Anti-Fracking Protesters Cleared By Police

Police have been forcibly clearing protesters from a road outside a potential site for fracking in Balcombe, West Sussex.

Activists are taking part in a six-day Reclaim The Power demonstration after Cuadrilla began carrying out exploratory drilling at the site.

Hundreds of people have staged noisy protests in the face of a police presence of more than 400 officers.

Campaigners have submitted a formal complaint about the "violent" arrest of one protester, claiming he was detained by an officer without any identifying number.

Police said that 29 people had been arrested at Balcombe for public order offences, including Green Party MP Caroline Lucas.

They were held after Sussex Police served a notice under section 14 of the Public Order Act, believing the crowd might cause public disorder, serious damage to property or serious disruption to the life of the community.

Caroline Lucas joined protesters at the site, and was among those arrested

Shouts of "shame on you" and "no violence" erupted from the crowd as police tried to move the protesters back to the main gate of the site.

Demonstrators chanted: "We are peaceful, what are you?"

The No Dash For Gas group said that the "excessive force" used on one man was caught on camera and is demanding the police officer be suspended.

A protester is removed from the Cuadrilla HQ in Lichfield

It claims: "He was violently arrested, wrestled to the floor, his head pushed into the ground by an officer's hands and knees, whilst the officer in question was not wearing epaulettes with an ID number."

Sussex Police said it was looking into the video and that the officer's epaulette may have fallen or been pulled off.

Vanessa Vine, founder of Frack Free Sussex and Britain and Ireland Frack Free, said the police presence was disproportionately heavy and added that Reclaim The Power were "not nasty, violent people" but "altruistic people who are challenging what the Government is doing".

Protesters glued their hands together through a plastic pipe

Earlier, Sussex Police said on Twitter: "We would like to reiterate that protesters aren't being kettled and are free to leave the site as they wish."

Cuadrilla condemned the "illegal direct actions" against its staff and operations.

Campaigners opposing the controversial process of extracting shale gas blockaded the firm's headquarters while others superglued themselves to the building occupied by a PR firm used by the energy company.

The action at Cuadrilla in Lichfield, Staffordshire, and at PR company Bell Pottinger in central London comes on the first of two days of "mass civil disobedience" which campaigners have pledged to carry out.

Protesters' tents outside the office in Lichfield

In a statement, Cuadrilla said: "Protesters broke into our Lichfield office, harassed our staff and chained themselves to filing cabinets.

"The police are on site dealing with this. We condemn all illegal direct actions against our people and operations."

The firm insisted that the morale of its staff at various sites is "fine", and they and the teams supporting the company are "doing a magnificent job".

"They know that what we are doing is legal, approved and safe, and that shale gas is essential to improve our energy security, heat our homes, and create jobs and growth," the firm said.

"Cuadrilla is rightly held accountable for complying with multiple planning and environmental permits and conditions, which we have met and will continue to meet.

"Clearly we are held to one set of legally enforceable standards while some protesters believe that they can set out and follow their own."

Campaign group No Dash For Gas said six protesters superglued themselves to the glass door of Bell Pottinger at 8am and deployed reinforced arm tubes to stop anyone else getting inside.

Meanwhile, it said 20 protesters shut down the Cuadrilla site in Lichfield by blockading it with their bodies. It said two people inside the building had also hung banners from it saying: "Reclaim the power" and "Power to the people".

A group of around 20 protesters also demonstrated outside the constituency office of Balcombe MP and Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude.

Activists also targeted the home of former Tory minister and George Osborne's father-in-law Lord Howell, who drew criticism recently when he said fracking should take place in England's "desolate" North.

The group erected an estate agent's sign outside the Peer's house reading 'For Shale - Desolate Properties Ltd'.

10.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ed Miliband Snubbed By A Third Of Labour Voters

A third of Labour voters believe Ed Miliband should not lead the party into the next General Election.

According to a new poll only two out of every ten voters are satisfied with the Labour leader's performance.

Of those who voted for Labour in 2010, 34% said he should not lead the party into the 2015 general election, while just 46% said he should.

The ICM poll carried out for the Daily Mirror also found that 21% of voters said they are satisfied with the way he is leading the party, double the number (42%) said they are dissatisfied.

Among Labour voters, 45% said they were satisfied and 31% dissatisfied.

Mr Miliband will find it harder to dismiss criticism of his management style following publication of the poll by the newspaper which has traditionally backed his party.

Mr Miliband's approval rating is particularly low among older and male voters.

Of those polled, 61% of pensioners said they are unhappy with his leadership, while 48% of men say he is not up to the job, compared to 37% of women.

