|
|
|
Cuttings and links to other online information.
Pakistan 'the West's main ally'
The president of Pakistan has warned the West would be "brought to its knees" without his country's co-operation in the war against terror.
President Pervez Musharraf said in a BBC Radio 4 interview that Pakistan was the West's "main ally".
...He also claims the US and Britain had a historic debt to pay as Pakistan had helped "win the Cold War" for the West. (BBC, 30 Sep 2006)
ANC 'power grab' after poll defeat
South Africa's ruling party has been accused of "failing the key test of a democracy" by trying to reverse its first major election defeat. (Telegraph, 30 Sep 2006)
Citizenship lessons prompt debate
What did you think of the London secondary school pupils who greeted Tony Blair's visit to their school with boos and anti-war chants recently? (BBC, 29 Sep 2006)
What school citizenship involves
One in four secondary schools in England is failing to offer pupils adequate lessons in citizenship, the education watchdog Ofsted has warned. (BBC, 28 Sep 2006)
Sweet success for 'oldest brand'
Lyle's Golden Syrup has been named as Britain's oldest brand, with its green and gold packaging having remained almost unchanged since 1885. (BBC, 28 Sep 2006)
Constitution the key to future expansion
Romania and Bulgaria will join the EU on January 1 next year, the same day the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, becomes president of the union. (Guardian, 27 Sep 2006)
Home improvement plan is unaffordable, says Kelly
Labour today rejected a call for a "level playing field" for improving council housing stock as the communities and local government secretary insisted the proposals were unaffordable. (Guardian, 27 Sep 2006)
Congo's child miners start school
Children in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo have begun attending school this week instead of sifting for minerals in a vast open-cast mine. (BBC, 27 Sep 2006)
Bumpy road to Amazon sustainability
It was one of the more bizarre contradictions you could think of: an organisation dedicated to saving the rainforest carrying to hospital someone who had just been trying to burn it. (BBC, 27 Sep 2006)
Europeans
urged to eat less fish
The conservation group WWF is calling on European consumers to think twice
before they eat fish. (BBC, 27 Sep 2006)
Britons are biggest
debtors in Europe
Britons are responsible for a third of all unsecured debt in Western Europe,
with each of us owing an average of £3,000, according to a new report.
(Telegraph, 27 Sep 2006)
Soldiers beat me, taking bets on when I would collapse, says
Iraqi
An Iraqi civilian thought he was going to die as he was beaten "continuously
and repeatedly" by British troops, a court martial was told yesterday.
Ahmad Taha Musa Al-Matairi, a suspected insurgent, said
that soldiers from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment laughed and joked as they
kicked and punched him at a military camp in Iraq in September 2003.
(Telegraph, 27 Sep 2006)
Laywer:
officer at GuantĂ¡namo threatened me
A British lawyer who represents detainees at GuantĂ¡namo Bay yesterday
claimed he was threatened with internment at the notorious camp by a US
military officer.
Clive Stafford-Smith told the Guardian that the US
military claimed he had incited inmates to commit suicide and go on hunger
strike. (Guardian, 27 Sep 2006)
'Triad' revenge attack
outside nightclub
A leading nightclub could be closed after two revellers were gunned down
outside in a suspected Triad revenge attack.
The victims - both south-east Asian men - were sprayed
with bullets as they emerged from the Fridge in the early hours of
yesterday. (South London Press, 26 Sep 2006)
DJobs lost
as Scottish scampi sent on round trip to China
A Scottish seafood company has cut 70 jobs after revealing plans to ship its
scampi 5,000 miles to China for processing before bringing it back again to
sell. (Scotsman, 25 Sep 2006)
Europeans
urged to eat less fish
The conservation group WWF is calling on European consumers to think twice
before they eat fish. (BBC, 27 Sep 2006)
Britons are biggest
debtors in Europe
Britons are responsible for a third of all unsecured debt in Western Europe,
with each of us owing an average of3,000, according to a new report.
(Telegraph, 27 Sep 2006)
Soldiers beat me, taking bets on when I would collapse, says
Iraqi
An Iraqi civilian thought he was going to die as he was beaten "continuously
and repeatedly" by British troops, a court martial was told yesterday.
