The head of the FAA’s Air Traffic Organization resigned today, amid a wave of reports of air traffic controllers sleeping on the job . Hank Krakowski submitted his resignation this morning to FAA chief Randy Babbitt, the Washington Post reports, who promised a “top to bottom” review of the air traffic…
Continue reading …
BBC2 programme by Discworld author and Alzheimer’s sufferer to show a terminally ill man’s last moments in a Dignitas clinic The last moments of a terminally ill British man who travelled to a Swiss suicide clinic will be shown in a documentary presented by the author and euthanasia campaigner Sir Terry Pratchett. The writer, who was diagnosed with a form of Alzheimer’s disease in 2008, is shown at the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland with the 71-year-old motor neurone disease sufferer named only as Peter. Pratchett, best known for his international bestselling Discworld series, said he was “a firm believer in assisted death”. He said: “I believe everybody possessed of a debilitating and incurable disease should be allowed to pick the hour of their death. And I wanted to know more about Dignitas in case I ever wanted to go there myself.” In the hour-long film, which will be broadcast on BBC2 in the summer, Pratchett compares how different European countries deal with the issue and meets people who want to control how and when they die. It is not the first time assisted suicide has been shown on television. In 2008, a documentary on Sky called Right To Die? showed 59-year-old Craig Ewert , who also suffered from motor neurone disease, end his life. The disease causes muscles to waste, leading to loss of mobility and difficulties with speech, swallowing and breathing. The BBC’s commissioning editor for documentaries, Charlotte Moore, said: “Assisted death is an important topic of debate in the UK, and this is a chance for the BBC2 audience to follow Sir Terry as he wrestles with the difficult issues that many across Britain are also faced with. I hope this sparks a constructive debate that people across the spectrum of opinion can engage in.” Dignitas was founded in 1998 and takes advantage of Switzerland’s liberal laws on assisted suicide which suggest a person can be prosecuted only if they are acting out of self-interest. More than 100 UK citizens have so far gone abroad to die in Dignitas clinics, where nearly 800 people from the UK have become members – the first step for those considering assisted suicide. Assisted suicide Terry Pratchett Motor neurone disease Alzheimer’s Documentary Television David Batty guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …
Results likely to heighten investor fears that Google’s commitment to recruit 6,200 workers this year will harm profits Google has reported an 18% rise in first-quarter profit, disappointing analysts who are increasingly concerned about thecompany’s aggressive expansion strategy and lavish spending. Google’s first-quarter earnings of $2.3bn, or $7.04 a share, for the quarter ended 31 March came in below analyst projections as the internet search leader accelerated recruitment hiring and spending in other areas, driving up its expenses. The company’s shares shed $27.74, or nearly 5%, to $550.77 in extended trading. These results are likely to heighten investor fears that Google’s earnings will suffer because of the company’s commitment to hire at least 6,200 workers this year. That would be the most in its 13-year history. Google co-founder Larry Page, who replaced Eric Schmidt as CEO after the quarter ended, has indicated he plans to keep investing in long-term opportunities that may take years to pay off, even if that affects the short-term results. Page offered a determinedly optimistic view of the figures. “I’m very excited about Google and our momentum, and I’m very, very optimistic about our future,” he said. He insisted that the management transition Google announced three month ago is unfolding as planned, with Page overseeing day-to-day operations while Schmidt handles government relations and stalks possible acquisition targets in his new role as executive chairman. If not for the cost of employee stock rewards, Google said it would have earned $8.08 a share. The company hired 1,916 staff, taking its workforce over 26,300. Half of the new staff are working on products and services to supplement search advertising, which makes most of Google’s money. Google US economy Economics guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The family of slain Pace University football player Danroy “DJ” Henry called out a New York police union today, after discovering that it had named the cop who shot and killed Henry their “Officer of the Year.” Aaron Hess’ award was especially galling, the family told the Boston Globe , because…
Continue reading …You know that 2011 budget pact that was supposed to have yielded the ” biggest annual spending cut in history “? Well, it turns out it’ll produce less than 1% of the promised $38 billion in savings by the end of this budget year, according to a Congressional Budget Office estimate…
Continue reading …
Group says Arrigoni – a pacifist and blogger – will be killed unless Hamas releases its leader, Hesham al-Saeed A jihadist group in the Gaza Strip aligned with al-Qaida has threatened to execute an abducted Italian, unless Hamas releases the group’s leader. A YouTube clip posted by the group said the man they were holding, Vittorio Arrigoni, would be killed on Friday at 5pm local time (2pm GMT) unless Hesham al-Saeedi, whom Hamas detained last month, was released. “If our demands are not met within 30 hours starting from 11 am of 14.4.2011 the captive will be executed when the period is over,” a text on the video clip said. Arrigoni, a pacifist and blogger, has lived in Gaza for some time. He was shown blindfolded in the three-minute clip with blood around his right eye and a hand can be seen pulling his head up by his hair to face the camera. A spokesman for the Hamas interior ministry said it was investigating the abduction. It was unclear when Arrigoni was kidnapped or where he was being held, but an Italian diplomat who serves in the region confirmed he had been abducted. The Arabic text that accompanied the footage of Arrigoni also said “the Italian hostage entered our land only to spread corruption” and it described Italy as “the infidel state”. Arrigoni told Reuters television when he landed ashore in 2008 that he was part of the Free Gaza Movement, a group that has campaigned against Israel’s blockade of the