Tokyo Electric Power Co. has been ordered to pay evacuees a little something for their troubles—”little” being the operative word, complain many. Starting April 28, each family will receive about $12,000; individuals will get about $9,000, the AP reports. While some say it’s a good start, others…
Continue reading …John Boehner got the budget deal he negotiated through the House yesterday, but it wound up feeling a bit like a defeat for the House speaker, the New York Times observes. Fifty-nine Republicans—roughly a quarter of his caucus— rejected the bill , sending a message to Boehner that they were…
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British manufacturer joins India’s high-priced car market – but can it beat other marques like Bugatti and Lamborghini? It’s a combination that might have made James Bond raise an immaculately groomed eyebrow. Aston Martin, purveyor of luxury sports cars with a dash of 007 about them, is about to enter the tangled tumult that is India’s road system. The company has unveiled plans, unthinkable just a few short years ago, to bring almost its entire range of cars, including a model that will sell for Rs200m (more than £2.7m) to a country which has more than 100,000 millionaires and infinitely more traffic jams. But if there was any surprise, it was that it’s taken them so long. India’s luxury car market is already beginning to look almost as over-crowded as a cattle fair in Rajasthan. “It’s amazing how things have changed in recent times,” says textile magnate Gautam Singhania, who is chairman of Mumbai’s newly-formed Super Car Club. “For instance, there were zero Lamborghinis in India five years ago. Today there are many.” Aston Martin seems unfazed by the fact that it is competing with hallowed brands such as Bugatti and Lamborghini in the race to grab the attention of the new-rich Indian sports car enthusiast. A representative said the company hoped to sell 30 cars during the first year, but market sources insist buyers have already picked up that many, and there is demand for at least 20 more. “A lot of people want to announce they’ve arrived, so they’re buying multiple supercars – Bugattis, Lamborghinis, Ferraris, now Aston Martins,” says Rohin Nagrani, a motoring writer who recently tried out a Vantage in Delhi. “As yet there’s no brand loyalty. But I also know of someone who has several Bentley Continentals in different colours to match his different moods. India’s flashy new rich are behaving just like Middle East sheikhs.” But there is one major roadblock. Literally. “The love affair with cars is at an all-time high, but the roads are atrocious, even in a city like Mumbai,” says Hormazd Sorabjee, of Autocar India. Only two cities in the south have passable racing tracks, though a Formula 1 facility is due to open near Delhi later this year. “As a result, these supercars end up clocking very, very little mileage,” adds Sorabjee. In Mumbai, for instance, most drivers, including the cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, who owns a red Ferrari, head for the expressway outside the city to get even a fraction of the thrill these machines are capable of providing. Adi Nazir, the owner of a Mazda MX-5, spoke of a recent scene on a Mumbai road: a Lamborghini Gallardo driven by a billionaire businessman came to a grinding halt at a particularly nasty speed bump. Despite the Lamborghini’s lifting system, the speed bump was too steep for the low-slung car to safely surmount. With the billionaire still seated inside, six burly bodyguards tumbled out of an accompanying SUV and physically lifted the supercar across the road hump. The Lamborghini took off again, trailed by bodyguards whose conditions of employment clearly require them not just to protect their hyper-rich boss from kidnappers but also his supercar from Mumbai’s roads. The proud new Indian owners of an Aston Martin, despite its higher ground clearance, will also face such problems. Since the manufacturer cannot provide James Bond-type extras, owners need to keep in mind Q’s parting advice to 007 in The World Is Not Enough: “Always have an escape plan.” Automotive industry India Maseeh Rahman guardian.co.uk
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Both camps struggle to convince voters of importance of 5 May poll – in town that would have had a different MP under AV Paul Holmes surveys the celebrated crooked spire and historic market square in his former constituency of Chesterfield and shrugs. “It’s almost certain,” the former Liberal Democrat MP agrees. “But you can’t tell with voters.” The British Election Study suggests it is a certainty. Under AV, the alternative voting system subject to a referendum on 5 May, the study says this Derbyshire constituency would have been one of 43 to elect a different MP. The seat’s Labour incumbent, Toby Perkins, would have seen his perilously slim 549 majority wiped out by second and third preferences and Holmes, 54, a former Lib Dem party chairman and history teacher, would not be the ex-MP he is today. He says: “Nearly two out of three votes were against Labour last year. But Labour won. And that’s just ludicrous. The people defending first past the post [FPTP], I just don’t know how they can. It’s absolutely indefensible, excepting that turkeys don’t vote for Christmas.” History acknowledges the part Chesterfield has played in past political upsets. The Cock and Pynot inn, now a museum two miles from the town centre at Old Whittington, was where parliamentarian conspirators plotted the fall of James II in favour of William III in the 1688 Glorious Revolution. Holmes is hoping a similar zeal for change