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A pair of dogs which have lived together since they were puppies have a special reason for sticking together – one acts as a guide for the other.
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Orhan Pamuk is nominated for The Museum of Innocence, published by Faber and Faber Turkey’s Orhan Pamuk, winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature for 2006, is one of six writers shortlisted for the 2011 Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.
Pamut, who won the first such award in 1990, is shortlisted for The Museum of Innocence, a tale of forbidden love in Istanbul translated by Maureen Freely.
Authors from Peru, Venezuela, Germany, Argentina and Norway are also cited.
The £10,000 prize is given to a living author whose book has been translated into English and published in the UK.
The award acknowledges both the winning author and his or her translator, both of whom share the prize money.
Norwegian writer Per Petterson, who previously won the prize in 2006, is nominated again for I Curse the River of Time, translated by Charlotte Barslund.
Three novels originally written in Spanish have been shortlisted – Red April by Peru’s Santiago Roncagliolo; Kamchatka by the Argentine Marcelo Figueras; and The Sickness, the debut novel from Venezuelan author Alberto Barrera Tyszka.
Visitation, the third novel by German writer Jenny Erpenbeck, completes the shortlist.
Panelist Boyd Tonkin said the award “both salutes some much-loved authors and introduces exciting new voices”.
The prize, he added, “also pays tribute again to the art of the translators who have brought these compelling stories to an English-language readership”.
The winner of the prize – funded by Arts Council England – will be announced at a London ceremony on 26 May.
Last year’s prize went to Philippe Claudel for Brodeck’s Report, translated from the French by American John Cullen.
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About 1,000 people in Scotland were asked what policies should be prioritised Cutting cancer treatment waiting times and maintaining the number of police on the streets are the top two priorities for Scotland in the Holyrood elections, according to a poll for BBC Scotland.
The exclusive ICM survey also suggested strong backing for free university education – which was ranked third.
The BBC poll asked people to rate 25 issues taken from party manifestos.
The lowest ranking went to the Tory policy of letting 14-year-olds leave school to train for a trade.
Second lowest priority was given to the plan to build a new bridge across the River Forth.
The idea of combining Scotland’s eight police forces into a single national force was also in the bottom three, despite the plan being suggested to save money for frontline policing.
For the poll, ICM Research interviewed a random sample of 1,004 adults by telephone between 5 and 8 April.
Interviews were conducted across Scotland and the results were weighted to the profile of all Scottish adults.
In terms of parties, the top-ranked policy was in the Labour manifesto; to cut the waiting time for suspected cancer cases to see a specialist from four weeks to two.
Other parties also had policies which were designed to cut health waiting lists or shorten waiting times.
The issue of keeping up the number of police on the streets follows an initiative by the SNP government, backed by the Conservatives, to increase the strength of Scotland’s forces by 1,000 officers.
The third ranked policy, that of retaining free university education, was supported by the Liberal Democrats as well as the SNP and Labour. Only the Tories proposed a graduate charge.
More than one party will claim ownership of the policy which is ranked fourth – that of spending more money on apprenticeships for unemployed young people.
Below that, the next focus is upon the council tax – a hugely contentious issue in these elections.
Placed fifth in the poll was a Conservative policy of cutting the council tax for all households where all the adults are pensioners.
In sixth place comes a policy now effectively backed by all the major parties: a council tax freeze for the next two years.
Below that, in seventh place, lies the Lib Dem policy of scrapping the council tax for the poorest pensioners.
Turning to the bottom of the poll, it seems voters do not accord high priority to the idea of replacing the council tax with a local income tax. That comes in at number 21.
That has been contentious in these elections although the parties advocating it, the SNP and the Lib Dems, now say that it would have to await the further devolution of income tax powers which means effectively deferring it for a further Holyrood election.
Ranked at number 22 is the SNP idea of holding a referendum on whether Scotland should become an independent country.
That relatively low ranking may be partly explained by the present focus on immediate economic concerns.
In practice, the SNP have tended to major on other issues while stressing their determination to bring forward a referendum bill if they are re-elected.
