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- Radiation levels rise as Japan hit by fresh blast
- Libyan rebels urge west to assassinate Gaddafi
- Tory human rights pullout thwarted
- Labour call to scrap fuel VAT rise
- California politicians want gun right
- Universities may face fees penalty
- Buffett buys chemical firm for $10bn
- Sudan division talks break down
- Sweden bombing: student remanded
- Bank of America emails released
- Indian navy holds 61 pirates
- Asha Bhosle: The voice of Bollywood
- Midsomer producer suspended
- 'Oliver Twist' workhouse saved
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- BBC U-turn over Asian Network
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- Satoshi Kitamura: a life in pictures
| Radiation levels rise as Japan hit by fresh blast Posted: 14 Mar 2011 06:59 PM PDT • New explosion at nuclear plant, fears of leak Associated Press is reporting on the increasing anxiety among people living close to the Fukushima plant. Residents in tsunami-hit Soma - 50 kilometers away from the facility, so well outside the exclusion zone - appear to be rapidly losing faith in the government's assurances that they are safe (although, see below, experts seem to agree that the risk is very low).
I've just spoken to Professor David Hinde, head of the department of nuclear physics at the Australian National University, who has offered some very valuable context. He said it was the worst nuclear accident since Chernobyl in 1986, but stressed that it was on a far smaller scale. Radiation levels at the Fukushima plant are a fraction of those seen after that disaster. He pointed out that we are still waiting for readings for areas away from the plant itself and said added that the maximum radiation level seen so far was "very, very serious" for workers on site, who would only be able to remain there for the briefest periods. But the risk to those outside the exclusion zone was very small, particularly when seen in the context of their situation as a whole.
Radiation levels in Tokyo are "not a problem at all", Reuters reports the city's government as saying. Here is a summary of the latest events from Japan: • Japan's prime minister says radiation levels are significantly higher around the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The risk of radioactive leaks was rising at the plant, Kan said in a televised statement. • Nuclear plant operator Tepco reported an explosion at the plant's No 4 reactor, followed by a fire. Tepco called on Japanese and US military to put out the blaze, which may have affected spent nuclear fuel stored in the reactor. • The Japanese government has imposed a no fly zone over the 30km radius from the Fukushima plant site. Most staff have been told to leave the site as radiation levels soared to dangerously high levels around the plant. • Residents have been evacuated from a 20km radius of the Fukushima plant, while those within a 30km radius of the plant have been told to stay indoors and seal doors and windows. • Low-level radioactive wind from the damaged reactors could reach Tokyo later this evening, based on current winds, while scenes of panic in the capital have been reported after minute amount of radiation were detected in Tokyo. • The death toll is expected to exceed 10,000 from the quake and tsunami, according to public broadcaster NHK. About 2,000 bodies were found on the shores of Miyagi prefecture, Kyodo news agency reported. • Japan's central bank injected trillions of yen to prop up the country's economy, while the stock market plunged by more than 12% in trading – the worst day since Black Monday 1987 – as fears over the damaged nuclear reactors grew. Here's a rundown of the state of the reactors at the Fukushima Daiichi (number one) plant: • Reactor 1: Earlier Hydrogen explosion has blown off the top of the reactor building • Reactor 2: Containment vessel possibly damaged in explosion, coolant pumps damaged by earlier explosions and valves closed, fuel rods exposed and may be leaking radioactive water from suppression pool • Reactor 3: Earlier Hydrogen explosion, cloud of steam still rising, top half of reactor's building blown off • Reactor 4: Fire broke out late Monday, probably caused by nearby explosions, now put out, spent nuclear fuel may have been exposed, destroying the reactor's housing. The fire may be the cause of the high levels of radiation at the site Reuters reports of panic in Tokyo, where long queues at railway stations have been seen as residents attempt to leave the city:
Here's a no fly zone, although it's not the no fly zone anyone was expecting. A no fly zone over Fukushima and a 30km radius around it is being imposed, according to the Japanese government. That is not a good sign at all. Finally some good news, of a sort. Tepco says that its Fukushima Daini nuclear plant and its four reactors have all been successfully closed down. After the earthquake and tsunami the number 2 plant had cooling problems but they seem to have been solved. Here's the latest wrap-up on Fukushima from the Kyodo news agency:
My colleague Matt Seaton hears a detail from the BBC's World Service. The cumulative effects of the earthquake, tsunami and especially the potential nuclear disaster are weighing heavily on the Japanese economy, as would be expected. The Nikkei stock exchange in Tokyo has plunged by more than 12% today, well below the 9,000 level, while trading on the Topix exchange was suspended. The central bank is said to have injected $61bn in liquidity into the financial markets to ensure lending can continue in the worst areas during morning trading, followed by another $35bn later in the day (at least I think that's right). So far the Nikkei index has lost nearly 20% since the start of the week. Kyodo reports: "Small amounts of radioactive substances detected in Tokyo". It was from a Tokyo University monitoring post about five hours ago, some half an hour after the explosion in Fukushima. The amounts are still tiny and pose no hazard. Other monitoring posts in central Tokyo detected no changes in background radiation. It's being reported on Twitter that Sky News, ITN, BBC and CNN are all moving reporters and camera crews away from the Fukushima plant, so don't expect to see many pictures. The New York Times has a very pessimistic lead on its website right now, suggesting that a Chernobyl-style disaster is on the horizon – "Japan Faces Potential Nuclear Disaster as Radiation Levels Rise" is the headline:
It's an excellent piece of reporting and well worth reading:
@peterdaou tweets: We can pretend climate change is a hoax, that BP's spill vanished into thin air, but Japan's nuclear disaster is a blistering wake-up call. This has now been confirmed by Japan's nuclear safety agency which says that the fire at the No 4 reactor of the nuclear plant has been extinguished. Kyodo: "Fire at no 4 reactor apparently put out" - TEPCO From TimeOutTokyo, here is a list of the towns which need evacuating:
To help put that all in context, here is the latest take from AP.
Further information for residents from the expert on NHK. An expert on NHK is now offering some explanation: "There is a lot of variation in the levels around the different reactors but the highest reading is at a level to harm human health. "We should stress these are the levels mentioned at the facility itself. The highest reading around one of the reactors is 400 milisieverts - the expert says miliSieverts are 1000 times greater than microSieverts. "A very grave situation is happening," he says. "Even 100 milisieverts would be enough to cause infertility in exposed males; at 500 or more the lymphocytes in the blood will decrease. Clearly the 50 workers who remain will have protective gear. But without it, with that level of exposure, your health could be harmed in a very short time," he says. The readings taken at 10.20 showed a level of 100 miliSieverts around the unit 4 reactor and 400 around unit 3. More from the question and answer session with Edano: The number 2 reactor is not as stable as number 1 and 3 but the water injection is working "to a certain level" he says. They believe the increases in radiation readings are due to the unit 4 fire, not the problems at unit 2. A bit more on the fire at unit 4: he says that spent fuel will not catch fire, but that they need to extinguish the fire because rising temperatures could cause the release of radioactive material. Asked about people living further away, he says a "minimal amount" of radioactive material could spread to far areas. But he said that would not be at levels that could harm human health. The press conference has ended now. To clarify, the advice to stay indoors is for those within a 30km radius. As of 10.20am (Japanese time), they have taken readings which indicate levels of radiation that could impact human health. Edano has asked them to "embrace the information calmly".
He says beyond the 20km radius the level should be reduced to one where harm to human health would be minimal or non-existent. But he says that spread will of course depend on wind speeds and direction. He asks people to remain indoors so they are not exposed to any radiation that may come their way. He says he has received a report there is a "very high probability" some portion of the container vessel at the number 2 reactor was damaged. He is now responding to questions. Yukio Edano, the government's chief spokesman, is now on. He's saying there's a fire in the number four unit. There are no fuel rods in there but it still contains spent fuel rods. (The unit was under renovation at the time of the quake and tsunami). He says there seems to have been a hydrogen explosion (as at units 1 and 3) in that unit too. There were not previously thought to be problems with unit 4. The translation is slightly confusing, but the gist seems to be they believe there is a leak of radioactive material from unit 4. More from Edano: The blast from Unit 2 followed the Unit 4 problems. There appears to be a release of steam from number two. This could be hydrogen he says. They are continuing to inject water at units 1 to 3 Prime minister Naoto Kan has begun his address to the nation by asking people to listen to his message calmly. According to the translation by broadcaster NHK he warned: "Radiation has spread from these reactors and 'the reading of the level seems high'. There's still a very high risk of further radioactive material coming out." He has asked anyone remaining in the 20km evacuation zone around the number 1 plant and the 10km zone around the number 2 plant to leave. Hundreds of thousands have already been evacuated. He a said workers were "putting themselves in a very dangerous situation" to try to contain the problems. He again requested people to remain calm. The Associated Press now has the latest on the death toll, which has risen to 2,414.
