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newstest2015.tok.en 0000644 0015515 0013560 00001067744 12703143535 013366 0 ustar jawaid ufal petr čech : transfer at the last minute ?
everything is possible
today is the last day when it is still possible to jump through the transfer window and make a major change .
the next chance won 't come until winter .
petr čech is currently a substitute goalkeeper for chelsea , but now he does not await a new professional contract in madrid , monaco or even paris .
he is sitting at the nh hotel in prague , talking to czech reporters , and he is planning to participate with the czech team in a rehearsal match with the americans , after which he will also start the process of qualification for euro 2016 against the netherlands .
chelsea will give priority in the new season of the premier league to thibaut courtois in the goal , and čech for the first time in ten years in the london team has ended up in the position of substitute .
some time ago , it was speculated that real madrid might be interested in čech .
at the start of the season , he lost the spanish super cup in competition with athletics and did not even manage to enter the league season , when he lost 2 : 4 in san sebastian .
interest from paris sg was also speculated about .
it started the french league season with two wins and two draws , and on sunday it defeated st. etienne 5 : 0 .
it is putting the most pressure on as monaco .
it so far has a balance of 1-1-2 in the league , and over the weekend it parted with lille with a 1 : 1 tie .
today news appeared on tabloid english-language websites stating that the queens park rangers may want čech .
however , according to english bookmakers , čech 's departure from chelsea at the last minute is not very likely .
skybet assigned him odds of 4 : 1 .
petr , is it possible that during the remaining few hours you will change your uniform ?
i don 't anticipate it , but in soccer nothing is ever 100 % .
for example , during the day an offer can arrive that can 't be refused .
how would such an offer have to look ?
( laughs ) " well , i don 't know yet , how the kind of offer that can 't be refused basically looks .
there would have to be a consensus among all parties , and mainly would depend on chelsea 's position as to whether or not to examine the offer .
is it even technically possible to make such a transfer when you 're in prague now ?
wouldn 't it be necessary for you to sign a new contract somewhere in a new location ?
well , i haven 't considered that .
but in such a situation , there are a lot of players today , and all of them are somewhere in representation matches , and certainly today a lot of transfers will be finalized .
so it could be somewhat achievable .
how many clubs are there in the world that could afford you ?
well , i really don 't know .
and are you not pushing for departure ?
the situation when i have not ended up anywhere as a goalkeeper in the first three games of the new season is new for my fifteen-year career .
nonetheless , there is no need to panic , pack up and go somewhere .
i want to stay in the competition for the position of chelsea goalkeeper , and it 's up to the coach who gets selected and what decisions he will make in the weeks to come .
what role has your family played in your decisions ?
i take all factors into consideration .
sports prospects are understandably important for me , but i also look at everything from a personal point of view , which of course includes consideration for the family 's needs .
is it possible that you could play as a goalkeeper for different team in england ?
that 's a question that i though would never apply to me .
but in soccer everything is possible .
i don 't want to rule out anything .
i don 't know the answer .
india and japan prime ministers meet in tokyo
india 's new prime minister , narendra modi , is meeting his japanese counterpart , shinzo abe , in tokyo to discuss economic and security ties , on his first major foreign visit since winning may 's election .
mr modi is on a five-day trip to japan to strengthen economic ties with the third largest economy in the world .
high on the agenda are plans for greater nuclear co-operation .
india is also reportedly hoping for a deal on defence collaboration between the two nations .
karratha police arrest 20-year-old after high speed motorcycle chase
a motorcycle has been seized after it was ridden at 125km / h in a 70km / h zone and through bushland to escape police in the pilbara .
traffic police on patrol in karratha this morning tried to pull over a blue motorcycle when they spotted it reaching 125km / h as it pulled out of a service station on bathgate road .
police say the rider then failed to stop and continued on to burgess road before turning into bushland , causing the officers to lose sight of it .
the motorcycle and a person matching the description of the rider was then spotted at a house on walcott way in bulgarra .
karratha police have charged a 20-year-old man with failing to stop and reckless driving .
he is due to appear in karratha magistrates court on september 23 .
the motorcycle was seized and impounded for three months .
george webster accused of nairn and pitlochry hotel rapes
a man is to stand trial accused of raping women at two hotels .
george webster , 28 , faced the charges during a hearing at the high court in glasgow .
he is alleged to have raped a woman at the scotland 's hotel in pitlochry in perthshire on june 7 , 2013 .
it is claimed webster attacked her while she was " unconscious , asleep and incapable of giving consent . "
webster is then charged with raping a second woman at the golf view hotel in nairn in the highlands on may 4 , 2014 .
judge lady rae set a trial date for november 17 at the high court in edinburgh .
reconnecting with the very american ideal that labor rights are human rights
congressmen keith ellison and john lewis have proposed legislation to protect union organizing as a civil right .
" as go unions , so go middle-class jobs , " says ellison , the minnesota democrat who serves as a congressional progressive caucus co-chair .
that 's why i 'm proud to introduce the employee empowerment act with civil rights icon john lewis .
this ground-breaking legislation will give workers the same legal options for union organizing discrimination as for other forms of discrimination - stopping anti-union forces in their tracks
amending the national labor relations act to allow workers who face discrimination for engaging in union organizing to sue for justice in the civil courts - and to collect compensatory and punitive damages - is a sound and necessary initiative .
but it in certainly not a radical initiative - at least by american standards .
indeed , the best way to understand what ellison , lewis and the cosponsors of their legislation are proposing is as a reconnection with a very american idea .
despite the battering that unions have taken in recent years - in wisconsin , michigan and states across the country - americans once encouraged countries around the world to embrace , extend and respect labor rights .
there was a time , within the living memory of millions of americans , when this country championed democracy , freedom of speech , freedom of the press and the right to organize in the same breath .
when the united states occupied japan after world war ii , general douglas macarthur and his aides encouraged the country to adopt a constitution designed to assure that hideki tojo 's militarized autocracy would be replaced with democracy .
fully aware that workers and their unions had a role to play in shaping the new japan , they included language that explicitly recognized that " the right of workers to organize and to bargain and act collectively is guaranteed . "
when the united states occupied germany after world war ii , general dwight david eisenhower and his aides urged the germans to write a constitution that would assure that adolf hitler 's fascism was replaced with muscular democracy .
recognizing that workers would need to organize and make their voices heard in the new nation , the germans included a provision that explicitly declared : " the right to form associations to safeguard and improve working and economic conditions shall be guaranteed to every individual and to every occupation or profession .
agreements that restrict or seek to impair this right shall be null and void ; measures directed to this end shall be unlawful .
when former first lady eleanor roosevelt chaired the international commission on human rights , which drafted the universal declaration of human rights that would in 1948 be adopted by the united nations as a global covenant , roosevelt and the drafters included a guarantee that " everyone has the right to form and to join trade unions for the protection of his interests . "
for generations , americans accepted the basic premise that labor rights are human rights .
when this country counseled other countries on how to forge civil and democratic societies , americans explained that the right to organize a trade union - and to have that trade union engage in collective bargaining as an equal partner with corporations and government agencies - had to be protected .
now , with those rights under assault in america , it is wise , indeed , to recommit to the american ideal that working people must have a right to organize and to make their voices heard in a free and open society .
as the reverend martin luther king jr. said fifty years ago :
history is a great teacher .
now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it .
by raising the living standards of millions , labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed of levels of production .
those who attack labor forget these simple truths , but history remembers them .
history remembers , as should we .
the formal recognition of labor rights as human rights - and the extension of civil rights protections to prevent discrimination against labor organizing - is long overdue .
keith ellison and john lewis are renewing ideals that have historically enlarged america and made real the promise of democracy .
judge temporarily blocks law that could close all louisiana abortion clinics
a u.s. federal judge on sunday temporarily blocked enforcement of a louisiana law that advocates say would likely have closed all five abortion clinics in the state .
the measure , signed into law by louisiana governor bobby jindal in june and due to take effect sept . 1 , would require doctors who perform abortions to have patient admitting privileges at a hospital within 30 miles of their practice .
however , the judge 's ruling means that for the time being doctors can continue to perform legal abortions while seeking such privileges .
" plaintiffs will be allowed to operate lawfully while continuing their efforts to obtain privileges , " federal judge john degravelles wrote in the decision .
a hearing will be scheduled within a month for the judge to make a more permanent ruling on the law .
abortion rights activists applauded the decision , the latest in a string of rulings against similar measures , saying it would give doctors more time to seek hospital privileges .
" today 's ruling ensures louisiana women are safe from an underhanded law that seeks to strip them of their health and rights , " said nancy northup , president and chief executive of the center for reproductive rights , which sued to block the law on behalf of three of the state 's five clinics .
it was not immediately clear whether the ruling applied to doctors from the two clinics who were not plaintiffs in the suit and have also applied for admitting privileges .
louisiana is among 11 states that have passed similar laws , with courts recently ruling unconstitutional such measures in alabama and mississippi .
key parts of a texas law that would have shuttered most remaining clinics in that state were blocked by a federal judge on friday .
abortion rights campaigners , along with the american college of obstetricians and gynecologists and the american medical association , say admitting privileges laws impose medically unnecessary requirements on doctors .
anti-abortion advocates have countered that the measures aim to protect women 's health , though some have also lauded their effect of shuttering clinics .
only one doctor who performs abortions in louisiana has hospital admitting privileges , the center for reproductive rights said .
if all other doctors in the state are forced to stop performing abortions , that doctor , fearful for his safety , would stop carrying out the procedure , the group said .
in arguing against the ruling , louisiana officials said they would not punish doctors performing abortions while their applications for admitting privileges were pending .
delayed diagnosis and inability to access best treatment mean ovarian cancer kills more in rural areas
angelina jolie and her brother james have posted a video tribute to their late mother who died of ovarian cancer in 2007 .
women living in rural australia are at higher risk of dying from ovarian cancer than their city counterparts .
researchers analysed medical records of more than 1100 australian women diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2005 , finding just 35 per cent lived for five years after diagnosis .
lead researcher susan jordan , of the qimr berghofer medical research institute , said those living in regional and remote areas of the state were about 20 per cent more likely to die during the study than those in urban areas .
small study : new drugs may slow lung , ovarian cancer
the researchers tracked the women 's medical journeys across seven years .
dr jordan said a woman 's age at the time of diagnosis , ovarian cancer type , having existing illnesses and socio-economic status also impacted on survival chances .
older women and those whose cancer was more advanced at the time of diagnosis had the poorest survival rates .
those living in regional and remote areas of the state were about 20 per cent more likely to die during the study than those in urban areas .
although the study was not designed to determine why women living outside the city were more likely to die from ovarian cancer , dr jordan suggested delayed diagnosis and inability to access best treatment might be factors .
