Sunday, May 18, 2014

The governor of the Bank of England, Mark Carney, has warned that the state of the housing market in the United Kingdom is the current biggest domestic threat to the country’s economy, due to lack of house building, and regulatory issues.

In an interview to be aired on Sky News today, he said the housing market is the “biggest risk” to the economy and has “deep, deep structural problems”. Of house building he said: “There are not sufficient houses built in the UK. To go back to Canada, there are half as many people in Canada as in the UK, twice as many houses are built every year in Canada as in the UK and we can’t influence that.”

“We’re not going to build a single house at the Bank of England. We can’t influence that. What we can influence […] is whether the banks are strong enough. Do they have enough capital against risk in the housing market?”

Carney also said the Bank of England would look into the procedures used to issue loans and mortgages to see if they were being granted appropriately: “We’d be concerned if there was a rapid increase in high loan-to-value mortgages across the banks. We’ve seen that creeping up and it’s something we’re watching closely.”

Kris Hopkins responded to Carney on behalf of the government, saying the government “inherited a broken housing market, but our efforts to fix it are working”. “We’ve scrapped the failed top-down planning system, built over 170,000 affordable homes and released more surplus brownfield sites for new housing. We’ve also helped homebuyers get on the housing ladder, because if people can buy homes builders will build them. Housebuilding is now at its highest level since 2007 and climbing. Last year councils gave permission for almost 200,000 new homes under the locally-led planning system and more than 1,000 communities have swiftly taken up neighbourhood planning. It’s clear evidence the government’s long-term economic plan is working.”

Earlier this month, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development called on the UK government to “tighten” access to the ‘Help to Buy’ scheme introduced by George Osborne and the coalition government in 2013. ‘Help to Buy’ has also recently been criticised by three former Chancellors of the Exchequer — the Conservatives Norman Lamont and Nigel Lawson, and former Labour Chancellor Alistair Darling. Darling said: “Unless supply can be increased substantially, we will exacerbate that situation with schemes like Help to Buy.”

Sunday, August 14, 2005

Some cancer specialists have stepped up calls for smokers and ex-smokers to undergo advanced screening for lung cancer . They reacted to the recent deaths of Peter Jennings and Barbara Bel Geddes and the disclosure that Dana Reeve has lung cancer by urging people to have their lungs screened with special helical CT chest scans.

Because health insurance plans do not cover such screening, anxious patients who can afford it are paying about $300 for the test out of pocket. The American Cancer Society discourages using the advanced CT scan technique for screening because doctors do not yet know how to interpret findings of small lesions. A helical scan can show lumps as small as 2 millimetres in diameter, but doctors do not know what to make of such lesions. The tumors may not actually be cancerous, and even small cancers may spontaneously remit or may grow so slowly that surgery, radiation or chemotherapy would do far more harm than good. Preliminary results of a large ongoing study, expected within a year, may provide tentative guidelines on when to perform a biopsy and when CT screening would be worthwhile.

Smoking one pack of cigarettes daily for 20 years or more brings a 50 percent chance of dying from lung cancer. For any smoker, 10 years of abstinence cuts the risk in half. Women are more vulnerable than men even if they don’t smoke. Environmental pollutants work with smoking to increase risk. People with affected parents or siblings are 2–3 times more likely to fall ill with lung cancer. A malignant tumor can grow silently for years. In the United States by the time it is recognized a lung cancer has spread in 3 out of 4 patients. Routine chest X-ray screening does not improve survival rate. Although patients treated after their lung cancer has shown up in a highly sensitive helical (also called “spiral”) CT scan are much more likely to survive, this may only be because small cancers grow very slowly or would cause no trouble even without treatment.

On the other hand, some cancer experts already strongly support performing the screening. They point out that prompt treatment of lung cancer clearly improves prognosis and that an equivocal scan can be repeated after some months to see if a lesion has enlarged. Furthermore, a decision not to wait for conclusive science but to undergo a helical scan would be supported by consideration of a patient’s age, family history, history of smoking and other risk factors. Annual scanning has been recommended for people over age 50 who have smoked 1 pack daily for 30 years or 2 packs for 15 and who also have a known lung condition.

Monday, July 18, 2005

The outer bands of the Category 4 storm Hurricane Emily started to affect Jamaica shortly before 8:00am Saturday. Increasing winds and rain swept the island nation throughout the afternoon as the eye of the storm passed 100 miles off the southern coast. Utility poles were downed and storm debris closed the seaside highway to the international airport. Other roads were reported closed as well.

