The raid that killed Osama bin Laden bought President Obama barely a month of higher approval ratings, according to the latest Washington Post / ABCNews poll. The president’s approval rating, which stood at 47% in April, surged to 57% in May, but has now dropped right back down to 47%,…
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EU agriculture commissioner says farmers could get back 30% of the cost of vegetables they have been unable to sell The European agriculture commissioner has proposed spending €150m (£135m) to compensate farmers affected by the E coli outbreak by paying them a proportion of the cost of unsold products. Dacian Ciolos, speaking ahead of emergency talks between EU agriculture ministers, said farmers could receive 30% of the cost of vegetables they have been unable to sell due to fears over the outbreak in Germany, which has killed 22 people and made more than 2,200 ill. The ministers are expected to reach an agreement in principle later on Tuesday. Farmers have suffered a huge drop in sales of salad vegetables after repeated and so far seemingly misleading speculation about the source of the newly identified and virulent strain of the bacterium. German consumers are being advised not to eat raw cucumbers, salad leaves or tomatoes, while Russia has banned the import of all vegetables from the EU. Spanish farmers have suffered in particular, in part because they grow a significant share of Europe’s salad produce, but mainly because cucumbers from the country were initially blamed for the outbreak. After fierce protests from Spain, which relies heavily on farm exports, German ministers eventually admitted they had got it wrong. The same sequence was repeated on Monday when tests on bean sprouts from an organic farm in Lower Saxony, identified by German officials as almost certainly the cause of the outbreak, came back negative. The EU’s health commissioner, John Dalli, has criticised Germany for rushing out “premature conclusions” about the source of an outbreak, saying such actions spread alarm among the public and damaged the agriculture sector. “I would like to stress it is crucial that national authorities do not rush to give information on the source of infection which is not proven by bacteriological analysis, as this spreads unjustified fears in the population all over Europe and creates problems for our food producers selling products in the EU and outside the EU,” Dalli said. “While such intensive investigations are ongoing, we must be careful not to make premature conclusions.”. He said the outbreak had been contained to a relatively small area. “I stress that the outbreak is limited geographically to the area surrounding the city of Hamburg, so there is no reason to take action on a European level. [EU-wide] measures against any product are disproportionate,” Dalli told the European parliament. Two weeks after news of the mass outbreak emerged, the source of the bacterium remains a mystery. German ministers had said there were “strong and clear indications” that bean sprouts from the Gärtenhof organic farm, 40 miles from Hamburg, spread the E coli . However, a first set of 23 results from 40 samples taken at the farm were negative, Lower Saxony’s agriculture ministry said. Scientists say the longer the wait for a definite source, the more likely it is that one will never be identified. “If we don’t know the likely culprit in a week’s time, we may never know the cause,” said Dr Guénaël Rodier, an infectious diseases expert at the UN’s World Health Organisation. German officials said the Gärtenhof farm could still be the source of the outbreak, even if all the tests come back negative. Bean sprouts had seemed a likely culprit, having previously been implicated in E coli outbreaks in the US and Japan. They are grown in water heated to 38C, ideal for bacteria to flourish. US scientists warn that young children, the elderly and those with weakened immune systems should not consume them raw, advice now taken up by the UK Food Standards Agency. Hugh Pennington, the professor who led inquiries into two UK outbreaks of E coli , said: “They’ve done experimental studies on contaminating bean sprouts and seeing what happens to the bacteria during sprouting, and you can get up to a million-fold increase in bacteria. It’s like incubating a culture of bacteria.” Spain has threatened legal action against German regional authorities for wrongly identifying Spanish cucumbers as the source, but the commission has stressed that the crisis affected all EU producers and a continent-wide solution is needed. E coli Germany Europe European Union Farming European commission Peter Walker Adam Gabbatt guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Glenn Beck fans are going to have to shell out at least $4.95 a month to watch him online after he leaves Fox at the end of this month . Beck plans to introduce a Netflix-style subscription plan for GBTV, his new online TV venture . Beck and his staffers admit…
