www.abplgroup.com - Asian Voice 28th February 2015
In Brief
Bishop who fights for poor enjoying lavish life
London: Reverend Tim Stevens, Bishop of Leicester, who helped the church to launch an attack on the government’s approach to the poor enjoys pay, perks and allowances worth more than £250,000 a year, according to official documents. He was a prominent supporter of last week’s letter to David Cameron condemning the welfare cap. The bishop had earlier criticised the prevalence of food banks, opposed the decision to limit benefit increases to 1% and worked with Labour to back an amendment to defeat the welfare reforms.
Fat Americans urged to diet
Washington: A panel of experts said that Americans should consider the health of the planet as well as their bulging waistlines when deciding what they eat. Beef, in particular, has been identified as harmful to the planet, producing more greenhouse gases per calorie than chicken or pork. The proposed government guidelines also recommend a tax on sugary drinks and snacks as a way of coaxing Americans into eating better.
Family lawyers seek urgent reforms in divorce laws
London: Family lawyers sought urgent reforms to divorce laws and said that the present one is outdated, inadequate and unfair. They call for the scrapping of fault-based divorce, in which spouses accuse each other of unreasonable behaviour, creating bitter court battles. At present, spouses must apportion blame unless they have lived apart for two years. In 2012 there were more than 72,000 divorces in which adultery or unreasonable behaviour were cited.
Steep rise in childcare costs in just five years
London: The Family and Childcare Trust Survey has found that despite the government spending more, the childcare costs have skyrocketed in five years. Nurseries have been accused of profiteering after costs rose by a third to as much as £11,000. With the economy recovering, nurseries are now choosing to dramatically put up prices that were kept down during the recession, the report said.
Miliband wants to ban MPs from having paid directorships
London: Labour leader Ed Miliband has written a letter Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to ban MPs from having paid directorships or consultancies in the wake of the latest "cash for access" allegations. Miliband said he would ban his own MPs from paid consultancy roles and will consult on barring MPs from earning more than 15 per cent of their salaries in private roles. More than five years ago, David Cameron warned that lobbying was the "next big scandal" and promised to tighten the rules - a pledge which has not been fully enacted. Since taking office, Cameron has increased the period in which ministers cannot lobby the government after leaving office from 12 months to two years. The Coalition has also brought in legislation for a statutory register of consultant lobbyists. However, the register itself has yet to be implemented and critics say it is not enough.
3 per cent minimum wage rise recommended
London: Business Secretary Vince Cable said that an independent body that advises the government on the minimum wage is to recommend an increase of 3%. He said the wage rise in the adult rate from £6.50 to £6.70 an hour would be the biggest since 2008, worth £416 a year to a full-time worker. Each year, the Low Pay Commission submits recommendations on the future level of the minimum wage. The increase, yet to be accepted by the government, would apply from October. A 3.3% increase - from £5.13 to £5.30 - is recommended for 18 to 20-year-olds, along with a 2.2% increase to £3.87 for 16 to 17-year-olds.
Maths prodigy enrols on degree course
London: Esther Okade, one of the UK's youngest university students, is studying for a maths degree with the Open University. She enrolled three weeks ago and is already top of the class, scoring 100 per cent on a recent test. Esther, from Walsall, in the West Midlands, isn't the only member of her family with a talent for numbers - her six-year-old brother Isaiah is already taking an A-level in maths. Her mother, Efe, said applying to the university was "an interesting process because of her age." She said: "We even had to talk to the Vice Chancellor. After they interviewed her they realised that this has been her idea from the beginning. From the age of seven Esther has wanted to go to university. Finally, after three years she told me, 'Mum I think it is about time I started university now."
US teen indicted for joining ISIS
Washington: A US teen has been indicted on charges of joining the ISIS, the terrorist organisation that has captured a large part of Syria and Iraq and has threatened regional peace. Hamza Ahmed, 19, is at least the fourth person from the Twin Cities of Minneapolis charged as a result of an ongoing investigation into individuals who have travelled or are attempting to travel to Syria in order to join a foreign terrorist organisation, said US Attorney M Luger. According to the indictment and documents filed in court, Ahmed and three companions, travelled by bus from Minneapolis to New York City's John F Kennedy International Airport. The four men were each booked on international flights scheduled to depart JFK on November 8, 2014. Ahmed and one of the unidentified individual were booked on the same flight from JFK to Istanbul, Turkey.