" this disease is best treated by gynaecological oncology surgeons and they 're mostly based in major cities , " she said .
despite improving tele-medicine services to lessen the tyranny of distance , she suggested more fly-in , fly-out services to allow specialists to treat women closer to home and programs to support people in treatment away from their communities could help .
dr jordan said regardless of geographical status , the study found long-term survival among women with ovarian cancer was poor , reinforcing the need for better treatment and prevention strategies .
the research , funded by the rio tinto ride to conquer cancer , will be published today in the medical journal of australia .
in march 2012 , at 33 years of age , young gold coast mum elisha neave was told that she had an aggressive form of ovarian cancer .
garden centres rue fall in homeowners
the drop , coupled with a particular decline in the number of homeowners aged under 35 , could result in garden centres losing out on tens of millions of pounds a year when today 's young consumers reach the " core gardening age group , " according to the hta 's study , which was reported by the financial times .
according to the report , people renting properties spend an average of 55 per cent of the amount that those with their own homes spend on their gardens .
it cited the rise in people living in highly urbanised areas with no gardens , the popularity of paving over front gardens for parking and shrinking garden size as other factors threatening the industry , which is worth an estimated £ 5 billion in sales each year .
greater london , where home ownership has fallen from 61 per cent to 43 per cent in six years , has britain 's lowest spend per household on gardening products .
the hta and royal horticultural society said that renting property or a lack of garden space did not mean people could not grow plants .
guy barter , chief horticultural adviser to the rhs , said : " container gardening , for example , is especially popular with renters who can move their plants when they relocate . "
the hta report identified the period between 1997 and 2005 as the garden retail sector 's ' golden age " as a result of increased home ownership and economic prosperity from the late 1980s to mid-1990s .
it also predicted an improved market this year due to better weather following unfavourable conditions in march and april last year .
when an eastern dictator preaches about democracy .
at a meeting of his youth organization , which must resembles hitler youth , rattled his sabers by pointing out that russia has nuclear weapons and basically made clear to everyone that he doesn 't care about their opinions , today he gave us a lecture about democracy .
however , i have the feeling that the current regime in russia has many characteristics of a fascist state .
large countries have one thing in common , and that is that they can both take advantage of passionate nationalism and transform an inferiority complex into imperialist appetites .
time apparently passes differently in the east than in the west .
while the western world has been believing that the era of wars and dominance over europe is over , in the east they think on the contrary that they have been overlooked for too long already and that it is necessary to regain their international position .
such moods and frustration prevailed in germany in the 1930s , shortly before the nazis took power , and that was followed by an eruption of nationalism not unlike today 's situation in russia .
the absolutely identical cult of a powerful leader , beating of journalists , liquidation of political opponents and discrimination against gays and other minorities are all very close to that mindset .
vladimir putin and certainly many russians apparently miss the time when russia ruled half of the world and the other half feared it .
western politicians must have caused it themselves , maybe by not patting vladimir on the shoulders enough , maybe by not inviting him to where he wanted to go and maybe by starting to underestimate him , after which he just behaved like a typical russian strongman .
he established order at home , he acted like he didn 't even want to go anywhere , and he sharpened his knives at home .
now he has decided that he wants to regain his country 's lost position .
he 'll start gradually , because he has time .
he 'll probably be leader for life , so why hurry ?
he stepped on the caucasus , now he 's stepping on ukraine , and the dwarfs from the baltics are probably next .
they have been a thorn in the eye of the russian bear for a long time already .
this certainly will also be noticed by china , who has been making a lot of waves and has its eye on the far east .
and the germans too are really upsetting vladimir with how well they are doing , and we really kicked their asses in 1945 .
how about establishing a novorossiya in karlovy vary ?
that could be a small base , and there are plenty of compatriots there , and they are so oppressed there , and some locals already have wanted to demolish some of their houses .
after all , our veterans still remember how well they had it in czechoslovakia .
and their prime minister , gospodin sobotka , he so soft that he can be peeled like an onion , and with him their entire eu too .
that 's how it would play out , so that great russia could re-emerge .
they need to be reminded where their place is .
and we can use our countrymen who live on their territory as weapons .
there are plenty of russians everywhere , and when it is said that they are oppressed , then they are simply oppressed , and we will not leave it like that , but we will protect them .
and then the russians will be in control again , because what else are they born for after all ?
after all , europe is merely a stepping stone , on which proud ivan can do a cossack dance .
turkey summons us diplomat over spying report
the turkish foreign ministry has summoned the most senior u.s. diplomat in the country for clarification of a report about american and british spying in turkey .
deputy prime minister bulent said the u.s. charge d 'affaires and turkish officials had discussed the report monday .
german magazine der spiegel and the online magazine the intercept said that documents provided by former u.s. national security agency analyst edward snowden show that turkey was a high priority intelligence target for u.s. and british intelligence services .
according to turkish news wires , turkish president recep tayyip erdogan downplayed the importance of the report , saying that all major countries spied on each other .
an earlier report that germany 's main intelligence agency had also targeted ankara drew a more angry response from the turkish government .
the serial " game of thrones " presents more tricks in the fourth series
the creators of " game of thrones are currently filming episodes of the fifth series of the iconic serial .
so far , they can boast of how the tricks of the fourth series were created .
the most visible features are computer modifications of the serial 's environment and mass scenes , when the giant daenerys army emerges from a crowd of soldiers .
magaluf police chief charged over corruption
the claimants presented proof of extortion by policemen and calvià town hall civil servants at mallorca 's public prosecutor 's office on friday .
the head of calvià police on the holiday island of majorca has been arrested following corruption claims filed by businessmen and bar owners in the notorious binge drinking hotspot of magaluf .
chief inspector josé antonio navarro has been remanded in custody following corruption claims made against him by several businessmen from punta ballena , the street where most of magaluf 's bars and nightclubs are located .
according to online daily mallorca diario , the claimants presented proof of extortion by policemen and calvià town hall civil servants at the office of majorca 's anti-corruption prosecutor on friday .
two other local police officers were arrested by spanish civil guards in connection to the corruption claims and will have to be questioned by a judge alongside navarro .
spanish national daily abc reported the disgruntled nightclub owners as saying favouritism by authorities was having a serious effect on their businesses .
" it 's not about making money anymore , it 's about surviving , " one of the businessmen told the court .
you don 't mess with our livelihoods .
we have nothing to lose .
magaluf made international headlines this summer as a result of a viral youtube video which showed an 18-year-old british holidaymaker performing fellatio on 24 men during a pub crawl .
island authorities have since attempted to clamp down on the drunk and disorderly behaviour of magaluf holiday revellers by minimizing numbers on the notorious alcohol-fuelled bar crawls .
in addition , the playhouse club where the fellatio incident took place was forced to shut down for a year , while playhouse and the bar crawl organizers carnage were jointly fined € 55,000 ( $ 73,000 ) .
the tourist resort of magaluf , mainly popular with young british holidaymakers , has also seen numerous alcohol-fuelled accidents involving the craze known as " balconing , " where people jump from one balcony to another or from a balcony into the hotel pool .
first day of spring marked with wet and blustery conditions impacting adelaide airport flights
spring has sprung a wintry surprise on southern south australia , bringing heavy showers and strong winds that have affected flights at adelaide airport .
a further 5mm of rain fell on the city in the evening up to 9pm , following the 6.6mm that fell overnight on sunday .
the latest rain came courtesy of a couple of short , blustery showers , including a burst that started just before 8pm that dumped almost 4mm in about 10 minutes .
after winter delivered an early dose of spring last week , temperatures dropped again on monday to a high of just 15.8c in the city .
the squally conditions are believed to have contributed to the delayed landing of a virgin airlines flight from melbourne to adelaide .
the plane was scheduled to land just after 7.30pm but was hit by windshear - a sudden change in wind speed or direction over a short distance - and was forced to pull out .
wind gusts were reaching about 50km / h on the ground at adelaide airport at the time .
flight data showed the plane had to pull out of second landing and the plane eventually touched down about 8.40pm.
that flight 's delay caused the subsequent delay of a few other flights , including an emirates flight from dubai and a qantas flight from sydney .
a top of 16c is forecast for adelaide on tuesday , with the chance of a shower or two .
israeli children return to school after gaza war
thousands of israeli children in areas near the gaza strip went back to school monday after spending the summer in bomb shelters as rockets and mortars rained on their communities during the 50-day israel-hamas war , while schools in gaza remained shuttered as the territory recovered from the fighting .
the start of school brought a sense of joy and excitement to rocket-scarred communities in southern israel , but the signs of the fighting remained fresh .
in the southern city of ashdod , employees at the " pashosh " kindergarten , which was struck by a rocket , removed shrapnel marks off the walls and slides ahead of the students ' arrival .
" we are a little scared but we are excited , " said ronit bart , a resident of kibbutz saad and an english teacher in its school .
a lot of children in our area really need to go back to a routine .
her 11-year-old daughter , shani bart , said it felt a " little bit weird " to suddenly be going back to school .
