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Heart failure affects 900,000 people a year
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Nearly 5,000 lives a year could be saved if more people with heart failure got specialist care, a report suggests.
The National Heart Failure Audit found about 32% of people with heart failure died within a year of being admitted to hospital in England and Wales.
But the figure drops to 23% for those seen by a hospital cardiologist or cared for in specialist services.
This means the death toll among patients admitted to hospital could fall from 17,000 to 12,000 a year.
Heart failure affects about 900,000 people a year and occurs when the heart has trouble pumping blood around the body, often caused by heart muscle weakness.
The report, compiled by the NHS Information Centre and the British Society for Heart Failure, looked at the records of 21,000 patients.
It found about 46% of patients with heart failure admitted to hospital were treated on cardiology wards.
Of those patients who died in hospital, about 12% of those treated on non-cardiology wards died compared to about 6% of cardiology ward patients.
“Audits like the heart failure audit are vital in exposing existing flaws in the system that need improvement”
Professor Roger Boyle Government heart tsar
The number referred to heart failure liaison services also varies greatly, from almost 70% of patients under 45 to less than 21% of those aged over 95. There were also discrepancies in drug treatment.
And the study found that people from poorer areas were admitted to hospital about five years earlier on average than those living in the most affluent areas.
Report author Dr Theresa McDonagh said the differences in care were “unacceptable” and were causing a high death rate.
Professor Roger Boyle, the government’s heart tsar, said: “Audits like the heart failure audit are vital in exposing existing flaws in the system that need improvement.”
Dr Mike Knapton, of the British Heart Foundation, called for heart failure to get the same priority that heart attacks have.
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Supporters of Michel Martelly have started fires and set up barricades
Haitian presidential election candidate, Michel Martelly, who narrowly missed a spot in the second round run-off, has called for calm amid mass protests by his supporters.
Mr Martelly said his supporters should only hold nonviolent protests and urged them not to rise to provocations.
Demonstrators have set fire to the headquarters of Haiti’s governing party.
They accuse it of rigging the vote in favour of its candidate, Jude Celestin.
Speaking on Haitian radio, Mr Martelly said: “I understand your anger. Protesting without violence is a right of the people… I will be with you until there is total victory.”
The pop star said the “Provisional Electoral Council has plunged the country into crisis with its incorrect results”, which were announced on Tuesday.
“The international community, the national and international observers, recognise that these results are not right,” he said.
Thousands of people have taken to the streets of the capital, Port-au-Prince, since Mr Celestin was declared to have finished in second place narrowly ahead of Mr Martelly.
Demonstrations erupted there and in several cities soon after the results were announced, and President Rene Preval called for an end to the protests in a national address.
In the capital, supporters of Mr Martelly started fires and set up barricades on Tuesday.
Thousands of young people resumed the protests across the country on Wednesday.
Witnesses described flames leaping from the headquarters of the governing Inite (Unite) coalition in the capital after it was set alight.
Protesters told the Associated Press news agency that security guards had shot demonstrators as they attacked the building, but there were no confirmed reports of injuries.
“The people came out to vote for Martelly because [leading candidate Mirlande] Manigat and Celestin are not going to sort anything out. Martelly was ahead and they have stolen the elections,” one protester said.
Reports said that one protester was shot dead and two others were wounded as supporters of Mr Martelly and Mr Celestin brawled with each other in the second city, Cap Haitien.
Officials have not yet confirmed numbers of casualties.
Mr Celestin is regarded as Mr Preval’s hand-picked successor, and the incumbent defended the election result in his national radio address.
But he urged Mr Celestin and Mr Martelly to ask their supporters to call off the protests.
Most observers say the first round of the voting was grossly mismanaged.
Former first lady Mirlande Manigat won 31% of the vote and Mr Celestin 22%. Mr Martelly polled just over 21% – about 6,800 votes short of Mr Celestin.
The US embassy in Haiti said on Tuesday it was concerned the results were “inconsistent” with vote counts observed around the country.
The close result has led to calls that Mr Martelly also be included in the run-off.
Mr Martelly has said he will not accept a place in the run-off if Mr Celestin is present. He has until 10 December to appeal against the result.
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Registration took place in Khartoum for southerners living in the north
Voter registration has ended in Sudan for January’s referendum on possible southern independence.
The registration period, which had been delayed several times, is a key step towards the vote.
Southerners are widely expected to choose to form a new country, having fought two civil wars with the north.
Exact figures will not be known for a few days, as statistics trickle in from remote areas of Southern Sudan, one of the world’s least developed places.
