ATENÇÃO S.O.S - Funcionários fazem protesto - "O Varela Santiago pede socorro!" Aos empresártios , políticos , promotoria, governos e Ao Ministro da Saúde - http://www.hospitalvarelasantiago.org.br/.

"O Varela Santiago pede socorro!". A frase estava retratada na principal faixa da manifestação que reuniu cerca de 150 pessoas, entre funcionários e pais de pacientes do Hospital Infantil Varela Santiago, na tarde de ontem. A mobilização ocorreu em frente à unidade de saúde, na avenida Deodoro da Fonseca, Centro.
Júnior SantosManifestação tomou a Avenida Deodoro na tarde de ontemManifestação tomou a Avenida Deodoro na tarde de ontem

O motivo da manifestação dos funcionários é a situação financeira pela qual passa o Hospital Varela Santiago. Segundo o gerente administrativo do hospital infantil, Francisco Régis Neto, o Governo ainda não efetuou o  repasse e R$ 365 mil referentes ao programa Cidadão Nota 10 - prometidos na segunda-feira - além de R$ 500 mil do convênio firmado entre a unidade e a Secretaria Estadual de Saúde (Sesap). " Esse dinheiro é usado para a compra de material hospitalar e ainda não entrou na conta do Hospital", confirmou.

A prefeitura do Natal também tem dívidas no pagamento ao Varela Santiago. Duas parcelas de R$ 161 mil  - dos meses de março e abril -, não foram repassados ao Hospital Infantil. Além disso, cerca de R$ 450 mil referentes aos procedimentos do SUS não também não foram pagos pela Secretaria Municipal de Saúde (SMS). O dinheiro é proveniente do Ministério da Saúde.

Para Francisco Régis, a manifestação é uma forma de chamar a atenção da população para a importância do Varela Santiago em relação às crianças de todo o Rio Grande do Norte.

A promotora da saúde, Iara Pinheiro,  instaurou inquérito de ação civil para investigar a inadimplência financeira das Secretarias Estadual de Saúde (Sesap) e Municipal de Saúde (SMS) junto ao Hospital Infantil Varela Santiago.

A Promotoria de Justiça levou em consideração a matéria da TRIBUNA DO NORTE "Mais uma crise no Valera Santiago" publicada no dia 28 de abril de 2012. O inquérito foi publicado no Diário Oficial do Estado (DOE) de ontem.

A saúde financeira do maior hospital infantil do Estado, o Varela Santiago, enfrenta dificuldades crônicas.  As dívidas de empréstimos contraídos junto à Caixa Econômica Federal somam R$ 2,4 milhões. Os custos totais mensais para o funcionamento da unidade superam os R$ 750 mil, e as fontes de renda da instituição, que é filantrópica, são o Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), repasses da Prefeitura do Natal e do Governo. Este último em atraso e sem previsão para pagamento. O hospital atende prioritariamente pacientes do Sistema Único de Saúde  (SUS).
Aldair DantasEm fase final, a obra aguarda a liberação de recursos para acabamento e compra de equipamentosEm fase final, a obra aguarda a liberação de recursos para acabamento e compra de equipamentos

De acordo com o diretor presidente do hospital Paulo Xavier, a última das três parcelas de R$ 500 mil de 2011, referente a convênio com a Secretaria Estadual de Saúde, está em atraso. Afora o repasse, o pagamento da cota do Programa de responsabilidade fiscal Cidadão Nota 10 está pendente desde 2009. A pendência é de R$ 270 mil, entre 2009 e 2010, e outros R$ 90 mil, referente a 2011. A prestação de contas do repasse anterior, condição para a quitação do débito, foi entregue pela instituição ao Estado, esta semana.

As limitações de custeio da instituição, explica Paulo Xavier, impedem a manutenção do serviço e o diretor cogita renunciar o cargo que ocupa há 12 anos e até o fechamento da unidade, a partir de julho. "Com o que resta do empréstimo temos como prestar o serviço somente até junho. É inviável continuar com o serviço", diz.

O Varela Santiago possui 110 leitos para o atendimento de neurologia, oncologia infantil, neonatalogia, além de 10 unidades de terapia intensiva em pleno funcionamento e outros 10 leitos de UTI Neo Natal estão em construção. Em fase final, a obra aguarda a liberação de recursos para concluir acabamento e adquirir equipamentos. A montagem de cada leito custa em média R$ 120 mil, em aparelhos.

A defasagem no valor da diária por leito de UTI pago pela tabela do SUS é outro problema. O valor, R$ 450, é mais de duas vezes inferior ao contratado na rede privada, que chega a R$ 1,1 mil, em alguns hospitais do Estado. "Não vejo solução a não ser fechar. Não sei mais como captar recursos e não temos previsão de receber o que está prometido", dispara.

O atraso no pagamento impede ainda a renovação do convênio. O valor deveria ser repassado em janeiro. O secretário de saúde pública Domício Arruda descarta a possibilidade de ampliação no valor conveniado - três parcelas de R$ 500  mil por ano. A manutenção e regularidade no pagamento, explica secretário, seria a única forma de contribuir para o não fechamento da unidade. "Enfrentamos dificuldades orçamentárias. A liberação depende  da Secretaria de planejamento que está aguardando o desempenho financeiro do quadrimestre ", disse o secretário.

No último ano, foram repassados pela Secretaria R$ 1,5 milhão. Além do convênio para custeio, outro convênio com a Sesap e o HIVS para cobrir despesas escalas de plantão, tratamento e destinação do lixo hospitalar e medicamentos, observa o secretário, custam aos cofres estaduais R$ 300 mil mensais. 

Pacientes temem suspensão dos serviços
COPIADO : http://tribunadonorte.com.br/

Por mês, o Hospital Varela Santiago realiza em média 12 mil atendimentos, 450 internações e cerca de 350 cirurgias. A possibilidade de encerrar as atividades devido as dificuldades financeiras assusta quem depende do serviço. A dona de casa Claudia Xavier da Costa, 20 anos, é uma delas. Com o filho João Eudes, de 1,2 ano, internado desde que nasceu, ela teme que a  tão esperada cirurgia para fechamento da traqueia do filho, prevista para o segundo semestre não aconteça. "É a vida do meu filho que está em risco. Não tenho como pagar plano de saúde ou a quem recorrer", afirma.

