UK News
Insights from the UK and beyond
from FaithWorld:
EU court bars stem cell patents when embryos destroyed, Christians hail ruling
(A microscopic view shows a colony of human embryonic stem cells (light blue) growing on fibroblasts (dark blue) in this handout photo released to Reuters by the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, March 9, 2009/Alan Trounson/California Institute for Regenerative Medicine)
Europe's top court has banned patenting any stem-cell process that involves destroying a human embryo, dealing what some scientists said was a "devastating" blow to an emerging field of medical research. Researchers fear the ruling by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) will hobble development in an area of science that could provide a range 21st-century medicines for diseases from Parkinson's to blindness.
Stem-cell technology is controversial because some cell lines are derived from embryos. The ECJ decision now endorses widespread protection of human embryos by blocking patents. "A process which involves removal of a stem cell from a human embryo at the blastocyst stage, entailing the destruction of that embryo, cannot be patented," it said. Blastocyst is the stage just before implantation in the womb, when the embryo consists of around 80 to 100 cells.
Christian groups in Europe welcomed the decision. The European Centre for Law and Justice in Strasbourg said it said "protects life and human dignity" at all stages of development. The Anscombe Bioethics Centre in Oxford called it "a triumph of ethical standards over commercial interest."
from FaithWorld:
Church of England edges nearer to allowing women bishops
(Canterbury Cathedral, September 2005/Hans Musil)
The Church of England cleared another legislative hurdle to appointing women bishops, but traditionalist opponents warned on Monday the move was not a foregone conclusion. Some Anglican provinces already have women bishops, including Australia, the United States and Canada, but the ordination of women and homosexuals as bishops as well as same-sex marriages remain the most divisive issues facing the Anglican Communion, which has 77 million members worldwide.
The Church of England has voted in principle for women to be consecrated, and draft legislation is currently being looked at by its 44 dioceses, or groups of parishes, as part of its long legislative process. At the weekend, the diocese vote passed the 50 percent backing needed for it to go back to the Church's parliament, or general synod, for a final vote next year.
from Left field:
Both teams got the Euro 2012 playoff draw they wanted
By Philip O’Connor in Stockholm
It wasn’t just Irish eyes that were smiling when the Euro 2012 playoff draw was made in Polish city of Krakow - some of the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) delegation appeared to be laughing out loud when they were drawn to face Estonia, with the winner heading to next year’s finals.
But despite the protestations of coach Tarmo Ruutli, Ireland probably represents the best possible draw for the Estonians, given that the other alternatives were Portugal, Croatia or the Czech Republic.
from Left field:
The future of British tennis
The Great Britain Junior Davis Cup team were trying to win the Junior Davis Cup for the first time in UK history. We have a great team and were seeded number 1 because we won the European team championships for the first time this summer.
The team consisted of Kyle Edmund at number 1, who at 16 had made the semi-finals of the junior U.S. Open, Luke Bambridge at number 2, and Evan Hoyt at number 3. We prepared very well by getting to Mexico 6 days early to acclimatise to the altitude, time zone, and heat. We were determined to win. The reason we arrived 6 days early is that it takes a day for every hour to adjust to the time zone. The ball flies quicker and further through the air because of the altitude. Also in altitude it is harder to breath because of the air.
As the number 1 seeds we drew Thailand, Germany and Canada in our group to qualify for the semi-finals. We had to beat all the teams to be certain of qualifying, which we did. We won all our matches but it wasn’t quite as straight forward as that. Evan Hoyt our third ranked boy was struck down with food poisoning an hour before his opening match against Thailand and our number 1 Kyle Edmund was on antibiotics for the whole event because of a fever and couldn't play singles on the opening day against Thailand. These kinds of situations are always a balancing act, but the depth of the team is so good that we could play any one of the three boys.
from Africa News blog:
Must we see rape in Britain to understand rape in Congo?
I was left somewhat traumatised after going to see a screening of a controversial new Hollywood-backed short released this week, aimed at highlighting the link between minerals mined for British mobile phones and the use of rape and murder as weapons of war in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The highly graphic campaign video - appropriately called Unwatchable - starts with a little English girl picking flowers in the garden of her family’s multi-million pound mansion in a picturesque Cotswolds village.
from Breakingviews:
BBC ersatz trader has serious markets message
By Christopher Swann
The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.
Wall Street now has its equivalent of a reality TV star. A clip from the BBC of a self-described trader admitting to dreaming of financial doom as a money spinner has spread like wildfire. The Gordon Gekko wannabe doesn't work for a Wall Street firm but his vulgar amorality offers a description of trading that has struck a chord with a public still smoldering over bank bailouts.
Ersatz trader Alessio Rastani wasn't a big name in finance. He was nobody until this week. Still, he has some claim to represent the primitive Id of traders everywhere. His obvious indifference to the human suffering caused by financial collapses and economic downturns -- in this case the crisis facing European nations -- seemingly shocked the public, not to mention BBC presenters who let him rant ad nauseam.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
United get rude awakening
The plain sailing Manchester United would have expected in the group stage of their Champions League campaign has turned into a rough ride after Tuesday’s 3-3 home draw with Swiss side Basel, who were unlucky not to have come away from Old Trafford with the three points.
Two draws in their last two games, away to Stoke City in the Premier League and the late escape against Basel, will have rooted out any complacency that might have crept into Alex Ferguson’s men after their flying start to the season which included an 8-2 drubbing of Arsenal.
from Reuters Investigates:
Behind the scenes at UBS
Emma Thomasson and Edward Taylor tell the inside story of UBS's turbulent week in today's second special report "How a rogue trader crashed UBS."
UBS chief Oswald Gruebel’s decision to resign after the bank said a rogue trader lost as much as $2.3 billion was not just a response to the immediate crisis. It was also an admission that the bank’s latest scandal has effectively undone all his efforts over the past two years to lobby against tougher bank regulations.
from MediaFile:
The future of journalism in the UK
By Mark Thompson
The opinions discussed are his own.
In the UK we are going through an unprecedented crisis in journalism, a crisis with the boundaries and techniques of investigative journalism at its heart.
We don’t yet know what will emerge from this crisis and from Lord Leveson’s Inquiry, but any recommendations about new laws or regulation will be studied with interest by Governments around the world.
from FaithWorld:
Irish Catholic Church may tap parishes to pay for sexual abuse claims
(Archbishop of Dublin Diarmuid Martin speaks at a news conference in Dublin, Ireland November 26, 2009/Cathal McNaughton)
The Catholic Church in Ireland's capital may have to tap parish funds to pay compensation to people sexually assaulted by priests as more victims come forward, the Archbishop of Dublin said on Thursday. The Archdiocese of Dublin has paid out 13.5 million euros ($18.2 mln) since the late 1990s in compensation and legal costs related to sexual abuse cases and it has asked parishes to contribute money to a fund partly used to meet those claims.
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The Wall
