Beautiful world blog

New US embassy design for London is revealed

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:45:01 +0000

The winning design for a new £650m US Embassy to be built in west
London has been revealed.
Pennsylvania firm KieranTimberlake beat 36 companies in the contest
to build the embassy in Nine Elms, Wandsworth.
But critics have described the winning design as being “like a
fortress” and derided similarities between it and the old embassy in
Mayfair.
Wandsworth Council must approve the new design. The US hopes to start
building in 2013 and complete work by 2017.
A US Embassy spokesman said: “KieranTimberlake’s design met the goal
of creating a modern, welcoming, timeless, safe and energy-efficient
embassy for the 21st Century.
“Their concept holds the greatest potential for developing a truly
iconic embassy and is on the leading edge of sustainable design.”
But Antony Lorenz, chairman of the Mayfair residents’ association –
which has criticised onerous security measures at the old embassy –
said: “It seems amazing the architects have followed a plan of the
existing embassy.
“It looks almost identical with its concrete looking structure.”
He added: “Unless they are restricted to designing a building to look
like a fortress it is not what I would expect for what is supposed to
be the greatest embassy building in the world.
“I am absolutely shocked.”
Wandsworth Council granted outline permission for the embassy in
September 2009, hoping it would “kick-start wider regeneration of the
area”.
Some 1,000 people will be able to work in the 12-storey, 45,000
square metre building.
It is being designed with the risk of terrorist attacks as a strong
consideration.
It is set among landscaping including a pond, which acts as a natural
security measure, the design team said.
James Timberlake, of Kieran Timberlake, said: “It meets and exceeds
all the security requirements.
“We are using elements of landscaping that have been around for
centuries. But it’s not a fortress – we are able to use the landscape
as a security device.”
The embassy will be in the centre of the site and set back 30 metres
from its boundaries to create a blast-proof zone.

Two football teams relegated from China’s Super League

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:44:47 +0000

The Chinese Football Association has decided to descend two teams of
the Super League in the country of their second division, in a
corruption scandal.
The teams have been accused of involvement in match fixing, and
Paris, according to official Chinese media.
One team leaves Chengdu, will be heard by English Championship side
Sheffield United.
They are the most severe punishment, even after an extensive
investigation into corruption in football in China.
It was 2006, while Sheffield United have a majority stake in Chengdu
Blades bought in the hope of discovering the development of football
in China and new talent.
The following season the team won promotion to the Super League of
China.
The result was the fruit of a relationship of innovative welcomed
contributed Chengdu, a powerful force in Chinese football. But now,
state media said Chengdu was exiled as a punishment for match fixing
allegations. It is said that the association bribed a rival team lost
a crucial game and secure the lifting of the Chengdu to the elite.
Xu Hongtao Chengdu president and his assistant were arrested. All
this is part of a raid that develops on corruption in football.
Twenty senior officials and players were involved, including the
former head of the Chinese Football Association, Nan Yong.
Police and prosecutors say the researchers players and officials were
bribed to throw games and pay a couple of team members up to 10,000
($ 15,500) each for a place in the national team.
In the past year even President Hu Jintao expressed his concern about
the state of Chinese football. While China has become a giant in the
Olympic Games with his national team is languishing back in 87th
place in the world.
A second team, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China, be demoted for
match-fixing case.
A spokesman of Chengdu told the BBC that the club welcomes the
efforts to clean up the sport, said he did not plead, as he accepted
the punishment. He said that the game states in the middle of match-
fixing is still under investigation by the police.