A cirurgia do pequeno Pedro Rafael, de 8 meses, também ficaria comprometida. A criança nasceu com uma disfunção no rim direito e está há um mês internado para tratamento. A dona de casa Maria José Gomes de Oliveira, 37 anos, também conta que teve dificuldade para obter o diagnóstico da doença do filho, Marcos Antônio, de dois anos, em outras instituições. "Disseram que era virose, dengue, anemia aguda e na verdade ele teve calazar, mas já está bem", disse ela que espera a liberação do filho para este final de semana.

Alfabetização: conversas com as professoras - Dia 08 de maio de 2012.Niterói

Londres 2012: Patrocinadores 'não-saudáveis' provocam polêmica

Atualizado em  2 de maio, 2012 - 07:06 (Brasília) 10:06 GMT
Fast food | Foto: BBC
Para especialistas, publicidade de empresas de fast-food pode estimular dieta inadequada.
A menos de cem dias do início dos Jogos Olímpicos de Londres, ativistas vêm treinando com afinco um novo tipo de modalidade: protestar contra alguns dos principais patrocinadores do evento.
Na mira deles, estão grandes empresas, como Coca-Cola, McDonald's, BP, Dow Chemical e Rio Tinto.
Especialistas ligados à área da saúde têm aumentado a pressão pela restrição à publicidade de comidas tipo fast-food em grandes eventos esportivos, sob a alegação de que essa propaganda incentiva o ganho de peso.
Por sua vez, ambientalistas elevaram o tom das críticas contra a participação de companhias envolvidas em acidentes ambientais no patrocínio à Olimpíada. Eles já lançaram, inclusive, uma campanha, intitulada 'Greenwash Gold 2012', contendo pesadas críticas contra três patrocinadores: BP, Dow Chemical e Rio Tinto.

Saúde

Pesquisas recentes revelam que um de cada quatro britânicos já é obeso. Para membros da Academy of Medical Royal Colleges (AoMRC), uma das principais associações de saúde pública da Grã-Bretanha, a obesidade é hoje "a principal ameaça à saúde pública no país".
Por isso, eles estão pressionando empresas como Coca-Cola e McDonald's a restringir a publicidade na Olimpíada, uma vez que a propaganda "envia uma mensagem errada especialmente às nossas crianças", diz o professor Terence Stephenson, porta-voz da AoMRC.
Uma pesquisa conduzida recentemente na Grã-Bretanha revelou que muitos pais aceitariam uma proibição completa da publicidade de comidas pouco saudáveis antes das 21h.
O levantamento mostrou ainda que esses pais se sentem obrigados a comprar junk food para seus filhos por causa das mesmas propagandas.
Cadbury, McDonald's e Coca-Cola são alguns dos patrocinadores da Olimpíada que têm sofrido com a ira dos ativistas.
"Milhões de pessoas farão a correlação entre essas marcas e os atletas vitoriosos. As companhias não gastariam todo esse dinheiro em publicidade se não soubessem que isso não elevaria suas vendas", justifica Stephenson.
Embora ainda não haja nenhuma evidência científica sobre a ligação entre a publicidade de fast-food em grandes eventos esportivos e a obesidade, pesquisas indicam que as crianças tendem a encarar o junk food como menos nocivo quando ele é associado a esportes, argumenta o médico Jean Adams, professor de saúde pública na Universidade de Newcastle.
Já para Stephenson, limitar a publicidade de fast food poderia ter um efeito semelhante à proibição das propagandas de cigarro.
Dados levantados pela entidade britânica ASH constataram que o número de adolescentes fumantes no Reino Unido em 2010 caiu pela metade em comparação a 2002, quando a lei que proibia os anúncios de cigarro foi aprovada.

Meio ambiente

Meredith Alexander | Foto: BBC
A ativista Meredith Alexander critica o patrocínio da Dow Chemical à Olimpíada de Londres.
As críticas aos patrocinadores também ganharam força com o protesto dos ambientalistas, contrários à participação de três empresas (BP, Dow Chemical e Rio Tinto) nos Jogos Olímpicos.
Eles prepararam três mini-documentários sobre os diferentes acidentes ambientais provocados por essas companhias e convidaram o público a votar "no pior patrocinador" da Olimpíada.
Os vídeos incluem depoimentos de um sobrevivente do vazamento de gás na cidade de Bhopal, em 1984, na Índia, provocado pela empresa Union Carbide Corporation, que anos depois foi comprada pela Dow Chemical; de um representante do Golfo do México sobre o impacto ambiental que se seguiu ao rompimento do poço de petróleo da BP em abril de 2010 e de uma mulher de Utah, nos Estados Unidos, contra um suposto aumento nos níveis de poluição atmosférica causado pela extração dos metais para a confecção das medalhas olímpicas pela mineradora anglo-australiana Rio Tinto.
A ideia da campanha partiu da ativista Meredith Alexander, que renunciou ao posto na Comissão de Vigilância Ambiental da Olimpíada em protesto contra a participação da Dow Chemical no evento.

Outro lado

A Dow Chemical nega qualquer responsabilidade sobre o vazamento de gás químico e reforçou que o pagamento de 288 milhões de libras (R$ 889,2 milhões) para os afetados pela tragédia é "justo e definitivo".
Já a porta-voz da Rio Tinto defendeu as ações da empresa: "Atuamos dentro dos parâmetros de qualidade do ar (estabelecidos por normas legais), (...) que são, por sua vez, baseados em padrões rígidos para proteger a saúde humana".
Segundo um porta-voz da BP: "Estamos 100% empenhados em garantir o sucesso da Olimpíada. Não comentamos ações de grupos de protesto".
Por sua vez, um executivo responsável pela comunicação da Coca-Cola alegou que a publicidade transmitida durante os Jogos Olímpicos vai "aumentar o número de consumidores de produtos sem adição de açúcar", enquanto a assessoria de imprensa do McDonald's se limitou a dizer que "o patrocínio é essencial para uma bem-sucedida realização da Olimpíada."
COPIADO : http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Forças Armadas fazem megaoperação na Amazônia