However, the poll offers Mr Miliband a few glimmers of hope.

Given a choice of eight Labour MPs, Ed Miliband came out on top with 16%, when asked who would be the best person to lead the party.

Martin Boon of ICM said: "Let's not be in any doubt that with less than half (45%) of 2010 Labour voters satisfied with him (31% dissatisfied) he is polling miserably."

ICM Research interviewed an online sample of 1,435 adults aged 18 and over on August 16 and 18. The data has been weighted to the profile of all adults.

10.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

British Military HQ Moves To Camp Bastion

By Alistair Bunkall, Defence Correspondent

The headquarters of the British military operation in Afghanistan has moved from Lashkar Gah to Camp Bastion.

It marks a major milestone in the conflict.

For seven years, Lashkar Gah has been the location where all British military operations had been planned and commanded.

The move is part of the British plans for the withdrawal of all combat troops by the end of 2014.

It is a demonstration of how British troops are taking a step back in the fight against the Taliban and letting the Afghan Security Forces take the lead.

In total 260 personnel have moved back to Camp Bastion from Lashkar Gah.

Eight Chinooks worked in pairs for a day, moving people.

It has been described as one of the most complex headquarters moves since the Second World War.

The move to Camp Bastion marks a major milestone in the Afghan conflict

The Lashkar Gah base is still open however, for reconstruction and local liaison workers. A small number of British troops are still based there for force protection.

And the Commander of British Forces in Helmand Province has told Sky News that the decision to withdraw from the country was the right one and is on track.

"I think the end of 2014 timeline, the 5,200 (troops to be left in Afghanistan) by Christmas actually act as very effective forcing functions," Brigadier Rupert Jones said.

"It encourages us to step back and every time we've stepped back the Afghans have impressed us by the degree to which they've stepped forward, not least this Summer."

Although the security situation in Helmand Province is markedly better than a few years ago, that isn't necessarily the case for other parts of the country.

In Kabul, the country's capital, Afghan police and soldiers man checkpoints and guard posts at every road junction. International forces are still in the city, but to provide a supporting role when needed.

The country is currently on higher alert with the end of Ramadan and Eid.

Last week the Taliban attacked a civilian compound in the west of the country. A number of foreign workers were killed.

The task of closing British bases and moving equipment back to the UK has been under way since October 2012.

There are currently 11 British bases remaining, down from 137. By October of this year that number is set to be around five.

10.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Medical Chief Admits Having Taken Cannabis

England's chief medical officer, Professor Dame Sally Davies, has revealed she experimented with cannabis while she was studying at university.

She admitted eating hash cookies several times while studying medicine at Manchester University but stopped after having hallucinations.

Dame Sally also suggested that drug addiction should be treated as a medical problem rather than as a criminal justice issue.

She has previously claimed that criminalising drugs deters addicts from getting medical help.

Speaking on BBC Radio 3's Private Passions, Dame Sally said of her university days in the 1970s: "I never smoked so I couldn't smoke joints but I did have some cookies, until on the third or fourth occasion I had hallucinations and I've never touched it since.

"And I think I understood through that what my father said to me when I told him I was going to try it. He said: 'Drugs decivlise you. You stop being a civilised person.'

"And I understood why so many people were against even the soft drugs. So, like the fact I do enjoy wine, I'm open about my past."

She added: "Of course it's a medical problem, I mean addiction is a medical problem, and it becomes a public health problem and then our society is choosing to treat that as a criminal justice issue."

A Department of Health spokesman said: "Drugs ruin lives and cause misery to families and communities and this Government is committed to breaking the cycle of drug and alcohol dependency.

"The UK approach is to consider drug use as both a health and criminal issue and so the CMO is not saying anything new."

Dame Sally, who was appointed as England's chief medical officer in 2010, has always stopped short of supporting the decriminalisation of any illegal drugs.

in 2009, the Government's former drugs adviser Professor David Nutt was controversially forced to resign over his views on decriminalising cannabis.

He was sacked as chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs in 2009 after he criticised the decision to upgrade cannabis from a Class C to a Class B drug, claiming that alcohol and tobacco were more harmful.

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Prince Harry 'Irritated' By Landmine Failings

By Paul Harrison, Royal Correspondent

Prince Harry is "irritated" by the reluctance of some countries to assist financially with clearing landmines in countries like Angola, one of his charities has revealed.

The Prince is following in the footsteps of his late mother, Diana, Princess of Wales, by taking up the cause of clearing landmines from African countries scarred by years of conflict.

HALO Trust chief executive Guy Willoughby told Sky News that Harry has been frustrated by the lack of progress on the issue in some areas.

