Who exactly is running the show among the rebels in Benghazi?
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Author: xaurav
Fire starters
Why do some teenagers deliberately light fires?
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Bernanke warning on US debt limit
Ben Bernanke suggested stabilising the deficit as a proportion of the total economy Related Stories
The chairman of the US Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, has warned that the country’s creditworthiness is at risk if its borrowing limit is not raised.
He said the US could lose its coveted AAA credit rating if Congress did not vote in favour of lifting the $14.3 trillion (£8.7 trillion) debt ceiling.
If there is no deal by August, the US may start defaulting on obligations.
Vice-President Joe Biden and congressional leaders have resumed efforts to find a bipartisan solution.
They are trying to reach an agreement that would tie spending cuts with an increase in the debt limit. They are expected to discuss annual spending levels, budget process reforms, taxes and healthcare benefits.
“We’re making real progress, we’re down to the tough stuff now and everybody’s still in the room,” Mr Biden said after Tuesday’s meeting.
President Barack Obama and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, John Boehner, want an agreement by 4 July.
At a conference on Tuesday organised by a think tank, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Mr Bernanke said any delay in the US government making payments could cause chaos on global financial markets.
US federal government debtUS government currently runs a $1.5tr budget deficit, requiring it to issue debt in the form of treasury bills, bonds and other securitiesPublic debt was $14.3tr on 31 May, up from $10.6tr when Mr Obama took office in January 2009.Most is held by the public, with the rest held in US government accountsCongress has voted to raise the US debt limit 10 times since 2011
Sources: US Treasury, Congressional Research Service, Congressional Budget Office
It could also damage the dollar’s status as a reserve currency, he warned.
Mr Bernanke said he understood the desire of many politicians to use the deadline to force some necessary and difficult policy adjustments, but said the debt limit was “the wrong tool for that important job”.
“Failing to raise the debt limit would require the federal government to delay or renege on payments for obligations already entered into.”
“Even a short suspension of payments on principal or interest on the treasury’s debt obligations would cause severe disruptions in financial markets and the payments system.”
In addition, Mr Bernanke said US government debt risked being downgraded, creating fundamental doubts about the nation’s creditworthiness.
Long-term damage to the “special role” of the dollar and of treasury securities in global markets was also possible, he said.
Instead of allowing a default, Democrats and Republicans needed to develop a credible long-range plan to rein in the nation’s budget deficit, Mr Bernanke added.
An increase of $2.5 trillion would allow the government to operate until early 2013.
He suggested stabilising the deficit as a proportion of the total economy, and lowering the figure over time. Deficit-reduction goals should be set and enforced with a mechanism triggering automatic cuts.
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Amazon activist killed in Brazil
Police in Brazil say a campaigner for land and environmental rights in the Amazon region has shot dead, the fifth in less than a month.
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Child victims ‘failed by courts’
Children found trials a traumatic experience, Barnardo’s said Related Stories
A children’s charity says child victims of sexual exploitation have been “failed by the system” because convictions are so hard to achieve.
Official figures show there were 89 child sexual exploitation convictions in England and Wales in 2009.
But Barnardo’s says it is aware of 2,756 child victims of offences such as grooming and trafficking.
The government said a plan for police and other agencies on how to better tackle the problem is to be published.
According to Barnardo’s, sexual exploitation cases were often dropped because of insufficient evidence, and there was an over-reliance on the victims as witnesses.
Barnardo’s chief executive Anne Marie Carrie said the children were being let down “terribly”.
“They are being failed twice; once by the failure to prevent them becoming victims in the first place and again by the failure to punish their abusers and secure justice.
“We need to see drastic changes to make sure the abusers who control such vulnerable children for sex and personal gain are brought to book.”
“When children do have the courage to take the stand, we need to make sure that they have the support that they deserve.”
Anne Marie Carrie Barnardo’s chief executive
The term child sexual exploitation covers a range of activity.
