Category: news

Councils in England are to learn later how much the funding they receive from central government will be cut over the next two years.

Many are expecting a substantial reduction amid the spending review.

Ministers will also reveal their proposals to give groups in local communities greater scope to take over control of some services from councils.

They say the Localism Bill will lay the foundations for what David Cameron calls “the big society”.

The bill also proposes a change in the role that councils play in finding accommodation for homeless families.

Instead of being obliged to house families who are eligible, councils would be able to discharge their responsibilities by finding them private rented accommodation for at least 12 months.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said the bill would give local people power in three ways.

The first would involve them taking ownership of community buildings such as redundant pubs, redundant shops, redundant post offices and school buildings.

“Under existing legislation they can do that, we are just making it easier for them,” he explained.

“The second thing that neighbourhoods can do is if they think they can run a local service better, they will have a right to be able to bid for that service.

“And the third thing is that we are going to introduce neighbourhood planning similar to what exists in Germany, so that neighbourhoods can determine the look and the shape of their communities, and once they’ve done that, providing a person wants to put something up in accordance with that plan, they won’t require additional planning permission.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is to address both houses of parliament ahead of a crucial confidence vote on Tuesday.

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It has taken Coldplay four albums and 10 years to get around to it, but the band have confirmed they are finally on the verge of releasing their “concept” album.

The as-yet-untitled record is being produced by Brian Eno and Marcus Dravs – the same team behind the band’s last album Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends – the best selling album of 2008.

“It’s from the point of view of two people who are a bit lost,” Coldplay frontman Chris Martin says.

“Two like-minded outsiders who meet in a very difficult environment and therefore have a journey together.”

Viva La Vida was seen by critics as a return to form after a more muted response for their previous effort – the equally commercially successful X&Y.

While Viva La Vida explored grander sweeping themes of love and war, Martin said the new album will be more intimate by comparison.

“It’s a concept album but it’s supposed to be very personal within a big framework. Does that make sense?”

Much of Viva La Vida’s musical experimentation came from producer Brian Eno, who began his career with Roxy Music and has produced artists including David Bowie and Talking Head’s David Byrne.

“Brian is the sower of seeds and ideas and experimenting, which is very liberating. Then Marcus’s job is to come in after all that’s been done and try and sculpt it into some kind of releasable format.

“They’re like a tag team,” says Martin.

The chaotic recording sessions left them with a lot of half-formed and half-completed tracks, he adds.

“We spent a year making a lot of noise. You know those things in a fairground where you have bran in a tub and in there are some hidden prizes? That’s sort of where we are at,” says Martin.

“Like a lucky dip?,” clarifies his bandmate, guitarist Jonny Buckland.

“Yeah, a lucky dip,” Martin agrees.

While the music remains a collaborative effort between musicians and producers, the songwriting is still very much up to Martin.

The singer admits bassist Guy Berryman and drummer Will Champion can be brutal in their assessment of his new lyrics.

“Jonny’s delightful, he’s the easiest to convince,” he smiles. “It’s when you have to take a verse to Guy or Will that things become very tearful.

“I think Guy isn’t too savage with your lyrics, it’s Will really,” adds Buckland. “He’s savage.”

Yet internal squabbles over lyrics aside, Martin insists he is grateful for such candour.

“I’m so lucky that we have that group, in as much as there are a lot of people who don’t like us in the world, but there would be a lot more without this filtering system.

“Think of the rubbish that doesn’t get out, if you don’t like the stuff that does.”

Later this month, Coldplay will play two sold-out gigs for UK homeless charity Crisis – a cause long-supported by the band.

“I think it will be good for us to get our gig feet on for a couple of days because sometimes you can get very institutionalised in the studio,” says Martin.

“There’s a danger that you forget that you’re going to have to play this for people and that’s when music can become a little bit silly.”

Buckland agrees that the months the four-piece have spent in the studio have taken their toll: “You can forget that there are other people in the world, you can become so focused on the small group that’s around you.

“It’s very much like I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here in our studio,” says Martin. “A lot of difficult tasks and people that you find it hard to get along with, i.e. me.”

Martin and Buckland say they don’t have a definite date for release of the new album but add dryly that it will be “some time in the future”.

Rather too self-deprecatingly given their past chart success, Martin suggests that he would like to avoid a potential battle with another big UK band.

