Category: news

Five-time champion Roger Federer gets his US Open campaign off to a smooth start as he defeats Argentina’s Brian Dabul in straight sets.

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Mexican police have arrested top drug trafficker Edgar Valdez, a US citizen also known as Barbie for his blond hair, Mexico’s attorney general says.

He was reportedly detained in the centre of the country.

Edgar Valdez is linked to the influential Beltran Leyva drug cartel.

Mr Valdez has been fighting Hector Beltran Leyva for control of the drug cartel, previously led by his brother Arturo until he was shot dead by the Mexican security forces last December.

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The case of a man who died after police officers tried to restrain him is being investigated by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC).

The 52-year-old, who was being held under the Mental Health Act at Medway Maritime Hospital, in Gillingham, Kent, was reported missing on Monday.

Two police officers later found him at his home in Goudhurst Road.

The IPCC said he became unwell while officers tried to restrain him, and was pronounced dead a short time later.

An IPCC spokeswoman said the officers had called an ambulance.

She added: “The case was referred to the IPCC and a decision has been taken that the case will be independently investigated.

“IPCC investigators are currently at the scene gathering information.”

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The men arrived in Amsterdam from Chicago

Dutch police have questioned two men who arrived at Amsterdam airport from Chicago, after US authorities spotted “suspicions items” in their luggage.

One man’s bags contained a mobile phone strapped to a medicine bottle, knives and watches, said US officials.

However, a spokeswoman for the US Department of Homeland Security said none of the items were dangerous “in and of themselves”.

But the information was passed to the Dutch authorities, who held the men.

They were travelling on United Airlines Flight 908 from Chicago O’Hare to Amsterdam Schiphol.

One man, who started his journey in Birmingham, Alabama, was reportedly stopped there because of his “bulky clothing”, ABC News reported.

Security staff found one mobile phone taped to a bottle of Pepto-Bismol, three other mobile phones taped together and several watches, also taped together.

But he was cleared for travel, as no explosives were found, the US network said, quoting officials.

“The items were not deemed to be dangerous in and of themselves and as we share information with our international partners, Dutch authorities were notified of the suspicious items,” the US Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.

US federal air marshals were travelling on the flight.

NBC News reported that US concern about the incident was “low”, but the authorities wanted to make sure that this was not an attempt to test airline security prior to a future attack.

A Nigerian man was detained in the US on Christmas Day, after flying from Amsterdam to Detroit, and charged with trying to detonate a bomb.

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Frying fish is classified as an “offensive trade” in Gloucester

Plans to make it easier for English local authorities to abolish outdated by-laws, and create new ones, will be outlined later by the government.

It will mean councils being able to sweep away bizarre regulations, such as rules on carpet-beating in Blackpool, or frying fish in Gloucester, without first needing Whitehall approval.

Instead, town halls will simply have to consult with local residents.

Local government minister Grant Shapps said it was all about devolving powers.

Gloucester City Council has unearthed 60 old by-laws that it wants to revoke and not replace.

In addition to 1968 regulations on frying fish and “other offensive trades”, it wants to call time on a 1947 by-law regarding the cleaning of ash pits and cesspools.

It also wants to get rid of a 1911 ruling requiring domestic servants to register with the council.

“It should not take a rubber stamp from central government to scrap outdated local laws,” said Mr Shapps.

“That’s why I want councils to use this new power I am offering them, and keep a watchful eye out for outdated rules that will soon be so much easier to scrap.”

Mr Shapps added that he wanted members of the public to be able to contact their local council with any concerns, so the local authority could consider new by-laws, again with no ministerial involvement.

Other local by-laws that could be revoked include a 1905 ruling relating to the transport of dead horse carcasses in what is today the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, and a 1956 rule that prohibits the drying of clothes in various parks in Whitstable.

By-laws relating to the use of dicky straps – the leather straps which hold the driving box of horse drawn carriages in place – also look set to be scrapped in Hammersmith and Fulham.

Earlier this month, Prime Minister David Cameron backed plans by councils in Greater Manchester to use by-laws to ban cheap alcohol.

