Safety and ‘sense of security’ the top priority, government says, as country faces power shortages at hottest time of year Japan’s idle nuclear reactors will not be allowed to restart unless it is proven they can survive giant tsunamis and other extreme events, the country’s government has said. But with no timetable decided for two rounds of “stress tests” and electricity demand soon to reach its summer peak, concern is growing that Japan may experience power shortages at the hottest time of year. The first round of tests will focus on reactors that have completed routine safety checks and would have already restarted had the accident at Fukushima Daiichi power plant not plunged Japan’s nuclear industry into crisis. The tests will examine the reactors’ ability to withstand natural onslaughts of far greater force than previously factored into safety checks. They will, for example, examine their ability to withstand an unusually severe event similar to the magnitude-9 earthquake and 15m tsunami that knocked out back-up generators at Fukushima Daiichi, leading to core meltdowns in three reactors. In the second stage, all of Japan’s nuclear power facilities will undergo a general safety assessment. Only 19 of the country’s 54 nuclear reactors are in operation due to delays in restarting those that have undergone maintenance checks or were shut down after the 11 March tsunami. In addition, reactors that are operating could be forced to close immediately if they fail the first round of tests, the government has said in a statement. As it attempts to calm public fears over safety, the government must contemplate a worst-case scenario in which every last nuclear reactor will be idle by next April as more come offline for regular inspections. That would seriously compromise the country’s ability to produce enough electricity and could result in power shortages lasting into the summer of 2012. Major users of electricity have already been told they must cut peak power use by 15% from this month to avoid blackouts this summer. Nuclear provided about 30% of Japan’s energy before the crisis. Plans to increase supply to more than 50% by 2030 were ditched after the prime minister, Naoto Kan, ordered a review of energy policy and promised a much bigger post-Fukushima role for renewables. “Safety and a sense of security are the top priority,” said Yukio Edano, the chief cabinet secretary. “One the other hand the government must fulfil its responsibility to provide a stable supply of electricity … we will make every effort to secure that in the medium and long term.” Edano could not say when the first round of tests would begin, only that they would happen “soon” and be overseen by Japan’s nuclear safety commission, which is considered more independent of the government than the nuclear safety agency. Last week’s surprise decision to conduct stress tests has caused confusion among the public and angered industry officials who want idle reactors restarted as soon as possible. In June government officials, citing reviews by the nuclear safety agency, said reactors that had been shut down for regular checks were safe to restart. At the time the economy minister, Banri Kaieda, said: “There is no problem regarding safety concerning the continued operation and restart of nuclear power stations.” On Friday Kan apologised for dithering over the tests, which will be modelled on those being conducted on reactors in European Union member states. “My instructions were inadequate and came too late,” he said. “I take responsibility for that.” Officials in Fukushima prefecture said they had detected high levels of radioactive caesium in straw fed to cattle at a farm in Minamisoma, a town near the Fukushima Daiichi power plant. Tests were carried out on feed and water samples from the farm after caesium at levels three to six times higher than the provisional legal limit of 500 becquerels per kilogram were found in 11 cows, according to the Tokyo metropolitan government. The cows had been shipped to a meat packing plant in Tokyo and slaughtered but their meat did not go on sale, Kyodo news agency said. Japan disaster Nuclear power Japan Energy Justin McCurry guardian.co.uk
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• Southern Cross to be broken up • 500 homes could still be sold on • Uncertainty continues for residents Stricken care home chain Southern Cross is being broken up after attempts to rescue the company floundered. Britain’s largest operator of care homes told the City that its 750 homes are being taken over by its landlords, a move which brings more uncertainty for some of its residents. The decision also means that shareholders in the company will be wiped out. Under this plan, 250 of Southern Cross’s homes will be transferred to landlords who are either care operators already or who have “strong links” to firms who provide such services. The owners of the remaining 500 homes, though, are still “finalising their plans”, which could involve homes being sold. “My objective, and that of my team, is to continue to provide excellent care to every resident and to manage the programme of transition professionally,” said chief executive Jamie Buchan. Southern Cross had hoped to hammer out a deal with its landlords that would have allowed the company to keep operating but admitted on Monday that all landlords had said they would leave the group – as predicted last month . Southern Cross itself will therefore cease to be a care provider once the handover has been completed. “As part of the plan, in addition to ensuring continuity of care to residents, all payments to trade creditors are to be maintained and all home-based staff transferred on their current terms,” the group said. Southern Cross’s future has been hanging in the balance since March, when it warned that its rental bill was unsustainable . The crisis escalated when the company, which has been hit by cutbacks by local authorities and rising operating costs, cut rent payments to its landlords by 30%. Controversially, Southern Cross had followed a policy of buying homes, then selling them on to landlords