“Preferably not the same week Take That are doing anything.

“Nowadays, if Gary says he might be possibly playing piano on a certain day, we just say, ‘Ok we’ll go and work in Germany that day, there’s no point in us being here.'”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Business leaders urge the government to delay planned changes to the retirement age for a year, saying firms face ‘huge uncertainty’.

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A property in the UK is being searched as part of the investigation into the weekend’s bombing in Sweden, police have said.

A search warrant was executed at a property in Bedfordshire, under the Terrorism Act 2000, on Sunday night, the Metropolitan Police said.

It follows a suspected suicide bombing in Stockholm on Saturday.

Reports say a man killed by the blast lived in Luton and had studied at the University of Bedfordshire.

No arrests have been made and no hazardous materials were found at the property, Scotland Yard said.

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Students, lecturers and trade unionists are preparing to protest in about 100 colleges in England against the axing of the education maintenance allowance.

The government plans to scrap the scheme, which is aimed at encouraging poorer pupils to stay in education, from September next year.

Supporters of the EMA, which is worth up to £30 a week, say it stops thousands of students dropping out.

However, ministers say it is an inefficient scheme.

Chancellor George Osborne announced plans to axe the scheme in the spending review, saying it had very high “dead weight costs”.

But numerous studies show the EMA, introduced by Labour, is a key factor in increasing and maintaining the number of young people taking part in education.

Recent research suggests students on EMA miss fewer classes and are more likely to stay on in college than wealthier students, despite the fact they tend to have poorer prior attainment.

The EMA is effective because it is only paid if recipients attend all their classes. Colleges and schools withdraw the week’s money if pupils miss class without a good reason.

And many pupils depend on it to fund their transport, books and even basic living costs.

Save EMA campaign organiser James Mills said many students would drop out of education if the scheme was scrapped.

“When there were problems with the administration of the allowance a couple of years ago I remember lecturers at my college bringing in bags of shopping for pupils who did not get their money,” he said.

Seven trade unions – including the UCU, the NUT, Nasuwt and the ATL – are joining the protests, set to take place at lunchtime in about 100 colleges.

In some cities such as Birmingham and Leicester, and parts of north-west England, as many as four-fifths of students receive the allowance.

One college preparing for a peaceful demonstration is the City of Bath College.

The college’s principle Matt Atkinson said axing EMA would lead to pupils dropping out.

“Where you have got colleges that are serving rural areas, a lot of these young people are using EMAs to actually get to college,” he said.

“For young people in disadvantaged backgrounds this is a significant contribution to the household income.”

General secretary of the UCU lecturers’ union Sally Hunt said the EMA was a vital lifeline for many students.

“Withdrawing the EMA will hit some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society, as well as the colleges that are there to serve them.”

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said if the EMA was axed it would be a disaster for social justice and for the economy.

“Education is the major factor in social mobility, ending the EMA will mean that many students from less well off backgrounds will simply not be able to countenance continuing with further education.”

General secretary of the Nasuwt teaching union Chris Keates said: “The abolition of the EMA is a direct attack on the futures of thousands of young people across the country. They have a right to be angry and to use the democratic process to influence elected representatives to oppose these changes.”

ATL general secretary, Dr Mary Bousted, said: “Cutting the EMA will hit the most disadvantaged students hard and make it impossible for some to stay in education.”

The Association of Colleges shares the concerns and its chief executive Martin Doel has written to Michael Gove asking for him to rethink the plans.

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Alcopops containing caffeine and alcohol have been removed from the shelves in the US, following reports of students becoming dangerously drunk.

The move comes amid anxiety about similar drinks in countries from Scotland to Mexico.

A few weeks ago in New York a group of college students gathered at a vigil. They sang songs, and held candles as they mourned the passing of a friend.

But what made this display of affection slightly surreal was that the gathered crowd were in fact lamenting the demise of an alcoholic drink, Four Loko.

Four Loko will no longer exist in its original incarnation – as a mix of alcohol and caffeine in a can – on the orders of the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

The fruit-flavoured energy drink contains 12% alcohol, making it twice as strong as a regular beer, and one 23.5oz (694ml) can contain as much caffeine as a tall Starbucks coffee.

