New Zealand moves closer to Australia

Last week's 7.8 magnitude earthquake which struck the south island of New Zealand has shifted the country closer to Australia, by 30 centimetres. "New Zealand just got a little bigger, is one way to think of it," seismologist Ken Gledhill said. The biggest earthquake measured so far this year, and the largest to strike New Zealand in 78 years, caused alarm but no major damage in the south of the country on July 15th. A tsunami alert was issued though waves of only 20 cm were reported. Despite the slight shift towards the Australian continent, the countries still remain some distance apart at more than 2,259 km. Many have already joked that air fares are unlikely to be affected.

Correction - No deaths in tanker crash

Corrected: Three people were injured after a gas tanker carrying some 9000 gallons [34,000 litres] of fuel overturned and exploded on an I-75 overpass in Hazel Park, Michigan in the United Sates. Reports say that a bridge has collapsed following a massive fire and a series of blasts.

 

A Michigan state police spokesman told reporters that two tankers were involved in the incident which occurred at 20:30 local time. Fire crews attending the scene were confronted with huge clouds of black smoke and roads in the area have been closed. Earlier reports that two had died appear to be incorrect. BNO put a post on its Twitter feed earlier in the day that 2 individuals had been killed, but authorities have not confirmed this.

2 dead in tanker blast on US freeway

At least two people have died after a gas tanker carrying 9000 gallons [34,000 litres] of fuel overturned and exploded on an I-75 overpass in Hazel Park, Michigan in the United Sates. Reports say that a bridge has collapsed following a massive fire and a series of blasts. A Michigan state police spokesman told the media that two tankers were involved in the incident which occurred at 20:30 local time. Fire crews attending the scene were confronted with huge clouds of black smoke and roads in the area have been closed.

Huge quake strikes New Zealand

A massive earthquake has struck New Zealand triggering a tsunami alert. Local news reports say that people ran from restaurants in Queenstown as buildings shook, and lights and phone lines went down. The GNS recorded it as a 6.6 magnitude quake off the west coast of the South Island some 170km from Invercargill. Overseas monitors have put the magnitude as high as 7.8. Wanaka resident Simon Darby told the New Zealand Herald a rumbling feeling in the ground forced him to run outside of his house.

"It must have lasted about two and half minutes. I lived in Tokyo for three years so I know what large quakes are like. Even though we are maybe 400km from the epicentre this was easily the longest and biggest I have ever felt," he said. "It wasn't very violent, more of a rolling feel. But it had a power about it - I ran straight outside into the carpark."

There are between 10,000 and 15,000 earthquakes in and around New Zealand each year. Most are small, but between 100 and 150 are big enough to be felt, according to GNS Science.

tvnewswatch reporting from Beijing, China

Iranian plane crashes-150 feared dead

An Iranian passenger plane carrying 150 people has crashed in the north of the country, the Irna state news agency has said. Reports from the agency say that all those on board the aircraft which went down in northwest Iran near the city of Qazvin may have perished. It is believed the Tupelov belonging to Caspian Airlines crashed while flying from Tehran to the Armenian capital of Yerevan. "The 7908 Caspian flight crashed 16 minutes after its takeoff from the International Imam Khomeini Airport (IKIA)," Iran's Aviation Organization spokesman, Reza Jafarzadeh said.

Expats angry at Internet blocks

Expats living across China have expressed anger as authorities continue their blocking of popular websites. Last month saw several websites blocked as the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square protests neared. Blogger and Wordpress, both popular blogging sites have been unavailable in China for sometime but authorities have increased the list of sites deemed to be a threat to China's security. Twitter, the popular micro-blogging site also found itself targeted as did the social networking site Facebook. And it didn't stop there. Google and Gmail were both disrupted by the so-called Great Firewall of China and Microsoft's Bing search engine was also blocked as was their Hotmail and Messenger services.

By the end of June most services had returned and access was once again restored, though Blogger, Wordpress and other blogging sites remained unobtainable. But as riots spread across the Xinjiang capital of Urumqi in north-west China, authorities once again launched a war on a number of websites.

One of the first to be blocked was Twitter and even Tweetdeck, which had previously managed to circumvent the outage, failed to get past the Great Firewall. But it was the blocking of the popular social networking site that brought cries of foul.

For expats living across the vast continent complained that they had once again lost a valuable way of keeping in touch with friends and family back home. The Examiner carried several comments by unhappy internet users, some stating they may quit their business in China. "This censorship is actually getting worse and not just affecting a particular website, but the Internet connection as a whole," said one Internet user. "I am seriously considering leaving this country because doing online business here is too difficult," he said.

Even as early as last month some were complaining that many legitimate people and businesses were suffering from the blanket bans on services such as Blogger. One businessman complained that his enterprise had suffered as he used his blog to advertise his services in China and the blocking of blogspot effectively meant his clients couldn't access his website.

While it may be true to say some groups use these open access and free to use websites to express dissenting views, many have become a part of everyday life and business for millions. Twitter has become an invaluable tool for journalists and businesses alike. Many blogs provide technical information for businesses as well as important press releases.

The irony is that even China's own news gathering organisations are suffering from the blocks. Not being able to access the Google official blog for press releases and read live information pouring in on Twitter slows down the whole process of gathering and disseminating reports.

The blocking of sites appears at times to have no sense of logic. Even Amazon, the online retailer has been struck by the continued blockages. Today [Monday] the NASA home page was inaccessible for a time and earlier this month the Cancer Research UK website appeared to have been targeted.

This week Google CEO Schmidt said that countries like China and Iran blocked the use of the Internet at "their peril" and some groups have called on Barack Obama to punish US companies who aid such regimes. The Global Online Freedom Act (Gofa) could see US companies fined if they profit from involvement in online censorship. Up to $2m (£1.2m) might be levied on US companies that provide information or technology that aids the restriction of Internet services. The bill has failed to make it on to the statute books in the past, but leading campaigners are now pleading with legislators to act. Already CEOs of companies such as Google, Yahoo, Microsoft and Cisco Systems have found themselves grilled by US politicians over their apparent sanctioning such use of their services. They are effectively accused by some of providing weapons to the enemy, albeit one with which America is tied to economically.