Ahmad Taha Musa Al-Matairi, a suspected insurgent, said
that soldiers from the Queen's Lancashire Regiment laughed and joked as they
kicked and punched him at a military camp in Iraq in September 2003.
(Telegraph, 27 Sep 2006)
Laywer:
officer at Guantánamo threatened me
A British lawyer who represents detainees at Guantánamo Bay yesterday
claimed he was threatened with internment at the notorious camp by a US
military officer.
Clive Stafford-Smith told the Guardian that the US
military claimed he had incited inmates to commit suicide and go on hunger
strike. (Guardian, 27 Sep 2006)
'Triad' revenge attack
outside nightclub
A leading nightclub could be closed after two revellers were gunned down
outside in a suspected Triad revenge attack.
The victims - both south-east Asian men - were sprayed
with bullets as they emerged from the Fridge in the early hours of
yesterday. (South London Press, 26 Sep 2006)
DJobs lost
as Scottish scampi sent on round trip to China
A Scottish seafood company has cut 70 jobs after revealing plans to ship its
scampi 5,000 miles to China for processing before bringing it back again to
sell. (Scotsman, 25 Sep 2006)
Final return to Congo
In the so-called "scramble" by European powers for the mineral wealth, the rubber and ivory and the territories of Africa at the end of the 19th Century, Italy didn't come out terribly well. (BBC, 23 Sep 2006)
Expel racism
From next year, trainee teachers will need to know and demonstrate awareness in racial diversity before acquiring Qualified Teacher Status (QTS).
The move, which will become compulsory in Autumn 2007, comes as a report commissioned by London Mayor Ken Livingstone revealed that BME teachers often face discrimination from their colleagues. (Voice, 23 Sep 2006)
400,000 children are given 'good behaviour' drug
Zac Goldsmith, one of David Cameron's key policy advisers, yesterday backed the Hold on to Childhood coverage in The Daily Telegraph and said he was worried at the ease with which doctors prescribed pills to tackle children's emotional upsets.
...The Ecologist article, written by Rachel Ragg, a former Leeds University lecturer and mother of two, points out that almost 400,000 children were last year prescribed Ritalin, a drug almost unknown in Britain in the early 1990s. (Telegraph, 23 Sep 2006)
Local bookshops go online to fight the giants
Independent booksellers at the mercy of giants such as Amazon and Waterstone's are fighting back, with a website that could allow traditional local bookshops to rival the internet giants and large chains. (Telegraph, 23 Sep 2006)
Taxpayers face £500 increase to fund £1 trillion public sector pensions bill
Gold-plated pensions for public sector workers have created a colossal black hole of more than £1 trillion in Britain's finances, experts have warned. (Mail, 23 Sep 2006)
Aborigines win right to go hunting in Perth
The prospect of Aborigines hunting and fishing in the middle of one of Australia's biggest cities was raised yesterday after a historic land rights victory. (Telegraph, 21 Sep 2006)
Government accused of fiddling figures to hide scale of NHS debt
The Government was accused of fiddling its finances yesterday after admitting that the ballooning debts of the National Health Service will be left off Gordon Brown's balance sheet. (Telegraph, 21 Sep 2006)
Go-ahead school speaks in 71 tongues
A college in South London can lay claim to be Europe’s most cosmopolitan school: its pupils speak 71 languages.
Students who have fled war-zones, cannot speak English and have not been to school before attend Southfields Community College in Wandsworth. Of the college’s 1,300 pupils, 550 are bilingual. About 400 come from the Caribbean. (Times, 21 Sep 2006)
Russia accuses Shell of damaging Sakhalin forests
Shell was threatened with prosecution for alleged destruction of forestry yesterday as its conflict with the Russian Government over the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project intensified. (Times, 21 Sep 2006)
Dying as Darfur awaits peacekeepers
A return to the bombing campaigns has left thousands more displaced
Tawilla town is completely empty. Its dust roads still and quiet.
Repeated attacks from pro-government Janjaweed militia have forced the residents to leave. (BBC, 21 Sep 2006)
Soldier 'bragged about kicking Iraqi to death'
A soldier who denies the war crime of inhuman treatment bragged about kicking a man to death, the court martial trying him and six others over the abuse of Iraqi detainees was told yesterday.
