Vladimir Putin “We discussed this important issue yesterday over a beer...”
Barack OBAMA “You know, my faith is one that admits some doubt...”
Wіth hеƖр οf thе еνеr changing Internet, people аrе аbƖе tο ԁο far more things thаn іn thе past. Doing a reverse cell phone lookup іѕ easier done аnԁ саn take јυѕt a couple οf minutes tο bе done. AƖƖ уου аrе going tο need tο ɡеt іt done іѕ thе hеƖр οf a service [...]
David Cameron has reacted to the Lib Dem surge in the opinion polls by warning a vote for Nick Clegg could see the country being “stuck” with Labour. In an interview with the Guardian, the Conservative leader said only his party could offer “decisive change”. The latest YouGov poll puts the Lib Dems 1% ahead of the Tories on 33% with Labour in third place on 26%. It come as Labour leader Gordon Brown recalled Cabinet members from the campaign to deal with the air crisis. The YouGov daily poll, for the Sun newspaper, suggests the bounce Mr Clegg received after his widely-praised performance in Thursday’s inaugural televised prime ministerial debate, is enduring. BBC polling expert David Cowling says the margin of error makes it unclear whether the Lib Dems or Conservatives are in front “but there is no doubt that Labour is third”. ‘Positive’ The poll, which was carried out on Saturday and Sunday, suggests that Britain is heading for a hung Parliament after the election on 6 May. If the voting intention figures for this poll are put through the BBC’s election seat calculator then, on a uniform swing, the Conservatives take 246 seats, Labour take 241, the Lib Dems 134 and other parties 29, says David Cowling. If there is no clear election winner, Mr Clegg has said he would work with the party which has the biggest “mandate” – although he has not made it clear whether that means the highest number of votes or seats, which could be different. In an interview with the Guardian, Mr Cameron, whose party at the turn of the year was averaging 40% in the polls, said he would ignore advice to attack Mr Clegg head-on in the run up to the next TV debate on Thursday. “My response to all this is to redouble the positive,” he told the newspaper. “I am sure plenty of other people will now scrutinise Liberal Democrat policies in huge detail and I am sure that is a very worthwhile thing to do. “But what I want to do in the remaining 18 days of this campaign is to make the case for a different prime minister for Britain, to make the case that if you want to solve the problems we have then it is decisive change we need, and all other options manifestly fail.” ‘Stuck’ He said the only way to guarantee “decisive change” on 6 May was to vote Conservative. “Anything else and you risk being stuck with what you have got,” he told the newspaper. Meanwhile, a survey of major investors by the Financial Times, highlights concern about the tightening opinion polls and the impact on the markets of a hung Parliament. Ten leading investment funds, with more than
The amount of water used to produce food and goods imported to the UK is worsening water shortages in the developing world, a report concludes. It says two-thirds of the water used to make things for UK consumption is used outside the country’s borders. The Engineering the Future alliance of professional engineering bodies says this is unsustainable, given population growth and climate change. It says countries such as the UK must help poorer nations curb water use. “We must take account of how our water footprint is impacting on the rest of the world,” said Professor Roger Falconer, director of the Hydro-Environmental Research Centre at Cardiff University and a member of the report’s steering committee. “If we are to prevent the ‘perfect storm’, urgent action is necessary.” The term perfect storm was used last year by the UK government’s chief scientist, Professor John Beddington, to describe future shortages of energy, food and water. Forecasts suggest that when the world’s population soars beyond 8bn in 20 years time, the global demand for food and energy will jump by 50%, with the need for fresh water rising by 30%. But developing countries are already using significant proportions of their water to grow food and produce goods for consumption in the West, the report says. “The burgeoning demand from developed countries is putting severe pressure on areas that are already short of water,” said Professor Peter Guthrie, head of the Centre for Sustainable Development at Cambridge University, who chaired the steering group. “If the water crisis becomes critical, it will pose a serious threat to the UK’s future development because of the impact it would have on our access to vital resources.” Key to the report is the concept of “embedded water” – the water used to grow food and make things. Embedded in a pint of beer, for example, is about 130 pints (74 litres) of water – the total amount needed to grow the ingredients and run all the processes that make the pint of beer. A cup of coffee embeds about 140 litres (246 pints) of water, a cotton T-shirt about 2,000 litres, and a kilogram of steak 15,000 litres. EMBEDDED WATERItemLitres per unitSize of unitLitres per kgSheet of paper10A4 sheet of 80gsm2000Cup of tea30250ml2400Apple70100g700Cup of coffee140125ml21,000Bottle of beer150500ml300Slice of bread440400g1100Chicken fillet683175g3900Packet of sugar15001kg1500Chunk of cheese2500500g5000Packet of rice34001kg3400Beef steak3875250g15,500Pair of