It is unclear whether such threats will change the policy of companies like Yahoo or Cisco, or that predictions of falling business may dissuade China and others from blocking Internet access. In the short term at least access to vast proportions of the Internet are becoming more difficult to access as China has widened its net to take out proxy websites that facilitate a way around the Great Firewall of China.

tvnewswatch is already finding access to the net difficult and frustrating. Proxies have been blocked. Tweetdeck no longer works, and research is becoming very difficult. For the time being tvnewswatch is able to post to blogger, though sadly it is impossible to post pictures. The tvnewswatch Twitter feed is also still active, but for how long is anybody's guess.

tvnewswatch reporting from Beijing, China

North Korea believed behind DoS attacks

South Korean officials are investigating an apparent cyber attack that has paralyzed websites of major government agencies, banks and Internet service providers.

The websites belonging to the presidential Blue House, South Korea's defence ministry and Shinhan Bank are among several sites that have been hit in suspected attacks that began at around 6 p.m. local time on Tuesday this week. Access to Naver, a leading Internet portal, has also been disrupted.

In a statement released by South Korea's Communications Commission, they said the attacks consisted of "massive harmful traffic to specific sites causing access slowdown or disablement." The commission said that national institutions, banks and media sites were among the apparent targets.

The attack was also reported to have targeted Auction.com, The South Korean site of online auctioneer Ebay, Auction.com also appeared to have been disrupted by the cyber-attacks.

Ahn Jeong-eun, a spokeswoman for the government's Korea Information Security Agency, said the attacks appeared to be linked to an ongoing and unusually resilient attack against government websites in the United States, including sites for the US treasury and the Secret Service.

Attacks against US sites began on July 4, the US Independence Day holiday, and continued to affect access to several sites well into Tuesday.

Ahn said that preliminary investigations seemed to show the attacks were aimed only at paralyzing access to the sites, rather than hacking into secure networks or stealing information.

Access to some websites appeared normal by Wednesday this week, though the South Korean president and defence ministry remained unobtainable.

The attack involves so-called Denial of Service or DoS attacks in which a large number of computers all attempt access to a single website at the same time. The increased traffic overwhelms servers and effectively shuts down the website concerned.

There has been no indication as to who may be behind the South Korean attack, but it comes just weeks after the country's military announced it was setting up a special cyber warfare command to fend off attacks from North Korea and other countries.

According to a report released in May, South Korea's military networks experience an average of tens of thousands of hacking and virus attacks every day. While some fingers have pointed at North Korea, there has been no substantive proof they were behind the attacks. Denial of Service attacks are often undertaken by placing net-bots onto other unsuspecting users' computers before triggering them to launch in simultaneous attacks. So far authorities have said attacks came from at least 16 different countries.

Recent years have seen governments around the world ramp up investment in cyber warfare and cyber defence as part of their security and military programmes. Last year, in the weeks leading up to the war between Russia and Georgia, Georgian government and corporate websites began to experience a sudden string of "denial of service" attacks. Russian government officials denied involvement, but after investigating domain names and website registration data, a group of independent Western computer experts concluded that the Russian security and military intelligence agencies were involved.

tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

6.0 magnitude quake hits Yunnan, China

An earthquake measuring up to 6.0 on the Richter scale has struck central Yunnan province in China destroying more than 10,000 homes. The quake hit some 150 km north-east of the Yunnan capital Kunming, close to the popular destination of Dali.
The tremor occurred at 19:19 local time [11:19 GMT] Thursday injuring more than 300 people. Xinhua News Agency reported the quake as having a 6.0-magnitude, while the U.S. Geological Survey gave a figure of 5.7.
Thirty people are said to have suffered severe injuries, and another 305 were slightly injured.
Tents, medicine and food are being distributed by relief authorities.
Thursday's earthquake comes more than a year after a massive quake struck Sichuan province in China. The 8.0 magnitude quake on 12th May 2008 killed more than 68,000 people and left nearly 18,000 more missing as well as displacing 15 million others.
tvnewswatch, Beijing, China

Coffee is good for you, a study says

Coffee drinkers may be rejoicing after new research suggested that coffee may reverse the effects of Alzheimer's disease. Dr Gary Arendash of the University of Florida showed that coffee not only helped reverse symptoms in mice but also staved off production in the brain of abnormal protein plaques, which are the hallmark of Alzheimer's.

In the UK the Alzheimer's Society is anxious not to suggest that everyone develop a caffeine habit but says that if further research confirms its benefits, coffee could become part of a lifestyle prevention plan for the disease.

It is not the first time that research has shown coffee to be a health benefit. Last year a study showed that consumption of the caffeinated drink, even lin large amounts, may even help one live longer.

Coffee drinkers in that study had slightly lower death rates than non-coffee drinkers over time, whether their drink of choice had caffeine or not. However, while the findings did not prove that coffee is protective, they strongly suggested that drinking coffee in large amounts was not harmful if you are healthy. Researcher Esther Lopez-Garcia, Ph.D., of the University of Madrid, told WebMD that among women, drinking two to three cups of coffee a day was associated with an 18 percent reduction in death from all causes, while drinking four to five cups was associated with a 26 percent reduction in risk. The risk reduction in men was smaller and could have been due to chance.

"We can't say from this one study that coffee extends your life, but it does appear that it doesn't increase the risk for death for people who are healthy," she said.There have been several studies on the health benefits for coffee with some linking regular consumption to a decreased risk for cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and even health conditions like Parkinson's disease and colon cancer.

But there are others who suggest drinking caffeinated coffee increased the risk of a heart attack and stroke in people who already have heart disease. The American Heart Association says much of the evidence is conflicting. Coffee appears to reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, heart disease, diabetes mellitus type 2, cirrhosis of the liver and gout, but increases the risk of acid reflux and associated diseases.

