| trian press looks at the latest career move of one of the country’s most famous migrants, while French and German papers examine the ups and downs of Chancellor Schroeder’s political career, and the Czech press picks over a row between President Vaclav Klaus and the Czech Senate.
And five years after the of Germany’s spelling reform, a German paper awards the scheme null points for achievement.
Brain and brawn?
The Austrian paper Die Presse defends Hollywood film star Arnold Schwarzenegger’s right to run for governor of California but doubts whether he is suitable for the job.
“It’s not just professors who are entitled to become politicians,” the paper asserts.
It describes the actor as a “nice Austrian”, “sympathetic” and “successful”, but wonders whether he has the qualities needed to deal with California’s deficit and its troubled energy sector.
“Does Schwarzenegger have the understanding necessary to resolve these problems?” the paper asks.
It argues that his statements to date have amounted to “pure populism”, with their emphasis on placing “people” above “special interests”.
Mr Schwarzenegger “will need muscle power above his neck, too”, the paper points out, “if he is to grasp that… there aren’t just ‘people’ but many individuals who do have special interests which politicians must, or ought to, balance”.
Another Austrian paper, Der Standard, says that taking up politics is a clever career move for an actor who, in the paper’s view, will soon be too old to take part in action films.
“It is difficult to imagine a terminator with an old man’s face and suffering from gout,” the paper points out.
It wishes “Arnie” success if elected, but warns of the difficulties he is likely to encounter.
“The task he would have to face up to,” the paper says, “would truly be as tough as steel, and the extra hard variety of the latest generation at that.”
A man for one season?
A commentary in the French L’Express sees a seasonal pattern in the roller-coaster of the German chancellor’s political fortunes.
Just before his summer break three years ago, it recalls, Gerhard Schroeder introduced a tax reform “now regarded”, as the paper puts it, “as one of the main landmarks of his first legislature”.
Last year, it continues, “with his poll ratings at their lowest”, it was in August that Mr Schroeder “started the recovery that saw him re-elected” the following month.
“And this summer,” the paper notes, “everyone agrees that he has regained the upper hand… by launching a series of daring reforms.”
“Suddenly German morale is rising,” it says. “Employers seem to have regained their confidence, and although the economic machine has yet to restart, a growing number of experts say it should not be long now.
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One of the lasting effects of the Elbe flood is Schroeder’s government
Berliner Zeitung, Germany
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“In short,” the paper concludes, “after one month of depressed paralysis, something is stirring in Germany at last.”
Germany’s Berliner Zeitung sees Gerhard Schroeder’s response to last summer’s floods in the east of the country as the decisive factor in his re-election.
“One of the lasting effects of the Elbe flood is Schroeder’s government,” the paper says in a commentary.
It argues that the opposition candidate, Edmund Stoiber, misjudged the public mood when he said that compensation for flood damage should be financed through an increase in state debt rather than taxes.
According to the paper, solidarity shown during the flood may have helped east and west Germany grow together.
“Suddenly, in the summer of 2002, when the need became obvious, the people were prepared to help, personally and even in the form of solidarity which today is the most important, even though it is the dullest, the solidarity of paying one’s taxes,” it says.
Locked horns
In the Czech Republic, a commentary in Lidove noviny sees the row between President Vaclav Klaus and the Senate over to the country’s Constitutional Court as “a sign of the ness of Czech politics”.
“The statements made on both sides,” it says, “are both undignified and silly” and “have pushed the dispute to a point from which it is hard to see a way out of an embarrassing situation”.
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The president has chosen to fight, and the senators will take up the gauntlet
Mlada fronta dnes, Czech Republic
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Another commentator in the same daily says out that the Senate, by rejecting four of the nine names proposed by the head of state, “has turned Klaus’s nominees into a kind of alternative target” for its attacks on the president.
Hospodarske noviny says that there should be no surprise at some of the rejections in view of what the paper calls the “tarnished reputation” of those concerned. But “the verbal exchanges between the president and the Senate”, it warns, “may grow into a protracted and fierce battle” which would be “undignified for the country’s two highest institutions”.
Mlada fronta dnes says that the Senate “wants to assert its influence, as guaranteed by the Constitution”, but that “the reasons given by the senators for their rejections are neither politically-motivated nor narrow-minded”. On the other hand, what the paper calls “the offensive statements” emanating from the president’s office “have really irritated the Senate”.
“The president has chosen to fight, and the senators will take up the gauntlet”, it believes.
Spelling anarchy
An article in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung says that, five years into Germany’s spelling reform, “the handling of orthography and punctuation… can be characterised as chaotic to anarchistic”.
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Over half the population found the rules unclear
Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany
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The reform, it says, “has failed in its primary goal of unifying the literary language in European countries”.
Although 80 per cent of all newly published books are printed with the new spelling, the paper notes, only 22 per cent of Germans use the new rules, and a recent survey “showed that over half the population found the rules unclear”.
The education authorities dare not suggest revoking the reform, the paper believes, “because they fear being accused of wasting government funds”.
Forty years ago, it recalls, even biology homework was marked for spelling or punctuation mistakes. But since then, it notes, “language laxity went so far” in some states “that spelling mistakes were no longer regarded as such even in German essays”.
BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.
Source article
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But I accept even if the speedometer just nudges over the speed limit, you are in the wrong. I was told I’d been clocked doing 39mph on a suburban road with a 30mph limit, so it was a fair cop.
The first I knew of my crime was when a letter dropped onto my doormat inviting me to attend an “urban workshop” - as Thames Valley Police refer to their courses.