IndianAmerican appointed special envoy
Washington: IndianAmerican Rashad Hussain has been appointed as Special Envoy and Coordinator for Strategic Countert e r r o r i s m Communications to expand global engagement and partnerships of the US to counter violent extremism, the state department has said. The 37-year-old Hussain is currently the Special Envoy of the US to Organisation for Islamic Countries (OIC). He will also serve as Coordinator of the Center for Strategic Counter-terrorism Communications, established at the direction of President Barack Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2010 to coordinate, orient, and inform governmentwide strategic communications focused on violent extremists and terrorist organisations. Before his role in OIC, Hussain was Deputy Associate Counsel to US President Barack Obama, focusing on national security, new media, and science and technology issues. He has also served as Director for Global Engagement at the National Security Council (NSC) and as a Special Assistant US Attorney in Washington, where he prosecuted criminal cases.
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Woman escapes prosecution for dating scam as reporter loses appeal
A newspaper reporter who tried to expose an alleged serial conwoman has been left with a harassment record while the woman has apparently escaped prosecution over an alleged dating scam, on the ground that she is already in jail and has no assets to seize. The Metropolitan police has reportedly upheld a complaint by Neelam Desai, a convicted criminal, that she was harassed by a Croydon Advertiser reporter who asked questions about the dating fraud, said to amount to tens of thousands of pounds. The police were accused of an intrusion on press freedom last April, after three officers allegedly visited the newspaper’s offices in Redhill, Surrey, to threaten Mr Davies with arrest and issue a “prevention of harassment” notice. They
allegedly said that the reporter's approaches by email and in person at Desai’s home had left her “feeling intimidated and persecuted”, and warned that any further contact could result in prosecution. Desai had admitted a £230,000 fraud the previous month and is serving a 30-month sentence. She denied involvement in the dating scam during a phone conversation with Mr Davies. The newspaper has claimed that she tricked men out of tens out thousands of pounds through
online cons, which included pretending she was raising money for a sick child. After they exposed she was arrested on suspicion of ten counts of fraud by false representation. This month the Met rejected Mr Davies’s complaint about their actions. Inspector Claire Robbins reportedly concluded that “the contact made by Mr Davies towards Ms Desai did go beyond what is reasonable”. However Mr Davies reportedly said the crime report of his actions contained errors, such as stating that he allegedly visited Ms Desai’s house more than once. The Met also allegedly accused him of sending Desai “repeated text messages” but he said he never contacted her that way.
Man stealing 120 Apple iPhone 5s appears in Court
Deep Adhiya, 20, a courier who stole 120 Apple iPhone 5s worth more than £51,000 has appeared in court. He pleaded guilty to theft of the batch of gold-coloured smart phones belonging to Apple on December 12, 2013. Leicester Crown Court was told the phones were taken after Adhiya took delivery of them in Hinckley. He was supposed to be transporting them to London. Adhiya from Northfields, Leicester, pleaded guilty on the basis that another person traveling in the delivery van with him took the box of phones, saying it was in lieu of an £800 cannabis
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Deep Adhiya
debt Adhiya owed him. Kate Plummer, prosecuting, said in relation to the basis of plea: “The value of the phones was £51,123 which greatly exceeds the value of the drug debt. “He says it was the other male’s idea and he
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let him take the phones to settle the drugs debt between them.” The defendant, a self-employed courier with no previous convictions, refused to provide the police with details of the person he claimed took possession of the phones. The hearing is adjourned until March 10, for the preparation of a pre-sentence report. Releasing Adhiya on bail, Judge Robert Brown said: “This case crosses the custody threshold and the fact you’re getting bail shouldn’t be taken as to any indication of what the sentence will be.”
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