You can read the Guardian's latest news piece on the situation here. The nuclear situation in Japan is developing rapidly and we will bring you updates as they come through. A third explosion in four days has hit a struggling nuclear plant in Japan's stricken north east this morning. The plant's operators said its reading had climbed to 8,217 microsieverts per hour – described by broadcaster NHK as equivalent to eight times the radiation a person would usually experience in a year. It later dropped sharply, the broadcaster said. The peak was still far below the level which would cause immediate damage to health. Here is a summary of some of the key developments over the last 24 hours in Japan: • A third explosion in four days rocked a crippled nuclear power plant in northeastern Japan on Tuesday morning as authorities struggled to avert a catastrophic release of radiation. The latest explosion at the Fukushima Dai-ichi happened in the plant's Unit 2 near a suppression pool, which removes heat under a reactor vessel, according to the plant owner, Tokyo Electric Power Co. A government minister said it was "highly likely" that the fuel rods inside the reactor might melt. Radiation levels near the site have risen. • Tens of thousands are still unaccounted for as the official deathtoll reached 2,800, while bodies continue to be washed ashore four days after the tsunami triggered by the earthquake. Almost two million households remain without power in the north of Japan, where snow is forecast later this week, while around 1.4 million households have no running water. Those with power are being affected by rolling blackouts as electricity shortages force reductions in service in some areas. • The International Atomic Energy Agency says the Fukushima crisis is unlikely to become another Chernobyl. Authorities have set up a 20km (12 mile) exclusion zone around the Fukushima Daiichi plant. Meanwhile, the US agreed to Japan's formal request for supplies and equipment to tackle the crisis. • Japanese stocks took a hammering when the Tokyo Stock Exchange opened on Tuesday and saw its benchmark Nikkei 225 decline to its lowest point since early October 2008. Efforts to limit the financial devastation wreaked by the earthquake, tsunami and nuclear power crisis continued with Japan's central bank planning to inject $85bn billion into the economy to help the banking system to function as many businesses remain closed. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Libyan rebels urge west to assassinate Gaddafi Posted: 14 Mar 2011 01:07 PM PDT Appeal to be made as G8 foreign ministers consider whether to back French and British calls for a no-fly zone over Libya Libya's revolutionary leadership is pressing western powers to assassinate Muammar Gaddafi and launch military strikes against his forces to protect rebel-held cities from the threat of bloody assault. Mustafa Gheriani, spokesman for the revolutionary national council in its stronghold of Benghazi, said the appeal was to be made by a delegation meeting the French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, and the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, in Paris on Monday, as G8 foreign ministers gathered there to consider whether to back French and British calls for a no-fly zone over Libya. "We are telling the west we want a no-fly zone, we want tactical strikes against those tanks and rockets that are being used against us and we want a strike against Gaddafi's compound," said Gheriani. "This is the message from our delegation in Europe." Asked if that meant that the revolutionary council wanted the west to assassinate Gaddafi, Gheriani replied: "Why not? If he dies, nobody will shed a tear." But with diplomatic wrangling focused on the issue of the no-fly zone, there appeared to be little immediate prospect of a foreign military assault on Gaddafi's forces, let alone an air strike against the Libyan dictator. The Libyan revolutionary leadership made the appeal as Gaddafi's airforce bombed Ajdarbia, a town of 135,000 people that is the last major obstacle for his forces before Benghazi, the seat of the revolutionary council. Those attacks strengthened the hand of France and Britain in pressing for intervention. Paris said it wants to see a no-fly zone "as fast as possible". The move is backed by the Arab League, which may ease the way to agreement at the UN security council. France and Britain are also expected to push the move at a Nato meeting on Tuesday. But the rebels' appeal is also a recognition that while a no-fly zone would provide a boost to them, their military defeats of recent days have largely been under an onslaught of rockets and shells, and air strikes have been relatively peripheral. A no-fly zone alone may not be enough to prevent the continued advance of Gaddafi's forces toward Benghazi, the revolutionaries' de facto capital. So far no western nation has explicitly supported attacks on Gaddafi's forces separate from enforcing a no-fly zone. The issue is complicated by overwhelming opposition even among the insurgents to foreign forces becoming involved on the ground, in large part because of strong views about the consequences of the invasion of Iraq. The talks are being closely watched in Benghazi and other areas under the control of the revolutionaries where Libyans are increasingly concerned at the direction of the conflict and the west's failure, so far at least, to follow through on calls for Gaddafi to go with action in support of the rebellion. A large French flag hangs on the front of the courthouse used as the revolutionary council's headquarters after Paris recognised the rebel leadership, and the tricolour is often seen on the streets of Benghazi. But Libyans are also increasingly vocal in their criticism of Washington in particular for what is seen as a failure to back up rhetoric against the regime. However, Gheriani said that if the west failed to offer practical help to the revolutionaries to free themselves from Gaddafi's rule it risked frustrated Libyans turning to religious extremists. "The west is missing the point. The revolution was started because people were feeling despair from poverty, from oppression. Their last hope was freedom. If the west takes too long – where people say it's too little, too late – then people become a target for extremists who say the west doesn't care about them," he said. "Most people in this country are moderates and extremists have not been able to penetrate them. But if they get to the point of disillusionment with the west there will be no going back." Although the revolutionary leadership is reluctant to concede that it is enduring significant military setbacks, Gaddafi's forces have driven them from two small towns and back about 150 miles to the edge of Ajdarbia. On Sunday the rebel army fled in the face of a barrage of rockets and shells as Tripoli's army took Brega, a day after seizing the strategic oil centre of Ras Lanuf, 90 miles away. The rebels' military leader, Abdel Fattah Younis, Gaddafi's former interior minister, has promised a vigorous defence of Ajdarbia to block the government's advance on Benghazi, 90 miles along the coastal road. Younis has said he believes Gadaffi's supply lines are overstretched and his forces demoralised. He also said that street fighting in a town will be a more even contest than facing rocket barrages in largely open desert. But the defences on display on Monday, which included a handful of tanks and armoured vehicles and small artillery guns, did not look strong. The revolutionaries claimed to be back in Brega, but provided no evidence and prevented reporters from travelling towards the town. On Monday Gaddafi's forces also attacked Zuwara, a town of 40,000 people about 60 miles west of Tripoli and near the Tunisian border. Residents described shelling of their neighbourhoods and said armoured vehicles were in the heart of the town. "I can see the tanks from where I am now and they are around 500 metres from the centre of Zuwara," Tarek Abdullah told Reuters by telephone. "There are still clashes but I think soon the whole town will fall into their hands." But the pressure appeared to be off the only major city in the west still held by the rebels, Misrata, 130 miles east of the capital. Tripoli's assault apparently stalled amid claims of a mutiny within the ranks of the besieging government forces. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Tory human rights pullout thwarted Posted: 14 Mar 2011 12:00 PM PDT Decision will infuriate Tory rightwingers unhappy at what they believe is Strasbourg judges' interference in UK rights Conservative hopes of pulling out of the European convention on human rights in response to its perceived interference in issues such as UK prisoners' votes have been dashed by Liberal Democrat objections. Nick Clegg has won a battle to prevent the inclusion of total withdrawal from the convention in the terms of reference of an expected seven-strong commission of inquiry in UK human rights law. The decision will infuriate Tory rightwingers angered at the way in which they believe the Strasbourg judges have interfered with UK rights. Some Tory backbenchers have argued that withdrawal is not as complex as some human rights lawyers claim. The commission, due to be announced shortly, will discuss reform of the court's procedures, and the possibility of a British bill of rights acting as a supplement, but not as a replacement for the European convention. It would also look at a bill's relationship with the Human Rights Act that incorporates the European convention into British law. It has also been agreed that the commission will also report to Kenneth Clarke, the justice secretary, and to Clegg, who is the man charged with responsibility for constitutional affairs. The two men are probably the politicians in cabinet most sympathetic to the convention's aims, even if both are open to reform. The decision effectively leaves prime minister David Cameron with the option of preparing his own party's proposals for the 2015 general election manifesto. Clegg won his battle largely because the coalition agreement, negotiated in haste in the immediate aftermath of the general election, makes it clear that the coalition should not seek to withdraw from the convention. It states: "We will establish a commission to investigate the creation of a British Bill of Rights that incorporates and builds on all our obligations under the European convention on human rights, ensures that these rights continue to be enshrined in British law, and protects and extends British liberties." The passage was negotiated between Cameron and Clegg right at the end of the coalition talks by the time Cameron was actually installed in Downing Street. This angered some Tories who feel the prime minister needlessly sold the pass on the issue when he was already in a strong negotiating position. But a year ago Tory backbench distaste for the convention's interference had not reached its current intensity, largely due to the court's decisions to require Britain to give prisoners the vote, a decision that Cameron said made him feel sick. Britain is appealing against the decision in the wake of the large