" there were some difficult times and we didn 't leave our houses at all , " she said .
president reuven rivlin visited the kibbutz , which is located close to the gaza border , to offer his support .
until a cease-fire halted the war last week , thousands of residents of border communities like saad remained indoors or left their homes for safer areas further away from gaza to escape rocket and mortar fire .
many residents of nahal oz , a community close to the gaza frontier where a 4-year-old boy was killed by a palestinian mortar shell , are hesitant about coming back .
the education ministry said about a dozen families still had not returned .
their children have been placed in alternate schools for the time being .
prime minister benjamin netanyahu visited a school in sderot , a gaza border town that has been hard hit by palestinian fire .
he urged the children to study hard and said " we will make sure to provide you with knowledge and provide you with security . "
israel and hamas agreed to an open-ended truce last tuesday .
the cease-fire brought an immediate end to the fighting but left key issues unresolved , such as hamas ' demand for the lifting of an israel-egyptian blockade of gaza and the reopening of gaza 's air and seaports .
israel wants hamas to disarm and the return of bodies of two israeli soldiers killed in the war .
a new round of indirect talks is expected to begin later this month in egypt .
the war killed more than 2,100 palestinians , three-quarters of whom were civilians and at least 494 children , according to palestinian and u.n. estimates .
israel disputes the figures and estimates that at least half of those killed were militants , though it has not provided firm evidence to back its claims .
on the israeli side , 66 soldiers and six civilians , including a thai worker , were killed .
hamas and other gaza militants fired 4,591 rockets and mortars at israeli cities during the fighting , mostly in the south .
the israeli military , meanwhile , carried out more than 5,000 airstrikes and other attacks .
the israeli attacks damaged or destroyed thousands of homes in gaza , and an estimated 250,000 people took refuge in more than 100 u.n. schools turned into makeshift shelters .
with tens of thousands of people still in the shelters and fighting still raging , education officials delayed the start of the school year last week .
" i hope the school will open soon to complete our education , just like the world 's children and jewish children , " said mohammad amara , a 13-year-old boy staying in a gaza city school .
vrba at event : i 'm behind váchou .
and lafata has a fever
today before noon , the czech soccer team met in prague ahead of the wednesday preparatory match with the united states and the subsequent initial match of the qualification for the european championship in the netherlands .
one of the team 's 23 members , sparta 's offensive player david lafata , has a fever .
david is not here yet , but last week sparta had some problems , which involved multiple players , and david apparently still has some of those problems .
but we want him to be here and for him to be feeling better as soon as possible , " coach pavel vrba told reporters .
" whether it will be two or three days or he will be fit tomorrow will depend on his health condition , about which our doctor will decide .
the other players are fine .
" of course , someone has some pain from time to time , but it 's not so bad that they cannot practice or participate in the match with the united states on wednesday , " the czech coach said .
on sunday evening , vrba called up sparta reserve player lukáše váchu last .
he has admitted that it was not an easy decision , and other mid-fielders were considered .
" i made my decision based on the fact that lukáš is a perspective player who is 25 years old .
the decision was very difficult , but i stand behind it , " vrba said regarding váchu .
and what about šural ?
time will tell what will happen with lafata .
the possibility that the nomination could still be changed if there are health problems cannot be ruled out .
over the weekend , liberec 's josef šural , for example , performed excellently when he did a hat trick .
of course , they are players who have been demonstrating their talent recently .
time will tell how david lafata will feel .
if he will not be available on wednesday , then i don 't claim that i cannot nominate another player who has performed well in the czech league to replace him , " vrba said .
this afternoon , the czech team will face training in strahov , and on tuesday it will face traditional pre-match training before the duel with the united states at letné , which will be open for fans and will be followed by autograph signing .
the match with the americans will start on wednesday at 8 : 15 p.m. , and in it the national team hopes to achieve a premier victory under vrba 's coaching .
in the last three preparatory matches , there were two draws , and it lost one game .
the qualification match with the netherlands will start at 8 : 45 p.m. on 9 september .
pešice to represent the netherlands in italy
vrba is glad that unlike during previous matches he has more time for training .
" it 's an advantage , when you have players for eight days and you can practice certain things with them , which we didn 't have as much time for before .
now we will be able to focus only on preparing as best as possible for the netherlands , " vrba explained .
before the game in prague , the dutch team will play in italy on thursday , and the match will be watched personally by temporary team coach josef pešice .
he will give us information from the match as it becomes available .
but it won 't be only about him . we will also have the game filmed , and we will analyze it .
there is a new trainer coming to the netherlands , so we will see what kinds of changes there will be , " vrba said , referring to the bronze medalists from the recent world championship .
housing prices have posted their strongest winter gain in seven years , according to a widely-watched gauge .
the rp data corelogic hedonic home value index of australian capital city dwelling prices rose by 1.1 per cent in august , rp data said on monday .
the rise brought the total gain over the june , july and august to 4.2 per cent , the biggest rise over the winter months since 2007 .
annual growth in prices came in at 10.9 per cent , more than double the gain of the 12 months to august 2013 , but the gains were not evenly spread across the country .
rp data research director tim lawless said sydney and melbourne are driving a two tier market .
the rp data figures show sydney home prices rose by 16.1 per cent in the past year , while melbourne 's were up by 11.7 per cent .
the next strongest markets were adelaide , brisbane and darwin , with price rises averaging between five and six per cent .
at the other end of the scale was canberra , hit by government spending cutbacks , where prices rose by only 1.4 per cent through the year .
mr lawless said that now spring has begun there would be a rise in listings of properties for sale over the coming few months , which would be a " real test " for the market .
" considering the ongoing high rate of auction clearance rates , a generally rapid rate of sale and the ongoing low interest rate environment , it 's likely that dwelling values will rise even further over the next three months , " he said .
lenny henry : my father never hugged me .
never said " i love you "
henry was one of seven children born to jamaican immigrants in dudley in the midlands in 1958 .
his father , who died when henry was 19 , worked in a factory and their relationship was limited .
henry is rehearsing a comedy , rudy 's rare records , which is based in part on an imaginary conversation with his father and has grown out of the radio 4 series .
the soundtrack is a mix of reggae and rap and the tunes are upbeat .
but henry has had to work through some difficult memories of childhood .
there was " a lot " of therapy after his mother died and henry is reflective about his relationship with his father .
he was very unknowable .
you never saw his face , you just heard his voice : ' stop the noise .
leave your sister alone .
move !
i want to watch the cricket .
my older brothers seymour and hilton - who were grown-up when i was a kid - went to the pub with him and talked about things like the shape of the beer glass , the beauty of the stroke in cricket .
i never had a conversation with him like that .
he was this unsmiling bloke in the corner , reading the paper for a lot of my life .
recently henry opened a foundry in dudley and , although conditions were better than in his father 's day , he got a snapshot of what life must have been like for him .
it 's a bit brighter now but they 're dark , smoky , stygian labyrinthine depths with bursts of flame and smoke and lots of soot .
my dad used to get in the bath and just lie there and you 'd hear him slowly start to sing to himself because he would wash the foundry off him .
when i walked round it , i realised that he had done that for years and years to put food on the table , and my estimation of him went up .
none the less , henry emerged from a childhood stripped of parental affection .
my dad never did hugging , never said , ' i love you ' .
it wasn 't until my mum was poorly near the end of her life that we started saying ' i love you , i love you , i love you .
having a daughter of his own , billie , with dawn french , enabled him to share the love he missed as a child .
could you stop with the " i love you " ?
just stop hugging me !
dad , i 'm 22 !
with dawn french .
why wouldn 't i be friends with her ?
she 's a great mum
he 's still very good friends with french , to whom he was married for 25 years .
dawn 's a good person .
why wouldn 't i be friends with dawn ?
she 's a great mum .
henry 's own mother was diabetic .
it was one of the things that killed her .
so when i became very , very overweight and started getting diabetic symptoms , my doctor said , ' you 've got to be radical .
so i went on a big fitness thing , and i also had to go on a drastic diet to reverse the symptoms .
it 's very hard .
and it 's tedious .
nobody likes eating carrots .
henry 's change in career trajectory is , perhaps , reflected in his distinguished , close-cropped beard .
since he won critical acclaim for his othello , he has become engrossed in the theatre .
comedy of errors followed , as did fences by august wilson .
it 's a different experience from the sitcoms and comedies that have upholstered his busy working life .
he started out when he was just 16 and working at a factory .
a dj spotted him on stage doing impressions and wrote to new faces about him .
his tv career was launched in the mid-seventies : " for quite a long time i was the only black impressionist / comedian on telly . "
he learnt on the job .
not only did i have to grow up in the public eye , i had to learn how to be an efficient joke-delivering mechanism between 1975 and 1985 , whilst being a star , being on television and it was really difficult .
lenny on new faces in 1975
because his manager owned the stage rights to the black and white minstrel show , a light entertainment programme in which people " blacked up , " henry found himself performing his comedy in it for five years .
my family were very uncomfortable about it .
i sort of wish it had never happened , but i don 't regret that i did it .
although it was a weird , reprehensible position to be in , i was working in huge venues and learning how to work a crowd .
but what was an " award-winning light entertainment staple of british television for years and years " was also a " grotesque parody of black people . "
introducing characters who both lampooned and celebrated black british culture , henry worked on the alternative comedy circuit in the eighties .
the first series of the lenny henry show aired in 1984 , and in the nineties he was known as , among other things , chef gareth blacklock in the comedy series chef ! .
advertisements , documentaries , tv series and parts in films consumed his next decade but after his 2008 bbc series , lennyhenry.tv , he thought : " what are you going to do next , len , because it all feels a bit like you 're marking time or you 're slightly going sideways . "
what came next was a radio 4 documentary series called what 's so great about ... ?
the first was on shakespeare .
i had a real allergy to shakespeare .
i wasn 't really taught it at school properly and thought it was very much the reserve of middle-class white people with tights and a cabbage down the front .
so i was very frightened of it .
everybody we interviewed on that show , peter hall , trevor nunn , adrian lester , judi dench , said , ' you should try it .
don 't slag it off if you don 't know what you 're talking about .
get some of the words in your mouth and then you 'll understand why we all love shakespeare so much .
henry delivered 20 lines of othello 's last speech for the documentary and he was hooked .
it gave me the feeling that i could do it .
it 's almost like i had my head put on straight for me .