Luis Kawaguti

Atualizado em  2 de maio, 2012 - 13:50 (Brasília) 16:50 GMT

Militares brasileiros patrulham rio próximo à fronteira

Miltares brasileiros fazem patrulha de barco durante operação Agata 3, em 2011
O governo brasileiro inicia nesta quarta-feira uma megaoperação para combater narcotráfico, garimpos ilegais e desmatamento irregular na fronteira norte da Amazônia. O Exército chegou a enviar um representante a países vizinhos para esclarecer eventuais temores com a operação.
A ação, denominada "Agata 4", levará 8.700 militares para a fronteira do Brasil com Venezuela, Guiana, Suriname e Guiana Francesa. Serão usados ainda 11 navios, nove helicópteros e 27 aviões.
A região é considerada o ponto fraco da Amazônia, por ter 5.500 km de fronteira seca e poucas guarnições das Forças Armadas.
A perspectiva de intensa movimentação de tropas próximo à fronteira causou apreensão nos países vizinhos.
Porém, segundo o general José Carlos De Nardi, chefe do Estado Maior Conjunto do Ministério da Defesa, a ação não é uma demonstração de força. Equipes diplomáticas visitaram os governos vizinhos para assegurar que a manobra não tem caráter hostil.
"Eu fui à Venezuela, à Guiana e ao Suriname para explicar o sentido da operação [de combater a criminalidade do lado brasileiro da fronteira]. Não é um problema de defesa da pátria", disse De Nardi.
Segundo ele, a ação ocorrerá apenas em solo brasileiro e visa fortalecer a presença do Estado em uma das regiões mais remotas do país.
Contudo, apesar de oficialmente não ter objetivo geopolítico, a operação Agata também não é um mero exercício militar. "É uma operação real, os militares levarão munição real e podem ocorrer tiros reais", disse o general.
A realização da "Agata 4" foi uma determinação da Presidente Dilma Rousseff. Três ações semelhantes já foram realizadas no centro-oeste e no sul em 2011 e mais duas devem ocorrer ainda em 2012.

Narcotráfico

Piloto da FB durante operação Agata 3
Piloto da Aeronáutica participa da operação Agata 3, em 2011, na fronteira centro-oeste do país
O objetivo da operação será destruir garimpos e pistas de pouso ilegais, além de "sufocar" o tráfico de maconha e cocaína que possui rotas de entrada no Brasil pelo norte da fronteira.
Segundo o Ministério da Defesa, a operação "Agata 3", realizada em Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul e Rondônia em 2011, bloqueou a passagem de criminosos pela fronteira e causou um do preço das drogas no mercado negro.
De acordo com estimativa da pasta, só no Mato Grosso a elevação foi de 60% em Cárceres e 100% em Cuiabá.
A estratégia do governo é represar o tráfico de drogas, madeira e metais preciosos durante 20 ou 30 dias e depois encerrar a operação.
A tendência é que os criminosos preparem então grandes carregamentos logo após a retirada dos militares.
Nesse período, a Polícia Federal, com ajuda da Abin (agência brasileira de inteligência), deflagará a Operação Sentinela e fará incursões pontuais na região para fazer prisões e apreender cargas ilegais.
 COPIADO : http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Edvard Munch's The Scream set to fetch £50m at auction

Philip Hook from Sotheby's discusses Edvard Munch's masterpiece with the BBC's David Silllito

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Edvard Munch's iconic painting The Scream is tipped to fetch more than $80 million (£50m) when it goes up for auction in New York later.

Its depiction of a man screaming beneath a vivid sunset is one of the world's most recognisable images.

The 1895 pastel, one of four versions created by Munch, is owned by a man whose father knew the expressionist.

The record price for a painting is the $106.5m (£65.7m) paid for Picasso's Nude, Green Leaves, and Bust in 2010.

The other three versions of The Scream are all owned by Norwegian museums. But Sotheby's say the example they are handling is the most colourful.

It is also the only one to include a poem by Munch on the frame, which talks of his inspiration behind the series of works.

Start Quote

I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature”
Edvard Munch

It reads: "I was walking along a path with two friends - the sun was setting - suddenly the sky turned blood red - I paused, feeling exhausted, and leaned on the fence - there was blood and tongues of fire above the blue-black fjord and the city.

"My friends walked on, and I stood there trembling with anxiety - and I sensed an infinite scream passing through nature."

The painting is being sold by businessman Petter Olsen, whose father was friendly with the Norwegian artist.

He plans to donate the proceeds towards the building of a museum and art gallery in the town of Hvitsten, where Munch and his father both lived.

Earlier this year, Olssen spoke of his decision to sell The Scream.

"I have lived with this work all my life, and its power and energy have only increased with time," he said.

"Now, however, I feel the moment has come to offer the rest of the world a chance to own and appreciate this remarkable work."

Two of the other versions of The Scream were stolen, in 1994 and 2004 respectively. Both were later recovered.

The only two other works to top the $100 million mark are Picasso's Boy With a Pipe (The Young Apprentice), which sold for $104.1m in 2004, and Alberto Giacometti's Walking Man I, which went for $104.3m in 2010. COPY : http://www.bbc.com

Girls and sport: Schools urged to make PE more attractive to girls



Girls doing sport A number felt teachers paid too much attention to the girls who were best at sport

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Schools are being urged to introduce more female-friendly fitness activities such as Zumba classes and rollerblading because so many girls are opting out of exercise.

Research suggests the gap between the amount of exercise girls and boys do widens during their time at school.

A study for the Women's Sports and Fitness Foundation says more than half of girls are put off by PE classes.

The WSFF wants schools to make sports lessons more appealing to girls.

The research was conducted by Loughborough University, which found big differences in the attitudes of girls and boys towards doing sport.

Those differences were wider among older schoolchildren.

Falling exercise levels

Eight-year-olds did similar levels of activity: about 60% of those questioned, both girls and boys, said they did regular exercise - at least an hour, five days a week.

But among 14-year-old girls, that figure had halved - only 31% said they exercised regularly, compared with 50% of 14-year-old boys.

The research found most girls wanted to do more physical activity, but many were put off by PE classes.

Some said they did not like exercising in front of boys, and they were not confident about their sporting skills.

Girls at Willowfield School in east London talk about why they enjoy sport

A number felt teachers paid too much attention to the girls who were best at sport.

Role models

Girls were also concerned about what their friends thought about exercise, and said getting sweaty was not feminine.

And many of those questioned said they did not think there were enough female sporting role models.

The WSFF is writing to schools offering advice on how to make school sports more attractive to girls.

WSFF said some PE lessons were "stuck in the 1950s jolly-hockey-sticks style of the past".

"It's simply unacceptable that the overwhelming majority of our young women are leaving school with dangerously low levels of physical activity," said WSFF chief executive Sue Tibbals.

"We can't afford to keep ignoring the evidence that school sport plays a key role in shaping attitudes to sports and fitness."