It is a combination those who drink it say tastes great and makes you feel good. But others describe it as a “blackout in a can”, and blame it for landing a number of students in hospital.

Four Loko is one of a range of such drinks on sale in the US, including Joose and Core El Jefe. Last month, the US Food and Drug Administration called on the top four manufacturers to take them out of circulation by 13 December.

Dr Joshua M Sharfstein, the FDA’s principal deputy commissioner, said evidence suggested that the mix of caffeine and alcohol posed a “public health concern”.

Four Loko will continue to be on sale, but now without the caffeine.

The FDA’s action came after some highly publicised scandals, in which the drinks were reported to have caused serious illness, including one at Ramapo College in New Jersey.

“My friend had [a] little under three cans in one hour,” explains a student at the college, James Kulinski. “He didn’t know what he was doing. He was a mess – he had no motor skills and no ability to communicate.”

James has tried Four Loko and Joose and isn’t a huge fan. He says most people who drank it on campus were “inexperienced drinkers” who saw it, at around $1.50, as an inexpensive way to get drunk.

Ramapo College later banned Four Loko from campus. It has also been banned from the entire state of Washington, after reports of dozens of young people being taken ill – including nine students from Central Washington university who were admitted to hospital in October.

“It’s time to bring an end to the sale of alcoholic energy drinks,” said Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna at the time.

“They’re marketed to kids by using fruit flavours that mask the taste of alcohol and they have such high levels of stimulants that people have no idea how inebriated they really are. They’re packaged just like non-alcoholic drinks, but include a dangerous dose of malt liquor.”

In fact Four Loko, which has been sold in 46 states across America, has built up a cult following among college students. More than 100,000 have signed up to various Facebook groups protesting against the drink’s demise.

The beverage hit the shops in 2008, the brainchild of three friends who met at Ohio State University – Chris Hunter, Jeff Wright and Jaisen Freeman – and went on to found the company Phusion Projects.

Phusion Projects disputes claims its drink leads to alcohol poisoning.

“We have repeatedly contended – and still believe, as do many people throughout the country – that the combination of alcohol and caffeine is safe,” said Messrs Hunter, Wright and Freeman in a statement.

“If it were unsafe, popular drinks like rum and colas or Irish coffees that have been consumed safely and responsibly for years would face the same scrutiny that our products have recently faced.”

But some studies do show that the mix of caffeine and alcohol can have adverse effects.

The University of Florida surveyed 802 college students who had mixed alcohol and caffeine and found they were three times more likely to leave a bar highly intoxicated and four times more likely to want to drive, compared with drinkers who did not consume alcoholic energy drinks.

Caffeine is a mild stimulant that increases alertness and heart rate, while alcohol is a depressant that causes lethargy and loss of normal faculties.

“When someone mixes them, we believe that the caffeine masks the depressant effects of the alcohol,” explains Bruce Goldberger, a toxicologist from the University of Florida who helped write the research.

“Our research found that the person’s perception of their degree of impairment was masked by the stimulating effect caused by the caffeine.”

Mr Goldberger believes that this combination led to more students staying awake longer, and therefore wanting to drink for longer.

Another study from Wake Forest university, which surveyed 697 students, found those who had consumed caffeinated alcoholic beverages were more likely to drink drive, take advantage of someone sexually, or end up needing medical treatment.

According to Aaron White of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), a lot depends on the speed at which the drink is consumed.

Drinking a few cans of Four Loko in quick succession different is very different to someone drinking a bottle of wine over dinner, followed by coffee, he argues.

“In one can you have the equivalent of almost a bottle of wine and a couple of cups of coffee. That’s a lot of alcohol and caffeine all at once. And young people tend to drink these things quickly.”

Concerns over the drinks are not confined to the United States. The caffeinated wine Buckfast has been linked to youth crime in Scotland. Mexico and Australia are both considering regulating the sale of the drinks on health grounds.

Last week, before the effective ban in the US took force, retailers were reporting an increase in sales of the drink.

At the Bridge liquor store in Rhode Island, manager Jeff Schultz said he couldn’t keep up with demand.

“Once it hit the news we couldn’t keep it in stock. We’ve been through hundreds of the cases.”

For the health of America’s students the FDA’s action is likely to be for the best, but many will mourn it.

“Thanks for introducing me to my 1st blackout. Its so hard to say goodbye,” writes one fan, on one of the many Four Loko groups on Facebook.

