Lawyer for relatives of victims condemns ‘farce’ as rail regulator looks set to drop criminal case against maintenance firm Jarvis will escape prosecution for the fatal Potters Bar train crash after the rail regulator is understood to have dropped criminal proceedings against the maintenance firm. A lawyer representing families bereaved in the accident slammed the nine-year quest for justice as a “farce”, particularly as the taxpayer is instead likely to underwrite a looming six-figure fine for Network Rail over its liability for the incident. The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) is preparing to announce that it will not seek a prosecution over the derailment of a train outside Potters Bar station, Hertfordshire, on 10 May 2002 in which seven people died. Louise Christian, a solicitor who represented families at the inquest into the deaths, said: “There is a huge problem every time we have one of these health and safety disasters. There is no accountability and the prosecutions they bring are a bit of a farce.” A tragic bookend to the Railtrack era that ushered in rail privatisation, the circumstances of the Potters Bar crash highlighted severe strains in the rail industry. Jarvis was contracted by Railtrack to maintain the line but attempted to blame the crash on a saboteur with “informed” engineering knowledge. The company later withdrew the claim in a humiliating apology and admitted joint liability for the crash. Six passengers on the West Anglia Great Northern train – Austen Kark, Emma Knights, Jonael Schickler, Alexander Ogunwusi, Chia Hsin Lin and Chia Chin Wu – were killed in the accident. A passerby, Agnes Quinlivan, died after she was hit by falling debris. It is understood that Jarvis’s financial problems contributed to the ORR’s decision, which it reached after consultation with the victims’ families, who have already seen the prospects of criminal proceedings against former Jarvis or Railtrack executive disappear. Jarvis’s rail division is in administration and its administrators have not participated in proceedings, adding further complications to a prosecution under the Health and Safety At Work Act that could only result in a fine against the company. Perdita Kark, whose father Austen was killed and whose mother, the novelist Nina Bawden, was seriously injured in the derailment, urged the industry to tighten safety standards after a coroner at the Potters Bar inquest warned that passengers still faced safety risks. “The gut instinct is that one wanted Jarvis in the dock along with Railtrack but in the end you just want to make sure that this sort of thing does not happen again because they have learned something from it. It is disappointing but I don’t see how you can bring into court something that does not exist anymore.” Last month Network Rail told Watford magistrates court that it would plead guilty to track safety failings that caused the derailment. Network Rail admitted failings over the installation, maintenance and inspection of stretcher bars, which hold rails apart at the correct width for train wheels. The owner of Britain’s tracks and stations inherited the liability for Potters Bar after it replaced Railtrack months after the crash and it will be sentenced at St Albans crown court on 30 March. Sentencing guidelines state that a fatal breach of health and safety laws carries a fine of at least £100,000 but the punishment will be underwritten by the state, which put £3.7bn into Network Rail last year and is its main source of funding. After entering its guilty plea Network Rail said the rail system had improved considerably since the crash, with the last fatal accident due to infrastructure problems occurring in 2007 when a Virgin Trains Pendolino derailed at Graygrigg, claiming the life of one passenger. “The railway today is almost unrecognisable since the days of Railtrack and the Potters Bar tragedy of 2002,” said Network Rail. The government has ruled out a joint public inquiry into Potters Bar and the Graygrigg crash, saying public interest would be “best served” with separate independent inquests into the disasters. The ORR declined to comment. Potters Bar train crash Transport Rail transport Dan Milmo guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …What follows is a statement NewsBusters publisher and Media Research Center president Brent Bozell released moments ago: Republicans said today that the arrogant liberal sneers at taxpayers in Flyover Country deserve to be met by NPR raising its own money in its own fancy cafes. And an organization that admits catering to a “core audience that is predominately white, liberal, highly educated, elite” is among the last that should survive budget cuts if legislators are serious about cutting unnecessary spending. We applaud the 228 Representatives who stepped up to say so with their votes in the House today. If the Senate and President Obama really care about reckless spending, they’ll pony up and do the same. The time is now to stop wasting taxpayer dollars on funding NPR.
