David Cameron’s dramatic promise to lead the greenest ever government has been followed by U-turns and delayed policies Business leaders, investors and campaigners have delivered a thumbs down to the government’s record on green issues, less than a year after David Cameron announced his aspiration to lead ” the greenest government ever “. One investor said the coalition’s actions threatened to “choke off the lifeblood of the green economy” and another said he was “bitterly disappointed” by the coalition’s performance. Penny Shepherd, chief executive of UKSIF , the UK’s leading organisation representing financiers specialising in green investments, warned that the chancellor, George Osborne, had not lived up to his promise of “greening” the Treasury. “Until the Treasury is firmly and visibly behind the low carbon transition, and the shift to a green economy and green financial services, then the rest of government will inevitably struggle,” she said. The comments – after a series of U-turns and watered-down or delayed green policies – come as the government braces itself for a report next week from the CBI which is expected to criticise its record on supporting green business. Five years ago this week, Cameron’s photogenic husky ride across the snowy Norwegian island of Spitzbergen was intended to give voters a glimpse of a different kind of Tory leader and was part of his strategy of detoxifying the brand. And just three days after forming the coalition he declared that he would be the “fourth minister” at the Department of Energy and Climate Change, adding: “I mean that from the bottom of my heart.” In that speech he said that the government would back green industries to drive economic growth, adding that the UK needed to “make sure we have our share of the industries of the future”. Now, though, many of the business leaders and investors whom the government is relying on to deliver that growth are becoming increasingly frustrated. Mark Shorrock, founder of Low Carbon Group, which invests in solar, tidal and wind power, said: “The government has been shortsighted on green issues, and is threatening to choke off the lifeblood of the green economy.” Green entrepreneurs were also critical. Jeremy Leggett, founder of Solarcentury, said: “I am bitterly disappointed. I was impressed by the promise to be the greenest government ever. The coalition could have created a really convincing narrative of genuine job creation but they have failed to do so.” Shepherd said: “One area of particular concern has been the changes to feed-in tariffs [subsidies for renewable energy]. It wasn’t the proposal itself, but the sudden revision that sent out the wrong signal – investors need confidence that policy will remain stable.” A recent report from respected US thinktank the Pew Environment Group appears to bear out these views. From being third in the world in green investment, the UK has tumbled to 13th place , well behind developing countries such as China, India and Brazil in the race to create green jobs and become a leader in green technology. Last year, only £2bn was invested in alternative energy and clean technology in the UK, compared with £7bn in 2009. Germany spent £26bn and the US £21bn last year. Jonathon Porritt, whose Sustainable Development Commission was axed within months of the coalition coming to power, described government performance on green issues as “really thin”. “All the possible good things are in the future. If you have to rely on [the Natural environment] white paper as an example of what is good, that’s pretty desperate. What is a white paper – just paper,” he said. The coalition’s own MPs have also expressed concern on key policies. Tim Yeo, the Conservative former minister and chair of the cross-party environmental audit committee, said: “They are making progress but there is a very long way to go. The changes to feed-in tariffs unsettled investors, undoubtedly. I think David Cameron remains committed, but there is a lot of sucking and seeing to do.” But the government strongly rejected the criticism. One Whitehall insider said: “Investors are reacting positively and recognise we’re acting for the long term.” He pointed to a survey of more than 300 UK clean technology companies, from the government-funded Carbon Trust, that found increasing confidence about their growth prospects, with more than three-quarters looking to recruit in the next 12 months and 37% planning to expand into new export markets in the next two years. Benj Sykes, director of innovations at the Carbon Trust , said: “Our research shows that cleantech innovators are feeling optimistic about their prospects and have ambitious plans for the future. However, access to finance, along with a stable policy environment, will make or break these growth prospects.” Bob Wigley, the ex-investment banker and chairman of Yell, who drew up the blueprint for the green investment bank, told the Guardian that even in its watered down form it was a significant achievement: “I think the chancellor deserves credit for finding £3bn during this challenging period of austerity to fund a green investment bank. I guess we all look forward to hearing the detail of its mandate. But assuming the right mandate, funding and governance structure, it could be one of the coalition’s really substantive legacies, and another world-leading project that other countries will want to emulate.” Renewable UK, the trade body for the wind industry, also said it was “encouraged” by the government’s support for offshore wind. “We are hoping that the positive commitments that have been made are followed up with the right level of financial support,” a spokesman. His views have been echoed in a series of reports from parliamentary committees, which have criticised the government over the green investment bank, flood defences and air pollution. David Cameron Liberal-Conservative coalition Fiona Harvey Damian Carrington guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Homeless Woman Charged With Stealing $16K For Sending Her Son To A Better School