I did break the law, but I’m not the kind of teenage speed freak who revs over the speed bumps at 50mph in a built-up area or cuts up unsuspecting motorists on the inside lane of the motorway.
I know this is no excuse. At 35mph you are twice as likely to kill a child you hit as you are at 30mph, according to road safety charity Brake. It’s a stark statistic.
‘Criminalising all drivers’
However, it still comes as a shock after driving for more than 20 years without a single point on my licence and only one very minor bump to my name.
But I am among a new, unsuspecting class of law breakers who are finding themselves in trouble with the police - often for the first time.
Speeding is now the most common offence on the UK’s roads, according to government figures. In recent years it has made up more than one third of all driving offences dealt with by police in England and Wales.
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SPEED AND IMPACT
At 40mph 85% of people hit by vehicles die
At 30mph 20% of people hit by vehicles die
At 20mph 5% of people hit by vehicles die
SOURCE: DfT
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Part of the reason for this could be that the UK is the speed-camera capital of Europe, according to recent figures given to MPs. Numbers have risen from 1,935 in 2000 to just over 5,500 this year.
Most police authorities now offer speed awareness courses as an alternative to points on your licence. They are restricted to drivers who have exceeded the limit to a small degree.
Critics of the cameras, including MPs, say they are criminalising all drivers.
When I arrived at the Bicester training centre for my course, I have to admit I am faced with the most unlikely group of law breakers you can imagine.
The majority are slightly shocked middle-aged people like me. At a guess at least six are pensioners, only one man is in a hoodie - but he’s far too old to qualify for a hug from David Cameron.
Indignant
I find out I am one of 45,000 drivers to have attended driving courses in the Thames Valley region of Oxfordshire, Berkshire and . If my group is anything to go by, most of those won’t have fitted the stereotypical profile of your usual offender.
I was lucky to be offered the course, until April this year - when the scheme was extended - you were eligible only if you were driving up to five miles over the limit.
It costs 74, but a speeding fine is 60 and points on my licence could result in increased car insurance. I think this is what persuades most to sign up for the “urban workshops”.
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For most of us it is the first time our driving abilities have been questioned since passing our driving test at 17
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Not everyone is relieved like me to just avoid getting points. Some of my fellow “offenders” are very indignant about finding themselves on the course. They don’t consider themselves law breakers, even though the speed cameras have them down as such.
But we are not here to be judged or treated like hardened criminals, we’re told by our sharp-suited instructor Mark. He’s not a police officer, which makes the course seem less formal.
Firstly our driving ability is put to the test using an interactive computer session. Considering some older participants haven’t even used a computer mouse before, I’m not sure how much the programme reflects their driving skills.
Distracted
Designed by Professor Frank McKenna, a leading expert in driver behaviour, the programme is all about getting drivers to reassess their own habits and understand that speed is to blame for 28% of the 3,172 deaths on British roads last year.
For most of us it is the first time our driving abilities have been questioned since passing our driving test at 17.
It judges how readily you recognise potential hazards on the road, what sort of distance you would leave behind the car in front and also asks what time of day you normally drive, how tired you are, whether other drivers make you cross.
Speed was blamed for 28% of UK road deaths last year
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It highlights my “slight tendency” to get distracted. I’m quite pleased with that considering the kind of distractions my daughters regularly create in the back of the car. But apparently lack of attention is the most common reason for driving too fast.
Mark tells us speed isn’t “a bad thing”, it just needs to be appropriate to the road. Asked what the speed limits are on all types of roads, most of us knew the obvious ones but few of us knew all of them. The same goes for different stopping distances. It was quite a wake-up call.
Speed cameras don’t often get good press and Mark drew the session to a close by attempting a bit of PR spin. Contrary to popular belief they are placed only at accident black spots and are nothing to do with generating extra revenue, he says. Also, Thames Valley Police has 330 fixed speed cameras, of which only 22 are in action at any one time.
Police figures suggest one in 12 people who attends a speed awareness course is likely to be stopped again for speeding, whereas one in four drivers who collects the points is likely to reoffend.
So did it work for me? Two days later, driving along the same road where I was originally seen speeding, I spot a police officer waiting in a lay-by to catch unwitting motorists. Only this time I’m driving past at 30mph.
Below is a selection of your comments.
If 28% of accidents are caused by speeding what is being done to focus on the other 72%?
Fixing the 72% would make a bigger impact, yet all we see is the use of the blunt instrument of speed cameras.
The “safety partnership” camera van in my home town parks within a few metres of a pelican crossing used by mothers taking their kids to school, partially obscuring the crossing for oncoming motorists. In fact the zigzag lines in front of the Pelican have been shortened to allow this so that the van is not breaking the law of parking on a Pelican crossing!
Tim Banks, Knutsford
I agree with the above comments. A few 80+ neighbours have been caught and have points on their licence, while the “boy racers” get off scot-free. Incidentally, my husband was offered a place on a local course, but he was in Intensive Care when his due date arrived (some 3 months later). We lost the course money and still had to pay the 60 and he got points on his licence.
Agnes Main, Rowlands Gill, Tyne & Wear
I’d like to see car and the highways authorities work together to use technology to help reduce road deaths through speeding. Speed limit signs could be fitted with short range transmitters which cars could pick and inform drivers of the current speed limit. The system could even go as far as limiting a cars top speed in urban areas.
David Waller, Bangor, UK
I think that this is a fabulous idea. I, too, have an unblemished driving record. I like to think that I am a driver, but I know how very easy it is to slip over the limit by a few miles an hour. If I was caught the idea of points on my license would not be a pleasant thought, and I know I would take this. But more than that, just reading the article makes me think about how I need to be that little bit more aware of my speed on the road. I am going to get there eventually, so it may as well be safely!