Other studies have linked the drinking of coffee with higher cholesterol levels and high blood pressure, though these risks are more associated with the caffeine content.

tvnewswatch quarantined in H1N1 scare

Last weekend writers for tvnewswatch found themselves in quarantine and being tested for swine flu after showing flu like symptoms. Besides being outside the 7 day quarantine period, imposed on new arrivals from abroad, Chinese authorities deemed it necessary to carry out tests.

But the arrival of two ambulances with medical staff wearing staff masks and a driver wearing a full NBC suit concerned many local residents. It is not clear why the taking of blood samples could not be done in situ, but further concern was raised as the doctors took away mask wearing foreigners who had been living in their midst. With National Day approaching some were worried the entire block might be quarantined.

Tests were carried out at one of Beijing's hospitals, including blood and saliva. However after several hours waiting for the results we were told we may have to stay overnight.

Food was supplied, but at a small cost to the patient. But attempting to choose from a menu written entirely Chinese proved a little daunting, though one of the tvnewswatch team does read the language. For many westerners finding themselves caught up in quarantine with such a menu, there would be some difficulties. The quality of the food was adequate; not haute cuisine, but neither was it inedible. One dish consisted of bamboo shoots cooked with shiitake mushrooms while others consisted of Chinese cabbage and black fungi.

What was more uncomfortable was the long wait for the results as time ticked slowly away towards Monday. The long wait increased the nervousness amongst the community amongst whom we had been living this past week. There were already fears the whole residential block may have to be quarantined. This was despite reassurances that the tests were precautionary.

It's not unusual to contract a cold or flu when being in a new climate. But with heightened fears over the threat of A/H1N1, the authorities in China are taking no chances. What cannot be criticised is there general efficiency. After what felt like eternity, but in fact was less than 6 hours the tests were returned. The result was negative as regards swine flu and pointed to a bacterial infection in the throat according to doctors.

Forms and certificates were stamped and issued before everyone was discharged. Then came the phone calls necessary to inform the community leaders and others that the situation was OK. "That'll be something you will never forget," said a member of staff at where one of tvnewswatch's team was to begin work on Monday. It sure wasn't, but one was also not looking forward to less then 6 hours sleep before heading to work in central Beijing. The positive note is that everyone here is H1N1 free and except for being very hot due to the weather, we're all quite comfortable.

Authorities however continue to take the threat of swine flu very seriously. Back in the UK over 7,000 people have contracted the virus and as far as tvnewswatch understands, 3 people have died. In China the numbers have barely topped 800 with one death reported so far. The woman from Zhejiang province, who was suffering from the effects of the A/H1N1 virus, is not thought to have died from the disease. It is believed she was killed after sustaining injuries in a fall whilst visiting the toilet.

Bodies found after Yemeni plane crash

An Airbus 310 has crashed into the Indian Ocean with 150 people on board. The aircraft capable of carrying 240 people took off from Moroni in Comoros at 1 a.m. local time and was en-route to Sana'a in Yemen. Authorities say there were 157 on board Yemenia Airlines flight 626/7, the wreckage of which was found at approximately 05:00 GMT. By around 06:00 GMT some bodies had been recovered

 

On June 1 a French Airbus 330 went down off the coast of Brazil killing all 228 on board. The cause for that crash is still unclear but investigators believe air speed indicators may be to blame.

China defends H1N1 quarantine policy

China has been accused by the United States of implementing draconian measures to thwart the spread of the A/H1N1 virus, otherwise known as swine flu. But the advised and sometimes enforced quarantines of people arriving in China is seen by the country's authorities as necessary to prevent a widespread health problem.

 

Arrival

 

On arrival in China passengers are not allowed to leave the plane until everyone has had their temperatures checked. Shortly after touchdown health workers wearing face masks and gloves test everyone on board for signs of fever with hand held electronic thermometers. Even before landing everybody is required to fill in forms declaring whether or not they have experienced symptoms commonly associated with the A/H1N1 virus.

 

At Beijing's International Airport each passenger is screened, passing through three check points where temperatures are once again monitored and each passenger is given a leaflet advising of precautionary self-imposed quarantine.

 

Advice

 

Although not everyone arriving in the country is put into isolation, each new arrival is encouraged to "self monitor" their health status for seven days and "avoid going to populous public areas or taking public transportation". Every passenger is required to give details of where they are residing and a telephone number where they can be reached.

 

A health official may call giving the new arrival information leaflets as well as a thermometer and tablets in which to dissolve in water to disinfect surfaces.

 

For many foreigners the procedures are a little daunting, and perhaps even worrisome, but it considered by Chinese authorities as absolutely necessary to protect a dense and massive population. The country still has memory of the SARS virus which killed hundreds in China around a decade ago.

 

With a global pandemic now declared by the World Health Organization, and with more than 500 declared cases of H1N1 infection in China, the authorities are taking no chances.

 

Criticism

 

Such measures have however come in for criticism by some western governments after the enforced quarantine of some arrivals. The US State Department has said that the seven day quarantines made travel to the country "unpredictable" and advised its citizens to be cautious about making plans to travel into China.

 

"Although the proportion of arriving Americans being quarantined remains low, the random nature of the selection process increases the uncertainty surrounding travel to China," the US State Department said in an alert issued over the weekend.

Several Australians who found themselves under enforced quarantine have meanwhile criticized their own government for not representing their concerns.

 

While there has been some measure of criticism, there are some signs even in the West, that the precautions were necessary given the widespread health risk. In Britain, where more than 1,500 cases of the virus have so far been detected, one doctor of more than 30 years experience told tvnewswatch that the procedures "left Britain standing".

 

A week after arriving in China, tvnewswatch has learned that anyone not following advice and subsequently affecting others if they develop symptoms may be subject to a fine of between 50,000 and 200,000 RMB. It is thus surely good advice to keep monitoring temperatures and report any illness immediately.