April 22, 2011 No Comment
Click here to view this media I realize that the school choice folks are all for private schools and charter schools and the like. I also support school choice, but not in the same way. In my school choice realm, homeless moms who are looking for a way to have their kid get a decent education in a safer neighborhood would actually be able to make that choice. So when you hear the term “school choice” from me, consider my definition. I’m not sure why this is becoming something fashionable to do, but it seems like a complete waste of taxpayers’ money to charge a homeless mom of a six-year old boy with grand theft. What’s the point, exactly? If she can’t pay for a home, how will she be able to pay back $16,000? Nevertheless, that is what just happened in Norwalk, Connecticut . Not only is she charged with grand larceny, but the babysitter who was in fact a babysitter (that at least is undisputed) whose address she used was evicted from the public housing development where she lived for allowing the child’s mother to use her address to get the boy into school. The police investigation into the residency began in January after Norwalk Housing Authority attorney Donna Lattarulo filed a complaint alleging McDowell registered her son at Brookside, but actually lived in an apartment on Priscilla Street in Bridgeport. As part of the evidence presented in the complaint, police received an affidavit of residency signed by McDowell and dated last September attesting that she lived in the Roodner Court public housing complex on Ely Ave. When she was interviewed by police in the case, McDowell admitted to living in Bridgeport at the time she registered her son in Norwalk schools. She said she knew a man who owned a home on Priscilla Street and he allowed her to sleep at the home at night, but she had to leave the home during the day until he returned from work. She also acknowledged that she stays from time to time at the Norwalk Emergency Shelter when she has nowhere else to stay. McDowell also admitted that Marques was her son’s babysitter from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. after the boy got out of school. Read more . So what’s the point of doing this? To teach any other homeless person of color with little means and a child to educate that they’d better not be sending their kids to a different district where they might actually get an education that helps them to read and write so they can actually better themselves? Seriously, I am not playing bleeding-heart liberal here. I do not understand the logic in telling a homeless person they’re a criminal because they used an address of a person where their child probably spent more time in one place than anywhere else. I do not understand kicking someone when they’re already down. Even if there is more to this story than has been reported, what exactly IS the message? How is society better served by telling this mother who already has absolutely nothing but a child she is trying to look after that she’s a criminal for doing it? Perhaps one of you can explain this, because to me it looks and feels like straight-up racism. Check out some of these reactions: McDowell’s arrest marks the first time Norwalk Board of Education Vice Chairman Glenn Iannaccone has heard of someone facing criminal charges for sending their child to Norwalk schools. “This is the first time I have heard something like this where there has been an arrest. Other allegations like this have been handled by the central office. I’m not sure if the police have been involved, ” Iannaccone said. Norwalk Board of Education Chairman Jack Chiaramonte expressed surprise at McDowell’s arrest and the investigation that led to it. “I don’t get that at all,” Chiaramonte said. “Usually when they find a kid out of district, they send him back. I have never heard of people being arrested for it, but I am not sure of the law. For my understanding, whenever we find someone from another district we send them back.” Mayor Richard Moccia said that he was aware that an investigation was proceeding in the case and that an arrest was possible. ” This now sends a message to other parents that may have been living in other towns and registering their kids with phony addresses ,” he said. While Moccia said it was sad the case involves a woman who appears to be homeless, he pointed out that if she had been living at the Norwalk shelter and registered her child there she would not be facing charges now. Funny how the “message” seems to be sent to people least able to defend themselves , isn’t it? If nothing exposes the fallacy of the right-wing “school choice” non-choice, let this case open some eyes. School choice is only for kids of parents who want to send their kids out of school districts, not to a different public school district. And because public school districts are locally managed, if that locality doesn’t want kids of poor homeless moms of color there, well…all they have to do is get the investigator to follow them long enough to get the goods and BAM. No child left behind. Yeah, right.