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Mr Biden will attend a ceremony marking the end of US combat operations

US vice president Joe Biden makes an unannounced visit to Iraq ahead of the official end of the US combat mission there on 31 August.

The White House says Mr Biden’s visit “will reinforce the long-term US commitment to Iraq”.

The vice president will meet with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri Al-Maliki.

Officials say Mr Biden will push for an end to the political deadlock that has taken hold in Iraq after the 7 March elections resulted in no clear winner.

More than five months later, a new government has yet to form. Insurgent attacks have spiked as the political situation founders.

The official purpose of Mr Biden’s visit is to represent the Obama administration at Wednesday’s “Change of Command and Change of Mission” ceremony.

President Obama will deliver a televised address to the American people about Iraq on Tuesday evening.

Mr Obama’s remarks are intended to mark the official end of combat operations, but analysts expect him to use the opportunity to make the case for continued operations in Afghanistan.

He is also expected to stress America’s continued resolve to advance stability and security for the Iraqi people.

Around 50,000 US troops will remain in Iraq and will focus on supporting Iraqi forces. They will not participate in combat missions without a request from Iraqi authorities.

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The M6 Toll was opened in 2003 and was intended to relieve congestion

Private toll roads are not a cost-effective answer to traffic problems, the government has been warned.

A report by the Campaign for Better Transport said the UK’s only private motorway toll, the M6 Toll, had not significantly cut congestion.

Its owners lose tens of millions of pounds a year on the road, near Birmingham, campaigners added.

Midland Expressway, which runs the M6 Toll, was approached by the BBC but would not comment on the report.

The Campaign for Better Transport concluded that the government should not see privately financed schemes as a way out of economic problems.

The group argued that journey times on the M6 were only slightly better than before the toll opened nearly seven years ago, and drivers were put off using the road by the charge of £5 per car.

It estimated the toll road’s operator was losing more than £25m a year, discouraging potential investors.

Campaigners used documents from the Highways Agency, the Transport Select Committee and Midland Expressway to compile the report.

It concluded not only had the toll road failed to improved transport in the West Midlands, but drivers who paid the toll were not receiving value for money.

In addition it said the Highways Agency was planning to spend £500m on congestion relief that the M6 Toll was supposed to have provided.

The M6 Toll is a 27-mile privately-financed motorway that runs around the north west of Birmingham, between junctions 3a and 12 of the M6.

It opened in December 2003 and was intended to relieve congestion on the busiest section of the M6 by providing an alternative route.

BBC transport correspondent Richard Scott says that with the public finances under pressure and road building under threat, the government is looking at how to improve the transport network in the most cost-effective way.

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The researchers compared MS brain lesions with weather patterns

The severity of multiple sclerosis (MS) may change with the seasons, say US researchers.

Brain scans of patients compared with weather patterns at the time showed higher levels of disease activity in the spring and summer.

The US researchers said the findings had implications for testing new medicines, which may show up different results depending on the time of year.

It is not clear why warmer weather would have this effect.

Other studies have shown that vitamin D from exposure to sunlight may have a protective effect against MS – a long-term inflammatory condition of the central nervous system.

For the study, researchers compared MRI brain scans of 44 people taken from 1991 to 1993 to daily temperature, solar radiation and precipitation measurements over the same time.

The adults in the study, who had untreated MS, had eight weekly scans followed by eight scans every fortnight then six monthly check-ups – an average of 22 scans per person.

After one year, 310 new brain lesions were found in 31 people, they reported in Neurology.

The lesions were up to three times more likely to appear in the warmer spring and summer months.

Further analysis also showed that there was a link between both new disease activity and intensity of disease activity and the warmer months.

Study leader Dr Dominik Meier, from Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, said: “Not only were more lesions found during the spring and summer seasons, our study also found that warmer temperatures and solar radiation were linked to disease activity.”

He pointed out that clinical trials often use MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) to assess the effectiveness of a drug and studies commonly last between six and 12 months, which may have implications for how effective a new medication seems.