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The government’s vision for the natural environment over the next 50 years could lead to conflict with planning authorities A dozen new large-scale conservation areas, protection for ancient woods and nature ambassadors are needed to protect England’s environment, the government said on Tuesday in the first natural environment white paper in nearly 20 years . But the government’s vision for the natural environment over the next 50 years provides only £7.5m extra over the next three years for the 12 large “nature improvement areas” and could lead to conflict with planning authorities with its clear aim to encourage business to take more advantage of England’s “natural assets”. The document states that England’s environment will be “better protected, restored and improved” after years of continual biodiversity loss and degradation. This, it proposes, will be reversed by giving local communities and volunteers a greater connection to nature and allowing business to forge partnerships with farmers, local authorities and conservation groups. The idea of a competition to develop “ecological restoration zones” was recommended last year by Prof John Lawton as part of an independent review. Lawton put the cost of rebuilding nature in England between £0.6bn and £1.1bn, hundreds of times the amount proposed today for the nature improvement areas (NIAs) which it is hoped will provide bigger, connected sites for wildlife to live in and adapt to climate change. These would be based on partnerships between local authorities, the private sector and conservation groups. The white paper also supports the idea of a network of of local “improvement areas” to connect fragmented areas of land. In addition, the government will set up a natural capital committee – an independent panel to advise ministers on natural environment issues and report to the government’s economic affairs committee. The committee will produce a statement of green accounts showing where our economy has withdrawn from the value of nature’s bank balance, and where we have invested in it, in a bid to help measure green growth alongside GDP. The environment secretary, Caroline Spelman, said: “This will create a radical shift on how we view our natural assets by incorporating the natural environment into economic planning and ensuring there are opportunities for businesses that are good for nature and good for a strong green economy. In the past we have undervalued what our natural environment gives us.” The paper was broadly welcomed by Britain’s powerful conservation groups which have a combined membership of more than 5 million people. Martin Harper, RSPB conservation director, said: “The proposal for a series of nature improvement areas is based on a pioneering approach to conservation which brings together farmers, charities, communities and public bodies to make a real change across a whole landscape. It would see an end to the unconnected patchwork of environmental measures in our countryside which limits our potential to restore the natural environment. “But the government will need to be brave enough to intervene with the right mix of regulation and incentives whenever progress on wildlife and habitats is stalling.” It was unclear how some of the new policies intended to protect nature would clash with relaxation of the planning system. Under the new measures, developers will be encouraged to compensate for habitat destroyed in one area by improving it elsewhere in a scheme known as “biodiversity offsetting” and communities will be allowed to set up their own protection areas. “[It] sets out an exciting vision for the future of our natural environment: that we should be the first generation to leave the environment in better condition than we inherited it; and that we should turn a nature net loss into a nature net gain. But the jury is still out on how the changes to the planning system may hinder these laudable ambitions, said Fiona Reynolds, director general of the National Trust. Opposition politicians and some rural groups were critical of the paper. Mary Creagh, shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, said: . “It provides few clues about the government’s plans for nature. It fails to set out a clear plan for major challenges such as reforestation or biodiversity loss, or deal with concerns about planning policy.” The countryside alliance, said the government had missed a chance. “It has missed an opportunity to support the ‘big society’ that already exists in the countryside. Rural communities undertake hundreds of millions of pounds worth of unpaid conservation work each year for the benefit of all and the government should make it a priority to support them in this role. There is no need to reinvent the wheel. Rather than trying to create a new set of bodies to administer the natural environment, the government should be investing in the people who do so much to keep the countryside the special place it is.” A rearguard lobbying action by industry appeared to have successfully avoided plans to phase out the use of peat in gardening. Although government says in the white paper that it wants to end its use by 2030, the only restrictions will be on peat procured through new public contracts by 2015, with all other targets for professional and amateur gardeners being voluntary. Conservation Wildlife Green politics Forests Biodiversity John Vidal guardian.co.uk
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Paper offers ‘sincere apologies’ in high court for intercepting voicemail messages intended for actor The News of the World on Tuesday issued a detailed formal apology for phone hacking for the first time, to actor Sienna Miller. A lawyer for News Group Newspapers, the News International subsidiary that publishes the News of the World, read a statement in the high court expressing regret for intercepting voicemail messages intended for Miller. News Group’s QC, Michael Silverleaf, said his client offered its “sincere apologies” to Miller for “the distress caused to her by accessing of her voicemail messages, the publication of the private information in the articles and the related harassment she suffered as a consequence”. Silverleaf added that News Group Newspapers “acknowledges that the information should never have been obtained in