MODERN STUDIES NEWS REVIEW



MODERN STUDIES NEWS REVIEW

Number 88 – march 2010

25/02/10: ONE IN EIGHT COUNCIL JOBS FACE THE AXE: More than 30,000 council jobs will be lost across Scotland over the next 4 years, according to a nightmare scenario facing local authorities. The possible scale of losses – equivalent to one in eight of the current workforce – emerged in the light of savings proposed by one of Scotland’s best-performing local authorities, West Lothian, where 1,000 of its full-time posts will go in the next financial year. If every one of Scotland’s 32 councils sheds the same proportion of posts it will result in the local government workforce, currently standing at 250,000 strong, being reduced by nearly 32,000 by 2014.

25/02/10: FAULTY INTELLIGENCE LED TO THE DEATHS OF EIGHT AFGHAN BOYS: A night-time raid by NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan in which 8 schoolboys from one family (the youngest only 12) were killed was carried out on the basis of faulty intelligence and should never have been authorised. Ten children and teenagers died when troops stormed a remote mountain village near the border with Pakistan in December 2009.

25/02/10: OUTCRY AS RBS PAYS OUT BONUSES: Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), which is 84 per cent owned by the British taxpayer, will pay out £1.3 billion in bonuses to its investment bankers after reporting a £3.6 billion pre-tax loss for the past financial year. The loss for the 12 months to December 31 is far below the £24.3 billion loss that RBS reported for 2008, a record for any British company. However, the bank is expected to face criticism over its decision to reward bankers from a £1.3 billion bonus pool after receiving billions of pounds in taxpayers' money during the recession to save it from collapse. More than 100 bankers will take home bonuses of at least £1 million.

26/02/10: TEACHERS MUST PASS NEW TESTS TO KEEP THEIR JOBS: Scotland’s 53,000 teachers will be required to undertake regular “career MOTs” as part of moves to improve standards in the classroom. The Scottish Government announced the introduction of the new system for monitoring performance although no details have yet been given as to how the system will work. However, it is likely to involve monitoring of the continuous training teachers are expected to undergo as part of their job, possibly every 5 years. Teachers who do not meet required standards will be expected to take the necessary training in order to be allowed to continue teaching and, in extreme circumstances, could face being struck off if they fail to address their professional shortfalls.

Page 1

01/03/10: FEARS FOR BRITONS AS CHILEAN EARTHQUAKE TOLL HITS 708: The Foreign Office tried to trace British holidaymakers trapped in central Chile (South America) as the death toll from the tsunami, which rolled across the Pacific Ocean and struck the country on Saturday 27th February, reached 708. At least 1.5 million homes were destroyed and rescue workers battled to find survivors trapped in the wreckage while aftershocks battered the country. The Chilean army is now in control of the country.

01/03/10: GORDON BROWN’S POPULARITY ON THE RISE: Strange though it may seem, the Prime Minister’s popularity is increasing while David Cameron’s (Conservative Party leader) has taken a dive. Alex Salmond’s popularity has also plunged due to Gordon Brown’s dramatic comeback. A MORI poll of more than a thousand Scots revealed that Alex Salmond’s rating had slumped by 9 percentage points from only 6 months ago while Gordon Brown’s had risen by 9 percentage points in the same period. It also revealed Scots liked David Cameron but not his party.

01/03/10: TEACHERS TOLD: SHOW REASONS FOR HOLDING UP A CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE: Scottish Education Secretary Michael Russell insisted he is willing to postpone Scotland’s new school curriculum if teachers are not ready to implement it but said there will be “no delay for delay’s sake”. Mr Russell said “There are some who are calling for delay because change is difficult. I and indeed Parliament require evidence and advice in April before I make any decisions”. His decision is likely to be based on the HMIE’s confirmation that it will provide evidence from its recent inspections of schools to help the management board evaluate the readiness of the new system.

02/03/10: GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL LEADER RESIGNS: Steven Purcell, the leader of Glasgow City Council, resigned from his post for personal reasons after concerns were raised by friends and family about his health. His departure was understood to be due to overwork, stress caused by the SPT (Strathclyde Partnership for Transport) expenses scandal, the dispute with Holyrood over funding for a Glasgow Airport-to-City of Glasgow rail link and the on-going preparations for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. However, the media later revealed that Mr Purcell had a cocaine habit and it was this which compelled him to tender his resignation. Rumours of his addiction had been known to senior Labour figures for the past 2 years.

Page 2

03/03/10: TORY DONOR ROW DEEPENS: Senior Conservatives expressed growing unease over the Lord Ashcroft tax saga as new evidence emerged to contradict the billionaire donor’s account of how he became a peer. The Party’s Deputy Chairman shocked colleagues when he revealed that he had not paid tax on his overseas fortune since becoming a member of the House of Lords 10 years ago. Conservative Party leader David Cameron tried in vain to draw a line under the affair which threatens to damage his party’s chances in the forthcoming election.