L/Cpl Wayne Crowcroft, 22, was one of two men deployed to guard suspected insurgents detained in Basra by British occupying forces in September 2003. (Telegraph, 21 Sep 2006)
Royal Society tells Exxon: stop funding climate change denial
Britain's leading scientists have challenged the US oil company ExxonMobil to stop funding groups that attempt to undermine the scientific consensus on climate change. (Guardian, 20 Sep 2006)
Many missing in Bengal Bay storm
At least 63 people have died and hundreds are missing in India and Bangladesh after storms in the Bay of Bengal, officials say. (BBC, 20 Sep 2006)
UK public sector borrowing widens
UK public finances worsened in August, with borrowing at its highest level for August since 1993, Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures have shown. (BBC, 20 Sep 2006)
Everyone has a stake in childhood
With family breakdown now so sadly familiar in this country, the system of children in care has fallen into a state of crisis. That is why The Children's Society yesterday launched a national call for evidence for Britain's first independent inquiry into childhood. (Telegraph, 19 Sep 2006)
Wolfowitz Reined in by Ministers
Paul Wolfowitz, the controversial president of the World Bank, was forced into an embarrassing climbdown yesterday over his aggressive anti-corruption drive in the developing world, as the governments of rich nations insisted on overseeing it in detail.
...The controversy over Mr Wolfowitz's regime at the bank escalated last week when Hilary Benn, the British International Development Secretary, launched an unprecedented public attack on some of his policies. Mr Benn told the bank that Britain would withhold £50 million over what he said was Mr Wolfowitz's failure to move quickly enough over reforms to the conditions attached to World Bank loans.
...Privately, World Bank officials close to Mr Wolfowitz suggested that there was fury over Mr Benn's intervention, with some inside the bank regarding his criticisms of its president as "grandstanding" aimed at boosting the minister's political ambitions. (Times, 19 Sep 2006)
Met not guilty plea over Menezes
The Metropolitan police have pleaded not guilty to breaching health and safety laws over the death of Brazilian Jean Charles de Menezes in July 2005. (BBC, 19 Sep 2006)
Drugs arrest study sparks racism claim
Black people are more likely to face criminal charges when caught carrying cannabis than white people committing the same offence, according to a Scotland Yard study of new drugs laws.
(Guardian, 18 Sep 2006)
Campaigners urge 'massive shift' to transparency
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund need "a massive shift" in their attitude to internal disclosure so there can be an informed debate on their future roles, civil society organisations declared yesterday as they launched a "transparency charter" for international financial institutions (IFIs).
...The Bank Information Centre, which monitors the World Bank, said it performs very poorly tested against the charter. (Guardian, 18 Sep 2006)
Somali leader survives bomb blast
At least 11 people have died in an apparent bid to assassinate Somalia's interim president outside parliament in the town of Baidoa, say officials. (BBC, 18 Sep 2006)
My husband Mark is an arrogant womaniser and a mummy's boy
Sir Mark Thatcher, the disgraced son of the former prime minister, was yesterday accused of being an arrogant womaniser still tied to his mother's apron strings.
...In a newspaper interview, Lady Thatcher, 46, daughter of a Texan millionaire, described Sir Mark as someone with a short attention span who doesn't "think straight".
...Their marriage covered a turbulent two decades in which Sir Mark's business dealings were questioned in Parliament and investigated by the South African authorities. Last year, the old Harrovian left South Africa after admitting his involvement in a coup plot in Equatorial Guinea. (Telegraph, 18 Sep 2006)
Call for ban on celebrity junk food ads
The Children's Commissioner for England calls today for celebrities to be banned from endorsing and promoting junk food. (Telegraph, 18 Sep 2006)
Rwanda singer on genocide charges
One of Rwanda's most famous singers has gone on trial, accused of using his songs to incite violence during the 1994 genocide.
Simon Bikindi denies the charges and his lawyers say the charges violate his right to freedom of speech. (BBC, 18 Sep 2006)
So, you want them to be happy?
