Welcome to the Guardian’s choice of Britain’s top 50 medal hopes. Our aim is to provide a snapshot of Team GB’s contenders across all 26 sports and rank them on their likelihood of winning gold Paddy Allen Owen Gibson Anna Kessel William Fotheringham Andy Bull Kevin Mitchell Jonny Weeks
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Three also missing after heavy rains swept through the capital Seoul and northern town of Chuncheon At least 17 people have been killed and three are missing after heavy rain triggered landslides through the South Korean capital Seoul and a northern town on Wednesday. Eight of the 12 killed in the early morning landslide in Chuncheon, about 68 miles (110km) north-east of Seoul, were college students who had been doing volunteer work, said Byun In-soo from the town’s fire station. They were staying in a resort cabin when the mud and debris engulfed them. In Seoul, five people were killed in a landslide, according to a police official in the Bangbae area. The dead have not yet been identified. One child was also missing. South Korea has been pummelled with strong rain this week. About 15 inches (nearly 400mm) of rain fell in Seoul in just 17 hours starting Tuesday afternoon. More than 10 inches fell on Chuncheon in the past two days. Weather officials say another 10 inches could fall on Friday in northern area of South Korea, parts of which are already flooded from the rains. South Korea Flooding Natural disasters and extreme weather guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …John Boehner’s debt ceiling plan has had a lousy day: In the latest setback, the Congressional Budget Office says it doesn’t cut as much as Boehner thought—the CBO puts the figure at $850 million over a decade, instead of the $1.2 trillion promised by the House speaker, reports…
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Advertising watchdog upholds complaints by Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson that images overly airbrushed L’Oréal has been forced to pull ad campaigns featuring Pretty Woman star Julia Roberts and supermodel Christy Turlington, after the advertising watchdog upheld complaints by Liberal Democrat MP Jo Swinson that the images were overly airbrushed. Swinson, who has waged a long-running campaign against “overly perfected and unrealistic images” of women in adverts, lodged complaints with the Advertising Standards Authority about the magazine campaigns for L’Oréal-owned brands Lancôme and Maybelline. The ASA ruled that both ads breached the advertising standards code for exaggeration and being misleading and banned them from future publication. L’Oréal’s two-page ad featuring Roberts, who is the face of Lancôme, promoted a foundation called Teint Miracle, which it claims creates a “natural light” that emanates from beautiful skin. It was shot by renowned fashion photographer Mario Testino. The ad for Maybelline featured Turlington promoting a foundation called The Eraser, which is claimed to be an “anti-ageing” product. In the ad, parts of Turlington’s face are shown covered by the foundation while other parts are not, in order to show the effects of the product. Swinson complained that images of both celebrities had been digitally manipulated and were “not representative of the results the product could achieve”. L’Oréal UK admitted that Turlington’s image had been “digitally retouched to lighten the skin, clean up makeup, reduce dark shadows and shading around the eyes, smooth the lips and darken the eyebrows”. However, it claimed there were still signs of ageing, such as crow’s feet, and that the image “accurately illustrated” the achieveable results. The company, which provided the ASA with pictures of both women “on the red carpet” to show that they were naturally beautiful, admitted that digital post-production techniques had been used on Roberts but maintained that the changes were not “directly relevant” and that the ad was an “aspirational picture”. Swinson said it was “shocking” that the ASA was not allowed to see the pre-production pictures of Roberts due to contractual agreements with the actor. “It shows just how ridiculous things have become when there is such fear over an unairbrushed photo that even the advertising regulator isn’t permitted to see it,” she added. In the case of both the Roberts and Turlington ads the ASA said it was not provided with enough information to evaluate what impact the digital enhancements had on the final image. “On the basis of the evidence we had received we could not conclude that the ad image accurately illustrated what effect the product could achieve, and that the image had not been exaggerated by digital post-production techniques,” the ASA said. “Pictures of flawless skin and super-slim bodies are all around, but they don’t reflect reality,” said Swinson. “Excessive airbrushing and digital manipulation techniques have become the norm, but both Christy Turlington and Julia Roberts are naturally beautiful women who don’t need retouching to look great. This ban sends a powerful message to advertisers – let’s get back to reality.” • To contact the MediaGuardian news desk email editor@mediaguardian.co.uk or phone 020 3353 3857. For all other inquiries please call the main Guardian switchboard on 020 3353 2000. If you are writing a comment for publication, please mark clearly “for publication”. • To get the latest media news to your desktop or mobile, follow MediaGuardian on Twitter and Facebook Advertising Advertising Standards Authority Julia Roberts Models Mark Sweney guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Illinois Congressman Luis Gutierrez is making a habit of this: For the second time in two years, the Democrat got arrested outside the White House in an immigration protest, reports the Hill . Gutierrez has criticized the Obama administration for allowing too many deportations and for not pushing hard enough for…
