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All planned out Five years ago, 62 pioneering local authorities signed what was called the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change, committing themselves to reducing energy and addressing what the prime minister called "the greatest threat facing humanity". But within three years the scheme had stalled, and had to be relaunched by a disappointed Michael Meacher, then the environment minister. (Guardian, 31 Aug 2005) New Orleans: Nature's revenge? For generations, many who live and work in the Big Easy have feared the worst. New Orleans lies in a wide, shallow bowl on delicate marshlands well below sea level, with the Mississippi River running through it. (BBC, 31 Aug 2005) Asians targeted by bomb hoaxer Graeme Maynard, 39, an alcoholic living near Rochdale, was jailed for 30 months yesterday by Bolton Crown Court for planting a hoax bomb outside an Asian restaurant in response to the July 7 attacks. (Times, 31 Aug 2005) Clarke's £1m tobacco pay may be his smoking gun Kenneth Clarke, the former Chancellor and a front runner to become the next Tory leader, has made £1 million from his role as an ambassador for the international cigarettes trade. (Times, 30 Aug 2005) 10p tax on plastic bags is rubbished by researchers The prospect of Scotland following Ireland and introducing a 10p tax on plastic carrier bags receded yesterday when an official report concluded that it would bring only limited environmental benefits. (Times, 30 Aug 2005) US poverty rate continues to rise The number of people classed as poor in the US has increased - despite strong economic growth, say official figures. (BBC, 30 Aug 2005) Government 'wastes' African aid The government has been accused of wasting hundreds of thousands of pounds of African aid in Malawi. (BBC, 28 Aug 2005) BBC TV channels to be put on net The BBC's TV channels will be made available on the internet, BBC Director General Mark Thompson has confirmed. (BBC, 27 Aug 2005) Army joins parade for Gay Pride The Army have joined a gay pride parade for the first time on Saturday, as soldiers march with lesbians and gay men at Manchester's Pride Festival. (BBC, 27 Aug 2005) Fans may stump up £15k for rooms with a view With tickets to the final game of the Ashes series at the Oval sold out, cricket fans are being offered the chance to watch the match from a flat overlooking the ground - at a cost of £15,000. Four two-bedroom penthouses, each with access to a roof terrace described by estate agents as "the size of half a tennis court", are available to let in the newly developed Oval Mansions building. (Guardian, 26 Aug 2005) Deforestation of Amazon 'halved' Brazil's government has announced estimates suggesting that deforestation of the Amazon rainforest has fallen by 50% this year. (BBC, 26 Aug 2005) Paris fire prompts housing pledge France has vowed to improve housing for society's most vulnerable members, after 14 children and three adults died in a blaze in Paris. (BBC, 26 Aug 2005) Don't shrug off low pay The government is too scared to admit that it is partly responsible for Gate Gourmet-style injustices. (Guardian, 26 Aug 2005) Clarke to defy UN and press on with cleric deportations Minister's new list of 'unacceptable behaviour' is now in force and he is ready to arrest preachers of hate who defy it. (Times, 25 Aug 2005) How a cultural revolution came to Camden Town Following a bitter two-year strike at the Camden Journal, Eric Gordon launched the Camden New Journal in 1982. (Press Gazette, 25 Aug 2005) Plastic bag ban by Indian state The government of the western Indian state of Maharashtra yesterday banned the manufacture, sale and use of all plastic bags, saying they choked drainage systems during last month's monsoon rains. (Guardian, 25 Aug 2005) Britain powers up for a renewable energy boom Years ago, it was seen by many as the preserve of the hippy, the environmental activist prepared to practise what they preach rather than merely talk the talk. (Times, 25 Aug 2005) Red Army's 'ghosts' of Afghanistan ...Until 1981, Nasratullah was a soldier in the Red Army called Nikolai. (BBC, 24 Aug 2005) Traveller hurt in 'racist attack' An Irish traveller suffered a broken arm after being beaten up by a gang in what Cheshire Police have described as a racist attack. (BBC, 24 Aug 2005) Inequality widens under Blair Tony Blair's claims to have extended "social justice" were undermined last night by official figures showing the gap between rich and poor has widened by £90 a week since Labour came to power. (Telegraph, 24 Aug 2005) Basic accounts 'fail poorest' Basic bank accounts are failing to meet the needs of around half the country's poorest, according to the National Consumer Council (NCC). (BBC, 23 Aug 2005) EU helps fire-stricken Portugal Several European countries have responded to Portugal's request for help in fighting wildfires raging across the country. (BBC, 22 Aug 2005) Camp life in Zimbabwe exposed Thousands of Zimbabweans made homeless by the government's slum clearance are living in "desperate" conditions, according to a clandestine video smuggled out and released by Amnesty International. (Guardian, 22 Aug 2005) Climate change: imagine a charging rhino In what was old Rhodesia, a steam train used to go daily between Salisbury and Bulawayo along a single track through rhino territory. (Guardian, 22 Aug 2005) The wealth of the west was built on Africa's exploitation Britain was the principal slaving nation of the modern world. In The Empire Pays Back, a documentary broadcast by Channel 4 on Monday, Robert Beckford called on the British to take stock of this past. (Guardian, 20 Aug 2005) Menezes reports 'needed clarity' Police should have clarified misleading reports about the shooting of Jean Charles de Menezes, a member of the Metropolitan Police Authority has said. (BBC, 20 Aug 2005) Call to end state's link with church A leading Labour thinktank has called for the Church of England's