 

tvnewswatch reporting from Beijing, China

tvnewswatch leaving the UK

After 16 years working as a photo-journalist, and more than 4 years blogging, tvnewswatch is leaving the UK to work in China. Regular readers will know that tvnewswatch has been to China several times in the past three years but has managed to continue to post stories. Working there on a permanent basis will pose its own challenges, but tvnewswatch will endeavour to keep the site going. Of course there is no easy access to foreign media, especially broadcast television news, so posts will focus on events as seen from within China itself as well as through channels which are able to be accessed. Having joined Twitter in 2008, tvnewswatch will also continue to keep its feed going.

Making such a move has resulted in much preparation, hence the fewer number of posts in recent weeks. Hopefully, once settled, tvnewswatch will have more time to post updates.

Thank you to all those who have continued to follow tvnewswatch’s blog and on Twitter for the last few years and hope you continue to follow updates and posts in the future.

H1N1 - BMA & GPs clash over opinions

British authorities have insisted that the risk to public health from the A/H1N1 virus, commonly referred to as Swine Flu, remains low despite the first death being reported on Sunday [14th June] [BBC]. But there are mounting fears in some medical circles that increasing numbers of cases may create problems for doctors and the NHS.

In the UK, 1,320 people have so far been identified as having contracted the virus including 59 cases confirmed on Monday.

The fatality is the first reported within Europe, but British health officials have stressed it is not an indication the virus was becoming more virulent. The victim, 38 year old Jacqueline Fleming, had suffered from pre-existing health conditions, authorities have said. She had also recently given birth prematurely but health officials said the baby had not contracted Swine Flu but had subsequently died from unrelated medical problems [BBC].

BMA warns of increasing problems

As the virus spreads across Britain, there are increasing concerns that General Practitioners (GP), also known as primary healthcare physicians or family doctors, may be subject to mounting pressures. The British Medical Association (BMA) has warned that some GPs may be forced to withdraw their services should the risks to themselves increase [BBC].

The medical body says that GPs may be at risk not only from the virus, but also from patients angry at what they might perceive as a lack of care.

If the numbers of patients suffering from A/H1N1 increase, hospitals may also be overwhelmed by admissions, the BMA says. This in turn would leave family doctors with a dilemma as to where to send other patients, who may suffer as a result. Such situations may result in a doctor being sued, something the BMA says it is extremely concerned about.

Effectively many family doctors are self-employed and have their own insurance. And this may not cover themselves or their family if they were to die or be sued by a patient, the BMA fears.

Dr Dean Marshall, from the BMA said that doctors “will be putting their lives on the line” and that it was important that they were “properly covered if anything goes wrong.”

GPs unconcerned

However, some GPs have been critical of the medical body. One GP, who preferred not to be named, told tvnewswatch, “I had not heard this report myself since I’ve been working today [Monday], but I’m surprised the BMA should be focused on such a narrow issue of self interest.”

“I don’t care for myself. I took a Hippocratic Oath to help people to best of my ability, so as regards insurance I am not concerned,” he said. “I think they’re missing the centre of the target,” he added. “The BMA should be more focused on what can be done to keep doctors well enough to treat their patients,” the GP said, expressing surprise that the BMA should raise such issues.

If a pandemic were to occur, he said he believed doctors and their teams would work together in what he described as the “Battle of Britain spirit”.

“No one was going to sue in those days,” he said. “Britain invented the queue and people know how to wait their turn,” he added. “I’ve been a doctor for 30 years, and I’m not cynical about how the vast majority of people can work together.”

As regards to publicity, he told tvnewswatch that his surgery had made the decision not to put up posters warning about the spread of Swine Flu. Such measures often had a negative effect, he said, and many people were suffering from “Swine Flu fatigue”. However information pamphlets were available.

Measures to protect staff and patients had been implemented, he stressed. “We do have gloves, masks and alcohol gel in stock as standard. But we have also ordered extra supplies,” the doctor added, “In addition we do take measures to reduce our own chances of getting the flu.”

If visiting patients suffering from flu-like symptoms, he said they might be asked to go to a different room and open the window before the doctor’s arrival. Even the issue of a prescription may be completed in a different room to reduce risks of contamination, he explained.

Strain on health service

The BMA has said the number of admissions to hospital will rise significantly if a pandemic takes hold, putting further strain on the National Health Service (NHS) as a whole.

For every 100 patients with flu symptoms up to four of them may require hospital admission, if there are beds available, the BMA says in a 61 page report issued to GPs.

Around 25 percent may require critical care with an average length of stay in hospital of up to ten days. The BMA also says that scientific models suggest that up to 2.5 percent of all flu victims may die.

In a recent statement, Director-General of the World Health Organisation Margaret Chan described the virus as “unstoppable”. There are also estimates that half of the UK population could contract the disease. Given the BMA’s estimate that 25 in every thousand affected could die, swine flu could account for around 750,000 deaths in Britain alone.

Already the effects of the disease have been felt with dozens of schools being periodically closed across the country as pupils contract the virus.

Meanwhile, the British government continues in its effort to stockpile flu treatments such as Roche’s Tamiflu, and Relenza, which is made by British pharmaceutical giant Glaxosmithkline.

Additionally, efforts are being made to prepare a vaccine, though it may be many months before it becomes available to the general public [BBC].

Global threat

The World Health Organisation last week declared a global pandemic of level 6, for some an indication of the seriousness of the situation.

At least 75 countries around the world are now affected, and some have implemented more stringent health controls. Apart from Mexico, where the virus appeared to originate, Britain, the United States, Canada, Chile and Australia have shown the highest numbers of affected individuals [Map].

However, it is not clear whether the high numbers are more down to a better system of health checks and identification. While some countries have implemented health checks at airports and even quarantine procedures for some visitors, international travel has so far been unrestricted.