Another simply says, “R.I.P FOUR LOKO WE MISS U AND I WANT MORE.”

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Egypt says it will reopen beaches at the Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh after a spate of shark attacks temporarily forced their closure.

New measures are being put in place to ensure the safety of swimmers in the future, authorities said.

A German woman was killed and four other tourists injured in a series of attacks a week ago.

Many of the resort’s main beaches were closed to swimmers and snorkellers after the fatal attack on 5 December.

“We have allowed the beaches to reopen on condition hotel owners adhere to new controls to ensure the safety of foreign tourists while diving or swimming,” South Sinai Governor Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shousha told reporters.

He said watch stations, manned by divers, would be set up to monitor the coast, and that speed boats would continuously patrol the waters.

Swimmers will also have to remain within designated areas and refrain from feeding sharks, Mr Shousha added.

Egypt has been concerned about the impact of the shark attacks on tourism, which provides a crucial source of foreign currency and jobs in the country.

The 70-year-old German was fatally mauled just metres from the shore one day after the last time the beaches were reopened.

They were closed following shark attacks that injured two Russian snorkellers on 30 November and another one on 1 December.

The 5 December killing was the first death from a shark attack in Egypt since 2004.

An investigation is underway to understand what caused the sharks’ behaviour.

Experts and local observers have speculated that overfishing in the Red Sea may have driven sharks closer to shore.

Meanwhile, some believe predatory sharks could have been drawn to the area after a ship carrying Australian sheep and cattle for sacrifice during last month’s Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha dumped the carcasses of animals which had died during the voyage.

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A man has been charged with the murder of a woman whose body was found at a house in north London.

Houssam Djemaa, 23, of Anderson Court, Whitefield Avenue, Cricklewood, is accused of murdering Jacqueline Barrett, 34, of the same address.

Police were called early on Saturday to reports that a woman had been assaulted. Post-mortem tests found the cause of death to have been asphyxia.

Mr Djemaa will appear at Highbury Corner Magistrates’ Court later.

An 18-year-old man also arrested following the death has been bailed until later in the month.

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Wide-ranging justice reforms, including ending short jail terms, have come into force in Scotland.

The Criminal Justice and Licensing Act, passed by parliament in the summer, includes a presumption against prison sentences of three months or less.

The legislation also makes stalking a criminal offence.

And there are tougher penalties for those involved in organised crime, including punishments for the use of mobile phones in prison.

The legislation also creates a new sentencing council to provide guidance to the courts on disposing of criminal cases.

The age at which a child can be prosecuted in an adult court will rise from eight to 12 and the remand of children in adult prisons will end.

SNP ministers said disposing of short jail terms, along with making community sentences tougher, would reduce reoffending.

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Scotland’s economy is avoiding a double-dip recession, the Bank of Scotland’s chief economist has said.

Donald MacRae said that while growth was “not as positive as hoped for”, there had been low growth and not negative growth for three months.

His comments came as November’s figures showed the manufacturing sector grew at its fastest rate since August.

However, the rise was coupled with a subdued service sector, which recorded falls in orders and employment levels.

According to the Bank of Scotland’s Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for November, there was a strong rise in new export orders for Scottish manufacturers.

The rise was put down to a boost in demand from China and the US.

Across the service sector, business services, travel, tourism and leisure all experienced declines in activity.

The financial services sector was the only one to record a modest rise.

The report also highlighted the rising price of raw materials and found that wages were pushing up costs for private firms.

Companies said they had been able to pass on some of the rises to clients, while manufacturers raised factory gate prices at a marked rate.

Discounting has also remained evident in the service sector.

Mr MacRae said: “This month’s robust recovery in manufacturing partially offset the fall in service activity extending the slowdown in the Scottish economy into November.

“Scottish manufacturers saw a welcome strong increase in the volume of new export orders during the month providing evidence of an export led recovery.

“The sector also recorded a solid rise in production, the strongest since August.”

He added: “While the latest PMI isn’t as positive as hoped for, these results indicate the Scottish economy is avoiding a ‘double dip’ and experiencing low growth rather than negative growth.”

The PMI report, compiled by Markit for Bank of Scotland, is based on data from purchasing executives in about 600 private manufacturing and service sector companies.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.