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Gordon Brown said he had to accept responsibility for his part in the banking collapse Gordon Brown has admitted he made a “big mistake” over the handling of financial regulation in the run-up to the UK’s banking crisis of 2008.
The former prime minister told a US conference he had not realised the “entanglements” of global institutions.
He said: “We set up the FSA believing the problem would come from the failure of an individual institution. That was the big mistake.
“We didn’t understand just how entangled things were.”
Mr Brown said he had to “accept my responsibility” but added he was not the only one who had made mistakes.
Mr Brown told the Institute for New Economic Thinking in Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, that he had been under “relentless pressure” from the City not to over-regulate.
“We know in retrospect what we missed. We set up the Financial Services Authority (FSA) believing that the problem would come from the failure of an individual institution,” he said.
“So we created a monitoring system which was looking at individual institutions. That was the big mistake.
“We didn’t understand how risk was spread across the system, we didn’t understand the entanglements of different institutions with the other and we didn’t understand even though we talked about it just how global things were, including a shadow banking system as well as a banking system.
“That was our mistake, but I’m afraid it was a mistake made by just about everybody who was in the regulatory business.”
Mr Brown said the banking meltdown had forced a rethink of financial regulation “in its entirety”.
“I have got to accept my responsibility and I do, and I have been very open about saying we made mistakes on that,” he said.
“But in a world where the understanding of what global meant was incomplete, I think many writers as well as many regulators made exactly the same mistake.”
The FSA, which Mr Brown established on his first day as chancellor in 1997, was widely criticised for its part in the banking collapse.
The chancellor, George Osborne, has announced plans to break up the FSA and hand more regulatory power to the Bank of England.
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Kizza Besigye has lost three elections to Yoweri Museveni Uganda’s opposition leader Kizza Besigye has been arrested after calling for people to walk to work in protest at recent fuel price increases.
A police spokeswoman said teargas was used to disperse a stone-throwing crowd which was blocking a road leading to the capital, Kampala.
Mr Besigye was defeated by President Yoweri Museveni in February’s election but says the poll was rigged.
The pair used to be allies but Mr Besigye says he is being intimidated.
He has been defeated by Mr Museveni in three presidential elections, gaining 26% to the president’s 68% in February.
As he was arrested, he told KFM radio: “We condemn this blatant abuse of human rights and use of violence on innocent people,” reports the Reuters news agency.
Before the election, he had called for Egypt-style uprisings in case of fraud.
The police responded by banning public demonstrations.
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MPs rushed to make repayments in the face of public anger about the expenses scandal MPs repaid expenses totalling £1.46m in 12 months before the 2010 election – but some got cash back, it has emerged.
The figure includes repayments volunteered by MPs in the face of public anger and those recommended by an expenses audit.
It follows a Freedom of Information request by the Press Association.
The figures show that some MPs got money back when the audit suggested they repay less than they had already paid out.
In addition to 23 MPs already named as having received money back by the News of the World last year – the Commons said Labour MPs Liam Byrne, Rob Marris and Jim Sheridan also received refunds.
It is the first time the full figure for repayments has been published.
In the weeks following the expenses scandal, MPs began making repayments – some at the urging of their party leaders, some after investigation by the Commons standards and privileges committee and others voluntarily because of their constituents’ reaction.
But in June, a separate audit of all MPs’ claims made under the second homes allowance from April 2004 to March 2009 was ordered, after over payments and other mistakes were uncovered by the Telegraph investigation.
The audit, headed by Sir Thomas Legg, eventually recommended MPs should repay £1.12m.
But the FOI request shows that the total amount repaid between April 2009 and the general election was £1.46m.
It also emerged that former Chief Secretary to the Treasury – now shadow work and pensions secretary – Liam Byrne, who originally repaid £3,618 across various expenses, got £1,349.41 back. The Legg Inquiry recommended he repay just £111.84.
Labour MP Jim Sheridan was refunded £379.41 while former Labour MP Rob Marris got £3,283.39 returned – after initially repaying £4,400 for furniture costs.