Continue reading …Mary Elizabeth Williams has heard about enough from the holier-than-thou folks carping about Amy Winehouse coverage. You’ve heard it all: Winehouse got what she deserved, I told you so, or why waste time on her when people are dying in Norway, Africa, fill in the blank. “God forbid a young…
Continue reading …The summer blockbuster: proof that, when it comes to movies, budget is often inversely proportional to quality. In Time , Everett Rosenfeld and Gilbert Cruz reflect on the worst of the worst: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen : Director Michael Bay’s only priority: explosions. Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace : “This…
Continue reading …Probation officers spend 75% of time not dealing with offenders, report finds
July 26, 2011 No Comment
Justice select committee report reveals much of their time taken up by computer work and red tape Probation officers spend three-quarters of their time on work that does not involve them in direct contact with offenders, according to a report by the Commons justice select committee. The MPs say they accept that probation officers have to do a certain amount of work that does not involve dealing directly with offenders but are “staggered” to find it can be as much as 75%. “No one would suggest that it would be acceptable for teachers (who also have to do preparatory work and maintain paperwork) to spend three-quarters of their time not teaching,” say the MPs. “The value which really effective probation officers can add comes primarily from their direct contact with offenders.” The report says the rest of the probation officer’s time is split between computer activity, drafting correspondence and reports, meetings and dealing with other red tape. The MPs took evidence from one chief probation officer who said it was true that a routine offender in the middle of their order might be seen for only 10 minutes but a serious violent offender who was coming out of prison would mean several hours a week contact time. The MPs say that a “tick-box culture” imposed by the advent of the national offender management service [Noms], which took over prison and probation a decade ago, is part of the root cause of this growth in bureaucracy. The justice select committee in their report on the role of the probation service also calls for the government’s “payment by results” plans to open up probation to competition to be looked at again. The MPs argue that while there is a lot of scope for new organisations to provide probation services there is a danger that payment by results will overlook the rights of victims and offenders’ obligations towards them. The committee’s report is highly critical about the impact of Noms on the probation service, which it describes as a prison service takeover. The MPs want to see an external review of the future of Noms, saying its creation has not led to a joined-up treatment of offenders and it has not proved itself proficient at handling national contracts such as for bail accommodation and facilities management. Harry Fletcher of Napo, the probation union, said: “The report confirms that Noms has been a major problem from the start. Napo warned in 2004 that Noms would be a bureaucratic nightmare. It is scandalous that probation staff now spend 75% of their time on form-filling and responding to centrally driven emails. Even Daniel Sonnex, who brutally murdered two French students three years ago was seen for just 20 minutes a week. “The last 10 years has witnessed a massive rise in the constant government monitoring of probation staff to the detriment of face-to-face contact with offenders. This does not enhance public protection but undermines it. This flawed historical trend must be reversed,” he said. Prisons and probation UK criminal justice Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Probation officers spend 75% of time not dealing with offenders, report finds
July 26, 2011 No Comment
Justice select committee report reveals much of their time taken up by computer work and red tape Probation officers spend three-quarters of their time on work that does not involve them in direct contact with offenders, according to a report by the Commons justice select committee. The MPs say they accept that probation officers have to do a certain amount of work that does not involve dealing directly with offenders but are “staggered” to find it can be as much as 75%. “No one would suggest that it would be acceptable for teachers (who also have to do preparatory work and maintain paperwork) to spend three-quarters of their time not teaching,” say the MPs. “The value which really effective probation officers can add comes primarily from their direct contact with offenders.” The report says the rest of the probation officer’s time is split between computer