At 21:00 UTC yesterday, the polls closed in the United Kingdom general election. With only a handful of seats left to declare, Labour reached the 324 seats necessary to form a majority in the House of Commons, with the result in Corby at 03:28 UTC.
Both the Labour victory and the reduced majority were widely predicted by opinion polls before the election. The BBC/ITV exit poll predicted Tony Blair a majority of 66 seats, which continued to be forecast as the final result as declarations were made. Some early results in the north-east indicated a bigger swing away from Labour than the opinion polls had been suggesting, but later results confirmed the survey.
Overall, there has been no clear swing in votes between the parties. Many seats have seen large swings, but in many different directions, with perhaps the national swing of 5% from Conservative to Liberal Democrat being the most dramatic with many much larger local swings.
The new Labour government has been elected with the lowest proportion of the popular vote ever – just 35.2%. However, the Tories only gained 32.3% barely more than the last election in 2001. The biggest winners in terms of popular vote were the Liberal Democrats led by Charles Kennedy, who secured 22.1% of the vote. With 645 of 646 seats declared so far, this has given the Liberal Democrats another 11 seats in Parliament, but the Conservatives have gained another 33 seats. Labour have lost 47.
As a result, Tony Blair is forecast to be governing with a majority of 66 in the new Parliament. However, on some major issues such as university fees and anti-terror laws, many Labour MPs have voted against their leadership. With a greatly reduced majority, Tony Blair may be forced to water down many more controversial policies in order to guarantee their passage through the House of Commons. Speaking on BBC News, commentator David Dimbleby pointed out the uncertainty of such possibilities, and noted that a majority of 66 was larger than the 43 seat majority won by Margaret Thatcher in the United Kingdom general election, 1979.
One surprise vote was the election of ex-Labour member George Galloway in Bethnal Green & Bow, in East London. The area has a very high number of Muslims in it, and Galloway moved from his home in Scotland in order to gain their anti-war support. He ousted Britain’s only second female black MP, Oona King, in the process.
Robert Kilroy-Silk, the ex-talkshow host who was sacked from the BBC after writing racist newspaper articles, only came fourth in his election in Erewash in the East Midlands. His party, Veritas, which fielded 65 candidates across the country, stood for withdrawing from the European Union and blocking immigration.
Turnout in the general election is 60%, up 2% on 2001.
Former Salt Lake City mayor and human rights activist Rocky Anderson took some time to discuss his 2012 U.S. presidential campaign and the newly-created Justice Party with Wikinews reporter William S. Saturn.
Anderson served as mayor of Salt Lake City for eight years (2000–2008) as a member of the Democratic Party. During his tenure, he enacted proposals to reduce the city’s carbon emissions, reformed its criminal justice system, and positioned it as a leading sanctuary for refugees. After leaving office, Anderson grew critical of the Democratic Party’s failure to push for impeachment against President George W. Bush, and for not reversing policies on torture, taxes, and defense spending. He left the party earlier this year and announced that he would form a Third party.
Anderson officially established the Justice Party last week during a press conference in Washington D.C.. He proclaimed “We the people are powerful enough to end the perverse government-to-the-highest-bidder system sustained by the two dominant parties…We are here today for the sake of justice — social justice, environmental justice and economic justice.” The party promotes campaign finance reform and is attempting to appeal to the Occupy Wall Street movement. It is currently working on ballot access efforts, and will hold a Founding Convention in February 2012 in Salt Lake City.
Among other issues, Anderson discussed climate change, health care, education, and civil liberties. He detailed his successes as mayor of Salt Lake City, stressed the importance of executive experience, and expressed his views on President Barack Obama and some of the Republican Party presidential candidates. He spoke in depth about former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, with whom he worked during the 2002 Winter Olympics, and fellow Utahan, former governor and U.S. ambassador to China Jon Huntsman, Jr..
The government of the United Kingdom has given corporations like fast food chain McDonald’s the right to award high school qualifications to employees who complete a company training program.
McDonald’s said it will offer a “basic shift manager” course, which will train staff in marketing, customer service, and other areas of restaurant management. Completion of this course will be the equivalent of passing the GCSE, the standard exam taken at age 16, or the Advanced Level, taken at age 18.