will galvanise local voters to put a cross in the yes box. To persuade them, he and other Lib Dem canvassers are pounding the constituency streets, pushing local election leaflets through 48,000 letterboxes along with literature explaining why AV is so important. But his passion appears not to have translated to the people of a town that for more than a century prospered on the sweat of coalminers and toil of engineering and was largely Labour. Now the pits are grassed over, housing and retail developments colonise old factory sites, and Chesterfield is reinventing itself with greater reliance on smaller businesses and technology. With the Lib Dems defending 38 seats to Labour’s 10 on Chesterfield council at next month’s elections, Holmes feels he can argue: “The social and economic profile is changing. It’s no longer a Labour town.” Except under FPTP. However, in the Pavements shopping centre and in the market square, questions about AV are largely met with head shakes, blank stares and apologetic responses: “No. I’ve not heard of it.” “A referendum? Really?” “We don’t keep up with the news.” Those who are aware, however, reveal that whatever message the campaigns manage to impart, decisions will be based on complex factors. There is shared disgust over MPs perceived to be more crooked than the town’s famous spire, over broken promises on tuition fees, fears for the NHS, and the leniency they feel has been shown to bankers. But how this negativity will manifest itself on 5 May is not clear. “If I don’t vote, it will be in protest,” says Darren, 45, a joiner. His daughter is at university, but his son has decided he can’t afford to go. Banks have destroyed Darren’s small business and his health, he claims. And he can’t forgive MPs over their expenses. “The way they have explained [AV], it’s like solicitors’ talk, it’s too complicated and looks as if they are hiding something. As for Clegg. Well, if he were on fire, I wouldn’t chuck a bucket of water on him. He’s reason enough to vote no.” Perkins, 40, who reclaimed the seat for Labour, opposes the change, and admits under AV he might not have won. Unlike Holmes, he hasn’t been pushing the message on doorsteps. Because Labour has no party line – Ed Miliband is for, many backbenchers are against – it is not a registered party under the Electoral Commission for or against AV, he says, “so we can’t just put the no campaign stuff in with our election leaflets”. He says that there is a “pitiful” awareness of the issue. “I’ve spoken to a hell of a lot of people in the last few weeks, and I think only five have asked me about it, one of whom was in favour, and four against.” He’s concerned some Labour voters may see Miliband in favour as well as Tony Benn, who represented Chesterfield for 17 years, and assume the Labour line is backing a yes vote. But he is hoping the “Clegg effect” may garner votes for the no camp. “There’s a real sense of anger with Clegg. Indeed when I discussed it with my father he said: ‘I really can’t make up my mind about AV. But I know if I vote no, Nick Clegg will be sad on 6 May, and that’s enough for me.’” Benn, who backs the yes campaign, says he thinks AV would not have altered Chesterfield’s result. “The Labour vote recovered and the Lib Dem vote declined, and I don’t think AV would have made any difference,” he says.But he is not convinced the pro-AV campaign has done enough. “With the Conservatives against it and a lot of Labour people against, and the general sense of cynicism about politics, I think it is not all that certain it will go through. And I don’t know to what extent people understand it.” Perkins is also hopeful that older voters, those most likely to turn out, are more likely to vote no – such as John Walker, 80, a former engineering worker, who, after studying the arguments in detail, has concludes: “Australia and Fiji don’t seem too happy with it, and I can’t see a good reason to change.” But some are wavering. “It’s a bit clearer now,” said former bakery worker Lily Wightman, 64, after AV was explained. “Yes,” said her friend Kathleen Starbuck, 62, a former canteen worker at Chesterfield transport, “perhaps it is a bit fairer.” Wightman adds: “I used to like that Nick Clegg – before he went over. But I don’t think I’d let that cloud my judgment.” Benn, who supports the Yes campaign, believes AV would not have altered Chesterfield’s result. “The Labour vote recovered and the Lib Dem vote declined, and I don’t think AV would have made any difference,” he said. He is also not convinced the Yes campaign has done enough to win. “With the Conservatives against it and a lot of Labour people against, and the general sense of cynicism about politics, I think it is not all that certain it will go through,” he said. “And I don’t know to what extent people understand it”. ends AV referendum Alternative vote Electoral reform Caroline Davies guardian.co.uk
