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| Brazil 'needle boy' out of danger Doctors in Brazil say a two-year-old boy who was pierced with at least 31 sewing needles is out of danger after a third operation. news.bbc.co.uk |
America's love affair with cars stalls as car sales slump to record low More cars scrapped than sold in US for first time since second world warAmerica's love affair with the automobile could be sputtering to an end. Some 14m cars were taken out of action in 2009, 4m more than rolled off the assembly lines and onto the roads, a report from the Earth Policy Institute said today.It was the first time more cars were scrapped than sold since the second world war, reducing the size of the US car fleet from an all-time high of 250m to 246m.Last year was an extraordinarily bad year for the US auto industry. Two of the three big car makers — GM and Chrysler — went through bankruptcy and were bailed out by the US government. Sales fell 21.2% from 2008 and the total sales volume was the lowest since 1982. Many consumers held off buying new cars because of fears of losing their jobs.The Obama administration's efforts to spur demand by offering motorists up to $4,500 on trade-ins of older cars and pick-up trucks saw 700,000 older models taken off the road. But that did not affect the total number of vehicles on the road because consumers could only take advantage of the scrappage scheme if they replaced their old clunkers with new more efficient vehicles.Lester Brown, president of the Earth Policy Institute, said the slump in car sales goes beyond the economic recession. Americans may finally have decided that — with cars — enough is enough. The country now has 246m licensed cars for 209m licensed drivers."This is not a one-time event. We expect the shrinkage to continue into the indefinite future," Brown told a conference call today.He predicted the US car fleet would shrink by 10% by 2020. He said he believed that America had reached the saturation point for cars. Japan recorded a similar milestone in 1990, and its fleet has declined by 21% since then."If we want to get all our vehicles on the road at once we couldn't do it because we don't have enough drivers," he said.America has also undergone a transition into a largely urbanised society, with four out of five residents living in towns. Major US corporations are now taking congestion into account when planning new offices, Brown said.Washington and other major US cities have been raising parking fees to increase revenue. Others are exploring congestion charges.A younger generation — unsure about finding a job after high school or college — is also far less likely to see car ownership as a rite of passage, Brown, adding that the decline in car sales, plus increasing fuel efficiency, would help bring down America's greenhouse gas emissions."No one knows how many cars will be sold in the years ahead, but given the many forces at work, US vehicle sales may never again reach the 17m that were sold each year between 1999 and 2007. Sales seem more likely to remain between 10m and 14ma year," he said.Automotive industryTravel and transportUnited StatesSuzanne Goldenbergguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
New Labour's rootless pretenders | John McDonnell The late David Taylor was a principled Labour MP, rooted in his community. Balls, Purnell et al have lost touch with this traditionOn Saturday, after an intensely moving ceremony, David Taylor was buried in the churchyard near to his home in the village where he was born and brought up in and which – after years of stalwart campaigning – he represented so well in parliament. Rooted in the lives of the people who sent him to parliament and in the traditions and values of the Labour movement, he always spoke truth to power. That meant that despite his obvious talent and depth of experience in the real world, his opposition to wars, his incisive critique of the privatisation of public services and his refusal to support attacks on benefits and civil liberties meant he would never be allowed near office under New Labour.Over the same weekend the young guns of New Labour – Ed Miliband, Jon Cruddas, Ed Balls and James Purnell – placed articles in the national media, ostensibly to set out their recipes for winning the next election, but in reality probably aimed at positioning themselves for the post-election leadership scramble. These "thought pieces" follow a standard pattern: some genuflection to an admission of past mistakes, the assertion that all is not lost for Labour in the election, a few examples of alternative policies that could save a Labour government and then usually an appeal for vision, radicalism or leadership.A generous interpretation of this phenomenon would be to see this group as the "lost boys" of New Labour. In this light the various articles become desperate attempts to find some meaning to the role they played over the last decade in the Labour party and in our society. In contrast to the life of David Taylor, rooted in his community, these young men have been the hired guns of New Labour. Recruited into the particular gang of individual members of the warring New Labour elite and eventually rewarded with safe parliamentary seats to continue their gang member roles in government office, these people are rootless.In a significant coincidence, all their recent articles have appealed to figures such as Keir Hardie and the historic traditions of the Labour movement in an attempt to associate themselves with what is left of the Labour party – the party that their New Labour has contributed so much to destroying. When the collapse and isolation of the activist base of the Labour party becomes all too evident to them, they turn to reference other activist movements such as London Citizens or climate change campaigners as examples of what can be. They refuse to appreciate that these movements flourish because they are populated by the same people who – but for New Labour – would be the mobilising, activist base of the party and its supportive allies in the wider Labour and trade union movement and civil society.They also mistakenly see virtual organisations – based upon a large list of email addresses, an expensive website, and a fickle coterie of Guardian journalists guaranteeing nauseatingly uncritical coverage – as an alternative to a party of committed activists, rooted and working within their communities, standing up and mobilising on issues of principle, even when they are not immediately seen as popular causes. Even the Obama campaign, which genuinely mobilised the largest surge of political enthusiasm in recent US