Commons vote against the proposal. There are senior Liberal Democrat lawyers such as Lord Carlile who are critical of the delays in the court, and the quality of some of its judges. Among those expected to sit on the committee are the Liberal Democrat Lord Lester, the Labour peer Baroness Kennedy and the eurosceptic barrister Martin Howe. Clarke has said he favours reform of the court, set up by the Council of Europe after the second world war. But there is disagreement on how easy it will be to negotiate its reforms. Lord Woolf, Britain's most senior judge between 2000 and 2005 said: "We have got a stark option: either we accept the European convention, or we don't accept it and decide to leave the Council of Europe. "It's very difficult to do what Mr Clarke indicated he would like to do when he's chairman of the relative body, because there are 47 signatories in Europe which are signatories to the European convention as well as ourselves". guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Labour call to scrap fuel VAT rise Posted: 14 Mar 2011 10:30 AM PDT In press conference on Labour's economic vision, Ed Miliband and Ed Balls claim repeating bank bonus tax would bring in £2bn Labour hopes to pressure the chancellor into shelving the VAT rise on fuel by bringing a vote on the issue on Wednesday, which would force Tory and Lib Dem backbenchers to decide whether to join the opposition in encouraging relief for motorists and hauliers. The opposition wants the government to abandon the planned rise in VAT on fuel, as it would add a further 3p per litre to petrol prices which have already risen to well over £1.30 per litre. In a joint press conference with Ed Miliband, Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, said he had paid £74.50 to fill up his own family's car at the weekend, and suggested most people were struggling with a rise in the cost of living. Asked whether the EU would block the UK from cutting VAT on fuel, Balls referred to the success of then chancellor Ken Clarke – who in 1995 cut VAT on fuel – and said that had been "perfectly legal". Though Balls said the government must go through the proper European channels, the Treasury has already done so to cut VAT in rural areas, he claimed. Ahead of next week's budget, Miliband and Balls set out how they would fund the financial hole left by reversing the VAT rise on petrol and begin stimulating activity for the UK economy, putting forward plans that could create 115,000 jobs. Their tests for next week's budget, they said, included whether the chancellor is taking steps to relieve the pinch on living standards, and whether the coalition has set out a clear plan for economic growth. Labour's central proposal is that the government should repeat last year's bank bonus tax – which raised £3.5bn. Cautiously estimating the fresh tax could bring in £2bn, Miliband and Balls suggested: • Establishing a £600m youth unemployment fund which they say would help more than 90,000 young people into work. • Providing £1.2bn to fund the construction of 25,000 affordable homes which would also serve to shore up the "faltering" construction industry which, they said, had lost 27,000 jobs in the last year. These plans would generate 20,000 jobs, they claimed. • Providing a funding stream for regional businesses by boosting regional growth fund by £200m. Miliband said: "We are under no illusions that at this stage the government will abandon their deficit reduction plan – they are too dug in for that. "But at least they should take some steps to deal with faltering growth in our economy, to start to establish a plan to create jobs in the private sector … to deal with the crisis of youth unemployment in our country and build the skills we need for the future. "The tests for next week's budget are clear: growth and living standards. But the signs aren't good that they will be met. The government should think again." The Tories released a dossier totting up Labour's spending commitments and said they believed the opposition had now made £12bn worth of uncosted commitments. Assertions from the government that Labour's plans were unfunded were "total utter garbage and claptrap", Balls said. Balls, the shadow chancellor, maintained that a Labour government would still be sticking to the former chancellor Alistair Darling's plan to halve the deficit by the end of the current parliament. He took on suggestions that Darling's plan would have meant just £2bn fewer cuts than Osborne's £16bn, saying these took no account of the fact that circumstances had changed since Darling produced his forecast, and that borrowing was £20bn lower than expected. However, Balls stopped short of saying how any extra cash would be used, only suggesting it would have insulated a Labour government from having to make the cuts the government is now making. Balls said it was "complete nonsense" to claim that a Labour government would have been cutting spending by almost as much as the coalition. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| California politicians want gun right Posted: 14 Mar 2011 12:08 PM PDT Sacramento state assembly members have introduced a bill that would entitle them to carry concealed weapons Politicians in California say their working lives are now so dangerous that they should be given special dispensation to carry concealed guns to their offices in order to protect themselves. Members of the California state assembly in Sacramento from both main parties have introduced a bill that would put politicians in the same class of workers vulnerable to violence as agents who arrange bail for defendants or jewellery shop owners. The bill would grant California's representatives to Congress in Washington and its state politicians a "good cause" classification, entitling them to carry hidden guns while in the state on the grounds of self-defence. The legislation, sponsored by two Democrats and one Republican politician in the Californian assembly, specifically refers to January's mass shooting in Tucson in which six people were killed and 13 injured, including Congress member Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head. Lou Correa, a Republican member of the Californian senate, told the Los Angeles Times that, in the wake of Tucson, he was considering keeping a stun gun in his office and said one of his employees had asked for increased protection from potentially violent members of the public. "I've had guys physically come up to me ready to punch me out," Correa said, adding he had received email death threats. The Californian initiative highlights a peculiar trend since the Tucson shooting. Far from inspiring a major change in the US attitude towards personal weapons, which is among the most gun-friendly in the world, it has prompted a rash of legislative moves across the country designed further to loosen gun controls. The Legal Community Against Violence campaign estimates that there are currently 470 gun bills being considered around the US, of which 273 would make it easier for people to buy and carry weapons. Even in Arizona itself, where the Giffords shooting took place, there are 16 bills pending, most of which favour the gun owner rather than the potential victims of gun outrages. One potentially significant shift in the other direction is that President Barack Obama appears to be moving towards tightening gun controls by making background checks on purchasers more stringent. In an article in the Arizona Daily Star, Obama said 2,000 Americans had been killed by guns since the Tucson massacre on 8 January. Every year, about 100,000 people are killed or injured as a result of gun violence in the US. "We have a responsibility to do everything we can to put a stop to it," Obama wrote, highlighting the fact that Jared Loughner, who is charged with the Tucson shooting, was able to buy a gun, despite having been deemed by the US army to be unfit for service and by his college to be too unstable to study there. Obama went on to propose that the background check before gun sales should be made more rigorous and speedy: "None of us should be willing to remain passive in the face or violence or resigned to watching helplessly as another rampage unfolds on television." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Universities may face fees penalty Posted: 14 Mar 2011 03:56 PM PDT Coalition considers fines for unreasonable charges as Vince
The coalition is considering a Soviet-style central intervention policy to effectively fine individual universities if they impose unreasonable tuition fees next year. Vince Cable, the business secretary whose department is responsible for universities, and David Willetts, the universities minister, are looking at allowing colleges that charge a modest fee to expand and constraining those that are charging too much. The government, through the Higher Education Funding Council, sets the grant and numbers for each university and has the power to fine a university as much as £3,000 per student if it over-recruits in a single year. Ministers are looking at cutting funding from universities that unreasonably charge the maximum £9,000 fee from 2012-13. They admit it is likely most universities will charge well over £8,000 a year. One minister said: "A form of dramatic centralisation is under active consideration - a form of Gosplan if you like," a reference to the Russian state planning committee set up in the 1920s. Ministers had been working with a model in which the average tuition fee was £7,500. If this is exceeded, the upfront cost of loans balloons. At the weekend, the deputy prime minister, Nick Clegg, railed against the possibility of universities charging £9,000 in order to project their prestige. He said: "I cannot think of anything more absurd than a university saying, to prove that they can offer a good education, they can whack up the price to £9,000. They are not Harrods." Cable admitted he was worried by the number of universities planning to charge £9,000 and he conceded that uncertainty over the coalition's crackdown on visas for overseas students was encouraging institutions to push up fees as an insurance policy against a potential £2bn annual loss of income. Cable's department is urgently pressing for a resolution to a dispute with the Home Office. The home secretary, Theresa May, has targeted student visas as a way of fulfilling promises to cut net immigration. The issue may go the cabinet within the next fortnight. The government wants to reduce the number of visas for those wanting to study at courses below degree level and to demand a higher standard of English. But universities argue that many international degree students are recruited from non-degree courses, on which they have improved their English and increased their knowledge. Cable has also been arguing that universities urgently need greater certainty over the future of teacher training and medical training. He said: "One of the reasons universities are talking such big numbers is genuine uncertainty about how they will be funded for teacher training and for medical training and, above all else, how we deal with overseas students who pay the full commercial rate and cross-subsidise British students." He