He said: "The Prince has got quite a bee in his bonnet about it, and that's good.

"He is irritated that the countries which supplied these landmines are not actually putting in any funds to clear them, 25 years on."

Harry travelled to Angola last week to see mine clearance projects run by The HALO Trust. The 28-year old is Patron of the Trust's 25th Anniversary Appeal. 

Harry visited the most heavily mined town in Africa during his trip

During the visit, the Prince met de-mining teams and toured minefields in the Angolan town of Cuito Cuanavale, the most heavily mined town in Africa.

"People love having Prince Harry here because he's so engaged and because he's technically minded. He just gets it, from what the de-miners are trying to do, to the latest technology", added Mr Willoughby.

Diana, Princess of Wales, made a controversial visit to Angola in support of The HALO Trust in the months before she died in 1997.

She called for an international ban on landmines and was accused of being a "loose cannon", meddling in politics.

Asked whether the Prince will court similar criticism should he take on the countries who he believes are falling short of their obligations, Mr Willoughby said: "I don't know. Whether by nailing his colours to the mast he court the same criticism as his mother did, I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Harry's mother Diana, Princess of Wales, visited Angola in 1997

In photos from his Angola trip, Harry is seen talking with members of a de-mining team, surrounding a Russian TM-57 anti-tank mine.

In another, he is seen standing next to a South African Olifant tank destroyed in the battle for Cuito Cuanavale in 1988.

Since 1988 The HALO Trust has found and destroyed  more than 1.4 million landmines and more than 11 million items of large calibre ordnance, including 195,000 cluster bombs,

Mr Willoughby said: "The commitment shown by Prince Harry plays an invaluable role in helping us to raise awareness of HALO's work and mission. 

"Wars may be over but many people are still unable to resume their normal lives, facing the threat of death or injury by landmines every day."

10.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Drug Mule Lindsay Sandiford's Bali Jail Ordeal

By Jonathan Samuels, Sky News Correspondent

British grandmother Lindsay Sandiford is on death row in Bali, Indonesia, and Sky News is the first UK broadcaster to have been given rare access behind the walls of the notorious prison since her sentencing for drug trafficking.

Kerobokan jail is nicknamed Hotel K by its inmates but it could not be more different from the luxurious resorts just down the road on the holiday island.

Behind its decrepit walls, violence, corruption, drugs and filthy conditions are commonplace.

Sandiford, 57, was sentenced in January to death by firing squad for smuggling more than £1.5m worth of cocaine into Bali.

In a recent photograph, obtained by Sky News, she is seen looking dishevelled in her stifling hot cell.

With a cigarette in her mouth she crouches over what appears to be an article of clothing that she is sewing.

Kerobokan jail, nicknamed Hotel K by its inmates

In the background another inmate sleeps on the floor. This overcrowded jail, built for 350 inmates, now houses more than 1,000.

Sandiford did not want to speak to us on camera, but fellow inmate and drug mule Renae Lawrence, who the Brit has befriended, gave a glimpse into how she is managing.

"I think people should already know how she is coping. She doesn't deserve what she got," Lawrence said.

Asked if Sandiford was finding it tough, she replied: "I think anybody would."

Prosecutors recommended Sandiford be given a 15-year prison term but judges disagreed and sentenced her to execution.

Australian Myuran Sukumaran, who was born in west London, is also on death row for smuggling drugs.

An inmate shows off a weapon which is said to be commonplace in the prison

Intelligent, softly spoken and full of remorse, he knows his execution could come at any moment.

"You can be strong for a short time, almost invisible, but after a long time stuff just wears you down," he said.

"After eight-and-a -half years it does weigh heavy, especially on our families."

Once a death row prisoner has lost appeals through Indonesia's high court and supreme court, only the president can grant clemency.

If that fails, eventually and without warning, the inmate will be removed from his/her cell in the middle of the night and taken to a remote wooded area, beach or neighbouring island. There he/she will be executed by firing squad.

The last decision a prisoner will make is whether to stand or kneel to be shot.

Australian Paul Conibeer served time for not paying a hotel bill

Former inmate Australian Paul Conibeer, 44, was recently released from the jail after serving a sentence for not paying a hotel bill.

Providing an insight into the bizarre world of Kerobokan prison, he said: "Murderers, rapists, and paedophiles, it's just too crazy."

He added: "You can't have women and men in a prison together. You can't have drugs and alcohol and hookers and all this crazy stuff going on. It's not supposed to happen that way."

Sandiford has lodged a further appeal against her death sentence. She awaits the outcome while sweating it out in Hotel K.

10.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Archbishop Of Canterbury Snubs Animal Charity

The Archbishop of Canterbury has turned down an invitation to be a patron of the RSPCA.

