Policies are short-sighted SO it's official. The coalitiongovernment is bad for your health!
Not content with scrapping Labour's free swimming policy for theover-60s and under-16s, the Lib Dems and Tories have now scrappedthe successful ring-fenced school's sport budget of Pounds 162million.
Under Labour, 95 per cent of school children took part in aminimum of two hours sport per week.
This is now under …
LONDON - British officials do not know where Iran is holding 15 sailors and marines captured in the Persian Gulf, and requests for access to them have been denied, the Foreign Office said Sunday.
Iranian state television, meanwhile, said its Foreign Ministry summoned the British ambassador in Tehran "to protest the illegal entry of British sailors into Iranian territorial waters." It gave no details about the meeting.
The British Foreign Office said Ambassador Geoffrey Adams met with senior Iranian officials and demanded the immediate release of the captured personnel, the Foreign Office said.
Iran's top military official, Gen. Ali Reza Afshar, said on Saturday …
Former England winger Josh Lewsey will retire at the end of the season and hopes his final matches are on tour with the British and Irish Lions.
Lewsey scored 22 tries in 55 games for England and was part of the 2003 World Cup-winning team. He also won four Premiership titles, two Heineken Cups and a European Challenge Cup with Wasps.
"I am 32 and I suppose I could have gone on for a few more years," Lewsey said Sunday. "But my wife is finishing her doctorate, you have to think about real life and responsibility, the possibility of a family."
Lewsey retired from England duty in December after being told by Martin Johnson that …
Eight shopping days until Christmas. What! There must be amistake. Weren't we all just watching the Bears home opener a fewdays ago?
Don't fret. If you have friends on your shopping list who lovecomputers, I've got just the gift suggestions for you.
You should be able to find my recommended gifts at the largecomputer chains and many smaller outlets. I've seen a lot ofcomputer games at major retailers and toy stores since PCs havebecome so ubiquitous.
If you decide to buy software as gifts, make sure you buy theright format. With all kinds of computers out there (IBM PCs andcompatibles, Apple IIs, Macintoshes, Atari STs, Commodore 64s andAmigas, and …
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is running out of options to try to boost a slumping economy and lower unemployment. So policymakers are expected to reach 50 years back into their playbook for their next move.
Most economists expect the Fed to announce a plan Wednesday to shift money in its $1.7 trillion portfolio out of short-term securities and into longer-term holdings.
The plan could lower Treasury yields further. Ultimately, it could reduce rates on mortgages and other consumer and business loans, too.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to advocate the move despite criticism from within the Fed and from Republican lawmakers and presidential …
Stocks fell sharply worldwide Monday following declines on Wall Street last week amid investor pessimism over the U.S. government's stimulus plan to prevent a recession.
U.S. markets were closed for the Martin Luther King holiday, but the downbeat mood from last week's market declines there circled through Europe, Asia and Canada. The U.K. benchmark FTSE-100 dropped 4.7 percent to 5,625.20; France's CAC-40 Index plunged 5.9 percent to 4,793.39, while Germany's blue-chip DAX 30 slumped 6.74 percent to 6,821.42.
In Asia, India's benchmark stock index tumbled 7.4 percent, while Hong Kong's blue-chip Hang Seng index plummeted 5.5 percent to 23,818.86, its biggest percentage drop since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Canadian stocks fell as well, with the Toronto exchange down 4.8 percent.
Investors dumped shares because they were skeptical that an economic stimulus plan President George W. Bush announced Friday would shore up the economy that has been battered by problems in its housing and credit markets. The plan, which requires approval by Congress, calls for about US$145 billion (euro99 billion) worth of tax relief to encourage consumer spending.
"We've taken our lead from the Asian markets who have not been impressed by the U.S. There's debate if there's going to be a recession in the U.S. I don't think there's much chance of that though," said Richard Hunter an analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers Ltd. in London.
Concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy, a major export market for Asian companies, has sent the region's markets sliding in 2008. Just last Wednesday, the Hang Seng index sank 5.4 percent.
"It's another horrible day," said Francis Lun, a general manager at Fulbright Securities in Hong Kong. "Today it's because of disappointment that the U.S. stimulus (package) is too little, too late and investors feel it won't help the economy recover."
Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 index slid 3.9 percent to close at 13,325.94 points, its lowest close in more than 2 years. China's Shanghai Composite index plunged 5.1 percent, partly on worries about mainland Chinese banks' exposure to risky U.S. mortgage investments.
"People are certainly nervous about a potential recession in the U.S. spilling over to the rest of the world," said David Cohen, Director of Asian Economic Forecasting at Action Economics in Singapore.
"Maybe there's still some wariness about politicians are able to come up with a compromise and act sufficiently quickly" on a stimulus package, Cohen said. "I think the impact would be marginal anyway."
Investors took cues from the negative reaction to the president's plan on Wall Street on Friday, when the Dow Jones industrial average slid 0.5 percent to 12,099.30, bringing its loss for the year so far to nearly 9 percent.
Traders also have shrugged off assurances from Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke that the U.S. central bank is ready to act aggressively _ which means a likely big interest rate cut later this month _ to help the sagging economy.