Baby critically injured by falling lamppost in Chiswick

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:44:27 +0000

A one-year-old child suffered critical injuries when a lamppost fell
on him in a west London street.
Police said they found the baby boy and a woman, 62, outside Chiswick
Town Hall at 1030 GMT.
The incident occurred near the junction of Sutton Court Road and
Heathfield Terrace.
The baby, who suffered life-threatening injuries, was taken to a
central London hospital by air ambulance. The woman remains in a
local hospital.
The baby is in a critical but stable condition, a Metropolitan Police
spokesman said.
The woman is also stable and her injuries are not said to be life-
threatening.
An eyewitness, who asked not to be named, described the aftermath to
BBC London: “The baby was really pale and his eyes were closed.
“I couldn’t see him breathing and the father [possibly carer] was in
shock.
“After that the baby was breathing, but he never opened his eyes.”
A London Ambulance spokesman said: “We were called to reports of an
incident at approximately 10.30am.
“Two patients were treated at the scene. One baby, approximately one
year old, was taken to Royal London Hospital by Air Ambulance.
“A second patient, a 62-year-old woman, was taken to Charing Cross
Hospital with a back injury.”
Scotland Yard said the injured woman was not related to the baby. A
carer, who was looking after the infant at the time, was not hurt.
Hounslow Council is in charge of maintaining lampposts in the area.
A council spokeswoman said: “This is an awful tragedy and our
heartfelt sympathies go out to the injured and all their families.
“The council is co-operating fully with the police and Health and
Safety Executive investigations.”
Work is being carried out in the area to improve some roads and
crossing facilities for pedestrians.
The council said cabling work was going on outside the Town Hall, but
no workmen were on site when the accident happened.
The site has been worked on for about two weeks, nearby residents
said.

Ex-Premier League star Hamann guilty of drink driving

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:44:17 +0000

Former Liverpool and Manchester City star Dietmar Hamann
has been banned from driving for 16 months after being found guilty
of drink driving.
Hamann, 36, was stopped by police at junction six of the M56 near his
home in Styal, Cheshire, on 12 July 2009.
He was charged with drink-driving after positive breath and urine
tests.
Hamann’s lawyer, Jon Oultram, told Trafford magistrates police broke
the rules because he was not allowed a toilet break between urine
samples.
Pc Michael Connolly told the court that he witnessed Hamann’s Range
Rover travelling at speed and mounting a kerb three times.
“The defendant was weaving within the lane. When I stopped him I
could smell alcohol on his breath,” he said.
“His eyes were glazed and he was unsteady on his feet. He was
obstructive and quite abusive.”
When Pc Connolly asked the ex-German international if he was carrying
any sharp instruments, he joked that he had a knife, the court heard.
Hamann was arrested and taken to Altrincham police station, where he
was slurring his speech, Pc David Trigg told the court.
The officer would not allow him to go to the toilet in case he was
unable to provide a sample.
He discarded the first sample while the second was sent for analysis,
as according to the rules, the court heard.
But Hamann was not allowed to visit the toilet between samples, Mr
Oultram, defending, told the court.
The urine sample came back positive, with a reading of 187mg per
100ml of urine; the legal limit is 107mg.
But Hamann had not been to the toilet for more than five hours so it
was effectively “old urine”, said Mr Oultram, of Freeman and Co, the
law firm run by celebrity lawyer Nick Freeman.
Mr Hamann told the court he had drunk half a bottle of wine several
hours before driving.
He said: “I just drove as I normally do. I did not slur and I was not
unsteady on my feet.”
The footballer said he found it difficult to hold his bladder at the
police station.
“Everyone knows how hard it is to stop when you need a wee,” he said.
Sentencing, Judge Mark Hadfield said he believed the samples were in
fact separate, as there was a 10 minute gap between them.
“I will have to increase the ban, which would have been 12 months,
because you did not plead guilty,” he added.
The judge said Hamann would also have to pay £1,990 in costs.

Bird box resembling speed camera slows Wearside drivers

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:34:38 +0000

Speeding drivers are putting the brakes on after a retired police
officer from Wearside erected a bird box that resembles a speed
camera.
Bill Angus, 64, attached the yellow box to a pole at the front of his
property in Newbottle, near Sunderland.
Villagers claim motorists regularly travel at speeds of up to 70mph
despite the main road having a 30mph limit.
Road safety experts say they have no problem with the bird box and
welcome any associated reductions in speed.
Residents have previously called for a static speed camera in the
area, but so far only mobile cameras have been used.
Mr Angus said he painted the box bright yellow to attract small birds
like blue tits.
He said: “If people want to think it is a speed camera and if it
slows them down, then that’s fantastic, but for all intents and
purposes it is a bird box.
“We have got a lot of residents who have to reverse their cars out on
to the main Sunderland Road and you can look left and right and think
it’s clear but then in a split second someone is flying down at 60 or
70mph.
“I would like the council to put a speed camera in on this road. If
this brings attention to the problem then I’m happy.”
Mr Angus said he decided to build the bird box during the recent cold
snap.
He added: “I take an interest in the birds and residents were being
advised to put extra bird boxes in the garden during the very cold
weather.”
A spokesman for the Northumbria Safer Roads Initiative (NSRI) said:
“If he wants to have a bird box that looks like a camera then that’s
up to the gentleman concerned.
“If it’s slowing traffic down as far as we’re concerned it’s a good
thing.”

Abbey Road studios given listed building status

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:34:04 +0000

London’s Abbey Road studios, where The Beatles recorded many albums,
has been made a listed building, protecting it from plans to
radically alter it.
The venue has been given Grade II status – the second-highest
category – for its role in shaping British music.
Culture Minister Margaret Hodge listed the studios on the advice of
English Heritage saying it had “produced some of the very best music
in the world”.
Its owners EMI recently denied reports it was to be sold off to ease
debts.
Listing for the property, whose official address is 3 Abbey Road, was
granted due to its historic, rather than architectural, merit.
It means any future owners must be careful to make sure the character
of the property is treated with respect, but it does not prohibit
internal changes.
The Beatles used Abbey Road for 90% of their recordings, naming an
album after the studios in 1969.
Other notable recordings there included Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The
Moon.
The Department for Culture Media and Sport said the listing
acknowledged the studios’ “outstanding cultural interest” and was to
ensure recording artists for generations to come could continue to
make and record music in the same rooms as musical icons.
Last week figures such as Sir Paul McCartney voiced their concern
that EMI was reported to be hoping to sell the studios, while Andrew
Lloyd Webber expressed an interest in buying the complex.
However, EMI later said it did not want to put the property up for
sale.
EMI bought the property for £100,000 in 1929, transforming it into
the world-famous studios that have hosted artists as diverse as
composer Sir Edward Elgar in 1931, to Pink Floyd and Blur.

Doctor Adam Osborne guilty of misconduct

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:33:13 +0000

A doctor who falsified a prescription for a cocaine-addicted escort
girl has been found guilty of serious misconduct by the General
Medical Council (GMC).
Adam Osborne, 33, brother of shadow chancellor George Osborne,
admitted “inappropriate” behaviour.
He also obtained the contraceptive pill for his girlfriend and an
anti-smoking drug for a family member while training at Wythenshawe
Hospital, Manchester.
The GMC will decide whether Dr Osborne will be struck off.
The failings constitute misconduct that impairs his fitness to
practise, the panel ruled.
Reading out the verdict, chair of the panel Alyson Leslie said Dr
Osborne told them that he wrote the prescriptions while he was under
“considerable pressure in his professional and public life”.
Mrs Leslie said that he engaged in a relationship with “Miss B, who
you described as an escort girl” during a time when his long-term
partner was working away.
Mrs Leslie said that aspects of the misconduct are “remediable.”
It was also noted that many of the charges against Dr Osborne came up
as a result of his own admissions.
The misconduct ruling relates to incidents between June 2006 and May
2008.
On 12 May 2008, Miss B met Dr Osborne in the hospital car park after
she earlier discharged herself from another hospital and was
suffering from hallucinations as the result of heavy cocaine use.
Dr Osborne wrote out a prescription for anti-psychotic drugs
haloperidol and lorazepam and falsified parts of the form because he
only knew her first name.