jeans10,8501kg10,850 Using this methodology, UK consumers see only about 3% of the water usage they are responsible for. The average UK consumer uses about 150 litres per day, the size of a large bath. Ten times as much is embedded in the British-made goods bought by the average UK consumer; but that represents only about one-third of the total water embedded in all the average consumer’s food and goods, with the remainder coming from imports. The UK is not unique in this – the same pattern is seen in most developed countries. The engineering institutions say it means nations such as the UK have a duty to help curb water use in the developing world, where about one billion people already do not have sufficient access to clean drinking water. UK-funded aid projects should have water conservation as a central tenet, the report recommends, while companies should examine their supply chains and reduce the water used in them. This could lead to difficult questions being asked, such as whether it is right for the UK to import beans and flowers from water-stressed countries such as Kenya. While growing crops such as these uses water, selling them brings foreign exchange into poor nations. In the West, the report suggests, concerns over water could eventually lead to goods carrying a label denoting their embedded water content, in the same way as electrical goods now sport information about their energy consumption. The Engineering the Future alliance includes the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) and the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM). Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk 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 of water used to produce food and goods imported to the UK is worsening water shortages in the developing world, a report concludes. It says two-thirds of the water used to make things for UK consumption is used outside the country’s borders. The Engineering the Future alliance of professional engineering bodies says this is unsustainable, given population growth and climate change. It says countries such as the UK must help poorer nations curb water use. “We must take account of how our water footprint is impacting on the rest of the world,” said Professor Roger Falconer, director of the Hydro-Environmental Research Centre at Cardiff University and a member of the report’s steering committee. “If we are to prevent the ‘perfect storm’, urgent action is necessary.” The term perfect storm was used last year by the UK government’s chief scientist, Professor John Beddington, to describe future shortages of energy, food and water. Forecasts suggest that when the world’s population soars beyond 8bn in 20 years time, the global demand for food and energy will jump by 50%, with the need for fresh water rising by 30%. But developing countries are already using significant proportions of their water to grow food and produce goods for consumption in the West, the report says. “The burgeoning demand from developed countries is putting severe pressure on areas that are already short of water,” said Professor Peter Guthrie, head of the Centre for Sustainable Development at Cambridge University, who chaired the steering group. “If the water crisis becomes critical, it will pose a serious threat to the UK’s future development because of the impact it would have on our access to vital resources.” Key to the report is the concept of “embedded water” – the water used to grow food and make things. Embedded in a pint of beer, for example, is about 130 pints (74 litres) of water – the total amount needed to grow the ingredients and run all the processes that make the pint of beer. A cup of coffee embeds about 140 litres (246 pints) of water, a cotton T-shirt about 2,000 litres, and a kilogram of steak 15,000 litres. EMBEDDED WATERItemLitres per unitSize of unitLitres per kgSheet of paper10A4 sheet of 80gsm2000Cup of tea30250ml2400Apple70100g700Cup of coffee140125ml21,000Bottle of beer150500ml300Slice of bread440400g1100Chicken fillet683175g3900Packet of sugar15001kg1500Chunk of cheese2500500g5000Packet of rice34001kg3400Beef steak3875250g15,500Pair of jeans10,8501kg10,850 Using this methodology, UK consumers see only about 3% of the water usage they are responsible for. The average UK consumer uses about 150 litres per day, the size of a large bath. Ten times as much is embedded in the British-made goods bought by the average UK consumer; but that represents only about one-third of the total water embedded in all the average consumer’s food and goods, with the remainder coming from imports. The UK is not unique in this – the same pattern is seen in most developed countries. The engineering institutions say it means nations such as the UK have a duty to help curb water use in the developing world, where about one billion people already do not have sufficient access to clean drinking water. UK-funded aid projects should have water conservation as a central tenet, the report recommends, while companies should examine their supply chains and reduce the water used in them. This could lead to difficult questions being asked, such as whether it is right for the UK to import beans and flowers from water-stressed countries such as Kenya. While growing crops such as these uses water, selling them brings foreign exchange into poor nations. In the West, the report suggests, concerns over water could eventually lead to goods carrying a label denoting their embedded water content, in the same way as electrical goods now sport information about their energy consumption. The Engineering the Future alliance includes the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAE) and the Chartered Institute of Water and Environmental Management (CIWEM). Richard.Black-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