Nearly three million people had registered in the south by Tuesday.
However, the figure given for southerners living in the north was just over 105,000, fewer than had been anticipated.
Some people left Khartoum and other northern cities to go to the south to register.
Others said they were afraid the north would manipulate their vote, so they did not register at all.
Tensions have been growing as the referendum draws nearer.
Former rebels in Southern Sudan have accused the north of bombing their territory on several occasions.
Northern armed forces have denied all the accusations.
Critical negotiations on post-referendum issues – and on Abyei, the border area due to have its own referendum – are not making much progress.
An estimated two million people died in the last north-south civil war which ended in 2005. But both sides insist a return to conflict is out of the question.
The referendum is scheduled for 9 January.
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John Lennon was killed two months after his 40th birthday
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Tributes are to be paid to former Beatle John Lennon later to mark the 30th anniversary of his murder.
Fans will gather at a memorial garden in Central Park, New York, opposite the apartment block where he was shot dead.
A vigil will also be held in Liverpool at a monument dedicated to the singer where fans will light candles and sing his songs.
Lennon’s widow, Yoko Ono, has urged people to remember him with “deep love and respect”.
She said: “On this tragic anniversary, please join me in remembering John.
“In his short-lived life of 40 years, he has given so much to the world. The world was lucky to have known him. We still learn so much from him today.”
Ono was with Lennon when he was killed by crazed fan Mark Chapman outside the Dakota building in Manhattan, where the couple lived.
Ono will lead the tributes at a charity concert she has organised in Japan called Dream Power John Lennon Super Live, which raises money for schools for deprived children all over the world.
Events will also take place across Liverpool – John’s home ciy – to remember the singer.
Charity concert Lennon Remembered – The 9 Faces of John, will feature the Liverpudlian’s friends and bandmates from his first band, The Quarrymen, performing his most famous songs.
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Draft legislation to give greater flexibility to pension savers will be published by the Treasury on Thursday.
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IBF and WBO heavyweight champion Wladimir Klitschko pulls out of Saturday’s world title bout with Dereck Chisora due to a back injury.
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AIG received a total bail-out of about $182bn during the financial crisis
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American International Group (AIG), the troubled giant US insurer, is to repay one of the emergency rescue loans it received during the financial crisis.
It will repay the remaining $21bn outstanding from a $91bn loan from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
The move will pave the way for the US Treasury to sell a fifth of the insurer on the stock exchange early next year.
The Treasury currently owns 80% of AIG, although this will rise to some 92% before the planned share selloff.
AIG also plans to sell some new shares in the stock offering, which is expected to total $10bn-15bn.
The company’s share price fell 3.5% on the news to $42, as the new share issue would dilute the value of existing shares. But the share price remained above the $30 level at which the Treasury would make a profit on its investment.
“Today’s announcement is a milestone in the government’s long-stated efforts to exit our investments in private companies as soon as practical while protecting taxpayers,” said Treasury spokesman Tim Massad in a statement on the government department’s website.
“When all is said and done, we believe taxpayers will recover every dollar invested in AIG and stand a good chance of making a profit.”
The company received a total bail-out of about $182bn, some of which was controversially used to make good on payments owed by the insolvent insurer to major banks and financial institutions, including Goldman Sachs.
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Nick Clegg: “This is the best and fairest possible way”
The government has announced further concessions to its controversial plans to increase tuition fees ahead of a Commons vote on Thursday.
The £21,000 salary at which graduates start to repay fees will be uprated each year by inflation from 2016 – not just every five years, as was planned.
Current graduates will also see the existing £15,000 repayment level uprated for inflation from 2012.
The changes come amid speculation about a sizable rebellion by Lib Dem MPs.
The concessions would also see part-time students able to apply for student loans if they study for a quarter of the year, rather than a third as planned.
In a statement, Business Secretary Vince Cable said: “Our modelling to date has assumed that that threshold should be uprated every five years in line with earnings. In order to give better protection for those on lower incomes, we now propose that the uprating should instead be made every year.
“Around a quarter of graduates will be better off in this new, more progressive regime than under the current regime.”
He added: “These improvements further enhance a reform package which will put higher education funding and student finance on a sustainable footing, improve the quality and viability of our university system, offer more progressive support to those on lower incomes, both while studying in HE and when repaying as graduates, and contribute to paying down the deficit.”
On Tuesday Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced that all Liberal Democrat ministers would vote to raise the cap on university tuition fees in England to £9,000 from the current £3,290.
Former Lib Dem leaders Charles Kennedy and Sir Menzies Campbell are among MPs set to oppose the plans which have prompted weeks of student protests. Others are expected to abstain.