Some analysts predict that Asia won't suffer dramatically from a U.S. recession because increased trade and investment within Asia has made the region less reliant on the United States than in the past. Excluding Japan, 43 percent of Asia's exports go to other nations in the region, Lehman Brothers calculates, up from 37 percent in 1995.
But on Monday, uncertainty and pessimism reigned.
In Tokyo trading, exporters got hit hard, partly because of the yen's recent strength against the dollar. Toyota Motor Corp. lost 3.3 percent and Honda Motor Co. sank 3.4 percent.
Shares of Bank of China dropped 6.4 percent in Hong Kong after the South China Morning Post newspaper reported that the bank is expected to announce a "significant writedown" in U.S. subprime mortgage securities, citing unidentified sources. In Shanghai, the bank's stock declined 4.1 percent.
India's the benchmark Sensex index fell 1,353 points, or 7.4 percent _ its second-biggest percentage drop ever _ to 17,605.35 points. At one point, it was down nearly 11 percent.
The decline hit companies across the board, with power utility Reliance Energy Ltd. falling 16.4 percent. Major software company Tata Consultancy Services Ltd. slid 7.6 percent
"A gloomy U.S. climate has affected the global markets. Even if those markets recover, it will take sometime for the recovery to reach India because today's fall has been so drastic," said Jayant Pai, of the Mumbai investment company IL&FS Ltd.
Still, Pai and others suggested that the declines could lead to a buying opportunity.
"The sell-off today takes us close to the bottom," she said.
Since the start of the year, Japan's Nikkei index has declined 13 percent, while Hong Kong's blue-chip index is down more than 14 percent. Even China's Shanghai index _ which nearly doubled last year _ has fallen 6.6 percent over the same period and nearly 20 percent from its all-time closing high on Oct. 16.
___
Associated Press writers Cassie Biggs in Hong Kong, Ramola Talwar Badam in Mumbai and Elaine Kurtenbach in Shanghai Carl Freire in Tokyo contributed to this report.
Another toe-tapping set of vintage musicals was released thisweek in a new DVD box set, led by "The Pirate," one of moresprightly and enjoyably comic tuners from the late 1940s.
-- "CLASSIC MUSICALS FROM THE DREAM FACTORY, VOL. 2" (Warner,1948-85, seven discs, $59.92). No one turned out as lavish -- or asmany -- musicals as MGM during the golden era of movies, and thiscollection stars such great song-and-dance veterans as Gene Kelly,Fred Astaire, Judy Garland, Vera-Ellen, Mickey Rooney, KathrynGrayson, Mario Lanza and many more.
All except "Royal Wedding" are making their DVD debut.
-- "The Pirate" (1948) is a most enjoyable romp, and arguably thebest film in this set. There's a comic mistaken-identity plot, asGene Kelly, a footloose actor, is thought to be a legendary pirateby Judy Garland. But it's the Cole Porter songs and Gene Kelly'sdance routines that stand out -- especially "Be a Clown," whichincludes those breathtaking tap-dancers the Nicholas Brothers (andwhich bears more than a passing resemblance to the later "Make 'EmLaugh," from "Singin' in the Rain").
-- "Words and Music" (1948) is a Hollywood biography of thesongwriting team of Richard Rodgers (Tom Drake) and Lorenz Hart(Mickey Rooney), but forget the schmaltz and just enjoy the greatsongs, and the bevy of guest stars, ranging from Lena Horne to CydCharisse to Judy Garland to Janet Leigh. The best highlight here isa fabulous dance set to "Slaughter on 10th Avenue," with Gene Kellyand Vera-Ellen -- which is, all by itself, worth the cost of thedisc.
-- "That Midnight Kiss"/"The Toast of New Orleans" (1949/1950).This double-bill features two films with Kathryn Grayson and MarioLanza. Each film's plot is routine, but the music and performancesmore than make up for fans of the two stars.
-- "Royal Wedding"/"The Belle of New York" (1951/1952). These twoFred Astaire musicals are notable because, well, they star FredAstaire. "Royal Wedding," which has been on DVD for years ininferior public-domain versions, is cleaned up here and demonstratesits classic status. The plot has a brother and sister (Astaire, JanePowell) performing in London during Princess Elizabeth's wedding,and the dance routines include two Astaire signature pieces --dancing on the ceiling and dancing with a hat rack. "The Belle ofNew York" is a lesser vehicle, but it's still fun, with playboyAstaire pursuing charity worker Vera-Ellen.
-- "That's Dancing!" (1985) is a follow-up to the "That'sEntertainment!" trilogy, this time focusing on dance. There areattempts to make the documentary relevant -- to the mid-1980s -- byincluding breakdancing, and by having the film conclude with MichaelJackson's "Beat It" music video. None of which holds a candle to theincredible kaleidoscopes of the "girls" from Busby Berkeley'smusicals, and the energy and class of Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly,Donald O'Connor, the Nicholas Brothers, Ray Bolger and many more.Even Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov show up.
Extras: Full frame (except widescreen portions of "That'sDancing"), audio commentaries, featurettes, outtakes, short films,cartoons, audio elements, trailers (also available individually,$19.97 for single films, $24.98 for double-features)
E-mail: hicks@desnews.com