For severely injured soldiers being treated at Selly Oak Hospital, the first trip out to a local pub has become an important part of coming to terms with severe injuries. The idea came to Sergeant Marc Sutcliffe when he himself was lying wounded in the hospital. Sgt Sutcliffe stands out in the lunchtime crush with his beret and combat fatigues. His regular visits with injured soldiers from Birmingham’s Selly Oak make him a well-known face here, and he cuts a tall, imposing figure standing at the bar. It’s all very different from the first time he came. “I really wanted a mixed-grill and I’d heard they did a good one here,” he says. “So I got in my wheelchair and came over, and ended up doing the whole menu! “Coming in on my own was a bit weird. But I thought, ‘I’m not going to let this injury stop me doing what I did before’.” It was 2006, and Sgt Sutcliffe had just lost a leg after being hit by a rocket-propelled grenade near Basra. Luckily for him, it hadn’t detonated – but the wound still left him adjusting to a life-changing injury. Important role His visit to the pub made him feel better, and the idea was born. Now, as a Military Liaison Officer, he’s responsible for links between injured soldiers, their families, and units. The trips to the pub are just a small part of his role – but an important one, he says. “It’s evolved since then. Then we didn’t have Military Liaison Officers. Now it’s formalised and we do it as often as we need to.” Sgt Sutcliffe’s parties of injured troops always book in advance. The pub (which can’t be named for security reasons) reserves their places and takes drinks orders at the table because the soldiers may find it difficult making it to the bar. The pub regulars, he says, are relaxed about it. “Very rarely do we get an adverse reaction. If anything, the public around here are really good to us. When we go to pay, we find that someone has already taken care of it.” The pub’s assistant manager, Sam Vaziri, agrees: “It’s a boost because the regulars do a lot of fundraising with us for Help the Heroes. We’ve raised
A new research project in the Highlands has provided a rare insight into the secret world of one of Britain’s most endangered and elusive species. Scottish wildcats are notoriously secretive, but conservationists are hoping to gain a more detailed understanding of their behaviour. They have attached specialist camera equipment, known as photo-traps, to trees in the Cairngorms National Park. The cameras have already provided images of wildcats and other animals. Motion detectors and infra-red technology allow the devices to capture images of passing animals over a period of days, weeks or even months. The project is still in its early stages but the cameras have already provided images of Scottish wildcat – popularly known as the Highland tiger – and other animals, including golden eagles. ‘Major threat’ The research is being led by Dr David Hetherington of the Cairngorms National Park Authority. He told BBC Scotland: “Wildcats are very shy, secretive animals. They are active mainly at night and it’s really difficult for people to get close enough to watch them properly. “These camera traps are an excellent way of us getting a much better insight into where wildcats live, when they’re active, and what habitat they’re using. “We can also get an idea of where they don’t live and, of course, that’s also really important information.” Experts believe the Scottish wildcat population has fallen to about 400, and work is under way to prevent the species becoming extinct. That involves encouraging cat owners in the Highlands to ensure their animals are neutered. Dr Hetherington explained: “The major threat to wildcats these days is hybridisation, or inter-breeding, with domestic cats. “Although they are quite different and have a completely different temperament, they are actually quite closely related genetically to domestic cats so they can produce fertile hybrids. “If that continues we are going to lose our pure Scottish wildcat.” Conservationists believe the work could help prevent another iconic species joining a long list of large predators which have been wiped out in Scotland over the last few centuries. Douglas Richardson, of the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig near Aviemore, said: “We are dealing with an animal that’s the last of its kind in the British Isles. “We formerly had lynx and other big, dangerous and interesting animals. But this is our last feline predator and I think we are duty bound to protect it. “There are many representatives from Scotland and the UK who are involved in conservation efforts with tigers in Asia or giant pandas in China. “If we allow the Scottish wildcat to disappear, then the Indians, the Russians, the Chinese could quite rightly turn round and say ‘Why should we bother? You didn’t.’” This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