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Diplomatic cable claims official of India’s ruling Congress party told US of bribe plan India’s increasingly shaky coalition government is facing a fresh crisis following the release of an American diplomatic cable obtained by WikiLeaks which appears to reveal a government bid to buy support in parliament before a vote in 2008. Published in the Hindu newspaper , the cable claimed that an official from the ruling Congress party had told a US diplomat stationed in Delhi that a fund of between 500m and 600m rupees (between £7m and £8.2m) existed to pay parliamentarians to ensure the survival of the government. India’s opposition parties demanded the resignation of the prime minister Manmohan Singh, who has been under fire in recent months following a series of corruption cases. The Indian media has closely followed investigations into the scandals, which include an alleged telecoms scam estimated to have cost the state nearly £25m. The former telecoms minister, from a coalition partner of Congress, is currently in detention. Other government figures alleged to have acted corruptly include senior sports administrators involved in last year’s Delhi Commonwealth Games. The WikiLeaks report said an aide to a senior Congress politician had shown the American diplomat two chests of cash and said four lawmakers of a regional party had been paid 100m rupees each for their support. “Money was not an issue at all … the crucial thing was to ensure that those who took the money would vote for the government,” the aide was reported to have said. A second official allegedly told the diplomat that formerly a minister “could only offer small planes as bribes” but “now he can pay for votes with jets”. Votes at all level of politics in India are routinely exchanged for cash or favours. Allegations that money changed hands before the vote in 2008 – which came at the height of acrimonious debates over a controversial civil nuclear deal with the US – have been made before. Narasimhan Ram, editor of the Hindu, said the newspaper had gained access to the cables after long talks with WikiLeaks, which has been releasing portions of 250,000 leaked state department cables through selected newspapers since late last year. In December, the Guardian published a series of reports based on more than 5,000 cables sent by the US embassy in Delhi to Washington. One revealed that Rahul Gandhi, son of Congress party president Sonia Gandhi – who is widely seen as her political heir – had told the American ambassador that violent Hindu radicalism in India posed a potentially greater threat to the country than Islamist extremism . A second cable revealed a briefing by the Red Cross describing systematic torture in Indian detention centres in Kashmir . Ram said his newspaper would publish more revelations in coming days. “Can there be any doubt that there is something deeply rotten in our democracy? You are talking about a rising India … There are a lot of good things happening but at the heart of it is something rotten,” he said. Sushma Swaraj, a leader of the Bharatiya Janata party, said Singh’s government had lost its legitimacy. “This is a hammer blow that it cannot recover from,” she said in parliament. “It has lost all moral responsibility to govern.” The speaker of the house was forced to suspend proceedings for the day. A series of political protests over corruption has blocked parliamentary business in India for months. The current government, in its second term, has been unable to pass much-needed economic reforms as a result. Satish Sharma, the senior Congress politician at the centre of the new scandal, told reporters the claims were “baseless”. The government narrowly won a vote of confidence in 2008 after Communists withdrew support in anger at a landmark civil nuclear co-operation deal between India and the US. The four lawmakers whom the report alleged to have been paid bribes by the Congress official eventually voted against the government. India United States WikiLeaks Jason Burke guardian.co.uk
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Family of rapper vows to uncover truth after star – real name David Emmanuel – dies ‘making tea during police raid’ David Emmanuel, the British rap star Smiley Culture, died from a single stab wound through his heart, according to a postmortem examination. The 48-year-old singer died during a Metropolitan police raid at his house. His family have been told he stabbed himself while making a cup of tea. Emmanuel’s family say the postmortem has strengthened their resolve to uncover the truth behind the “most bizarre of circumstances”. They say they will employ an independent pathologist to verify the cause of death. “As a family, we are in a state of deep sorrow and anger,” said David Emmanuel, the musician’s nephew, at a packed public meeting in Brixton, south London. “My uncle was a father, an uncle, a friend and a mentor to many and is a British icon who died under the most peculiar of circumstances. “This is not a race issue, although there are suspicions that ethnicity has some relevance in this tragic event. This is a time when the whole British public will stand up to let the police and government know that we will no longer allow any citizen to die in the most bizarre of circumstances. Instead, we will seek the truth, doggedly, until that truth has been exposed.” Emmanuel was stabbed shortly before 8.30am on Tuesday, an hour and a half after four Metropolitan police officers arrived at his house in Warlingham, Surrey, with a search warrant. A relative, who asked to remain unnamed, said she saw Emmanuel shortly after 8am. He seemed calm, she said, but appeared to indicate that he was confused by the raid. She saw him “surrounded by officers” and when she waved to him, he “shrugged his shoulders, as though to tell me he didn’t know what