The Youth Sport Trust said schools needed to do more to address issues such as girls feeling body conscious or lacking confidence in their abilities.

"Schools that deliver PE well recognise these challenges and offer a wider variety of sports and physical activity that make girls feel included," said chairwoman Baroness Sue Campbell.

"We would like to see all schools take this approach."http://www.bbc.com

Building the Pentagon's ‘like me’ weapon

Activists in Pakistan burn a US national flag (Copyright: Getty Images)
(Copyright: Getty Images)

The Pentagon wants to understand the science behind what makes people violent. The question is what do they plan to do with it?
In February this year, the US government was forced into full damage limitation mode. News that US troops in Afghanistan had sent copies of the Koran to be incinerated, sparked a wave of deadly protests that left 36 people dead and more than 200 injured. Despite an apology from President Barack Obama and assurances that the burning was accidental, the public relations offensive launched to counter the damage done to the military’s reputation and stem the violence showed little sign of success.
Now imagine that instead of employing public relations experts to advise on the best strategy, US officials had a device that could advise them what to say, generating a story based on a scientific understanding of the brain’s inner workings to soothe tempers and calm the mood of the population. It sounds like something from a science fiction blockbuster, but is in fact the premise behind the Pentagon’s growing interest in the neurobiology of political violence, a relatively new field that combines neuroscience with more traditional social science-based approaches to understanding human behaviour.
One programme, started last year by the Pentagon’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (Darpa), even looks at finding ways to generate versions of events that could be used in attempts to persuade people not to support the enemy. Known as Narrative Networks, it seeks to "understand how narratives influence human thoughts and behaviour, then apply those findings to a security context in order to address security challenges such as radicalization, violent social mobilization, insurgency and terrorism, and conflict prevention and resolution,” says William Casebeer, the Darpa official leading the work.
The idea is straightforward: scientists have long known that narratives exert a powerful force on the human mind, helping to shape people’s concept of individual and group identities, even motivating them to conduct violent acts. Some bloggers and people posting on Twitter have suggested the Pentagon is seeking to elevate brainwashing to a science. "Darpa looking to master propaganda via Narrative Networks,'" read the headline of a report on the science news website Phys.org, for example, alongside countless similar blog posts and tweets.
Those involved in the research disagree. “None of the work we are doing, nor anyone else I know in the Narrative Networks group, is about increasing the ability of soldiers or sailors to kill people or to brainwash people,” says Paul Zak, a professor at Claremont Graduate University in Claremont, California, who specializes in neuroeconomics, and whose work has been funded by the Darpa program.
Zak and others see this type of research being used in the shaping of messages that shows the US military in the best possible light, such as by highlighting its humanitarian work abroad. “Is there a way to hold events that might publicise things like healthcare, public health factors, [or] tooth brushing for children and you could give away half a million toothbrushes,” he says. “There could be things that help countries understand that most of the time what we want to do is get along with everybody.”
Zak’s work involves trying to understand how listening to stories affects the brain’s natural release of oxytocin, sometimes called the trust hormone. “Why are we grabbed by some stories and not others?’ he says. “It just seems like a great question to ask.”
To test his theories, Zak uses an experiment that involves involves university students watching a short video featuring a father describing his son’s battle with brain cancer. After watching the video, Zak measures oxytocin levels in the blood of the participants, as well as their willingness to give the money they’ve earned from participating in the experiment to charity. “Our hypothesis is that this connection system that human beings have, which utilizes oxytocin, is activated by these same kinds of narratives, these same kinds of stories,” he says.
But stories aren’t the only way to increase trust. Zak has also experimented with having subjects spray oxytocin into their nose, but it's not an approach that would have practical applications for the military, he cautions. The government is not looking to “just spray oxytocin into the crowds,” he says.  “That, first of all, would be highly unethical and illegal, and it wouldn’t work anyway. You have to get a lot into the brain.“
War stories
While Zak is focusing on oxytocin, other researchers working with Darpa’s support are trying to understand the parts of the brain responsible for values and ideals. Emory University professor Greg Berns, a neuroeconomist, recently conducted an experiment that involved paying people to give up their fundamental ideals and beliefs. Participants were placed in a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanner while statements based on answers they had previously given on a questionnaire were presented on a screen. Topics related to either core beliefs such as views on gay marriage, sex with children and the sterilization of people with genetic conditions, or less fundamental matters such as preference for PCs or Macs.
The volunteers were then offered up to $100 to sign statements disavowing their previous views. Perhaps unsurprisingly, more were willing to take money to change position on things like whether they were a cat person rather than a dog person than were willing to do so to shift their stances on whether they would accept money for sex, for example. More interestingly, Berns found that fundamental values, such as those concerning sex and belief in God, triggered activity in a part of the brain called the left temporoparietal junction, while more every-day belief statements stimulated activity in the entirely separate left and right inferior parietal lobes.
These findings, suggests Berns, means there is a biological basis for ethnic conflict. “Many of the conflicts that we currently face internationally are ultimately about control of biology,” says Berns. People may say they are fighting for ideas, but what they are really fighting for, according to Berns, is for values connected to survival, such as reproductive rights. “Things like religion are placeholders for that; what we’re seeing is a very Darwinian struggle for limited resources,” he says.
Berns, like the other researchers involved, says the Darpa program is about finding ways to stop people from fighting, not controlling them. “It’s not about brainwashing people," he says. "We’re not in the business of reading people’s minds, or implanting thoughts. By understanding the biology of what causes people go to war, we might begin to understand how to mitigate it.”
Whether creating better narratives can help reduce conflict is still an open question, however. Neuroscientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in Cambridge, Massachusetts, have been studying the role of stories and dialogue on those involved the Arab-Israeli conflict, and in particular, how stories affect sympathy for others.
“I think there’s a perception out there that if someone commits these horrible atrocities to another group that they must be sociopaths, they must be psychopaths that lack empathy for other people,” says Emile Bruneau, a post-doctoral fellow at the Saxe Lab at MIT, which is not funded by the Darpa programme. “But, I think it might be very different, that they might actually be highly empathic people, but their empathy is highly regulated so that it’s applied strongly to in-group members but not at all to out-group members.”
In a study published last year, Bruneau and his colleagues looked at what happens in the brain when Jewish Israelis and Arabs read stories intended to evoke sympathy about members of each other's group. Participants read about children suffering physical or emotional pain such as by cutting themselves with a knife or losing a parent, for example. Brain scans carried out with fMRI machines showed these stories elicited similar patterns of activation in the medial prefrontal cortex, the brain region associated with sympathy, whether subjects read about members of their own group or about "the enemy". Interestingly, reading the same stories about the suffering of South Americans triggered a noticeably different response in this brain region and others involved in thinking about others' emotions. “The most poetic interpretation of that is these are the brain regions where the opposite of love is not hate, but indifference,” says Bruneau.
In a separate study, Bruneau and colleagues asked Israelis and Palestinians to write about the difficulties they faced because of the ongoing conflict. The accounts were then read by members of the opposing group, and feelings such as empathy, trust and warmth were measured using a survey. The researchers found the attitudes of the Palestinians towards the Israelis improved more when they were allowed to tell their stories, rather than listening, whereas Israelis' attitudes about Palestinians improved more after they listened to Palestinians describing their experiences.
The MIT research could hold some lessons for the US government, which spends over a billion dollars a year on trying to convince foreign audiences of its point of view, whether via radio broadcasting, or through the Pentagon’s foreign language news sites. “It’s interesting that we spend a lot of money as a country on the Voice of America [radio station],” Bruneau says, “when this research is starting to show that what might be most effective would be the ear of America.”
Line of defence
Beyond the question of better storytelling is a fundamental question about whether such research will actually help the Pentagon convince people that the US military is really there to help them. Tom Pyszczynski, a social psychologist at the University of Colorado who studies terrorism, says it’s not clear that understanding the neuroscience of violence, while an interesting scientific endeavor, will lead on its own to solutions to terrorism.
“We need to understand those things, no doubt about it, but, in terms of promoting peace I’m not sure that knowing where in the brain the anger that leads to violence is happening is going to help us discourage war,” says Pyszczynski, who has been studying the effects of the recent Arab Spring uprisings on attitudes towards the West. “We’re not going to be able to go in and zap people’s amygdalae or anesthetize them or do whatever,” he says. “We’re going to need to change the way they interpret things that happen and we’re going to need to stop doing things that people interpret as insulting or challenging to their way of life.”
For Pyszczynski, the potential for such work also raises an interesting ethical question reminiscent of the issues addressed A Clockwork Orange, both the 1971 film and the book on which it was based. “If you could somehow reliably change peoples’ minds so that they didn’t want to kill anymore, should that be done?” he asks. “Well, you’re impinging on their freedom in a way, but on the other hand you’re saving a lot of lives.”
But shaping public relations campaigns – and people’s minds - isn’t necessarily the only military application for such research. David Matsumoto, a professor of psychology and director of the Culture and Emotion Research Laboratory at San Francisco State University, is being funded by another Pentagon initiative, called Minerva, to conduct scientific research on the role of emotions in inciting political violence. Matsumoto and his colleagues are studying language and facial expressions used by political leaders to see if those can be used to predict future violence.
“I think that one of the most logical direct applications of this kind of finding and this line of research [is] to develop sensors that can watch, either monitor the words that are being spoken and/or the non-verbal behaviors that are expressive of those emotions,” he says of the Pentagon’s interest in his work. “I think the development of sensors like that ... would be sort of an early warning signal or system [to detect violence].”
Of course, some might question whether the vision of a machine that spits out story lines at the flip of a switch, or provides an early warning “emotion” sensor for war, is blue sky dreaming. But Read Montague, a neuroscientist at the Virginia Tech Carilion Research Institute in Roanoke, Virginia, sees the possibility of technology that could come into play in cases like the Koran-burning protests in Afghanistan.
“I see a device coming that’s going to make suggestions to you, like, a, this situation is getting tense, and, b, here are things you need to do now, I’ll help you as you start talking,” says Montague, who is part of the Darpa Narrative Networks project. “That could be really useful.”
Montague points out that people also once doubted that a computer could beat a chess master, but as technology advanced, computers eventually became good enough that they could out manoeuvre even the best chess players. Of course, the idea of Big Blue-style computer that taps the mind’s biology to generate stories sounds less like a feel-good storytelling machine than a military weapon designed to manipulate people’s mental state. “It’s a weapon,” says Montague, “but it’s a defensive weapon.”
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Motorola wins Xbox and Windows 7 ban in Germany