A new research project in the Highlands has provided a rare insight into the secret world of one of Britain’s most endangered and elusive species. Scottish wildcats are notoriously secretive, but conservationists are hoping to gain a more detailed understanding of their behaviour. They have attached specialist camera equipment, known as photo-traps, to trees in the Cairngorms National Park. The cameras have already provided images of wildcats and other animals. Motion detectors and infra-red technology allow the devices to capture images of passing animals over a period of days, weeks or even months. The project is still in its early stages but the cameras have already provided images of Scottish wildcat – popularly known as the Highland tiger – and other animals, including golden eagles. ‘Major threat’ The research is being led by Dr David Hetherington of the Cairngorms National Park Authority. He told BBC Scotland: “Wildcats are very shy, secretive animals. They are active mainly at night and it’s really difficult for people to get close enough to watch them properly. “These camera traps are an excellent way of us getting a much better insight into where wildcats live, when they’re active, and what habitat they’re using. “We can also get an idea of where they don’t live and, of course, that’s also really important information.” Experts believe the Scottish wildcat population has fallen to about 400, and work is under way to prevent the species becoming extinct. That involves encouraging cat owners in the Highlands to ensure their animals are neutered. Dr Hetherington explained: “The major threat to wildcats these days is hybridisation, or inter-breeding, with domestic cats. “Although they are quite different and have a completely different temperament, they are actually quite closely related genetically to domestic cats so they can produce fertile hybrids. “If that continues we are going to lose our pure Scottish wildcat.” Conservationists believe the work could help prevent another iconic species joining a long list of large predators which have been wiped out in Scotland over the last few centuries. Douglas Richardson, of the Highland Wildlife Park at Kincraig near Aviemore, said: “We are dealing with an animal that’s the last of its kind in the British Isles. “We formerly had lynx and other big, dangerous and interesting animals. But this is our last feline predator and I think we are duty bound to protect it. “There are many representatives from Scotland and the UK who are involved in conservation efforts with tigers in Asia or giant pandas in China. “If we allow the Scottish wildcat to disappear, then the Indians, the Russians, the Chinese could quite rightly turn round and say ‘Why should we bother? You didn’t.’” This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The brains of children with attention-deficit disorders respond to on-the-spot rewards in the same way as they do to medication, say scientists. A Nottingham University team measured brain activity as children played a computer game, offering extra points for less impulsive behaviour. Their findings, published in Biological Psychiatry, could mean lower doses of drugs such as Ritalin in severe cases. But they warn teachers and parents may often struggle to give instant rewards. Estimates vary, but it is believed that up to 5% of children in the UK have some form of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This can lead to behavioural problems including impulsive actions, fidgeting and poor attention span, and can affect a child’s academic and social progress. In severe cases, stimulant drugs such as Ritalin, which act on parts of the brain associated with attention and behaviour, can be given. In addition, parents are often asked to try to influence the child’s actions directly by rewarding positive behaviour and making sure that there are negative consequences if a child behaves badly. Research has suggested that, unlike in non-ADHD children, these incentives and disincentives only work well if delivered on the spot, as opposed to later in the day or week. The Nottingham team wanted to look at the effects of this “behaviour therapy” in the brain of the child. They devised a computer game in which children had to “catch” aliens of a certain colour, while avoiding aliens of a different colour. The game was designed to test the children’s ability to resist the impulse to grab the wrong sort of alien. To test whether incentives made a difference, in one variant of the game the reward for catching the right alien was increased fivefold, as was the penalty for catching the wrong one. Lower doses Activity in different parts of the brain was monitored using an electroencephalogram (EEG). They found that the incentives helped the children perform better at the game, although not to the same extent as the child’s normal dose of Ritalin. However, the EEG revealed that both were “normalising” brain activity in the same regions. Professor Chris Hollis, who led the research, said that the combination of drugs and incentives produced the best results, and might mean children with ADHD could take lower doses of drugs while maintaining control of their behaviour. He said: “Although medication and behaviour therapy appear to be two very different approaches of treating ADHD, our study suggests that both types of intervention may have much in common in terms of their effect on the brain. “Both help normalise similar components of brain function and improve performance.” However, he conceded that it might not always be practical to use behavioural therapy. “We