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England prop Andrew Sheridan pulls out of Saturday’s Six Nations game with Italy because of a back injury and is replaced by debutant Alex Corbisiero.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The government is opposed to giving prisoners the vote but its hand may be forced Ministers are considering how to respond to MPs’ decision to reject a European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruling that a blanket ban on prisoners voting in the UK is unlawful.
MPs voted overwhelmingly on Thursday to keep the existing ban in place, adding to pressure on ministers on the issue.
The Council of Europe has urged the UK to ignore the Commons vote, saying it was “deeply disappointed” by it.
Ministers say they will do the “minimum to comply” with the ECHR ruling.
Cabinet Office officials said they are “considering their next steps” after MPs backed a cross-party motion opposing the Strasbourg court’s ruling and urging the final decision on which prisoners should have the right to vote to reside with Parliament.
Despite its hostility to the move, the government says it has to end the ban on inmates voting, or face being sued for tens of millions of pounds.
Ministers say they will do the “minimum necessary” under European law, having earlier indicated they might restrict the right to vote to inmates serving sentences of four years or less. They have until August to say how they will respond to the court ruling.
“My anxiety about this is what 220-odd MPs set out to do was to defy the judgement of a court to whose jurisdiction we have submitted, to breach a treaty obligation”
Sir Menzies Campbell Lib Dem MP
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said the Parliamentary vote was not “the end of the matter” and government would have to “do something”.
“We are going to be obliged by this ruling to vote through – there will be an attempt to vote through – something which most people find repugnant,” he told the BBC’s Question Time programme.
At present in the UK, only prisoners on remand are allowed to vote.
In 2005, the European Court of Human Rights concluded that blanket ban unlawful, and in June, the Council of Europe, which seeks to uphold its rulings and support human rights and the rule of law, urged the coalition to rectify the situation.
The Council of Europe’s Parliamentary body – comprising of delegates from 47 countries – criticised the stance taken by MPs.
“I am deeply disappointed by last night’s vote, in defiance of the ruling by the European Court of Human Rights on prisoner voting,” said Christos Pourgourides, chair of the body’s committee on legal affairs and human rights.
“I had hoped that the parliament of one of Europe’s oldest democracies – regarded as playing a leading role in protecting human rights – would have encouraged the United Kingdom to honour its international obligations, as our Assembly urged only last month.”
Every member state must implement the judgments of the Court, Mr Pourgourides added.
“The UK government has said that it intends to implement this judgment, and I encourage it to find a way to do so that is consistent with its international legal obligations.
“There are different ways this can be done, as shown by the range of positions on this issue in Council of Europe member states.”
Prime Minister David Cameron has said the current situation is “thoroughly unsatisfactory” but the government will have to settle the issue once and for all, while Justice Secretary Ken Clarke has indicated ministers are likely to have to pass legislation in some form.
But during Thursday’s debate, a succession of MPs – mainly from the Conservative benches – said enfranchising prisoners was incompatible with their view of justice, would not reduce re-offending and was unacceptable to most of the public.
Senior Tory backbencher David Davis, one of the those who put forward the motion, suggested that he and others would not be satisfied with a mooted compromise allowing those serving terms of less than a year to be given the vote.
Several Labour and Lib Dem MPs have warned that defying the European Convention of Human Rights – to which the UK has been a signatory since its inception – on the issue would have serious consequences.
“My anxiety about this is what 220-odd MPs set out to do was to defy the judgement of a court to whose jurisdiction we have submitted, to breach a treaty obligation,” former Lib Dem leader Sir Menzies Campbell told Question Time.
“The strength of the European Convention on Human Rights is that it affects the lives of everyone one of us every day and that is why the Convention should be reaffirmed.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Most head injuries occur when skiers hit their head on the snow Helmets should be included in ski hire packages to protect against head injuries, say researchers in the British Medical Journal.
University of Innsbruck sports scientists say research has shown ski helmets reduce head injuries by 35% in adults and 59% in children under 13.
Awareness of brain injuries from accidents could also increase helmet use, they argue.
But some instructors think they are unnecessary.
Austrian researchers from the Department of Sports Science at Innsbruck looked at a number of past studies in this area to inform their view.
They found that between nine and 19% of all skiing injuries reported by Austrian ski patrols and emergency departments are head injuries – and severe head injuries, including traumatic brain injury, are a leading cause of death in winter sports.
