christian
April 26, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media Lawrence O’Donnell didn’t give Birther and recent Donald Trump fan Franklin Graham the kind of pass he got from Christiane Amanpour on This Week , but man, was this interview painful to watch. O’Donnell laid Graham’s hypocrisy bare when it came to pretending that he didn’t know full well that our President is a Christian, but he let him off the hook for the Birther nonsense, just like Amanpour did. O’Donnell had an opportunity to really go after Graham when he gave his blathering answer as to whether he’d actually given up everything when he supposedly devoted his life to Christ, but he just allowed Graham to ramble on and make a fool of himself instead of a doing a little follow-up. I don’t know how much money the Grahams take in every year, but I imagine they’re doing pretty well if they could afford to be flying Sarah Palin around on private jets awhile back.
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Afghan officials say at least 65 of the 480 escaped prisoners caught as Nato claims air strike killed al-Qaida commander Afghan forces have recaptured at least 65 of the 480 inmates who escaped from the south’s largest prison, the government said on Tuesday. Prison officials discovered early on Monday morning that the inmates – nearly all of them Taliban militants – were missing from their cells, and then found the tunnel through which they appeared to have made their getaway. The Taliban said the jailbreak was five months in the making, with diggers starting the tunnel from under a nearby house while they arranged for inmates to get cell keys. The Kandahar provincial governor’s office said that Afghan and international forces are working together to recapture the missing prisoners. It said the troops have already caught 65 and killed two who tried to resist. Authorities have biometric data on each prisoner, the statement added. The prison break came less than two weeks after the Kandahar police chief was killed by a suicide bomber inside his heavily defended office compound. “How can we trust or rely on a government that can’t protect the police chief inside the police headquarters and can’t keep prisoners in the prison?” asked Islamullah Agha Bashir, who sells washing machines and other appliances in Kandahar city. “Last night while we were eating dinner I told my two sons not to go out as much because I am afraid that now when the morale of the Taliban is high, they will attack more.” In Kabul, officials started to piece through the details of the escape and place blame. The justice minister, Abibullah Ghalab, sent a formal letter to President Hamid Karzai, acknowledging that it was likely that prison officials or guards acted as accomplices but adding that Afghan and international security forces should have detected the plot. “The escape of all the prisoners from one tunnel … shows that collaborators inside the prison somehow provided an opportunity,” it said. However, Ghalab also noted that Afghan police searched the compound from which the tunnel originated about two and a half months before the prison break and he said that Canadian and US forces have been responsible for security improvements to the prison. A full investigation was under way. Kandahar city has been a major focus of the international troop surge over the past year, with Nato officials saying that establishing security there will be key to securing the region. Last summer, Afghan forces created a ring of checkpoints around the city and started pushing out into Taliban areas on its outskirts in a plan to establish the government’s authority before the rise in attacks that usually comes with warmer weather in the spring and summer. The Taliban have responding by starting off the spring fighting season with a string of attacks apparently designed to undermine trust in the capabilities of the Afghan government. Within the past two weeks, Taliban agents have also launched deadly attacks from inside the defence ministry a shared Afghan-US military base in eastern Laghman province. The attacks have exposed weaknesses that have also raised doubt over the readiness of the Afghan government to start taking over authority for security parts of the country as planned. Nato-led coalition forces announced on Tuesday that a key al-Qaida operative in Afghanistan had been killed in an air strike on 13 April in Dangam district of eastern Kunar province. Nato said Abu Hafs al-Najdi, also known as Abdul Ghani, was a regional commander in charge of suicide bombings and cash flow. The strike also killed a number of other insurgents, including another al-Qaida leader known as Waqas. In eastern Paktia province on Tuesday, the provincial governor narrowly escaped an apparent assassination attempt by insurgents. A roadside bomb exploded just behind a vehicle taking Juma Khan Hamdard to his office, said Rohallah Samon, a spokesman. Hamdard was not hurt, but three policemen who were in a chase vehicle were slightly injured, Samon said. Afghanistan Taliban Nato al-Qaida Global terrorism US foreign policy guardian.co.uk
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