And Julian Lewis has become the second Tory MP to say he will vote against them.
There is talk that Energy Secretary Chris Huhne may be forced to return from the UN climate summit in Cancun, Mexico, for the vote after failing to find a “pair” – an opposition MP to join him in not voting.
Speaking after addressing his MPs on Tuesday evening, Mr Clegg said: “The ministerial team in government… every single one will vote for this measure because it is the best possible, the fairest possible measure to ensure we have world class universities in future and that youngsters from whatever background can continue to go to university.
“That’s why all of us as a team in government will vote for this bill on Thursday.”
He said that did not include parliamentary private secretaries – who assist ministers – but those with doubts were being encouraged “to take up the opportunity in the coalition agreement to abstain”.
It looks like the party will be split three ways over the plans to to raise fees, with some backing, some opposing and some abstaining from the vote.
Before the 2010 election the Lib Dems pledged to phase out university tuition fees over six years.
The party’s MPs also signed a pledge organised by the National Union of Students during the election campaign to oppose any future rises in fees from the current £3,290 a year.
But the policy of the government – in which the Lib Dems are partners – is to support a rise.
At a meeting ahead of Thursday’s vote, Mr Clegg told his MPs he had hoped they could “walk through the fire” together – but he now accepted a collective position was not possible.
He praised the way Lib Dem MPs had conducted themselves in a “difficult” situation and acknowledged there had been a “lot of pressure” from the media and protesters.
But he said that “to govern was to choose” and, with money tight, the coalition had decided to pump funds into early years education.
Under the terms of the coalition agreement, Lib Dem MPs, including ministers, are allowed to abstain on the issue.
“Their loyalty may have been more likely to have been assured had they been given a decent share of government posts in coalition, but only a very few have.”
The different tribes of Lib Dems
BBC political editor Nick Robinson said Mr Clegg expected at least half of his 57 MPs to vote for the proposals.
The National Union of Students is promising to campaign directly against Lib Dem MPs who back the fees increase, arguing that the change will deter people from poorer backgrounds from going to university.
Meanwhile shadow chancellor Alan Johnson – who has previously opposed a graduate tax – has told the Times he believes there is now a “strong case” for one.
Mr Johnson – who steered Labour’s legislation introducing tuition fees through the Commons in 2004 – accused the coalition of “abusing the legacy I left them”.
He said: “We are now seeing how casually the variable fees system can be distorted with such damaging effects. It is in these circumstances that there is a strong case for a graduate tax, which may offer a fairer way of sharing costs between individuals and government.”
In September, in an open letter to Ed Miliband in the Sunday Independent the day after he was elected Labour leader, Mr Johnson urged him not to introduce a graduate tax: “We should be proud of our brave and correct decision to introduce tuition fees. Students don’t pay them, graduates do, when they’re earning more than £15,000 a year, at very low rates, stopped from their pay just like a graduate tax, but with the money going where it belongs: to universities rather than the Treasury.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Meteor showers, like this one over the UK in 2009, are eagerly sought out by stargazers
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Stargazers throughout the UK have reported seeing a meteor-like streak of light in the darkened skies.
The BBC was contacted by people in Scotland, the Midlands, Wales, and northern and south west England who saw the display at about 1740 GMT.
One witness driving home from work in Coventry said the light was a bit scary because it was so “incredibly bright”.
Astronomers said the brightness of the meteor, a chunk of space rock burning up in the atmosphere, was unusual.
Dr David Whitehouse. astronomer and former BBC correspondent, said: “It’s a bright meteor called a fireball, extraordinarily bright.
“This a chunk of space rock perhaps the size of your fist, perhaps a bit larger, that is burning up as it comes through our atmosphere at an altitude of 60 or 70 miles or so.
“I’ve seen shooting stars but this was quite spectacular because it was so large”
Keith Levitt Anglesey
“So it sounds extraordinary if you’re very lucky enough to have seen it; it’s quite rare.”
Tina Baxter was driving home when she spotted the meteor-like streak.
She told the BBC: “It was heading north and it appeared directly in front of me. It was travelling east to west.
“At first I thought it was a firework, but it was travelling at a funny angle – across then down.
“It was a bit scary because it was so massive and incredibly bright. When I got home, my brother was there, and he said he saw it as well.
“I would be surprised if anyone took pictures of it – it appeared for three seconds and then it was gone.”
Keith Levitt, 67, from Aberffraw on Anglesey, said he went outside to empty shopping from the boot of his car at about 1740 GMT when he saw a bright light above.