and leasing them back again. Trading in Southern Cross shares have been suspended. They had already fallen to just 6.25p, having been worth £6 in late 2007. Southern Cross Healthcare Healthcare industry Long-term care Social care Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …• Southern Cross to be broken up • 500 homes could still be sold on • Uncertainty continues for residents Stricken care home chain Southern Cross is being broken up after attempts to rescue the company floundered. Britain’s largest operator of care homes told the City that its 750 homes are being taken over by its landlords, a move which brings more uncertainty for some of its residents. The decision also means that shareholders in the company will be wiped out. Under this plan, 250 of Southern Cross’s homes will be transferred to landlords who are either care operators already or who have “strong links” to firms who provide such services. The owners of the remaining 500 homes, though, are still “finalising their plans”, which could involve homes being sold. “My objective, and that of my team, is to continue to provide excellent care to every resident and to manage the programme of transition professionally,” said chief executive Jamie Buchan. Southern Cross had hoped to hammer out a deal with its landlords that would have allowed the company to keep operating but admitted on Monday that all landlords had said they would leave the group – as predicted last month . Southern Cross itself will therefore cease to be a care provider once the handover has been completed. “As part of the plan, in addition to ensuring continuity of care to residents, all payments to trade creditors are to be maintained and all home-based staff transferred on their current terms,” the group said. Southern Cross’s future has been hanging in the balance since March, when it warned that its rental bill was unsustainable . The crisis escalated when the company, which has been hit by cutbacks by local authorities and rising operating costs, cut rent payments to its landlords by 30%. Controversially, Southern Cross had followed a policy of buying homes, then selling them on to landlords and leasing them back again. Trading in Southern Cross shares have been suspended. They had already fallen to just 6.25p, having been worth £6 in late 2007. Southern Cross Healthcare Healthcare industry Long-term care Social care Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …• Southern Cross to be broken up • 500 homes could still be sold on • Uncertainty continues for residents Stricken care home chain Southern Cross is being broken up after attempts to rescue the company floundered. Britain’s largest operator of care homes told the City that its 750 homes are being taken over by its landlords, a move which brings more uncertainty for some of its residents. The decision also means that shareholders in the company will be wiped out. Under this plan, 250 of Southern Cross’s homes will be transferred to landlords who are either care operators already or who have “strong links” to firms who provide such services. The owners of the remaining 500 homes, though, are still “finalising their plans”, which could involve homes being sold. “My objective, and that of my team, is to continue to provide excellent care to every resident and to manage the programme of transition professionally,” said chief executive Jamie Buchan. Southern Cross had hoped to hammer out a deal with its landlords that would have allowed the company to keep operating but admitted on Monday that all landlords had said they would leave the group – as predicted last month . Southern Cross itself will therefore cease to be a care provider once the handover has been completed. “As part of the plan, in addition to ensuring continuity of care to residents, all payments to trade creditors are to be maintained and all home-based staff transferred on their current terms,” the group said. Southern Cross’s future has been hanging in the balance since March, when it warned that its rental bill was unsustainable . The crisis escalated when the company, which has been hit by cutbacks by local authorities and rising operating costs, cut rent payments to its landlords by 30%. Controversially, Southern Cross had followed a policy of buying homes, then selling them on to landlords and leasing them back again. Trading in Southern Cross shares have been suspended. They had already fallen to just 6.25p, having been worth £6 in late 2007. Southern Cross Healthcare Healthcare industry Long-term care Social care Graeme Wearden guardian.co.uk
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Shares in TV network crash as culture secretary asks regulators whether News Corp remains ‘fit and proper’ owner The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is writing to Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading seeking advice over News Corporation’s bid for BSkyB in the light of phone-hacking revelations and the closure of the News of the World. The news came as BSkyB shares crashed to £7 in early trading, down 6.7% and back to the level of the original News Corp bid. Hunt will ask Ofcom and the OFT, which have been advising him on the bid, whether the spate of revelations that led last week to the closure of the News of the World meant they would take a different view on the deal – and if so, whether they believed the Competition Commission should examine it. Hunt would ask them to look at three aspects, the BBC said , most notably whether News Corporation’s guarantees made in January about the TV network’s independence and future could be trusted in view of the new phone-hacking developments. Additionally, Hunt will ask Ofcom, the media regulator, if the company remains a “fit and proper” owner of BSkyB and whether the closure of the News of the World means the media plurality landscape needs re-examination. The move could be a huge blow to Rupert Murdoch’s empire, suggesting that even the shock closure of the newspaper at the centre of the hacking scandal has not been sufficient to safeguard the BSkyB deal. The bid also looks in potential