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Cuttings and links to other online information.
UK part of modern day slave trade, say police
Britain has become a major cog of a modern day slave trade which is out of control.
...four out of five prostitutes in London come from outside Britain - the product of what police call the 21st century slave trade. (ABC, 26 Apr 2006)
Urban activist Jacobs dead at 89
The social activist and renowned urban development critic Jane Jacobs died on Tuesday aged 89, her publisher says. (BBC, 26 Apr 2006)
Ukraine remembers Chernobyl blast
Ukraine is holding a series of events to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the world's worst nuclear disaster at the Chernobyl power plant. (BBC, 26 Apr 2006)
Kathmandu's citizens take to the streets to mark 'victory of the people'
The citizens of Kathmandu yesterday celebrated forcing their king to recall parliament but issued a warning to democratic leaders not to squander their hard-won gains. (Telegraph, 26 Apr 2006)
The public purse won't benefit from gambling: only bookies will
We are forever being told by our boastful Chancellor that we are in the midst of an economic miracle, with soaring growth and rampant prosperity. The other day, quite by chance, I found a statistic that seems to support his argument, though in the most profoundly depressing way.
It is that, five years ago, the total spent on gambling in this country was £7 billion a year. It is now £40 billion. To my narrow mind, this is not merely the expansion of one particular business, but the token of a deeply disturbing social revolution. (Telegraph, 26 Apr 2006)
Lottery cash for Man Utd
Tens of thousands of pounds of lottery money is being used to provide fitness classes for the staff of Manchester United football club and to build a gym which can be used by Coronation Street soap stars. (Telegraph, 22 Apr 2006)
Choice can be too much to handle for some shoppers
The bewildering array of choice in supermarkets and stores is driving away customers, according to a survey. (Telegraph, 22 Apr 2006)
Vanunu hit by further ban on leaving Israel
The nuclear whistleblower and peace activist Mordechai Vanunu has been told that the ban stopping him leaving Israel has been extended for another year and that he is still viewed by the authorities "as a security risk to the state". (Guardian, 21 Apr 2006)
Throw open the books so that we can see what everyone earns
Trust and social glue are corroded by pay secrecy and the greed-is-good culture. Transparency would change all that. (Guardian, 21 Apr 2006)
Nigeria to settle Paris Club debt
Nigeria will pay off its multi- billion dollar Paris Club debt on Friday, becoming the first African nation to settle with its official lenders. (BBC, 21 Apr 2006)
US admits to 558 prisoners
The US Government has released the most extensive list yet of the detainees who have been held at the Guantanamo Bay prison. (Times, 21 Apr 2006)
Charities fight bid for greater state control of lottery funds
Legislation that could give ministers greater control over the distribution of lottery funding will return to Parliament next week in what promises to be a decisive showdown between the Government and the charity sector. (Times, 21 Apr 2006)
US reveals names of Guantánamo detainees
The US government has released its first official list of detainees at the Guantánamo Bay prison camp. List of prisoners (Guardian, 20 Apr 2006)
Indian judges 'no longer lords'
Judges in India will no longer have to be addressed in court as "my lord" or "my lordship" - terms dating back to the days of British rule over India. (BBC, 19 Apr 2006)
UN report 'finds fewer refugees'
A new UN report is expected to show that the number of refugees in the world is dropping.
..."Human Displacement in the New Millennium" is also likely to show that refugees have a more difficult time. (BBC, 19 Apr 2006)
Mexico slams Georgia migrant law
The Mexican government has condemned a tough new immigration law passed in the US state of Georgia on Monday. (BBC, 19 Apr 2006)
DChernobyl's real death toll 90,000, says Greenpeace
The environmental group Greenpeace yesterday plunged itself into the controversy over the Chernobyl nuclear accident 20 years ago, claiming the death toll from the incident is more than ten times higher than previous estimates. (Scotsman, 19 Apr 2006)
Bhopal hunger strikers win clean-up fight
Survivors of the Bhopal disaster called off a week-long hunger strike last night after India's prime minister promised to clean up the disused chemical factory, provide fresh drinking water for local people and build a £13m memorial to the dead. (Guardian, 18 Apr 2006)
Poorest suffer most from violent crime
The poor and the unemployed are twice as likely to become victims of violent crime and nearly three times more likely to suffer emotional damage as a result of being attacked, according to research published today.
(Guardian, 18 Apr 2006)
Officer who challenged Met chief may lose job
A high profile Scotland Yard officer who has repeatedly clashed with his bosses over the killing of Jean Charles de Menezes faces being ousted from his job, the Guardian has learned.
Brian Paddick gave evidence to the official inquiry into the shooting of the Brazilian at Stockwell tube station last July, that challenged claims by his boss, the Metropolitan police commissioner Sir Ian Blair, and is also facing an allegation that he leaked information about the killing to a BBC journalist. (Guardian, 18 Apr 2006)
Easter Rising parades take place
Republicans across Northern Ireland have held a series of commemorations to mark the 90th anniversary of the 1916 Easter Rising. (BBC, 16 Apr 2006)
More 'considering voting for BNP'
Anger with the main parties has led more people to consider voting for the British National Party, a report for a social policy research group says. (BBC, 16 Apr 2006)
Massive fraud hits tsunami aid
This was supposed to be the scene of the world’s greatest aid effort, but endemic corruption has drained it of millions of pounds while leaving tens of thousands of tsunami victims stranded in tents. (Times, 16 Apr 2006)
Wasteful Britain's global gluttony
TOday, Britain starts to live off the rest of the world.