While islanders did not get through the two storms unscathed, and 4 people were left dead, the Land and Environment Minister Dean Peart told reporters, “Mercifully, Jamaica was spared the worst”.

Buses were sent by officials to southern coastal areas to evacuate residents from the flood prone region, but most refused to leave and preferred to ride it out beside 8 foot waves that pounded areas of the coast line. Wind gusts of 155 mph doubled over palm trees in the capital city of Kingston.

At a southern penninsula seaside fishing villiage, Port Royal residents boarded up and prepared for the worst again, as surfers gathered nearby to take on the challenge of 15 to 18 foot waves. “If I’m going to die, it’s going to be right here,” said a local resident Gordon Murphy, 39, with his 2-year-old son. “What’s next?” he joked, “[Hurricane] Franklin?”

Many shops and businesses stayed open as long as they could, classifying it as another inconvenience despite its near Category 5 strength. Instead of the possible disaster that many prepared for, by late afternoon, Emily had all but disappeared. Light scattered showers in some areas of the island were the only remnant, as residents went about their lives after the second hurricane scare in as many weeks.

Supplies that many stocked for Dennis and Emily may yet be put to use. Many wonder what storms are yet to come. Authorities say this will be one of the most active hurricane seasons in history. Emily was the strongest and earliest to form this year since records, dating back to 1860, have been kept.

Earlier, Emily stuck Grenada on Thursday with nearly a direct hit. A national disaster was called the day after its winds ravaged hundreds of homes and killed at least one man.

Saturday, June 12, 2010

A second day of ethnic clashes in southern Kyrgyzstan between Kyrgyzs and Uzbeks has killed at least 62 people and wounded over 800 more, reports say, as violence there entered its second day. The interim Kyrgyz president, Roza Otunbayeva, meanwhile, appealed to the Russian government to send in troops to try and restore order.

The clashes are occurring primarily in the southern city of Osh. Witnesses say the chaos and violence has increased, and central authority collapsed, with gunfire audible throughout the city. The violence started on Thursday night, when ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks started street brawls that soon escalated into battles; riots and looting started, cars were damaged, and buildings set alight by both sides.

In a nationally televised speech, Otunbayeva commented: “I have signed a letter asking Dmitry Medvedev for third-party forces to be sent to the Kyrgyz Republic. Since yesterday the situation has got out of control. We need outside military forces to halt the situation. For this reason we have appealed to Russia for help.”

Russian officials say the Kyrgyz leader had talks with Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin by telephone yesterday night.

Thousands of Uzbeks, meanwhile, have crowded the border between Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan in an effort to flee the ongoing conflict; one child was trampled to death during the escape. According to a reporter for the BBC, people are being let through the border one by one by security guards.

By the latest official death tolls, at least 62 people have been killed, although the interim government believes that there could be up to 200 dead. Researcher for Human Rights Watch Andrea Berg cautioned that the death toll could jump once the government enters Uzbek neighbourhoods; under Uzbek tradition, the dead are buried within one day.

“We are moving corpses out of the city streets; however, there are regions that the authorities do not control, it is not known what is going on there. Additionaly, as a result of fires in the city, entire residential apartments burnt down, so there could be more dead people there as well,” said a spokesman for the Russian ministry of health (Minzdrav).

Unrest also reached the Kyrgyz capital Bishkek; a medical official told the Agence France-Presse news service that 27 people were hospitalised, some of which are in critical condition.

Friday, November 3, 2006

On November 13, Torontonians will be heading to the polls to vote for their ward’s councillor and for mayor. Among Toronto’s ridings is St. Paul’s West (Ward 21). One candidate responded to Wikinews’ requests for an interview. This ward’s candidates include John Adams, Tony Corpuz, Joe Mihevc (incumbent), and John Sewell.

For more information on the election, read Toronto municipal election, 2006.

Tuesday, June 28, 2005

São Paulo, Brazil — The government of the Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and his party, the Workers’ Party are the target of several serious accusations of corruption.

This is the most severe political crisis since Brazilians first attained their right to vote for a President in 1989, the former President Fernando Collor de Mello was elected.

