Posted by VicPlough on Feb 22, 2012 in
Top Stories The government should change the law to make it easier for families of missing people to deal with their affairs, the Commons Justice Select Committee says.
Releasing the committee's report, chairman and Lib Dem MP Sir Alan Beith said: "We do not agree with government ministers who claim the system is working 'adequately'.
MPs acknowledge that legislation relating to the affairs of missing people would only affect a limited number of people but say it would allow families in "extremely difficult emotional circumstances" to resolve the financial and legal affairs of missing relatives.
"We believe the time is long overdue to extend to English and Welsh families the protection that is available to Scottish and Northern Irish families," they say.
The report says that in the 34 years since Scotland brought its Presumption of Death Act into force only one person has reappeared. "We believe this shows the Scottish legislation provides for a robust and effective process," they say.
Under the report's recommendations, families would only be able to apply for a presumption of death order seven years after someone went missing.
It says "guardianship orders" based on those in some Australian states should be introduced to allow families to maintain the missing person's estate four years before that.
The committee says relatives of missing people have found lawyers to be unfamiliar with the existing laws surrounding presumption of death and the cost of legal proceedings "difficult to predict".
"Many of these problems appear to be due to the piecemeal nature of the relevant law, and the fact it is to be found in many different statutes as well as the common law," the report says.
"This complexity, as well as the rarity of these cases, means that people find it difficult to obtain reliable information. They may also have to pursue multiple proceedings before everything is resolved."
The charity Missing People has welcomed the MPs' report.
Chief executive Martin Houghton-Brown said: "It is now time for the Ministry of Justice to step forward and end this suffering once and for all, with a commitment to a Bill in the coming Queen's Speech."
Ann Coffey, chairwoman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Runaway and Missing Children and Adults urged the government to act quickly.
"No family should have to go through such an emotionally exhausting and confusing legal process in addition to having to cope with the loss of a loved one," she said.
The Ministry of Justice said it recognised "the emotional and practical difficulties faced by those whose loved ones are missing and thought to be dead".
"We are already working to improve guidance relating to Coroners' powers where a person is missing and presumed dead and will look at other areas where guidance could be improved," a spokesperson said.
Appearing before the committee in November 2011, Vicki Derrick, whose husband Vinny went missing in Manchester in August 2003, called for wholesale change.
She told MPs after her husband disappeared she was suddenly a single mum and expected to "get on with it".
In Mrs Derrick's case, the High Court recognised her husband was dead and dissolved her marriage but her mortgage remained in joint names because her mortgage provider could not recognise the death without a death certificate.
Vinny Derrick's remains were found earlier this month.
Peter Lawrence, whose daughter Claudia went missing from York in 2009, told the inquiry families had no simple way to deal with unresolved practical issues because they could not prove whether a missing person was dead or alive.
Posted by VicPlough on Feb 22, 2012 in
Top Stories The Filipino community has shown the highest affinity for Dubai Metro, followed by Indians and Europeans, while Emirati commuters make up 12 per cent of Metro users, according to a study conducted by the RTA.
"We are thrilled about the number of passengers using Metro. There were doubts whether Metro will be conceived by residents as a mode of transport, but now those concerns have all vanished," Adnan Al Hammadi, CEO of the RTA’s Rail Agency, said.
“
We started off with 50,000 passengers daily, which has now crossed 320,000 — and 360,000 on weekends
Adnan Al Hammadi, CEO of the RTA’s Rail Agency
"We started off with 50,000 passengers daily, which has now crossed 320,000 — and 360,000 on weekends."
Emiratis using the Metro add up to about 12 per cent of all commuters, reflecting the demographic make-up of the city, he said.
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Posted by VicPlough on Feb 22, 2012 in
Top Stories Thinspace and Mantech Computers announced an exclusive partnership that promises to accelerate the deployment of Cloud Client computing technology to enterprise customers in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Partnership also targets the whole of the GCC region.
Thinspace’s market leading product portfolio and software solutions bring significant cost, security and environmental benefits to businesses. It is an ideal solution to enable secured access anytime from anywhere, with enterprise level remote management capabilities. Founded in 1979, Mantech Computers is the longest established computing company in Bahrain, and provides hardware, software and security solutions.
Committed to providing users in Bahrain and GCC countries with innovative and state-of-the-art IT solutions, Mantech and Thinspace share similar strategic visions in a post-PC era.
Hassan Bader Kaiksow, Managing Director of Mantech said, “We’ve been dedicated to providing our customers with the best IT services and solutions since 1979. The partnership with Thinspace enables us to further embrace the next generation computing model, and assist in taking Bahrain’s Cloud computing to the next level.”
Thinspace will leverage Mantech’s leadership position in Bahrain to target industries and large enterprise customers, including financial, healthcare, education and government sectors.