It also includes arranging a child sexual offence, meeting a child following grooming, paying for the sexual services of a child and inciting child prostitution or pornography.
Mrs Carrie said trials could be “traumatic and painful experiences for children”.
“And when children do have the courage to take the stand, we need to make sure that they have the support that they deserve the whole way through the process.”
The charity intends to launch a study to assess the role of the local safeguarding children’s boards (LSCB) in securing prosecutions against perpetrators of child sexual exploitation.
LSCBs are statutory bodies responsible for protecting children and young people from significant harm and for promoting their welfare.
Statistics show that for prosecutions brought under other sections of the Sexual Offences Act in 2009, 41% resulted in convictions for rape of a child under 13, and 37% for sexual assault of a child under 13, and a total of 501 people were found guilty.
The Ministry of Justice said overall more than 1,500 people were convicted of sexual offences against children in 2009.
A spokesperson said: “We are determined to support children within the justice system. They are only required to give evidence where absolutely necessary, and measures taken to protect them include children giving evidence by video-link, or being supported by an intermediary in court.”
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Unlocking potential
Ministers believe their reforms will lead to better care Primary care trusts, clinical senates and commissioning groups. The list goes on.
And yet, for most people, these terms will mean very little.
The government’s NHS reform programme in England has been an epic saga. But it has almost entirely focused on structural changes and policy U-turns rather than the patient experience.
In truth, that is because the immediate effect on patients is hardly noticeable.
But in the long term the reforms could – if the government is right – herald a whole new era of health care.
The government has pushed ahead with the changes in the belief that they will help meet the twin challenge of rising demands and tightening budgets.
The simple response to such a scenario – and the one that ministers are keen to avoid – is rising waiting lists and ever-greater rationing of services.
But the alternative vision is one where through better decision-making the potential of the NHS to provide more effective and revolutionary care is unlocked.
So how could the patient experience change in the next five or 10 years if that does happen?
The rise of the super hospital
Stroke care has been redesigned in London Stroke services in London give a clue to what could happen in a whole host of complex areas of care.
Nearly two years ago services were redesigned so patients with symptoms were no longer taken to their nearest hospital.
Instead, ambulances ferry them to one of eight specialist centres that have expert staff and facilities on hand 24 hours a day.
The overhaul is estimated to be saving 400 lives a year and London is now rated as having the best stroke service in the country.
Similar moves are under consideration for other parts of the country and for other specialisms, from heart surgery to cancer care.
It raises the prospect of a network of super-hospitals being created.
But that in turn raises question marks about the future of district general hospitals that have been the bedrock of the health service since its inception.
Bringing the NHS into the patient’s home
One in three people has a long-term condition, such as asthma or diabetes.
Spending on their diseases takes up about 70% of the NHS budget, mainly because they end up in hospital too often.
But increasingly these groups of patients are being encouraged to “self-care” in an attempt to manage and control their conditions.
For something like diabetes that means monitoring blood-glucose levels – a relatively simple and inexpensive measure.
Advances in telecare are also offering promise.
In the US it is not unusual for patients to interact with their doctor over the internet or via mobile-phone technology.
From the hospital to the high street clinic and GP surgery
Cataract surgery has changed completely over the years When the NHS was created in 1948, patients undergoing cataract eye surgery spent a week in hospital, immobilised with sandbags to support their head.
Now the operation is done in 20 minutes, often in clinics rather than full-blown hospitals, with the patient released on the same day.
Similar revolutions are going on in other areas, allowing care to be shifted away from hospital settings into community clinics.
GPs are also getting in on the act, performing everything from minor skin surgery to vasectomies.
The trend has also spawned the creation of a series of enterprises set up by former NHS staff that are increasingly occupying the middle ground between the big private health firms and NHS providers.
In Eastbourne a nurse and occupational therapist have been running a wound-healing clinic for the past three years.
They get referrals from a host of local NHS trusts.
Many of the patients they see have struggled with their wounds for years, but eight in 10 patients are healed within six weeks.
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