David Richardson, Leeds, West Yorkshire
Living in the ‘Traffic Light’ and ‘Speed Camera’ capital of Europe, I find cameras can be dangerous in themselves. I agree they are designed to stop the ‘loons’ and therefore people like the lady in the story should be afforded some consideration. We have ‘Specs’ on a stretch of the M60 which reduces from 70mph to 50mph, just because of a ‘bend’ in the road… This I think is taking it too far!!!
ken morton, stockport
I wish I had been offered this choice. Last month I was given three points for speeding on a 30mph limit dual carriageway on my motorbike; a fair cop, I was more than willing to admit. However, two weeks later somebody pulled out in front of me when I was doing over 80mph in a national speed limit; regardless of whose fault it was, if I was sticking to the limit, I would not have crashed. As it is, I have two broken ribs, one fractured hand, and one written off motorbike. I can’t help feeling that if the testing process or speeding penalty process focused on education, not punishment, people like me would understand the risk they are putting themselves and others in.
Ian Ferguson, Southampton, UK
Your article mentioned ’speed being appropriate to the road’ and this is a problem: Often the speed limits are not appropriate. For example near me is a 3 mile stretch of 30mph limit. Only 1 mile of this is in a village, the rest is open countryside - inappropriate. Another problem area is breaking distances - these haven’t been reviewed since the 1960 when most cars had only drum brakes. All experts agree that actual breaking distances are much less these days.
Martin Sweet, Swindon
Motorists in the UK need to wake up to the issue of stopping distances. All too often I’m tailgated on de-restricted roads at 60mph. Its down right dangerous and the “slightly shocked middle-aged people” you refer to need to be told what a danger they are to people like me who try very hard to drive at the correct speed. Being late for the school run or work does not give you the right to endanger other motorists.
Chris, Peterborough
Mark tells us speed isn’t “a bad thing”, it just needs to be appropriate to the road.
30 miles an hour is to fast outside a school past parked cars in the wet during the day time.
In the middle of the night on the same stretch of road but this time dry, no parked vehicles etc 40 mph is almost certainly safe.
The police can recognise this, cameras can not.
Many of the most dangerous, uninsured drivers are not traced and do not pay the fines…not much of a deterrent for them to see a camera whereas I police car would be.
Michael Spears, St Albans
I’ve always been amazed that you can pass your driving test at 17 and then never be tested again in your life. I’m the only person I know that has read the Highway Code since I passed my test in 1975! If drivers were tested every 5 years then the NHS bill would be reduced, the police and fire service bill would be reduced and thousands of examiners and teachers would be employed from the charges levied. The bottom line is: the country would be a safer place.
Richard A Clifton, Wakefield
The indignant in your story are right, speeding fines, speed cameras and the whole message are the problem - they’re wrong.
Ask yourself the question, which would you rather have:
- an alert driver taking notice of the conditions and driving , at 40mph, or
- a driver travelling at 30mph with their attention distracted by looking out for speed cameras, trying to read the 30 different signs telling them what to do, with screaming kids in the back?
For all the simplistic ’speed kills’ message what actually kills is someone not being able to pay attention. The alert driver at 40mph is much more likely to avoid hitting the child at all, or to have braked to 20mph than the distracted driver at 30mph.
We need to do away with the fault message and the whole “this speed is safe” mentality. Its counterproductive. We need to actively engineer the roads to minimise the distractions, give only the clear messages needed, and to prevent kids getting on the roads in the first place.
Speed doesn’t kill, bad driving and bad roads kill.
Ian Smith, London, UK
I think you’ll find that most people caught speeding are the middle-class, big fast car demographic you found in the urban workshop. Break the speed limit and you are breaking the law, which unsurprisingly makes you a law breaker whether you are a youthful hoodie or swan around in your great big Lexus. And incidentally, I suspect the reason you have a blemish free license is more down to the fact that you just haven’t been caught and not that you never speed!
Rachael, London
I attempt to keep within the speed limit at all times, although it is hard to on motorways where the average speed of traffic is far in excess of the limit. I find that Oxfordshire and now Buckinghamshire are increasingly putting up unwarranted lower speed limits that have no relationship to the road and this is encouraging drivers to break the law. The B4009 north of Longwick in Bucks is a prime example of a 50 limit put on a clear, safe road with good visibility and minimal housing and can be (and always was) safe at 60. When I stick to these limits I rarely catch up with traffic but start to build up a ‘tail’ behind me.
Grahame, Aylesbury
We’re all guilty of having done it in the past or present, and some of us have copped for it, however, Motorway traffic is already faster than 70mph, this should in my opinion, be raised to 90mph. Cars are much safer these days, have better brakes and more safety features. the biggest problem lies with so called “Boy Racers” who tear around and cause problems, I myself am a car enthusiast, and if I want to tear around in my old sports car, I pay for a Track Day. get these Boy Racers to start paying fines for sitting in large shopping car parks and causing trouble or better yet, take away their cars and dismantle them!!!
Spencer Guest, Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Far from demonising speeding, cameras have done more to increase the social acceptability of breaking the law. All too oftem I’ve heard people warning others about where a camera is situated and how ‘the stupid camera’ snapped them when they drove past. It’s all about the camera, not what they were doing at the time. If you are a visually aware driver always looking out for hazards then you should easily spot a speed camera well in advance of it. If you get caught then you were either going so fast that slowing to a reasonable speed was impossible or you simply weren’t paying attention enough. I think dsuch drivers should be charged with paying undue care and attention instead.