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• Tourists throng streets to see ‘nailings’ • Catholic church rejects practice of self harm At least 24 Filipinos were nailed to crosses to re-enact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a Good Friday rite rejected by Catholic church leaders but witnessed by throngs of believers and thousands of tourists. Ruben Enaje, a 50-year-old sign painter, screamed in pain as villagers dressed as Roman centurions hammered four-inch stainless steel nails through his palms and set him aloft on a cross under a brutal sun in San Pedro Cutud in Pampanga. It was Enaje’s 25th crucifixion. He says surviving nearly unscathed when he fell from a three-story building in 1985 prompted him to observe the rite. “Not a bone in my body was broken when I fell from that building,” Enaje said. “It was a miracle.” Ahead of the cross nailings, throngs of penitents walked several miles through village streets and beat their bare backs with sharp bamboo sticks and pieces of wood, sometimes splashing spectators with blood. Some participants opened cuts in the penitents’ backs using broken glass to ensure the ritual was sufficiently bloody. The gory spectacle reflects Philippines’ unique brand of Catholicism, which merges church traditions with folk superstitions. Many of the mostly impoverished penitents undergo the ritual to atone for sins, pray for the sick or a better life and give thanks for what they believe were God-given miracles. The most number of crucifixions were staged beside a rice field in San Pedro Cutud, where 15 men were nailed to crosses, three at a time on a dusty mound as more than 30,000 people, including touristswatched and took pictures. An ambulance stood by and more than 20 tourists fainted or became dizzy in the heat, officials said. Foreigners have been banned from taking part after an Australian comic was nailed to a cross under a false name a few years ago near Pampanga. Authorities also believe that a Japanese man sought to be crucified as part of a porn film in 1996, tourism officer Ching Pangilinan said. “They made a mockery of a local tradition.” Church leaders in the Philippines, Asia’s largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation, have frowned on the Easter week rituals, saying Filipinos can show their deep faith without hurting themselves. Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said crucifixions and self-flagellations are an “imperfect imitation with doubtful theological and social significance.” Pampanga Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said the bloody rites reflect the church’s failure to educate Filipinos about Christian tenets. Christianity Philippines Religion guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …• Tourists throng streets to see ‘nailings’ • Catholic church rejects practice of self harm At least 24 Filipinos were nailed to crosses to re-enact Jesus Christ’s suffering in a Good Friday rite rejected by Catholic church leaders but witnessed by throngs of believers and thousands of tourists. Ruben Enaje, a 50-year-old sign painter, screamed in pain as villagers dressed as Roman centurions hammered four-inch stainless steel nails through his palms and set him aloft on a cross under a brutal sun in San Pedro Cutud in Pampanga. It was Enaje’s 25th crucifixion. He says surviving nearly unscathed when he fell from a three-story building in 1985 prompted him to observe the rite. “Not a bone in my body was broken when I fell from that building,” Enaje said. “It was a miracle.” Ahead of the cross nailings, throngs of penitents walked several miles through village streets and beat their bare backs with sharp bamboo sticks and pieces of wood, sometimes splashing spectators with blood. Some participants opened cuts in the penitents’ backs using broken glass to ensure the ritual was sufficiently bloody. The gory spectacle reflects Philippines’ unique brand of Catholicism, which merges church traditions with folk superstitions. Many of the mostly impoverished penitents undergo the ritual to atone for sins, pray for the sick or a better life and give thanks for what they believe were God-given miracles. The most number of crucifixions were staged beside a rice field in San Pedro Cutud, where 15 men were nailed to crosses, three at a time on a dusty mound as more than 30,000 people, including touristswatched and took pictures. An ambulance stood by and more than 20 tourists fainted or became dizzy in the heat, officials said. Foreigners have been banned from taking part after an Australian comic was nailed to a cross under a false name a few years ago near Pampanga. Authorities also believe that a Japanese man sought to be crucified as part of a porn film in 1996, tourism officer Ching Pangilinan said. “They made a mockery of a local tradition.” Church leaders in the Philippines, Asia’s largest predominantly Roman Catholic nation, have frowned on the Easter week rituals, saying Filipinos can show their deep faith without hurting themselves. Archbishop Angel Lagdameo said crucifixions and self-flagellations are an “imperfect imitation with doubtful theological and social significance.” Pampanga Bishop Pablo Virgilio David said the bloody rites reflect the church’s failure to educate Filipinos about Christian tenets. Christianity Philippines Religion guardian.co.uk