'this is what it 's about , it 's a serious thing , take it seriously , learn your lines , do some research .
so the rehearsal process was brutal and i was reading that play for months and months before we did it .
and it was a success .
they seemed to expect a car crash and it didn 't quite happen .
soon he was starring in comedy of errors .
suddenly i 'm at the national theatre and i just couldn 't quite believe it .
there was one moment where i thought , ' oh , you 've changed . " "
there was a technical fault and henry instinctively felt that it was his job to keep the audience entertained .
" a little voice inside me said , ' you 're going to have to do 10 minutes while they fix the computer . " "
instead , the stage manager announced the performance would resume as soon as the problem was resolved .
i walked off the stage and something in me went , " oh , thank god " .
it 's not my responsibility .
i can let somebody else sort it out .
'you 're in a play , stay in character . " "
henry appearing in fences at the duchess theatre
learning his lines for fences was challenging .
panic 's quite good , it stiffens the sinews .
that was well received too , so it 's like a big sign from the gods , saying , ' this is what you should be doing . " "
he says this , of course , in a booming voice .
so i 'm sticking with it .
i 'm really loving it .
i love being in a rehearsal room .
henry still has a comedian 's brain , though - throughout , our conversation is broken with flashes of his humour as he slips in and out of impressions .
i 'm just choosing not to do stand-up because that thing of getting instant gratification from a room full of strangers i guess is kind of dangerous .
if you 're constantly seeking that it can lead to a brick wall .
i do live at the apollo sometimes when i want to , but generally it doesn 't float my boat like it used to .
i ask whether he 'll ever do another stand-up tour .
the joy of sitting in a room with a director who is helping to shape a beginning , middle and end of a journey - i don 't think i 'll ever want to give that up .
so this is his new incarnation ?
i think so .
i like being an actor .
it 's good fun .
you 're always telling a story and that 's a great place to be .
i love stories .
people love stories .
kenya registers civil servants to target ' ghost workers'
kenya has started biometrically registering all civil servants in an attempt to remove " ghost workers " from the government 's payroll .
employees who failed to register over the next two weeks would no longer be paid , a government statement said .
the government suspects that thousands of people continue to receive salaries after leaving the civil service .
president uhuru kenyatta pledged to curb corruption in the public service after taking office in 2013 .
an audit earlier this year found that at least $ 1m ( £ 700,000 ) a month was lost in payments to " ghost workers " and other financial malpractice .
the government suspects that salaries continue to be deposited into bank accounts , even after a person dies or leaves the public service , reports the bbc 's wanyama chebusiri from the capital , nairobi .
all public servants are required to present themselves over the next two weeks at identification centres to ensure their data is captured through the biometric registration exercise , a government statement said .
anyone who failed to do so without a valid excuse would be eliminated from the payroll , it said .
" this exercise will contribute significantly to the rationalization of the public service by determining the actual numbers of public servants and will also be used to cleanse the payroll at both levels of government- hence bring a stop to the issue of ' ghost workers ' , " said anne waiguru , the cabinet secretary in the ministry of devolution and planning .
tens of turkish policemen arrested over ' plotting ' against gov 't
a total of 33 police officers have been detained in turkey on suspicions of ' plotting against the government ' , local media outlets say .
police officials have not immediately commented .
among the detainees were 14 high-ranking officers , according to hurriyet daily news .
some of them were involved in last december 's corruption probes targeting government officials , including four government ministers .
in july a number of turkish policemen were arrested for allegedly having set up an organized criminal gang and having tapped phone number .
turkish president recep tayyip erdogan ( who was prime minister back then ) described their actions as part of activity conducted by islamist cleric fethullah gullen against him and others in power .
not all children back to school in ukraine
schools across most of ukraine reopened their doors on monday ( september 1 ) , after the summer holidays .
the day is traditionally a big one for families , and like thousands of other ukrainian parents , prime minister arseny yatsenyuk took his daughter to school .
while there , he told waiting journalists that not all schools had reopened , but that he was committed to defending the country for future generations :
the first of september ceremony was not held in every school .
there is not a peaceful sky over every part of ukraine .
we must fight for a peaceful sky .
the whole of ukraine , a huge joint ukrainian 's people 's front , must fight for a peaceful sky .
aleksan pastukhov , the head teacher of slaviansk school , attended by yatsenyuk 's daughter , spoke in russian .
we hope that peace will finally be established here and that children will receive knowledge that will be useful in their future lives .
the first day back at school is traditionally celebrated by children wearing embroidered shirts , carrying balloons and giving flowers to their teachers .
in rona fairhead , the bbc may have found the formidable chief it needs
she comes trailing clouds of glory from the world of banking , media management and the inner conclaves of the tory party .
indeed , she has had frontline experience of her own .
her career began at global management consultants bain and co , then progressed via morgan stanley , bombadier , ici and the media world of pearsons .
she was chief executive of the financial times for seven years , resigning when the top job at its parent company pearson 's went to a junior male colleague .
her pay-off is said to be close to £ 1 million .
her political rating is sturdy , too .
she was recommended to david cameron by lord browne , the former head of bp , when he was looking to bring private expertise into whitehall : she became a cabinet office adviser .
her husband is a former tory councillor .
back in may , i described the chairman 's job as a poisoned chalice .
not only is the bbc a vast and complex entity at the heart of public life , but there is an inner paradox to its structure .
the trust faces in two directions : inwards as the upper tier of the bbc 's own management hierarchy , but also outwards as the voice of public concern and disquiet when things go awry .
this is an almost untenable duopoly calling for complete root-and-branch reform .
but what incoming chairman would risk coming in , crashing around and dismantling an institution as complex as a chinese dynasty in case they put themselves out of a job in the process .
it 's a difficult call .
if that weren 't tough enough , plenty of people are keen to see the bbc cut down in size - its power , its finances and its status overhauled .
as competitors circle ever closer and new technology challenges cosy old certainties , the imminent negotiation of the licence fee is fraught with especial danger for the bbc .
for the modest sum of £ 145.50 a year , the british public buys into what is surely the greatest media enterprise in the world .
the bbc tells a good story : it claims that its output reaches 96 per cent of households , and costs each one of them just 40p a day .
what 's more , apparently the beeb 's popularity is rising : 53 per cent support today as against 31 per cent 10 years ago .
patterns of watching and using the bbc have changed : i receive news headlines on my mobile phone these days , and catch up on missed programmes with iplayer .
but it remains a much-loved and formidable institution .
it needs a formidable chairman - i hope it has found one .
texas ' perry says disparaging tweet unauthorized
a tweet from republican texas gov. rick perry 's verified account on sunday night included a disparaging image of the democratic district attorney who is at the center of his criminal indictment on charges of abuse of power .
the tweet was later deleted , followed by another from perry 's account that disavowed the post .
a tweet just went out from my account that was unauthorized .
" i do not condone the tweet and i have taken it down , " the later post said .
perry aides did not immediately return messages seeking comment .
although the tweets were sent from perry 's verified account , it was unclear who does the actual posting for the feed .
the earlier tweet posted an unflattering mock image of travis county district attorney rosemary lehmberg , who was convicted of drunken driving in april 2013 .
perry vetoed funds to her office when she refused to resign , which led to a grand jury in austin this month indicting perry - who is a potential 2016 presidential candidate .
the caption on the tweet reads : " i don 't always drive drunk at 3x the legal blood alcohol limit ... but when i do , i indict gov. perry for calling me out about it . "
i am the most drunk democrat in texas .
lehmberg 's office did not lead the grand jury investigation against perry .
it was handled by michael mccrum , a san antonio-based special prosecutor who was assigned by a republican judge .
perry has pleaded not guilty and called the charges a political ploy .
his high-powered legal team has asked the judge overseeing the case to dismiss the indictment , claiming that the law being used to prosecute the longest-serving governor in texas history is unconstitutionally vague .
perry cut off $ 7.5 million in state funds to the state 's public integrity unit - which is based in travis county and prosecutes public corruption in texas - when lehmberg refused to resign .
that veto drew a formal complaint from a left-leaning watchdog group .
perry 's verified account is updated frequently - and sometimes famously .
after finishing in fifth place in the iowa caucuses during his 2012 presidential campaign , perry addressed speculation that he might call it quits with a tweet of a photo of himself jogging near a lake , and the words , " here we come south carolina ! "
berkeley says housing market back to " normal "
one of london 's most prominent property developers has warned that the housing market in southeast england has " reverted " to normal levels of activity .
homes in the capital have been the subject of red-hot demand and surging prices , with widespread fears of a credit bubble prompting the bank of england to impose limits on mortgage borrowing in june .
tony pidgley , founder and chairman of upmarket housebuilder berkeley , on monday said : " since the start of the current financial year , the market has reverted to normal transaction levels from the high point in 2013 , " adding that this offered a " stable operating environment . "
london 's property market fared well during the downturn as foreign buyers piled into the capital .
prices in the city have leapt 18.5 per cent in the past year alone , according to land registry data , far outstripping the 6.7 per cent average for england and wales as a whole .
average selling prices on berkeley 's private , affordable and student schemes have risen by about a fifth in the past year , reaching £ 423,000 at the end of april .
however , a strengthening pound has in recent months made london property less attractive to foreign buyers - some of whom have also been deterred by the introduction of new property taxes and political rhetoric around a potential " mansion tax " ahead of the general election next may .
london estate agent foxtons last week warned that april 's mortgage market review , which introduced tougher lending rules , would also spark lower rates of market growth in both property sales transactions and prices during the second half of the year .
fresh data from the bank of england on monday showed a drop in the number of mortgage approvals in july , further suggesting the housing market is cooling .
hamptons international , another estate agent , has cut its 2015 forecast for london property price growth to 3 per cent on the basis that house price sentiment is already starting to weaken .
transaction volumes have meanwhile dropped by a quarter year on year in london 's most expensive postcodes , such as chelsea , mayfair and kensington , according to agent wa ellis .
still , appetite for homes in the capital has been a boon to berkeley , pushing up cash due on forward sales to more than £ 2.2bn.
mr pidgley added : " demand for the right product with good design in the best locations has remained resilient and , reflecting this , forward sales have been maintained . "
in june the company reported it had sold 3,742 new homes in the year to the end of april - almost a third more than the pre-crisis peak in 2007 .
annual pre-tax profits rose 40 per cent year on year to £ 380m , on revenues up 18 per cent to £ 1.6bn.
speaking on monday ahead of the company 's annual meeting , mr pidgley said berkeley 's earnings for the year were anticipated to be in line with current market expectations .
analyst consensus is for full-year pre-tax profit of £ 450m .
berkeley shares were flat at £ 23.96 in afternoon london trading .
nude photos of jennifer lawrence leaked online by hacker
jennifer lawrence arrives at the 85th annual academy awards .
nude photos of oscar-winning actress jennifer lawrence have been leaked online by a hacker who claimed to have a " master list " of images of 100 other starlets .
a representative for the star of " the hunger games " confirmed the photos of lawrence were real and blasted the hacker for " a flagrant violation of privacy . "
the authorities have been contacted and will prosecute anyone who posts the stolen photos of jennifer lawrence .
the photos , which originally were posted on the image-sharing site 4chan , were purportedly obtained through a weakness in apple 's icloud online storage system , and a purported " master list " of the hacking victims includes the names of dozens of female stars , including rihanna , kim kardashian , mary elizabeth winstead and mary-kate olsen , according to buzzfeed .
it is not clear how many of the images are authentic , though " scott pilgrim vs. the world " star winstead took to twitter to denounce the hack as well .