was going on”. It was after this that Emmanuel was allowed to go unaccompanied into his kitchen, his family say. “Why, if Smiley was arrested, was he allowed to go near a kettle full of boiling water and drawers full of knives?” asked Lee Jasper, chair of the London race and criminal justice consortium. “It just doesn’t make sense.” At about 8.30am an air ambulance was called by police officers. The helicopter arrived but Emmanuel died at the scene. The case has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission, which is setting up a community reference group to tell local people and the family of the investigation’s progress and channel questions or concerns. “This investigation is examining the basis on which Metropolitan police service officers went to Surrey to carry out the search warrant on Tuesday, how that was planned, how it was communicated with Surrey police and what happened while officers were at the address,” said IPCC commissioner Mike Franklin. “It is also looking at the response of the officers present to examine what was done in terms of first aid. The independent investigation will be studying forensic evidence and all other possible lines of enquiry to try to establish a factual account of exactly what happened,” he added. “Many of the questions that I know Mr Emmanuel’s family and friends have are exactly what we will be examining as part of this investigation. I want to reassure people that we will thoroughly scrutinise this incident and will update all those involved as we progress. I will also make the findings of our investigation public at the earliest opportunity. Until then, I would ask that speculation is avoided.” In September last year Emmanuel appeared before magistrates charged with conspiracy to supply cocaine. He was due in court in the coming days. Another relative, Merlin Emmanuel, said he refused to believe the singer had taken his own life. “Smiley had a great deal to look forward to,” he said. “It is true that he had an impending case but it is also true that the evidence in relation to this case was minimal and he, along with his legal team, were supremely confident of being acquitted this coming week. “The police have yet to give an official statement as to what happened,” he added. “We haven’t had a clear, coherent, official explanation as to what happened to Smiley. The police have a lot to answer to. Until our questions, queries and suspicions have been fully and competently answered to dispel any notion of foul play, we will not rest.” Police London Rap Race issues Urban music Amelia Hill guardian.co.uk
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Today’s newest effort to de-fund NPR in the House of Representatives came with a debate that had moments which must be seen and savored. On the serious side, there was Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who reminded the House that the airwaves belong to citizens, not corporations. Click here to view this media His points were well-taken, but of course they fell on deaf ears. Eric Cantor actually managed to come to the floor and cite the O’Keefe NPR slam, which even Glenn Beck’s site managed to debunk. So then Anthony Weiner comes to the floor, and spices things up a bit. Click here to view this media The transcript will not do Weiner’s speech justice, but here it is anyway: Crisis averted, ladies and gentlemen. What a relief. What a relief. I’m glad we got the economy back going, I’m glad we’ve secured our nuclear power plants, I’m so glad the Americans are back to work. We finally found out our problem. We discovered a target that we can all agree upon. It’s these guys. This is the problem, it’s Click & Clack, the Tappet Brothers. We’re finally getting rid of them. Thank God we solved this problem for the country. Now let’s look at them. Let’s look at the record here. For one, they talk in that Boston accent. Cah tawk? It’s a car. It’s a car, ladies and gentlemen. I need to call Congresswoman Capuano whenever they’re on the air. Secondly, they talk about master cylinders and slave cylinders. It’s kinky! And so I am glad my Republican friends are finally getting to the bottom of this. And then with all the giggling and snorting they do every week on their show, it’s got to be some kind of a code. They’re clearly talking to the Russians or the Chinese or something with all that giggling and snorting. It is why I’m so relieved that we had this emergency session that we waived the rules of the House to require 72 hours so we finally get these guys off my radio. Click & Clack the Tappet Brothers on Car Talk. I know it. Because these guys clearly are political. Well, I don’t know if they’re political, they make no sense about most of what they say. But you know, I’m glad we’re finally not going to have to listen to them. I’m glad the Republican party finally said enough of Click and Clack, the Tappet Brothers. That clearly was what the American people said in campaign 2010, clearly it’s in their Contract with America or something, right? Get rid of Click and Clack? It’s about time. I have to tell you something, because the last thing we want is informative solutions to how we fix our cars and the Car Talk puzzler. And think about the people we’re finally going to put out of work. You know, their customer care rep, Heywouldjoobuzzoff? (I’ll tell you how to spell that later, I say to the stenographer) And the director of ethics, Youlyinsack. All of these guys that are finally going to be taken off the public payroll. The Republican Party. No one can say they’re not in touch. They get it. They understand where the American people are. The American people are not concerned about jobs and the economy, what’s going on around the world. They’re staring at their radio, saying get rid of Click and Clack. Finally my Republican friends are doing it. Kudos to you. [applause] Update: The bill passes 228-192.