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Business secretary calls for ‘progressive majority’ of Lib Dem and Labour voters Vince Cable today calls for a “progressive majority” of Labour and Liberal Democrat voters to join together and say yes to the alternative vote to prevent the next century being like the last one and “dominated by Tory governments”. In a marked escalation of Lib Dem language about their coalition partners in the runup to the AV referendum on 5 May, and talking for the first time about the effect a yes vote could have on the next general election, the business secretary explicitly raises the prospect of an anti-Tory coalition victory in an effort to boost the Yes to AV campaign and shore up Lib Dem support in the local elections. Cable says the moment has come to end the dynamic in which votes for Labour, the Lib Dems and Greens are split. Appealing to Labour voters more clearly than any of his Lib Dem colleagues, he says the “progressive majority” accounts for 50% of the electorate but their votes are shared between the three parties, which has allowed the Tories to win overall majorities on a minority of the vote. If the supporters of all three parties can be persuaded to vote yes in the referendum the next election would be run under AV, and supporters of one party could vote for the others as second and third preferences, the business secretary points out. In his interview, Cable – who hit out in the strongest terms yet against the Tories for attacks on Nick Clegg during the campaign – says: “It’s been largely forgotten that Liberal and Labour MPs voted AV through the House of Commons but in 1931 the reform was never completed. Conservative governments have dominated ever since without securing a majority of the popular vote. It’s time for the progressive majority in the country to rise above this narrow tribalism and support this reform because we need to make sure the progressive majority wins elections in this century and not the Conservatives as they did, by the back door, for two-thirds of the last century.” Cable’s intervention marks a hardening of Lib Dem language in the last weekend before the royal wedding, when they fear people will have switched off. During the campaign so far, Lib Dems have refrained from pointing out how their coalition partners would fare in an AV system but the Tories have not held back from charging that their supporters should vote down the reform to punish the Lib Dems, launching personal attacks on Clegg. The intervention comes after a week in which David Cameron energetically hit the road for a no vote and dismissed accusations that he had reneged on a deal with the deputy prime minister that he would take a back seat in the debate. Lib Dems have also been struck that Cameron appears to take no responsibility for the personal attacks on Clegg. Cable says he does not believe the prime minister’s excuse that the no campaign is independent from him. He says a no campaign leaflet came through his own letterbox encouraging people to punish Clegg for “breaking promises” in government. It is promoted by William Norton, a Tory councillor in Redditch, Worcestershire. “AV leads to broken promises,” it reads. “Nick Clegg is unpopular because he broke his promises: job cuts, VAT increase, tuition fees, public spending cuts. That’s why he’s pushing for AV to save his party.” Cable said: “I was surprised and alarmed to see a leaflet from the No to AV campaign put through my door with a brutal personal attack on Nick Clegg for his having loyally supported coalition policies including difficult public spending cuts. The claims that he promised not to embark on tough economic policies are simply false. I find it difficult to reconcile this leaflet attacking coalition economic policy with the fact that Mr Cameron is personally leading the no campaign and the leaflet is produced by a leading Tory donor. He [Cameron] may not directly control what his supporters are up to. But he must make it clear that he doesn’t condone and will endeavour to stop personal attacks on his deputy for loyally supporting coalition policy. “To stand by and let this happen is dangerous and puts considerable strain on the coalition. I haven’t really reacted to this spat. But that leaflet was absolutely dreadful. It does take it on to a different level.” Senior Lib Dems believe a TNS poll published yesterday gives them cause for hope after previous polls have suggested leads for the no campaign of as much as 16%. The new poll found that 34% of people oppose AV but 32% support it. After breaking down voting intention by party, most analysts believe the support of Labour voters – nearly evenly split – will be crucial to whether the change to the voting system goes through. So the pro-AV campaign will press over the remaining 12 days to win Labour supporters over. Asked if things can be the same again after May, Cable said: “If normal is working in a professional and businesslike way to deliver an agreed agenda then we can, but that doesn’t mean ideological alignment or an absence of policy disagreement and I am not into lovey dovey stuff either.” Alternative vote AV referendum Electoral reform Vince Cable Liberal Democrats Labour Conservatives Allegra Stratton guardian.co.uk
