Not so fast. Is the debt ceiling agreement settled? Or could it still go down in flames?”We all may not be able to support it, or none us may be able to support it,” Minority leader Nancy Pelosi ominously told reporters yesterday ahead of today’s expected Democratic caucus on the…
Continue reading …The death toll in the massive pre-Ramadan crackdown on Syrian rebels has surged to 100 and climbing. Tanks stormed Hama, ground-zero of the uprising, as well as several other towns in the second-bloodiest day since the revolution began in March, reports the Washington Post . President Obama said he was “appalled…
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Former Labour MP who was jailed for 16 months for submitting false invoices is released after serving a quarter of his sentence Expenses cheat MP Jim Devine has been released from prison after serving just a quarter of his sentence, sources said. The former Labour MP for Livingston, who was jailed for 16 months in March after being branded a liar by his trial judge, was released from Standford Hill prison in Kent on Monday morning. He spent four months behind bars after submitting false invoices totalling £8,385 between 2008 and 2009 – after politicians’ claims had already become front-page news. It is understood that Devine, 58, was freed under the home detention curfew scheme, which allows prisoners who pose a low risk to be tagged and released early after serving at least a quarter of their sentence. He is the third former MP jailed over the parliamentary expenses scandal to be released. Eric Illsley and David Chaytor have already been tagged and released under the same scheme after serving part of their sentences. Devine told his Southwark crown court trial that he was acting on advice given with a “nod and a wink” by a fellow MP in a House of Commons bar. But his defence was rejected by the jury and the trial judge Mr Justice Saunders said he had been “lying in significant parts of the evidence he gave”. Devine “set about defrauding the public purse in a calculated and deliberate way”, the judge said. “Mr Devine made his false claims at a time when he well knew the damage that was being caused to Parliament by the expenses scandal, but he carried on regardless.” He also tried to pin the blame on his former office manager, Marion Kinley, claiming she had paid herself more than £5,000 from his staffing allowance without his knowledge. Devine will be on the home detention curfew scheme for the next four months before spending the last eight months of his sentence on probation. A Labour party spokesman said: “Jim Devine was excluded from the Labour party some time ago and is no longer a member.” Illsley, 56, who was jailed for 12 months in February for fiddling £14,500 in expenses, was released in May after three months behind bars. He dishonestly obtained an average of £100 a week more than he was entitled to over a three-year period. And Chaytor spent four and a half months behind bars after admitting he fiddled his parliamentary expenses to falsely claim more than £22,000 of taxpayers’ money. Chaytor, 61, became the first former MP to be jailed since Tory peer Lord Archer when he was sentenced to 18 months in January. In March, the court of appeal rejected an attempt by the former lecturer and ex-Labour MP for Bury North to have his prison sentence reduced , ruling that his offences were “a grave breach of trust” that contributed to “serious damage” to parliament’s reputation. A Prison Service spokeswoman said: “A home detention curfew [HDC] is available to low-risk prisoners serving sentences of more than three months and less than four years, who are deemed appropriate for early release. “To be placed on HDC, a prisoner must have served a quarter of their sentence and have spent a minimum of 30 days in prison.” But Emma Boon, campaign director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said that releasing Devine early “makes his sentence look like a hollow gesture and will do nothing to help restore public faith in parliament”. MPs’ expenses House of Commons guardian.co.uk
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Father of one, 50, dies at Bous al Carrer fiesta near Valencia after taunting half-tonne bull with pink umbrella A Spanish man was gored to death at a fiesta after waving a pink umbrella at a charging half-tonne bull. The 50-year-old father of one taunted the animal as it came rampaging out of a pen but the prank backfired horribly when the bull charged straight at him, trampled him to the floor and gored him with its horns. The Bous al Carrer (“Bulls in the Street”) festival, similar to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, took place in the small town of Rafelbunyol, 16 miles north of Valencia on the east coast of Spain, on Saturday evening. The town’s narrow streets are sealed off on weekends between July and October as volunteers are chased by a bull, cheered on from overlooking windows and balconies. Bous al Carrer events have become increasingly popular in towns and villages in the Valencia region in recent years, with 486 people injured last year. A video posted on the ABC newspaper website [WARNING: graphic content] showed the man standing in the sand-covered street holding a pink umbrella in the air as the bull was released from the pen. An onlooker shouted “Olé” as the animal began to charge, and then it gored the man, piercing his chest and armpit. An eyewitness told the local newspaper Las Provincias: “Everything happened very quickly. The