03/03/10: BULGER KILLER COULD FACE LIFE IN PRISON: Jon Venables, one of the killers of 2-year-old James Bulger, has been returned to prison where he could spend the rest of his life after breaching the terms of his release and committing child pornography offences. Venables, who was only 10 when he killed two-year-old James in 1993, was recalled to prison, the Department of Justice confirmed last night. It refused to divulge the nature of his offence. Before Venables, and Robert Thompson, his fellow murderer, also aged 10 at the time, were released on licence in 2001 the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, said that they would be “liable to be recalled to custody for the rest of their lives if they do not comply with the terms of their licence”. One of the conditions of their release, when they were granted controversial anonymity orders, was that they do not return without prior consent to Merseyside, where they killed James in February 1993. They would also be returned to custody if they committed a criminal offence or tried to approach anyone from the Bulger family. They were also banned from contacting each other. The decision on what happens to Venables will be taken by the Parole Board. Within 28 days of the recall, he will appear before a hearing. If returned to custody, he will have the right to appeal after a year and then after every subsequent two years. Criminal law experts said it was likely that the breach was serious. Michael Wolkind, QC, said: “To go to all the trouble of building him a new identity and a new life, there must be a significant chance it was serious.” Laurence Lee, Venables’ solicitor at the time of the crime, said he was shocked. He said: “If I were a betting man and someone said to me, “One of the two killers of Jamie Bulger (right) had been arrested and returned to prison’, I would have put a lot of money on it not being Jon because he was by unanimous agreement the lesser evil.

The boys’ abduction of James from the Strand Shopping Centre (above right) on February 13, 1993, became one of the most notorious crimes of the century. The child’s body was found by children playing on a railway line two miles from the shopping centre in Bootle, Lancashire.

Page 3

Page 3

05/03/10: BROWN ACCUSED OF UNDERFUNDING BRITISH TROOPS IN IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN: Soldiers lives were lost in Iraq and Afghanistan because Gordon Brown failed to fund the army properly when he was Chancellor of the Exchequer according to a former chief of defence staff. Mr Brown faced the Chilcott Inquiry into the Iraq war knowing that Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank had told The Times newspaper that Mr Brown’s under-funding in both wars had cost the lives of British soldiers. In his interview he said that Mr Brown should be asked why he was so unsympathetic towards the Defence Ministry and so sympathetic to other Government departments. The Chilcott Inquiry had already heard that defence chiefs had threatened to resign after Mr Brown ordered defence cuts 6 years ago while troops were fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Ministry of Defence was forced to reduce helicopter projects and cut troop levels in both theatres of war.

08/03/10: DEATH & DEFIANCE: DEMOCRACY IN IRAQ: Bomb blasts and grenade fire failed to stop 19 million Iraqis from voting in an election which was vital to their country’s fragile democracy. Despite a series of explosions that killed at least 38 people, long queues were reported at polling stations. Early figures indicated a turnout of between 50% and 60% compared with 76% in the previous election in 2005.

08/0310: THREE LEAP TO DEATH IN HIGH-RISE SUICIDE PACT: Two men and a woman leapt to their deaths from the 15th storey of a Glasgow tower block. The three were tied together and discovered lying at the base of the Red Road flats in the Springburn area of the city. The flats are used to house asylum seekers and immigrants from Kosovo, Africa, Asia, Iran, Iraq and the former Soviet Union (Russia). The trio were from Russia (husband, wife and adult step-son) and were in the process of applying for asylum. They had lived in the UK since 2007. The husband had a history of mental illness.

10/03/10: HARD LINE ON KNIFE CRIME: More criminals are being sent to prison and offenders are receiving longer sentences for carrying knives, according to official figures. The length of sentences for handling offensive weapons rose by 21% in 2008-09 and the average length of time in prison was 263 days – double the length of average jail terms in 2005-06.

Page 4

12/03/10: DEVINE DENIES FRAUD: Jim Devine, Labour MP for Livingston, pled not guilty to expenses fraud charges at Westminster Magistrates Court. Mr Devine appeared with fellow Labour backbenchers Elliot Morley and David Chaytor who tendered the same plea during the 15-minute hearing. Along with Lord Hanningfield, the four defendants face a total of 13 charges of theft under the Theft Act 1968, relating to more than £60,000 of taxpayers’ money. If convicted, they face up to 7 years in jail.

[pic]

13/03/10: RISE IN NUMBER OF YOUNG PEOPLE SELF-HARMING: The number of young people admitted to hospital after cutting themselves deliberately is up by more than 50% in five years, according to new figures. There were 2,727 admissions in the UK for self-harm with a sharp object among under-25s in 2008/09, compared with 1,758 in 2004/05. "We are sure this is just the tip of the iceberg," said Professor Keith Hawton at Oxford University. "Pressures have increased and there's much more expected of young people." The number of young people admitted to hospital after cutting themselves deliberately is up by more than 50% in five years, according to new figures.