Just who are men's rights activists?

 

 

Top left, clockwise: Boys at school, girls in the army, 'no men' sign, close-up of a moustache


An increasingly vocal men's movement argues that anti-male discrimination is rife. Who are the activists and what do they want?

Feminists have spent decades trying to get equal pay and rights for women.

But while, in the West at least, discrimination against women is rigorously challenged, a growing band of men's rights activists say no such protection is afforded to men.

Many of these activists also believe that the media allow women to objectify and ridicule men in a way that would be unthinkable if the gender roles were reversed.

A new book argues that on a whole range of fronts - from government, the courts and schools - men are being discriminated against.

David Benatar, head of philosophy at the University of Cape Town, argues in his polemic The Second Sexism that across the world men are more likely to be conscripted into the military, be victims of violence, lose custody of their children, and take their own lives.

Custody law is perhaps the best-known area of men's rights activism, with images of divorced fathers scaling buildings in Batman suits familiar in the UK.

Notable activists

Two members of activist group Fathers for justice demonstrating
UK Activist group Fathers 4 Justice campaigns for men's rights for access to their children.
US organisation National Coalition for Men "raises awareness about the ways sex discrimination affects men and boys".
Save Indian Family Foundation is a men's rights group in India, engaging "primarily in supporting men trapped in false cases by women".

Benatar asserts that in most parts of the world custody rights cases are stacked firmly against men. "When the man is the primary care-giver his chances of winning custody are lower than when the woman is the primary care-giver.

"Even when the case is not contested by the mother, he's still not as likely to get custody as when the woman's claim is uncontested."

Education is another area where men are falling behind, the activists note. Tests in 2009 by the Programme for International Student Assessment showed that boys lagged a year behind girls at reading in every industrialised country. And women now make up the majority of undergraduates, Benatar says.

"When women are underrepresented as CEOs of companies that is deemed discrimination. But when boys are falling behind at school, when 90% of people in prison are male, there's never any thought given to whether men are discriminated against."

If sexual equality is to be achieved then male discrimination must be taken as seriously as sexism against women, he argues.

Equal pay is the barometer in developed countries like the UK. According to the Office for National Statistics, the gender pay gap is still pronounced within professions. Women earn on average £8,000 less than a man as lawyers, £14,000 less as a CEO and £9,000 less as a doctor.