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Click here to view this media Donald Trump isn’t even running for president yet, but he is already gearing up for the primaries by pandering to the Republican base. In an interview with ABC News’ Ashleigh Banfield that aired Thursday, Trump said he had some doubts that President Barack Obama was a U.S. citizen. “Everybody that even gives any hint of being a birther — a word you didn’t use — even a little bit of a hint like ‘gee, you know, maybe, just maybe this much of chance,’ they label them as an idiot,” he told Banfield . “Let me tell you, I’m a really smart guy,” Trump continued. “I was a really good student at the best school in the country. The reason I have a little doubt — just a little — is because he grew up and nobody knew him.” “When you interview people, if I ever got the nomination, if I ever decide to run, you may go back and interview people from my kindergarten. They’ll remember me. Nobody ever comes forward. Nobody knows who he is until later in his life.” “It’s very strange. The whole thing is very strange,” he added. If the American business magnate wants the Republican nomination then he may need support from the birthers. A recent PPP poll found that a majority of Republican voters don’t believe Obama was born in the U.S. Trump also took issue with Republican House Speaker John Boehner’s emotional outbursts. “I don’t like the crying,” he said. “I do not like it. I don’t understand it. I really like him as a person. I think the crying is an emotional thing that frankly, probably makes him a very nice man. But you know, I don’t like to see it in a leader.” Trump told Banfield that he was prepared to spend $600 million of his own money if he does decide to make a run for the White House. “That’s one of the nice things. I mean, part of the beauty of me is that I’m very rich. So if I need $600 million, I can put $600 million myself,” he said.
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They claim they sound like a cross between Michael Jackson and the Beatles and operate as an artistic collective. Get them! Hometown: Brooklyn and San Francisco. The lineup: Ben Bromley and Ross Simonini. The background: The three most hyped (or self-hyped in two cases) bands at the start of this year – Mona, Brother and the Vaccines – drew attention for their back-to-basics approach. They offered crude propositions and simple pleasures. But there are others daring to be different, making unusual connections, being anything but obvious. Last night, for example, we went to Heaven in London to watch Crystal Fighters , a three-piece creating a hybrid of Basque folk and techno out of indigenous instruments, dance rhythms and the poetry of a friend’s deceased, insane relative. It hinted at what a collaboration between Federico García Lorca and the Chemical Brothers might have been like: vivid and joyous, if a little crazed. NewVillager are equally determined to stand out from the crowd. They describe themselves as “an artist collective”. The core duo of Ben Bromley and Ross Simonini are complemented by “visual director” Ben Dickinson (LCD Soundsystem, the Rapture), plus live drums and a cast of thousands – well, maybe a dozen – whom they draft in as and when required to work on whatever ancillary drawings, animations, performances, films, lectures, books and writings are needed to augment the music. Wait – as Blue Oyster Cult once said – there’s more. Bromley and Simonini, recently hailed by NME as “pop shamans taking meticulous steps towards a mysterious, musical nirvana”, use the various media at their disposal to espouse their “NewVillager mythology”. This comprises a “10-part cycle exploring transformation, teenage-hood and the formation of new ideas”. As if that weren’t enough, their shows include various installations, “integrated events” and “immersive rituals” which “explore the concept of the boundaries between different communities”. Meanwhile, their forthcoming debut album, they have promised (or should that be threatened?), will be a “song cycle” based on “not so much a narrative but a lens or a model for looking at any kind of transformation – how does something change from one state to another state? What kind of a process is that? What are the perennial tensions in that process?” When they started going on about the “structural shifts, including the main shift from Cocoon House to Black Crow Boy to Light House” intended for the album, we got a little irritable and couldn’t help wondering: yes, but what about the tunes? See, every so often a band comes along with ideas about subverting the form (yer actual pop music) and adding multimedia facets to the otherwise rote ritual of release single, release album, tour. Remember Sudden Sway, the mid-80s clever-clogs who issued eight versions of one single, followed by an extravaganza by the name of Spacemate which included a double LP, a book, a poster, a set of cards and an instruction manual, all packaged together in a soap-box container, after which the plan was to devise a “soap opera musical” called ’76 Kids Forever? The conceptual carapace was inviting but by the time you got to the music it was a tad anti-climactic. Needless to say, their attempts to make the packaging of pop interesting failed to sell. NewVillager are a bit like a latter day American Sudden Sway. When they finally get to discussing their music, they call it “new pop” and claim it’s a cross between