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Click here to view this media A controversial Koran-burning pastor accidentally discharged his firearm Thursday night in the parking lot of a TV station after appearing on a talk show with a Muslim cleric. Terry Jones had appeared on Fox 2′s Let it Rip program along with Hassan Al-Qazwini, the leader of Deaborn’s Islamic Center of America, prior to the incident. “After the show wrapped, the imam was chatting in the rear of the building while Terry Jones and [assistant pastor] Wayne Sapp walked with police officers out the front door to their car,” MyFoxDetroit.com reported . “As the pastor gets into the car to leave for the night, suddenly there’s a loud ‘boom.’” “Officers heard a gunshot, approached the vehicle, asked Mr. Jones if he was OK,” Southfield Police Lt. Nick Loussia told The Detroit Free Press . “He was, and they also observed he had a gun in his hand.” That .40 caliber handgun and another firearm found in the car were briefly confiscated by officers. “Based on the facts of the investigation it did not appear a crime had been committed,” Loussia said. Jones and Sapp were allowed to leave after the weapons were returned to them. “It was definitely accidental,” Jones later said. “I actually have no explanation, no excuse.” Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy has filed petition in Florida district court to prevent Jones from holding a rally outside a Michigan mosque. Worthy said the risk of violence was too great to allow Jones to hold the rally. “We have made it very clear that we are coming there with very, very peaceful intentions,” the pastor explained to WXYZ-TV. “We will be armed. We do have concealed weapons permits.” h/t: Talking Points Memo
Continue reading …Bozell on ‘Fox & Friends’: Media Blamed Bush for Rising Gas Prices, Fail to Blame Obama for Similar Hike in Costs
April 22, 2011 No Comment
NewsBusters publisher and Media Research Center president Brent Bozell appeared on the April 22 “Fox & Friends” to discuss the media's double standard on rising gas prices. In short, in 2006, the media blamed then-President Bush, but in 2011, anyone but Obama seems to be at fault as far as the media are concerned. For the full video of the segment, watch the video embed posted after the page break:
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Organisers say fears over the ticketing process have not been borne out London 2012 organisers say demand for tickets is high before Tuesday’s deadline for applications, although they will not reveal whether the 80% sales target has been met. “We genuinely don’t know until we’ve got all the final data in,” said Paul Williamson, Locog’s director of ticketing. “We’ve always said that people who apply on day one should have the same chance as the people who apply on the last day so we want to make sure it’s a level playing field for everyone.” He confirmed that figures would be released once the applications had been processed. He believes the marketing campaign of the last seven days has resulted in a surge of interest. “We’re confident that we’re on target. We’ve had hundreds of thousands of orders come in. We’ve seen a real lift in applications in the last 48 hours and we expect that to follow through to Tuesday.” Williamson said fears over the ticketing process had not been borne out. “We’ve got the world’s most complicated sports event – 650 sessions, 26 sports, 17 days at 35 venues. We’ve tried to simplify it as much as we can.” Tessa Jowell, shadow minister for the Olympics, and Neale Coleman, Boris Johnson’s adviser on London 2012, agree that application numbers have been high. “As far as I’m aware it’s going really well,” said Jowell. “I spoke to Locog just as week ago and I’ve got no reason to believe that there is any problem.” For those buying the tickets the biggest complaint seems to be the pricing and lack of transparency over exactly what each price bracket buys. Jack Miller, vice-president of the British Athletics Supporters Club, said the process compared favourably with the Commonwealth Games in Manchester in 2002. However, he criticised the system for not showing customers what kind of view they can expect – fearing a repeat of the 1996 Atlanta Olympics for he bought an expensive ticket with a terrible view. “I got a grade A ticket for the 100m final in Atlanta … but it turned out to be located around the 200m start line, which was utterly useless for watching the 100m. I felt robbed. I think that we would very much like to have known the layout of the 2012 stadium and where the different price category tickets begin and end.” Olympic Games 2012 London Anna Kessel guardian.co.uk