animal turned and went for him. The man sidestepped once but then he couldn’t get away. He fell to the floor and was charged.” A fellow bull runner tried to distract the animal by waving his hands in the air, but could do nothing to prevent the man’s death. The victim was certified dead on arrival at hospital, the emergency services in Valencia said. A second bull run, scheduled for later on Saturday night, was cancelled. Bullfighting Animals Spain Europe guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Father of one, 50, dies at Bous al Carrer fiesta near Valencia after taunting half-tonne bull with pink umbrella A Spanish man was gored to death at a fiesta after waving a pink umbrella at a charging half-tonne bull. The 50-year-old father of one taunted the animal as it came rampaging out of a pen but the prank backfired horribly when the bull charged straight at him, trampled him to the floor and gored him with its horns. The Bous al Carrer (“Bulls in the Street”) festival, similar to the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, took place in the small town of Rafelbunyol, 16 miles north of Valencia on the east coast of Spain, on Saturday evening. The town’s narrow streets are sealed off on weekends between July and October as volunteers are chased by a bull, cheered on from overlooking windows and balconies. Bous al Carrer events have become increasingly popular in towns and villages in the Valencia region in recent years, with 486 people injured last year. A video posted on the ABC newspaper website [WARNING: graphic content] showed the man standing in the sand-covered street holding a pink umbrella in the air as the bull was released from the pen. An onlooker shouted “Olé” as the animal began to charge, and then it gored the man, piercing his chest and armpit. An eyewitness told the local newspaper Las Provincias: “Everything happened very quickly. The animal turned and went for him. The man sidestepped once but then he couldn’t get away. He fell to the floor and was charged.” A fellow bull runner tried to distract the animal by waving his hands in the air, but could do nothing to prevent the man’s death. The victim was certified dead on arrival at hospital, the emergency services in Valencia said. A second bull run, scheduled for later on Saturday night, was cancelled. Bullfighting Animals Spain Europe guardian.co.uk
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Rebecca Leighton held in custody on charges of endangering life by criminal damage in saline sabotage case A nurse charged with putting insulin in saline bags at a hospital where patients’ deaths are now under investigation has appeared in court via videolink. Rebecca Leighton, 27, was arrested in July by detectives investigating the deaths of patients at Stepping Hill hospital, in Hazel Grove, Stockport. The hearing took place on Monday morning at Manchester crown court. Leighton, who is being held in custody, is charged with three counts of criminal damage with intent to endanger life and three charges of being reckless as to whether life was being endangered. Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, said detectives were arranging to interview “several hundred” patients and staff as part of the inquiry. He said: “The inquiry is very wide-ranging. There are a very large number of individuals who have been identified by the police to be interviewed. “There are 600 exhibits that are also being examined in this case and a large number of documents that have been recovered from the hospital that are subject to examination, including patient records and also records in respect of the receipt, storage and subsequent use of various items.” Examining each exhibit in total would take months, he said. The interview process would also be lengthy, the court heard. “There are several hundred such interviews to be undertaken and concluded,” Wright said, adding that toxicology and pathology results in the case were still awaited. Simon Csoka QC, defending, said: “The defendant is anxious that this matter be tried as quickly as possible.” Neighbours and colleagues of Leighton were in the public gallery but her family did not attend the preliminary hearing. Leighton, who appeared via videolink from prison, spoke only to confirm her name and a provisional trial date was scheduled for 28 February. The charges relate to the alleged tampering of saline ampoules, saline bags and medical products. Leighton is also charged with theft of medicine. She is next due to appear in court on 17 October for a plea and case management hearing. Greater Manchester police have said they are no longer investigating the death of one of five patients. The family of 84-year-old George Keep, of Cheadle, was told his death no longer formed part of the inquiry. He died on 14 July after being admitted to hospital with a broken hip. Police continue to investigate the deaths last month of Tracey Arden, 44, Arnold Lancaster, 71, Derek Weaver, 83, and Vera Pearson, 84. The alarm was raised when a large number of patients were reported to have unexplained low blood sugar levels. The Nursing and Midwifery Council will hold a hearing on Tuesday over whether to impose an interim ban on Leighton working. Helen Carter guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Rebecca Leighton held in custody on charges of endangering life by criminal damage in saline sabotage case A nurse charged with putting insulin in saline bags at a hospital where patients’ deaths are now under investigation has appeared in