Blancer.com Tutorials and projects
Freelance Projects, Design and Programming Tutorials
world news,online new,us news,uk news
Up to 40 Rolls-Royce engines on Airbus A380 superjumbos worldwide will need to be replaced, Australian airline Qantas says.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The amount spent on cancer care varies across England NHS cancer care in England is getting better according to a report by the National Audit Office.
But the NAO warns that a lack of reliable statistics is holding back further improvements.
It estimates that cancer care cost the NHS in England £6.3bn in 2008-09.
A lack of data means the Department of Health cannot say if its Cancer Reform Strategy, published in 2007, offers value for money, it adds. Ministers say a review is to take place.
Around 255,000 people a year are diagnosed with cancer, the vast majority of them over the age of 60.
With an ageing population that figure is expected to rise to around 300,000 by 2020.
Cancer is also the biggest cause of death in the under 60s.
The National Audit office report sees clear signs of improvement – even as more people are diagnosed with the disease, the death rate is falling.
The UK as a whole still lags behind the performance of other leading European Union countries and it was this that the Cancer Reform Strategy was set up to address.
The NAO report examines whether this strategy provides good value for money but it finds that a lack of reliable information means it is very hard to judge.
For example, data on chemotherapy treatment and outcomes is described as “poor” and the introduction of national figures on chemotherapy is two and a half years behind schedule.
There are also unexplained variations in the amount spent on cancer care by Primary Care Trusts.
So in 2008-09, one PCT spent £55 per head, while another spent nearly three times that amount, at £154 per head.
The NAO says it is impossible to tell whether this results in patients receiving better treatment or getting better outcomes.
But one area of improvement is a reduction in the number of hospital admissions for cancer patients.
Admitting someone to hospital is a very expensive way of treating their cancer when many people could be dealt with as day patients.
The NAO says that £113m a year could be saved if the average length of stay in hospital was reduced to the level of the best performing PCTs.
Improvements in the use of radiotherapy machines could also help the NHS meet increased demand.
The Department of Health says it is carrying out a review of the Cancer Reform Strategy this winter and the report will be used as part of that process.
The care services minister Paul Burstow said the aim is to get cancer survival rates up among the best in the world.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Comedians and economists meet in Kilkenny to discuss crisis
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 backing proposals for changes to Nato’s command structure which could see big cuts in the numbers of staff and command bases.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The MSP wants to see people over the age of 16 given the right to die Politicians at Holyrood are expected to recommend that a bill to legalise assisted suicide should be thrown out.
Independent MSP Margo MacDonald is behind the bid to give terminally ill people over 16 the right to die.
The committee set up to look at the End of Life Assistance Bill will publish its recommendations later.
It is one of the most contentious pieces of legislation to come before the Scottish Parliament and opponents say it would encourage suicide tourism.
They reckon the move would result in 1,000 people ending their lives each year.
However, Ms MacDonald, who has Parkinsons disease, dismissed the claims and said it was immoral that those who wish to end their lives due to terminal illnesses should have to travel to Switzerland.
The MSP for the Lothians has also accused fellow MSPs of making up their minds before hearing the evidence.
Although the special parliament committee is expected to be against the legislation, the matter will be subject to a full parliament vote within the next few weeks.
It is not illegal to attempt suicide in Scotland, but helping someone take their own life could lead to prosecution.
Ms MacDonald’s bill would allow people whose lives become intolerable through a progressive degenerative condition, a trauma or terminal illness to seek a doctor’s help in dying.
It also proposes a series of safeguards which would prevent abuse of the legislation.
In England, the director of public prosecutions has indicated he was unlikely to take legal action against those who assist the suicide of friends or relatives who have a settled and informed wish to die.
However, no such guidance has been given in Scotland.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
An industry taskforce has warned the UK government it must act now to protect the economy against the next oil shock.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Mend says it is fighting for fairer distribution of Nigeria’s oil money Nigerian troops have rescued 19 hostages kidnapped by militants in the Niger Delta this month, officials say.
Two Americans, two Frenchmen, two Indonesians and a Canadian were freed along with 12 Nigerians in a land, air and sea assault, said officials.
Security sources told the BBC the freed hostages were euphoric.
The operation was the first successful rescue of foreign captives in the Delta without any of the hostages being killed in the process.
It is not clear whether any militants were killed or wounded.