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John Ensign’s decision to resign means he will avoid awkward questions about pay-off that followed festering sex scandal The life-cycle of the modern political scandal can be sketched in the recent career of John Ensign , the Republican senator from Nevada who abruptly announced that he was resigning . When he was first found to have been having an affair with the wife of his office’s chief of staff, Ensign’s response two years ago was to fight on as senator. Then as more details emerged and accusations multiplied, including the payment of $96,000 by Ensign’s parents to the former staff member, the Senate Ethics Committee launched the latest in a long line of investigations last month. Shortly afterwards, Ensign announced that he wouldn’t be running for re-election in 2012. The final act came on Thursday, when Ensign bowed to the inevitable by issuing a statement saying that he was stepping down on 3 May – one day before he was due to be questioned under oath about the $96,000 payment. “Senator Ensign has made the appropriate decision,” the Senate Ethics Committee said in a terse statement [pdf]. With Nevada a volatile swing state, Ensign’s early departure slightly improves the chances of the Republican party retaining the seat in the 2012 election. Nevada’s Republican governor is certain to appoint congressman Dean Heller, the leading Republican candidate for the seat, to serve as senator of the remainder of Ensign’s term, thus making Heller the incumbent. The Democratic opposition to Heller in 2012 is expected to be representative Shelley Berkley , a highly competitive candidate. In his mawkish yet combative statement , Ensign still maintains that he did nothing wrong: While I stand behind my firm belief that I have not violated any law, rule, or standard of conduct of the Senate, and I have fought to prove this publicly, I will not continue to subject my family, my constituents, or the Senate to any further rounds of investigation, depositions, drawn out proceedings, or especially public hearings. For my family and me, this continued personal cost is simply too great. Ensign noted in his defence that “both the Department of Justice and the Federal Election Commission saw no grounds on which to charge me with improper conduct”. Ensign’s resignation means the Senate Ethics Committee’s 22-month-long investigation will be terminated. The resignation may be good news for Tea Party hero Sharron Angle. With Dean Heller taking Ensign’s US Senate seat, Angle can run in the special election for Heller’s congressional district, only months after her disastrous and hugely expensive loss to Democratic majority leader Harry Reid in the election for Nevada’s other senate seat. Nevada Republicans US Congress US elections 2012 United States Richard Adams guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Sarasota paper says Florida police failed to attend court hearing – Shawn Tyson was freed hours before James Cooper and James Kouzaris were murdered A Florida judge warned that a teenager was “a danger to the community” and should remain in custody, only for a colleague to free him hours before he is alleged to have shot dead two British tourists in Sarasota. Shawn Tyson of Newtown, Sarasota, was arrested for killing James Cooper, 25, and James Kouzaris, 24, one day after their bodies were found with multiple gunshot wounds on a street in the crime-plagued neighbourhood. But it has emerged that the 16-year-old, who had dropped out of school and is believed to have had a troubled home life, should not have been back on the streets at all after an earlier arrest for gun crime. Detectives failed to appear as ordered at a 15 April hearing into an episode in which Tyson fired a weapon during a fight, and juvenile bench Judge Deno Economou – unaware of the concerns of Sarasota’s chief judge Lee Haworth at an earlier hearing – released him from jail into the custody of his mother. It was the last in a number of “prosecutorial missteps and a series of communication problems” cited by the Sarasota Herald-Tribune newspaper that led to the fatal confrontation between Tyson and the British friends, who had been enjoying a night out in the early hours of Saturday during a three-week holiday in Florida. Detectives are still trying to work out what brought Cooper, of Warwick, and Kouzaris, from Northampton, into an area of town notorious for gang activity at 3am, but are working on several theories, including that they took a wrong turn as they looked for food after leaving a bar, or were ordered there at gunpoint before being robbed and killed. According to the Herald-Tribune, Tyson was first arrested on 7 April for firing a gun into a car at another youth with whom he had been engaged in a feud. A Newtown resident told the paper that Tyson and her brother had fallen out and Tyson waved a revolver at them and threatened to kill them, shortly before firing. “There’s continuing potential escalation between these alleged victims and [Tyson will remain in custody] … to help defuse this situation, but particularly because of the danger it presents to the community with a young 16-year-old handling a firearm,” Judge Haworth said at Tyson’s initial hearing on 8 April. He ordered that detectives appear at the hearing before Judge Economou a week later, but they failed to do so and prosecutors did not pass on Haworth’s warning. The Sarasota Police Department announced it was no longer talking to reporters, and nobody was available for comment at the Sarasota courthouse, which was closed for the Easter holidays. Meanwhile, the bodies of the Britons are believed to be back in the UK after their release by a coroner. An announcement about funeral arrangements is expected soon. Gun crime Florida Crime United States Richard Luscombe guardian.co.uk
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