court via videolink. Rebecca Leighton, 27, was arrested in July by detectives investigating the deaths of patients at Stepping Hill hospital, in Hazel Grove, Stockport. The hearing took place on Monday morning at Manchester crown court. Leighton, who is being held in custody, is charged with three counts of criminal damage with intent to endanger life and three charges of being reckless as to whether life was being endangered. Peter Wright QC, prosecuting, said detectives were arranging to interview “several hundred” patients and staff as part of the inquiry. He said: “The inquiry is very wide-ranging. There are a very large number of individuals who have been identified by the police to be interviewed. “There are 600 exhibits that are also being examined in this case and a large number of documents that have been recovered from the hospital that are subject to examination, including patient records and also records in respect of the receipt, storage and subsequent use of various items.” Examining each exhibit in total would take months, he said. The interview process would also be lengthy, the court heard. “There are several hundred such interviews to be undertaken and concluded,” Wright said, adding that toxicology and pathology results in the case were still awaited. Simon Csoka QC, defending, said: “The defendant is anxious that this matter be tried as quickly as possible.” Neighbours and colleagues of Leighton were in the public gallery but her family did not attend the preliminary hearing. Leighton, who appeared via videolink from prison, spoke only to confirm her name and a provisional trial date was scheduled for 28 February. The charges relate to the alleged tampering of saline ampoules, saline bags and medical products. Leighton is also charged with theft of medicine. She is next due to appear in court on 17 October for a plea and case management hearing. Greater Manchester police have said they are no longer investigating the death of one of five patients. The family of 84-year-old George Keep, of Cheadle, was told his death no longer formed part of the inquiry. He died on 14 July after being admitted to hospital with a broken hip. Police continue to investigate the deaths last month of Tracey Arden, 44, Arnold Lancaster, 71, Derek Weaver, 83, and Vera Pearson, 84. The alarm was raised when a large number of patients were reported to have unexplained low blood sugar levels. The Nursing and Midwifery Council will hold a hearing on Tuesday over whether to impose an interim ban on Leighton working. Helen Carter guardian.co.uk
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More than 2,000 young people treated by NHS hospitals in past three years, with 98 aged between five and seven More than 2,000 children have received treatment for eating disorders in the past three years, according to figures reported on Monday. Statistics show that nearly 600 children under the age of 13 were treated in hospital in England, including 197 aged between five and nine. The figures from 35 NHS hospitals showed 98 were aged between five and seven at the time of treatment and 99 aged eight or nine. Almost 400 were between the ages of 10 and 12, with more than 1,500 between 13 and 15 years old. The figures, released under the Freedom of Information Act, are believed to be an underestimate, according to reports. Some NHS hospitals treating such patients refused to provide any data while others would only release figures for children admitted after becoming dangerously thin, excluding those undergoing psychiatric therapy as outpatients. The findings come after experts called earlier this year for urgent action to improve the detection of eating disorders in children. About three in every 100,000 children under 13 in the UK and Ireland have some sort of eating disorder, according to a study conducted by experts from University College London’s Institute for Child Health. Figures released last October showed one in three hospital admissions for eating disorders involved a child, with under-18s accounting for 882 out of 2,579 admissions to England’s hospitals in the 12 months to June last year. Susan Ringwood, chief executive of the eating disorders charity B-eat, told the Sunday Telegraph that the figures reflected “alarming” trends in society, with young children “internalising” messages from celebrity magazines, which idealised the thinnest figures. “A number of factors combine to trigger eating disorders. Biology and genetics play a large part in their development, but so do cultural pressures, and body image seems to be influencing younger children much more over the past decade,” she said. She added that children were receiving “pernicious” messages. “The ideal figure promoted for women is that of a girl, not an adult woman. That can leave girls fearful of puberty, and almost trying to stave it off.” A Department of Health spokeswoman said: “We are committed to improving mental health among the whole population. “That is why we are providing around £400m over the next four years to expand psychological therapies, including a specific programme for children and young people. Early intervention is essential for those with eating disorders.” Children Health Mental health NHS guardian.co.uk