Domestically, various governments have launched health campaigns to advise the public on the risks. In Britain, leaflets have been delivered to every household giving information on how the virus is spread and advising how best to protect oneself from it. There has also been a large publicity campaign launched on television and radio in an attempt to persuade people to be more careful when they sneeze.

The main advice to the public is to “catch it, bin it, kill it”, by using a tissue, disposing of it quickly and by washing hands regularly.

While there is an obvious concern from the risks of A/H1N1, so far the virus has not shown itself to be as deadly a threat as some have feared.

An estimated 12,000 people, mainly in the older age group, die every year from seasonal flu in the UK, according to the BMA. In the U.S. tens of thousands die annually from seasonal flu. But so far the entire global death rate from A/H1N1 remains well below 1,000, with the WHO confirming only 146 deaths.

Many of those affected by A/H1N1 are in a much younger age group, and some are otherwise healthy individuals. The greatest fear amongst medical experts is the virus could mutate and become ever more deadly.

In the past, pandemics have killed more than a million around the world. Between 1918 and 1919, the so-called Spanish Flu was responsible for an estimated 20 to 40 million deaths. And in more recent history the Asian Flu in 1957 and the Hong Kong Flu of 1968 killed up to 4 million between them.

British politics in turmoil

A day before Britons go to the polls in local and European elections, the Labour party is in turmoil. Amid controversy over MP’s expenses several high ranking politicians have announced their intention to stand down from the cabinet. On Tuesday it was announced that Home Secretary Jacqui Smith was to step down from her position in the next cabinet reshuffle expected next week.

Within hours of this news breaking four other Labour Members of Parliament announced their intention to step down. Children's minister Beverley Hughes and ex-health secretary Patricia Hewitt said they would also resign their positions. Political turmoil continued after it was reported that Ian Gibson, Margaret Moran, Elliott Morley and David Chaytor would be barred from standing as MPs at the next general election scheduled for 2010. And on Wednesday Communities Secretary Hazel Blears announced she was quitting from her cabinet position.

Leadership contest

Gordon Brown has continually insisted he will not resign his position as prime minister nor hold an early general election. But as more and more ministers stepped down his position has been considered untenable by many political commentators.

One political pundit said there was little the prime minister could do except perhaps “saving a drowning kitten from the river Thames”. Speaking on Sky News the Times political correspondent said, “Short of the arch-angel Gabriel coming down I can’t see what he can do”.

On the street anger is building amongst the general public. One lorry driver angry at the current Labour administration told tvnewswatch that “political change was on its way”.

“Gordon Brown is washed up,” he said as he went on to criticise the prime minister’s latest initiatives. “His scrappage scheme is not going to work,” he said, “I drive hundreds of miles across the country and I see thousands of unsold cars parked up near Avon docks near Bristol.”

As a lorry driver he was also worried about his own job. “No-one’s secure in this economic climate,” he said.

Opposition parties were taking particular advantage of the situation with Shadow Commons Secretary Theresa May saying the government had “lost its authority” and was “in meltdown”. The Conservative MP said a general election was needed and that only “David Cameron can take this country forward”.

But many Labour MPs were pulling rank in support of Gordon Brown. “It would be madness to oust the Prime Minister at this stage,” Martin Salter, MP for Reading West, said. “He’s the best person to lead the country through the recession,” he insisted, but he conceded Gordon Brown had been "dealt with a pretty tough hand”.

Even Jacqui Smith, who is standing down as home secretary, insisted that Gordon Brown was the right man for the job and that there were “no wimps in the Labour party”.

A rowdy PMQs

The party in freefall, as it has been described by some, faced a grilling as the prime minister stood up in parliament during PMQs [Prime Ministers Questions]. Leader of the opposition, David Cameron, said the government was “collapsing before our eyes,” and called on the prime minister to “get down to the palace and call for a dissolution” of parliament.

But Gordon Brown defended his position insisting there was "still work to be done” and accused the Conservative party of having no policies. “They are all words, words and words,” the prime minister said.

But Cameron continued, saying that Brown was “in denial” following the resignations and departures of so many Labour MPs. Stuttering his way though his response the PM said there were pressures on all members of parliament in the house.

Cameron’s continued lambasting of the prime minister caused uproar in the house among the Labour benches and brought a threat from the speaker. “There is a danger of the house being suspended if the leader of the opposition is shouted down,” Michael Martin exclaimed.

Cameron went on to describe the government as dysfunctional and said the main issue was one of leadership. He was also critical of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, who was vehemently defended by Gordon Brown who said he was “doing a very good job.”

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg also laid into the Labour party. He said the government was “paralysed” and that “Labour was finished”. There was only two choices for voters, he insisted, that of the Conservatives or his own party.

A scathing press

The government has suffered weeks of criticism from the British press with daily reports concerning expenses claimed by MPs. While no party has been spared from the uncomfortable revelations, it is the Labour party that has suffered in the polls and courted public anger. But the press coverage has also angered MPs with Keith Vaz, Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, calling it a “media frenzy”.

The latest resignations brought strong headlines in many of Wednesday's newspapers. The Daily Telegraph, which broke the details of MP’s expenses, ran with the headline “Cabinet meltdown” and accused the departing Members of Parliament of milking the system “to the end”.

The Daily Mail reported the story with the headline “Rats desert sinking ship”, while the Independent described the situation as “Disarray in Downing Street”.

The Sun called it Labour’s blackest day and ran with the headline “Blunderbird” with a spoof image of Jacqui Smith dressed as a Gerry Anderson Thunderbird puppet. The comparison to the 1960’s children’s television series was more than a little ironic. It will need more than International Rescue to pull the party from the quagmire of the political mud it has found itself.

Important elections

Despite the difficulties the Labour party faces, those within its ranks have urged people to vote on June 4th. “There's an important set of elections tomorrow. My message is simple: get out and vote Labour,” Hazel Blears said in her resignation statement.

Others within the party warned that racist parties such as the British National Party would be given a boost if people stayed away from the polls. Barry Gardiner, a backbench MP, said “I would absolutely urge everybody, whether they vote for my party or any other party, to get out there and vote, as long as they don’t vote for the racists.”