Network Rail plans to offer a course in rail engineering, while Flybe is developing a course involving aircraft engineering and cabin crew training. Passing Flybe’s course could result a university level degree.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown supports the plan. “It is going to be a tough course, but once you have got a qualification in management you can probably go anywhere,” Brown said. He emphasized the importance of higher education, saying, “Every young person needs a skill and to think about going to college, doing an apprenticeship or university.”
John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, called the decision “an important step towards ending the old divisions between company training schemes and national qualifications” and said it will “benefit employees, employers and the country as a whole.”
However, some people are unsure of the plan’s effectiveness. Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, said, “We are unsure whether those institutions would be clamoring to accept people with McQualifications,” using a derogatory term for the program.
In his first speech since being sworn in as the country’s leader, Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi says the US-led invasion of Iraq had been a mistake. He says his new government will propose the withdrawal of Italy’s 3000 troops from Iraq.
“We consider the war in Iraq and the occupation of the country a grave error,” Mr Prodi told Italian Parliament this week. “It has not resolved, but complicated the situation of security. It is the intention of this government to propose to Parliament the return of our troops from Iraq.” His speech resulted in jeers from Italy’s centre right parties.
Mr Prodi said his government intends to continue “good relations” with Washington. He did not give a date for a withdrawal, saying a “technical timeframe” would have to be agreed with all sides involved. Italy’s centre-left parties opposed the US-led invasion of Iraq three years ago.
Mr Prodi said his government will remain on the front lines in the war against terror and would participate in anti-terror operations if they were sanctioned by international organizations, such as the United Nations. “We are convinced participants in the war against terrorism, even militarily, when it is legitimized by an international organization to which we belong.” he said.
Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was defeated in a tight election to Prodi’s centre-left bloc in April this year. As opposition leader, Prodi has always opposed the war in Iraq. Berlusconi sent 3,000 troops to Iraq in 2003. The move was widely opposed by the Italian public.
Although troops were already expected to return home by the end of 2006, Prodi did not give an exact timeframe for the withdrawal. He said it would only happen in consultation with Iraqi authorities.
Gastro Parvo is a serious illness for all dogs but, young puppies and older dogs are often hit hard, and when they are the disease can be deadly unless you seek immediate treatment for your pet. Unfortunately for many puppies and older dogs by the time most owners realize that their dog is seriously ill, it may already be too late to save them. Knowing the signs to look for in your dog may well save his life and help prevent the spread of this illness to other dogs as well.
Lethargy
While it is natural for your dog to want to just lie around after a long exercise or play session, most dogs quickly recover after a nap. If your dog is lopping around for an unnaturally long period of time and doesn’t seem to want to move even when encouraged or moves slow you might want to make an immediate appointment with a vet. While being lethargic may be a sign of a less serious illness or no illness at all; it is also one of the first signs of parvo and the cost of the vet may well be worth it even if turns out to be nothing at all.
Like lethargy, loss of appetite in your dog may be caused by many things including too many snacks. However, if his loss of appetite is unexpected and accompanied by being lethargic then there is probably something that is making him feel ill even if the cause is not parvo. Again seeking vet care is the best thing to do in order to find out exactly what is wrong and to get prompt treatment.
Fever
Almost every dog who contacts parvo will have some level of fever. Keep in mind however, that some dogs will carry and pass this disease without ever showing any real symptoms. These are usually adult dogs that have been in good health and may have received a parvo vaccine.
Diarrhea and Vomiting
Once the Parvo virus really takes hold, your dog may vomit and/or have diarrhea. In cases of parvo induced diarrhea your dogs stool will not only be liquid but may be almost black in color and extremely foul smelling. In most cases once a young puppy or older dog begins having diarrhea or vomiting he will quickly dehydrate and it is this dehydration that can kill a dog very quickly. If your dog, especially a puppy shows signs of vomiting or diarrhea then call your vet immediately. Get a stool sample and try to feed your dog as much fluid as possible. Giving him water laced with Gatorade will help him maintain his electrolyte levels until he can be treated.
Once diarrhea and vomiting have set in, treatment for parvo may include the use of an IV to replace fluids and perhaps even an extended stay at the Vet clinic which will be far more costly than an early visit to your vet, even if the visit proves to be a false alarm. While vaccinating your puppy at the appropriate times can help lessen the effects of this virus it does not mean that your dog still cannot catch it. So take care and be alert in order to protect your beloved pet s health.