Lisa Layzell, CEO of Thinspace said, “We are delighted to partner with the best. Mantech has a long standing reputation and the right infrastructure to effectively deliver the unique benefits of our Cloud Client solutions to all major industry sectors in Bahrain, as well as a wide range of partners in the GCC region.”
This strategic partnership was brought together by consultancy firm Curved Theory, with high level support from the Bahrain Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Daresbury Science and Innovation Campus (DSIC). The initial relationship was developed during a UK roadshow led by the EDB in October 2011, which focused on direct outreach activities across a number of key sectors including IT and technology.
Paul Abley, Managing Director of Curved Theory commented “I am very pleased that the agreement has been finalised between Thinspace and ManTech. ManTech are ideally placed to maximise the benefits that the Thinspace product suite offers and will be able to represent Thinspace in a new and exciting market. I would like to thank both the Bahrain EDB and Daresbury teams for the assistance with the Bahrain Springboard program and look forward to other commercial agreements being finalised in the near future.”
Shaikh Mohammed bin Essa Al Khalifa, Chief Executive of the Bahrain Economic Development Board said, “Bahrain boasts one of the Middle East’s most liberal and advanced information, communications and technology infrastructures and policy approaches, with amongst the highest mobile and internet penetration rates in the region. Given this, it makes clear sense that Thinspace and Mantech Computers are partnering to take a leading role in implementing Cloud Client computing technology in the Kingdom. I am delighted that the EDB was able to play a role in bringing these likeminded businesses together.”
Posted by VicPlough on Feb 21, 2012 in
Top Stories Benin, formerly known as Dahomey, is one of Africa's most stable democracies.
Before being colonised by France towards the end of the 1800s, the area comprised several independent states, including the Kingdom of Dahomey, which had a well-trained standing army and was geared towards the export of slaves and later palm oil.
Instability marked the first years after full independence from France in 1960 and the early part of Mr Kerekou's rule featured Marxism-Leninism as the official ideology.
However, during the 1980s Mr Kerekou resigned from the army to become a civilian head of state and liberalised the economy.
While Benin has seen economic growth over the past few years and is one of Africa's largest cotton producers, it ranks among the world's poorest countries. The economy relies heavily on trade with its eastern neighbour, Nigeria.
To the north, there have been sporadic clashes along Benin's border with Burkina Faso. The trouble has been blamed on land disputes between rival communities on either side of the border.
Thousands of Togolese refugees fled to Benin in 2005 following political unrest in their homeland. Benin called for international aid to help it shelter and feed the exiles.
Posted by VicPlough on Feb 21, 2012 in
Top Stories Release Date: 01/23/2012Contact Information: David Deegan, 617-918-1017
(Boston—January 23, 2012) – Richard Emberley, Plant Operator of the Franklin Pierce University, N.H. Wastewater Treatment Plant is being honored with a "2011 Regional Wastewater Treatment Plant Operator Excellence Award" by EPA. Mr. Emberley has been the Chief Plant Operator of the Franklin Pierce University Wastewater Treatment Plant since 2000. He has done an outstanding job over the years.
The EPA Regional Wastewater Awards Program recognizes personnel in the wastewater field who have provided invaluable public service managing and operating wastewater treatment facilities throughout New England. The New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services was instrumental in Mr. Emberley’s nomination.
“The professionals operating these wastewater treatment plants, as well as the municipalities and the state environmental agencies that support them, are essential to keeping our environment healthy by protecting water quality. I am proud to acknowledge Mr. Emberley’s outstanding contributions to help protect public health and water quality for so many years and to give him the credit he deserves,” said Curt Spalding, regional administrator of EPA’s New England Office.
EPA’s New England office will formally acknowledge Mr. Emberley for his fine work during the annual New England Water Environment Association Conference at the Boston Copley Marriott Hotel on January 25th.
For more information: http://www.epa.gov/ne/topics/water/wwater.html and
http://www.epa.gov/owm/mtb/intnet.htm
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Posted by VicPlough on Feb 20, 2012 in
Top Stories The world's largest democracy and second most populous country emerged as a major power in the 1990s. It is militarily strong, has major cultural influence and a fast-growing and powerful economy.
In 1984 Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was gunned down by her Sikh bodyguards after ordering troops to flush out Sikh militants from the Golden Temple in Amritsar.
And in 1992, widespread Hindu-Muslim violence erupted after Hindu extremists demolished the Babri mosque at Ayodhya.
Independent India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, dreamed of a socialist society and created a vast public infrastructure, much of which became a burden on the state.
From the late 1980s India began to open up to the outside world, encouraging economic reform and foreign investment. It is now courted by the world's leading economic and political powers, including its one-time foe China.