coastal territory. “We’re happy to see all these people because we are here to try to help … you have the same human rights that other people of the world … have, the same rights as the Israelis and the Italians have,” Arrigoni told Reuters at the time. A statement released by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank called for Arrigoni’s “immediate and unconditional release” and said it was counterproductive. “This action does not serve the just cause of the Palestinian people and harms it,” Abbas’s statement said. Arrigoni is the first foreign national to be abducted in the Gaza Strip since BBC journalist Alan Johnston, who was held for 114 days by an al-Qaida-inspired group called the Army of Islam. He was released in 2007. Arrigoni came to the Gaza Strip on a boat bringing humanitarian supplies in 2008 that Israel, which enforces a blockade on the tiny coastal territory, allowed into Gaza port. Hamas, which has in the past denied any al-Qaida presence in Gaza, has been trying to keep other Islamist groups in check following a Israeli military offensive in 2009. Gaza Middle East Italy Hamas Palestinian territories Europe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …A Green Party of Canada candidate has resigned after word broke that his “favorite quote” on Facebook was listed as, “If rape is inevitable, lie back and enjoy it!” Alan Saldanha, of Surrey, BC, has said the quote was taken out of context. He says he’d been having a conversation…
Continue reading …Iran has a hand in the revolutions currently sweeping the rest of the Arab world. In Syria, Iran is secretly assisting President Bashar al-Assad to quell the pro-democracy demonstrations, US officials say. But in Bahrain and Yemen, Iran is looking to aid Shiite protesters, thus destabilizing the countries—both US…
Continue reading …The Hill picks up on a House trend that seems to span the political spectrum—fasting. On the left is Rep. Barbara Lee, who’s organizing an effort in which about two dozen lawmakers will take turns going 24 hours with no food, only water, until Easter. The idea is to…
Continue reading …
Executives clear desk of news editor James Weatherup hours before police arrive The News of the World reacted to the unexpected arrest of one of its most senior reporters by clearing his desk. Despite the paper having promised that it would co-operate fully with police inquiries, executives descended on the desk of former news editor James Weatherup moments after learning of his arrest. Under the eyes of their legal team, they bagged up notebooks, papers and recording machines and removed them “via our lawyers”, a firm whose identity the publisher refused to confirm. A few hours later, the police arrived and took the bags to Scotland Yard. The unexpected arrest of Weatherup, one of the most senior journalists at the News of the World, at his home leaves little room for doubt that the new police team investigating the phone-hacking scandal is determined to succeed where its much-criticised predecessors failed. It was three weeks ago that the News of the World dumped a vast archive of data at Scotland Yard’s door – a trove that has turbo-charged the Met investigation. The data, which comprises millions of emails from everyone at the newspaper – and which the NoW previously claimed had been lost – could implicate the paper in more instances of malpractice than have been previously suggested. There are 8,000 emails relating to Sienna Miller alone. An examination of their contents could reveal that many more public figures were also targeted by the newspaper, in addition to the 24 who are already bringing legal actions, including football agent Sky Andrew and the former culture secretary, Tessa Jowell. It was also anticipated that the archived data would include email exchanges between the most senior executives on the NoW, including its former editor Andy Coulson, who resigned as David Cameron’s media adviser in January, and Ian Edmondson, Greg Miskiw, and Neville Thurlbeck, journalists on the paper. Edmondson and Miskiw had already been implicated in the affair by paperwork seized from Glenn Mulcaire, the private investigator who was on the NoW’s books. What was not expected, however – even by the most senior executives at the paper – was that a new name would be discovered amid the mountains of data, along with evidence so strong that an arrest could be made. Weatherup’s arrest stunned those at the highest level of the paper. News International executives have been saying privately that they were confident Edmondson and Thurlbeck were the only staffers still working at the paper who were likely to be implicated in hacking. The Met were so determined to conceal the new direction of their investigation that Weatherup, 55, was not given notice that he was being investigated by police officers. Unlike his colleague and former colleague Thurlbeck and Edmondson – who were arrested last week on suspicion of unlawfully intercepting mobile phone voicemail messages – he was not given the chance to voluntarily attend a police station before being placed under arrest. Instead, Weatherup – the third news editor under Coulson and one of a handful of senior employees who would take part in private discussions of major news stories with other senior members of the paper – was arrested in an early-morning swoop that left both his family and News International reeling. Not only was his house in Romford, Essex, searched but the contents of his desk are now being examined by police – the third time Scotland Yard has seized all official and personal material belonging to a NoW employee in little more than a week. What is also significant about yesterday’s arrest of a hitherto relative unknown is that the police have worked at such intensity and speed. Until last week, former royal editor Clive Goodman, jailed in January 2007, was the only News of the World journalist to be arrested for listening to private voicemail messages. No other reporters or executives were questioned by the initial police investigation. It was only after a series of high court cases brought by Miller, the football pundit Andy Gray and others that the Met was forced to reveal material found on Mulcaire’s computer, during a 2006 raid of his home. In contrast, the 45-member new team, Operation Weeting, have arrested three current or former NoW journalists in the past nine days alone over possible involvement in alleged phone hacking at the paper. Amelia Hill Dan Sabbagh guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …