Half of those with type 2 diabetes showed no sign of the disease a year after weight-loss surgery, says report Surgery to tackle obesity helps to treat a range of diseases, including type 2 diabetes, the first large-scale UK study into weight-loss operations has revealed. It found that after one year, 50% of those affected by diabetes before surgery showed no indication of the disease, with the rate rising to 86% after two years. The National Bariatric Surgery Registry (NBSR) found that the procedures were safe and on average patients lost 58% of excess weight in their first year after surgery. There was also improvement on all associated diseases. The cost of bariatric surgery – which includes gastric bypasses and gastric bands – is recouped within three years as obesity associated costs are eliminated, according to the NBSR. It says there are about 1 million people in the UK who could benefit from bariatric surgery and the NHS could regret limiting treatment. “This data shows that not only is UK bariatric surgery safe, but it successfully treats a whole range of diseases – including the rapid resolution of diabetes – yet commissioners continue to ignore the facts,” said Alberic Fiennes, a bariatric surgeon and chairman of the NBSR data committee. “An approach that limits treatment to a fraction of those who would benefit is one which the NHS will rue in years to come as these patients become an unsustainable burden on the health service.” John Black, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, said bariatric surgery “makes economic as well as clinical sense” and the Department of Health should promote it. “It is a false economy to cut funding for this type of surgery,” he said. “Any short-term savings are tiny compared with the real ongoing cost of treating obese patients.” The report looked at follow-up data for 1,421 operations carried out between 1 April 2008 and 31 March 2010. Of these, 379 patients had type 2 diabetes before surgery, while one year later that figure had fallen to 188. Data from 86 hospitals showed that around two thirds of severely obese patients have three or more associated diseases by the time they reach surgery. Meanwhile, a third have high blood pressure, over a quarter have diabetes and nearly a fifth have high cholesterol. David Stout, the NHS Confederation Primary Care Trust (PCT) Network director, said that while surgery was an important part of dealing with increasing obesity and surgeons were right to measure its efficacy, “the most cost effective solution is to make sure that people do not get to the stage of needing surgery in the first place”. He said: “PCTs need to balance their priorities across a wide range of services, taking into account Nice [National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence] guidance in the context of local needs. But it is important that all commissioners are transparent in their decision-making.” A DoH spokesman said bariatric surgery should only be considered as a last resort once weight-loss schemes and exercise programmes have been tried. “England has some of the highest rates of obesity in Europe – concerted effort is needed to tackle this,” he said. The spokesman added that the government was encouraging people to make simple changes, such as eating more fruit and vegetables, cutting down on fatty foods and being more active. Obesity Diabetes Health NHS Haroon Siddique guardian.co.uk
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Corporate governance group Pirc urges bank’s shareholders to oppose ‘overly complex’ remuneration plan A leading corporate governance body has urged shareholders in Barclays to oppose executive pay at the bank, calling its disclosure “opaque” and its design “overly complex”. Pirc, which represents the interests of fund managers and pension funds with more than £1.5 trillion of assets, said the complexity of the Barclays plan “prevents analysis of the design and quantum of executive pay”. Last month Barclays said its new chief executive Bob Diamond and his two replacements as head of the investment banking arm were paid £28m in 2010, with the trio also receiving shares worth £40m for past performance. Pirc also slammed the British bank’s choice of performance targets, which link pay to its capital ratio. “This is not appropriate, particularly in a regulated bank where regulatory requirements are being used to justify incentive payments,” Pirc said in its weekly newsletter. Barclays has linked pay for senior staff to its core tier 1 capital adequacy ratio, with bonuses deferred over three years and clawed back if the ratio falls below 7%. Two years on from the financial crisis, criticism over pay in the banking industry has refused to go away despite changes to the way many executives are paid, as bumper pay packages have returned for some. Barclays investors will vote on its remuneration report at its annual general meeting on 27 April. Executive pay and bonuses Corporate governance Barclays Banking Bob Diamond guardian.co.uk
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There’s a new trend to give autobiographies silly titles. But can you match the titles in our quiz to the celebrity? The publishing brainboxes who dreamed up the title of the Apple founder’s authorised biography were presumably delighted that iSteve: The Book of Jobs works on so many levels. But seldom has a title been so excruciating on every one of them. Still, at least the name of Steve Jobs’s book gives some clue about the contents therein. The compulsion to ape various comics’ tossed-off tomes with a punning title is increasingly leading to otherwise serious autobiographies being given a title with a double meaning that has no meaning (step forward Christopher Hitchens and Hitch-22) or just an achingly dull joke. Then again, there is something lovable about a spectacularly awful pun. So in tribute to iSteve, can you match the following silly titles with the authors pictured above? 1 Dear Fatty 2 Look Back in Hunger 3 Cider with Roadies 4 Me and My Mouth 5 Trowel and Error 6 My Shit Life So Far ANSWERS 1D Dawn French; 2E Jo Brand; 3B Stuart Maconie; 4F Austin Healey; 5A Alan Titchmarsh; 6C Frankie Boyle Biography Celebrity Patrick Barkham guardian.co.uk
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The former foreign secretary proposes handing over responsibility for building a political solution to the UN The former foreign secretary David Miliband is to make a strong critique of the US-led strategy in Afghanistan, proposing instead handing over substantial responsibility for building a political solution to the UN, headed by a Muslim mediator capable of negotiating with the Taliban as well as partners throughout the region. In an opinion piece for the New York Times, Miliband urges a “whole new level of urgency, coherence and effort” in bringing about a political endgame away from a focus on ending military engagement, and including the possibility of appointing a safe third country for all Afghan parties to negotiate from. He writes: “It’s high time we stopped behaving as if there was a military solution and developed a political one. For that, politicians need to give a lead. That is the way forward in Afghanistan – working to mend it, not just rushing to end it.” The intervention comes as senior military figures predict a rough summer of fighting ahead. Miliband’s assessment of the situation chimes with the opinion of senior Pakistani officials who feel the imminent end of the international military campaign in Afghanistan looks likely to be replaced by little political process, with few indications as to who Pakistani officials should engage with. It also echoes the feeling inside Whitehall that US policy in Afghanistan is overly dominated by the military under General David Petraeus and that despite much talk about talks, American efforts to engage the Taliban diplomatically have made little progress so far. Miliband’s criticism of the US-led campaign marks a change from the supportive UK-US relationship he maintained as foreign secretary when relationships with US secretary of state Hilary Clinton were famously strong. Miliband acknowledges there are signs of significant shifts in American policy but nevertheless he goes on to write: “Deviations from the otherwise relentless focus on military operations, allied and Afghan, need to be taken to a whole new level of urgency, coherence and effort. Otherwise, our troops will be stuck in the front line of a strategy that has an end date but no clear end game. The 2014 end date set by Nato will prove illusory unless there is an endgame. “And that endgame must be negotiations, involving western powers led by the US, with all factions in the Afghan struggle, and their backers in the region.” Miliband warns that two international conferences on the horizon – in Kabul in the summer and Bonn in December – currently have “scant agenda”, but their outcome should be the agreement of the kind of political approach he outlines. “Our leverage will decline, not improve, as 2014 approaches. The insurgency can spread, outstripping the ability of international and Afghan forces to check its growth. The warlords can strengthen their grip. Inter-ethnic strife can come to look more and more like civil war.” Miliband proposes: • The UN security council appoints and empowers a UN mediator to faciliate talks “with a clear UN security council mandate setting out principles of the endgame and an open invitation to all to participate”. • The mediator should come from the Muslim world. “His job would be to canvass the views of all parties, and create confidence for and commitment to a process for serious talks about the future of Afghanistan”. • The mediator should “develop the idea of a safe place in a third country – an Arabian gulf state, Turkey or Japan – for all sides to talk. • Localised ceasefires must be proposed alongside security for development projects. • The new UN envoy should be responsible for regional engagement as well as internal talks, creating a council of regional stability that oversees compact between the neighbours and Afghanistan. This new structure should report to the US military and General Petraeus. He writes: “The job description would be to be President Karzai’s principal interlocutor, working closely with him on the end game strategy, liasing strongly with the commander of ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] to ensure that military strategy comes behind it, and creating a framework within which the political strength of the UN, and the development strengths of contributing nations, can bear full fruit.” Acknowledging movement from America, Miliband writes: “There are signs of a significant turn in policy. Secretary Clinton spoke in February of a “political surge”. Nato’s senior civilian representative, Mark Sedwill, said last month: “The time is now right to take the risk and pursue the political agenda with the same energy we have brought to the military and civilian surges.” The New Yorker reported that secret direct talks between the US and senior Taliban leaders had actually started. David Miliband Foreign policy Afghanistan US foreign policy United States New York Times Allegra Stratton Simon Tisdall guardian.co.uk