Childhood has always been a disputed territory, its true geography quickly forgotten as we grow older, replaced by an adult-imagined universe. But there appears to be a growing consensus that childhood today is in a peculiarly parlous state. (Guardian, 16 Sep 2006)
Spain delays migrant deportation
Spain has postponed the repatriation of about 100 illegal migrants to Senegal from the Canary Islands. (BBC, 14 Sep 2006)
Children’s Society Launches National Inquiry into Childhood
The Children's Society has responded to a call for public debate on the state of childhood in the UK by launching a new national inquiry into the issue. (Christian Today, 14 Sep 2006)
Falconer tones down his attack on Guantanamo Bay
Lord Falconer, the Lord Chancellor, tempered his planned criticism of the US detention camp at Guantanamo Bay as a "shocking affront" to democracy when he delivered a lecture in Australia yesterday. (Telegraph, 14 Sep 2006)
Cold-callers to get a frosty reception
Door-to-door salesmen could soon be banned from Merton streets. (South London Press, 14 Sep 2006)
Retirement debt crisis faces credit card pensioners
Almost half of adults are expecting to continue using credit cards when they retire, raising fears of a debt crisis among pensioners. (Telegraph, 14 Sep 2006)
Well-rewarded chief has revived mutual sector
Reports of the death of mutuality have long been exaggerated. Critics of the mutual model have prophesied its demise on numerous occasions, not least when Philip Williamson took the helm at Nationwide in January 2002. In the event, the UK's largest building society has led a renaissance in mutuality. (Times, 13 Sep 2006)
Ford cutting thousands of US jobs
Ford is cutting 14,000 white-collar jobs in North America as it tries to turn round its flagging business. (BBC, 15 Sep 2006)
Menezes police officer promoted
One of the senior officers in charge on the day Jean Charles de Menezes was shot dead by police is to be promoted. (BBC, 13 Sep 2006)
Aboriginal remains to stay in Britain
Britain's Natural History Museum is unlikely to return a collection of Aboriginal remains to their homeland in Tasmania. (Telegraph Australia, 12 Sep 2006)
Modern life leads to more depression among children
Sir - As professionals and academics from a range of backgrounds, we are deeply concerned at the escalating incidence of childhood depression and children’s behavioural and developmental conditions. We believe this is largely due to a lack of understanding, on the part of both politicians and the general public, of the realities and subtleties of child development. (Telegraph readers' letter, 12 Sep 2006)
Humans 'causing stronger storms'
Increases in hurricane intensity are down to humanity's greenhouse gas emissions, according to new analysis. (BBC, 11 Sep 2006)
More die from Ivory Coast waste
Six people have now died from the toxic waste dumped in the biggest Ivory Coast city, Abidjan, while 9,000 have sought treatment, the government says. (BBC, 11 Sep 2006)
Migrants prompt tourism fears
Nearly 19,000 migrants have arrived in the Canary Islands this year
The Canary Islands are at bursting point.
Not the beaches and hotels that cater for millions of tourists each year, but the police stations, courts and detention centres being used to house the boatloads of illegal immigrants risking the ocean crossing from west Africa. (BBC, 10 Sep 2006)
Benin's dark past of slavery
Few tourists reach Benin yet this West African nation has a remarkable story to tell about one of the most shameful episodes in history. (BBC, 7 Sep 2006)
Small islands' migration drama
Families visiting Tenerife's resort of Los Cristianos tuck into their paellas, steins of beer and piles of ice cream, mainly oblivious to the wretched boatload of African immigrants being escorted into the harbour by the Coastguard. (BBC, 7 Sep 2006)
Man's Fink steps aside
...Man more than tripled inflows in the first quarter as investors added money to its funds amid global market declines, the company said in July. Gross inflows came to $5.3bn in the fiscal first quarter ending June 30, compared with $1.6bn in the year-earlier period. (Telegraph, 7 Sep 2006) See also: The rise of Man Group
Christian defends right to hand out anti-gay leaflets
A prominent Christian campaigner yesterday denied that he had breached public order by handing out anti-homosexual leaflets at a gay festival..
Stephen Green, the national director of Christian Voice, was arrested at the Mardi Gras festival in Cardiff at the weekend after distributing hundreds of leaflets entitled "Same-sex love – Same-sex sex: What does the Bible say?" (Telegraph, 7 Sep 2006)
De Menezes inquest adjourned
The inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes will not be held until criminal proceedings against Scotland Yard are concluded, a coroner ruled.
...The Metropolitan Police is being prosecuted under health and safety laws over the fatal shooting of the innocent Brazilian by its anti-terror officers.