Others did not pay back the full amount requested by Sir Thomas Legg because they had already voluntarily paid back significant sums – even though they were for separate expenses.
Mr Marris said he had “abided by what he [Sir Thomas Legg] asked for” while Mr Sheridan said he would not be commenting. Mr Byrne has not yet responded.
Among those MPs previously named as having received refunds on their repayments are former Conservative MP Sir John Butterfill – he got £15,000 back having agreed to repay £20,000 following criticism that he made claims towards staff quarters at his home. Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan also got £4.47 back, the same amount she was criticised for having claimed towards dog food for her pet.
The Legg report proved controversial because some MPs complained that he had applied his own retrospective limits to what should have been claimed for gardening and maintenance – and told them to repay the rest.
But the audit was also limited in scope to the validity of second home payments “under the rules and standards in force at the time” – among other things it meant MPs were not penalised for “flipping” homes – repeatedly switching expenses claims between properties – one of the practices criticised when expenses claims were leaked.
Sir Thomas also acknowledged in his report that rules were “vague” and interpreting them had not been “straightforward”.
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What will it take to knock four minutes off world record holder Haile Gebrselassie’s best time? As thousands prepare for the London Marathon, the world’s best face perhaps the most awe-inspiring barrier in sporting endeavour – the sub two-hour marathon. But can anyone break it, asks Chris Dennis.
A marathon of 26.2 miles (41.2km) in 120 minutes – the very thought takes my breath away.
Expert opinion on whether it is possible is intriguingly divided.
For some it is the next great sporting barrier to be broken, for others it will always remain beyond the limit of endurance. Could it happen at the 2012 Olympics?
The current world record holder, Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie, who ran the 2008 Berlin Marathon in 2:03:59, has no doubt it could be done, but not in the next few years, ruling out the next Games.
The 38-year-old tells me: “No question. The first sub two-hour marathon will need 20 to 25 years, but it will definitely happen.”
Britain’s top woman runner and world women’s record holder Paula Radcliffe agrees.
“Records are there to be broken and people are going to be shooting for it, but someone is going to have to run really hard to beat this one. That’s the kind of mindset it will take.”
Even the thought that it could be broken within a generation causes excitement.
To run a marathon in two hours it would mean running each mile at a four minute 35 second pace “I’m 60. If I’ve got my figures right, I’ll live at least 20 years, so I believe in the next 20 years we will see the first sub two-hour marathon,” London Marathon race director Dave Bedford says.
But the reigning Olympic men’s champion, 24-year-old Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru, who ran the distance in 2:06:32 in Beijing, believes it is beyond his own abilities.
“For me it’s impossible to run two hours, but two hours two minutes, it’s possible. Maybe the new generation… you could get strong people. But in this generation, you cannot talk about two hours.”
Another sceptic is Glenn Latimer, one of the leading authorities on marathon running in the US. He doesn’t believe it can happen in his lifetime. “Maybe that’s because I’m old, but I don’t see it happening in a long, long time.
“As the marathon gets closer to the magic mark, race directors will dangle huge financial carrots to incentivise runners”
Chris Dennis
“You watch these great athletes up close, an athlete as great as Haile Gebrselassie… and you could see the strain, he looks magnificent through 20, 21, 22 miles and then it starts, and then the body starts to break itself down and maintaining pace is hard enough,” he said.
They both believe the record will come down to two hours and two minutes, at which point it will plateau.
Then again, 60 years ago people were saying the same thing about the four-minute mile, before Roger Bannister came along.
The science of endurance running is highly complex, but physiologically, there are three main factors which determine how quickly someone can run:
their maximal rate of oxygen consumption, known as VO2 maxtheir running efficiency – how quickly they can cover the groundtheir endurance capability – what percentage of their VO2 max they can sustain
Opinion among sports scientists varies on exactly where the limit of human endeavour lies. For some, Haile Gebrselassie’s current record is already pretty close, for others, there is still a way to go.
Looking at the progression of the marathon world record is fascinating.