The political infighting seen amongst the Labour ranks is nothing new in British politics. In the 1990s the then Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher, was forced out, handing the reigns to John Major who himself had conflicts with some of his cabinet.

He too suffered from internal squabbling and once referred to some of his cabinet as those “bastards”.

John Major was caught on tape talking about possible reshuffles in his cabinet while preparing for an interview with ITN [Independent Television News]. During the conversation, which was not intended for broadcast, Major said, "I could bring in other people. But where do you think most of this poison is coming from? From the dispossessed and the never-possessed. You can think of ex-ministers who are going around causing all sorts of trouble.”

Then came the punch line. “We don't want another three more of the bastards out there. What's Lyndon Johnson's maxim?..."

It was at this point that someone, presumably an ITN technician, realised what was happening and pulled the plug. "Johnson's maxim" was, incidentally, a reference to FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, whom he declined to sack on the basis that "it's probably better to have him inside the tent pissing out than outside pissing in".

It appears there are quite a few Labour MPs pissing into Gordon Brown’s tent. And as British politics begins to smell a bit rank the electorate will make their voices known.

Though it is widely believed Labour will do badly, it is unclear whether there will be a major endorsement for the other parties.

Air France jet missing over Atlantic

An Air France jet has reportedly disappeared from radar screens in the Atlantic Ocean after leaving Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro airport for Paris last night. Flight AF-447 was expected at Charles de Gaulle airport at 09:10 GMT [11:10 CET] but has failed to arrive. Airport authorities have confirmed the flight was carrying 216 passengers and 12 crew and concern is mounting for the fate of those on board. CNN however reports the aircraft was carrying 231 people.

Brazil’s air force has mounted a search and rescue mission off the coast near to the small island of Fernando de Noronha [-3.9, -32.416667] where the Airbus 330-200 may have gone down. The island is 360 km off Brazil’s coast and some 2,400 km from Rio de Janeiro. Reports say contact with the aircraft was lost shortly after take-off at around 23:00 GMT. However it was not declared missing until 06:00 GMT. Air France says it shares the worry and emotion following the announcement of the missing aircraft. Following the news shares in KLM-Air France dropped significantly, plunging into negative territory [BBC / Sky News / CNN] .

The plane is logged as an Airbus 330-203 with a manufacturer’s serial number of 660. Its first flight was recorded on the 25th February 2005 and delivered to Air France in April of the same year. Flying under the call sign of F-GZCP the twin engine jet failed to be picked up by radar near to the coast of Morocco. Radar stations in Lisbon and Cape Verde have said they did not make contact with the aircraft which puts the plane anywhere between the coast of Africa and Brazil. No mayday appears to have been sent.

Friends and relatives of those concerned about passengers on board flight 447 from were asked to call the Air France helpline on 0033157021055.

N Korea nuclear test 'threat to world peace'

North Korea has once again defied the international community by testing a nuclear weapon, its second such test within 3 years. The weapon was detonated some 10 km underground shortly after 23:00 GMT and triggered seismic readings of about 4.3 on the Richter scale.

The testing of the device, said to be equivalent to the 20 Kiloton bomb dropped on Nagasaki, Japan in 1945, has provoked widespread criticism and condemnation. China, who reacted with anger to North Korea’s October 2006 test [Wikipedia / tvnewswatch], have said it was “resolutely opposed” to the weapon’s test. US President Barack Obama described the test as a “Threat to international peace”.

“North Korea will not find respect through threats and illegal weapons,” Obama said in a statement on Monday. His comments were echoed by other world leaders who condemned the North Korean leadership. Britain’s Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the action would “undermine prospects for peace” on the Korean peninsula. Meanwhile the UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband called the test “Wrong, misguided and dangerous” and said it would leave N Korea even more isolated.

Closer to home, North Korea’s neighbours have been even more outspoken. Japan has called for “firm action” and asked that a UN Security Council meeting be convened as soon as practically possible. South Korea, which remains in a tense stand-off with its neighbour called the test an “intolerable provocation”. Meanwhile anger spilled onto the streets as news about the weapons test began to spread.

Stock markets were also rattled by the news, though sharp falls seen early in the morning in Seoul soon recovered.

It is not clear whether six party talks will resume given that North Korea continues to ignore world opinion. Despite warnings from the US and others the defiant regime launched a rocket in April. It was widely seen as a long-range missile test, despite Pyongyang’s insistence it was a launch of a satellite. Both China and Russia have called for a return to the negotiating table, but there will be increasing scepticism about North Korea’s intentions. Six party talks resumed shortly after the 2006 weapons test [tvnewswatch], but the situation has changed significantly since then with the country becoming ever more unstable and the health of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il raising further doubts
[BBC / CNN / Sky News / Wikipedia].

War on Terror is far from over...

Four people have been arrested in connection to what US authorities believe was a serious plan to launch a terror campaign in and around New York. Three of the persons have been named as James Cromitie (also known as Abdul Rahman), David Williams (aka Daoud and DL), and Onta Williams (aka Hamza). They were brought to court on Thursday and were ordered to be detained until the 5th June for a preliminary hearing. The three and a fourth man, Laguerre Payen (aka Amin and Almondo), have been accused attempts to bomb a synagogue and planning to target military jets at an airfield [BBC / Sky News / CNN].

The threat is being taken extremely seriously by authorities despite the group being infiltrated early on in their planning the attacks and supplied with fake explosives. According to reports the group attempted to detonate the explosives outside two synagogues in New York.

The foiling of the alleged terror plot comes as the US senate rejected an appeal by Obama for money to close Guantanamo Bay and will serve to reinforce the argument that the terror threat remains strong enough to maintain the camp. On Thursday it was also announced that the first trial for a former Guantanamo Bay detainee will take place in New York in the coming weeks. Ahmed Ghailani, who is suspected of taking part in al-Qaeda plots to bomb US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, will be the first former detainee to face trial in the United States [CNN].