Another study found that adults and children, of all ages, wearing a helmet while skiing were significantly less likely than those without a helmet to have a head injury.
Thus the researchers concluded that, “wearing a ski helmet seems to make sense to prevent head injuries in all age groups”.
Other studies found that 74% of head injuries occurred when skiers hit their head on the snow, 10% when they collided with other skiers and 13% when they collided with fixed objects.
This suggests that “protecting the head with a helmet must be beneficial”, the researchers say.
Gerhard Ruedl and colleagues at Innsbruck also tackle the theory that helmets impair hearing and reduce a skier or snowboarder’s field of vision, but are not convinced by the arguments.
There is another point of view that wearing a helmet could provide a false sense of security and encourage more risky behaviour on the slopes.
But since studies show that helmet use is higher in more skilled skiers, the researchers conclude that, “the use of a helmet is not necessarily associated with a higher level of risk-taking but primarily with a higher level of skill.”
Children under the age of 13 are advised to wear a helmet when skiing or snowboarding Ultimately, they call for better education about brain trauma injuries and for the wearing of helmets to be made routine.
Many countries and ski areas have decided to promote and encourage the use of helmets on the slopes.
In Austria, for example, it is obligatory for children under 16 to wear a helmet when skiing or snowboarding.
In the United States, where latest data shows that helmet use has risen to nearly 50%, some resorts have made helmets compulsory for their employees.
A number of high-profile skiing accidents have had an effect.
A mother of four children died on an Austrian ski run in 2009 when she collided with a German politician. The politician was wearing a ski helmet and survived. The woman, who was not wearing a helmet, suffered a fatal brain injury.
Actress Natasha Richardson died while skiing in Canada in 2009 after a fall on a beginner’s ski run. She also sustained a severe head injury and was not wearing a helmet.
Betony Garner, spokesperson for the Ski Club of Great Britain, says that helmet use on the slopes has increased dramatically over the last few years.
“Our view is that children under the age of 13 should wear a protective helmet and adults should use their own discretion,” she said.
Although many snowboarders wear helmets because it’s seen as part of a snowboarder’s attire and the design of helmets has become more streamlined, colourful and trendy in recent years, Ms Garner says helmets are still not for everyone.
“There are still a big group of people who won’t wear a helmet – experienced skiers and some ski instructors, because they are not used to it and just don’t think it’s necessary.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The last crofter in Scotland to swim his cows between winter grazings has just completed his herd’s annual passage across the sea to Skye.
The last crofter in Scotland to swim his cattle between winter grazings has completed his herd’s crossing of the sea to Skye.
Swimming livestock between islands was once a familiar scene in the Highlands.
But Iain MacDonald, who grazes his cattle on a small island off Skye, is believed to be the last person to still move his animals this way.
The 79-year-old crofter times the short crossings at low tides and has not lost an animal in 61 years of doing it.
Mr MacDonald, who is originally from Glasgow, took part in his first “ferrying” expedition when he was 18.
Iain MacDonald completed his first ferrying when he was 18 Recalling that first crossing, he told BBC Alba: “They were two-year-old bullocks.
“Some of the men were scared and then they had one or two drams and they were as brave as lions.”
When he was younger Mr MacDonald, who lives in Staffin, on Skye, swam with the livestock but he now uses a boat.
He moves his cattle to Stenscholl island in October and they graze on the isle before being moved back to Skye.
Mr MacDonald said he would continue ferrying for as long as he was fit, adding: “I’m now 79 and have been doing it for 61 years. I’ll do it for another 20 years.”
The crofter is among a handful who continue traditional farming methods in the 21st Century.
On the Western Isles, sea shepherds tend flocks of sheep on pastures of the Shiant Islands off the coast of Lewis and Pabbay off Harris.
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Injured Renault driver Robert Kubica says he is planning to return to Formula 1 before the end of the year.
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Charles Taylor is accused of selling “blood diamonds” from Sierra Leone It is not clear whether the former Liberian president, Charles Taylor, will return to court in The Hague as his war crimes trial draws to a close.
Mr Taylor and his defence lawyer, Courtenay Griffiths, staged a boycott of the court earlier this week after a disagreement with the judges.
The ex-leader faces 11 counts – including murder, rape, and the conscription of child soldiers during Sierra Leone’s civil war in the 1990s.
He denies all the charges.
The end of this marathon trial has been marked by bad tempered exchanges between the judges and Charles Taylor’s defence team.