said he wanted "a good answer" from the Home Office. In the face of this uncertainty, Exeter last week became the first university outside the Russell Group to announce it would charge the maximum fee. It said it needed the extra income to meet higher expectations from students. Exeter followed Cambridge and Imperial College London in confirming plans to treble fees. Ministers have said the maximum fee should only apply in "exceptional circumstances" and universities wishing to charge more than £6,000 would have to do more to widen the participation of disadvantaged students. Ministers privately recognise there is only a slim chance of enough new entrants entering the university market in the short term to drive down fees. In a bid to put pressure on universities to keep fees down, Cable warned: "At some point, a university committee will destroy their own student base unless they are very, very careful. If they pursue an aggressive policy, they could themselves be very badly hurt." He argued unjustifiably large fees could lead to universities being undercut by further education colleges but admitted the financial uncertainty could lead to some universities going bankrupt. Gareth Thomas, the shadow higher education minister, said: "The government's headache on university funding is of its own making. If the government had taken time to consult before they increased fees by so much and if they weren't causing problems in other areas of university finances like overseas student income, they might have been able to avoid some of the difficulties they now find themselves facing. Trebling tuition fees isn't fair, it wasn't necessary and, as this demonstrates, it isn't financially sustainable, either." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Buffett buys chemical firm for $10bn Posted: 14 Mar 2011 09:35 AM PDT Deal-hungry veteran investor buys Lubrizol, which makes engine oil additives, telling its chief executive to 'just keep doing what you've been doing' Warren Buffett has made one of his largest acquisitions ever, agreeing to buy chemical and lubricants company Lubrizol in a deal worth $9.7bn (£6bn). Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett's insurance-to-railways conglomerate, announced the purchase on Monday – barely two weeks after the 80-year-old investment guru had hinted that he was hungry to make more deals. Lubrizol, based in Ohio, makes additives for engine oils and industrial lubricants. Berkshire will pay $135 a share in cash for the company, a 28% premium on its closing price on Friday. "Lubrizol is exactly the sort of company with which we love to partner – the global leader in several market applications, run by a talented CEO, James Hambrick," said Buffett. "Our only instruction to James – just keep doing for us what you have done so successfully for your shareholders." Buffett made his reputation, and his huge fortune, through shrewd investments in well-run companies whose products and services are likely to be in demand in the future. He made his biggest deal in November 2009, buying US rail operator Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $26bn. Lubrizol makes lubricants for engines, especially large trucks, buses and boats. Demand for the company's products is expected to continue to rise as shipping of goods increases around the world. "It's certainly a full price – especially if you think what the opportunity could have been had they bought at the bottom of 2008 or 2009's market sell-off," said Thomas Russo, of investment fund Gardner Russo & Gardner. "But it's all about the forward-looking returns and I suspect that the rest of the world's demand for the products will grow." In his annual letter to Berkshire shareholders last month, Buffett predicted that "major" acquisitions were on the cards. "Our elephant gun has been reloaded, and my trigger finger is itchy," he said. Before today's deal, Berkshire Hathaway had a cash pile of about $38bn. Andy Kilpatrick, Buffett's biographer, said he thought Lubrizol would be a good fit. "He's paying a reasonable premium, and he's getting an entire business with a brand name," said Kilpatrick, a stockbroker who turned author to write Of Permanent Value, the Story of Warren Buffett. Berkshire, which is based in Omaha, Nebraska, owns about 80 subsidiaries, including insurance, clothing, utility, furniture, jewellery and corporate jet companies. It also has major investments in such companies as Coca-Cola, The Washington Post and Wells Fargo. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Sudan division talks break down Posted: 14 Mar 2011 06:09 AM PDT Bashir regime accused of funding and training militias to destabilise south before country's division after referendum Southern Sudan has suspended talks with the northern government after accusing President Omar al-Bashir's regime of arming rebel groups before the country's split in July. The move comes amid a sharp increase in tensions in recent weeks, with hundreds of people killed in clashes in the south, and along the north-south border. In the latest fighting, up to 42 people were killed after militiamen attacked Malakal, a state capital, on Saturday. Announcing their withdrawal from key negotiations on Sunday, southern officials accused Bashir of using proxy forces to weaken the south and to try to topple its government before secession. "They [the north] have stepped up their destabilisation of southern Sudan by creating, training, and arming and financing various militia groups in southern Sudan," said Pagan Amum, secretary general of the south's ruling Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), on Sunday. Amum said that the northern government was "already engaged at war", forcing the south to suspend talks. The two sides, which ended their 22-year war in 2005, are meant to be negotiating crucial issues related to the country's breakup, including border demarcation and oil-revenue sharing. Bashir's National Congress party dismissed Amum's allegations as "ridiculous". But it also warned of more fighting in Abyei, a disputed and volatile border area whose status remains unresolved. The war of words - and the fighting on the ground - follows the mostly peaceful referendum in January, when 99% of southerners voted for independence. Bashir did not attempt to disrupt the ballot, as many observers suspected he would, and promised to respect the south's decision to secede, raising hopes of a painless separation. But there were always warning signs this might not happen. The main one was Abyei, a long-contested region that was supposed to have its own vote in January on whether to join the south or north. Given that most of the eligible voters were expected to be Ngok Dinkas – southerners – it seemed inevitable that Abyei would join the south. But Bashir, ignoring the provisions of the 2005 deal to end the war, insisted that northern Missereya herders be allowed to vote too, forcing the ballot to be postponed. With only four months left to secession, the north is insisting on a negotiated settlement for Abyei, angering the SPLM and local people. After clashes in January, at least 70 people were killed in attacks involving Missereya and Ngok Dinka fighters earlier this month, with three villages razed and tens of thousands of people displaced. Elsewhere, in Jonglei and Upper Nile states, fighting between the southern army and militias groups allied to the renegade general George Athor have left hundreds dead. The SLPM says Athor is sponsored by Khartoum, although it has provided no evidence for this. Claire McEvoy, Sudan project manager at the Small Arms Survey, a Swiss-based research group, said that the unresolved post-referendum issues meant that the tension and violence was no surprise. But she added that neither side wanted another war, and that both were using rhetoric to try to maximise gains from the negotiations, as they have done in the past. "Posturing and accusations of bad faith are inevitably part of that process," she said. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Sweden bombing: student remanded Posted: 14 Mar 2011 01:41 PM PDT Man remanded in bail by Glasgow court on suspicion of involvement in the December attack in Sweden A nursing student arrested in Glasgow has been charged with terrorism fundraising offences in connection with a suicide bomb attack in Stockholm. Ezedden Khalid Ahmed Al Khaledi, 30, appeared in private at Glasgow sheriff court and was remanded in custody after being arrested last Tuesday on suspicion of involvement with the failed car bombing in the Swedish capital in December. Khaledi, who had been taking a nursing course at North Glasgow college, was also charged with five identity and fraud-related offences under immigration and banking legislation. He was arrested last Tuesday after a dawn raid by Strathclyde police on his 19th-floor flat in Whiteinch, Glasgow, after a joint investigation with Bedfordshire police, the Metropolitan police and Swedish authorities. Two other addresses in the city were searched but there were no other arrests. After nearly a week in custody at a high-security police station in Govan, he arrived in court under armed guard. He made no plea or declaration and is expected to reappear in court next week after his bail application was refused. Khaledi is believed to be the first person arrested and charged in connection with the attack in a shopping area of central Stockholm on 12 December, when a car bomb caught fire but failed to detonate. An Iraqi-born Swedish national, Taimour Abdulwahab al-Abdaly, 28, was found dead when his bomb belt apparently exploded accidentally, injuring two passers-by. Al-Abdaly had been a student at the University of Luton, now the University of Bedfordshire, before graduating with a BSc in sports therapy in 2004. He had been living in Luton with his wife and children. Khaledi has been charged under sections 15, 16 and 17 of the Terrorism Act 2000, which relate to the use of money or property for terrorist purposes and fundraising. He is accused of opening accounts for terrorism purposes with Lloyds TSB, the Post Office, Halifax Bank of Scotland and Santander. He is alleged to have entered "into an arrangement" to provide cash for terrorism between January 2003 and December 2010. Khaledi was also charged with allegedly supplying false information about his identity to stay in the UK and claim benefits illegally and with fraudulently opening bank accounts with a false identity with Lloyds TSB and the Post Office. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Bank of America emails released Posted: 14 Mar 2011 06:59 AM PDT Emails obtained by someone claiming to be former bank employee appear to show improper sub-prime lending practices The hacker group Anonymous has released a cache of emails obtained from someone said to be a former Bank of America employee. The group alleges that the emails, dating from November 2010, detail improper lending practices at the bank, an allegation the bank denies. The leak comes as consumer groups have accused major US lenders of foreclosing on many homes without having proper documentation in place. The emails detail correspondence between employees of Balboa Insurance, a Bank of America insurance unit, in which they appear to be discussing the removal of details from documents in loan files. The bank acquired Balboa when it bought Countrywide Financial in 2008. Countrywide was the US's largest seller of sub-prime home loans. Last month Bank of America announced plans to sell Balboa. The emails detail one loan related to GMAC, one of the largest mortgage lenders in the US. "The following GMAC DTN's need to have the images removed from Tracksource/Rembrandt," an operations team manager at Balboa wrote. DTN refers to document tracking number, and Tracksource/Rembrandt is an insurance tracking system. In reply, the Balboa employee wrote: "I have spoken to my developer and she stated that we cannot remove the DTNs from Rembrandt, but she can remove the loan numbers, so the documents will not show as matched to those loans." According to the emails, approval was given to remove the loan numbers from the documents. Anonymous also released correspondence between the group and the former employee in which the ex-worker described the bank as a "cult" and said the company was now intent on destroying his career. "I'm well known throughout Bank of America. They saw to that when they showed everyone my picture and labelled me as a terrorist," the former employee said in one email. A representative of Anonymous told Reuters that the documents related to the issue of whether Bank of America has improperly foreclosed on homes. The bank was not immediately available for comment but a spokesman told Reuters that the documents had been stolen by a former Balboa employee, and were not tied to foreclosures. "We are confident that his extravagant assertions are untrue," the spokesman said. Anonymous has close ties to WikiLeaks, whose founder Julian Assange said last November that he planned a major leak about a bank, leading to speculation that Bank of America was the target. Last month Bank of America agreed to sell Balboa to QBE of Australia for $700m and liabilities of $1.2bn. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Posted: 14 Mar 2011 12:47 PM PDT 'Mothership' and its crew captured by naval patrol in Arabian sea, with suspects facing trial in Mumbai Five dozen pirates living on a hijacked ship serving as a roving pirate base jumped into the Arabian Sea after the Indian navy fired on the vessel, naval authorities said. The navy captured 61 pirates fleeing the battle and the ensuing fire that broke out aboard the hijacked vessel. A pirate in Somalia threatened Indian sailors and the government with attacks in retaliation for the arrests. The Indian navy said a patrol aircraft spotted the pirate mothership on Friday while responding to another vessel reporting an attack. The pirates aborted the hijack attempt and tried to escape on the mothership. When the Indian navy closed in on Sunday night, the pirates fired on them. The hijacked vessel caught fire when Indian vessels returned fire, the navy said. The pirates had hijacked the Mozambique-flagged Vega 5 in December and had used it as a mothership. Indian sailors rescued 13 crew members from the Vega 5 about 700 miles off Kochi in southern India, the statement said. The pirates were carrying about 80 to 90 small arms or rifles and a few heavier weapons, it said. The statement did not describe any casualties among the navy, the fishermen or the pirates. The pirates were being taken to Mumbai to be prosecuted for attacking the Indian ships. Piracy has plagued the shipping industry off east Africa for years, but violence and ransom demands have escalated, with pirates holding around 30 ships and more than 660 hostages as of last month. A self-described pirate in Somalia, who gave his name as Bile Hussein, said the arrests would lead to "trouble" for Indian sailors and ships. "They better release them, considering their people travelling in the waters, or we shall jail their people like that," he said. "We are first sending a message to the Indian government of releasing our friends in their hands or else they have to be ready for their citizens to be mistreated in the near future." The Indian navy's third anti-piracy operation this year followed the capture of 28 Somali pirates last month and 15 in January. Both groups are to be prosecuted in Mumbai. Indian warships have been escorting merchant ships as part of international anti-piracy surveillance in the area since 2008. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Asha Bhosle: The voice of Bollywood Posted: 14 Mar 2011 02:30 PM PDT She is the legend who has sung in hundreds of Hindi films, worked with Michael Stipe and Robbie Williams, and been immortalised on a UK No 1 record. Rob Fitzpatrick talks to Asha Bhosle 'In the old days all the movie songs were recorded right there on set," remembers Asha Bhosle, the quintessential Bollywood singer. Now 77, Bhosle was just 11 when she performed her first song on a movie soundtrack, Chala Chala Nav Bala from Majha Bal in 1943. In the 68 years since, she has provided the on-screen singing voice for generations of actresses unable to capture and deliver a song as brilliantly as she could, singing around 20,000 tunes in 14 languages, as well as recording with Robbie Williams, Michael Stipe and the Kronos Quartet, and lending her name to Cornershop's Brimful of Asha, one of the landmark No 1 hits of the 1990s. "My son Anand first heard that song in San Francisco and told me all about it," she says, via a friend and translator, from Australia where she is appearing in concert. "I was at the immigration counter at Heathrow Airport once and the young officer read the profession listed in my passport as 'singer'. He was intrigued, so I told him I was the Asha from Brimful of Asha, and he was so excited he left his post and called his friends over to meet me. So I guess, at the very least, that song helped me clear UK immigration faster than usual." When Bhosle thinks back to the start of her career she remembers dusty movie sets, people running around, lights and cameras. "And there was little me," she says, "falling asleep and being woken up to sing my part. I think of that time fondly – it was pre-independence India. Only my sister Lata [Mangeshkar, a hugely popular singer in her own right], Manna Dey [the 91-year old Bengali singer] and I are left from those who began their careers in what was British India." Bhosle was born in Sangli, in Maharashtra, south-west India. A town of goldsmiths and sugar refineries, it stretches far along the Krishna river. Bhosle's father, Dinanath Mangeshkar, was a hugely successful singer and actor who built up a travelling theatre company that included his four children. India was then divided into kingdoms, and Bhosle recalls how the maharajas would welcome her father and his group whenever he performed in areas under their rule. "He had 300 staff, vast wardrobes, costumes, theatrical sets and props," she says. "We would stay in each city for months performing plays which went on all night. My whole education was watching actors and singers perform." After her father died, Bhosle studied under Navrang Nagpurkar in Bombay, learning the basics of Indian classical music. "He fine-tuned my voice for the microphone," she says. But soon she had to choose between becoming a classical or popular singer. "And Navrang suggested popular singing as it was more lucrative." Married young, with a son, she was encouraged by her first husband to sing, but he drew the line at her acting. "He came from a traditional family where acting was considered taboo," she says, "so even the faint possibility of me becoming an actress was shot down before it had taken wings." At movie auditions, Bhosle would come up against household names such as Zohra Bai, Shamshad Begum, Geeta Dutt and her sister, Lata. "I would visit all the recording studios and meet songwriters," she says. "They would ask me to sing a particular song, then they'd decide whether I was good enough or not." Bhosle had the most incredible and individual voice, a perfect, crystalline tone, extraordinary range while carrying an ineffable otherness, like a sense of India itself. Quickly, songwriters and directors began to seek her out. No room for error Recording studios were huge places built to accommodate vast numbers of musicians with the singer placed in a separate cabin to minimise any audio overspill. "Right up to the mid 90s we recorded every song live," Bhosle says. "There would be huge orchestras – sometimes 100-strong – and each song was recorded in one single go. There was no dubbing, you worked with the orchestra and if anyone made a mistake, we would start all over again. That's why each song took hours to record." Bhosle became particularly well known for her ability to change her voice for each role and a huge amount of film work, alongside established male singing stars such as Dey, Kishore Kumar and Mohammad Rafi, followed. "Rafi was a stickler for perfection," she says of her co-stars. "Manna Dey was the best classically trained singer, while Kishore Kumar was like the wind. You could never pin him down. He and I were well matched because we had similar ideas. We were not afraid to experiment. But all singers are actors – we just act with our voices." From the mid-60s and throughout the 1970s Kumar and Bhosle were especially prized by the brilliant Calcuttan composer Rahul Dev (known as RD) Burman, who brought elements of western pop and hip-shaking, beat group and hippy dynamism to his music. Bhosle would marry him in 1980. "Rahul Dev's music was way ahead of its time," she says. "He had so many different styles and rhythms in his music. You can hear jazz, Latin, that John Barry, super-spy sound, some blues, calypso and pop in there; 17 years after he died, he's more popular than ever." Alongside the hundreds ("perhaps thousands, no one really knows") of film scores Bhosle sang on, there were many other works. She made a handful, "but nothing like enough", of private albums, the Indian term for independent, non movie-related collections. Boy George and boybands "Film music is good," she says. "But only private albums give you enough of an outlet for your own creativity." There have been Hindi pop albums that have won many awards, while in the 1980s Bhosle made a move into the European music world at a time when the only widely known Indian musician was Ravi Shankar. Bhosle formed the group West India Company with Stephen Luscombe from Blancmange, Vince Clark and percussionist Pandit Dinesh, and the record was an unexpected success. She went on to have another big hit with Bow Down Mister, a song she recorded with Boy George. Since then there have been records with Nelly Furtado, even with UK boyband Code Red, but it's ghazals, love-lorn Urdu poems and songs, that have given Bhosle most pleasure. "The songs are everlasting," she says. "And the albums keep selling for years." As she approaches 80, Bhosle is still touring. "As a person and as a singer, I love to try something new. I like challenges," she says. Asked to nominate favourites from her mountainous catalogue, Bhosle laughs, mentioning needles and haystacks, but suggests The Way You Dream, a duet with Michael Stipe on the 1 Giant Leap album, You've Stolen My Heart, her album of Burman songs with the Kronos Quartet and her new record, Naina Lagaike, recorded with master sitar player Shujaat Khan, with whom she is playing three rare UK concerts this week. "Most of my colleagues have been insulated in Indian music alone – they did not think of the world beyond what they knew, but I always did and still do." Bhosle and her translator pause as the singer searches for the right words. "The truth is I've got a naturally outgoing nature and I still have a great love for experimentation." • Asha Bhosle and Shujaat Khan play the Southbank Centre, London SE1 (0844 875 0073), tomorrow night, Birmingham Symphony Hall (0121-780 3333) on Friday, and De Montford Hall, Leicester (0116-233 3111) on Saturday. The album Naina Lagaike is out now. A little brimful: Cornershop's Ben Ayres and Tjinder Singh's beginner's guide to Asha Bhosle1. Koi Sehri Babu (1973) From the great Loafer, a film by Madras film-maker A Bhimsingh. This is a crime thriller sort of song. The nearest you are likely to get to a female Curtis Mayfield. 