Meanwhile terror attacks have continued in Iraq today. Scores have been killed in Baghdad and Kirkuk in an upsurge of violence that has swept the country in recent weeks. April was the bloodiest month since September, and despite reassuring statements from both the Iraqi government and the US military that things were getting better, most ordinary citizens are increasingly concerned [BBC / CNN].

In Kirkuk at least five were killed and 3 US soldiers were amongst 12 killed in a blast that struck in central Baghdad. Today’s attacks which left at least 23 dead came a day after 40 were killed in north-west Baghdad. More than 250 died in a series of attacks in April leading many to believe that insurgents may be regrouping as US troops prepare to downsize their operations [BBC].

UK's oldest mum-to-be hides from media

One angry local [right] argues with a reporter

“It’s like the land that time forgot,” said one of the reporters gathered outside the house of Britain’s oldest mum to be, Elizabeth Adeney, who has single handedly managed to distract the tabloid media away from MP’s expenses. “You can’t get a signal at all,” the frustrated reporter continued as he tried to make a phone call.

He was one of dozens who had descended on a leafy lane in the Suffolk countryside in an attempt to get a statement from Ms Adeney following revelations in the Daily Mail and Mirror on Saturday.

The papers revealed she had become pregnant through In-Vitro Fertilisation treatment obtained in the Ukraine. But she insists age doesn’t matter and says she is delighted to be expecting.

Media unwelcome in Suffolk village

The presence of reporters, photographers and TV crews was not well received by many locals. “Get of my drive or I’ll call the police,” one angry neighbour shouted at reporters as he drove off in his van. Others were a little bemused and unaware of the news. “What’s going on?” one man asked the assembled press as he drove his family down the narrow country lane. But for those who knew her, there were some mixed views. “Well, I knew it had to be IVF,” one man said, “I didn’t think the press were interested in witches!”

Ms Adeney refused to see reporters all morning despite repeated knockings. For a person who received few visitors, according to neighbours, there was much activity however. Several maintenance men arrived at the house. A satellite installation team were the first to arrive, followed soon after by a pool maintenance engineer and a gardener. One of the workers was even sent out to retrieve the post and told reporters she did not wish to pose for pictures and had no plans to go out.

But after the satellite men and pool man left there followed a bizarre series of events. The gardener drove Elizabeth Adeney’s turquoise Renault from the house and up the road creating a panic amongst snappers. Shortly afterwards the gardener returned saying that she’d gone. But surely a heavily pregnant woman had not made her way across country to where the gardener had left the car. This, it seemed, could be the only explanation, but it created some speculation that the pregnancy might even be fake!

Despite best attempts at finding her, Ms Adeney managed to evade the press throughout the day and did not return to her house before nightfall.

Anger towards press builds

Patience amongst the locals was wearing thin concerning the large gathering of media. Late into the afternoon a returning local jumped from his people carrier and launched into a verbal tirade of abuse.

“How long’s this going to go on for?” he shouted. “Don’t know mate,” one photographer replied.

“What if a fire engine wanted to get through with all these vehicles here, it couldn’t,” the angry man continued. “I’m fed up with this, why don’t you all fuck off? Do you wanna scrap? I’m good at that,” he proclaimed. “Why don’t you all grow up? She’s only having a fucking baby.”

Soon after, another aggrieved resident pulled up in his car and none too politely told the press to go away before telling them the police had been called.

One lone Police Community Support Officer arrived but was particularly amicable and said that since no-one was causing an obstruction there was little she could do. “There are no parking restrictions,” she said, “I think people are just upset because little happens around here so you’re the focus of attention.”

It wasn’t too long before one of the angry locals drove back. “Haven’t you gone yet?” he asked before arguing with two journalists. As he did so the situation became a little dangerous as on letting off the brake his vehicle rolled back and nearly ran over a dog being walked by a local woman.

Surreal behaviour

The afternoon became surreal as another dog walker passed by and pulled a face while pushing out her jumper with her fist. “Da da,” she exclaimed as she pulled her hand from beneath her jumper in a gesture of holding a pillow or baby. “Why’s this a story?” she said later, “She didn’t conceive, she had an egg put inside her and it’s going to be a corrugated [sic] birth.”

Meanwhile ‘Mr Angry’ returned; this time armed with a camera, perhaps in an attempt to intimidate the few remaining reporters and photographers. After sharp words, and an inference that vehicles could be damaged by “persons unknown”, he retreated.

As the sun began to set over Suffolk there was one last visitation from the locals. “You won’t get her coming in here, the witch usually flies in on her broomstick,” he joked. “She's a bit odd, that one” he said.

From the bizarre behaviour displayed by locals, she is not the only resident who was strange, if not a little over protective about “their road”.

[BBC / Pregnancy over age 50-Wikipedia].

US 'shock jock' to sue Jacqui Smith

Savage attack: Michael Savage says he's been libeled by Home secretary

British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith may find herself in court in the coming months after placing an American radio presenter on a list of persons banned from Britain. Michael Savage, a so called ‘shock jock’, has joined a list which included convicted terrorists, murderers and Islamic fanatics. But his addition to the list has angered the 67 year old presenter who insists he has been defamed by the Home Secretary.

And in response he has threatened to sue Ms Smith personally, unless he is removed from the list and receives a written apology.

Britain’s ‘least wanted’

The list of Britain’s “least wanted” which was published this week seeks to exclude people the government considers dangerous. It is made up of 22 individuals, though only 16 are named. It names 7 radical Islamists, one Jewish radical, two Russian right wing extremists and several US citizens ranging from neo Nazis to radical preachers.