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‘Mixed weather’ to return by weekend as high temperatures allow for brief summer, though much of the country will miss out Sweet, short and largely southern, a three-day heatwave is warming the beginning of August after average weather in July for the fifth year in a row. Forecasters issued the good news larded with caution and warnings that mediocre conditions are expected to return across the UK before the weekend. Much of the country will also miss out on sweltering temperatures that are likely to reach the low 30Cs (mid-80Fs) in London and the south-east between now and Thursday. Thunderstorms will then signal a return to the traditional “mixed weather” familiar since the last really hot summer in 2006. Mark Seltzer, a forecaster at the Met Office, used two diminutives to avoid getting “staycation” holidaymakers excited, describing the hot spell as “a little mini-heatwave”. He said: “It looks good for south-east England now, but that’s going to break down quickly to changeable conditions, a few bits of rain and thunderstorms and freshening conditions coming from the west.” July did at least end with a warm weekend in many places, raising sea temperatures to 17C (63F) off the Channel coast where resorts from Bournemouth to Brighton enjoyed bumper business. Every hire deckchair and sunbed was taken along the seven miles of beach around Bournemouth, car parks were full by breakfast time and No Vacancies signs garlanded hotels and B&Bs. Coastguards newly saved from proposed government cuts were kept busy, with rescues including the salvage of a yacht belonging to the visiting Olympic sailing team from Brazil. The boat slipped her moorings in Portland harbour and was carried on to rocks in the bay. Tony Conlan, a forecaster at MeteoGroup, said that early hopes for July had faded as the month went by without significant spells of hot weather. He said: “The last really good summer we had was 2006 when we had the warmest July on record. That now seems a distant memory.” This year, July managed a maximum 27.50C (81F), appropriately at London’s Olympic park, but also saw a low of minus 0.80C (30F) at Kinbrace in Sutherland, Scotland. Rainfall was also the lowest since 2006 but there was little compensation from sunshine which was below average for the month at 188 hours. Weather Martin Wainwright guardian.co.uk
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• Worldwide workforce to be cut • New chief seeks $3.5bn in savings • First-half pre-tax profit up 3% to $11.5bn The jobs axe is to cut deeply through HSBC, which confirmed on Monday that 30,000 roles are to be lost across its global banking group over the next three years. The new chief executive Stuart Gulliver, who took the helm in January after 32 years at the bank, revealed that 5,000 roles had already gone so far this year and that another 25,000 would need to be removed from the 296,000 global workforce. Revealing the extent of the job cuts for the first time, Gulliver had signalled in May that roles would be shed as he set about achieving $3.5bn (£2.14bn) of savings within three years as he aims to bolster the bank’s return on equity to 12-15% from 9.5% in 2010. He stressed that some of the reductions would come through natural staff turnover and that the bank would continue to hire in some of its faster growing markets. Gulliver was speaking as the bank reported better than expected first-half pre-tax profits of $11.5bn, up 3%, with the fastest growth coming from Asia and Latin America. Shares in HSBC rose nearly 3% to 611.9p in the minutes after the figures were published at 9.15am . Some $2.1bn of profits were made in Europe but the majority is now generated in Hong Kong – some $3bn – and the rest of Asia Pacific – $3.7bn – where profits are up 32%. The troubled North American business managed a 5% increase in profits to $606m, the smallest generator of profit, with the Middle East bring in $747m and Latin America $1.1bn. Gulliver, who had announced in May after a day-long investor meeting that he had concluded that retail business in 39 out of 61 countries was “subscale”, said: “I am pleased with these results, which mark a first step in the right direction on what will be a long journey.” In total the bank has operations in 87 countries and Gulliver wants to strip out layers of management built up under previous regimes and focus on commercial and investment banking rather than retail operations in some countries. The bank is concerned about the impact of potential regulatory changes in the UK that could be made through the independent banking commission, chaired by Sir John Vickers, as well as global changes proposed by international banking regulators in Basel. Douglas Flint, chairman, said: “The pace and quantum of regulatory reform continues to increase at the same time as the global economy appears to be losing momentum in its recovery. We are concerned about the possible pro-cyclical impacts of further deleveraging of the global economy arising from the regulatory reform agenda, at the same time as sovereign credit concerns and fiscal consolidation challenges become more critical.” The loan impairment and other credit risk provisions were down 30% on the same period last year, reaching $5.3bn. A provision of $65m was made against HSBC’s holdings of Greek bonds but it has taken no fresh hits against its Irish or Portuguese debt. Gulliver said he felt confident the eurozone would hold together and hoped that the current US debt package would be approved by US politicians to “restore some confidence” in the markets. The second interim dividend for 2011 is US$0.09 per ordinary share – the equivalent of $1.6bn. HSBC Banking Job losses Jill Treanor guardian.co.uk
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