history, is now learning the lessons of standing its impressive electoral army down just when it needed to be maintained and transformed into a genuine, democratic political party.Similarly, at the time when among there is cross-party consensus that ordinary people will pay for the economic crisis with large-scale cuts in public expenditure, the people of Iceland have shown how to confront the divide between the political class and the people by direct action. If as the cuts bite in Britain, and people here also see their potential to act, there may come an opportunity for political principles and a record of committed, grassroots activism to become the basis of securing political representation within the Labour party again.LabourLabour party leadershipEd MilibandJames PurnellEd BallsJon CruddasProtestJohn McDonnellguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Taliban militants launch wave of attacks in Kabul • At least 10 killed in series of Kabul attacks• Up to two dozen militants target ministries• Hamid Karzai says security restored to city centreA series of co-ordinated attacks by presumed Taliban militants in the Afghan capital of Kabul has killed at least 10 people and injured 32. Seven of those responsible were among the dead.Explosions and gunfire rocked several parts of the city during sustained attacks against ministries and other targets including shopping centres.After more than three hours of fighting, the Afghan president, Hamid Karzai, said security had been restored to the capital. He accused "enemies of Afghanistan" of "trying to spread fear among Kabul citizens". Searches were continuing for the attackers, officials said. Reports of casualties remained confused.It is the most serious attack on the city for years and rated by some as the biggest since the Taliban were ousted. Militants initially struck around the presidential palace and several government ministries. At least three blasts shook the district.Gunfire echoed through the streets as Afghan police and soldiers tried to track down what a Taliban spokesman said was a force of 20 armed militants. Some reports put at the number higher. Security forces evacuated a large part of the city centre, forcing back traffic and pedestrians and closing shops and schools.The attack, the most significant in Kabul since militants stormed the justice ministry and other government buildings in February last year, took place on the day Karzai was to swear in several members of his new cabinet following his re-election in August in a vote heavily criticised for fraud. The country's parliament has twice rejected many of Karzai's cabinet nominations.Zemerai Bashary, a spokesman for the interior ministry, said eight suicide bombers were involved in the attack. Four targeted the central Kabul shopping centre and two or three were found in another building nearby.Bashary said he could confirm a policeman had been killed and four others wounded, while 20 to 30 civilians had been wounded.The UN and the US embassy in Afghanistan condemned the attacks. Aleem Siddique, a spokesman for the UN embassy, said: "It is of particular concern that this took place in an area with so many civilians present. We are monitoring the situation closely while Afghan and international forces attend the scene to bring these attacks to an end."It does seem to be the largest attack that I have experienced since I've been in the city and that is four or five years. There are so many attackers in so many locations. This is clearly an attack on the government of Afghanistan, with several teams of suicide bombers."In February last year the Taliban attacked a string of government ministries in a similar manner. The fighting did not last as long and afffected a smaller area of town.The UN spokesman said he had heard 12 blasts. "Everything was used – rockets, suicide bombs and small arms." Afghan police and soldiers with Nato support are reported to be going from one building to another in central Kabul, searching for surviving attackers.It was unclear how many teams and distinct targets there were, as several of the buildings affected were close together. Initial reports suggested a group targeting the central bank in the middle of town fled into a shopping centre after Afghan forces arrived and continued a gunfight with army and police there. The Serena hotel is nearby and may have been caught in the crossfire. It is popular with foreigners and has been targeted before.The US embassy said: "The disregard for Afghan lives is deplorable." It would continue to work with allies and partners "to defeat our common enemy and build a more secure and prosperous future".Separately there were reports of a suicide car bomb attack outside another shopping centre, near the foreign ministry, and a large blast near a cinema in a district south of the presidential palace.The finance ministry has hosted a number of top-level meetings in recent days, including a major gathering of ambassadors on Saturday for talks in the run up to the London conference on Afghanistan at the end of the month. The attack will be a major blow to Karzai's aspirations to hold an international conference in the capital later in the year. The hope had been that a ministerial level meeting would symbolise the growing strength of an Afghan government increasingly taking the lead role in the effort to stabilise the country.Foreign consultants inside the ministry building said that after initial blasts and gunfire shortly before 10am (6am GMT) they were moved into a different building and told to stay in the corridors.During the hours that followed they heard about seven large explosions, which were thought were rocket attacks. They were told that shots outside the building were from a gunfight between Afghan security forces and the militants.One worker said US military vehicles, including Humvees, had been seen in Pashtunistan Square, a major roundabout overlooked by the finance ministry, the Serena hotel, the central bank and the Ariana cinema.At least 11 people died, including five UN staff, when gunmen stormed a guesthouse in October. The Serena hotel was hit by a rocket in that attack, although it failed to explode. Earlier that month a suicide car bomber struck outside the Indian embassy, killing at least 17 people.The latest attacks comes ahead of the planned "surge" of foreign troops, which will see an 37,000 forces from the US, UK and other Nato nations go to the country.AfghanistanTalibanUnited NationsJon BoonePeter WalkerJulian BorgerJames Meikleguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Newsnight quiz Jeremy Paxman tests you on 30 years of Newsnight news.bbc.co.uk |