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Aoirthoir An Broc
All men are worthy of respect. We don't believe in cultural definitions of men.”
Aoirthoir An Broc Masculinist

But the picture may be changing. Last year the the Universities and Colleges Admission Service discovered that women aged 22-29 have overtaken men on pay for the first time. And a survey for the Chartered Management Institute found that female managers in their 20s were earning 2.1% more than their male counterparts.

Such controversies are feeding a sense that men need to set up their own support structures. The Men's Network, a charity in Brighton, aims to help "every man and boy in our city to fulfil his greatest potential".

Movember, a campaign in which men grow facial hair for a month, taps into a feeling among some men that male diseases like prostate and testicular cancer are not taken as seriously as women's.

As the old certainties break down, a masculinist movement claims men need their own equivalent to feminists.

Aoirthoir An Broc, founder of the International Association of Masculinists, says there are thousands of male activists in India fighting the country's unequal divorce laws.

Graph showing pay across various occupations for men and women

An Broc, a web designer in Cleveland, Ohio, is planning to set up the first domestic violence shelter in the US for male victims. He says there's an assumption that women are always innocent and men the aggressor. In response he's coined the term "all men are good" to counter the negative perception.

"We say that all men are men, all men are good, all men are worthy of love and respect regardless of race, sexuality, religion. We don't believe in cultural definitions of men."

There's a cultural context, too. Some of the men's rights-type concerns echo those of feminists - male body image is a growing issue.

And there are some who feel that while feminism has addressed discrimination against women, outdated attitudes towards men have not been tackled.

Tom Martin gained attention last year after suing the London School of Economics' gender studies department for sexism.

He says he was radicalised while working as a barman in a club in Soho. "I could see that male customers were being abused at every point," he says.

Men had to queue and often pay while women got in free. They were goaded by bouncers to leave, while women were treated with respect. But worst of all, he believes they were used by women to buy drinks.

But Martin says it is all about sex.

Where women rule the roost

Woman flexing bicep

"Since the pill, women have been told they can and should be having orgasms. And because they haven't been, they categorise that as men's fault."

He concludes that "it's women's job to make themselves sexually happy, it's not a man's burden."

The psychologist Oliver James believes men are feeling "sexually threatened".

Women are no longer reticent about sex or their expectations from a lover. Furthermore they are now more likely to evaluate a man's sexual performance in public and even deride men who "aren't particularly imaginative or clever" in bed, he argues.

For feminists the men's movement is more straightforward. "It's the same old point that feminism has gone too far," says Mail on Sunday columnist Suzanne Moore.

The continuing gender pay gap and the fact that men dominate senior positions in public life, show up where the real discrimination is, she argues. There are problems with the way boys are educated but "you can't make sweeping statements about all men being discriminated against", she says.

Kat Banyard, author of The Equality Illusion, says men make the mistake of fearing feminism when it offers them liberation from an outdated masculinity. "There's a belief that feminism is a zero sum game and that men are losing."

To argue that men are now the victims of the gender struggle is absurd, she says. "For thousands of years women were subjugated as second class citizens. We've just started to change that in the last two centuries and there's a long way to go. The men's activists are denying history."

Male rights campaigners have struggled to shed their "cranky" image, argues Tim Samuels, presenter of BBC Radio 5 live's Men's Hour.

Most men don't see themselves as part of a movement, Samuels says. But they do want to talk to each other with a greater emotional complexity than previous generations of men - "even if it's not like Oprah".

And whatever one thinks about the spectrum of men's rights activism, there are important issues, like the fact that young men are three times as likely to die by suicide as young women.

"The men's movement tends to be dismissed as blokes scaling buildings dressed as superman. Whereas the women's movement is given credibility," Samuels says.copy : http://www.bbc.co.uk/.

Newt Gingrich to formally end presidential campaign

Newt Gingrich in New York 19 April 2012 Mr Gingrich resigned from Congress after election losses for Republicans in the 1990s


Newt Gingrich is to bring a formal end to his presidential campaign and is expected to endorse the presumptive Republican nominee, Mitt Romney.

He bows out as the Obama re-election team issued a "greatest hits" video of Mr Gingrich's critiques on Mr Romney.

The former House Speaker has already thanked supporters and pledged to prevent the "genuine disaster" of Mr Obama's re-election.

Mr Gingrich end his campaign some $4m (£2.5m) in debt, according to reports.

He is expected to appear in Arlington, Virginia to formally announce the suspension of his presidential bid.

The end of his campaign leaves just Ron Paul remaining as a notional challenger to Mr Romney.

His decision also provided the Obama campaign with the opportunity to highlight Mr Gingrich's regular primary-season attacks on the man he is expected to endorse.

The edited compilation suggests Mr Gingrich does not support the Romney campaign or its key positions.
Written off
In his own video message, released on Tuesday, Mr Gingrich did not mention or endorse Mr Romney, the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

Mr Romney and supporting groups used large numbers of negative advertisements against Mr Gingrich and fellow Republican rival Rick Santorum in the primaries.

While the former Massachusetts governor is not the official Republican nominee, he is on track to gain the 1,144 delegates needed to secure the nomination by the end of May.

Mr Gingrich's White House run was full of incident. He was largely written off in the summer of 2011 when a number of key campaign staff walked out on him.

But a series of strong debate performances brought him back to prominence, and he won the South Carolina primary in January.

He also won the primary in his home state of Georgia but failed to build further momentum during the primary season and struggled to match Mr Romney's financial muscle.
copy : http://www.bbc.co.uk/.

Barack Obama pledges to 'finish the job' in Afghanistan

Mr Obama hailed the approaching end of the war and thanked US troops


US President Barack Obama has pledged to "finish the job" and end the Afghan war, addressing the US public live from a military base in Afghanistan.

Speaking a year after Osama Bin Laden's killing, Mr Obama thanked US troops and hailed plans to end combat operations.

He arrived in Kabul on a surprise visit lasting a few hours to sign an accord on future Afghan-US ties with President Hamid Karzai, ahead of a Nato summit.

Hours after his speech, at least seven people died in an attack in Kabul.

Afghan officials said at least two suicide bombers targeted a residential compound popular with foreigners in the eastern part of the capital.

They said at least four of those killed were from a nearby school. Seventeen people were wounded. The Taliban later claimed responsibility for the attacks.