" to those of you looking at photos i took with my husband years ago in the privacy of our home , hope you feel great about yourselves , " winstead tweeted .
however , victoria justice , of the nickolodeon series " icarly " and " victorious , " denied that the photos were of her , tweeting , " these so called nudes of me are fake people .
let me nip this in the bud right now . * pun intended * .
buzzfeed reported late sunday that a spokesman for pop star ariana grande denied that purported photos of her were authentic .
exclusive extract from howard jacobson 's acclaimed new novel about love and the letter ' j'
they dissolved , that was the best way of putting it , they gradually came apart like a cardboard box that had been left out in the rain .
just occasionally a woman told him he was too serious , hard-going , intense , detached , and maybe a bit prickly .
and then shook his hand .
he recognised prickly .
he was spiny , like a hedgehog , yes .
the latest casualty of this spininess was an embryo-affair that had given greater promise than usual of relieving the lonely tedium of his life , and perhaps even bringing him some content .
ailinn solomons was a wild-haired , quiveringly delicate beauty with a fluttering heart from a northern island village more remote and rugged even than port reuben .
she had come south with an older companion whom kevern took to be her aunt , the latter having been left a property in a wet but paradisal valley called , felicitously , paradise valley .
no one had lived in the house for several years .
the pipes leaked , there were spiders still in the baths , slugs had signed their signatures on all the windows , believing the place belonged to them , the garden was overgrown with weeds that resembled giant cabbages .
it was like a children 's story cottage , threatening and enchanting at the same time , the garden full of secrets .
author 's view : howard jacobson , whose novel " j " is longlisted for the man booker prize 2014 .
the shortlist is announced next week
kevern had been sitting holding hands with ailinn on broken deckchairs in the long grass , enjoying an unexpectedly warm spring afternoon , the pair of them absent-mindedly plugged into the utility console that supplied the country with soothing music and calming news , when the sight of her crossed brown legs reminded him of an old song by a long-forgotten black entertainer his father had liked listening to with the cottage blinds down .
your feet 's too big .
on account of their innate aggressiveness , songs of that sort were no longer played on the console .
not banned - nothing was banned exactly - simply not played .
encouraged to fall into desuetude , like the word desuetude .
popular taste did what edict and proscription could never have done , and just as , when it came to books , the people chose rags-to-riches memoirs , cookbooks and romances , so , when it came to music , they chose ballads .
carried away by the day , kevern began to play at an imaginary piano and in a rudely comic voice serenade ailinn 's big feet .
ailinn didn 't understand .
" it was a popular song by a jazz pianist called fats waller , " he told her , automatically putting two fingers to his lips .
this his father had always done to stifle the letter j before it left his lips .
it had begun as a game between them when he was small .
his father had played it with his own father , he 'd told him .
begin a word with a j without remembering to put two fingers across your mouth and it cost you a penny .
it had not been much fun then and it was not much fun now .
he knew it was expected of him , that was all .
he had to explain what jazz was .
ailinn had never heard any .
jazz , too , without exactly being proscribed , wasn 't played .
improvisation had fallen out of fashion .
there was room for only one " if " in life .
people wanted to be sure , when a tune began , exactly where it was going to end .
wit , the same .
its unpredictability unsettled people 's nerves .
and jazz was wit expressed musically .
though he reached the age of 10 without having heard of sammy davis junior , kevern knew of jazz from his father 's semi-secret collection of old cds .
but at least he didn 't have to tell ailinn that fats waller was black .
given her age , she was unlikely to have remembered a time when popular singers weren 't black .
again , no laws or duress .
a compliant society meant that every section of it consented with gratitude - the gratitude of the providentially spared - to the principle of group aptitude .
people of afro-caribbean origin were suited by temperament and physique to entertainment and athletics , and so they sang and sprinted .
people originally from the indian subcontinent , electronically gifted as though by nature , undertook to ensure no family was without a functioning utility phone .
what was left of the polish community plumbed ; what was left of the greek smashed plates .
those from the gulf states and the levant whose grandparents hadn 't quickly left the country while what happened , if it happened was happening - fearing they 'd be accused of having stoked the flames , fearing , indeed , that the flames would consume them next - opened labneh and shisha-pipe restaurants , kept their heads down , and grew depressed with idleness .
to each according to his gifts .
having heard only ballads , ailinn was hard pressed to understand how the insulting words kevern had just sung to her could ever have been set to music .
music was the expression of love .
" they 're not really insulting , " kevern said .
except maybe to people whose feet are too big .
my father never insulted anybody , but he delighted in this song .
he was saying too much , but the garden 's neglect gave the illusion of safety .
no word could get beyond the soundproofing of the giant cabbage-like leaves .
ailinn still didn 't comprehend .
why would your father have loved something like that ?
he wanted to say it was a joke , but was reluctant , in her company , to put two fingers to his lips again .
she already thought he was strange .
" it struck him as funny , " he said instead .
she shook her head in disbelief , blotting out kevern 's vision .
nothing to see in the whole wide world but her haystack of crow-black hair .
nothing else he wanted to see .
" if you say so , " she said , unconvinced .
but that still doesn 't explain why you 're singing it to me .
she seemed in genuine distress .
are my feet too big ?
he looked again .
your feet specifically , no .
your ankles , maybe , a bit ...
and you say you hate me because my ankles are too thick ?
hate you ?
of course i don 't hate you .
that 's just the silly song .
he could have said , " i love you , " but it was too soon for that .
" your thick ankles are the very reason i 'm attracted to you , " he tried instead .
i 'm perverse that way .
it came out wrong .
he had meant it to be funny .
meaning to be funny often landed him in a mess because , like his father , he lacked the reassuring charm necessary to temper the cruelty that lurked in jokes .
maybe his father intended to be cruel .
maybe he , kevern , did .
despite his kind eyes .
ailinn solomons flushed and rose from her deckchair , knocking over the console and spilling the wine they 'd been drinking .
elderflower wine , so drink wasn 't his excuse .
in her agitation she seemed to tremble , like the fronds of a palm tree in a storm .
" and your thick head 's the very reason i 'm perversely attracted to you , " she said ...
except that i 'm not .
he felt sorry for her , both on account of the unnecessary unkindness of his words and the fear that showed in her eyes in the moment of her standing up to him .
did she think he 'd strike her ?
she hadn 't spoken to him about life on the chill northern archipelago where she had grown up , but he didn 't doubt it was in all essentials similar to here .
the same vast and icy ocean crashed in on them both .
the same befuddled men , even more thin-skinned and peevish in the aftermath of what happened than their smuggler and wrecker ancestors had been , roamed angrily from pub to pub , ready to raise a hand to any woman who dared to refuse or twit them .
thick head ?
they 'd show her a thick fist , if she wasn 't careful !
snog her first - the snog having become the most common expression of erotic irritation between men and women ; an antidote to the bland ballads of love the console pumped out - snog her first and cuff her later .
an unnecessary refinement in kevern 's view , since a snog was itself an act of thuggery .
ailinn solomons made a sign with her body for him to leave .
he heaved himself out of the deckchair like an old man .
she felt leaden herself , but the weight of his grief surprised her .
this wasn 't the end of the world .
they barely knew each other .
she watched him go - as at an upstairs window her companion watched him go - a man made heavy by what he 'd brought on himself .
adam leaving the garden , she thought .
she felt a pang for him and for men in general , no matter that some had raised their hands to her .
a man turned from her , his back bent , ashamed , defeated , all the fight in him leaked away - why was that a sight she felt she knew so well , when she couldn 't recall a single instance , before today , of having seen it ?
alone again , ailinn solomons looked at her feet .
a score or so years before the events related above , esme nussbaum , an intelligent and enthusiastic 32-year-old researcher employed by ofnow , the non-statutory monitor of the public mood , prepared a short paper on the continuance of low- and medium-level violence in those very areas of the country where its reduction , if not its cessation , was most to have been expected , given the money and energy expended on uprooting it .
" much has been done , and much continues to be done , " she wrote , " to soothe the native aggressiveness of a people who have fought a thousand wars and won most of them , especially in those twisted knarls and narrow crevices of the country where , though the spires of churches soar above the hedgerows , the sweeter breath of human kindness has , historically , been rarely felt .
but some qualities are proving to be ineradicable .
the higher the spire , it would seem , the lower the passions it goes on engendering .
the populace weeps to sentimental ballads , gorges on stories of adversity overcome , and professes to believe ardently in the virtues of marriage and family life , but not only does the old brutishness retain a pertinacious hold equally on rural communities as on our urban conurbations , evidence suggests the emergence of a new and vicious quarrelsomeness in the home , in the workplace , on our roads and even on our playing fields .