Lee, Crewe
Of course doing 30mph is less dangerous than doing 40mph. So, let’s enforce the 30mph limit. But wait. Doing 20mph is even less dangerous, think of how many children will be saved. So, 20 is plenty. And why not abolish cars altogether: let’s just walk, think of how many innocent children we will save. Of course we don’t do that, because we know (even if it is not PC to say) that the benefits of driving (personal and to society in general) FAR OUTWEIGH the cost of a few thousand road deaths a year. That’s why almost all of us often speed. Me, too. I do about 50mph (like everyone else on that road) on a safe 30mph country road, every day as I drive to work and back. It takes me 30 min instead of 50. That’s 40 min each day that I can spend in more productive ways, and I feel also less tired and more efficient at work. Multiply that by millions of other “speeding” drivers over the UK, and you’ll understand how much our society benefits from the time gained by “speeding”.
Rob Barberis, Guildford
We are told that “speed cameras”are not for revenue raising, if this is correct then why do we not change to the Spanish system which simply puts a red stop light up when approached by a speeding vehicle in a restricted area , the light only changes to green when the vehicle is stationary.This is a far better system but does not generate revenue so here in the U K we do not use them.
john hedley, manchester
I was sent on a driver improvement programme by the Thames Valley force. My driving has, I think, been much safer since. I now adhere to the 30 limits but on my drive from my home to the railway station every morning, the queue of cars behind me lengthens as I move along. Obviously the majority of road users are either oblivious or arrogant towards the rules of the road and until something happens to them, their thoughtless, sometimes selfish actions will go unpunished.
Jason, Bedfordshire
Original article ‘’
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Originaly from:
Doctors have called for a review into the 6.2bn NHS computer project, according to a survey by BBC News.
The IT upgrade aims to link up 30,000 GPs to nearly 300 hospitals in a radical overhaul of the NHS IT network.
Half of the GPs said the “choose and book” online booking system was poor or fairly poor. The poll was completed by 447 hospital doctors and 340 GPs.
And in a further blow, ministers said other parts of the project were behind schedule, pushing it over budget.
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KEY PARTS OF NHS IT UPGRADE
Choose and book - A system to allow patients to book hospital appointments at a place, date and time of their convenience from GP surgeries. Nearly 10m such referrals are made each year
NHS care records service - An electronic database of patient medical records which will allow NHS staff across the country to access wherever someone is treated
Electronic prescriptions - More than 325m prescriptions are made each year. By 2007 the paper based system will be replaced with an electronic version, which will allow patients to pick up repeat prescriptions from any pharmacy in the country
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The Financial Times reported that the government had admitted the electronic records system - a database which could be accessed by health professionals anywhere in the country - was more than two years behind schedule.
Instead, the NHS has been promoting the choose and book system, which it said has helped make 400,000 appointments to date.
But in the survey, by BBC Radio 4’s File on Four, doctors remained less convinced. Four out of five GPs had access to the computer system, but half said they rarely or never use it.
Only about one in five said it was good or fairly good.
The overwhelming majority - 85% - say there should be an independent review of the entire scheme by technical experts to check its basic viability.
As well as choose and book, the upgrade also involves a medical records system for 50m patients, and fast computer network links between NHS s.
Asked if the cost of the upgrade was a good use of NHS resources, almost two-thirds of GPs and hospital doctors said no.
‘Risks’
Oxford University IT expert Professor Martyn Thomas said: “It may very well be that the programme is actually under control and they are aware of all the risks and that in due course systems will be delivered which will prove to be absolutely ideal for all the people who will need to use them.
“All I can say is it doesn’t look like that at the moment.”
But Dr Simon Eccles, from Connecting for Health, the organisation overseeing the IT project, said: “We have no difficulty with an independent assessment. We would welcome such a move.
“Our view is that we are already under enormous scrutiny, political financial and otherwise. We would be happy with further scrutiny, providing we don’t delay the project further while answering yet more questions to explain why the project is delayed.”
The poll results come as the government admitted the electronic records system could be years late and cost billions of pounds more to implement.
Health Minister Lord Warner said the government had had to “regroup” over the electronic care record for all 50m NHS patients in England, which is meant to make patients’ data available wherever and whenever it is needed.
The delays mean the electronic record may not be in place until early 2008 and are due partly to delays in providing the software, which is being developed by iSoft and other companies.
And Dr Hamish Meldrum, chairman of the British Medical Association’s GPs committee, said there were concerns over patient confidentiality that needed to be addressed before the scheme was rolled out.
And on choose and book, Dr Meldrum added: “While the concept of being able to book their hospital appointments whilst in the GPs surgery is superficially attractive, there are a whole host of technical and practical problems that have to be addressed.
“So far, experience has been very patchy in terms of how well or badly the electronic booking system works.”
And Richard Bacon, a member of the Public Accounts Committee, said the entire project had been plagued by a “whole load of problems”, while choose and book was “little short of a disaster”.
File on 4 investigates the new NHS computer system:
Radio 4, 2000BST Tuesday 30 May,
repeated 1700BST Sunday 4 June
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A sharp freeze could have dealt the killer blow that finished off our evolutionary cousins the Neanderthals, according to a new study.
The ancient humans are thought to have died out in most parts of Europe by about 35,000 years ago.
And now new data from their last known refuge in southern Iberia indicates the final population was probably beaten by a cold spell some 24,000 years ago.