A spokeswoman for Lambeth Palace said it was because The Most Rev Justin Welby has "reluctantly decided to restrict his patronage".

His predecessor, Dr Rowan Williams, was vice-patron of the animal charity, which was founded by an Anglican priest in 1824.

The spokeswoman said: "Since taking office in March this year, the Archbishop has received many kind invitations to patron a large variety of charities and good causes.

Dog rescued by the RSPCA

"Each invitation has been an honour, and in an ideal world he would like to accept them all.

"However, in light of the sheer volume of the requests the Archbishop receives ... he has reluctantly decided to restrict his patronage to a manageable number of organisations, based on where he feels his support could be most beneficial.

"Nevertheless, the Archbishop has enormous admiration for the RSPCA and hopes to see its work thrive long into the future."

Last year the RSPCA was heavily criticised after it spent £326,000 on legal action against a fox hunt.

Critics claimed the "staggering" expense of bringing the prosecution against the Heythrop Hunt in the Cotswolds was a waste of money donated by supporters.

10.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

GPs Warn Patients Could Face Long Waits

The majority of GPs fear patients could face longer waiting times because they are struggling to cope with "spiralling workloads and dwindling resources".

A survey of 206 family doctors by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) found that four in five had "insufficient resources" to provide high quality patient care, while 47% admitted they had cut back on the range of services they provide.

More than four in five GPs are worried that it will become increasingly difficult to deliver continuity of care to at-risk elderly people.

The RCGP said general practice was at "breaking point" and called for an emergency package of investment like the £500m bailout given to A&E departments last week.

Clare Gerada, chairwoman of the RCGP, warned that if general practice "starts to crumble" there could be "disastrous" consequences for patients.

She told Sky News: "Around about 90% of all NHS activity is carried out in general practice for only 9% of the budget.

"GPs are what makes the NHS cost effective. A year of care by a GP is about the same as a hospital might get for one attendance in the emergency department.

"Yet what we're finding is that the investment is being put into hospitals but it's general practice that needs the help because if it folds then the rest of the NHS will be unsustainable.

"Last week the English Government announced an additional £500m for A&E departments. What we need is our fair share of funding so that GPs can do more for our patients in their communities."

Ben Dyson, director of commissioning policy and primary care at NHS England, said: "We fully recognise that demands and patterns of healthcare are changing, and that this is increasing pressure on parts of the NHS.

"That's why we have recently published a 'call to action' about the future of general practice to help stimulate new, innovative approaches to providing services and ensuring every patient gets the care they need.

"Our key aim is to enable GP practices both to provide more coordinated care for people with more complex needs and to provide more accessible and responsive service, in conjunction with partners in community and social care."

10.19 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tailgaters Facing Instant Roadside Justice

By Frazer Maude, Sky News Reporter

Tailgaters and middle lane hoggers could be hit with on-the-spot fines of £100 and three points on their licence from today.

The idea is to make it easier for the police to tackle problem drivers without being tied up with the bureaucracy of taking offenders to court.

Solicitor Neil Davies, who specialises in motoring offences, says policing the new laws will require officers to make a subjective judgement on whether a particular manoeuvre is illegal or not.

"One of the ways in which a court would assess that question is has the person driving departed from the Highway Code - how well is that person driving?

"Now in issuing the fixed penalty notices of course one would hope that police officer do exercise a degree of discretion, a degree of common sense and that they only issue these notices in appropriate circumstances."

Few motorists would admit to flaunting the Highway Code themselves but for most tailgating and lane hogging are pet hates, so the new laws are being welcomed.

Officers will make a subjective judgement on driving standards

Under the new legislation fines for other offences, from using hand-held mobile phones or not wearing a seatbelt, to driving without insurance, have also been increased - from £60 to £100 and from £200 to £300 respectively.

Although fines have gone up, penalty points will remain unchanged, as will fixed penalty notices for parking, waiting and obstruction offences.

The Department of Transport said: "The changes will give the police the power to issue fixed penalty notices for careless driving and allow them greater flexibility when dealing with less serious careless driving offences - such as tailgating or middle lane hogging - as well as freeing them from resource intensive court processes.

"The police will also be able to offer educational training as an alternative to licence endorsement, and drivers will still be able to appeal any decision in court."

Most motoring groups support the changes, although some road safety campaigners think the punishments should be more severe.

One concern is who will police the new laws, with only half as many traffic officers on Britain's roads as there were in the 1990's.

But senior officers insist they will be enforced and that more serious cases will still be taken to court where the offenders may face higher penalties.