2. Parde Mein Rehne Do (1968) This is a truly lovely song, from Shikar, a hit murder-mystery. Asha reminisces on what would happen if the veil she is wearing was to be removed. 3. Dil Cheez Kya Hai (1981) From Muzaffar Ali's film, Umrao Jaan, this is a total beauty on the subject of what a special thing the heart is: all heartstrings and ankle bracelets. 4. Hum Intezar Karenge Tera Qayamat Tak (1967) M Sadiq's film Bahu Begum is a light comedy focusing on the adored wife of a Muslim family. Featuring brilliant music by Roshan, this one is a romantic explosion. 5. Ek Main Aur Ek Tu (1975) This song – One Me and One You – is a duet with the great Kishore Kumar. It's a bit like a Trinidadian cricket team meets the Beatles. Listen on Spotify: http://is.gd/Yf7HHd guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Posted: 14 Mar 2011 05:05 PM PDT Co-creator Brian True-May said ITV crime drama 'wouldn't be English village' if it featured minority groups The producer of one of ITV1's best-known crime dramas, Midsomer Murders, has been suspended from his job after he suggested in an interview that there was no place in the programme for ethnic minorities and it was the "last bastion of Englishness". Brian True-May, the co-creator of the show which began on ITV in 1997, said the series "wouldn't work" if there was any racial diversity portrayed in the sleepy village life of the fictional county of Midsomer. Production company All3Media has suspended True-May while it conducts an inquiry and an ITV spokesman said the broadcaster was "shocked and appalled" by his comments. "We just don't have ethnic minorities involved. Because it wouldn't be the English village with them," True-May said in an interview with the Radio Times. "It just wouldn't work. Suddenly we might be in Slough ... We're the last bastion of Englishness and I want to keep it that way." An ITV spokesman said: "We are shocked and appalled at these personal comments by Brian True-May which are absolutely not shared by anyone at ITV. "We are in urgent discussions with All3Media, the producer of Midsomer Murders, who have informed us that they have launched an immediate investigation into the matter and have suspended Mr True-May pending the outcome." True-May was speaking to the Radio Times in advance of the new series of the drama, which returns to ITV1 next week. Originally based on the books by Caroline Graham, Midsomer Murders has so far featured 251 deaths, 222 of which were murder. The show's original star, John Nettles, previously best-known for his title role in another long-running crime drama, BBC1's Bergerac, appeared in the last of his 82 episodes last month. He will be replaced in the leading role by Neil Dudgeon playing John Barnaby, the cousin of Nettles' original inspector Tom Barnaby. Perhaps anticipating criticism of his comments, True-May admitted: "Maybe I'm not politically correct ... I'm trying to make something that appeals to a certain audience, which seems to succeed. And I don't want to change it." The race equality thinktank the Runnymede Trust said True-May's comments were out of date and no longer reflected English society. "Clearly, as a fictional work, the producers of Midsomer Murders are entitled to their flights of fancy, but to claim that the English village is purely white is no longer true and not a fair reflection of our society, particularly to this show's large international audience," said the trust's director Rob Berkeley. "It is not a major surprise that ethnic minority people choose not to watch a show that excludes them." True-May has also banned swearing, graphic violence and sex scenes from the show, but his idyllic formula does not stop challenging storylines or other elements of diversity which do not involve ethnicity. "If it's incest, blackmail, lesbianism, homosexuality ... terrific, put it in, because people can believe that people can murder for any of those reasons," he said. Not all of the programme's cast appeared to agree with the programme's producer. Actor Jason Hughes, who plays sidekick DS Jones and starred as Warren in BBC2's This Life, said: "This isn't an urban drama and it isn't about multiculturalism. That's not to say that there isn't a place for multiculturalism in the show. "But that's really not up to me to decide. I don't think that we would all suddenly go, 'a black gardener in Midsomer? You can't have that'. I think we'd all go, 'great, fantastic'." guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| 'Oliver Twist' workhouse saved Posted: 14 Mar 2011 02:15 PM PDT The derelict building that may have served as Charles Dickens's workhouse in his famous novel has been given listed status It was, wrote the 25-year-old Charles Dickens with heavy irony and no little fury, "a regular place of public entertainment for the poorer classes, a brick and mortar Elysium". And now the building that may have served as his model for the workhouse where Oliver Twist asked for more is to be preserved from demolition. The derelict Georgian building in Cleveland Street, London, which in Dickens's day was known as the Strand Union workhouse, has been given listed status by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. The decision, on the advice of English Heritage, came on the grounds of its literary and historic associations rather than architectural merit, to prevent its being demolished and replaced by an apartment block. The workhouse – one of three such buildings surviving in London, but the only one still in operation in the 1830s when Dickens was writing his novel – has been identified as his possible model. The author lived 100 yards away on the same street as a teenager. As he wrote Oliver Twist a few years later, Dickens was living less than a mile away in Doughty Street, although in the original 1837 serialisation of Oliver Twist, the workhouse was placed in a town called Mudfog, 75 miles north of the capital. Dr Paul Schlicke, editor of the Dickens Companion, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "I think it is inconceivable that it was not that workhouse because Dickens lived so close to it. He would have been seeing it, hearing it, seeing paupers coming in and beadles walking by. It would have been the workhouse he knew best." Built in 1775 as the workhouse for the parish of St Paul's church in Covent Garden, by the mid-1830s the building had been taken over under the New Poor Law legislation – the real target for Dickens's anger – to serve a number of poor central London parishes. Conditions there were notably harsh and it became a target for later Victorian reformers such as Louisa Twining and Joseph Rogers. The lintel over the entrance bore the message: "Avoid idleness and intemperance." From the 1920s, it served as the outpatients' department of the Middlesex Hospital. The department's decision means that the application to redevelop the site is unlikely to be allowed, though English Heritage said that so long as the facade remained it might be possible to redevelop the interior as apartments. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| The Queen Mum's record collection Posted: 14 Mar 2011 01:00 PM PDT Psychedelia? Paul Simon? Her recently revealed record collection contains a few surprises After John Peel died, fans were excited to learn about a special longbox in which he kept the heart of his record collection – an eclectic set of 7in singles with a beloved tune for any conceivable occasion. Revealed at the weekend, the Queen Mum's record collection – around 100 albums she kept at the Castle of Mey, her Highlands retreat – gives royal watchers a similar opportunity to reconstruct a life through music. How much can it really tell us, though? It's easy to focus on the surprise inclusions – Paul Simon's Graceland, for instance, the collection's one concession to post-1940s pop music. But as anyone who has ever bought presents for grannies will realise, their record collections have a habit of picking up oddities along the way. For all we know the presence of Graceland implies nothing more than Edward or Andrew making a last-minute birthday visit to the John Menzies shop in Inverness. Despite that, a couple of entries really are puzzling. Moddan's Bower by Mirk may be rooted in traditional Scottish folk but it's also a highly prized psychedelic rarity, getting a glowing review on a site called Lysergia. And how to explain Keith Jarrett's exploration of jazz and contemporary classical music, Arbour Zena? Abandoned by a passing European bicycle monarch in the late-70s, perhaps? The bulk of the records are easier to understand. There is a lot of Scottish music – traditional singers such as Jean Redpath, collections of folk tunes and reels. The extent of it suggests that the Queen Mother's affection for this was genuine: more care seems to have gone into selecting the folk component of the collection than the cursory section given over to English classical music. These are social records – things to put on when guests are over, as they very often were. Record collections before the rock era were often an extension of performed or parlour music, not necessarily a well-sculpted expression of individual taste. But one part of the collection does seem more personal – records by variety singers, music hall performers and jazz orchestras from the inter-war years. Alongside bandleaders Glenn Miller and Paul Whiteman are mostly forgotten names – comedienne Beatrice Lillie, pianist Charlie Kunz. This is the music she grew up with, and kept with her till she died – the music that shows the Queen Mother not as hostess, or royal, but as pop fan. What the Queen Mum listened to – and what she should haveShe owned: Edith Piaf – La Vie En Rose. Iconic chanteuse, a fixture of every postwar gramophone collection. She should have owned: Grace Jones – Island Life. Includes a radical revision of La Vie En Rose. Jones may not have had Piaf's pipes but her imperious demeanour would have struck a royal chord. She owned: Wilf Carter – Christmas In Canada. The Godfather of Canadian C&W, Carter enjoyed a long career but was best known for his yodelling numbers. She should have owned: Jimmie Rodgers – Blue