A spokesman for the Nato-led force praised the Afghan security forces for "taking the lead in putting down another desperate attack by insurgents".

Analysis

The partnership addresses long-term Afghan financial and security needs and aims to make clear the West is not cutting and running.
That's an important message for audiences in Nato countries, as well as in Afghanistan. But it also sends a signal to the militants and their supporters eyeing up the "end game".
More than 20 drafts were exchanged before the final text could be agreed. Clauses were also inserted late on to try to reassure neighbours like Iran and Pakistan who are nervous about a continued US presence.
Change will be gradual. The US will retain a large degree of influence - but less and less control - over key areas like prisons and night raids. Crucially for Afghans, they now have a framework for gaining control of these issues.
The deal will not itself provide a durable peace - that will need many other steps, including a settlement with the insurgent groups and the co-operation of Afghanistan's neighbours.
'National security'
Earlier, Mr Obama said signing the pact with President Karzai was "a historic moment" for both nations.

His visit and TV address came as the patience of the US public with the war in Afghanistan is wearing thin.

In the speech, beamed back to prime-time evening audiences in the US, the president said that at the forthcoming Nato summit, to be held in Chicago later this month, the alliance would "set a goal for Afghan forces to be in the lead for combat operations across the country next year".

Nato has already committed to withdrawing from combat operations in Afghanistan by the end of 2014.

"I will not keep Americans in harm's way a single day longer than is absolutely required for our national security," Mr Obama said. "But we must finish the job we started in Afghanistan, and end this war responsibly."

Correspondents say Mr Obama's words appear to be aimed at showing American voters he is pursuing a strategy to wind down the war, while reassuring Afghans in the face of a continuing Taliban insurgency.
'Path to peace'
About 23,000 of the 88,000 US troops currently in the country are expected to leave Afghanistan by the summer, with all US and Nato combat troops out by the end of 2014.

"It is time to renew America," Mr Obama said towards the end of his remarks.

"My fellow Americans, we have travelled through more than a decade under the dark cloud of war. Yet here, in the pre-dawn darkness of Afghanistan, we can see the light of a new day on the horizon.

"The Iraq war is over. The number of our troops in harm's way has been cut in half, and more will be coming home soon. We have a clear path to fulfil our mission in Afghanistan, while delivering justice to al-Qaeda."

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Barack Obama and Hamid Karzai on 1 May 2012
America has no designs beyond an end to al-Qaeda safe-havens, and respect for Afghan sovereignty”
Barack Obama US President

During the speech, Mr Obama outlined the agreement he had just signed with Mr Karzai.

The BBC's Paul Adams says 20 months of negotiation finally produced an agreement after differences over night raids by Nato special forces and the handling of prisoners were ironed out.

According to the US president, the document outlines plans for training Afghan forces and supporting counter-terrorism efforts, as well as "Afghan commitments to transparency and accountability".

Mr Obama also spoke of a "negotiated peace" with the Taliban, saying that if insurgents broke with al-Qaeda, and followed the "path to peace", there could be reconciliation.

He said that ahead of the Chicago meeting of Nato, he had made it clear to Pakistan that it could be an "equal partner in the process".

Pakistan and US relations soured after Mr Obama launched the raid that killed Bin Laden inside the country's border.

"In pursuit of a durable peace, America has no designs beyond an end to al-Qaeda safe-havens, and respect for Afghan sovereignty."

Mr Obama also rejected calls to leave Afghanistan in advance of the 2014 Nato timeline, saying "we must finish the job we started in Afghanistan, and end this war responsibly".

President Karzai said after the meeting: "By signing this document, we close the last 10 years and open a new season of equal relations."

The Taliban accused him of selling Afghan sovereignty to the Americans.

In the wake of the agreement, the US is to designate Afghanistan as a major non-Nato ally, US officials are quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

The deal does not commit the US to any specific spending or troop presence, but does leave the way open for Washington to keep forces in Afghanistan until 2024, the Associated Press reports.
copy : http://www.bbc.co.uk/.

At least 20 killed as attackers target Cairo protest

 


The BBC's Jon Leyne said the trouble began at dawn when an unidentified group moved in and started attacking the protesters


At least 20 people have been killed in Cairo in an attack on a protest near the Egyptian Ministry of Defence.

The unknown attackers used rocks, clubs, firebombs and shotguns. The protesters retaliated, beating some assailants.

Soldiers and police have now intervened to stop the clashes, but as long as six hours after the violence started.

Two leading presidential candidates have suspended campaigning in protest at the way authorities handled it.

Abdul Moneim Aboul Fotouh, an independent Islamist, and Mohammed Mursi, head of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), criticised the authorities' response.

In addition, the FJP and the Salafist Nour party, which together control 70% of the seats in parliament, decided to boycott a meeting with the ruling Supreme Council of Armed Forces (Scaf).
'Massacre'
Many of the protesters who were attacked outside the defence ministry building, in the capital's Abbasiya district, on Wednesday morning were supporters of a Salafist preacher barred from standing in the election.

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I saw several people with head injuries and two people died in front of me. There was a lot of blood everywhere”
Ahmed Raafat Demonstrator

Hazem Abu Ismail was disqualified because his mother had dual Egyptian-US nationality, violating rules laid out in a constitutional declaration approved after an uprising forced President Hosni Mubarak to step down.

Mr Abu Ismail complained that he was the victim of a "plot" by the military authorities, but the election commission found no evidence.

Ahmed Raafat was at the demonstration with friends and witnessed the attacks which he described to the BBC as a "massacre".

"I saw several people with head injuries and two people died in front of me. There was a lot of blood everywhere.

"The thugs who carried out the attacks were on foot and had their faces covered... [They used] live bullets, molotov cocktails, bricks and tear gas," he said.

The health ministry said more than 150 people were injured on Wednesday and that many were receiving treatment at a nearby field clinic.

Some had gunshot wounds and others had been attacked with knives, according to medical sources.
Criticism of military

Analysis

The attack on demonstrators outside the Egyptian defence ministry follows what has become a familiar pattern in recent months.
The attackers were unidentified thugs in plain clothes. Egyptians will strongly suspect they were, at the very least, encouraged by some section of the government.
The attack is most unlikely to deter the protesters. More likely, the demonstrators will summon reinforcements, with the danger of further clashes in coming days.
The first round of the presidential election is just three weeks away. Despite the violence, and the disqualification of several leading candidates, at the moment the vote does not appear to be under threat.