The foreigners were captured on 8 November, when gunmen attacked an oil rig belonging to London-based Alfren PLC.
The eight Nigerians were seized on an ExxonMobil platform Akwa Ibom state a week later, in an attack claimed by Mend, a military group operating in the Delta.
The BBC’s Caroline Duffield in Lagos says the rescue operation marks a change in tactics by the Nigerian military, who worked in close co-operation with local contacts to free the captives.
Violence in the oil-rich Delta region has subsided since last year.
In the past, militants have cut the country’s oil production by one-third, causing a spike in global oil prices.
The government and many oil militants reached a ceasefire agreement last year in exchange for cash payouts and job training – but a small faction of Mend has resumed the kidnappings.
There were always fears that a new generation of militants would emerge which would ignore the ceasefire, says our correspondent.
There are also signs the amnesty is faltering, following a firebombing attack on the home of presidential adviser Timi Alaibe last week, she adds.
Mend says it is fighting so that more of Nigeria’s massive oil wealth is used to benefit the Niger Delta area which produces the oil.
But criminal gangs have taken advantage of the region’s instability to make money from ransoms paid by oil companies, and stealing oil.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Mr Ghailani was captured in 2004 in Pakistan The first Guantanamo detainee tried in a US civilian court has been found not guilty of all but one of 286 terror charges over the 1998 bombings of US embassies in Africa.
Tanzanian Ahmed Ghailani was found guilty of conspiracy to damage or destroy US property with explosives.
But he was cleared of many other counts including murder and murder conspiracy.
Ghailani faces a minimum of 20 years in prison. The verdict comes as the US weighs other civilian terror trials.
Witness barred
The Ghailani case concludes the first test of the Obama administration’s decision to try some Guantanamo inmates in civilian courts rather than in military tribunals – or have them detained indefinitely.
Prosecutors suffered an early setback when federal Judge Lewis Kaplan in New York barred a key government witness from testifying, saying he had been named by Ghailani while the latter was “under duress”.
The witness, Hussein Abebe, had been expected to testify that he had sold TNT used in the bombing of the US embassy Tanzania in August 1998 to Mr Ghailani.
Mr Ghailani was detained in Pakistan in 2004, taken to a secret CIA facility and then to Guantanamo Bay in 2006.
He was subject to what the government refers to as “enhanced interrogation” by the CIA. His lawyers say he was tortured.
Ghailani’s defense attorneys had argued he was duped by al-Qaeda operatives.
Among those the US has said it hopes to try in a civilian court is alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
A previously unseen archive with the testimonies of Guernsey islanders who were deported to prison camps during World War II is uncovered.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Police have appealed for information after two men were stabbed near Londonderry city centre.
The incident happened in John Street near Craigavon Bridge at about 1700 GMT on Wednesday night.
A man in his 20s was taken to Altnagelvin hospital with serious wounds to his throat and upper body. The second man’s injuries are thought to be less serious.
SDLP Derry City Councillor Mark H Durkan condemned the stabbing.
“Unfortunately the John Street area has been plagued with nefarious activity for far too long.
“Just last week the council approved funding for CCTV to be installed in the area to help combat this anti-social behaviour,” Mr Durkan added.
“Regrettably this is going to be of little consolation to the man who was stabbed but hopefully it will discourage any future attacks.
“I wish the victim a full and speedy recovery and strongly appeal to anyone who witnessed this attack to pass their information onto the police immediately.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Is there such thing as the ‘undeserving poor’?
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
A planning application for a controversial “super dairy” near Lincoln has been resubmitted – with the number of cows more than halved.
Critics condemned original plans for 8,100 cows at the site at Nocton Heath as the equivalent of battery farming. These were withdrawn in April.
The farmers resubmitting the scheme said they had listened to animal welfare and environmental concerns.
They said they had scaled back the plans to 3,770 cows.
These cattle would have access to outdoor paddocks during good weather.
The new application, submitted to North Kesteven District Council, will be the subject of a 13-14 week consultation period.
Peter Willes, who farms in Devon and is one of those behind the scheme, said if the farm was successful and it could demonstrate the system worked, they would consider expanding it to the levels of the original plans.
He said there would be a vet on site 24 hours a day and the “carbon footprint” of the milk would be much lower than a conventional dairy farm because the animal feed would be grown locally.