the manner it was, the private information should never have been published and that the first defendant [News Group] has accepted responsibility for misuse of private information, breach of confidence and harassment”. Miller, who was not present to hear the statement, accepted an out-of court-payment of £100,000 in damages last month plus her legal costs. Her solicitor Mark Thomson, a partner at Atkins Thomson, said she would not be making a statement. David Sherborne QC, for Miller, reminded the high court that she had changed her mobile phone number three times in as many months in a bid to avoid being successfully targeted by the News of the World and Glenn Mulcaire, a private detective who formerly worked for the paper. Sherborne added that the News of the World had published “numerous articles” in 2005 and 2006 that used private information. By admitting to this, the paper has conceded that it used information obtained by intercepting messages about Miller’s former partner Jude Law and ex-boyfriend Daniel Craig, as the basis for stories. In her statement of claim, the actor cited 11 articles that drew on private information, including details of her relationship with Law and with Craig, and Miller’s discussions with the former about the possibility of them having children. Miller is the first celebrity to settle a claim since the tabloid, part of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, in April admitted hacking the phones of several public figures and offered to pay compensation . •
Continue reading …The hazy days of drug tourism in Holland are numbered. The Dutch government has unveiled plans to ban foreigners from buying cannabis in the country’s famous coffee shops, reports the Los Angeles Times . The coalition government’s plan, backed by Geert Wilders’ far-right party, requires the shops to become members-only establishments,…
Continue reading …A 12-year-old Florida boy has been charged in the vicious beating death of his 2-year-old half-brother. David Galarriago died two days after he was hospitalized with a severe skull fracture and facial bruising. Big brother Cristian Fernandez admitted beating the toddler, and said he also broke the little boy’s leg…
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Yao Jiaxin stabbed woman to death to prevent her from demanding compensation after he drove into her Chinese authorities have executed a piano student who accidentally drove into a young mother and then stabbed her to death so she would not demand compensation. The high-profile case has become a focus of massive public resentment towards a privileged elite, as well as a source of concern that lethal justice is being handed down to placate internet mobs. Yao Jiaxin, a 21-year-old student of the Xian Conservatory of Music, was killed – probably by lethal injection – shortly after losing an appeal at the supreme people’s court. He was sentenced in April for the murder of 26-year-old Zhang Miao in Xian, the capital of Shaanxi province. Yao knocked his victim off her bike and then flew into a fury when he saw her noting down his licence plate – apparently to seek compensation for her minor injuries. “Yao stabbed the victim’s chest, stomach and back several times until she died. The motive was extremely despicable, the measures extremely cruel and the consequences extremely serious,” the court said in a statement released through the state-run Xinhua news agency. The road-rage incident gained nationwide notoriety among China’s online community, who are inclined to suspect that the so-called “rich second generation” – young people with power and money – can avoid justice by using their connections. The case was widely – although in many ways inappropriately – connected to a separate drink-driving fatality in which the son of a senior police officer reportedly shouted to bystanders that he could avoid prosecution because ” My father is Li Gang “. Yao was not from a particularly wealthy or powerful family, but his piano education and the fact that his parents are employment by the defence industry appear to have added to the hatred generated by his crime. Suspicions were raised further when the propaganda department insisted media outlets could only use Xinhua reports about the issue rather than making their own investigations. There were tens of thousands of comments on internet chatrooms, the vast majority of which demanded his death. Many feared this put undue pressure on judges, particularly after a lower court acknowledged that public opinion would be taken into account when delivering a verdict. However, the lawyer Mo Shaoping – who is not connected to the case and opposes the death penalty – said the execution was in line with Chinese law. “This was a very flagrant crime that would normally be punishable by death. With or without the media exposure, he would be executed,” said Mo. China Capital punishment Jonathan Watts guardian.co.uk