In an accompanying editorial Dr Anne Cross, from Washington University School of Medicine, added: “This is an important study because it analyses records from the early 1990s, before medications for relapsing MS were approved, so medicines likely could not affect the outcome.

“Future studies should further explore how and why environmental factors play a role in MS.”

Dr Susan Kohlhaas, research communications officer at the MS Society, said more research was needed.

But added: “This small study is intriguing and, if validated in larger studies, has the potential to influence the way clinical trials are designed.”

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The survey on rivers in England and Wales will be conducted online

A survey to find the best-loved and most neglected rivers in England and Wales has been launched by conservationists.

The first Our Rivers awards is being run by a campaign group launched last year.

The Our Rivers campaign is pushing for clean, well-maintained and pollution-free rivers across England and Wales.

The group includes the RSPB, WWF-UK, the Angling Trust and the Salmon and Trout Association.

It is asking people to vote online, for their “best” and “worst” rivers.

A government report on the state of rivers, also published last year, said 74% were failing to meet European environmental targets.

The Environment Agency study found that only five of more than 6,000 rivers surveyed in England and Wales remained in pristine condition.

According to the campaigners, the rest of the rivers face pressures that include pollution from fertilisers and poorly-designed urban drainage, invasive riverbank species like signal crayfish and American mink, and low water levels caused by over-abstraction.

Ralph Underhill, Our Rivers campaigner, said: “This is the first time the public has had a chance to vote for the river which is closest to the nation’s heart.

“This award will be a great celebration of one of our richest wildlife habitats – and one that everyone can enjoy because no-one is more than a few minutes from a river, stream or brook.

“We want to celebrate the amazing rivers we have in England and Wales, whilst raising awareness of the threats they face.”

The Our Rivers team of experts will conduct a one-day workshop with local councils and groups to develop an action plan to help improve the condition of, and bring back the wildlife to, the river voted the “worst” in England and Wales.

Voting on the Our Rivers Awards website closes on 31 October.

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Hewlett-Packard was accused of defrauding the US government’s chief procurement body

Computer giant Hewlett-Packard (HP) has agreed to pay $55m (£35.5m) to settle claims it paid kickbacks in relation to US government contracts.

HP was accused of paying other companies so they would recommend HP products to government buyers.

The government’s chief procurement body, the GSA, entered into a contract with HP in 2002.

It is thought to be one of the largest such settlement figures achieved by the US Department of Justice.

The claims were first made in a lawsuit by two whistleblowers in 2004.

The settlement also resolves allegations that the 2002 contract over computer equipment and software was wrongly priced because HP provided incomplete information to the GSA.

A spokesman for the US Department of Justice said the the government would always take action against companies seeking “to taint the government procurement process with illegal kickbacks”.

”Contractors must deal fairly with the government when doing business with federal agencies,” he added.

HP said the size of the payout would affect earnings on its shares.

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The 60 doctors and nurses were dealing with up to 10 patients each day

A unit of medics from Scotland who volunteered for service in Afghanistan is to be presented with campaign medals by the Countess of Wessex.

The commanding officer of 205 Scottish Field Hospital, Colonel David McArthur, said it had been a challenging and demanding tour of duty.

The 60 doctors and nurses were dealing with up to 10 patients each day.

The countess will present Afghanistan Campaign Medals to members of the unit at a ceremony in Inverness.

Colonel McArthur said his staff were making life and death decisions in the hardest possible circumstances.

He added that it was physically and mentally exhausting work, but he was satisfied that they had done the best they could.

Colonel McArthur said some of the team were on their fourth or fifth tour and most would be willing to go back.

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Labour will publish its report on how to tackle Scotland’s alcohol problem

The alcohol commission set up by the Labour Party in Scotland is due to publish its final report.

It is expected to recommend a UK-wide alternative to the government’s plans to introduce minimum unit pricing.

Health Secretary Nicola Sturgeon wants to tackle excessive drinking by setting a basic price per unit of alcohol, to make strong drinks less affordable.

The main opposition parties intend to unite to block the measure because they say it would hit responsible drinkers.