10.18 | 0 komentar | Read More

Funeral Of Cyber Abuse Victim Hannah Smith

Full Statement From Ask.Fm Founders

Updated: 5:52pm UK, Thursday 08 August 2013

We would firstly like to again express our sincerest sympathies to the family of Hannah Smith, whose death was a true tragedy.

As we explained to the press earlier this week, as soon as we heard the news we approached the Leicestershire police and have been speaking to them throughout this week.

We are committed to supporting the Leicestershire police in their investigation to ensure that they are able to uncover the true circumstances surrounding Hannah's suicide.

We ask the press and public to respect that for legal and privacy reasons neither we - nor the police - are able to discuss the circumstances surrounding Hannah's case any further. We will therefore not be giving any interviews on this subject.

However, in view of the unprecedented press interest in the role of social media platforms such as Ask.fm, Facebook, Twitter and others, we would like to reassure all users and parents of users that we are committed to ensuring that our site is a safe environment.

We do not condone bullying of any kind, or any form of unacceptable use of our site.

We have implemented various measures over the past months to continue to improve our users' safety, and we have implemented improved reporting policies.

We have been working with experts at the UK's Safer Internet Centre, and thus the wider EU InSafe organisation, and are in constant discussions with them regarding our privacy and safety policies and the ways in which we may be able to enhance them.

This is an on-going activity, which Ask.fm is wholly committed to.

In view of this week's events, we wish to highlight a number of existing "safety" features available for users for Ask.fm:

1) The site has an 'in-question' reporting function, which has been in place since 2012, and is similar to the in-Tweet function announced by Twitter this week. This feature enables our users to report with just one click any question that they may find objectionable or offensive.

2) It is integral to the site that users should have control over what appears on their Ask.fm feed. We have never allowed questions to be published on the site before they've been answered.

Thus - if a user receives a question that they find objectionable or offensive, they don't need to respond and we encourage them to report the question to us.

3) We believe one of our site's advantages is that everything is open - rather than hidden in private inboxes. This means that anyone can report anything they see that may be of concern.

If parents see something on their teenager's Ask.fm page that they are concerned about, they too can click the in-question reporting button and alert our moderators.

4) Anonymity can be switched off in a user's privacy settings - our users have always been able to elect not to receive anonymous questions, and equally our users can also elect never to ask an anonymous question.

5) Although it is possible to post anonymously to the site, we would like to reassure parents that in almost all cases it is possible for Ask.fm to identify users - through IP technology, everything on the internet is traceable.

And in extreme circumstances such as those we've experienced this week we work through existing legal frameworks to ensure this information is accessible to the appropriate legal authorities.

6) While many sites use automated machines to monitor content, we have a team of human moderators that works around the clock - 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and 365 days per year.

They manually check every photograph or video that is posted to our site - ensuring that anything of a sexual, pornographic or violent nature is removed.

Our moderators also read and deal appropriately with every concern or report that is raised by a user; we remove content if we feel it infringes our Terms of Service.

7) We have a direct working relationship between Ask.fm and the EU's InSafe organisation. This means that if a concern is ever raised through the EU InSafe channels, they have a designated contact liaison at Ask.fm.

8) We comply with the United State's Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (1998) and we are working with a renowned expert to ensure that our moderation policies continue to lead the way in this area.

As we stated above, we are constantly working to improve our site, including its safety features. We are currently working on a series of updates with more safety features and information.

In view of some of the recent press reporting, what is important to note is that the vast majority of our users are using the site appropriately and are just having fun.

However, we would like to reiterate that it's really important that anyone who sees anything they do not like or feel uncomfortable with uses the appropriate reporting mechanisms to bring these issues to our team's attention as soon as possible.

Our site has grown rapidly over the past year and one of our greatest challenges (like any fast growing business) has been ensuring that our internal resources and capabilities are able to expand at a proportional and appropriate rate.

We strive to ensure we have the best people and this includes our moderators and customer services staff, where we have invested heavily to reflect this growth. We will continue to do this.

We hope that this corrects some of the recent media reports and offers reassurance to our users and their parents that our site has safety features which are in-line with, if not better than, other social networking sites.

The vast majority of our users are very happy teenagers, who use Ask.fm to converse with their peers around the world about the things that interest them. Bullying is an age-old problem that we in no way condone - and while its evolution online is disturbing, it certainly is not unique to our site.

We will continue to work with the appropriate organisations to safeguard against bullying on Ask.fm - and we would welcome the opportunity to align with the rest of industry and society in fighting it on a higher level.

We are proud of the phenomenal popularity of the social network we have created and strive every day to make it better and safer.

Mark and Ilja Terebin

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