Some reports said the unidentified attackers were local people, angry at the disruption caused by the sit-in, which began on Saturday.

But many Egyptians will suspect that, at the very least, the government turned a blind eye, reports the BBC's Jon Leyne in Cairo.

The use of plain-clothes thugs is a well-worn tactic by the authorities, he adds.

Soldiers and police deployed in the area initially did not intervene to stop the clashes, nor did they when one person was killed in a similar attack early on Sunday.

The Nobel laureate and former head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, Mohamed ElBaradei, criticised the ruling generals on Twitter.

"Massacre in front of [the ministry of defence]," he wrote. "Scaf & government unable to protect civilians or in cahoots with thugs. Egypt going down the drain."

Opposition to the Scaf has built up steadily since it assumed Mr Mubarak's presidential powers in February 2011.

The council has been accused of stifling dissent by killing protesters, detaining critics and undermining the youth and civil society groups which led the uprising.

In another development, the deputy head of Scaf has said the military might hand over power to an elected president straight after this month's first round of elections, if a candidate wins outright.

Supporters of Salafist preacher Hazem Abu Ismail pray outside the Egyptian defence ministry building in Cairo (29 April 2012) Supporters of Salafist preacher Hazem Abu Ismail have gathered outside the ministry since Saturday

General Sami Annan was reported by a state-run Egyptian television channel (Nile News TV) as saying the military was studying the possibility of transferring power on the 24th of May.

They had previously committed to handing over power by the end of June, after a presidential election that they say will be free and fair.

The election's first round is scheduled for 23 and 24 May, with a run-off vote for the top two candidates expected on 16 and 17 June.

The race seems to have narrowed to a contest between Mr Aboul Fotouh, Mr Mursi, and the former head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa.

Are you in Cairo? Did you witness the attack? Send us your comments and experiences using the form below.

Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload herecopy : http://www.bbc.co.uk/.

Fewer top-ups for MPs, Commons bar staff told


Wine glasses Commons staff will be told to top up glasses less

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Commons staff are being told to cut down on topping up MPs' glasses at receptions in an effort to encourage "responsible alcohol use".

They are also to get more training on how to refuse to serve MPs considered to have had too much to drink.

Police were called to the Commons in February, after MP Eric Joyce attacked four politicians in Strangers Bar.

Commons authorities have also said MPs should be allowed to get a taxpayer-funded iPad, costing from £399 each.

The decisions on alcohol policy and "mobile devices" for MPs were made by the ruling House of Commons Commission, chaired by Speaker John Bercow, earlier this week.

The Commission has overall responsibility for Commons staff and says it takes its responsibility to look after them "very seriously".

It has agreed on various changes to get MPs and guests to drink less alcohol, including serving more non-alcoholic drinks and weaker beers and giving staff more training and support "in refusing to serve customers when necessary".
Bar brawl
It also says that, when alcohol is being served at receptions and other events, "glasses would be topped up less frequently" and there is to be a consultation on opening hours of bars on the Parliamentary estate.

Parliament has a long history of drinking dating back centuries but BBC political correspondent Ben Wright, who is writing a book on the history of politics and alcohol, says sobriety has increased over the past 20 years - something politicians put down to shorter working days, fewer late-night sittings, more women MPs and greater alcohol awareness.

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The commission noted that significant price increases had occurred in recent years and that bar prices were now comparable to high street pubs”
House of Commons Commission

But in March Mr Joyce apologised in the Commons for his behaviour in Strangers Bar the month before, having admitted assaulting a number of politicians after drinking "three or four glasses of wine".

He was suspended by - and later resigned from - the Labour Party and has said he will not stand for re-election in 2015.

There have been other isolated instances, or reports, of MPs missing votes or being involved in alcohol-fuelled incidents in Parliament in recent years.

In opposition, David Cameron pledged to end MPs' subsidised food and alcohol to save up to £5.5m - in January it was reported that the taxpayer subsidy for Commons bars and restaurants had gone up to £5.8m.
'Wildly exaggerated'
However the Commons Commission appeared to rule out any additional move to raise the price of drinks in Commons bar - a suggestion raised in its five-year savings plan - saying they had already gone up in recent years and bar prices were now "comparable to high street pubs".

It also confirmed a pilot scheme to allow MPs to swap their laptops for an iPad - something it says can save money and cut down on paper use by MPs. Returned laptops or other pieces of IT equipment could keep down costs by being passed to Commons staff to replace "obsolete equipment".

MPs on select committees would also be allowed an iPad without swapping it for another piece of equipment, if they agreed to have documents emailed to them rather than getting printouts - saving printing costs and making them more environmentally friendly.

The report suggests this could knock at least £50,000 off the cost - based on 100 MPs returning a laptop. But newspapers have estimated the overall cost of supplying every MP with a tablet computer at up to £430,000.

A Commons spokesman said he did not recognise that figure, which did not take into account savings and potential bulk-buying deals. But he added that an overall estimate of cost had not been done because it depended on how many MPs wanted to take up the offer.

The scheme would not be run through the MPs' expenses watchdog Ipsa - as select committees are funded directly by the House of Commons, which would also run the "swap shop" scheme, as its staff would benefit from the returned equipment.
Fig trees
Conservative MP Amber Rudd told BBC Radio 5live estimates of cost were likely to be "wildly exaggerated" - as she had already bought an iPad with her own money, and she assumed lots of other MPs would have done the same thing.

The Commission also confirmed that the cost of maintaining fig trees in Portcullis House - which amounts to nearly £400,000 since they were installed 12 years ago - and of "external shrubbery" will be cut down from about £44,000 a year to £18,500 a year, after the contract was renegotiated. Speaker John Bercow has previously said he was "horrified" at the cost.

However the Commission says the trees help regulate the temperature in the building, humidity, air quality and sound proofing - and would have to be replaced by "expensive and environmentally unfriendly mechanical systems" if the trees were removed.copy : http://www.bbc.co.uk/.

News Corp 'has full confidence in Rupert Murdoch'

 

Breaking News
The News Corporation board says it has "full confidence" in Rupert Murdoch.
In a statement, the board of directors said it supported Mr Murdoch "to continue to lead News Corporation into the future as its chairman and CEO".
On Tuesday, a government media committee in the UK concluded that Mr Murdoch was "not a fit person" to run a major international business.
But the News Corp board said Mr Murdoch had "demonstrated resolve" to address mistakes at the company copy : http://www.bbc.co.uk/.

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