Labour’s alcohol commission, chaired by Professor Sally Brown, has been looking at alternatives and it is expected to recommend the UK-wide ban on alcohol sales below the combined cost of production, duty and VAT and with possible duty hikes to reduce consumption.

Earlier in the year, Labour published the interim findings of its commission, which included a legal limit on the caffeine content of alcoholic drinks – a move which would effectively ban the tonic wine Buckfast.

The Scottish government has already pledged to consider “any workable alternatives” to a minimum price for a unit of alcohol.

Before the summer recess, MSPs voted for the principles of the Alcohol (Scotland) Bill.

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The Policy Exhcange wants residents to have more say over new housing developments

Big cash incentives should be offered to people living in areas of England where developers want to build new homes, a think tank suggests.

Instead of the current system where council planners decide whether to back new projects, the Policy Exchange says local residents should be balloted.

It says such changes would lead to more young people being able to afford to buy their own homes instead of renting.

The think tank says this would in turn cut social housing waiting lists.

The centre-right Policy Exchange complains that currently it is far too easy for a vocal minority of residents to block new developments by lobbying council planning departments.

But if decisions were put to the vote in affected communities, the think-tank believes such opposition would be reduced.

Action is desperately needed to reverse the current “housing crisis”, according to the Policy Exchange’s deputy director and report editor, Natalie Evans.

She says rapidly rising house prices – caused by supply not being able to keep up with demand – are bad for the economy to the tune of £20bn a year.

Ms Evans thinks such increases exclude more and more working families from owning their homes.

Housing benefits

In 1995 the average home in Britain cost £72,659 in today’s money, but now the typical property sells for £160,000.

The report noted that rising prices have in turn forced rents up, costing taxpayers an extra £8bn in housing benefit since 1997.

Rising private sector rents mean more people have to rely on social housing typically provided by their local council or housing association. This forces more into claiming housing benefit.

By introducing policies to prevent rocketing house prices, Ms Evans estimates all working families should be able to afford to rent or buy their own home by 2030.

This would further be helped, she said, by the government quadrupling to 100,000 the number of new social homes built each year across England.

The Policy Exchange is keen to reduce the number of people in social housing who, it says, cost the taxpayer £7bn a year in welfare payments and are more likely to be unemployed than homeowners and people who rent privately.

Extra money

Ms Evans said: “We need to get away from the idea that house prices can rise faster than inflation every year without that affecting the ability of people to actually buy.

“Having stable house prices will save everyone money. But for that to happen, we need to make it easier to build houses.

“It should be up to local people how much development is allowed near them, through ballots of those affected by proposed developments.

“The cash incentives will be bigger in areas where housing is more expensive, meaning it is likely that more homes will be built in areas like London and the South East.”

Housing minister Grant Shapps said the coalition government welcomed the ongoing debate about the future of housing.

“The single biggest way that we can help is to get more homes built,” he said, pointing to the launch of the New Homes Bonus.

Under the scheme, the government will offer councils in England extra money for every newly-built home.

Mr Shapps said it was designed to ensure communities benefited financially when they backed more housing, and in particular affordable homes.

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The organ will play when people tap on the keyboard of a cash machine

If one of the shortlisted works of art for the fourth plinth in London’s Trafalgar Square is given the go-ahead, it will make your pennies whistle.

Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla want to place a traditional pipe organ at the top of the plinth, with a working cash machine at the base. The pipes will play when numbers are pressed on the keypad.

The artists, from the US and Cuba, say they are offering a humorous take on issues such as personal banking and global financial systems.

Not least, it is the latest in a rich tradition of finance featuring as the subject of art.

The untitled work featuring the ATM and organ is one of six in the running for a place on the fourth plinth for 18 months, including during the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

“The sound of the global economy will be billowing out over the square,” art critic Rachel Campbell Johnston wrote in the Times.

Take the stairs behind the plinth, and visitors will find themselves in the National Gallery.

“Two Tax Gatherers” was a popular work of the 16th Century

Here the art lover will find riches of the art world, but also realise how finance – especially taxes – are the subject of works throughout the centuries.