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TUC hits out at creation of a ‘lost generation’ of young people unable to find jobs Youth unemployment is expected to reach a record high of close to 1m – one in five 16 to 24-year-olds – when the latest jobless figures are released at 9.30am on Wednesday. The TUC, which fears a “lost generation” of young people effectively locked out of the employment market, said Britain was likely to pass another “grim milestone”. Official jobless data is expected to show a significant rise in the overall number of people out of work and the TUC said it was concerned the latest earnings figures would continue to trail inflation, leaving workers to suffer an even longer period of real terms wages cuts. Figures for the quarter to January showed the number of unemployed 16- to 24-year-olds increased by 30,000 on the quarter to reach 974,000, the highest figure since comparable records began in 1992. In the same month, earnings were 2.9 percentage points less than the retail price index measure of inflation. The latest unemployment figure for the three months to February could show the earnings gap rising to more than three percentage points for the first time since June 2010. The headline figures for the claimant count and employment could improve on the previous month, boosted by the recruitment of 30,000 census workers. But Alan Clarke, economist at BNP Paribas, said the economic situation meant there was not enough private sector job hiring to compensate for public sector cuts and the overall employment picture was static. The TUC warned the figures disguised huge falls in real incomes, made worse by the loss of tax credits and cuts in government spending and services. TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said the declines in living standards were causing real pain to low- and middle-income families. “The country could be passing another grim milestone with youth unemployment hitting another record high. The government’s decision to scrap the Future Jobs Fund, months before its poorly funded replacement is due to start, has helped drive the rise in the number of young people out of work. “Scrapping Education Maintenance Allowance and hiking university tuition fees will only further reduce the job chances of young people and, with inflation rising at over twice the level of earnings, things aren’t looking pretty for those in work either. Employers have complained that one barrier to retaining young people in the workplace is the adult minimum wage, a requirement that boosts the wages of 21-year-olds. However, the National Institute for Economic and Social Research said evidence showed that as low-skilled young people became entitled to the higher adult rate of the minimum wage, their employment rate actually went up. The research, funded by the Low Pay Commission and the Economic and Social Research Council, shows that, on turning 22, the employment rate among low skilled individuals increases by about 2-4 percentage points. “In other words, a higher minimum wage – for this group, and in the relevant range – does not appear to harm their employment prospects – indeed, if anything, the opposite,” the report says. The independent thinktank said the findings seemed counterintuitive but “there are perfectly rational explanations”. It said the main focus was in a change in attitude among jobseekers rather than employers. “The results here are consistent with the hypothesis that on turning 22, young low-skilled people find work more attractive compared with when they were 21, because the wage on offer has increased. This may induce them to increase participation in the labour market, or to increase their job search intensity,” it said. Unemployment and employment statistics Economics Unemployment Social exclusion Public sector cuts Public sector pay Phillip Inman guardian.co.uk
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Former Egyptian president’s arrest follows detention of his two sons on Tuesday night Egypt’s former president, Hosni Mubarak, has been detained as authorities in the country investigate allegations of corruption and abuse of his authority. His detention comes after the 82-year-old reportedly suffered a heart attack while being questioned on Tuesday night. Mubarak’s two sons, Gamal and Alaa, have also been detained after being questioned over corruption claims into the early hours of Wednesday morning. A statement from the prosecutor general’s office announcing Mubarak’s detention said the ongoing investigation was into allegations of corruption, the squandering of public funds, and the abuse of authority for personal gain. “The prosecutor general orders the detention of former president Hosni Mubarak and his sons Gamal and Alaa for 15 days pending investigation after the prosecutor general presented them with the current state of its ongoing investigations,” it said. Egypt’s interim government issued subpoenas to Mubarak and his sons over the weekend, compelling them to testify in court over claims that they illicitly acquired wealth and abused their power during the former president’s reign. The announcement of their detention came just hours after Mubarak was hospitalised with heart problems in Sharm el-Sheikh. He has been in internal exile in the Red Sea resort since Egypt’s mass uprising earlier this year. Mubarak was taken to hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh. However in a sign his health may not be in immediate danger, justice minister Mohammed el-Guindi said questioning of the former president continued in hospital. While the ex-president was in hospital – where he is expected to remain for the period of his detention – his sons were taken for questioning to a Sharm el-Sheikh court by prosecutors from Cairo. Gamal Mubarak, his younger son, was a top official in the ruling party and was widely seen as being groomed to succeed his father before 18 days of