preferential status to end and for its bishops to the lose the right to sit in the House of Lords. (Guardian, 19 Aug 2005) Free-market buccaneers The bitter truth is that it's over. The Gate Gourmet workers are summarily sacked and there is nothing much they or their union can do about it. British Airways is back in the skies, with Gate Gourmet now providing meals assembled by a new workforce hired through the temp agency Blue Arrow. (Guardian, 19 Aug 2005) DTebbit says attacks could have been prevented The terror attacks on London could have been prevented if warnings about immigrant communities from Norman Tebbit had been heeded, the former Conservative chairman has claimed. (Scotsman, 19 Aug 2005) ! Timeline: the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes Leaked documents from the official inquiry have shed new light on how Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by plain clothes officers at Stockwell Tube station in South London. (Times, 17 Aug 2005) Shot Brazilian 'did not jump barrier and run' The Brazilian electrician shot dead by police on the London Underground last month was being restrained when he was killed by officers from Scotland Yard's firearms unit, according to documents leaked last night. (Telegraph, 17 Aug 2005) 'We forced them to leave but they can still seal us off and strangle us economically' ...Wedged between the Israeli settlement of Kfar Darom (population 200) and the Palestinian town of Dir al-Balah (population 200,000), the benefits of Israel's withdrawal from its settlements are clear to Bashir Bashir. (Guardian, 16 Aug 2005) Telly tales Dr Robert Beckford seeks the real truth in The Empire Pays Back. (Voice, 16 Aug 2005) Amnesty for Aceh rebels as peace deal ends 29-year insurgency Separatists in the Indonesian province of Aceh yesterday ended their 29-year insurgency when they signed a peace deal with the Jakarta government. (Guardian, 16 Aug 2005) Ethnic minorities to form majority by 2050 The United States census bureau has predicted that ethnic minority communities will make up more than half of America's national population by 2050. The bureau also reported that Texas has become the fourth US state in which minority groups, taken together, account for a majority of the population. This was mainly driven by a rising number of Hispanics. (Guardian, 13 Aug 2005) Qatada to be deported 'next week' Radical cleric Abu Qatada is expected to be deported to Jordan next week, the Jordanian interior minister has said. He is one of 10 foreign nationals, said to be a threat to UK security, arrested on Thursday pending deportation. (BBC, 12 Aug 2005) Warming hits 'tipping point' A vast expanse of western Sibera is undergoing an unprecedented thaw that could dramatically increase the rate of global warming, climate scientists warn today. (Guardian, 11 Aug 2005) I don't drive; why should I care about oil prices? With crude oil prices at a 22-year high, motorists are paying out up to £1 a litre at the pumps. Will this hike hit those who don't own a car - or drive for a living? (BBC, 10 Aug 2005) The age of treason 'Treason doth never prosper: what's the reason? For if it prosper, none dare call it treason." John Harington's early-17th-century epigram still hits the spot. (Guardian, 10 Aug 2005) The new chauvinism Out of the bombings a national consensus has emerged: what we need in Britain is a renewed sense of patriotism. (Guardian, 9 Aug 2005) Mali's nomads face famine After two weeks reporting the crisis both in Niger and then Mali, it was here in Timbuktu, in the far north of the affected region, that I first heard the word famine. (BBC, 9 Aug 2005) Blair to curb human rights in war on terror Tony Blair served notice yesterday that he was ready to renounce parts of the European convention on human rights if British and European judges continued to block the deportation of Islamic extremists in the wake of the London bombings. (Telegraph, 6 Aug 2005) Developers see London's eastern promise East London, where towering skyscrapers stand alongside some of the UK's most deprived areas, is to be transformed over the next two decades. Here the BBC News website takes a look at some of the plans in store. (BBC, 5 Aug 2005) Forest fires raging in Portugal Thousands of firefighters and soldiers were today battling more than two dozen wildfires raging out of control in Portugal. (Times, 5 Aug 2005) Army battling decline in black recruits The Iraq war is drying up at least part of a pool of recruits the Army has relied upon for decades: black Americans. (Duluth Morning News, 5 Aug 2005) UK helped Israel get nuclear bomb Britain secretly sold Israel a key ingredient for its nuclear programme in 1958, according to official documents obtained by BBC News. (BBC, 4 Aug 2005) Multicultural Britain is not working, says Tory chief Muslims must start integrating into mainstream British society, says David Davis, the shadow home secretary and front-runner to take over the Conservative leadership. (Telegraph, 3 Aug 2005) ! Why cultural tolerance cuts both ways A month ago, four terrorists travelled to London. They aimed to cause death and destruction, to change our way of life, and to set Muslim and non-Muslim against one other. Britain's response has been superb. The public has shown that however many people the terrorists kill, and however much carnage they cause, they will not be allowed to win. ...Britain has pursued a policy of multiculturalism - allowing people of different cultures to settle without expecting them to integrate into society. Often the authorities have seemed more concerned with encouraging distinctive identities than with promoting common values of nationhood. (Telegraph, 3 Aug 2005) ! Millions suffer in Indian monsoon Indian authorities say the lives of more than 20 million people have been disrupted by the heavy monsoon rains in Mumbai (Bombay) and surrounding areas. (BBC, 1 Aug 2005) |
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updated:
19 Sep
2005