The research is reported by experts from the Gibraltar Museum and Spain.
They say a climate downturn may have caused a drought, placing pressure on the last surviving Neanderthals by reducing their supplies of fresh water and killing off the animals they hunted.
Sediment cores drilled from the sea bed near the Balearic Islands show the average sea-surface temperature plunged to 8C (46F). Modern-day sea surface temperatures in the same region vary from 14C (57F) to 20C (68F).
In addition, increased amounts of sand were deposited in the sea and the amount of river water running into the sea also plummeted.
Southern refuge
Neanderthals appear in the fossil record about 350,000 years ago and, at their peak, these squat, physically powerful hunters dominated a wide range, spanning Britain and Iberia in the west to Israel in the south and Uzbekistan in the east.
Our own species, Homo sapiens, evolved in Africa, and displaced the Neanderthals after entering Europe about 40,000 years ago.
Neanderthals held on at sites like Carihuela (Image: S Fernandez Jimenez/J Carrion)
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During the last Ice Age, the Iberian Peninsula was a refuge where Neanderthals lived on for several thousand years after they had died out elsewhere in Europe.
These creatures (Homo neanderthalensis) had survived in local pockets during previous Ice Ages, bouncing back when conditions improved. But the last one appears to have been characterised by several rapid and severe changes in climate which hit a peak 30,000 years ago.
Southern Iberia appears to have been sheltered from the worst of these. But about 24,000 years ago, conditions did deteriorate there.
This event was the most severe the region had seen for 250,000 years, report Clive Finlayson, from the Gibraltar Museum; Francisco Jimenez-Espejo, from the University of Granada, Spain; and colleagues.
Their findings are published in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews.
Rare event
“It looks pretty severe and also quite short,” Professor Finlayson told BBC News.
“Things like olive trees and oak trees that are still with us today managed to ride it out. But a very fragmented, stressed population of Neanderthals - and perhaps other elements of the fauna - did not.”
The cause of this chill may have been cyclical changes in the Earth’s position relative to the Sun - so-called Milankovitch cycles.
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How Gibraltar might have looked in Neanderthal times
 More details |
But a rare combination of freezing polar air blowing down the Rhone valley and Saharan air blowing north seems to have helped cool this part of the Mediterranean Sea, to the severe conditions.
Gorham’s Cave on Gibraltar shows evidence of occupation by groups of Neanderthals until 24,000 years ago. But thereafter, researchers have found no signs of their presence.
However, in an interesting new development, scientists are also now reporting another site, from south-east Spain, which has yielded evidence for the late survival of Neanderthals.
In a study published in the journal Geobios, Jose Carrion, Santiago Fernandez Jimenez, from the University of Murcia; and colleagues analysed pollen from soil layers at Carihuela cave to determine how vegetation had changed in the area during the past 15,000 years.
They also obtained ages for sediment samples from the cave, using radiocarbon dating and dating.
Sediment layers containing Neanderthal tools were found to date from 45,000 years ago until 21,000 years ago.
Caution needed
These radiocarbon dates are “raw”, and do not exactly correspond to calendar dates. They cannot therefore be compared directly with those from Gibraltar, which are calibrated.
Spanish carried out a detailed excavation of Carihuela between 1979 and 1992. But the cave is currently closed due to a dispute between national and regional governments over rights to dig there.
Neanderthal bones have also been excavated from these sediment units, including a male skull fragment which could be very recent. But Professor Carrion is reluctant to draw conclusions.
“The human bones have been recovered in different excavation campaigns over 50 years. The relationship between them and the dates I provide must be treated with caution,” Professor Carrion told BBC News.
He added that sediments in parts of the cave could have been churned up, mixing old bones in with younger material.
Clive Finlayson suggested the late Neanderthal dates from Carihuela might agree well with those from Gibraltar once they were calibrated.
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The Kyoto Protocol on fighting climate change is to become a legally binding treaty on 16 February, the UN has said.
Russia handed official ratification papers to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in Nairobi on Thursday.
Russia’s accession gives Kyoto support from countries that emit at least 55% of the world’s greenhouse gases.
The protocol commits 55 industrialised nations to making cuts in the emission of gases such as carbon dioxide by the year 2012.
Moscow’s to the UN, Andrei Denisov, handed Russia’s accession papers to Mr Annan in Nairobi, where the Security Council is holding a special session.
Mr Annan described Russia’s accession to the Kyoto Protocol as a “historic step forward in the world’s efforts to combat a truly global threat”.
The formal ratification of the protocol ended years of uncertainty over the future of the agreement, Mr Annan added.
International disagreement
The US, the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gases, withdrew from the protocol in 2001, saying it would gravely damage the US economy.
The Bush administration also criticised the protocol for not forcing developing nations including India and China to cut emissions immediately.
Australia, which has a large coal industry, has also refused to ratify Kyoto.
The protocol was first agreed in 1997, but required the agreement of countries responsible for at least 55% of global emissions measured in 1990.
After the US pulled out, the protocol could not be ratified without Russia, responsible for 17% of emissions.
Industrialised countries will have until 2012 to cut their emissions of six key greenhouse gases to 5.2% below the 1990 level.
But some experts have claimed that a drastic cut of around 60% is needed to avoid the worst effects of global warming.
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Child Trust Funds (CTF), designed to give UK children a head start in life, are two-years-old.
The scheme was launched in a fanfare of publicity on 6 April 2005.
It is designed to give all children born after September 2002 - regardless of their background - a small cash lump sum which by the time they are 18 has grown into a whopping nest egg.