activity, drafting correspondence and reports, meetings and dealing with other red tape. The MPs took evidence from one chief probation officer who said it was true that a routine offender in the middle of their order might be seen for only 10 minutes but a serious violent offender who was coming out of prison would mean several hours a week contact time. The MPs say that a “tick-box culture” imposed by the advent of the national offender management service [Noms], which took over prison and probation a decade ago, is part of the root cause of this growth in bureaucracy. The justice select committee in their report on the role of the probation service also calls for the government’s “payment by results” plans to open up probation to competition to be looked at again. The MPs argue that while there is a lot of scope for new organisations to provide probation services there is a danger that payment by results will overlook the rights of victims and offenders’ obligations towards them. The committee’s report is highly critical about the impact of Noms on the probation service, which it describes as a prison service takeover. The MPs want to see an external review of the future of Noms, saying its creation has not led to a joined-up treatment of offenders and it has not proved itself proficient at handling national contracts such as for bail accommodation and facilities management. Harry Fletcher of Napo, the probation union, said: “The report confirms that Noms has been a major problem from the start. Napo warned in 2004 that Noms would be a bureaucratic nightmare. It is scandalous that probation staff now spend 75% of their time on form-filling and responding to centrally driven emails. Even Daniel Sonnex, who brutally murdered two French students three years ago was seen for just 20 minutes a week. “The last 10 years has witnessed a massive rise in the constant government monitoring of probation staff to the detriment of face-to-face contact with offenders. This does not enhance public protection but undermines it. This flawed historical trend must be reversed,” he said. Prisons and probation UK criminal justice Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Probation officers spend 75% of time not dealing with offenders, report finds
July 26, 2011 No CommentJustice select committee report reveals much of their time taken up by computer work and red tape Probation officers spend three-quarters of their time on work that does not involve them in direct contact with offenders, according to a report by the Commons justice select committee. The MPs say they accept that probation officers have to do a certain amount of work that does not involve dealing directly with offenders but are “staggered” to find it can be as much as 75%. “No one would suggest that it would be acceptable for teachers (who also have to do preparatory work and maintain paperwork) to spend three-quarters of their time not teaching,” say the MPs. “The value which really effective probation officers can add comes primarily from their direct contact with offenders.” The report says the rest of the probation officer’s time is split between computer activity, drafting correspondence and reports, meetings and dealing with other red tape. The MPs took evidence from one chief probation officer who said it was true that a routine offender in the middle of their order might be seen for only 10 minutes but a serious violent offender who was coming out of prison would mean several hours a week contact time. The MPs say that a “tick-box culture” imposed by the advent of the national offender management service [Noms], which took over prison and probation a decade ago, is part of the root cause of this growth in bureaucracy. The justice select committee in their report on the role of the probation service also calls for the government’s “payment by results” plans to open up probation to competition to be looked at again. The MPs argue that while there is a lot of scope for new organisations to provide probation services there is a danger that payment by results will overlook the rights of victims and offenders’ obligations towards them. The committee’s report is highly critical about the impact of Noms on the probation service, which it describes as a prison service takeover. The MPs want to see an external review of the future of Noms, saying its creation has not led to a joined-up treatment of offenders and it has not proved itself proficient at handling national contracts such as for bail accommodation and facilities management. Harry Fletcher of Napo, the probation union, said: “The report confirms that Noms has been a major problem from the start. Napo warned in 2004 that Noms would be a bureaucratic nightmare. It is scandalous that probation staff now spend 75% of their time on form-filling and responding to centrally driven emails. Even Daniel Sonnex, who brutally murdered two French students three years ago was seen for just 20 minutes a week. “The last 10 years has witnessed a massive rise in the constant government monitoring of probation staff to the detriment of face-to-face contact with offenders. This does not enhance public protection but undermines it. This flawed historical trend must be reversed,” he said. Prisons and probation UK criminal justice Alan Travis guardian.co.uk
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