" you have an unfortunate tendency to overwrite , " her supervisor said when he had read the whole report .
may i suggest you read fewer novels .
esme nussbaum lowered her head .
i must also enquire : are you an atheist ?
" i believe i am not obliged to say , " esme nussbaum replied .
are you a lesbian ?
again esme protested her right to privacy and silence .
a feminist ?
silence once more .
" i don 't ask , " luther rabinowitz said at last , " because i have an objection to atheism , lesbianism or feminism .
this is a prejudice-free workplace .
we are the servants of a prejudice-free society .
but certain kinds of hypersensitivity , while entirely acceptable and laudable in themselves , may sometimes distort findings such as you have presented to me .
you are obviously yourself prejudiced against the church ; and those things you call " vicious " and " brutish , " others could as soon interpret as expressions of natural vigour and vitality .
to still be harping on about what happened , if it happened , as though it happened , if it happened , yesterday , is to sap the country of its essential life force .
esme nussbaum looked around her while rabinowitz spoke .
behind his head a flamingo pink led scroll repeated the advice ofnow had been dispensing to the country for the last quarter of a century or more .
smile at your neighbour , cherish your spouse , listen to ballads , go to musicals , use your telephone , converse , explain , listen , agree , apologise .
talk is better than silence , the sung word is better than the written , but nothing is better than love .
" i fully understand the points you are making , " esme nussbaum replied in a quiet voice , once she was certain her supervisor had finished speaking , " and i am saying no more than that we are not healed as effectively as we delude ourselves we are .
my concern is that , if we are not forewarned , we will find ourselves repeating the mistakes that led to what happened , if it happened , in the first place .
only this time it will not be on others that we vent our anger and mistrust .
luther rabinowitz made a pyramid of his fingers .
this was to suggest infinite patience .
" you go too far , " he said , " in describing as " mistakes " actions which our grandparents might or might not have taken .
you go too far , as well , in speaking of them venting their " anger " and " mistrust " on " others . "
it should not be necessary to remind someone in your position that in understanding the past , as in protecting the present , we do not speak of " us " and " them . "
there was no " we " and there were no " others . "
it was a time of disorder , that is all we know of it .
" in which , if we are honest with ourselves , " esme dared to interject , " no section of society can claim to have acquitted itself well .
i make no accusations .
whether it was done ill , or done well , what was done was done .
then was then .
no more needs to be said - on this we agree .
and just as there is no blame to be apportioned , so there are no amends to be made , were amends appropriate and were there any way of making them .
but what is the past for if not to learn from it -
the past exists in order that we forget it .
if i may add one word to that -
luther rabinowitz collapsed his pyramid .
" i will consider your report , " he said , dismissing her .
the next day , turning up for work as usual , she was knocked down by a motorcyclist who had mounted the pavement in what passers-by described as a " vicious rage . "
coincidences happen .
lesotho military says no coup planned ; pm stays in south africa
lesotho military officials denied staging a coup to overthrow the government , saying they were acting against police suspected of trying to arm political fanatics .
prime minister thomas thabane fled the country , saying the country 's military had surrounded his official home and seized government buildings in the capital of maseru .
the premier took his family to neighboring south africa after saying he received an assassination threat .
military spokesman major ntlele ntoi said there was not , in fact , a coup , but that the military was responding to a threat from " political fanatics " whom police were attempting to arm .
" what happened this morning was that the command of the lesotho defense force was acting after receiving several intelligence reports that amongst the police service , there are some elements who are actually planning to arm some of the political , party political youth fanatics who were on the verge of wreaking havoc , " he told voice of america .
south african government spokesman clayson monyela said the military 's actions had the appearance at an overthrow .
" although no one has claimed to have taken over government through the use of force , by all accounts the activities of the lesotho defense force thus far bear the hallmarks of a coup d 'etat , " he said .
lesotho military officials said soldiers returned to their barracks sunday and there was calm in the capital .
meanwhile , deputy prime minister mothetjoa metsing in control of the government in thabane 's absence .
thabane said he believes he is being targeted due to his attempt to fight corruption in the country .
tensions have been high in lesotho since june when thabane suspended parliament sessions due to feuding in his unity government .
he said his actions have not undermined the government , despite allegations otherwise .
eurozone manufacturing at 13-month low
manufacturing growth in the eurozone slowed to a 13-month low in august , according to a closely-watched survey .
the final markit 's eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers ' index ( pmi ) dipped to 50.7 in august , down from 51.8 in july .
a figure above 50 indicates expansion .
new orders dwindled and factories suffered amid rising tensions between the eu and russia over ukraine .
the figures come ahead of the european central bank ( ecb ) meeting on thursday .
markets will be looking for a clear plan from the bank to deal with a stalled eurozone recovery , as well as the threat of deflation with inflation standing at just 0.3 % .
there is speculation that ecb boss mario draghi could offer further indications later this week that he is considering a quantitative easing scheme for the eurozone , similar to those taken by the uk and us during the financial crisis .
" although some growth is better than no growth at all , the braking effect of rising economic and geopolitical uncertainties on manufacturers is becoming more visible , " said rob dobson , senior economist at markit .
the factory pmi for germany , russia 's biggest trade partner in the eu , fell to an 11-month low of 51.4 .
meanwhile , in the bloc 's second-largest economy , france , the pmi fell to 46.9 .
france remains a real concern , as does italy 's descent from solid expansion to stagnation .
signs that growth impetus waned in the key industrial engine of germany , and in spain and the netherlands too , is also less than reassuring , " mr dobson said .
the slowdown in industry is likely to add further fuel to the fire for analysts expecting additional monetary or fiscal stimulus to be implemented .
one positive note was from the republic of ireland , which saw its pmi grow to 57.3 , its highest level since the end of 1999 .
howard archer , chief economist at ihs global insight , said : " the best that can be said for the august eurozone manufacturing purchasing managers ' survey is that it indicates that the sector is still growing . "
he added : " eurozone manufacturers are clearly finding life very difficult at the moment as current heightened geopolitical tensions - particularly related to russia / ukraine - add uncertainty to still challenging conditions in many countries .
this heightened uncertainty has clearly hit business - especially , and consumer confidence , and it is likely causing some orders to be delayed or even cancelled , particularly big-ticket orders .
he said it was looking " ever more likely " that the ecb would ultimately have to undertake some form of qe , " although we suspect that it will be limited . "
the beslan survivors ' decade of hell : ten years since the horrific school siege , how the children caught up in it are still suffering
ten years ago over 1,000 people were taken hostage by chechen militants at a school in beslan , southern russia
more than 330 people , more than half of them children , were killed in the three-day ordeal that shocked the world
we went back to beslan to find some of the victims who cheated death in the classroom atrocity
exactly a decade after the appalling beslan school siege in which 334 perished , including 186 children , the heroic survivors warned last night of a new apocalypse in ukraine .
when fanatic islamic terrorists kidnapped and killed children and parents on 1 september 2004 , at the start of a new term , it seemed like the nadir of all evil .
the tragedy united east and west in revulsion , which amazingly then turned to action and hope for the future in the direst misery .
ten years on , we went back to beslan in southern russia to find some of the victims who cheated death in the classroom atrocity .
we discovered amazing young people , who have defied adversity , though the memory of this terrorist hell will live with them forever .
their greatest hope ?
that the war now scarring ukraine - in which children like them are dying - will now stop .
the girl pictured trying to climb back inside the blitzed school gym
she was famously snapped by top russian photographer dmitry beliakov wearing only her underwear as tried to climb back inside the blitzed school gym after a mine exploded .
bewildered , aida was desperately searching for her mother , larissa , now 40 .
both were feared dead , but in fact they survived .
'a woman told me to run for my life but i couldn 't , ' said aida at the time .
my legs were covered in blood .
i got up and climbed back in to look for my mum .
a soldier plucked her to safety .
after a series of surgeries , she thought she had totally recovered but said yesterday : ' three months ago , the pain came back .
i fear i may need more surgery .
some shrapnel pieces are still in my knee .
her aim now is to become a dentist , to help people as she has been aided by medics .
'this tragedy changed my life but it surely did not break it , ' she said defiantly .
'it happened to me and you can 't change this fact .
once a year i always go to the gym to recall those who remained there .
my friends and i try not to talk about it on other days .
the pain is too much .
my best friend and my classmate-to-be dzera gapoeva was killed there .
we played together when we were small and dreamed of going to school together .
'i don 't want to marry until i finish my studies and start my career .
i will think about a family later .
she says the siege remains with her though memories fade a little each year .
i am pleased that many people in the world still remember our troubles and we are so grateful for the help we got from people in britain and everywhere .
when i see online the photograph of me climbing into the school window , i think that many people will see it for the first time , understand about our disaster , and stop this from happening any more .
the boy who fled through a hail of bullets believing his mother to be dead
he was on his first day at school ( russians start school aged 7 ) and survived the three day siege hugging his mum tamara .
then seven he said : ' mummy told me to lie down if there was an explosion and hold her hand.'
after one explosion he thought she was dying .
she told him : ' run ' .
fearing she was dead , he fled and on his way he saw a crying toddler , grabbed the child by the hand , and fled through a hail of bullets .
his dad vladimir , who scooped up his son outside , said : ' damir told me his mother had died .
he said : ' i couldn 't save her ' .'
in fact , tamara had stumbled free and was in hospital with leg wounds , in turn believing her son had perished .
after their reunion she said : ' i wept with joy .
i couldn 't believe it .
he ran in and hugged me .
damir was later flown to london ( by the now defunct news of the world newspaper ) to be crowned a barnardo 's children 's champion by then premier tony blair and wife wife cherie .
'this horror comes back to you every day , but i wish i could stop recalling it , ' he said yesterday .
still i can say that in my mind it is fading .
i remember right afterwards , i threw away all my toy guns .
but now i can play computer games with shooting and it is not a problem for me .