Michael Jackson and the Beatles. This is risibly wide of the mark. Lighthouse has chanty vocals and a quasi-religious feel. Overpass is also white gospel-ish, with churchy organ. Bad Past Gone Away is what happens when indie boys do soulful. Genghis On is Scissor Sisters-style retro-disco, while Rich Doors is hooky synth-funk that recalls Hall & Oates when they worked with Arthur Baker on their album Big Bam Boom. More than anyone, they remind us of Polyphonic Spree, another outfit intent on bringing a non-rock purity of spirit to pop who, having seemed at first to be rule-changing, eventually became Just Another Band. How soon it will be before NewVillager buckles depends on their mettle, and bank accounts (who’s funding all their auxiliary ventures?), but you’ve got to applaud their ambition even as you worry that their music is thus far a woeful mismatch for their ideas. The buzz: ” They weave mythology throughout their music and art. ” The truth: It’s easy to scoff and be cynical, but at least they’re Saying Stuff, even if we haven’t a clue what it all means. Most likely to: Be bicoastal. Least likely to: Go postal on us – they’re too joyous, man. What to buy: Their self-titled debut album will be released on 21 June by IAMSOUND. File next to: Sudden Sway, Hall & Oates, Polyphonic Spree, Crystal Fighters. Links: www.myspace.com/newvillager . Friday’s new band: Dom. Pop and rock Paul Lester guardian.co.uk
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Exiled former president on flight to Port-au-Prince accompanied by Hollywood actor and campaigner Danny Glover Jean-Bertrand Aristide, the former president of Haiti, is expected to end seven years of exile by touching down in Port-au-Prince on Friday, defying Barack Obama’s concerns that his return could jeopardise the country’s election. Aristide was due to leave his base in South Africa last night, accompanied by the Hollywood actor and campaigner Danny Glover, who is chairman of the TransAfrica social justice forum . Such are Obama’s misgivings that he called Jacob Zuma, the South African president, to discuss the matter, according to US National Security Council spokesman, Tommy Vietor. “The United States, along with others in the international community, has deep concerns that president Aristide’s return to Haiti in the closing days of the election could be destabilising,” he said. “President Obama reiterated that view in a call with President Zuma the other day … along with his belief that the Haitian people deserve the chance to choose their government through peaceful, free, and fair elections March 20.” US State Department spokesman Mark Toner has acknowledged Aristide’s right to go back to Haiti, but said returning this week “can only be seen as a conscious choice to impact Haiti’s elections”. Aides say Aristide fears the election winner might reverse the long-awaited decision to allow his return – both are right-wing candidates long opposed to him. Aristide’s lawyer, Ira Kurzban, said: “He is genuinely concerned that a change in the Haitian government may result in his remaining in South Africa.” Kurzban claimed that even at the 11th hour the US was exerting pressure on South Africa to delay Aristide’s flight, scheduled to take-off on Thursday night from Johannesburg’s Lanseria airport. The former priest and liberation theologist’s diplomatic passport was delivered last month, and the South African cabinet minister Collins Chabane said the government cannot be held responsible for whether he stays or goes. “What I should stress is that we are not sending former president Aristide to Haiti,” Chabane said. “He was given the passport by the government of Haiti and we can’t hold him hostage if he wants to go.” Glover arrived in South Africa yesterday to escort the ousted leader home. He asked why the former dictator Jean-Claude “Baby Doc” Duvalier could return to Haiti unhindered – as he did in January following 25 years in exile – and yet not the twice democratically-elected Aristide. “People of good conscience cannot be idle while a former dictator is able to return unhindered while a democratic leader who peacefully handed over power to another elected president is restricted from returning to his country by external forces,” Glover wrote on the TransAfrica Forum website. Glover and nine others recently wrote to Zuma urging him to “assist the Aristides in making their transition as soon as possible” as “all the last remaining obstacles to the Aristides’ return have been removed”. Aristide, who emerged as a leading voice for Haiti’s poor in a popular revolt that forced an end to the Duvalier family’s 29-year dictatorship, remains hugely popular in the country. Some predict his return today will brings tens of thousands of supporters to the airport. He has said he will not be involved in politics in Haiti and wants to lead his foundation’s efforts to improve education in the impoverished Caribbean nation devastated by an earthquake last year. His political party has been excluded from running in the election, which many Haitians consider illegitimate. The two remaining candidates received just 10% of the first-round votes between them. This would be Aristide’s second return from exile. He was ousted by a military coup in 1991 but Bill Clinton, when he was president, returned him to power in 1994 following a US intervention that forced out the military regime. Aristide fled Haiti again in February 2004, leaving before dawn