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Labour accuses government of ‘ploughing on regardless’ with plans as letter talks of need to maintain momentum The government has been accused of “ploughing on regardless” with its restructuring of the health service in England after the head of the NHS told staff to “maintain momentum” for the planned changes during the listening exercise being undertaken by ministers. The timescale for implementing key parts of the health and social care bill , including handing over commissioning powers to GP groups from April 2013, remains the same despite the “pause” in the legislation going through parliament, according to David Nicholson, the chief executive of the NHS . His message in a letter to colleagues will fuel concerns that the government’s promise to take on board ways it might “improve” its plans during a “natural break” is little more than cosmetic. Labour said it was clear ministers planned to make little change, the head of the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) warned against “things ploughing on”, and the leader of the British Medical Association said the government must not make “irreversible” decisions. Nicholson’s letter was dated 13 April, the day the health secretary, Andrew Lansley, echoed the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, in promising “substantive changes” to the legislation and apologised to members of the RCN for not communicating what he was setting out to do. It was sent days after the Guardian revealed Nicholson had already indicated in a confidential memo that there may be little room for manoeuvre in changing the bill. There are also reports that David Cameron takes his advice rather than Lansley’s. Nicholson’s letter stressed “very firmly that we need to continue to take reasonable steps to prepare for implementation and maintain momentum on the ground”. He admitted pressing on while increasing “levels of engagement” on the plans might seem paradoxical” – but denied it was – and stressed the importance of pathfinder bodies preparing for the changes to be at the heart of the process “because recent progress on the transition has been strong”. Nicholson recognised planning might change “subject to the results of the listening exercise” but the NHS continued to aim for the abolition of primary care trusts by April 2013 and for hospital trusts becoming foundation trusts by April 2014. There would, however, be a delay of at least three months, to July 2012, in statutory changes, including the abolition of strategic health authorities. Nicholson said many thousands of GPs, nurses, other clinicians and support staff were already involved in pathfinder consortia “now covering 88% of the population and proceeding ahead of schedule”. Nine in 10 local authorities had signed up to be “early implementers” of local health and wellbeing boards, according to the letter. Nicholson also warned that NHS bodies to be abolished by the reforms must ensure “sustainable solutions” over the coming year if they had deficits so successor organisations did not inherit debts or underlying financial problems. He said: “I know that to some the message to press on with implementation while significantly increasing our levels of engagement on our plans may seem paradoxical. I don’t believe that it is. Engaging, learning and adaptation should always be at the heart of effective implementation: good engagement is central to making change happen, it is not an alternative to change.” John Healey, Labour’s shadow health secretary, said: “This will do little to convince people that David Cameron’s promise of a ‘listening exercise’ is anything other than a PR stunt. It is clear from this letter that the Department of Health is planning for the health bill to go through largely unchanged, and that the government is set to plough ahead with its NHS reorganisation regardless of what ministers hear in the next few weeks.” Peter Carter, chief executive and general secretary of the RCN, said: “Overall it is a very confusing picture. We have got a pause and things seem to be ploughing on. Next week we are going to have to ask for clarification. Otherwise it is going to continue the kind of view some people have, that this is a bit of a cynical exercise to take the heat out of the situation.” Hamish Meldrum, chair of the council of the BMA, said it had “always maintained that changes in the NHS must not anticipate the legislative process and lead to irreversible decisions or unnecessary risks if some or all of the health bill is not implemented. “This is even more important given the delay created by the listening exercise which, if it really does indicate a willingness to listen and, more importantly, to make significant changes, may result in several elements of the policy being altered or delayed,” he said. The Department of Health said: “The message is clear. The principles remain the same but improvements will be made as we pause, listen and reflect.” NHS Health Health policy Public sector cuts Public services policy Public finance James Meikle Denis Campbell guardian.co.uk
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High court proposes four test case hearings as Sienna Miller offered £100,000 to settle Scotland Yard has accepted for the first time the extent of the phone-hacking scandal when it told a court the number of potential victims whose voicemails were targeted by the News of the World is likely to be “substantially” more than 91. A high court hearing to timetable and organise the growing civil claims for damages against Rupert Murdoch’s News International heard that the new police investigation believed the scale of potential victims was much higher than leading officers had previously said. Previously the Metropolitan police said they had found a total of 91 pin numbers – necessary to access a mobile phone’s voicemail – in the possession of the private investigator Glenn Mulcaire. But Jason Beer QC, representing the Met, told the hearing the number of potential victims is “substantially” higher than 91. “It is wrong to say that 91 is the answer, that that is the maximum [number of victims]. It may be on a bigger scale.” In other developments: • The judge, Mr Justice Vos, recommended that four test cases for those alleged to have been victims of hacking – Sky Andrew, Kelly Hoppen, Sienna Miller and Andy Gray – should be