15/03/10: LEGAL LOOPHOLE WHICH PREVENTS LORDS IN THE EXPENSES SCANDAL FROM BEING TRIED BY JURY: An ancient law, which allows members of the House of lords to be tried “by their peers” (other Lords), was invoked to give protection to members of the Upper House from trial by a court of law. It means that Lord Hanningfield (pictured above) will escape being prosecuted by Westminster Magistrates Court as he can only be tried by his fellow peers.

16/03/10: EUROPEAN UNION DEFICIT WARNING: Prime Minister Gordon Brown was dealt a blow by the EU as it emerged that Britain had been told it must cut its ever-increasing debt. Government Ministers must make more savings and say where the axe will fall. This is embarrassing for the Prime Minister in the run-up to the General Election in May.

Page 5

16/03/10: GLASGOW’S NEW COMMONWEALTH GAMES LOGO REVEALED: It took 9 months, 3 offices and £95,000 for Marque Creative to produce the new logo for the 2014 Commonwealth Games. Public opinion is that the result is less than impressive. To make matters worse, a similar logo was designed by the same company for The Common Guild in 2007. Compare the difference for yourself – the Common Guild design is on the left and the Commonwealth Games design on the right.

16/03/10: WORLD’S SMALLEST MAN DIES: The world’s smallest man – He PingPing – died of heart failure at the age of 21. He is pictured (right) with the woman who has the world’s longest legs. He PingPing was 2’ 5” (73 centimetres) and was born in China in 1988. At birth, he was small enough to fit into the palms of his parents’ hands.

17/03/10: SCOTLAND RULES THE WAVES: The world’s first commercial leases to provide wave and tidal power have been awarded to northern Scotland. They are located in the Pentland Firth and around the Orkney Islands. The ten schemes are expected to generate up to 1,200 megawatts of power by 2020 – enough to supply 750,000 homes.

17/03/10: GLASGOW’S SUBWAY SERVICES FACE THE AXE : The frequency of trains on Glasgow’s subway is to be cut during off-peak periods in a desperate attempt to bring the cost of running the ageing system under control. Strathclyde Partnership for Transport, which runs the 113 year-old network, is proposing to increase the length of time between trains from 8 minutes to 12 in the evenings and on Sundays to address an overspend of £3.4 million. Critics say the subway, which is already underused by the public, will face greater losses as people opt for alternative forms of transport.

18/03/10: DRUG DEATHS: The Government’s advisers have recommended that the “legal high” mephodrone drug should be banned because of the potentially serious risks to public health. The drug, which has been linked to four deaths and is known on the streets as “miaow-miaow”, will be banned this summer.

Page 6

19/03/10: PLANES AND TRAINS ON COURSE FOR STRIKE CHAOS: Rail and air bosses were locked in a trial of strength with the trade unions as industrial action threatened to bring chaos in the run-up to Easter. The RMT (Rail, Maritime and Transport) union balloted its members to decide whether or not to go ahead with 3 days of strikes at British Airways. Meanwhile, railway maintenance workers and signalmen voted to strike over job cuts and an efficiency drive. A strike by signalers would halt trains across the country.

21/03/10: OBAMA’S HEALTHCARE BILL IS PASSED BY CONGRESS: It took only 8 votes for President Obama’s healthcare bill to become law. This means that the Democrats’ dream of healthcare for all has become a reality. President Obama’s victory in the healthcare debate is a person triumph that has eluded every other Democratic president of the past century and has the potential to re-launch his presidency as a period of historic reform. The new Healthcare Act will help millions to find affordable health insurance for the first time but it was fiercely opposed by both America’s opposition party, the Republicans, and by some of President Obama’s own supporters. Republican lawyers in at least 12 states have threatened legal action to repeal President Obama's historic healthcare Bill.

23/03/10: ISRAEL DEFIES THE USA: Israel defied American pressure to halt the construction of controversial Jewish housing in Arab east Jerusalem. It was left to President Obama to resolve the worst political breakdown in decades between America and its closest regional ally, Israel, and attempt to get the Arab-Israeli peace process moving again.

23/03/10: LABOUR PARTY SUSPENDS THREE SENIOR MPs: Three senior Labour MPs were facing political ruin last night after the party suspended them over allegations that they were prepared to take money to influence policy. Stephen Byers, Geoff Hoon and Patricia Hewitt were all suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party over comments to a reporter posing as a lobbyist for Channel 4’s Dispatches. Mr Byers, the former Transport Secretary, told the reporter that he was a “cab for hire” for up to £5,000 a day, while Ms Hewitt, a former Health Secretary, recommended paying a think-tank to sit next to a minister at dinner. Mr Hoon, who as Chief Whip used to be in charge of party discipline, shocked Labour insiders by telling the undercover reporter that his diary was largely free in April — the month of the general election campaign. All three were suspended by Mr Hoon’s successor as Chief Whip, Nick Brown, and Ray Collins, General Secretary of the Labour Party.