on a US plane as rebels approached the capital. He accused American diplomats of having kidnapped him, charges that Washington denied. He continues to have powerful enemies in Haiti. The same forces that made him leave in 2004 will consider his return to be a threat, and foreign powers that bankrolled the elections will also see him as a destabilising influence. The first round was marred by massive fraud, with voters unable to find their names on electoral rolls and polling stations closing early – or not opening at all. Voter turnout was at a 60-year low – only 22.9% of those registered actually cast ballots. In areas most affected by the earthquake the figure was half that, and it is not yet clear the situation will be vastly improved this time. Haiti South Africa Barack Obama United States US foreign policy Human rights Isabeau Doucet David Smith guardian.co.uk
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Security council resolution calls for states to protect Libyan civilians, with Britain, France and US confident bill will pass Britain, France and the US, along with several Arab countries, are to join forces to throw a protective ring around the Libyan rebel stronghold of Benghazi as soon as a UN security council vote on military action is authorised, according to security council sources. A source at UN headquarters in New York said military forces could be deployed “within hours” of a new security council resolution calling for states to protect civilians by halting attacks by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces by air, land and sea. The resolution would impose a no-fly zone over Libya – but a no-fly zone was no longer enough, the source said. “The resolution authorises air strikes against tank columns advancing on Benghazi or engaging naval ships bombarding Benghazi,” he said. Britain, France and Lebanon sponsored the new resolution, which provides the moral and legal basis for military action. British and French forces are understood to have been placed on standby after the US said it was prepared to support the measure if Arab countries agreed to take an active role. The security council was scheduled to vote on the new resolution this evening, and its backers expressed confidence it would pass after hours of negotiation. In London, William Hague, the foreign secretary, indicated to MPs that military preparations to protect Benghazi were at an advanced stage. The no-fly zone would be imposed from land, and not from aircraft carriers. “No, it is not the case that carrier-borne aircraft are necessary to do such a thing,” Hague said. “In the contingency plans of all the nations, none of them involve an aircraft carrier.” The increase in military preparations came as Gaddafi announced that his forces would invade Benghazi tonight and would show no mercy on fighters who resisted them. “No more fear, no more hesitation, the moment of truth has come,” he declared. “There will be no mercy. Our troops will be coming to Benghazi tonight.” Residents and a rebel spokesman reported three air strikes on the outskirts of the city, including at the airport, and another air raid further south. There was also heavy fighting in residential areas of nearby Ajdabiyah, where around 30 people were killed, Al Arabiya reported. Libyan authorities also warned that all maritime traffic in the Mediterranean would be in danger if it was targeted by foreign forces. In a statement broadcast on Libyan television, the defence ministry said: “Any foreign military act against Libya will expose all air and maritime traffic in the Mediterranean Sea to danger, and civilian and military [facilities] will become targets of Libya’s counterattack,” the statement said. “The Mediterranean basin will face danger not just in the short-term, but also in the long-term.” The UN resolution, which calls for “all necessary measures short of an occupation force” to protect civilians, needs the support of a further six further members of the security council to pass – and to avoid vetoes from Russia and China. A Downing Street spokesman said: “The prime minister has been making a series of calls on Libya. He has spoken to a number of Arab and African leaders. We can now confirm that he has also spoken to several European leaders. “In all his calls, the prime minister has made the case for strong action by the UN security council, to increase the pressure on Gaddafi and put a stop to the campaign he is waging against the Libyan people. The prime minister will be making further calls this evening.” The move marks a last-gasp attempt to keep the Libyan uprising alive. It has been relatively rare in recent years for the UN to give the go-ahead for military action – the security council, for example, refused to support the Iraq invasion. The resolution reflects the extent of despair felt in Britain, France, the US and parts of the Arab world at the prospect of total victory by Gaddafi and fears of a massacre in Benghazi. After weeks of prevarication by the US, Washington backed the resolution. The Obama administration was stalled by a split between the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, who favoured a no-fly zone, and the defence secretary, Robert Gates, who was opposed. The White House, caught in the middle, dithered. Gates redeployed US naval vessels close to the Libyan coast and told Barack Obama that, though heavily engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan, the