popular protests brought down the regime on 11 February. An angry crowd of 2,000 people gathered outside and demanded the two be arrested. Then, in the early hours of the morning, the head of provincial security in the South Sinai told the crowd that Gamal and his businessman brother Alaa would be detained. “Brothers, whatever you wanted, you have got … 15 days,” said Major General Mohammed el-Khatib, as the crowd erupted in cheers. As a police van with drawn curtains took away the two brothers, the crowd pelted it with water bottles, stones and their flip-flops, a sign of disrespect in the Arab world. About 800 people are estimated to have been killed during the protests as police opened fire and cracked down on the crowds. Authorities are now investigating government officials for their role in ordering the violence. Gamal is also believed to be the architect of Egypt’s privatization program and economic liberalization, which has brought in billions in foreign investment but has also widened the gap between rich and poor. Many of his close associates were billionaires and held top positions in the ruling party and the government. There are allegations that they used their positions for personal gain. Hosni Mubarak Egypt Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Adam Gabbatt Jack Shenker guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Flip video cameras were so hot two years ago that Cisco Systems shelled out $590 million to buy the startup that built them. So much for that. Cisco announced today it was shutting down its Flip business, reports the Huffington Post . The easy-to-use gadget had its moment—the Wall Street…
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Despite an iffy reputation, double-breasted jackets are mounting a comeback, so take a tip from David Beckham and Prince Charles ]Posh boys guffawing at boating events, overweight scruffy politicians, nightclub bouncers and pinstriped bankers power-dressing in the 1980s: the double-breasted suit was always going to have its work cut out to stage a revival. But there are growing signs that the jacket style is quietly making its way back into fashion. The double-breasted jacket has an unlikely pair of celebrity ambassadors in Prince Charles and David Beckham. Charles, who has long favoured the look , has recently been parading around Morocco in one. Beckham, undoubtedly the most sartorially scrutinised male celebrity in the world, has also been photographed several times this year wearing double-breasted suits. In February, to attend a fashion week party in London, he sported a well-cut grey pinstripe six-button DB , styled with pocket-square, white shirt and tie. On red carpets in Hollywood, leading men have been early adopters: Jake Gyllenhaal wore a black Ferragamo tux for the Oscars while Ryan Gosling opted for a grey Gucci DB suit for a premiere. Experimenting with a DB a year ago, I felt like a quiz show host who had borrowed Joan Collins’s shoulder pads. But it was the catwalk, where the look has slowly been gaining visibility since 2008, that convinced me to try the look again – specifically the autumn/winter 2011 Lanvin show , where sleekly tailored DB jackets were shown with both lean and wide trousers. Jeremy Langmead, editor-in-chief of Mr Porter , warns that the DB is not a forgiving look, but the new crop of jackets are much improved from bulky 80s styles. “Fashion designers have made everything slimmer,” he says. “The jackets are cut shorter and that makes it feel younger and fresher. It really is all about the cut with a DB.” Stacey Smith, menswear buyer at Matches , advises: “The jacket should skim the body, not hug it. And to make sure the silhouette looks modern, the shoulders should be soft and tailored – not too sharp.” High-street design teams are tweaking the fit for a new generation. “To avoid the dad’s tuxedo connotation,” says John Mooney, head of menswear design at Asos , “we simplified the cut and used a single fastening to keep it
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Independent inquiry concludes that the production of biofuels to meet UK and European directives violates human rights and damages the environment The legal requirement to put biofuels in petrol and diesel sold in the UK and Europe is unethical because their production violates human rights and damages the environment, a major new inquiry has concluded. “Biofuels are one of the only renewable alternatives we have for transport fuels, but current policies and targets that encourage their uptake have backfired badly,” said Prof Joyce Tait, at Edinburgh University, who chaired the 18-month inquiry by the independent Nuffield Council on Bioethics (NCB). “The rapid expansion of biofuels production in the developing world has led to problems such as deforestation and the displacement of indigenous people.” The need to meet rising biofuel targets has also led to exploitation of workers, the loss of wildlife and higher food prices, the inquiry found. Under the European Union’s renewable energy directive , 10% of transport fuel must come from renewable sources such as biofuel by 2020. Alena Buyx, assistant director at the NCB, said: “If you look at food prices and they go up and incomes do not, then more people will probably die from hunger, and biofuels are one contributing factor to those price rises.” Biofuels also contribute to poor harvests, commodity speculation and high oil prices which raise the cost of fertilisers and transport, she added. “But doing nothing is also immoral,” said Prof Ottoline Leyserof Cambridge University, and another member of the NBC working party. There is a clear need to replace liquid fossil fuels to limit climate change and if a new biofuel