In room 14, “Two Tax Gatherers” offer a warning against avarice – the insatiable greed for riches and one of the seven deadly sins.

“We are obviously not supposed to like them,” says the National Gallery’s notes on the caricatures in Marinus van Reymerswaele’s work.

“The painting reflects an attitude towards tax gatherers that has scarcely changed since the 1520s when this picture was probably made.”

In fact, the taxman has been the subject of unpopularity for some time before that.

Also found in the National Gallery is “Tribute Money” by Titian, which captures the moment in the Gospels when Jesus is asked whether it is right to pay taxes to the Romans.

Jesus asks whose picture is on their coins and replies: “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which are Caesar’s, and unto God the things which are God’s,” the Gospels say.

Jesus features again when driving the money-changers and traders from the Temple in a painting by El Greco.

Money and greed feature in this tragicomic work by Hogarth

But, arguably, the most biting depiction of greed comes from Hogarth, in his series on the loveless coupling of an Earl’s heir and his unwilling bride in “Marriage A-la-Mode”.

By the end of the series, the groom is dead, as is his bride who poisoned herself after the execution of her lover. Her father still takes the ring from her finger as she dies, because it is worth quite a bit.

This may be story of morality, rather than money, although the two are often connected in life and art.

It was certainly a theme discussed during the global financial crisis, and art lovers can expect that the economic climate might inspire art – even when the artists themselves could be facing funding cuts.

Money as a symbol still features in contemporary work. Last year, the Tate Modern in London had an exhibition of work by Cildo Meireles.

In “Money Tree”, the Brazilian looked at the comparison of real value versus symbolic value by presenting a pile of 100 one cruzeiro notes on a plinth.

The piece was then offered for sale at 20 times the real value of the notes.

Despite the economic downturn, the financial value of art has been highlighted with some big auction sales in recent times.

Picasso’s work was a record sale earlier this year

With interest rates low, many people have looked to alternative investments and the art market has benefited.

In early August, auction house Christie’s said worldwide sales reached £1.71bn ($2.57bn) for the first six months of the year – up 46% on the same period a year earlier.

“Global confidence in the art market has been evident throughout the first half of 2010 and we expect it to continue with our autumn sales,” Christie’s chief executive Edward Dolman said when the figures were announced.

In May, a Pablo Picasso painting – Nude, Green Leaves and Bust – set a new record for the most expensive artwork sold at auction, fetching £70m ($106m) including Christie’s commission.

The art market was also described as “buoyant” in a recent survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics).

High-value deals pushed up prices in the second quarter of 2010, the survey said, and silver and jewellery remained popular among investors. There was only a fall in prices among ceramics compared with the first three months of 2010, it said.

“Given the uncertain economic future it is of little surprise that buyers continue to invest in more traditional safe categories, such as precious metals and jewellery,” said Rics spokesman Andrew Davies.

So, whether it is as the subject or as the price – and irrespective of the economic climate – there is little doubt that money will be included in discussions about art for many years to come.

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President Obama has come under increasing pressure to secure the US-Mexico border

US troops sent to secure the Mexican border have begun patrols in Arizona.

They are among 1,200 extra soldiers deployed by President Barack Obama to beef up the 1.900-mile (3,000km) frontier, a major route for drug and people smuggling.

Nearly half of these National Guards will be stationed in Arizona, whose porous desert is the most popular route for traffickers.

The operation, which began in California earlier this month, will also cover Texas and New Mexico.

Authorities say the troops will be “extra eyes and ears” for existing Border Agents. They will be armed but will not have powers to arrest.

Pressure has been growing on the US federal government to stop people and drugs entering the US illegally through Mexico. The loudest calls have been from Arizona.

Earlier this year Arizona passed tough new anti-immigration laws that were popular with voters. But the laws were put on hold by a court and opposed by the president.

Mr Obama wants to create a pathway to citizenship for illegal immigrants already in the US.

In 2006, President George W Bush sent 6,000 troops to the Mexican border to reinforce security, but they pulled out two years later.

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