His lawyer, Courtenay Griffiths, walked out of court in protest on Tuesday, and later Mr Taylor also mounted a boycott.
They are upset at the court’s refusal to accept a 500 page written summary of the trial that was submitted late.
But the judges have ordered Mr Griffiths to return to the courtroom, and to apologise for his behaviour.
Mr Griffiths has told the BBC he will appear on Friday, but he would not say what Charles Taylor intends to do.
By now, the court should have heard the closing arguments from the defence.
The absence of Mr Taylor and his lawyer have made this impossible.
This is supposed to be the close of the trial, with the judges expected to deliver a verdict later in the year.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
JJB Sports says it plans to strike a deal with its landlords, which would allow it to close 45 stores, with another 50 under review.
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A bomb alert that brought York roads to a standstill and caused the evacuation of a building was caused by “a pair of gloves”, it is understood.
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Protesters have surrounded Egyptian state television, Nile TV on the 18th day of protests.
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Winning photographs in 2010 World Press competition
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The BBC apologised for the episode, shown on BBC Two on 30 January An episode of Top Gear in which its presenters mocked Mexicans will be cut before the show is broadcast in the US.
Last week the BBC apologised for the show, in which Richard Hammond alleged they were “feckless [and] flatulent” and Jeremy Clarkson poked fun at the Mexican ambassador to London.
Eduardo Medina Mora later complained to the corporation about the comments.
A BBC spokeswoman said shows like Top Gear were “routinely edited for international transmission”.
Top Gear is shown in the US on the BBC America channel. The episode in question will be broadcast next week, without the “news” section in which the comments were made.
The section in question sees the trio of presenters discuss new cars and indulge in light-hearted banter.
In last Sunday’s Observer, comedian Steve Coogan said the show’s broadcast on 30 January suggested the BBC had a “tolerance of casual racism”.
In a letter to Mr Medina Mora, the corporation said it was sorry if it had offended some people, adding that jokes based on national stereotypes were part of Britain’s indigenous humour.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The patient group said drunk people should also be charged for using ambulances Drunk people should pay for the treatment they receive at accident and emergency units, a patient’s group has said.
The Scotland Patients Association said nurses and doctors were often abused by those who had overindulged in alcohol, particularly at weekends.
They said the time had now come for such people to pay for services.
Margaret Watt, chair of the group, said she would be raising the issue with Scotland’s health secretary.
Ms Watt said: “Anyone who has been abusing alcohol and can’t stand on their feet and is admitted to hospital at the weekend should pay towards their treatment.
“Staff are used and abused by these people.”
Ms Watt said drunk people should be charged for using ambulances and for the time of staff who treated them.
She said that the money generated from such a scheme should then be invested in increasing NHS staff numbers.
Ms Watt said she would be raising the idea with Nicola Sturgeon at a meeting on 10 March.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Samantha Sadler was a part-time model before the attack The mother of a teenager scarred for life when a brick was thrown at a car has criticised the sentence given to her attacker.
Athlete Samantha Sadler, 17, of Widnes, Cheshire, was heading home from training when the brick was thrown.
Runcorn magistrates fined the 14-year-old £200 and gave him a 12-month referral order after he admitted inflicting grievous bodily harm.
Samantha’s mother said the sentence was “insulting”.
Clare Fraser said her daughter was left with a fractured skull, broken nose and fractured eye socket after the incident last June and had to have tests on her brain after the attack.
She said: “He should have at least been given a custodial sentence.
“It would have sent a message out that you’re not allowed to do these type of things.”
The 17-year-old was left with a fractured skull, broken nose and fractured eye socket The youth was initially charged with causing grievous bodily harm with intent but his defence team argued there was no intent in the offence.
The Crown Prosecution Service reviewed the evidence and ruled a guilty plea to the lesser charge was acceptable.
Samantha, a promising athlete who worked as a part-time model before the attack, said she is now well enough to train but suffers from occasional double vision.
She said: “I was petrified at what could happen because I couldn’t see anything so I thought that I might be blind for the rest of my life.
“I was saying I’d never be able to run again, to compete or train, never be able to do modelling. It was so scary as well.
“It’s made me more determined to be more successful in athletics. I really want to do it for myself now to prove that nothing can hold me back.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Some stars are celebrated for their bigger behinds Surgeons are warning of the risks of DIY buttock enhancement after a 20-year-old woman died in the US from silicone injections. Why do so many women now want to be big-bottomed girls?