jeopardy from a Labour House of Commons motion on Wednesday calling for it to be delayed. The motion looks set to receive strong Liberal Democrat support. The Lib Dem party president, the Cumbria MP Tim Farron, told BBC Radio 4 this seemed very likely. “If a legally worded motion comes to the House opposing a further Murdoch takeover of BSkyB I can’t see how Liberal Democrats would vote against that. It is no secret that Liberal Democrats have always opposed the lack of plurality in our media market, and in particular have felt that Rupert Murdoch’s influence on British politics through the media has been nefarious. We’ve thought that for decades.” In yet more bad news for News Corporation’s newspaper arm, News International, police are reportedly seeking to interview its chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, a former News of the World editor. Brooks, whose continued tenure as CEO has prompted widespread criticism, will be interviewed as a potential witness rather than a suspect. Les Hinton, Murdoch’s lifelong lieutenant and closest adviser, also faces questions over whether he saw a 2007 internal News International report that found evidence of phone hacking was more widespread than admitted by the company before he testified to a parliamentary committee that the practice was limited to a single rogue reporter. Last week’s dramatic events were sparked by a Guardian report that News of the World journalists hacked into the mobile phone messages of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler after she disappeared – even deleting some messages, making her family believe she was alive. On Monday the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, is meeting Milly’s mother and sister at an event organised by the Media Standards Trust. BSkyB BSkyB News Corporation Phone hacking Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Media business Les Hinton Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Shares in TV network crash as culture secretary asks regulators whether News Corp remains ‘fit and proper’ owner The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is writing to Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading seeking advice over News Corporation’s bid for BSkyB in the light of phone-hacking revelations and the closure of the News of the World. The news came as BSkyB shares crashed to £7 in early trading, down 6.7% and back to the level of the original News Corp bid. Hunt will ask Ofcom and the OFT, which have been advising him on the bid, whether the spate of revelations that led last week to the closure of the News of the World meant they would take a different view on the deal – and if so, whether they believed the Competition Commission should examine it. Hunt would ask them to look at three aspects, the BBC said , most notably whether News Corporation’s guarantees made in January about the TV network’s independence and future could be trusted in view of the new phone-hacking developments. Additionally, Hunt will ask Ofcom, the media regulator, if the company remains a “fit and proper” owner of BSkyB and whether the closure of the News of the World means the media plurality landscape needs re-examination. The move could be a huge blow to Rupert Murdoch’s empire, suggesting that even the shock closure of the newspaper at the centre of the hacking scandal has not been sufficient to safeguard the BSkyB deal. The bid also looks in potential jeopardy from a Labour House of Commons motion on Wednesday calling for it to be delayed. The motion looks set to receive strong Liberal Democrat support. The Lib Dem party president, the Cumbria MP Tim Farron, told BBC Radio 4 this seemed very likely. “If a legally worded motion comes to the House opposing a further Murdoch takeover of BSkyB I can’t see how Liberal Democrats would vote against that. It is no secret that Liberal Democrats have always opposed the lack of plurality in our media market, and in particular have felt that Rupert Murdoch’s influence on British politics through the media has been nefarious. We’ve thought that for decades.” In yet more bad news for News Corporation’s newspaper arm, News International, police are reportedly seeking to interview its chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, a former News of the World editor. Brooks, whose continued tenure as CEO has prompted widespread criticism, will be interviewed as a potential witness rather than a suspect. Les Hinton, Murdoch’s lifelong lieutenant and closest adviser, also faces questions over whether he saw a 2007 internal News International report that found evidence of phone hacking was more widespread than admitted by the company before he testified to a parliamentary committee that the practice was limited to a single rogue reporter. Last week’s dramatic events were sparked by a Guardian report that News of the World journalists hacked into the mobile phone messages of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler after she disappeared – even deleting some messages, making her family believe she was alive. On Monday the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, is meeting Milly’s mother and sister at an event organised by the Media Standards Trust. BSkyB BSkyB News Corporation Phone hacking Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Media business Les Hinton Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Shares in TV network crash as culture secretary asks regulators whether News Corp remains ‘fit and proper’ owner The culture secretary, Jeremy Hunt, is writing to Ofcom and the Office of Fair Trading seeking advice over News Corporation’s bid for BSkyB in the light of phone-hacking revelations and the closure of the News of the World. The news came as BSkyB shares crashed to £7 in early trading, down 6.7% and back to the level of the original News Corp bid. Hunt will ask Ofcom and the OFT, which have been advising him on the bid, whether the spate of revelations that led last week to the closure of the News of the World meant they would take a different view on the deal – and if so, whether they believed the