Amongst those mentioned are the Hamas MP Yunis Al Astal. He once claimed that ““Rome will be conquered [by Islam], just like Constantinople” and is considered by the Home Office to be an individual who engages in “unacceptable behaviour by seeking to foment, justify or glorify terrorist violence in furtherance of particular beliefs and to provoke others to terrorist acts." Others Islamic extremists include Hezbollah terrorist Samir Al Quntar and preacher Amir Siddique. Samir Al Quntar once participated in the attempted kidnapping of an Israeli family in Nahariya that resulted in the deaths of four Israelis and two of his fellow kidnappers. He was released from prison last year after 29 years in prison. Other Islamic radicals included are Nasr Javed, Wadgy Abd El Hamied Mohamed_Ghoneim, Abdullah Qadri Al Ahdal and Safwat Hijazi.

It’s not just Islamic extremists on the list. Jewish extremist Mike Guzovsky is also included. Guzorsky is listed as a contact for the US banned terror organisation Kahane.org.

Far right Russian skinheads Artur Ryno and Pavel Skachevsky said to be responsible for leading a violent gang that beat migrants and posted films of their attacks on the internet have been banned from Britain, though both are languishing in prison following their conviction in 2007 in connection with the murder of 37 people.

Apart from Michael Savage, there are 5 other Americans on the list. Ex-Ku Klux Klan grand wizard Stephen Donald Black, neo-Nazi Erich Gliebe, Muslim activist Abdul Alim Musa, radical pastor Fred Waldron Phelps and Shirley Phelps-Roper.

Many of those named on the list have not expressed any specific desire to travel to the UK, and at least three are currently in prison.

Defamation claims

Following the publication of the list, Michael Savage, whose real name is Michael Weiner, said he was shocked.

“I looked at the headline on the Drudge Report and I couldn’t believe it,” Savage told listeners on his radio show, “I thought it was a joke.”

But his shock turned to anger after the DJ found out who he’d been associated with.
"For this lunatic Jacqui Smith, to link me up with skinheads killing people in Russia and mass murderers who kill Jews on buses is defamation,” Savage proclaimed. “She has put a target on my back,” the controversial radio presenter added, and said he would sue the British politician.

Jacqui Smith has justified the inclusion of Mr Savage on the list saying he was “someone who has fallen into the category of fomenting hatred, of such extreme views and expressing them in such a way that it is actually likely to cause intercommunity tension or even violence if that person were allowed into the country.”

Britain’s Prime Minister, Gordon Brown also defended the government position. “There will have been specific decisions made by the Home Office based on the evidence that they have,” he said. “Our general position is that we do want to make a distinction between reasonable and moderate debate and actions that deliberately set out to create tensions.”

Following the release of the list, several news organisations clamoured for interviews from Savage, who is not well known in Britain. The BBC, Sky News and CNN all covered the story giving Michael Savage more publicity than he could have imagined.

The irony is that the decision to include the ‘shock jock’ on the ‘least wanted’ list has served to bring his views to a far wider audience. Few in Britain would have heard of Savage or his programme the “Savage Nation” before this week. In years past his show could only be heard on short wave radio, but with the advent of the Internet many can easily tune in to his chat show.

Ranting and raving

For those who listened in to the several affiliate stations which carry the Savage Nation, they were met with the ranting of an angry man. Savage, who has published several books and holds a PhD, claims he has up to 10 million listeners across America. From this large base he says he will launch boycott of British goods and travel to the country.

“Britain will suffer financially from this mistake,” Michael Savage told his listeners on Thursday. In his show which warns listeners of “adult language and psychological nudity”, Savage claims he represents the majority of what America believes.

“I talk about family values,” he said, running a campaign of “Borders, language and culture”.

His views are nonetheless very strong. He has spoken out very strongly against homosexuality and Islamic terrorists. He has also been criticised for statements made about autism, though he says he has made mistakes at times. But he insists he has never incited violence.

He holds nothing back in his criticism of those he dislikes. On Thursday night’s show he called the British government “extremist” and described Home Secretary Jacqui Smith as a “Witch”, a “hateful person” and a “creature”.

“I am going to use attorneys of England to sue Jacqui Smith,” he said, “Send me a letter of apology or you will find yourself in the courts.”

Callers to the show were unsurprisingly supportive of the right-wing DJ. One caller who claimed to be a former London police office calling from within the US said the British government had chosen a “White American radical Jew to appease the Islamists”.

“They are petrified of radical Muslims” the caller said, and in order to placate those that might feel the Muslim population had been unfairly singled out, Savage had been added to the list. “I’ve heard that,” Savage said, but avoided direct agreement.

Britain an "extremist nation"

His show was punctuated with bursts of Rule Britannia, the Russian ex-Soviet Nationale and the Sex Pistol’s God Save the Queen. At one point he played what he regarded as one of the most important speeches of all time, that given by Winston Churchill on June 18th 1940.

“What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over. I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin. Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization. Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire. The whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us.

Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war. If we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands. But if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science.

Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their finest hour.' ”

It was all a part of his attempt to show how Britain had lost sight of its once well founded principles of democracy and free speech laid out in the Magna Carta.

“If they don’t get some backbone they won’t have a nation” Savage declared.

“People are saying to me that this is the last gasp of a troubled Labour party that is out of touch with the voters of England,” Savage told reporters earlier. “That's all well and good but will the Conservatives undo the damage that this lunatic has done?”

Oxygen of publicity

Whether or not his views are dangerous, as the government maintains, their efforts to exclude him from Britain, has only increased his public profile. But it is not the first time such plans have backfired. In February this year Dutch right wing politician Geert Wilders was turned back at Heathrow by authorities because of his views. As a result he was unable to attend a meeting in London’s parliament, but the publicity served only to increase his public profile. His controversial film Fitna subsequently received record hits on video websites and there were pages of debate in the national press and on television about a previously unheard of politician.

In fact the banning of people, books and records has often served to make them more popular than they otherwise would have been. By banning Savage, the Labour party, which are already suffering in the polls, has courted yet more bad publicity for itself. From a failing economy, criticism over MP’s expenses to accusations of directing the country towards a police state, the government is on the defensive. A libel case against the Home Secretary is the last thing it needs.