BA pilot holiday pay row lands in court

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:32:40 +0000

British Airways is due in court to fight a union’s attempt to change
its policy on holiday pay for pilots.
Pilots’ union Balpa has gone to the Supreme Court to argue that total
pay – including allowances – must be used in the calculation, not
just basic salary.
Loss-making BA is resisting the claim, which could result in 15,000
staff each getting an average of £600 a year more.
The airline is already battling a separate strike threat from cabin
crew over changes to working conditions.
Pilots receive a basic salary, as well as allowances for flying time,
night flying and time away from base.
British Airways uses the basic salary to calculate pilots’ holiday
pay. The union argues it should be based on total pay, including
allowances.
The pilots’ union Balpa, says that Working Time Regulations set out
how holiday pay should be calculated – as an average of the last 12
weeks’ pay.
But those regulations do not apply to the airline industry, which is
covered by the Civil Aviation Working Time Regulations. The union
argues these don’t specify how holiday pay should be calculated.
And it is not just BA which will be affected by the union’s stance.
“We have tribunals lodged against Virgin, BMI, Easyjet and
Cityflyer,” said Balpa general secretary Jim McAuslan.
“We are also making the case that in the UK, the civil aviation
regulations should be amended to give workers in our industry the
same right to proper holiday pay that everyone else gets.”
Four years ago the union won an employment tribunal on the issue, but
the case eventually moved to the Court of Appeal which backed BA’s
side of the argument.
Now the new Supreme Court is being asked for its ruling.
“We have always been of the view that our holiday pay arrangements
are generous and comply with legislative requirements,” said a BA
spokesperson. “We will continue to resist the claim strongly.”

Kevin Rudd says Australia faces major terror threat

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:07:51 +0000

The Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has warned that his country
is now under constant and growing threat of militant attacks.
He also announced plans to fingerprint and face-scanning foreign
visitors from 10 countries at risk.
Mr Rudd said there is a growing threat of radical Islamists who were
born or grew up in Australia.
Last week Australians got five foreign origin of the severe penalties
for conspiracy to attack jihadi started.
Mr Rudd said many home grown terrorists inspired by what he called
jihad international stories as he published a new report published by
the intelligence.
The threat from home-grown terrorism is now forever, he said.
The White Paper is clear: Born With some of the threat we are now in
Australia, the Australian-trained and residents of Australia. Al-
Qaeda linked to Yemen and Sudan are the new focus of the threat at
international level, this the policy document and the risks from
Afghanistan and Pakistan remain high.
The newspaper says that despite the success against terrorism in
Indonesia, the hotel bombings in Jakarta in July last year show a
continuing threat. Terrorism remains a serious threat and a serious
challenge to the security interests of Australia. The threat is not
decreasing, said Rand.
Price Actually, the security forces of the secret services of the
government, that terrorism has become a fundamental and sustainable
security environment in Australia. The agencies warn that an attack
could happen at any moment. Australia Apartment to spend $ 69m ($
62m, 40m) for the new biometric devices and the creation of a
national control center for coordinating the fight against extremism.

Drink driver banned after A1 V-sign to police chief

admin — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:07:24 +0000

A drink driver who made a two-fingered gesture to the chief constable
of Durham Police on the A1 has been given a 12-week suspended jail
sentence.
Tracy Kelsey was chased and arrested by Chief Constable Jon Stoddart
after he undertook and weaved in front of his unmarked car at Bowburn
on 8 February.
Consett Magistrates’ Court heard the 44-year-old, of Darlington, was
almost four times the drink-drive limit.
He was also banned from driving for five years.
Chief Constable Stoddart, speaking after the hearing, said: “I
noticed a car coming up behind me driving very fast without any
lights.
“He undertook me and I attracted his attention by sounding my horn
and he stuck two fingers up at me.
“As a result of that he then weaved in front of me causing myself and
another car to take evasive action.
“So I put on my blues and twos [flashing lights and siren] and
basically pursued him for a small while and pulled him over at the
Bowburn interchange.”
The court heard that Kelsey, of Spring Hill, regularly drank 10 pints
of lager a day and that he had been caught drink driving for the
first time when he was just 14.
In 1994 he had also been given a six-month jail sentence for drink
driving, the court was told.