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Two successive suicide bombings killed 30 people in a camp providing aid to displaced people in northwestern Pakistan, police officials stated. The two explosions hit the Kacha Pukha camp located near the city of Kohat. Nearly 50 people were wounded.
Al Jazeera‘s Kamal Hyder said from Islamabad that the bomber hit the camp when a food distribution programme was underway. “This was a point where registration was under way and food distribution was under way,” he said. “Most of the victims were the displaced people from the Orakzai agency where the military has launched an offensive recently, displacing a large number of people. The attack is said to have involved a suicide bomber and perhaps a remote-controlled device planted near that particular area,” he added.
“At least 27 people have died. There are 45 wounded. The toll may go up,” regional police chief Dilawar Khan Bangash told the Agence France-Presse news agency from the scene of the incident. “Both were suicide attacks. Body parts of the suicide bombers have been recovered. The blasts took place at the relief distribution point for internally displaced people.” Officials later confirmed that the death toll was 30.
It is not immediately clear who was responsible for the bombing.
Investigators examining the wreck of British AirwaysFlight 38, a Boeing777 that crash landed short of the runway at London’s Heathrow Airport in the first hull loss of a 777, are examining the aircraft’s fuel system as a possible factor in the crash. No-one was killed as the scheduled flight from Beijing, China lost power during final approach on January 17.
136 passengers and 16 crew were on board when power was lost to the two Rolls-Royce engines about two miles from the runway, at a height of 600 feet. Autopilot and autothrottle were engaged at the time, the latter having just commanded an increase of thrust to the engines when power was lost. Co-pilot John Coward, in control at the time, was subsequently praised for being able to glide the disabled plane to within 1,000 feet of the runway, clearing a number of houses along the way.
Subsequent investigation has revealed that not only did the engines not fail simultaneously, but neither failed completely, contradicting initial belief. A preliminary report by the United Kingdom’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Branch (AAIB) stated that after the autothrottle commanded more thrust “The engines both initially responded but after about 3 seconds the thrust of the right engine reduced. Some eight seconds later the thrust reduced on the left engine to a similar level… Both engines continued to produce thrust at an engine speed above flight idle, but less than the commanded thrust.” This situation prevailed until impact.
On Wednesday the AAIB stated that they were examining “All possible scenarios that could explain the thrust reduction and continued lack of response of the engines.” However, it also went on to specifically mention attention to the jet’s fuel system, saying “This work includes a detailed analysis and examination of the complete fuel-flow path from the aircraft tanks to the engine-fuel nozzles.” The AAIB also ruled out the plane having completely run out of fuel, stating that there was “adequate fuel” in the tanks when the plane crashed. In addition to the fuel required to get to the target destination or emergency alternative airport – whichever is further – aircraft typically carry between thirty and forty-five minutes worth of extra fuel as a safety margin.
Possible scenarios being examined include fuel contamination, coming either from fuel taken on at Beijing or leakage from an unknown source. In particular, a heavy contaminant at the bottom of the tanks would explain a lack of earlier problems on the flight, as the fuel levels would only have become low in the final stages of the trip. Another possibility is that a central part of the fuel system developed a leak, reducing the amount of fuel available to the engines.
It is known that, according to the AAIB, “the autothrottle and engine-control commands were performing as expected prior to, and after, the reduction in thrust,” suggesting that all software in the aircraft was functioning correctly and rendering a software failure unlikely, although this possibility also remains under investigation.
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Monday, March 5, 2018
Australian government provided Philip Ellery, a researcher in Queensland, Australia, with a research grant (which? how large?) to assess the feasibility of producing edible worms to sell as animal food, such as for pets or for fish. Worms had adequate protein nutritional value and did not need much energy or feeding resources, making them potentially cheap food to produce.
Dr Ellery remarked that it could be easy to grow many worms in a small scale without spending water resources. He said, “We can massively grow a large amount of insects in a relatively small space and — they don’t require watering”.
Dr Ellery also said the worms had adequate protein contents, “A dehydrated mealworm is about 50 to 55 per cent protein — they also have an excellent fat profile, polyunsaturated fats, the omega 6s and omega 3s”.
The worms would be grown in “a 500 square metre warehouse, where tonnes of mealworm product would be produced”, Dr Ellery said.