For some people, bigger is better.
But tragically, for Claudia Aderotimi, it was the desire for a more shapely behind which ended in her death.
The student, who lived in North London, had travelled to Philadelphia for silicone injections, but died after suffering chest pains and breathing trouble following the procedure.
Police investigating her death believe she made contact with a supplier over the internet, exchanging text messages and phone calls before flying over.
Even though the injection of liquid silicone for cosmetic purposes is banned in the US, there is a burgeoning black market in the substance.
More women are getting buttock enhancement treatments for a fuller figure For many, the risks of the banned injections are worth taking, for the reward of a shapelier bottom.
Several internet chatrooms discuss the injections freely.
“I wanna have one of them big ghetto booties that turn heads and make em drool. Just kidding, I just want enough to fill out my jeans,” writes one poster.
“I have received butt injections before. I get it done every six months… it is the first thing that men go crazy,” writes another, who says she is a dancer.
Claudia was a budding actress and model, who once wrote of how she “dreamt of taking the world by storm”.
Some people in the business say the pressure to look like stars who sport larger bottoms, such as Jennifer Lopez, Nicki Minaj, Buffy Carruth and Beyonce Knowles, is encouraging young women to turn to cosmetic procedures.
“Many people don’t have a licence to practise, they’re injecting in hotels, spas and apartments – all non-sterile environments”
Dr Constantino Mendieta Plastic surgeon
As a singer and actor who stars in music videos, Tassie Jackson says the urge to conform is powerful.
“I personally haven’t one done and I wouldn’t. But, in today’s society and the world that we live in, a lot of women feel the competition and the need to enhance their features,” she says.
“There are pressures to look like our favourite icons and role models.”
Some artists will look for women with “more curves” when choosing dancers for a music video, she adds.
References to so-called “booty”, a slang term for bottom, are commonplace in hip hop and rap music.
Beyonce Knowles’ former band Destiny’s Child even brought the word “Bootylicious” to mainstream consciousness. The term, which now even appears in the Oxford English Dictionary, is an amalgam of “booty” and the word “delicious”.
But it’s not just young people immersed in hip-hop culture who yearn for a bigger bottom.
The number of buttock enhancements across all ages has risen in recent years, with the most desired waist-to-hip ratio standing at around 0.7 – an hourglass figure.
There were more than 5,000 buttock lift and implant procedures (which are legal) carried out in the US in 2009, according to the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery.
It is difficult to know how many illegal treatments are taking place – but the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) says the number of cases leading to serious injury or death is on the rise.
Dr Constantino Mendieta, a plastic surgeon who specialises in buttock implants, dates the trend back to Jennifer Lopez’s rise to stardom in the 1990s.
Victorian women wore “bustles” to enhance their rears “She showed how nice it can look when you’ve got the right curves,” says Dr Mendieta.
“It’s not that we never looked at the buttock before then, but it was a taboo subject. She drew attention to it in a good way.”
Demand for Dr Mendieta’s Miami Thong Lift operation – which transfers fat from other areas of the body to create a fuller bottom – has risen 20-fold in the last decade.
However, the cost of $14,000 (£8,700) is beyond the reach of some women, leading them to turn to cheaper, but dangerous methods to replicate the look.
“Many people don’t have a licence to practise, they’re injecting in hotels, spas and apartments – all non-sterile environments,” he says.
Cultural differences
Ms Mendible points out that buttock augmentation has been around for years – in the 19th Century, women wore “bustles” to exaggerate their behinds.
At the same time, she says, large bottomed-people have historically been a source of ridicule in many cultures.
The most striking example was the Hottentot Venus, a young African woman who was kidnapped and exhibited around Europe in colonial times because she had large buttocks.
“It was almost a freak show,” says Ms Mendible. “She was paraded around and exhibited as an example of what made African women different.”
Today, buttock augmentation procedures – both legal and illegal – are most common among African-American, Hispanic and transgender communities.
Female body types have always been a sign of what society aspires to, Ms Mendible says, with a lean muscular form preferred in capitalist countries, compared with larger rears in poorer places such as her native Cuba.
“There, if you’re thin it’s a sign of being poor, it’s not a sign of beauty,” she says.
“To them the voluptuous body is a sign of good health and fertility.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
There has been no bid to buy Manchester United from the Glazer family, BBC Sport has been told.
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