'i 'm not scared to go back in the gym but i don 't think about myself .
i remember those kids i used to play with in the yard who never got out .
we never say they were killed or dead .
we say they stayed in the gym .
i remember my trip to london so well , specially the toy shop where i was allowed to pick anything i wanted , and riding in an open top car .
but now he fears for places like ukraine where wars cause the kind of misery he and his friends suffered .
this horror comes back to you every day , but i wish i could stop recalling it
'i feel so sorry for all those who suffer from these horrors , ' said damir , who was last week doing voluntary work at a nunnery .
i want to help so much .
i want to serve in the police one day and hope they enrol me to the training academy next year .
his mother tamara , 48 , said : ' 37 kids were killed in our neighbourhood , can you imagine ?
i remember terrible silence right after the siege , there were just no children to shout and run around , and that silence lasted for many months .
she vividly recalls her trip with damir to london .
people in london were crying when i told our story .
i realised then how folk on the other side of the world can understand our feelings , can show their support .
she was grateful to ' cherie blair and her foundation for that award and the opportunity to go to london in autumn 2004 .
i wish i could call cherie and just say it myself that 10 years have gone but i still remember meeting her and her husband in london , and how that helped damir and me .
i remember when damir wanted to eat borsch soup , they called all the local russian restaurants .
i remember how he was playing with waiters in a restaurant , damir was shooting at them from his water pistol and they ran away and played with him .
and we were just one month away from our horror then .
i was amazed that the british people were so ready to share our pain and to support us .
she said : ' i keep thinking this world did not get better within these 10 years .
now in ukraine the war goes on , people are dying every day , and i believe many children were killed and will be killed .
they are just the same children , like ours .
i think for many people the war is a news report they listen to when they are bored or busy with something else .
i just know what those people feel , the horror of it .
and i can 't stop feeling it .
nothing has changed , people still want to kill each other and it is so sad .
damir grew up and became a very gentle and calm boy , he is not at all aggressive or angry .
he is not seeking revenge for example , he is not preoccupied with this past horror .
i know that he does not like to recall it but he is very close with six classmates and they go to the gym from time to time and light candles there .
when he was smaller he suffered from it - i remember he used to lie down on the sofa with his face turned away from us , for hours at a time .
not sleeping , his eyes were open .
i also remember how he threw away all his guns and other army-type toys.damir is 17 now , taller than me , nice looking , clever and healthy .
i can hardly believe that for some hours i was so sure he was dead and i 'd never see him again .
when i managed to recover after the explosion and got on my feet i looked around , i saw the hell around me , when body parts were lying everywhere .
i was absolutely sure that there was no way my little boy could have survived in this hell .
'i remember i was shouting to him ' damir , run , run away ' but again i was so sure he had not heard me .
but he did hear , and he did run away .
so life goes on for us unlike for so many .
georgy ilyin , 17
the boy whose shocking image after the siege came to define the horror of beslan
comfort : beslan survivor georgy ilyin with his mum fatima after the siege in 2004 , while on the right is georgy today
his bloodstained face was etched with fear as he ran for his life as chechen terrorists gunned down his classmates .
his picture was one of the most shocking symbols of the barbarity at beslan .
his mother fatima , 54 , a senior gp , had dropped him for his first day at school before rushing to take her elder son vladimir to university .
'i left two minutes before the terrorists rushed into the yard , so my little boy was left there alone for three days of horror , ' she recalled .
not completely alone , we had a family of relatives there but all of them were killed .
only my georgy managed to survive .
the closer this date is , the harder it is to think and talk about it .
there is no single day when we do not recall this tragedy .
we do not feel it was long ago , i think it happened yesterday , some scenes from those days come to my mind all the time .
nobody will ever forget , i promise you .
haunting : the image of georgy ( left ) was one of the most shocking of the attack and has been immortalised in a statue ( right )
i remember georgy so much wanted to go to school on that day , he said he wanted to hug his teacher .
i only got to know he was alive when i saw him tv .
and now there is even a statue to crying georgy in san marino .
georgy does not like to look at this picture and it is hidden it in the bookcase in our home .
i understand , but i also think that thanks to this picture people from all over the world feel our pain .
georgy says now : ' it 's important this can never happen again .
'i doubt we 'll ever know the truth .
people keep investigating such tragedies and never know the truth .
now they are investigating this boeing crash in ukraine .
will we ever know what caused it ?
this world is moving to something very bad .
'i can 't understand how it happens , because if you ask people , no-one wants a war , so how does it happen ?
ten years is nothing for such pain .
we need dozens of years to pass in order to forget it a little .
it affected my health and i still feel it .
for about three or four years i had some nightmares because of the siege but then it got better .
i got back to school later in 2004 , i was very scared every day .
i was thinking about my friends and classmates who were killed .
this is why i keep going to the gym as each 1 september approaches .
i want to pay tribute to my old childhood friends .
it is hard for me to go inside the gym but i must do it .
i do not feel myself a victim , this story is the part of my past now .
i will not forget it but i do not feel sorry for myself .
my life goes on .
i finished school this year entered a medical university in vladikavkaz .
i will learn to be a heart surgeon .
my first choice was to go in the army .
i wanted to be a military man , but my health did not let me .
i wanted to fight for my country but it will not happen .
georgy farniyev , 20
the boy who survived despite having been trapped at the feet of a murderous terrorist
miraculous : georgy farniyev was trapped at the foot of a murderous terrorist during the siege but still managed to survive
as the siege was underway , he was pictured trapped inside the gym , sitting next to a bomb at the foot of a murderous terrorist .
it is truly a miracle he was not killed .
'we feel as if it was just yesterday , ' said georgy , who wanted to train as an intelligence officer in the fsb , but was unable to because of damage to his health in the siege .
it is still with me , this is not something i left behind .
i am older now and people use to say children easily cope with bad experience - i must say this is not true .
'in 2006 i worked with psychologists and i did feel a bit better afterwards but i can 't forget it .
and i would like to forget .
2005 - the year after - was the first and the last time when i went inside the gym again .
i lost consciousness .
i would never ever go there again and please don 't ask me to show where i sat in that well-known picture .
survivor : georgy farniev pictured today , with a photograph of him in hospital follwoing the siege on his laptop
my pain is enormous and i carry it with me every day .
my friends know that i do not like to think or discuss it and they never asked me about the school .
in terms of physical condition i am well .
i should be careful with my knee which was injured but i walk fine now .
still my health did not let me go and study in fsb secret service academy in st petersburg as i wanted .
i sent my documents , including medical papers , and they replied it was not possible .
my second passion was animals , so i went to the veterinary institute .
i have completed two years there .
he is learning to treat all animals ' from cats to cows ' .
he said : ' i know i would never tell my children about my experience .
this is not something children should know about , and of course not something they should experience .
his mother marina , 42 , said : ' this pain never leaves me .
it is in my soul , worse when the anniversary gets close .
i will go and attend ceremonies being held to mark it .
i know georgy won 't go .
it must be even stronger for him because he was there and i was not .
i was waiting for him at home , not able to help .
i am so grateful to god that he was returned to me.here in beslan the imprint is on everyone .
it stays with us .
georgy is an adult now but that horror is still with him .
it is hard to accept it when something so terribly unfair happens to you .
he is a boy , he likes sports but he can 't take part because of his knee .
he had several surgeries , he walks but cannot exercise .
i would say he 50 % overcame this horror , but one can never completely overcome and forget it .
this horrible experience will stay with us .
many friends and neighbours were killed in the siege , and it only adds to my pain .
i lost many people i knew well and they were dear for me .
my son is with me and this is the greatest gift god could do for me but my heart aches about those killed .
i know families where new children were born , but also widows who never married again .
it is hard to accept that life goes on , even if you do not want it .
i will never forget my heart jumping out of my chest at the moment i saw him in hospital .
now i look at what is going on in the world - wars in different regions .
what are those people fighting for ?
why are they killing each other ?
the war is very close to our country now and i can hardly believe it .
we used to be one friendly country in the past , how did it happen that we are fighting now ?
people and children are suffering , i am sure many children were already killed in ukraine and many will be killed .
if we could only grab all the rebels and throw them away - as far away as possible .
alyona tskaeva , 10
the baby who was carried poignantly to safety by a special forces commando
saved : alyona tskaeva is carried to safety by a russian special forces commando ( left ) .
she is now ten ( right ) and has no memory at all of the atrocity
the world gasped in 2004 when baby alyona was carried out of the beslan siege cradled in the arms of a russian policeman .
terrorists let her go but cruelly kept her 30 year old mother , ten year old older sister kristina , and brother makhar in the school gym .
makhar , then three , escaped , but alyona 's mother and sister died in the murderous carnage .
her father ruslan has since remarried and with his new wife svetlana he has a baby girl , who he named kristina after the daughter he lost .
alyona , now ten , has no memory of the siege and has blossomed into a bright and happy girl , say neighbours .
'they are a big happy family now and alyona and makhar are both great kids , ' said a close friend .
ruslan is a fantastic dad and wants to get them away from all the memories as the tenth anniversary is marked .
you can understand why .
man accused of knocking down girl on fife pelican crossing
a 78-year-old man is to stand trial accused of running over a three-year-old girl on a pelican crossing in fife .
gordon stewart is alleged to have knocked down the girl on a crossing in pittenween in east neuk .
prosecutors said mr stewart drove his audi q3 without due care and attention and knocked the girl down to her injury .
stewart , 78 , from anstruther , denied the charge at dundee sheriff court .
sheriff charles macnair qc set a trial date in january .