He told the BBC: “Initially, I thought it was the light from a plane, then I suddenly realised it was a ball with bits coming away from it. I realised it was a meteor.
“It was a large object, I only saw it for two or three seconds. It was going in a low trajectory then petered out into nothing.
“I’ve never seen anything so large and so close. I’ve seen shooting stars but this was quite spectacular because it was so large.”
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The Panama Canal is fed by rain that falls in the surrounding hills
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Traffic through the Panama Canal – which connects the Pacific and Atlantic oceans – has been temporarily suspended because of heavy rain.
The canal authority said the rains had pushed water levels in lakes that form part of the canal to historic highs, potentially endangering shipping.
It is the first time the canal has had to close since the US invasion of Panama in 1989.
Officials said they hoped normal traffic could resume “within hours”.
The last ship to pass through before the canal was closed left at midday, and some vessels were left idle in the waterway.
The canal authority said it was opening flood gates to reduce the water level in one of the lakes.
Around 14,000 ships pass through the Panama Canal each year, representing about 5% of world trade.
Passage through sections of the waterway have been suspended in recent years because of accidents, but not operations along its entire length.
Much of Central America as well as Colombia and Venezuela in South America have been experiencing its heaviest May-December rainy season in decades.
Linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the narrow isthmus connecting Central and South America, the Panama Canal is a vital artery of world trade and the cornerstone of Panama’s economy.
Built by the US in 1904-1914 after a failed French attempt, it was passed to Panamanian control in 1999.
The waterway is currently undergoing a multi-billion dollar expansion project that will increase its capacity and allow navigation by ships that are currently too big to use it.
Unlike the Suez Canal, the Panama Canal is not at sea level.
Instead, ships are raised and lowered by massive locks at either end, and pass through a freshwater channel fed by rivers that run off the surrounding forest-covered hills.
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Michael McGimpsey wants a budget agreed as soon as possible
The health minister is warning that more families seeking care for elderly relatives will face disappointment, unless the Executive protects the social services budget.
Michael McGimpsey said part of his department’s money has been used up and it is now critical that the Executive agrees a budget as soon as possible.
With only two additional nursing home places now available in the Western Health Trust, the health minister’s warning is already being felt in certain parts of Northern Ireland.
With nursing and home care waiting lists at an all time high, Mr McGimpsey gave a simple but stark explanation.
“The reality is the money has been used up. My budget is constrained all over – but that is what the future of the health service will be like if we cannot agree a proper budget,” he said.
“The demand is rising, we have the fastest growing population but we have to be prepared to meet that demand. It is not right that families have to wait – but what else can I do.”
In an exclusive interview with the BBC, the health minister warned there would be further repercussions unless the budget was agreed.
“At this stage, many services – and I am not just talking about those in the health service – are unsure about their future.
“Take for example those organisations that deal with suicide, many of those, very soon, will be working to protective notice,” he said.
The minister said that it wasn’t the Ulster Unionist Party that was delaying the process.
“My understanding is that it is Sinn Fein. They are the key player and they have to agree in order for the Executive to agree this budget,” he said.
“There may well be lots of talking, but I fear they are looking at wider political issues.”
Mr McGimpsey said the health service is constantly evolving and the public must prepare itself for a different type of service.
“That could be services, or building merging. Take for example cancer services at the City Hospital, a specialist service under one roof,” he said.
“The same may apply to delivering accident and emergency services in one or two hospitals. ”
Referring to recent media reports on the number of high earning managerial posts and the high cost of overseas training courses, the minister said he was not in the business of talking about stories that distorted the facts.
“This is a story that ran in a newspaper about spending £350,000 over three or four years on overseas training courses. I can justify every penny.
“As a result we saved millions in providing a better service and we saved many more lives as a result of it. I can demonstrate that this department saved millions.”
When asked if the number of neurological beds at the Royal Victoria Hospital shouldn’t have been reduced, Mr McGimpsey said he was not involved in the row, it was an issue involving the Belfast Trust.
“I intend to visit the neurological ward very soon and talk to the consultants involved.
“What I can’t have is trusts running the show, taking the advice from clinicians and then interfering in how it’s being run.
“I intend to go and listen to their concerns, but at this stage I must say that no-one has been turned away from a hospital bed.”
The minister agreed that perhaps Belfast Trust Management should have consulted more with the doctors who are involved in the neurological ward.
Sinn Fein’s Michelle O’Neill accused Mr McGimpsey of “running away from his responsibilities as a minister”.