Reducing it from 2:16 to 2:12 took seven years, 2:12 to 2:08 took 19 years, and cutting it from 2:08 to the current mark of 2:03:59 took 24 years.
By analysing actual performances and extrapolating, Francois Peronnet, a professor at the University of Montreal, calculates that the first sub two-hour marathon will be run in the year 2028.
Costumes are de rigueur for fun runners raising money but they would only slow record-setters down Whenever it happens, it would mean running each mile at a four minute 35 second pace. By comparison, a decent club runner might run at a seven-minute mile pace, and a casual runner at nine or 10 minutes.
I have experienced first-hand what it would feel like to run at sub two-hour marathon pace. For just a fraction of the marathon distance.
Hooked up to a state of the art treadmill at the English Institute for Sport at Loughborough University, Leicestershire, under the guidance of two of the country’s top physiologists, I ran at a 4:35 pace for 10 seconds.
It was tough – and the thought of doing it over 26.2 miles for up to 120 minutes was simply mind-boggling.
‘Perfect mix’
Where most experts agree is that the first sub two-hour marathon will need several factors to come together on one day in the perfect mix.
“You’re not even thinking – you’re just running… it’s all just second nature”
Paula Radcliffe Women’s world record holder
“If on the day of competition you miss one thing, you miss everything,” Gebrselassie says.
First, it will need an elite athlete in tip-top condition, probably one from east Africa.
Second, it will need to be on a fast, flat course such as Berlin, London or Rotterdam. Berlin is known as one of the quickest and has produced four world records in the last 10 years.
Third, perfect weather conditions. No wind and temperatures of around 10-15C.
Fourth, decent pace-makers to lead the race and take the elite round at the right speed.
Finally, money.
As the marathon gets closer to the magic mark, race directors will dangle huge financial carrots to incentivise runners to break it. The first person to dip under two hours will run into the record books a very rich person.
Radcliffe knows what it feels like to experience a perfect mix. Back in London in 2003 she blew the women’s world record (which she had set the year previously) out of the water by setting a new mark of 2:15:25.
“The fact that you feel like everything was flowing. It wasn’t forced. Nothing hurt. You’re not even thinking – you’re just running. It’s just second nature, you’ve trained so hard for it and race day feels easier than the training that you’ve done,” she explains, describing the feeling of being “in the zone”.
By common consent in running circles, the first two-hour marathon will be run by someone from Ethiopia, Eritrea or Kenya. But why?
I spent a few days in Ethiopia with some of the country’s top runners and coaches.
Ethiopia may be one of the poorest countries in the world, but it has a formidable track record.
The likes of Abebe Bikila, Mamo Wolde, Miruts Yifter, Kenenisa Bekele, and the man they call the Little Emperor, Haile Gebrselassie, have all rolled off the country’s running conveyor belt over the years.
Training with Ethiopia’s elite youth runners proved they had the determination and dedication needed Most of them started running soon after they could walk. Those born in the countryside, such as Gebrselassie, would run 10km (6.2 miles) or more to school and back every day. There was no other way of getting there.
Add to that the altitude (capital Addis Ababa is 2500m (8202ft) above sea level), a simple diet of mainly organic food, good weather and an extraordinary work ethic, and you see why the country’s runners are so successful.
For Ethiopia’s elite athletes life is almost monastic – run, eat, sleep. Then run, eat, sleep. There is very little time for anything else.
I was lucky enough to join one group for a training session at sunrise on the outskirts of Addis. Just one 5km (3.1 mile) loop at moderate pace left me gulping for air, but for the elite runners, that was merely a warm-up.
I also met youngsters from Ethiopia’s next generation of marathon runners – could one of them be the next Haile Gebrselassie and possibly the world’s first sub two-hour marathon runner?
Their dedication and self-discipline are both humbling and awe-inspiring. Many of them feel it is their national duty to maintain Ethiopia’s position as the top distance-running country in the world.
If in 20 years the marathon record is reset at 1:59:59, do not be surprised if it is done by an Ethiopian.