The country has a burgeoning urban middle class and has made great strides in fields such as information technology. Its large, skilled workforce makes it a popular choice for international companies seeking to outsource work.
But the vast mass of the rural population remains impoverished.
Their lives continue to be influenced by the ancient Hindu caste system, which assigns each person a place in the social hierarchy. Discrimination on the basis of caste is now illegal and various measures have been introduced to empower disadvantaged groups and give them easier access to opportunities – such as education and work.
Poverty alleviation and literacy campaigns are ongoing.
Nuclear tests carried out by India in May 1998 and similar tests by Pakistan just weeks later provoked international condemnation and concern over the stability of the region.
The US quickly imposed sanctions on India, but more recently the two countries have improved their ties, and even agreed to share nuclear technology.
India launches its own satellites and in 2008 sent its first spacecraft to the moon. It also boasts a massive cinema industry, the products of which are among the most widely-watched films in the world.
Posted by VicPlough on Feb 20, 2012 in
Top Stories Dubai: An Asian worker is fighting for his life in Rashid Hospital after he was hit by a car while working in a manhole in Jumeirah Village, Al Khail Road on Sunday morning.
The 40-year-old Asian man was working inside the manhole around 10.30am when the driver of a Kia car saw the safety cones and slammed the brakes hard. But he failed to stop the car in time to avoid hitting the worker.
The vehicle first hit the cones which were placed ahead of the manhole as a safety measure, and later struck the man, Major Gen Engr Mohammad Saif Al Zafein, Director of the Traffic Department at Dubai Police, said, adding that the speed limit on the road is 40kmph.
Driver unhurt
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Posted by VicPlough on Feb 19, 2012 in
Top Stories Dubai: The total revenue of Roads and Transport Authority (RTA)-run Dubai Taxi crossed Dh1 billion in 2011, with more than 125 million passengers hiring cab services to make 62.36 million trips. This is in addition to revenues of privately owned taxi companies.
"The total revenue of Dubai Taxi Corporation [DTC] in 2011 hit Dh1.058 billion, growing the profit earned to Dh146 million," Mattar Al Tayer, Chairman of the Board and Executive Director of RTA, said in a statement yesterday. The operational revenue was Dh979 million.
The revenue increased by 22 per cent since 2010, when the total revenue was Dh864.341 million.
"DTC’s expenditure amounted to Dh745 million in 2011 whereas expenses in 2010 were about Dh597.497 million," Al Tayer said.
Article continues below
Posted by VicPlough on Feb 19, 2012 in
Top Stories Half a billion children could grow up physically and mentally stunted over the next 15 years because they do not have enough to eat, the charity Save the Children says in a new report.
Save the Children said that a year of record food prices had worsened child malnutrition and could hit progress reducing child deaths.
"The world has made dramatic progress in reducing child deaths, down from 12 to 7.6 million, but this momentum will stall if we fail to tackle malnutrition," said Save the Children chief executive Justin Forsyth.
The agency wants the UK to lead the way in reducing hunger and protecting children from food price rises – starting with a Hunger Summit when world leaders are in London for the Olympics.
The UK's International Development Secretary, Andrew Mitchell, said the charity was right to focus on hunger and malnutrition, and Britain would "continue to urge other countries to match our own efforts in this area".
In its report, Save the Children says that one in four of the world's children have stunted growth – meaning their body and brain have failed to develop properly due to malnutrition.
Eighty percent of stunted children live in just four countries, the charity says.
Malnutrition contributes to the deaths of 2.6 million children each year, according to the report.
Assumpta Ndumi, a nutritionist who works with Save the Children in Kenya, told the BBC's Network Africa programme that successive droughts are causing a downward spiral there:
"When another drought comes and livelihood assets are destroyed it becomes worse for families to be able to feed their children.
"Milk is very important for families in north-eastern Kenya, so when livestock is lost they basically have no access to a protein source.
"We need to address the hidden hunger because it's killing silently."
Food prices rose sharply in the first half of last year, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), after severe weather in some of the world's biggest food exporting countries in 2010 damaged supplies.
The FAO's Food Price Index rose last month for the first time since July 2011, but was still 7% lower than in January 2011.
Posted by VicPlough on Feb 18, 2012 in
Top Stories
COEUR d’ALENE, Idaho—Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum is about to feel the force that upended Newt Gingrich: Mitt Romney’s sizable war chest.
Associated Press
GOP candidate Rick Santorum speaking Tuesday in Boise, Idaho, one of the states voting on Super Tuesday.
The Romney campaign and an independent group supporting his White House bid have booked nearly $2 million in television and radio ads in Michigan alone, as they seek to blanket the airwaves with positive messages about the Detroit native and likely negative attacks on his top rival, Mr. Santorum.