A total of 2.6 million CTF vouchers have been issued to date and proved popular with parents - after all, in essence, it’s a freebie.
For Julian and Charmian Hickman from Farnham, the CTF provides a welcome opportunity to cushion the blow of higher education costs and higher house prices.
They have two children Iona, four, and Henry, two. The future financial hurdles Iona and Henry face are causing Mr and Mrs Hickman concern.
“The financial pressures on young people are far, far greater than when I was growing up,” says Mr Hickman.
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In my view, the Child Trust Fund needs to become a life-long incentivised savings vehicle
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“I benefited from a university grant and there was no such thing as tuition fees. I am really keen that my children leave university with no debt.
“It would also be great if they could buy their own home. The past 20 years has shown us the value of having property, if they could use their CTF cash for this that would be a good thing,” he adds.
But no matter how cleverly invested, a 250 handout is unlikely to cover university costs 15 years from today, nor is it going to buy much in the way of a home.
Life-long vehicle
Mr Hickman believes that the nature of CTFs needs to change. The whole project should become more ambitious.
“It is a good start, but this thing should not just stop at 18, when the child has the right to access their CTF,” he says.
“In my view, the Child Trust Fund needs to become a life-long incentivised savings vehicle.
“People should be able to build up a CTF and access funds from it when they need to cover a deposit on a home or meet university tuition fees, but then keep it going into old-age,” Mr Hickman adds.
The government recently made moves towards this when it announced that people would be permitted to roll their CTFs into an Individual Savings Account (ISA) at age 18.
In effect, this means that people not wanting to use their CTF money at age 18 will be able to keep it shielded from the tax man for as long as they wish.
The Hickmans are paying extra into Iona and Henry’s CTF.
Topping-up can make a substantial difference, the Children’s Mutual has estimated that a CTF opened with a 250 voucher two years ago and topped-up to the tune of 24 a month is already worth 1,000 on average.
Complexity
However, not every parent has embraced CTFs in the same way as the Hickman’s.
Official figures show, that despite millions being spent marketing CTFs, a quarter of all vouchers are not invested by parents.
The parents or guardian have a year from when the voucher is issued to invest it in an approved scheme.
There are dozens of these approved plans to choose from, offered by banks, building societies and other financial institutions.
Savings plans have their annual management charges capped at 1.5%; while some invest in the stockmarket and others are straightforward deposit accounts.
If the parent or guardian forgets to invest the voucher within a year of issue it is automatically shunted into a default CTF.
Mr Hickman, who works in the City of London, blames complexity for poor take-up.
“I can see why people would be slightly bemused by the whole investment process,” he says.
“There is a definite lack of transparency out there.
“Take the charges levied by the providers, you really have to read the small print and understand jargon to see how much a CTF is actually costing,” Mr Hickman adds.
Yet according to the Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR), which was heavily involved in formulating the CTF, the advent of CTF’s has given a kick-start to childrens’ savings.
Around a third of all CTFs opened are topped-up with regular monthly payments, usually from parents.
And according to Children’s Mutual, top-ups are not just the preserve of the rich, between 20% and 30% of their low income customers are making additional contributions to a CTF.
It seems, CTFs are popular across all social groupings.
Dr Rajiv Prabhakar of the London School of Economics recently questioned parents over their attitude to the CTF.
He found that when given the choice between an enhanced child benefit payment and a child trust fund, the majority in his focus groups went for the CTF option.
“CTFs are having a real effect on UK savings culture,” says David White chief executive of the Children’s Mutual, one of the UK’s biggest provider of CTF accounts.
“People who would never have had any form of children’s savings in place now have something quite substantial. In addition, both parents and children are gaining a financial education from the whole CTF process.”
|
CHILD TRUST FUND FACTS
The government gives parents or guardians of all children born after September 2002 a voucher worth a minimum 250.
If the parents are in receipt of child tax credit then the CTF voucher is worth 500.
The government has pledged to top-up the initial CTF voucher with a further 250 payment at age seven.
Parents, grandparents, family and friends can pay in extra cash, up to 1,200 per year, into the CTF plan to boost its value.
Child Trust Fund helpline 0845 902 1470
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Revolutionary
When first mooted, CTFs were seen by some experts as quite revolutionary.
For the first time government money - in the form of the initial CTF voucher - was to be trusted to the vagaries of the stockmarket to produce a social good.
The same approach, the left-wing think-tank the IPPR suggested, could be used to target all sorts of groups of people.
For example, it is planned that children in care are to have their CTF toped-up by local authorities so to give them a better start in life.
In addition, campaigners are lobbying the government to match contributions made by low income families into CTFs.
But what the IPPR dubbed the ‘asset based approach’ to welfare seems to have run out of steam, perhaps due to tightening of government finances.
Money wasted
As it enters its third year, CTFs are not without their critics.
Vince Cable, Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesman, has called for CTFs to be scrapped.
New born babies receive vouchers worth at least 250
|
Chief amongst Mr Cable’s gripes are that CTFs are poorly targeted as all families, regardless of income, benefit.
In addition, Mr Cable has argued that the provision that children get unlimited access to their CTF at age 18 is fundamental flaw.
What is to stop them “wasting” their CTF cash on a couple of weeks in the sun for example?
With such political opposition and increasing constraints on national finances, Mr Hickman does not hold out much hope for the long term prospects of CTFs.
“I do not trust politicians to see this through. When I discuss CTFs with friends, the overwhelming view is take advantage of it while it is still available,” he says.
But according to Mr White, woe-betide any government choosing to scrap CTFs.