“He has never been a team player in this Executive and has never engaged in the heavy lifting,” she said.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
By Richard Black
Mr Huhne’s return will leave the UK without ministerial representation at the key talks in Cancun
UK Climate Secretary Chris Huhne is set to fly back to London from the UN climate summit for the Thursday’s Commons vote on student tuition fees.
Campaigners say the move could damage prospects of a deal, as Mr Huhne has been tasked with brokering a compromise on the troubled Kyoto Protocol.
The coalition asked Labour to withdraw an MP from the ballot so Mr Huhne could stay, but the opposition declined.
Junior minister Greg Barker is also to return for the crucial vote.
However, it is understood that Mr Huhne and his team are still attempting to secure a “pairing” with either a Labour MP or someone from a smaller opposition party, which would allow him to remain in Cancun.
“What I find outrageous about this is that the normal arrangements which apply to ministers representing the country at important international negotiations are being completely flouted by the Labour Party,” Mr Huhne told BBC Radio 5 live.
“They are playing student politics with major issues like international climate change and I think it shows a level of immaturity in the Labour leadership which I think is, frankly, shocking.”
Campaigners also said Labour and particularly Ed Miliband – who as climate secretary played a leading role at last year’s UN summit in Copenhagen – should assist Mr Huhne to remain.
“Ed Miliband should step up to the plate and act in a statesman like manner by pairing up a Labour MP with Chris Huhne, who is key to the negotiations in Cancun,” said John Sauven of Greenpeace UK.
“We need Miliband to build on his personal legacy from Copenhagen to ensure Britain’s key role in the Mexico climate negotiations is not undermined.”
‘Car crash’ concerns
But Meg Hillier, Labour’s Shadow Energy and Climate Secretary, said it was the government’s decisions to hold the tuition fees vote now.
“It is a shame that Britain might be without a representative at the climate change talks because the coalition insist on rushing through legislation that is not fair, not necessary and not good for higher education,” she said.
“The Lib Dems should realise we need ministers out there getting the best we can from Cancun. There are plenty of rebels within the Lib Dems that they could persuade to be paired-off against Chris Huhne.”
However, in a speech during one of the plenary sessions at the conference, Mr Huhne turned his attention away from party politics in Westminster to the global issue of climate change.
He told delegates that a “car crash of a summit” was in no-one’s interest.
“The answer has to be compromise,” Mr Huhne urged.
“We cannot do everything here but we can make progress on mitigation, deforestation, adaptation, finance, reporting and more. And restore momentum to the global process – concrete steps to the treaty we want.”
He added: “We believe that the future of the Kyoto Protocol is vital to the success of this process.”
Mr Huhne, together with Brazil’s Environment Minister Izabella Teixeira, were asked by the Mexican host government to find compromise ground over the Kyoto Protocol.
Japan said at the start of this meeting that it will not accept further emission cuts under the protocol. Their opposition is backed by Canada and Russia.
But developing countries are adamant that the protocol must continue.
It is seen as one of the key issues that must be resolved if there is to be any prospect of securing a new global climate deal.
Withering away
As the ministerial segment of this summit opened on Tuesday, the UN’s top climate official, Christiana Figueres, had declared that time was running out for a deal.
“The political stakes are high because the effectiveness and credibility of your intergovernmental, multilateral process are in danger,” she said.
“And the environmental stakes are high because we are quickly running out of time to safeguard our future.
“Tuvalu, The Maldives, Kiribati, Vanuatu are looking for ways of evacuating their entire populations because of salt water intrusion and sea level rise; their fate is a wake-up call to all of us.”
Earlier, the UN Environment Programme (Unep) formally presented delegates with the results of a study published two weeks ago, showing that pledges on the table for curbing emissions will not be enough to keep the global average temperature rise below the levels that most governments say they want.
The vast majority of countries want to keep the rise within either 1.5C or 2C since pre-industrial times.
Lou Leonard from WWF was one of many environment campaigners emphasising that the agreement coming out of here must allow for countries to increase their pledges, to close this gap.
“They say they want 2C, the pledges don’t get to 2C – it’s like the emperor has no clothes,” he said.
The future of the Kyoto Protocol is just one of the issues dividing countries.
To facilitate compromise, the Mexican hosts have asked five pairs of ministers – one from a developing country, one from a developed – to explore particularly difficult areas.
They span emission cuts, adaptation to climate impacts, and the transfer of technology and money from rich to poor.
Mr Huhne agreed that the stakes were high; without movement here, he suggested, some governments would downgrade the importance they placed on the UN convention and its potential to deliver a meaningful climate pact.
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