technology meets ethical conditions, there is a duty to develop it, she said. The main transport biofuels that are currently used – bioethanol, made from maize and sugar cane, and biodiesel, made from palm and rape seed oil – both come from food crops and can have substantial ethical problems, the inquiry concluded. But future generations of biofuel, made from agricultural waste such as straw, fast-growing perennials such as willow or miscanthus grass , or even algae grown in tanks , could avoid many of the problems by not competing directly with food . “These are very exciting technologies,” said Leyser. “The potential is huge.” In the UK, 5% of transport fuel must come from renewable sources by 2013. Today, 3% of the UK’s petrol and diesel comes from biofuel, mostly produced in Argentina, Brazil and other European countries. But in January, it was revealed that two-thirds of the biofuel being used in the UK today failed to meet environmental standards . Government cuts to the budget of the Carbon Trust also saw a flagship algal biofuels project cancelled . The Department of Transport is currently consulting on changes to the UK’s biofuels regulations . Transport minister Norman Baker said: “It has already been agreed that no biofuel will count towards European renewable energy targets unless it meets certain sustainability requirements. But we are pushing the European commission to go further. Be in no doubt, we consider the sustainability of biofuels to be paramount.” An international certification scheme, like the Fairtrade scheme for food, must be introduced, the NCB inquiry concluded. It would guarantee that the production of biofuels met the five ethical conditions identified by the NCB: observing human rights, environmentally sustainable, reduced carbon emissions, fairly traded and equitably distributed cost and benefits. Targets for biofuels had driven a rapid expansion, in parts of the world with lower ethical standards, the researchers said. They cited the destruction of rainforest in Malaysia to produce palm oil, forcing people off their land and endangering orangutans, and a 2008 report by Amnesty International which found conditions near slavery for workers in some sugarcane plantations . “We should slow down [the targets] if it is not possible to meet ethical standards,” said Buyx. “But we think it is possible to do that [meet such standards] if enough pressure is applied.” The inquiry found positive examples too, such as small-scale biofuels initiatives that provide energy, income and livelihoods in fuel-poor areas, such as in rural Mali. Existing certification schemes, such as that run by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biofuels were a good start, the researchers said, but remained entirely voluntary. There was also problem of responsible biofuel producers having to conform to many different standards. At present, said Buyx: “the EU says each member country should make their own voluntary scheme – that is madness.” Tait added: “An international certification scheme will not add to red tape, it will simplify it with one overarching standard.” Biofuels Energy Renewable energy Travel and transport Transport policy Transport Europe Damian Carrington guardian.co.uk
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John Cave appointed deputy mayor of Padiham, on edge of Burnley, and is likely to step up to mayor in a year’s time The British National party expects to see one of its members become mayor of a Lancashire town close to the scene of serious street violence a decade ago. John Cave, whose wife, Sharon Wilkinson, is a BNP county councillor for the small former mill town of Padiham, on the edge of Burnley, is likely to take over the office in a year’s time after being chosen as deputy mayor this week. The council has only parish status but Padiham retains the title of town and uses traditional civic regalia and the town hall to assert as much independence as it can against Burnley borough council. Cave joined the town council a year ago and a minority of fellow members had bridled at his bid for office. Cave said his role was non-political and the council was “about Padiham and not politics”. He said others had raised no objections and had supported him for the deputy mayor’s job as an out-and-out Padiham man. “This is my home town and I was born here. It is all about Padiham and Padiham is not about politics. “I will be raising money for charities – but they have to be in Padiham. For me Padiham is home and I think it could be a lot better. Keeping our town hall alive is one of the biggest jobs we’ve got.” The council bats single-mindedly for Padiham, a cluster of dark stone Pennine houses in a steep valley with the National Trust’s Gawthorpe Hall a famous link with the Bronte family, whose wealthy Liberal friends the Kay-Shuttleworths ran their cotton empire from the town. The hall houses Britain’s largest textile collection outside the Victoria and Albert Museum. Community relations have been strained by the BNP’s inroads, but the town council events have included a Balti evening at a British Asian restaurant, along with Remembrance Day celebrations and a Hallowe’en party. The bishop of Burnley, the Rt Rev John Goddard, challenged Cave to give up his BNP associations in order to carry out his civic duties properly. He said: “It will be interesting to see if he acts in the best traditions of a mayor in the community, and I pray he does, as he will have to reject the philosophy of the BNP. “If he retains the BNP political philosophy then how can he expect to serve and represent the whole of the community?” BNP Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
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