"Appalling London"

London has an "appalling" rate of child poverty with about 50% of children in 16 boroughs living in or on the brink of destitution, a report claims.

The Campaign to End Child Poverty says 79% of children in Tower Hamlets, east London, are in families classed as "struggling" - 42,850 children. The Campaign to End Child Poverty is a coalition of more than 130 organisations.


There are hundreds of thousands of children living in our capital city who are being failed by the system - Martin Narey, Campaign to End Child Poverty


'High deprivation'
A Tower Hamlets council spokesman said: "We cannot underestimate the scale of the challenge. "Whilst high levels of deprivation should not mean reduced outcomes for children, we will be doing all that we can to ensure child poverty levels are significantly reduced here in Tower Hamlets," the spokesman said.

Related Links: Mapping child poverty | Children of Bangladesh

Q&A: Campus extremism

A new-guidance has been released by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills on targeting extremism. It suggested universities with large numbers of Muslim students should try to avoid creating religious segregation on campus by rejecting demands for separate prayer-facilities.

Is this new guidance?
It updates guidance issued by the government in 2006, after the prime minister called for a new debate among universities last November about how to reconcile academic freedom with combating the threat of terrorism.

Background to the guidance?
Shortly after the London bombings on July 7, 2005, higher education minister Bill Rammell told vice-chancellors they would have to root out extremism in Britain by tackling the influence of Islamist groups on campus justifying terrorism.

Is there evidence to suggest terrorism goes on in universities?
Research published by the director of Brunel University's centre for intelligence and security studies, Prof Anthony Glees, in 2005 suggested that extremist or terrorist groups existed at more than 30 institutions, including high profile universities.

What's the legal situation?
The 2006 Terrorism Act came into force in April of that year, updating the 2000 Act. It made it illegal to: publish statements encouraging terrorism; disseminate publications.

Via Guardian-Unlimited

U.K. to Back Northern-Rock Debt

The U.K. government, struggling to find a buyer for Northern-Rock, said it will guarantee a sale of bonds backed by the bank's home-loans.

Mortgages, consumer loans and some investment-grade securities of the Newcastle, England-based bank would be packaged as debt and sold to investors, the Treasury has said. Northern Rock rose 46 percent in London trading on speculation the proposal will revive interest among potential buyers such as Richard Branson's Virgin-Group.

Via Money-Soft

Probe into Heathrow crash

Seen on: YouTube

Investigators will continue their probe into the crash-landing of a British Airways plane at London's Heathrow Airport. Eighteen people were injured when the Boeing 777 flying from Beijing came down short of the runway.

Aviation experts believe the crash was probably caused by a massive loss of power in the final stages of landing. Al Jazeera's Richard Bestic reports.

Q&A: Hybrid embryos

Why are human-animal embryos in the news?
UK scientists have won approval to create human-animal embryos.

Why create human-animal embryos?
Scientists developing these embryos say they will provide a source of stem cells - immature cells that can develop into many different types of tissue.

Who is trying to create them?
A team led by Professor Stephen-Minger, director of the stem cell biology laboratory at King's College London, has been offered a licence by the HFEA to use human-bovine embryos to study degenerative neurological diseases.

Dr Lyle Armstrong, of the Northeast England Stem Cell Institute, has been offered a licence to use cow eggs to research replacement tissues for treating conditions such as diabetes and spinal paralysis.

A third team led by Professor Ian Wilmut, the Edinburgh-based creator of the first cloned mammal, Dolly the sheep, although it has yet to apply.

What happens next?
The research teams at King's College and Newcastle have to formally accept the offer of the licences. They must also meet certain criteria.

What are the objections?
There were 300 responses to the government consultation, with 277 opposed to the research, many of them from pro-life groups opposed to the research.

What does the law say?
A 2006 white paper to overhaul the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act-1990 proposed banning hybrid work. Under existing law, hybrid embryos could not legally be implanted into a woman's womb.

What is the situation in other countries?
In 2004 researchers at the Mayo-Clinic produced pigs with hybrid pig-human blood cells. Chinese scientists were reportedly the first to successfully create human-animal embryos. In 2005 researchers at the Salk-Institute in San Diego reported they had created mice with 0.01% human cells.

Via Guardian-Unlimited

London Base for China's $200 Bln-Fund

U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has offered London as an overseas base for China's $200 billion sovereign wealth fund, aiming to encourage the world's fastest- growing major economy to invest in Britain.

Video > What are sovereign funds?

The economy of the world's most populous nation overtook the U.K. in 2005, and Britain's trade with China may grow 50 percent to $60 billion by 2010, according to a goal set today by Brown and Chinese Premier Wen-Jiabao.

"We can now sell China not just financial services, but also a whole range of British brands that are becoming very popular among the Chinese consumers," Brown said at a press conference during his first China trip as prime minister.

Via Bloomberg

Cutting crime in London

The Liberal-Democrat Mayoral candidate Brian-Paddick has promised to cut crime in London by 20%.

He said: "I have a track record of performance against Londoners' number one concern; crime... It's time for someone who can stop the slaughter on our streets. Mr Paddick, who resigned from the Met in May 2007, will be competing with Ken-Livingstone, and the Tory candidate Boris-Johnson.

As the Met-Police Commander for Lambeth, his approach to cannabis - which saw officers cautioning rather than arresting - brought him to prominence.

Via BBC

GovTube - PM outlines NHS reforms

Seen on: YouTube

Brief excerpts from a speech in which the Prime Minister outlined a programme of "deeper and wider" reform of the National Health Service to enhance its role in care, prevention and personalised health services.

Speaking to health professionals at King's College London, the PM said that the NHS had to embrace technological change, meet rising expectations of healthcare and adapt to a shift in priorities from tackling infectious disease to managing long-term conditions and "lifestyle diseases".

Image Day - Peter Hain

Work and Pensions Secretary Peter Hain arrives for the weekly government cabinet meeting at Downing Street in central London. He admitted failing-to-register a £5,000 donation to his unsuccessful-campaign to become the Labour Party's deputy leader because of an administrative-error.