“By the time of the next election millions of families will be benefiting from CTFs and won’t vote for a party looking to deny others the opportunity,” he says.
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Tension has remained high in the region since the kidnapping of the villagers on Tuesday.
The curfews in the Muslim-majority towns of Kalmunai and Sammanturai were relaxed for Friday prayers but then immediately re-imposed, police officials told the AFP news agency
The move came as Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) leaders meet in Paris to decide whether to return to the peace process they walked out of in April.
Tigers’ denial
The Sri Lankan Government says it will recruit 500 policemen from the curfew area to try to curb violence against the minority Muslims.
The Tigers have denied any involvement in the abduction of the villagers, blaming those “opposed to the peace process”.
The rebels have also denied involvement in the killing of four Muslims in the east in the past week.
Tension has risen between Tamil and Muslim communities
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Muslim politicians, however, accused the Tamil Tigers of the killings while Norway, which is brokering the peace process, expressed “grave concern” to the Tigers over the deaths.
Muslims make up about 7.5% of the Sri Lankan population, compared to 74% Sinhalese and 12.6% Tamil.
The meeting of Tigers leaders is being held in France so that expatriate Tamil experts can be consulted.
It is expected to last up to 10 days and there has been no firm indication yet that the Tigers will set a date for the resumption of talks.
The Tigers pulled out of negotiations with the Sri Lankan Government on 21 April after accusing it of failing to meet promises made during six rounds of peace talks which followed a ceasefire in February 2002.
The rebels have been insisting that the government give them control over an interim administration for the whole of north-eastern Sri Lanka.
But the BBC’s Sri Lanka correspondent, Frances Harrison, says the Tigers have now mellowed to the point where they are willing to put forward their own ideas on how power-sharing should work.
Billions of dollars of foreign aid, pledged in June for rebuilding the country, hinges on progress in peace negotiations.
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E-mails claiming to contain details of the storms that battered Europe contain a malicious virus, security firms warn.
The e-mails with the subject line “230 dead as storm batters Europe”, can leave computers vulnerable to attack.
The messages were first detected as the storms, which have killed at least 28 people, continued to rage.
Variants of the Windows virus have circulated for several days, but experts were surprised at how quickly the new modified virus appeared.
“The new virus only started spreading a few hours ago,” said Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at security firm F-Secure. “The spamming started when the storms were still raging.”
Mr Hypponen believes the adaptation was designed to take advantage of the interest in the storms.
Security firms advise computer users not to open e-mail attachments unless they are expecting them and to keep security software up to date.
Slave network
Malicious coders often take advantage of celebrity names or large news events to spread viruses and worms.
in 2005, an e-mail scam offering regular news updates following Hurricane Katrina spread a virus that allowed hackers to take control of a computer user’s files.
“Malware writers will use any newsworthy event to try and gain a few minutes of airtime and infect a few unprepared computer users,” said a spokesperson for security firm McAfee.
The new virus, called Small.DAM, was spread through e-mails with a variety of subject lines purporting to be news. Other variants included “British Muslims Genocide” and “U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza…”
The virus is a trojan - a program or message that look benign but contains malicious code - that is installed when a user opens the e-mail and clicks on an attachment. The attachment could be called Video.exe, Read More.exe, Full Clip.exe or Full Story.exe. It can only infect Windows PCs.
“When you click on the attachment it installs a backdoor on the infected PC giving full access to the virus writer to do anything they want,” said Mr Hypponen.
“What they typically do is search your hard drive for credit card numbers and e-mail addresses because they can resell both of those.”
Typically, said Mr Hypponen, the virus writers will then use the computer in a botnet - network of slave machines used to support all kinds of cyber crimes such as sending spam and phishing e-mails.
Users would not be aware that their computer was infected.
F-secure said it had seen “hundreds of thousands of e-mails sent” but did not know how many machines were infected.
“How many people clicked on it? It could be thousands or tens of thousands,” said Mr Hypponen.
However, most firms treated the virus as a low security threat and have now issued security updates.
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NHS hospitals and ambulance crews are to get radiation equipment to enable them to detect dirty bombs.
The move is part of government efforts to ensure the NHS and other emergency services can cope in the event of a major terrorist attack.
Ministers have previously announced plans to install detectors in ports and airports. Equipment is also going to police and fire officers.
The government says the steps are being taken as a precaution.
Radiation exposure
Under the plans, every A&E department in the country will receive monitors to enable doctors to see if any patient admitted following an attack has been exposed to radiation.
Ambulance crews will be issued with personal radiation dosimeters to enable them to test for radiation at the scene of an incident.
 |
We will continue to review and adapt these measures
Beverley Hughes,
Home Office Minister
|
Officials are also looking at whether equipment used by the military to detect the release of chemicals can be adapted for use in hospitals and by emergency response teams.
Extra money is also being made available to ensure NHS staff are fully trained to deal with the aftermath of any attack.
A&E staff are being sent on two-day courses to bring them up to speed on the biological agents that could be used by terrorists.
GPs are being sent “clinical action cards”, which aim to help them to treat patients caught up in a biological attack.
Hospital consultants specialising in communicable and infectious diseases are to receive extra training to ensure they are also up-to-date.
The NHS has also received thousands of protection suits for key staff for use in the event of a attack.
The plans are outlined in a document called The Scientific Response to Terrorism, which was produced in response to a report by the Commons science and technology committee last year.
Home Office Minister Beverley Hughes said the government would keep its plans to deal with an attack under review.
“Our security arrangements are regarded by experts as among the most disciplined and highly co-ordinated in the world.