Yodel. Country music's greatest yodeller, Rogers recorded no less than 11 lonesome Blue Yodel songs before dying of TB in 1933. She owned: Despers Steel Orchestra. Venerable steelband from Trinidad known for their imaginative orchestrations of classical pieces. She should have owned: Prince Buster – FABulous Greatest Hits. A reputed love of ska is sadly underrepresented in the collection. And he's a fellow royal! guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Barclays defers £2.5bn to offset tax Posted: 14 Mar 2011 05:27 PM PDT Tax assets up from £2.3bn, due to losses in UK, the US and Spain, some incurred before 2010 Barclays has deferred tax assets of £2.5bn, up from £2.3bn, as a result of losses in the UK, the US and Spain, which will help to reduce its tax bill in the years ahead. According to the bank's annual report, published after markets shut last night, some £1bn of the tax assets – which the bank can count against tax bills – had been stored up from losses incurred before 2010. The bank, which survived the banking crisis without a direct taxpayer bailout, incurred controversy when it admitted to the Treasury select committee that it paid just £113m of corporation tax in the UK in 2009 – when it made £11.9bn of profits. The bank has never been specific about how its tax bill stayed so low, other than to refer to losses it had incurred previously. In its annual report, the bank highlights "global tax payments" of £6.1bn – £3.1bn of taxes borne by Barclays and £3bn of taxes such as employee income tax. The total corporation tax bill was £1.5bn, but it does not say how much of this was paid in the UK. Instead it said "total tax" paid to the UK exchequer in 2010 was £2.8bn. The exact amount of tax assets that Barclays has in the UK is unclear. UK rules allow the bank to use the losses against future profits indefinitely. Other countries, such as Germany, place restrictions on the time such losses can be carried. The annual report is published a week after Barclays admitted that five of its key bankers had been awarded shares and cash deals of more than £110m. Later this week, bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland is expected to reveal that more than 300 of its key bankers have an average pay deal of more than £1m. While this might seem high, it is lower than the £2.4m per head average awarded to similar staff at Barclays. The news comes as a report out yesterday said profits by the major banks have doubled during the past year but the groups still face significant challenges going forward. The big five - Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and Standard Chartered - made combined pre-tax statutory profits of £22.2bn in 2010, up from £11.3bn in 2009, according to accountants KPMG. The increase was driven by a dramatic drop in impairment charges across all five banks, with these falling by more than £20bn during the 12 months. There was also a marked increase in the margins on their existing mortgage book at some of the banks. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Posted: 14 Mar 2011 08:24 AM PDT Corporation decides not to close digital radio station, but aims to cut its budget in half The BBC has reversed its decision to close the Asian Network digital radio station – but will look to cut its budget in half. The decision will be warmly welcomed by the station's staff and listeners, but the corporation's critics will view it as its second embarrassing U-turn, a year after the BBC Trust rebuffed management plans to close its sister digital station, 6 Music. BBC executives are understood to have concluded that a national digital radio station remains the best way to reach Asian listeners, rather than a collection of medium-wave services that was mooted as one possible replacement. The station's audience has already increased by about a third since the closure plan was announced in March 2010 and it had an average weekly reach of 477,000 listeners in the final three months of last year. Management is expected to demand a further increase in its audience, as well as cutting Asian Network's budget. The decision, announced by Andy Parfitt, the BBC Radio 1 and Asian Network controller, in a conference call to staff on Monday, follows a last-ditch effort to save the station launched by its supporters last month. BBC Asian Network's future will now be rolled into the "Delivering Quality First" review, overseen by the director general, Mark Thompson, of the corporation's entire output and services, which seeks savings of more than £400m. The Asian Network's budget is bigger than any of the BBC's other digital stations, with £8.9m spent on content out of a total of £12.1m last year. At 8.5p per listener hour, it is more expensive than any other BBC radio station. The next most expensive, BBC Radio 3, costs 6.3p per user hour, while BBC Radio 2, at 0.5p per user hour, is the cheapest. However, the plan to keep the station will need to be approved by the BBC Trust in the summer. One member of staff on the Asian Network said there was a feeling of "jubilation and vindication" among presenters and production staff. "It is a pity it has taken them a year and they have had to spend all this money to come round to what we were saying all along," said the station insider. "There's not a feeling of anger so much as vindication. We need to bring the cost base down and make sure the audience keeps going up. Nobody objects to that. There is a feeling of unbridled joy, but also a nagging sense that the really hard work is only just about to begin." The decision to reprieve the Asian Network comes a year after Thompson announced plans to shut it, along with BBC 6 Music. In his review, Thompson proposed to replace the national digital service with a network of part-time local services in areas with large British-Asian communities. But the cuts planned in March last year have since been subsumed by the much greater savings – more than £400m – required because of the licence fee freeze agreed with the coalition government in October. Management is understood to have considered the alternatives to be ineffective or too expensive, or both. The decision not to close the station is also a victory for more than 100 prominent British Asians who signed a letter to the Guardian calling for the network to be saved. Actor and writer Meera Syal, Olympic medal-winning boxer Amir Khan and Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty were among entertainment stars, actors and peers who expressed their "profound shock" at the BBC's decision to shut a "key platform" for the national Asian community. • 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". guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Germany suspends nuclear plans Posted: 14 Mar 2011 01:21 PM PDT German chancellor Angela Merkel re-examines move to renew power stations – but US reaffirms support for nuclear power Germany today announced the temporary closure of its two oldest nuclear power stations and suspended plans to extend the life of all of the country's remaining plants as jitters over nuclear power spread across the world. Switzerland also put on hold plans to build and replace nuclear plants and Austria's environment minister called for atomic stress tests to make sure Europe's nuclear facilities are "earthquake-proof". On Tuesday there will be an emergency meeting of European Union nuclear safety authorities and operators to assess Europe's preparedness in case of an emergency. After two hydrogen explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi reactor in Japan, the German chancellor Angela Merkel decided to re-examine her controversial decision last year to renew 17 nuclear plants for an average of 12 years. Merkel announced a "three-month moratorium" while each plant was given a thorough safety check.As a result, Germany's two oldest nuclear power stations will be taken off the grid imminently, as they have already reached the end of their lifespan. They will only be reconnected if they pass strict safety checks, the chancellor said in Berlin. Both plants are situated in states where there are regional elections later this month. One, Biblis A, is in Hesse, western Germany, and the other, Neckarwestheim I, is in the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg. Merkel's Christian Democratic Party (CDU) is at risk of losing Baden-Württemberg for the first time since 1953, leading commentators to suggest the decision was partly politically motivated. Most Germans are opposed to nuclear power, and Japan's problems have raised fears of the technology and strengthened the nuclear lobby and the opposition Green Party. A poll for the news channel N-TV on Monday showed 88% of Germans wanted plants shut sooner rather than later. Merkel said Germany needs to continue using nuclear power while it switches over to renewable power sources to keep energy affordable and to ensure it is not dependent on importing nuclear energy from other countries where safety standards might be lower than those in Germany. However, the events in Japan "teach us that risks that were considered absolutely improbable are in fact not completely improbable," she added. The Swiss energy minister, Doris Leuthard, said the suspension would affect all "blanket authorisation for nuclear replacement until safety standards have been carefully reviewed and if necessary adapted". Swiss regulatory authorities had given their stamp of approval to three sites for new nuclear power stations after the plans were submitted in 2008. European energy commissioner Günther Oettinger said safety at older German nuclear power stations must be checked rigorously, and he refused to rule out closures. He told Deutschlandfunk radio that the crisis in Japan had changed the world and brought into question what had been seen as safe and manageable. The government's decision last year to keep Germany's nuclear plants running for 12 years beyond their original shutdown date had stirred large-scale protests. On Saturday, anti-nuclear protesters formed a 45km (27 mile) human chain from the city of Stuttgart to an older nuclear power plant that will be kept running longer because of the new policy. Between 50,000 and 60,000 demonstrators took part, according to police and organisers. In the US, Barack Obama reaffirmed his support for nuclear power. At a White House press conference, the head of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), Gregory Jaczko, said the 104 reactors in the US were built to withstand earthquakes and tsunamis. "Right now we believe we have a very strong programme in place," he said, adding that Japan had requested assistance from the NRC and two experts on boiling water reactors were en route. Jaczko in his remarks gave no details on the magnitude of natural disasters US reactors could withstand. Twenty-three are identical models of the two reactors which exploded in Japan. Twelve are newer versions of that model. He also said any release of radiation would be highly dispersed by the time it travelled across the Pacific to Hawaii or the West Coast. Jaczko's appearance was the second show of confidence in the nuclear industry since Sunday. The White House said in a statement that Obama continued to see nuclear power as part of America's energy portfolio. "The president believes that meeting our energy needs means relying on a diverse set of energy sources that includes renewables like wind and solar, natural gas, clean coal and nuclear power. "Information is still coming in about the events unfolding in Japan, but the administration is committed to learning from them and ensuring that nuclear energy is produced safely and responsibly here in the US," the statement said. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Small business solar hopes dashed Posted: 14 Mar 2011 09:45 AM PDT Renewable energy subsidy review will cut funding to larger scale 'solar farms' and only domestic installations will be eligible for full subsidy The government is set to severely restrict the subsidies it will pay to new solar power plants. The policy U-turn, that will be laid out in detail by ministers later this week will limit the size of solar panel installations that will benefit from the maximum subsidy so cutting funding to larger scale "solar farms". The likely result is that only small domestic installations, of less than 50kW capacity – enough to cover 15 average house roofs but not a large barn roof – will be eligible for the feed-in tariffs at current rates. These have fuelled the first widespread take-up of solar power in the UK, and created hundreds of new jobs. The news was greeted with dismay by businesses and investors. "I am aggrieved, definitely aggrieved," says Rod Pearson, managing director of Crealy Adventure Parks. "We were trying to be carbon-neutral, and we wanted to use solar panels to do that. It was an excellent plan, full of common sense, and I could see no bad in it." His plans – to cover the roof of his two amusements parks in Devon and Cornwall with solar panels that would provide 90% of his energy needs – are now in jeopardy. Under the revised proposals, anything bigger than 50kW– from a farmer's barn roof to a school building or a supermarket's covered car park – will receive much smaller subsidies, allowing a rate of return of about 5% rather than the 12% envisaged for smaller projects. The lower rate would not be enough to attract the bank loans and investment needed, solar experts fear, especially as investors and banks have been spooked by the government's willingness to drastically reform the system so soon after implementing it. The proposed reforms, first flagged up in early February, mark a reversal of the original feed-in tariffs, brought in last April, under which sites of up to 5MW capacity – enough to cover about 30 acres with solar panels – were allowed. It is the second major reform within a few months, as the amount earmarked for feed-in tariffs was cut by £40m in last year's spending review. The government argues the reforms are needed because the subsidies, paid for by adding a small amount to electricity bills, were intended to promote solar power among households, rather than encourage larger installations, of the kind being planned in the south-west. Greg Barker, climate minister, hit out at what he called "hot money" entering the solar market, with City speculators attracted by the prospect of rates of return of 10% or more. "We were told it should be about Bert and Doris Miggins putting them on their roofs," says Mark Shorrock, director of Low Carbon Solar, which has plans for over 200 community solar farms. But the image of "solar fatcats" turning a fast buck in the City is ridiculed by the likes of Pearson, and Adam Twine and Colin Parker, both farmers with plans for solar parks on their land. Shorrock says most of his investors are local authority pension funds, which want a steady long-term return on their cash and prefer to spend it on socially useful schemes. Solar farms can be built faster than erecting panels on roofs, and benefit from scale, as they are cheaper to install per unit of electricity generated. Ironically, given the government's localism agenda, solar panels – even in the biggest arrays covering 30 acres – tend to be much more popular than windfarms. Standing about 2 metres high - about the height of a field of maize - they can be hidden by hedge boundaries, make no noise, and the fields in which they are set can still be used for livestock grazing. "I've gone to parish council meetings about solar panels and everyone in the hall is in favour – that doesn't happen with wind," says Shorrock. His company, which has grown to 40 employees on the back of the promise of feed-in tariffs, backs community solar schemes, which he says gives people the chance to participate in the green economy by a taking a stake of a few hundred pounds. Now, he says: "We're semi-stuffed." Colin Parker, a Cornish farmer whose plans to plant solar panels near his woodland are now on hold, points to his scheme as an example of David Cameron's "big society". Parker is re-converting much of his land to the woodland that was cleared centuries ago, opening it to public use and running courses for schoolchildren to learn about sustainable living. He hoped to use the income from 3.2MW of solar panels to help finance the tree-planting and school visits, but that has now been thrown into doubt by the government's U-turn. Cameron's catchword is also invoked by Adam Twine, whose £14m plans for a 30-acre solar farm in Oxfordshire, financed by thousands of local people taking shares, are now on hold. "I'd have thought this was what the 'big society' was supposed to be about," he says. In Cornwall, the review of the feed-in tariffs is seen as a direct attack on the county, which enjoys 15% more light than the rest of the UK and is home to dozens of plans for solar parks, which have been enthusiastically taken up by the local authorities as a way to stimulate much-needed investment in the region. "Yet again, London comes and pulls the rug out from under us," says Parker. "We are not happy bunnies round here." Case studiesColin Parker, farmer, Cornwall "I don't think they know what they're doing – this is the most knee-jerk government, where nothing seems to be thought through," says Colin Parker, a Cornish farmer whose plans to plant solar panels near his forest are now on hold. He has been angered by the government's surprise U-turn on feed-in tariffs for solar power, announced early last month and scheduled to be set out in detail this week. Under the original tariffs, his 3.2MW solar scheme would have been eligible for a return of investment of about 10% – enough, he says, to gain financial backers for the scheme, and to generate income to allow him to convert more of his 212-acre farm to woodland. This is a process he has had under way for more than a decade, aiming to restore the ancient Forest of Moresk, famous in the time King Mark ruled Cornwall in the sixth century, which would have stood on his farmland. He also runs school visits to the wood to teach children about sustainable living. But Parker's vision also encompasses Cornwall's more recent history – in the early days of steam, he says, Cornwall was at the forefront of the industrial revolution, with steam pumps for the tin mines. Today, he says, Cornwall could once again be in the vanguard, this time of the green technology revolution. "This is an absolute godsend to Cornwall," he says. "We have sunlight, we have waves, we have wind – we are the natural place for renewable energy." "The way I see it, I grow trees that convert sunlight, and now I could be growing man-made trees to do the same thing," says Parker. Rod Pearson, managing director, Maximum Fun "We have been here for 22 years and we have always tried to be a green company – we've been doing recycling, we have a staff bus so people don't need their cars – and we have been aiming to become carbon-neutral," says Rod Pearson, managing director of Maximum Fun, which runs the Crealy Great Adventure Parks in Devon and Cornwall. "We thought we had found a great way to do this, by using solar panels." The company planned to erect panels on its covered children's play areas and car parks, which would have been enough to cover about 90% of the amusement parks' energy use. But those plans are now in doubt, as the government's proposed changes to the feed-in tariffs would mean tearing up the current business plan. Even if the plans are still feasible under the revised proposals, the installation will be subject to a lengthy delay at best, he says. Pearson says he is "aggrieved and frustrated" by the sudden change in policy. "This review will take months, and that leaves everything on hold," he says. "The uncertainty is a big problem, it's very annoying." With the government willing to make sweeping changes to policies at short notice, businesses will find it more difficult to draw up business plans and gain financial backing, he says. "The entrepreneurial spirit is still alive in Britain, but this makes it very frustrating." Adam Twine, farmer, Oxfordshire When it comes to community schemes to generate renewable energy, Adam Twine knows what he is talking about. The organic farmer, from Westmill near the Oxfordshire/Wiltshire border, set up a community windfarm scheme a few years ago. With 2,500 investors from the local area, he raised £4.5m and set up a small windfarm with five turbines and a 6.5MW generating capacity, which has now been operating for three years. Now he wants to do the same again, this time with solar power, and has consulted with the local community and applied for planning permission for a 5MW solar panel installation that would cover about 30 acres near an old airstrip. Local people were enthusiastic, he says, and he spent about £15,000 in carrying out tests on the site, examining everything from the wildlife to the soil substructure. "What we are talking about here is the 'big society' writ large – local people getting together to generate their own energy in a clean, effective way," he says. But with the government's proposed changes to the feed-in tariff rates, his plans may no longer be viable. The windfarm was attractive to small investors because it offered a gradual but steady return, likely to average about 10% a year over 25 years – a better return than that on offer in banks. But if the feed-in tariff rates are slashed, the rate of return will be much lower, and banks may be less willing to lend the money needed, or will charge a higher interest rate, which could mean the scheme is no longer viable. He is calling for the government to make a special provision for community-based renewable energy schemes, which he says offer social advantages beyond the financial return, which he says offer social advantages beyond the financial return. • This article was amended on 14th March. It originally stated that 50kW was the size of an installation on an average UK home. It is in fact enough capacity for 15 UK homes. guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2011 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
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| Satoshi Kitamura: a life in pictures Posted: 14 Mar 2011 09:52 AM PDT Take a look at some of Japanese illustrator's greatest work, from Angry Arthur to Young Inferno
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