4 tips for better underwater photos and video
if you 're interested in shooting photos or video underwater , you have a variety of equipment choices .
the cheapest option is a waterproof point-and-shoot , such as the nikon coolpix aw120 or an action cam , such as the gopro hero3 + silver edition , which both go for around $ 300 .
i shot these photos at a family party using several cameras , all priced under $ 350 .
no matter what gear you use , a few rules apply for getting the best results .
double-check your gear .
even if you have a waterproof camera , make sure that the camera 's battery and other compartments are tightly closed .
also , set your camera to match the type of photos or video you 'll be shooting .
some cameras and camcorders have scene or shooting modes that will optimize the exposure for dim undersea settings .
and before you jump in , know how deep your equipment can go .
some cameras are rated to only 5 feet , others to 50 or 60 feet .
check out our buying guide and ratings for digital cameras for both conventional and waterproof models .
take multiple shots - because many of them won 't work .
point-and-shoot cameras have lcds to help you compose photos , while action cams generally don 't .
even if you have an lcd , it 's going to hard to see it underwater , and composing your shot will be a hit-or-miss process .
so shoot multiples .
also , if your camera has a bracket mode , which shoots a burst of shots at slightly different exposure settings , take advantage of it .
stay near the surface .
light falls off dramatically the deeper you dive underwater .
if possible , stay close to the surface when you shoot in a pool , a lake or the ocean .
this will also allow you to capture more color in your photos ; the deeper you go , the less color you 'll see .
get close to your subjects .
this is great advice for shooting on dry land , but it is even more important underwater because of the dim lighting conditions .
it 's particularly important if you 're shooting with an action cam : these devices often have a fixed , wide angle lens , which means you have to get closer to your subjects if you want them to fill the picture frame .
andrew lawson was the kind of man whose force of personality could shake things up , even in a gargantuan organisation like the nhs .
a consultant anaesthetist , he devoted his career to sparing the sick both the agonies of illness and the torments of treatment .
among those who sought him out , his wife remembers , was an mi6 officer who had to live with the crippling after-effects of torture .
lawson understood that while doctors are captivated by diagnoses and diseases , those being treated are overwhelmingly concerned with something else entirely : pain .
one day in 2007 , however , he was the one who began to suffer .
" i have not felt myself , " he wrote in may that year .
i 've had difficulty in energising myself .
struggling with flu-like symptoms , he found himself impatiently berating his wife , juliet .
" i want everything to happen sooner rather than later , " he noted .
when juliet went away on business for a week , lawson found himself unusually , and unaccountably , upset .
something was up .
he got a colleague to perform a chest x-ray .
just two weeks earlier he had been skiing in the french alps .
the results of the x-ray came back .
he had mesothelioma , an incurable cancer that affects the pleura , or lining of the lung .
with most cancers , it is hard to know the exact cause .
though some smokers get lung cancer , for example , not all lung cancer sufferers have smoked .
but mesothelioma is different .
in almost every case , the cause is exposure to asbestos - a fibrous building material once dubbed " miraculous , " but now known to be mortally dangerous .
for most of us , mesothelioma has been an easy disease to ignore .
asbestos , after all , is a product of the past .
the most dangerous type of asbestos has not been used in britain since the 1960s , when a voluntary industry ban came into effect .
even when it was used , only people in specific industries worked closely with it - pipe laggers , builders , carpenters and shipyard workers , for example .
an industrial toxin from another era , it hardly seems cause for concern today .
but such complacency is misplaced .
britain , it turns out , is today at the peak of a mesothelioma epidemic .
there are more mesothelioma deaths here than in any other country on the planet .
with an annual toll of about 2,500 , more than twice as many people die of the disease as die in accidents in motor vehicles .
mesothelioma annual deaths since 1980 and projected future deaths in great britain
the reason that we are feeling its deadly effects now is that , though asbestos use has been illegal for years ( all types of asbestos were eventually banned by law in 1999 ) , it usually takes decades for mesothelioma to develop .
and the mesothelioma scourge is not confined to veterans of industrial building jobs .
asbestos has been , and in many cases still is , embedded in the homes we live in , the offices we work in , the schools we are educated in , and the stores we shop in .
as a result , mesothelioma is no respecter of class , wealth , occupation , or age .
the bastions of privilege , from smart london department stores to public schools , have proved no refuge .
the houses of parliament are riddled with asbestos .
even the hospitals that are meant to make us better have been reservoirs of this deadly carcinogen .
andrew lawson was not old .
nor was he a pipe lagger .
in fact , he struggled to think where he might have come into contact with asbestos .
then he put his finger on it .
" it seems that there may have been a lot of asbestos in the tunnels at guy 's hospital where i spent six years training , " he wrote .
everybody - students , nurses , doctors and porters - used the tunnels .
one wonders how many of my contemporaries will get the same disease ?
it was a question to which , sadly , he was able to provide a partial answer .
" of four doctors who trained at guy 's hospital and who subsequently developed mesothelioma in the past five years , " he noted in a letter in 2010 , " i am the only one left alive . "
how many of us will get this disease ?
andrew lawson was diagnosed with mesothelioma when he was 48 .
when he died , on february 17 this year , he was 55 .
to survive so long is unusual .
fifty per cent of mesothelioma sufferers are dead 8 months after diagnosis .
it is always fatal .
so now we can only echo lawson 's question : " how many of us will get the same disease ? "
according to britain 's leading expert on mesothelioma , professor julian peto , our best guess is that between 1970 and 2050 , when the asbestos epidemic in britain should have played itself out , some 90,000 people will have died .
most currently have no idea that they will die this way .
an asbestos mine in quebec , canada alamy
a quick glance at the reports from the courts , where those affected often turn for compensation , shows how far the scourge of mesothelioma has spread .
this june , for example , marks & spencer admitted negligently exposing janice allen to asbestos .
she worked for the chain for nine years , from 1978 to 1987 , supervising clothes sections at two sites - one of which was the flagship store on oxford street .
mrs allen was only 18 when she started working at m & s.
now she has two children in their 20s .
" before this happened , " she says , " i had never heard of mesothelioma , i barely knew about asbestos .
i never would have dreamed that i would be affected by it .
few people do know much about asbestos .
in fact , asbestos describes not one substance but a group of six minerals .
they get their name from the word " asbestiform " - which describes the fibrous structure which endows them with strength and flexibility .
of the six , three have commonly been used in the building trade .
chrysotile , commonly known as white asbestos , is by far the most frequently found in buildings today .
it was used in roofing panels , floor tiles , pipe insulation , boiler seals , even brake linings in cars .
it is less lethal than other forms of asbestos , but it 's still considered a " major health hazard " that can kill by the eu and who .
more dangerous , however , are brown asbestos ( amosite ) and blue asbestos ( crocidolite ) .
britain was once the world 's largest importer of brown asbestos , and experts suggest that " there is strong but indirect evidence that this was a major cause of the uniquely high mesothelioma rate [ in the uk ] . "
a marks & spencer employee was exposed to asbestos at its flagship store in oxford street , london alamy
janice allen may not have thought of herself as a typical victim of mesothelioma , but julian peto 's work suggests that her story is far from uncommon .
he has produced a study of sufferers which suggests that " a substantial proportion of mesotheliomas with no known occupational or domestic exposure were probably caused by environmental asbestos exposure . "
much of that exposure , he says , is due to " normal occupation and weathering " of our buildings .
no one , it seems , can be sure that they are safe .
a report from goddard consulting , which looked at the palace of westminster , shows how people , even in the heart of government , might have been exposed unawares .
in 2009 goddard reported that service shafts and piping ducts behind parliamentary committee rooms were contaminated with asbestos , whose lethal fibres could be disturbed by something as innocuous as " strong currents of air . "
mps are frequently accused of looking after their own interests , but in this case it seems the opposite may have been true .
while the parliamentary works services directorate insisted that the palace of westminster had been given " a clean bill of health , " it is now accepted £ 1bn of work lasting several years is required to overhaul parliament , upgrading electrics and removing asbestos , and that after the 2015 general election mps may sit in the nearby qe2 conference centre rather than on the green benches at westminster .
the goddard report noted that " the presence of asbestos has not been managed in accordance with the various regulations . "
it is impossible to know if this mismanagement will cost lives .
all anyone can do now is wait .
one person who has never been able to pinpoint his exposure to asbestos is graham abbott , a gp .
like andrew lawson , abbott , 50 , suspects that he was exposed to asbestos while working in hospitals .
" i have worked at a hospital where positive asbestos claims have been made , " he says , " but i can 't prove it in my case .
it 's so hard to remember all the places one has worked in , and the dates .
what he remembers clearly is the day early in december in 2009 when he was overcome with what felt like a fever .
he was 45 , and in the middle of a late evening surgery .
suddenly i started feeling shivery .
it came on very quickly .
i felt dreadful .
i didn 't think i was going to be able to drive all the way home .
being a doctor , abbott knew that the pain was coming from the pleura , the lining around his lungs .
but like janice allen , he simply had no reason to suspect mesothelioma .
he ended up spending a month off work .
puzzled doctors gave him chest x-rays , and administered pleural catheters to draw off fluid from the lungs and send it for assessment .
yet the condition went undiagnosed .
slowly his health improved and he went back to work .
but from time to time the same symptoms returned , often after he took exercise and was breathing hard .
in 2011 , one of abbott 's patients arrived at his gp 's surgery with similar symptoms to him , and was subsequently diagnosed with mesothelioma .
but even then abbott didn 't make the connection with his own case .
after all , his patient was decades older , and had worked directly asbestos .
the link in that case was clear .
in september 2011 , abbott 's condition worsened again , and his consultant took his ct scans and x-rays to a panel of experts .
in december 2011 , exactly two years after abbott started feeling unwell , a probe , equipped with a camera , was fed into the cavity between the lining of his chest and the lining of his lung .
i 'm an optimist .
i tend just to plod along , " he says .
i hadn 't worried about it too much to be honest .
but rachel , my wife , was worrying .
the result of the biopsy came in the week between christmas and new year : " i was told it was mesothelioma . "
graham abbott : diagnosed with mesothelioma
suddenly abbott was plunged into meetings with macmillan nurses , one of whom suggested that he should get in touch with a lawyer .
that was when he realised the scale of the epidemic .
" it turns out that asbestos was widely used , particularly in big public buildings which quite often had asbestos lagging on the pipes , " he says .
people who were exposed to asbestos in those buildings are now coming down with the disease .
so mesothelioma is now affecting younger people not in the typical professions .
the most dangerous asbestos-lagged pipes in hospitals were below ground level , so patients are unlikely to have been affected .
but many staff , walking in pedestrian tunnels to get from one building to another ( like andrew lawson ) , or eating in basement canteens ( as graham abbott frequently did ) almost certainly did come into contact with the toxic substance .