“We will continue to review and adapt these measures to ensure that the public can go about their business with the confidence that everything possible is being done to protect them.”
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Newspapers and media commentators on several continents focus much attention on the long-term implications of Lord Hutton’s report, both for the BBC and the British Government.
In Europe, the press argues over how fairly the blame has been apportioned and weighs up the report’s consequences for both sides.
Elsewhere, some papers see the outcome as a crippling blow for the corporation, while others predict that the story is far from over.
Mr Blair hopes to be able to use the report to restore his credibility in Great Britain. For the fact that he has forfeited a great deal of it - not only among his members of parliament and his party supporters, but among the public too - has not escaped the British prime minister.
Germany’s Frankfurter Rundschau - by Peter Nonnenmacher
It is true that being independent is a basic virtue in journalism, but if it does not come with reporting of the highest rigour, it can only lead to disrepute… Having seen the ruling, the BBC could do nothing to recover its prestige other than take on its responsibility, as Mr Blair would have had to do if there had been an unfavourable verdict.
Spain’s El Mundo
Not even Mr Blair’s most devoted spin doctors could have delivered a more devout defence… Hutton has resolved the conflict. He lays practically all the blame on the BBC… The obvious conclusion is that Hutton submitted a report which served the interests of the state. Blair won a short-term victory, democracy suffered a defeat.
Sweden’s Aftonbladet
The BBC is not alone in having made mistakes. But the news corporation, its journalist and his bosses bear chief responsibility for this unfortunate affair… The BBC’s credibility stands and falls on the corporation’s journalism being 100% honest, truthful and fair.
Denmark’s Information
Hutton’s assessment was as comprehensive as it was devastating, going to the heart of the BBC’s credibility by indicting every level of the BBC hierarchy - from its flawed reporting, to its defective editorial systems, to its ineffectual board of governors… The effect will likely drain public trust from an institution which until now has been considered sacrosanct.
Israel’s Jerusalem Post - report by David Douglas
Blair and the leaders of the Labour Party have so far overcome these challenges in a way that was considered a victory. But this victory is still fraught with risks, the most significant among which is the position of the British public, which still has not given its final word on the results of Labour Party policy. This policy has made a negative impact on the British people.
Syria’s Tishrin by Nadim Hatim
Prime Minister Tony Blair of Britain has given an impressive demonstration of how good governance can also be smart politics… Its report leaves him substantially vindicated, even though the reporting of British intelligence agencies on Iraq now appears to have been disastrously inaccurate… Establishing that the British Government did not lie is not the same as showing that it proceeded wisely or even competently in this area.
US daily New York Times
The Hutton report will cause far-reaching changes in the operation of the BBC and it will take many years for its dented image to be rehabilitated.
Israel’s Haaretz
Lord Hutton’s report, its conclusions and inferences about the circumstance of the suicide of British weapons expert David Kelly, remain an internal British issue from our point of view as Arabs… This does not mean that the file of the issue has been completely closed… Arab countries should raise their voices to demand a further investigation.
Qatar’s Al-Watan
The Blair battle was naturally a media battle in which the most renowned media organisation was implicated, and in which some of its journalists took an opposition stand against Blair by weaving their own stories, saying that Blair doctored the intelligence dossier to justify the war and influence public opinion.
London Al-Sharq al-Awsat - by Abd-al-Rahman Al-Rashid
To be fair, it is worth saying that even the findings of Lord Hutton’s meticulous investigation, which lasted almost half a year, make no pretence at being the final truth, and it is early days yet to regard this matter as closed.
Russia’s Novyye Izvestiya by Yelena Ogneva
The last few days have shown that Blair’s victories are just tactical. Strategically speaking, the prime minister is in a bad way. He is continuing to lose his party… As for the “Kelly affair”, it cannot be considered closed yet.
Russia’s Nezavisimaya Gazeta by Yuliya Petrovskaya
Tony Blair’s position remains difficult. Britain’s involvement in the military invasion of Iraq, which was not backed up by substantive arguments, has undermined his authority.
Russia’s Krasnaya Zvezda by Vadim Markushin
Lord Justice Hutton’s report has helped Blair prove his innocence in the Kelly affair, but the problems that Blair faces will still be severe. First of all, until now, a lot of the British public still cannot understand why Blair had to follow the US into war against Iraq.
Shanghai’s Jiefang Ribao (Liberation Daily)
Observers in the UK believe that the Hutton report was obviously advantageous to the British government and it has eased the huge political pressure which the Blair government faced because of the Kelly controversy, but Blair still cannot get out of the cloud of “Iraq-gate”.
Beijing’s Beijing Qingnian Bao (Beijing Youth Daily)
Britain is today a tired ex-this, ex-that country which is boxing above its weight internationally by pretending to be in a joint ride with its former colony, now global power, the USA… He [Blair] is the only person left in the wide world who believes that weapons of mass destruction will be found in Iraq… He can only go down, not up anymore. It is a question of when, not if, Blair leaves.
Uganda The New Vision by Abdul Raheem Tajudeen
The censure of the BBC could affect more than just its personnel. Blair mentioned in Parliament that the corporation’s special charter, dating from 1922, comes up for renewal in 2006. Some took that as a veiled threat that the BBC’s special legal status could be altered and it might have to submit to independent regulation as do other media outlets, rather than be controlled by its board of governors.
US daily Los Angeles Times
Because the BBC is overseen by the government and raises most of its funds through a compulsory licensing fee, Blair will have the principal role in choosing a successor to (the former chairman) Gavyn Davies.
US daily Washington Post
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