His business partner, David Barnes, who farms in Lancashire, said: “We’re very conscious of concerns about water, public health, smell, traffic and welfare and need to prove that this farming model is sustainable in that particular location.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The Irish government has admitted for the first time that emergency financial help might be needed to ease the country’s financial crisis.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The Irish Republic remains at the heart of the latest storm surrounding eurozone countries A team of international officials is due to arrive in the Irish Republic for further talks on the debt crisis.
Representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Union (EU) will take part.
The talks will take place with the Irish Government, which has not itself asked for any aid.
Many believe some sort of bailout will be needed to prop up Ireland’s heavily indebted banks.
Fears about their stability has led to a rise in the price the Irish government – which has pumped billions into its banks – pays to borrow money.
Other eurozone countries that are also perceived as weak are seeing their borrowing costs rise too.
The latest discussions follow a meeting in Brussels on Wednesday of European finance ministers.
The ministers said they had not held detailed discussions on a potential bail-out for the Irish Republic – because the Irish government had not requested financial help.
Without a request for assistance, none can be given, despite the wishes of some fellow eurozone countries, such as Portugal and Spain, who would like the issue to be settled in order to stop disorder on the financial markets.
The Irish government has stressed it does not need to borrow money for public spending until into next year.
But it has a gaping budget deficit and will shortly announce another severe round of spending cuts and possible tax rises to plug the gap.
The country’s banks have recently become heavily dependent on loans from the ECB.
“If Ireland is fundamentally incapable of paying off all it owes… some will say it is grotesquely unfair that the cost should fall entirely on taxpayers in Ireland, the EU and (if IMF money is drawn) the rest of the world”
Peston’s Picks: Counting the cost Global banks set to avoid Irish losses
Belgian Finance Minister Didier Reynders was chairing the meeting of the Economic and Financial Affairs Council (Ecofin), on behalf of the Belgian presidency.
He said that there were differences between the Irish situation and the position Greece found itself in earlier this year, when it received an EU-IMF rescue package.
“This time we’re concerned about a country, but there’s no request from that country,” said Mr Reynders.
“It’s a major difference between this case and the Greece case because we have instruments [to act],” he added.
He also said that it was difficult for the European Central Bank (ECB) to go further in the provision of liquidity to Irish banks.
Once known as the “Celtic tiger” because of the strength of its economic boom, the Republic has since suffered the deepest recession of any country in the developed world, including collapsing property prices and a deeply-indebted banking sector.
EU economic and monetary affairs commissioner Olli Rehn said the Irish government was committed to the technical discussions taking place with the EU, the ECB and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
These discussions focus on the plan to reduce the budget deficit over the next four years and to stabilise the banking sector.
“The Irish authorities are committed to intensify this work,” he said.
Mr Rehn also sought to clarify the situation regarding Greece’s bail-out, following concerns raised by Austria that Greece had not fulfilled its obligations under the EU-backed aid package, as well as reports that Austria had yet to submit its December contribution to the bail-out.
“A decision on the third instalment for Greece should be taken in December by the 14 participating euro area member states that participate in the loan scheme. But the disbursement has always been seen for January next year,” he said.
“The decision is in December, the disbursement in January, so there is no delay.”
There have been reports that the UK is considering offering billions of pounds of direct loans to the Irish Republic.
However, a spokesman for the UK Treasury said: “There has been no application from Ireland and we are not speculating on the situation.”
But Chancellor George Osborne said the UK was “ready to support Ireland”, as he arrived for the Ecofin meeting.
“We’re going to do what is in Britain’s national interest,” he said.
“Ireland is our closest neighbour and it’s in Britain’s national interest that the Irish economy is successful and we have a stable banking system.”
The Irish government has repeatedly denied that it is seeking outside support. Prime Minister Brian Cowen has said that he has not asked for bail-out money and that the Irish economy is well funded until next year.
An EU handout would be seen as a big loss of face for the Republic – essentially meaning that its survival and solvency was reliant on Brussels.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
A Metropolitan Police officer has been arrested on suspicion of manslaughter after the death of a woman in west London.
The 34-year-old officer, who works in central operations, was off duty at the time of the alleged offence.
The 64-year-old woman died following an altercation, understood to have involved motorists, in Hillingdon on Tuesday.
The Met said it has informed the Directorate of Professional Standards.
The Independent Police Complaints Commission has also been made aware.
Post-mortem tests have yet to be carried out on the woman who was pronounced dead at the scene.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.