That contrasts with the $42,443 the Santorum campaign has reserved in airtime for its own ads ahead of the Feb. 28 primary in Michigan, according to data supplied by a Democratic media firm and confirmed by a Republican campaign operative. A barrage of attack ads from Mr. Romney and his allies helped stall Mr. Gingrich’s campaign in Iowa in late December and then again in Florida in January.
WSJ’s Danny Yadron has details of plans by the Santorum campaign to visit small and medium-sized communities to rack up delegates. Images: Getty
Recent polls show that Mr. Santorum has pulled even with Mr. Romney nationally in the GOP contest. He has done so even as he has relied on a retail-campaigning approach similar to his strategy ahead of the caucuses in Iowa, which he won narrowly after traveling the state extensively. Mr. Santorum had barnstormed Missouri, Colorado and Minnesota before winning nominating contests there last week, spending time in those states while his competitors focused on the much larger battleground of Florida and on Nevada.
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It is a tactic born of necessity: Mr. Santorum doesn’t have the funds to go head-to-head in television advertising with Mr. Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, especially in large states with expensive media markets.
The funding disparity may explain why Mr. Santorum spent the past week hitting up small cities in often-overlooked states in a bid to rack up wins, and momentum, as the presidential-primary map extends to all corners of the country.
Ahead of his arrival in Michigan on Thursday for a series of events, the former Pennsylvania senator’s recent itinerary included stops in the less-delegate-rich states of Oklahoma, North Dakota and Idaho that are part of the 10-state Super Tuesday balloting on March 6.
Mr. Santorum stopped Monday night in Tacoma, Wash., and then headed to this picturesque corner of Idaho before ending up in Boise Tuesday night. On Wednesday, he trumpeted his energy policy in Tioga, N.D. Last week, he drew an estimated 4,000 to an Oklahoma event.
Speaking to a crowd of more than 500 here Tuesday, Mr. Santorum declared that the 2012 election will be mostly about repealing President Barack Obama’s health-care law. “We know folks get energized by these events,” he told reporters later. “When you touch 600 people in Idaho, you touch a lot of folks who can make a big difference in a caucus.”
The itinerary also presents Mr. Santorum to voters who remain on the fence. In Coeur d’Alene, Jim Price said he appreciates a candidate “trying to connect with fellow conservatives.”
“This has to be the first time a presidential candidate has ever stopped in Coeur d’Alene…that I’m aware of,” Mr. Price said.
The Republican presidential nomination isn’t determined by popular vote but rather by who is the first candidate to amass 1,144 delegates to the August national convention in Tampa, Fla.
“If you think it’s possible that this is going to go the whole way [to the convention] and every delegate matters…it’s not a bad use of your time,” Chip Saltsman, former campaign manager for Mike Huckabee’s 2008 presidential campaign, said of Mr. Santorum’s strategy.
Mr. Santorum needs every advantage he can muster. Restore Our Future, the super PAC supporting Mr. Romney, has reserved $1.2 million in ads in eight states ahead of Super Tuesday, including Oklahoma, according to the media firm tracking these ads. In one spot, the group labels Mr. Santorum a “big spender” and “Washington insider” for designating projects that win taxpayer funding through lawmakers’ earmarks.
The Santorum campaign responded with an ad lampooning Mr. Romney, showing a Romney look-alike shooting mud at cutouts of Mr. Santorum, only to get covered in mud himself as his gun backfires.
The ad says Mr. Romney has spent “a staggering $20 million brutally attacking his fellow Republicans,” and that his motive is to “hide from” the health-care law he signed as governor and his past support of initiatives aimed at curbing carbon emissions. “In the end, Mitt Romney’s ugly attacks are going to backfire,” the narrator says.
John Brabender, a senior strategist for Mr. Santorum, said the campaign would make intermittent trips to Michigan during the February lull while also laying the groundwork in many of the 10 states that vote on March 6.
Red, White and Blue Fund, a pro-Santorum super PAC, is conducting polls in Michigan, Arizona and in seven of the 10 Super Tuesday states to guide strategy. Like Michigan, Arizona votes on Feb. 28. The PAC already has decided to start running ads in Ohio, one of the largest states to vote March 6.
The smaller states are at least providing opportunities for Mr. Santorum to display his conservative credentials in front of mostly receptive crowds. On Monday, he met with opponents of gay marriage in Washington about an hour after the state’s Democratic governor signed a law permitting gay marriage. In Tacoma that night, he brought the crowd to roaring applause as he shouted down Occupy Wall Street protesters.
But even Idaho presents a major a hurdle for the Santorum campaign. Roughly one-quarter of the state shares Mr. Romney’s Mormon faith, and he claims the endorsement of the state’s Republican governor.
Mr. Romney is also set to visit Idaho on Friday.
—Janet Hook contributed to this article.
Write to Danny Yadron at danny.yadron@wsj.com
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