If the police plead not guilty and the matter is sent for a crown court trial next year, the inquest is unlikely to be held before 2008 at the earliest. (Guardian, 7 Sep 2006)
Britain 'more distrusting of Muslims'
The July 7 suicide bombings last year left Britons feeling substantially less comfortable about having a Muslim neighbour, boss or in-law, a survey has revealed.
While the majority of people questioned after the attacks recognised that Muslims suffer discrimination and prejudice, they also admitted that they had become more negative towards followers of the religion. (Telegraph, 7 Sep 2006)
Army Bans Some Interrogation Techniques
A new Army manual bans some prisoner interrogation techniques made infamous during the five-year-old war on terror, officials said Wednesday.
Delayed more than a year amid criticism of the Defense Department's treatment of prisoners, the new Army Field Manual was set to be released later Wednesday. (Guardian, 6 Sep 2006)
FT seeks to boost revenue with page of corporate small ads, as Telegraph confirms more job losses
The Financial Times is considering a daily page of paid-for announcements from smaller companies that would not otherwise see their releases in print. (Guardian, 5 Sep 2006)
Murdoch versus Evening Standard
London's long-awaited free newspaper battle is set to finally break out, with the launch of thelondonpaper.
Rupert Murdoch's News International is challenging the afternoon monopoly of the paid-for Evening Standard. (BBC, 4 Sep 2006)
In future, will all newspapers be free?
Free weekly newspapers have been around for years, but the launch of London's third free daily on Monday is further evidence that the public seems less inclined to pay for their news fix.
Sales of the Standard have been declining, and the advertising market has been depressed, with many companies switching money to the internet.
The reason can be summed up in one word - Metro, the free morning paper that has shown you can reach young people with a newspaper provided they don't have to pay for it. (BBC, 4 Sep 2006)
Older fathers in autism 'link'
Older fathers are far more likely to have autistic children, experts have warned. Children born to fathers aged 40 and over are around six times more likely to suffer from autism compared to those born to fathers under 30, they said. (Guardian, 4 Sep 2006)
Phillips to head giant equality commission
Trevor Phillips, Britain's outspoken race relations chief, is set to be handed a powerful new role as the country's first official champion of women, gay people and other groups who suffer discrimination. (Guardian, 3 Sep 2006)
One 'problem family' costs £250,000 a year
Problem families whose members commit crime, live on benefits and have poor health cost the state £250,000 a year each, research for the Prime Minister's Strategy Unit has found. (Guardian, 3 Sep 2006)
Under 12s in your car must have safety seats
About two million car seats and booster cushions will have to be bought by parents to meet new child safety rules and to avoid fines up to £500. (Telegraph, 2 Sep 2006)
Tax havens 'put Britain high on list of corrupt countries'
Britain is high on a list of the world's most corrupt countries, along with the United States and Switzerland, because of the refuge it offers to dirty money in tax havens such as the Channel Isles and the Isle of Man, researchers said yesterday. (Telegraph, 2 Sep 2006)
DMayor attacks CRE chief
Ken Livingstone yesterday launched an attack on Britain's race equality chief. The mayor of London said Trevor Phillips had become so right-wing he would "soon be joining the BNP". (Scotsman, 1 Sep 2006)
Molly tells why she fled Scotland
Molly Campbell, the 12-year-old girl who flew to Pakistan behind the back of her Scottish mother, claimed today that her mother had forced her to lose contact with her father, sister and brothers. (Times, 1 Sep 2006)
Name and shame - is it the right approach
I work in Southwark and don't entirely understand the point of your article ("We name Asbo yobs"). (South London Press readers' letters, 1 Sep 2006)
Labour's housing dream 'in tatters'
Housing bosses have been criticised in a confidential letter seen by the South London Press. (South London Press, 1 Sep 2006)
'Abducted' girl says she wanted to leave Scotland
A 12-year-old girl taken to Pakistan by her father without her mother's knowledge has spoken out for the first time, insisting that she went of her own free will.
Molly Campbell disappeared from her home in the Western Isles on Friday amid fears that she had been abducted. (Telegraph, 1 Sep 2006)
Ghanaian gay conference banned
Ghana's government has banned a conference for gay men and lesbians due to take place there later this month. (BBC, 1 Sep 2006)
|
|
|
2006
2005
2004
2003
2002
2001
|