Competition Commission should examine it. Hunt would ask them to look at three aspects, the BBC said , most notably whether News Corporation’s guarantees made in January about the TV network’s independence and future could be trusted in view of the new phone-hacking developments. Additionally, Hunt will ask Ofcom, the media regulator, if the company remains a “fit and proper” owner of BSkyB and whether the closure of the News of the World means the media plurality landscape needs re-examination. The move could be a huge blow to Rupert Murdoch’s empire, suggesting that even the shock closure of the newspaper at the centre of the hacking scandal has not been sufficient to safeguard the BSkyB deal. The bid also looks in potential jeopardy from a Labour House of Commons motion on Wednesday calling for it to be delayed. The motion looks set to receive strong Liberal Democrat support. The Lib Dem party president, the Cumbria MP Tim Farron, told BBC Radio 4 this seemed very likely. “If a legally worded motion comes to the House opposing a further Murdoch takeover of BSkyB I can’t see how Liberal Democrats would vote against that. It is no secret that Liberal Democrats have always opposed the lack of plurality in our media market, and in particular have felt that Rupert Murdoch’s influence on British politics through the media has been nefarious. We’ve thought that for decades.” In yet more bad news for News Corporation’s newspaper arm, News International, police are reportedly seeking to interview its chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, a former News of the World editor. Brooks, whose continued tenure as CEO has prompted widespread criticism, will be interviewed as a potential witness rather than a suspect. Les Hinton, Murdoch’s lifelong lieutenant and closest adviser, also faces questions over whether he saw a 2007 internal News International report that found evidence of phone hacking was more widespread than admitted by the company before he testified to a parliamentary committee that the practice was limited to a single rogue reporter. Last week’s dramatic events were sparked by a Guardian report that News of the World journalists hacked into the mobile phone messages of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler after she disappeared – even deleting some messages, making her family believe she was alive. On Monday the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, is meeting Milly’s mother and sister at an event organised by the Media Standards Trust. BSkyB BSkyB News Corporation Phone hacking Newspapers & magazines National newspapers Newspapers Media business Les Hinton Peter Walker guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Intensity of blast at Evangelos Florakis navy base caused damage to nearby town but it remains unclear what triggered it A massive explosion has ripped through a military base in southern Cyprus with at least eight people reported dead, according to the official news agency. Information was scant from the scene of the blast at the Evangelos Florakis navy base. “There are a number of dead which we cannot confirm yet,” a spokesperson for the ministry of defence said. It was unclear what triggered the explosion, which news reports said took place in a munitions dump. The military base had munitions in storage which Cyprus had confiscated from the Monchegorsk, a vessel sailing from Iran to Syria in 2009. The intensity of the blast caused extensive damage to a neighbouring community, and in a holiday resort 3km from the site windows and doors of beachside restaurants were blown out. “The place looks like it was hit by a massive bomb,” a Reuters witness said. Further details soon. Cyprus Europe guardian.co.uk
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Rescuers believe there are still more bodies in the wreckage of passenger train that derailed on Sunday afternoon Rescue workers have pulled more bodies from the mangled wreckage of a passenger train that derailed in northern India, as the death toll climbed to 60. Many more bodies were believed trapped under the twisted coaches, and soldiers were using gas cutters to slice through the metal, said Colonel Amarjit Dhillon, a senior army official in charge of rescue operations. The cause of Sunday afternoon’s derailment near the town of Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh state was not immediately known, but newspaper reports said the driver of the Kalka Mail slammed on the train’s emergency brakes to avoid hitting cattle that had encroached onto the tracks. Railway authorities were investigating the cause of the accident, according to HC Joshi, a senior railway official. Volunteers and soldiers worked through the night to pull many of the more than 100 injured from the train’s 12 shattered coaches. Officials said the train was carrying about 1,000 passengers, but the exact number was not known. At least one coach flew above the roof of another and was balancing precariously while another coach was thrown away from the rest of the train. Dhillon said railway workers had hooked the coach to two cranes and were attempting to pull it clear. “It’s a difficult operation. Two cranes are being used to pull up the coach,” Dhillon said. Meanwhile, hundreds of miles to the north-east, police said a militant group was suspected of triggering a bomb that led to the derailment of a second train, also on Sunday. GP Singh, the police inspector-general, said little known group the Adivasi Peoples’ Army, was suspected to have triggered off the bomb. More than 50 passengers were injured when the train derailed, and the condition of four of them was critical, police said. India Rail transport guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Ask someone which American company they most loathe, and chances are they’ll struggle to pick just one: The Atlantic rounds up the “19 Most Hated Companies in America” based on the American Customer Satisfaction Index. Airlines, telecoms, and power companies make frequent appearances. Some of the worst offenders: Pepco (No….
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