23/03/10: 500 SOLDIERS FACE LOSING THEIR JOBS: 500 British soldiers face losing their jobs after the Ministry of Defence (MoD) admitted that poor budgeting had resulted in a funding deficit of £80 billion. The MoD may need to cancel a number of multibillion-pound equipment projects to tackle its growing debts. Despite the conflict in Afghanistan, the Armed Forces are preparing for massive cuts to both equipment and personnel budgets under a defence review which will take place after the May General Election. The MoD is committed to a list of new kit, from armoured vehicles to fighter jets, but lacks the money to foot the bill.

Page 7

24/03/10: ISRAELI ‘SPY’ EXPELLED FROM THE UK : A serious breakdown in relations between Britain and Israel occurred after a criminal investigation uncovered evidence that the Israelis had cloned (copied) the UK passports used in the assassination of a senior Hamas leader in Dubai. Hamas is an Arab Islamic organization which has its own paramilitary force called the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades. As a result of this Britain, expelled a senior Israeli diplomat who is believed to be the Mossad station chief in London. Mossad is the Israeli secret service.

24/03/10: ASTHMA RISK TO CHILDREN PROMPTS CALL FOR SMOKING BAN IN CARS: Doctors throughout the country are calling on the Scottish Government to ban people from smoking in cars in a bid to cut health risks to children from cigarette fumes. This comes as a new report estimates that passive smoking (inhaling the cigarette smoke of others) causes 22,600 new cases of asthma and wheezing in children every year in the UK with 4,000 of them in Scotland.

25/03/10: THE CHANCELLOR’S PRE-ELECTION BUDGET: With a General Election expected in early May, Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling presented what could be his last budget. He delivered a cautious pre-election budget, ruling out "shortsighted" spending cuts in favour of securing a strong economic recovery. Mr Darling told MPs today that immediate cuts to spending would be "wrong" since the economic recovery was still in its "infancy". Describing his budget as "sensible and workmanlike" rather than a traditional pre-election giveaway, he announced the following measures:

• Stamp duty threshold would be doubled to £250k, paid for by an increase of 5% for homes worth over £1m.

• A staging of next month's fuel duty increase, to rise by 1p in April, followed by a further 1p rise in October and the remaining 1p in January next year.

• The extension of a guaranteed offer of jobs or training to young people under the age of 24.

• The duty on cider will increase by 10% above inflation from midnight on Sunday.

• Duty on beer, wine and spirits will increase as planned from midnight on Sunday. Alcohol duties will also increase by 2% above inflation for two further years from 2013.

Page 8

-----------------------

Lord Ashcroft

[pic]

[pic]

Chancellor Alistair Darling

Chancellor Alistair Darling

[pic]

Byers Hewitt Hoon

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

AFGHANISTAN CASUALTY FIGURES

The number of British soldiers killed in action in Afghanistan now stands at 275. As the number of British deaths in Afghanistan passed the 270 mark, the figure is now much higher than in the Iraq War (2003) and even the Falklands conflict (1982).

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

THE TEN WORST PASSWORDS TO USE ONLINE

According to Imperva, the following passwords should never be used online. With around 50% of people using the same (or very similar) passwords for all the websites they use, there are concerns that they are unwittingly leaving themselves at risk of online fraud. So don’t use:-

12345

123456

1234567

12345678

123456789

password

iloveyou

princess

rockyou

abc123

Elliot Morley David Chaytor Jim Devine Lord Hanningfield

[pic]

AFGHAN DEATH TOLL (March 2010)

• 2,412 violent civilian deaths

• 1,630 killed by Taleban – executions, suicide bombings, explosions etc

• 596 killed by NATO or Afghan forces

• 186 deaths from other causes

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

“ Facts established at trial show that, at this location (railway track), one of the boys threw blue modelling paint on James Bulger's face. They kicked him and hit him with bricks, stones and a 22-pound (10.0 kg) iron bar. They then placed batteries in his mouth. James suffered skull fractures as a result of the iron bar striking his head. Alan Williams, the case's pathologist, speculated that James suffered so many injuries that none could be isolated as the fatal blow. Before they left him, the boys laid James across the railway tracks and weighted his head down with rubble, in hopes that a train would hit him and make his death appear an accident. After his killers left the scene, James’s body was cut in half by a train. His severed body was discovered two days later, on 14 February. A forensic pathologist testified that James had died before he was struck by the train.”

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

[pic]

................
................

In order to avoid copyright disputes, this page is only a partial summary.

Google Online Preview   Download