heard no later than February 2012. • News International said it had offered Miller £100,000 in damages for the repeated hacking of her phone. • Her former partner, Jude Law, was set to issue his own proceedings, the high court heard. The actor’s spokeswoman refused to comment. • Comments made eight years ago by Rebekah Brooks, now News International’s chief executive, could prompt a further criminal inquiry led by the Met. Detectives are still trawling through 9,200 pages of mainly handwritten material seized from Mulcaire, who was convicted of intercepting voicemail messages in January 2007, along with the News of the World journalist Clive Goodman. During the original investigation, police seized paperwork and records from Mulcaire, who was employed by the tabloid. John Yates, the Met’s acting deputy assistant commissioner, who handled a previous phone-hacking investigation, said that the police had only identified 10 to 12 victims. The fresh investigation team is under the leadership of deputy assistant commissioner Sue Akers. Yates said earlier this month that he had quoted the figure on at least four occasions because prosecutors had told police they needed to prove not only that voicemail had been intercepted but also that this had been done before the messages had been heard by the intended recipient. That claim was contested by Keir Starmer QC, the director of public prosecutions. In a letter to the Commons home affairs select committee, Yates said lack of first-hand knowledge may explain why he and Starmer gave different accounts of the legal advice. “Both Keir Starmer and I are conscious that we are somewhat hindered in our efforts to assist your committee further in this matter by the very fact of our not being involved in any way until we came into our current posts – in my case in 2009.” Beer, the Met’s lawyer, said that since last week, when News International admitted liability in eight cases, police had been “flooded” with people inquiring if they might have been victims of what lawyers of the victims described yesterday as a “conspiracy”. Michael Silverleaf QC, for News Group Newspapers, said the £100,000 the company had offered Miller was the maximum she could expect to win. “She cannot realistically recover more than we are offering,” he told the judge. “The civil litigation process does not exist for people to vent their feelings in public. It provides a remedy for wrongs. We have admitted the wrong and agreed to pay her the maximum sum.” The offer was made on 6 April. Miller’s team indicate her action is “continuing” and that she wants to find out exactly what the NoW did, which so far, her legal team says, the newspaper is refusing to do. Although the company’s offer of damages is higher than the £20,000 to £70,000 that many had expected the cases to settle at, the extra sum reflects the fact that Miller had been making claims of breach of privacy and harassment, and that any damages owing to phone hacking were only part of that sum. The actor had also been heavily targeted by the News of the World. At the hearing, lawyers for the victims claimed that calls to hack the voicemails had been made from phone numbers registered to the paper. A News International spokesperson said: “We made clear last week that our intention was to apologise and to deal with these cases in the most fair and efficient way possible. We believe the judge’s recommendations support that.” A lawyer for one of the hacking litigants, who asked not to be named, said the hearing had gone badly for the publisher. The lawyer said: “News Group have suffered a devastating blow today to their latest strategy to close down the phone-hacking litigation. “The judge entirely rejected their contention that their narrow ‘admissions’ were sufficient to bring all the liability issues in the nine leading cases to an end and ordered a trial of the generic issues, including whether they entered into a conspiracy with Glenn Mulcaire to hack voicemails.” Last week, police arrested the NoW’s chief reporter, Neville Thurlbeck, and its former head of news, Ian Edmondson. On Thursday a senior reporter, James Weatherup, became the third journalist who had worked at the newspaper to be questioned and released on police bail. Vikram Dodd Dan Sabbagh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Just before her death, a mother who drowned herself and her children used her BlackBerry to update her Facebook status. It read: “I’m sorry everyone forgive me please for what I’m gonna do…This is it!!!” Less than half an hour later, Lashanda Armstrong drove off a pier into the Hudson…
Continue reading …A number of top Wall Street banks are on the verge of settling fraud allegations with the SEC for the mortgage-bond shenanigans that led to the financial crisis, sources tell the Wall Street Journal . The cases are being handled individually, since each bank faces substantially different charges, with the first…
Continue reading …The thousands of languages spoken in the world today can be traced back to a “mother tongue of mother tongues” that arose in Africa around 50,000 years ago, a new study suggests. The lead researcher, evolutionary psychologist Quentin Atkinson, borrowed a few ideas from genetic researchers, the Wall Street…
Continue reading …While the US was spending billions to support Middle Eastern governments, it was also funding groups pushing democracy in the region—organizations that helped train some of the leaders of the recent uprisings, the New York Times reports. Groups funded by the National Endowment for Democracy, which promotes democracy in…
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