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Harmonising judicial procedures is a big challenge for the EU The European Arrest Warrant has speeded up extraditions and netted some major criminals but too often it is used for minor offences, an EU report says.
The European Commission has urged the 27 EU member states to issue warrants “in a proportionate way”.
“There’s no sense using a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) for a bicycle thief,” Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding said, presenting the report.
In 2009 Poland issued the most warrants – 4,844. Germany was next, with 2,433.
The number of warrants actually executed was 1,367 for Poland and 777 for Germany, the Commission report says.
In total across the EU 15,827 warrants were issued, of which 4,431 were executed.
The figures for the UK were 220 warrants issued, 80 executed.
The EAW system has been in effect since 2004. The goal was to make extraditions across Europe more efficient.
The report says the EAW has enabled “many successes”, for example, it has brought dozens of suspected drug smugglers, murderers and child sex abusers back to the UK from Spain.
The EAW helped police in 2005 to catch one of the would-be London bombers, who had fled to Italy; a German serial killer who fled to Spain; and a gang of armed robbers sought by Italy, the Commission says.
But EU member states still need to develop trust between their judiciaries, and that effort is undermined when the EAW is used for minor crimes, Ms Reding said.
In addition, suspects arrested in one country sometimes lack legal representation in the country that issued the arrest warrant.
The Commission also raises concerns about detention conditions and the length of pre-trial detention in some cases.
The EAW has cut the time it takes to extradite a suspect, from an average of a year previously to 16 days now when the suspect agrees to be transferred, or 48 days when the suspect does not agree.
The human rights charity Fair Trials International says EAWs are often used for minor crimes, which “puts huge pressure on the police and courts”.
It says extraditing people for petty crimes is “grossly disproportionate”.
The group also cites some “serious cases of injustice” involving EAWs. They include the case of Deborah Dark, a British woman pursued across Europe because of an EAW issued by France, although she had been cleared of drug charges years previously.
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Brazilian full-back Rafael is the only doubt for Manchester United ahead of Tuesday’s Champions League quarter-final, second-leg clash with Chelsea.
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A high-energy laser (HEL) fired from a US warship off the California coast has ignited a nearby boat. Video courtesy of the US Office of Naval Research.
The US Navy has fired a laser gun from one of its ships for the first time.
Researchers used the high-energy laser (HEL) to disable a boat by setting fire to its engines off the coast of California.
Similar systems had previously been tested on land, however moist sea air presented an extra challenge as it reduces a beam’s power.
The navy said that ship-borne lasers could eventually be used to protect vessels from small attack boats.
The US military has been experimenting with laser weapons since the 1970s.
Early systems used large, chemical-based lasers which tended to produce dangerous waste gasses.
More recently, scientists have developed solid state lasers that combine large numbers of compact beam generators, similar to LEDs.
The US Navy system uses a Joint High Power Solid State Laser mounted on deck Until now, much of the development of HELs has focused on shooting down missiles or hitting land-based targets.
The latest round of tests showed its wider possibilities, according to Peter Morrison from the Office of Naval Research.
“This test provides an important data point as we move toward putting directed energy on warships.
“There is still much work to do to make sure it’s done safely and efficiently,” he said.
While a weaponised system would likely be restricted to military vessels, merchant shipping has also expressed an interest in laser technogy,
A gun which uses visible laser light to temporarily blind pirates was announced by BAE Systems in 2010.
The technology is still being tested, ahead of a commercial launch.
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Barry received the Bafta fellowship in 2005 Dame Shirley Bassey and Rumer are among the performers who will remember James Bond composer John Barry at a memorial concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall.
Tributes at the 20 June concert will come from Sir George Martin and Sir Michael Caine, among others.
Money raised will help fund a film composition scholarship set up in his name at the Royal College of Music.
Barry, who won five Oscars for his work, died of a heart attack in New York in January at the age of 77.
He composed scores for 11 James Bond films, including Goldfinger and You Only Live Twice, as well as for such movies as Born Free and Out of Africa.