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Paul Wilson, 20, pleads guilty to two counts of rape and 45 charges linked to online grooming of other girls A nursery worker has pleaded guilty to raping a toddler in his care and to a string of offences linked to the online grooming of more than 20 other young girls. At Birmingham crown court, Paul Wilson admitted two counts of raping a girl aged two or three years old and a further 45 charges of making and distributing indecent images and inciting youngsters to engage in sexual activity on the internet. He was warned that he should expect an indeterminate jail term when he is sentenced next month. Wilson, 20, of Nechells, Birmingham, was charged with rape in January after his arrest on suspicion of child abuse prompted an investigation into his employment at Little Stars Nursery, which was temporarily closed after the arrest but later reopened. The investigation by West Midlands police revealed Wilson’s online grooming of young girls whom he threatened if they did not comply with his wishes. One of Wilson’s internet victims said she was left feeling shocked, violated and ashamed. The girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said she now felt “pure hatred” for Wilson, with whom she communicated via MSN instant messaging and on the youth community site Netlog . The teenager initially engaged in normal conversations but was eventually pressured into exposing herself to Wilson via a webcam, and was then told that the images would be distributed if she refused to follow his orders. The girl, now 17, believes she broke off her contact with the offender up to a year before his crimes were uncovered by police, and said she had not realised he had any hidden agenda. Asked to describe her emotions when she discovered what the nursery worker had done to other victims, she replied: “I felt violated – it just betrayed all my trust. I felt quite stupid and ashamed that I had succumbed to what he had asked me to do. To know that it was the same person who I was talking to and felt that I trusted and had a relationship with – it just made me feel I had been violated.” She said Wilson had threatened to send images of her to her friends. “It was the choice of carrying on doing this – which I just did not want to do – or going through a few months of total humiliation from these images.” Eventually, the teenager got to a point where she “just didn’t care” whether he distributed the images, and she deleted him from her MSN account. “It has really affected me in the way that I go on the internet now,” she added. “I am really careful – I will stick to Facebook and only speak to people who I genuinely know in the real world.” Crime Child protection Children Young people Helen Carter guardian.co.uk
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Labour leader says financial turmoil at Southern Cross raises ‘important questions’ about care system’s future The Labour leader, Ed Miliband, has offered to hold cross-party talks with the government on the future provision of adult social care and called for a full and independent inquiry into alleged abuse at one home. Miliband also highlighted the financial turmoil at the Southern Cross care homes group – which he said had seen financiers “cream off millions” while the care of tens of thousands of elderly people was put at risk – as another issue that raised “important questions” about the care system’s future. With the government’s Dilnot commission on adult social care due to report next month, the Labour leader said he was making a “serious offer” to David Cameron to engage in talks about its recommendations. He conceded that “every serious attempt” to solve the pressing challenge of social care provision had foundered on a failure to find a political consensus, but said he would come to a new round of talks with an “open mind” to ensure British people got “the serious debate they deserve, so they can get the care system they deserve”. Speaking at a press conference in London, Miliband cited a previous attempt to reach an agreement on the future of social care which collapsed in early 2010 after the Conservatives accused Gordon Brown of planning to levy a £20,000 “death tax” on estates to fund a national care service. “We will come to those talks with an open mind about the best way forward, not simply advocating what we have proposed in the past,” he said. “But the principles are clear – high quality care for those that need it, funded in a fair way, with proper accountability for those who deliver the care. “Let’s get round the table … work in the national interest towards real change which addresses one of the big long-term problems in our country.” Highlighting some of the problems that have surfaced over recent weeks, Miliband said that he had been “shocked” by scenes filmed at the Winterbourne View care home, near Bristol, by an undercover reporter from the BBC’s Panorama programme. He said reviews by the Care Quality Commission and South Gloucestershire council were not enough, adding that both bodies were involved in the failure. “There must be an independent investigation into what happened and what lessons need to be learned, and the government should announce it straight away,” he said. Miliband also drew on the problems at Southern Cross, where he said residents appeared to have been treated “merely as commodities”, by financiers. The government should now examine whether the regulation of the private sector should “look not just at the quality of care provided but also cover the financial stability of organisations which provide these vital services for hundreds of thousands of elderly people”, he said. He warned that the collapse of a major provider, responsible for the care of hundreds of thousands of elderly people, could have serious consequences for the taxpayer. “As we have seen previously with the banks, there are industries – and health and social care services are one such example – where corporate failure can have consequences far beyond the loss to shareholders and investors,” he said. “Just as with the banks, in the end the government would have to step in and pick up the tab.” Ed Miliband Labour David Cameron Liberal-Conservative coalition Southern Cross Healthcare Healthcare industry Private equity Social care Older people Hélène Mulholland guardian.co.uk
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