It is the day when we begin living beyond our environmental means and are forced to turn to imported resources. (Sunday Mail, 16 Apr 2006)
Is David Cameron serious about equality?
The causes of poverty identified by the Tories are not invalid, argues Louise Bamfield, but they describe a partial view of a much wider problem. (Guardian, 13 Apr 2006)
British jobless numbers at highest for 2½ years
Unemployment in Britain continued the inexorable rise of the past year during March, with another sharp monthly increase driving the jobless rate to its highest for 2½ years.
...Almost 3,000 people in the City have received bonuses of more than £1 million each in recent weeks, according to Brewin Dolphin, the broker. (Times, 13 Apr 2006)
Anti-terror laws are an affront to justice, says High Court
The Government’s anti-terror laws were dealt a devastating blow yesterday when the High Court said that they were an “affront to justice” and breached human rights laws. (Times, 13 Apr 2006)
Stowaways 'faced death' on ship
A group of suspected illegal immigrants who had been in a container for nearly three weeks were "saved from death" by sharp-eared dock workers. (BBC, 13 Apr 2006)
Ministers engulfed in exports bribes scandal
John Howard is expected to become the first Australian Prime Minister to appear before an independent inquiry in 23 years when he gives evidence tomorrow to a panel investigating how the Australian Wheat Board funnelled hundreds of millions of dollars in kickbacks to Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi regime. (Times, 12 Apr 2006)
It's the don't do-it-yourself generation
Twenty-somethings are afraid to learn manual skills - or is it that they can't be bothered? (Telegraph, 12 Apr 2006)
Making history fit the multicultural script
A government pamphlet about the upcoming bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire, published last month, interprets history in a way that serves government concerns.
On 25 March, the government published the pamphlet Reflecting on the past and looking to the future: the 2007 bicentenary of the abolition of the slave trade in the British Empire. (IRR News, 12 Apr 2006)
One in 10 soldiers is recruited overseas
Ten per cent of soldiers in the Army are foreign nationals, new Government figures show. The number of overseas recruits has risen dramatically in recent years as the Armed Forces struggle to overcome a shortage of home-grown applicants. (Telegraph, 12 Apr 2006)
'Stolen' treasures better off in the West, says African curator
Antiquities "looted" during the colonial era are better off in western collections than being returned to Africa, according to a Kenyan curator overseeing an exhibition of artefacts loaned to Nairobi by the British Museum.
..."When you see all this in here, it looks fantastic, but it leaves a sour taste in the mouth," said Gikonyo Muchiri, 28, a graphic designer from Nairobi, who was touring the exhibition yesterday. (Telegraph, 12 Apr 2006)
Latinos march in 21st-century civil rights movement
A sea of protesters waving the Stars and Stripes flooded 70 cities across the US yesterday in the biggest mass mobilisation of minority rights marchers since the civil rights movement of the 1960s. (Times, 11 Apr 2006)
Social model under spotlight
It's a governmental version of a monumental essay crisis — an attempt to backtrack on the Decent Homes standard which, to voters, probably looks like a feeble excuse of “the dog ate my homework” variety. (Times, 11 Apr 2006)
Chirac abandons youth job law after weeks of rioting
President Jacques Chirac has surrendered to the power of street protest by abandoning a new youth job law after weeks of rioting and protests that dented France's international reputation. (Telegraph, 11 Apr 2006)
Watching TV turns children on to junk foods
Children's consumption of junk food is linked directly to their television viewing habits, a study suggests. (Times, 10 Apr 2006)
For a real exhibition of modernism, skip the V&A and go to Manchester
The human misery of crumbling estates is the malign legacy of these aesthetic authoritarians and their machine fetish. (Guardian, 7 Apr 2006)
Prison system 'will reach capacity by summer'
Prisons are on the verge of an overcrowding crisis with nearly 20,000 more inmates than when Labour took office, campaigners said yesterday.
The number of prisoners in the 140 jails in England and Wales is above 77,000 and approaching the point at which the system will officially be full. Last autumn the population peaked at 77,774, only 373 short of capacity. When Labour came to power in May 1997 it was 60,131. (Telegraph, 4 Apr 2006)
Prison system 'will reach capacity by summer'
Prisons are on the verge of an overcrowding crisis with nearly 20,000 more inmates than when Labour took office, campaigners said yesterday.
The number of prisoners in the 140 jails in England and Wales is above 77,000 and approaching the point at which the system will officially be full. Last autumn the population peaked at 77,774, only 373 short of capacity. When Labour came to power in May 1997 it was 60,131. (Telegraph, 4 Apr 2006)
I misled public over £2m loan, admits Sainsbury
Lord Sainsbury, the science minister, admitted last night that he wrongly claimed to have informed the top civil servant in his department that he made a £2 million loan to the Labour Party. (Telegraph, 1 Apr 2006)
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