Tenor Alfie Boe will also perform at the event, which will feature contributions from lyricist Don Black, erstwhile Bond Timothy Dalton and broadcaster Sir Michael Parkinson.
The York-born composer’s music will be played by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in a programme to be produced by Barry’s widow Laurie and current Bond composer David Arnold.
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The RIR held a homecoming parade in Shrewsbury after returning from Afghanistan in 2008 Soldiers from 1st Battalion, the Royal Irish Regiment are due to hold a homecoming march in England later.
The parade through Market Drayton is to mark the Shropshire-based battalion’s return from its latest six-month tour of Afghanistan.
It is expected that about 300 soldiers and officers will take part in the march.
Three soldiers from the battalion were killed in the tour, which began in September.
Ranger Aaron McCormick, 22, from Macosquin in County Londonderry was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) in November last year.
Ranger David Dalzell, 20, from Bangor was fatally shot in February. The exact circumstances of his death have not yet been confirmed.
Lance Corporal Stephen McKee, 27, from Banbridge, was killed by an IED in March.
Last week, Capt Jon Miller said he was looking forward to walking through Market Drayton.
“The level of support our nation is giving our soldiers for the job they’re doing in Afghanistan is sometimes humbling,” he added.
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A teenager from Suffolk has started an anti-knife crime campaign after suffering a personal tragedy.
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The new payment system aims to reward and drive up quality Dentists in England will be paid for the quality of the treatment they give rather than the quantity from this summer, the government has confirmed.
It says 62 dental practices have been selected to trial a new dental contract that will replace the one brought in by Labour in 2006.
Under the existing system, dentists provide and are paid for a set number of courses of NHS treatments.
Under the new system dentists will be paid per patient, not per treatment.
The aim, says the coalition government, is to get dentists away from the “drill and fill” culture where payments are tied to treatment targets.
Instead it wants dentists to work with patients to prevent ill-health and promote good oral health, while being accountable for the quality of the services they provide.
“It is important that we take our time to get this absolutely right”
Lord Howe Health Minister
The government says the new system will mean dentists are fairly rewarded through “weighted capitation funding” for the patients they take on, and motivated to provide the best clinical care through financial incentives to improve quality and clinical outcomes.
And it will restore the formal right for patients to be registered with a dentist – something that was removed by the 2006 contract.
Currently, no-one in England has the right to return to a dentist if there is no space for them, no matter how long they have been treated by that dentist in the past.
Official NHS statistics show that more than one million fewer patients visited an NHS dentists in the two years after the introduction of the 2006 contract than the two years before.
If successful, these pilots will pave the way for the introduction of the new contract in April 2014, after the required approval by Parliament.
Health Minister Lord Howe said: “This approach is not only better for patients, but also a better use of NHS resources.
“It is important that we take our time to get this absolutely right.
“We want our reforms to give dentists the encouragement they are looking for to provide a service that meets the needs of today’s population, and which fosters positive habits from an early age.”
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Few Muslim women actually wear veils in France A law has come into force in France which makes it an offence for a Muslim woman to conceal her face behind a veil when in public.
Anyone caught breaking the law will be liable to a fine of 150 euros (£133, $217) and a citizenship course.
People forcing women to wear the veil face a much larger fine and a prison sentence of up to two years.
France is the first country in Europe to publicly ban a form of dress some Muslims regard as a religious duty.
Under the law, any woman – French or foreign – walking on the street or in a park in France and wearing a face-concealing veil such as the niqab or burqa can be stopped by police and given a fine.
It is a small fine maybe but symbolically this is a huge change.
The French government says the face-covering veil undermines the basic standards required for living in a shared society and also relegates its wearers to an inferior status incompatible with French notions of equality.
And most people in France, including most Muslims, would agree.
Opposition in the form of a handful of protests by Islamists and libertarians are unlikely to make much of an impression.
What is more open to question is whether an out-and-out legal ban was necessary when, on most estimates, only 2,000 or so women in France actually wear the niqab or burqa.
Critics of French President Nicolas Sarkozy say it suits him to play up the Muslim question because he is an unpopular president in need of an easy vote-winner.
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