know that children with ADHD respond disproportionately less well to delayed rewards – this could mean that in the ‘real world’ of the classroom or home, the neural effects of behavioural approaches using reinforcement and rewards may be less effective.” Andrea Bilbow, from the National Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Service (Addiss), echoed this: “It means you have to be in front of that child 24/7, and you just can’t do that – teachers and schools would have to totally change the way they deal with this.” This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The brains of children with attention-deficit disorders respond to on-the-spot rewards in the same way as they do to medication, say scientists. A Nottingham University team measured brain activity as children played a computer game, offering extra points for less impulsive behaviour. Their findings, published in Biological Psychiatry, could mean lower doses of drugs such as Ritalin in severe cases. But they warn teachers and parents may often struggle to give instant rewards. Estimates vary, but it is believed that up to 5% of children in the UK have some form of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). This can lead to behavioural problems including impulsive actions, fidgeting and poor attention span, and can affect a child’s academic and social progress. In severe cases, stimulant drugs such as Ritalin, which act on parts of the brain associated with attention and behaviour, can be given. In addition, parents are often asked to try to influence the child’s actions directly by rewarding positive behaviour and making sure that there are negative consequences if a child behaves badly. Research has suggested that, unlike in non-ADHD children, these incentives and disincentives only work well if delivered on the spot, as opposed to later in the day or week. The Nottingham team wanted to look at the effects of this “behaviour therapy” in the brain of the child. They devised a computer game in which children had to “catch” aliens of a certain colour, while avoiding aliens of a different colour. The game was designed to test the children’s ability to resist the impulse to grab the wrong sort of alien. To test whether incentives made a difference, in one variant of the game the reward for catching the right alien was increased fivefold, as was the penalty for catching the wrong one. Lower doses Activity in different parts of the brain was monitored using an electroencephalogram (EEG). They found that the incentives helped the children perform better at the game, although not to the same extent as the child’s normal dose of Ritalin. However, the EEG revealed that both were “normalising” brain activity in the same regions. Professor Chris Hollis, who led the research, said that the combination of drugs and incentives produced the best results, and might mean children with ADHD could take lower doses of drugs while maintaining control of their behaviour. He said: “Although medication and behaviour therapy appear to be two very different approaches of treating ADHD, our study suggests that both types of intervention may have much in common in terms of their effect on the brain. “Both help normalise similar components of brain function and improve performance.” However, he conceded that it might not always be practical to use behavioural therapy. “We know that children with ADHD respond disproportionately less well to delayed rewards – this could mean that in the ‘real world’ of the classroom or home, the neural effects of behavioural approaches using reinforcement and rewards may be less effective.” Andrea Bilbow, from the National Attention Deficit Disorder Information and Support Service (Addiss), echoed this: “It means you have to be in front of that child 24/7, and you just can’t do that – teachers and schools would have to totally change the way they deal with this.” This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
FINAL LEADERBOARD: -13 J Furyk* (US), B Davis (Eng) -10 B Van Pelt (US), Luke Donald (Eng) -9 K Blanks (US), C Villegas (Col), R Barnes (US), Selected others: -5 P Casey (Eng), R Karlsson (Swe), F Jacobsen (Swe) * Furyk won at first play-off hole Jim Furyk won the Verizon Heritage in bizarre circumstances after Londoner Brian Davis suffered a two-shot penalty at the first play-off hole. Davis birdied the last hole at Hilton Head Island for a 68 to finish level with the American on 13 under par. But at the first play-off hole, the Englishman told officials his club struck a reed, incurring a penalty. Furyk holed out for a par to clinch victory, with Luke Donald in a tie for third with Bo Van Pelt on 10 under. Seeking his first victory on the PGA Tour, Davis sunk an 18-foot putt on the 18th to set-up the play-off with Furyk. But the same hole proved his undoing as he sent his approach on the first sudden-death hole into sand amongst rocks on the beach. Davis chipped onto the green but immediately called over a rules official because he believed his club might have made contact with a loose impediment. The officials consulted a TV replay and deemed that Davis had struck the reed on his backswing which incurred a two-shot penalty. With Furyk on the green, it effectively ended the contest. Furyk, who shot a last-round 69, putted out for his 15th PGA Tour win and second since March, earning him $1.026 million. This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.