military was capable of fighting on a third front. The US, crucially, insisted it would only act if there was Arab support, in order to avoid it being seen as a western intervention. Several Arab countries have promised to provide planes, but insisted upon their identity being withheld until the resolution was passed. Speculation as to which countries would participate include Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. There is no plan to send in ground troops, other than for isolated incidents such as rescuing downed pilots. Supporters of the resolution, speaking before the vote, said they were confident of achieving the necessary nine votes in the 15-member chamber. A source who was present at the talks said that China and Russia have vetoes that could scupper the resolution, but indicated they would abstain. Brazil, Germany and India expressed scepticism over military action, but their votes were not needed to secure a majority. John Kerry, the chairman of the US Senate foreign affairs committee, said: “The international community cannot simply watch from the sidelines as the Libyan people’s quest for democratic reform is met with violence … Time is running out for the Libyan people. The world needs to respond immediately.” Libya United Nations Foreign policy William Hague Middle East Nicholas Watt Ewen MacAskill guardian.co.uk
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So a woman has failed the theory test 90 times. The true indicator of driving ability is not the ability to click a mouse button One thing’s for sure, she’s not scoring one for us women. You can picture the tabloid editor beaming already. Woman! Failed! Theory test! 90 times! Thanks to a freedom of information request, the worst driving student in the UK has indeed been unveiled: she is 26, lives in Southwark, and spent an astonishing £2,790 on driving theory test exams. Call it confirmation bias, but the opinion currently held by Neanderthals about females behind a steering wheel will only be strengthened by the story. One has to ask, though: how can someone fail a multiple choice test so many times? There are only 50 questions, followed by four answers each. Candidates have to get at least 43 answers right – not an issue if one studies hard – and then face the gruelling hazard perception test (more on that later). I know those details because yesterday morning found I and a dozen others wiping metaphorical sweat from our brows as we sat in a south London test centre, waiting to make good use of the knowledge accumulated in the past few weeks. Or in my case, days; I’m lucky to be gifted at last-minute cramming and passed. 45/50, if you must ask. I won’t lie – the test isn’t that easy. The current pass rate for the theory test is 62.9% ; people in the US are said to be horrified at our UK process. And while a lot of the expected answers are solidly rooted in common sense (“Q: You are invited to a pub lunch. You know that you will have to drive in the evening. What is your best course of action?” A. Avoid mixing your alcoholic drinks B. Not drink any alcohol at all C. Have some milk before drinking alcohol D. Eat a hot meal with your alcoholic drinks), others were more pointed (“How long will a statutory off road notification last for?”). Some, on the other hand, were downright stupid (“When should you take a call on your mobile phone while travelling?”). The first written examination was introduced for wannabe drivers in 1996, before being replaced by the computer test in 2000. But is it a truly essential part of the learning process? Talking to my colleagues about the unlucky student who failed so many times this morning, many of them recalled the “good old days” during which you would just be asked a few questions by your driving examiner before passing your driving test: do you know what that sign is? Yes? What about this one ? Good, all right then. Now show us how you park. Take the dreaded hazard perception test – a glorious example of a terribly explained task which many people who did not train for the test with a DVD find impossible to understand. On paper, this sounds relatively straightforward : “Examinees watch 14 one-minute clips filmed from the perspective of a car driver and have to indicate, usually by clicking a mouse button or touching the screen, when they observe a developing hazard.” Because we’re told that each clip is supposed to contain one hazard (with one exception, which contains two), many viewers decide to react only once, when they should instead click every time they suspect they see a developing hazard (which can be anything, from a far-away pedestrian to an incoming truck). Surely such skills would be better assessed by an instructor during actual driving lessons? The same applies to the multiple choice part of test, where it is easy to “luck out” or take educated guesses (which I did on occasion during mine). Truly, I couldn’t be convinced of the utility of the theory test. It did provide me with some basic knowledge, but it is nothing I wouldn’t have learned on the ground. The hard work lies ahead, in the hours during which I will drive the vehicle accompanied. I truly feel that practice, much like making a good damson pie, cycling or learning to tie laces, is the only way to learn. Perhaps the woman who failed so many times should just be given a free pass. Transport Road transport Jessica Reed guardian.co.uk
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