The ruling Workers’ Party has not succeeded in its defense against the accusations. The Brazilian deputy Roberto Jefferson said that the ruling party bought the support of some Brazilian deputies, paying 30 thousand Brazilian Reals (US$ 12 thousand) each, every month. Although Jefferson said that he had no proof of this, he gave a very detailed description of the alleged corruption scheme.

The testimonies of other witnesses and the investigation that is being made by police gave support for some of the Jefferson’s claims. Independent investigation being made by newspapers and magazines, and the publication of documents and other evidences, expose the government and Workers’ Party more and more.

Popular support for the President is deteriorating. Except for the Workers’ Party and the Communist Party of Brazil (PCdoB) which are part of the government, there is not another political party in Brazil denying the accusations. All newspapers and magazines publish stories every day related to the scandal. The Workers’ Party itself is divided: some members believe that the accusations are true and that something went wrong, others prefer to deny the evidences and they argue that the party is innocent.

A great part of the work of the Brazilian parliamentarians is related to the investigation of the scandals. Besides the Votes-for-cash scandal dennounced by Jefferson, there are the Bingo’s scandal, the Post Office scandal and the Brazilian Reinsurance Institute (IRB) scandal. All of these scandals are being submited to investigation by Brazilian parliamentarians.

One important question is whether President Lula knew about the alleged scandals in his government or not. If he knew and he did nothing he was conniving or he participated, it is the worst. If he didn’t know, someone can say that he was very incompetent because he didn’t see something so big under his nose.

Today, the authority and the efficiency of the President is being questioned. Some people say that it was the former Minister José Dirceu who actually took great part of the decisions in Lula’s government. The politicians say that President Lula must take control of his government, that he should do a major reform of his government and that he should get away from the people who are involved in the scandals.

Besides the corruption dennounciations, the government of President Lula is being criticized by his weak social agenda. The programme called “Zero Hunger” has showed little results and many people accuse it of being just a marketing strategy.

The management of the economy has being praised by some analysts. However, critics, even inside the government like the Vice-President José Alencar have already criticized it, because of the high interest rates. There is not severe inflation, but unemployment is high, and salaries are low.

The next days or the next month may be decisive to the future of Lula. He must show that he is not involved in the corruption scandals, he must reform the government and he must prove that he is competent. The positive factor are that the Brazilian economy is not seriously contaminated by the political crisis until now, the population is perplexed but calm and the politicians are not envolving the President in the denunciations, although they demand the investigation of all corruption allegations. However, nobody knows how much this situation will remain or if it will remain until the end of the government of President Lula in 2006.

A compilation of brief news reports for Tuesday, December 9, 2008.

The United States media group Tribune Company has filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday as it struggled to sort out its US$13 billion debt. It is the second-largest newspaper publisher in the United States, responsible for the Chicago Tribune and the Los Angeles Times, among others.

The firm has been hit hard by the industry-wide slump in newspaper advert revenues this year. Sam Zell, the billionaire who owns Tribune, took out large loans in order to buy the firm back in June of 2007.

The United States Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection law states that a company can continue trading whilst it sorts out its finances.

Sources

• “US publisher in bankruptcy move” — BBC News Online, December 8, 2008
• “Tribune files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy” — MarketWatch.com, December 8, 2008

The Quebec general election is underway in the Canadian province of Quebec. Premier Jean Charest called the elections, saying he needed a majority to guide Quebec through a period of economic difficulties caused by the worldwide financial crisis.

Polls indicate that the Charest may obtain a majority, with support for his Quebec Liberal Party increasing to 45%, while support for the Parti Québécois remains at around 30%.

The polls will close at 01:00 GMT (20:00 local time), and the results will probably come in soon after that.

Sources

• “Quebec voters head to the polls” — BBC News Online, December 8, 2008
• “Quebec votes in provincial elections” — Agence France-Presse, December 8, 2008

The United States government is reportedly close to an agreement for a US$15 billion bailout plan for the country’s three largest auto firms.

According to a draft obtained by the Associated Press, the deal would give loans to Detroit‘s struggling Big Three automobile manufacturers — Ford, General Motors, and Chrysler — but under the condition that the auto industry restructures itself to survive. Another condition is that the incumbent US President, George W. Bush, would appoint an overseer to supervise the effort.

Analysts suggest that the agreement could be signed into law by the end of this week.

Sources

• “White House cool to plan for auto bailout” — MSNBC, December 8, 2008
• “US car bail-out nears agreement” — BBC News Online, December 8, 2008