Jenjie

A police worker praised by MPs for protecting thousands of girls from forced marriages is facing dismissal for speaking publicly about their plight. Philip Balmforth has been removed from his duties and faces a disciplinary hearing next week after giving an interview to The Times about Asian children who go missing from schools in Bradford. The former police inspector, regarded as a national authority on “honour-based” violence, stands accused of “damaging the reputation” of West Yorkshire Police by speaking to a newspaper without consent. It is understood that the force, which has investigated 176 cases of forced marriage in the past year alone, took action against Mr Balmforth after receiving a complaint from Bradford council. Senior figures on the local authority are said to have claimed that his high-profile work was damaging the city’s image and was “bad for regeneration”. Last week 56 MPs signed a Commons early day motion praising Mr Balmforth. It was tabled by Ann Cryer, the MP for Keighley and a campaigner for the welfare of ethnic minority women. The motion applauds his work “in protecting thousands of vulnerable girls in the Bradford district” and commends the police “for having the foresight to engage Philip 12 years ago, thus enabling him to give so many young women the right to choose whom and when to marry”. Mrs Cryer described Mr Balmforth as “a knight in shining armour” who “does everything he can to protect people and give them time to assess the situation they are in”. It is estimated that hundreds of young people — most of them female — are bullied, coerced or tricked into marrying against their will each year. Ninety per cent of the victims who have been dealt with by the Government’s Forced Marriage Unit are from a Pakistani or Bangladeshi background and the majority are taken to their families’ countries of origin to be married, often to a first cousin. Mr Balmforth, a full-time police support worker whose post as vulnerable persons officer (Asian women) is partly funded by Bradford social services, has been contacted for help by more than 2,000 local women in recent years. He was interviewed by The Times this month after the Commons Home Affairs Select Committee inquiry into domestic violence established that 33 pupils had vanished from schools in Bradford. Mr Balmforth suggested that every education authority in the country should be asked: “How many children did you lose last year? And where are they?” Inquiries ordered by the Government revealed later that 2,089 pupils aged under 16 had gone missing during the past year in 15 local authority areas regarded as being of high risk for forced marriage. There are concerns that a significant minority of the missing pupils may have been taken to Asia for a marriage ceremony against their will. Jasvinder Sanghera, whose Karma Nirvana charity helps victims of forced marriage and honour-based violence, said that she was disgusted by Mr Balmforth’s treatment. “Philip Balmforth is the most experienced and effective police officer in the country in dealing with these issues. He’s devoted to his work and over the years his achievements have been extraordinary,” she said. “He’s fallen victim to people who are more concerned about issues of cultural sensitivity and political correctness than they are about helping vulnerable young women.” Shahien Taj, director of the Henna Foundation, which provides support for Muslim children and their families, said that Mr Balmforth had done “an impeccable job in raising the issue of missing children”. “If we don’t raise awareness about this issue, then there are young people out there who will not realise that there is help available for them. They’ll carry on think that what’s happening to them is normal,” she said. “Philip Balmforth is a one-off. He does everything in his power to make young people safe. We need more people like him in police forces.” Bradford council declined to comment on the action taken against Mr Balmforth, while a spokesman for West Yorkshire Police said that it was policy not to discuss internal disciplinary matters. He said that the force took forced marraige issues “very seriously” and had “a lot of experience in this area, built up over many years”. He added: “We always encourage people to report forced marriage issues and are keen to reassure them that they will be taken seriously and their complaint will be dealt with sensitively.” “People should never be afraid to come forward and talk to us. We have a number of people trained in this area of work.” Missing pupils — More than 2,000 children are missing from school rolls across 14 local education authorities serving communities identified as vulnerable to forced marriage — The Government has demanded reports from each council to establish how many of the 2,089 children “not in receipt of suitable education” have been taken abroad to marry against their will — The missing pupils: Leeds 520; Manchester 385; Leicester 294; Birmingham 250; Bristol 155; Lancashire 149; Derby 121; Luton 66; Newham 40; Bradford 33; Waltham Forest 31; Middlesbrough 23; Tower Hamlets 16; Blackburn with Darwen 6 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article3642686.ece

Police in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh say they have arrested 17 villagers over the killing of a woman suspected of being a witch. The 40-year-old woman, Phool Kunwar, was dragged from her home on Monday night, beaten and burned with a hot iron, police say. The accused include three women. If found guilty, they could face the death penalty or life in prison. Social activists say such cases are common in India. Police say Ms Kunwar was beaten with sticks and sharp rods, burned with a hot iron and pushed into a burning pyre in the village of Dhawalpur. Junior police chief Rajeshwar Singh said she died of her injuries and was then buried. Mr Singh said the terrorised family of the dead woman reported the killing to the police on Tuesday. The body was then exhumed, a post-mortem carried out and several suspects arrested. 'Divine powers' The accused face charges of homicide and of destroying the evidence of the crime. They also face charges relating to special laws introduced in Chhattisgarh to prevent people from making accusations of witchcraft. One of the accused said she had done nothing wrong because she was instructed by a divine power to punish the woman for being a witch. Villagers are reported as saying that the trouble started after a woman in a trance during a religious ceremony stated that Ms Kunwar was a witch. A social activist in the region, Dinesh Mishra, said such cases sometimes occurred when women who claimed to have divine healing powers accused witches of causing the poor health or death of villagers. There were 160 such cases reported in Chhattisgarh last year. Mr Mishra said the reported cases were only the tip of the iceberg as families of those tortured or killed are often afraid of being ostracised. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7317378.stm

Cubans are to be allowed unrestricted access to mobile phones for the first time, in the latest reform announced under new President Raul Castro. In a statement in official newspaper Granma, state telecom monopoly ETECSA said it would offer mobile services to the public in the next few days. Some Cubans already own mobile phones, but they have had to acquire them via a third party, often foreigners. Cuba's rate of cell phone usage remains among the lowest in Latin America. Now Cubans will be able to subscribe to pre-paid mobile services under their own names, instead of going through foreigners or in some cases their work places. However, the new service must be paid for in foreign currency, which will restrict access to wealthier Cubans. Reforms ETECSA says the revenues will be used to fund telecommunications development in Cuba. Two weeks ago, a ban on a wide range of consumer electrical appliances was lifted, after Raul Castro said in his inaugural speech as president that he would act to ease some of the restrictions on Cubans' daily lives. Tight restrictions remain in place on internet access in homes and on foreign travel. Raul, 76, was selected as president in February, after the retirement of his ailing older brother, Fidel. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7318774.stm

A British TV production company has denied allegations that its researchers spread a fatal flu to an isolated indigenous tribe in Peru. Indigenous rights activists, Peruvian government officials and a US scientist say four members of the tribe died after the TV producers visited. A spokesman for the TV company, Cicada Films, said its team did not visit the isolated area in question. Cicada was in Peru last year scouting locations for a new reality TV show. The company makes a series called World's Lost Tribes, which airs on the Disney Channel. 'No evidence' The production company said a producer and his guide had been given official permission to enter all the areas they visited in Manu National Park. The team "travelled only a short distance from the large town Yomibato, and only at the invitation of local people," Cicada said in a statement. "There is no evidence that the researcher introduced illness to the areas they visited. "The researcher and his guide did not visit the area where the deaths are said to have occurred and no deaths occurred amongst the individuals they met." Furthermore, Cicada said, the groups lodging the complaint against them had the wrong dates for their visit. 'Too Westernised' But the Peruvian government's protected areas department said: "The Cicada team entered [remote headwaters] which are part of the strictly protected zone." A regional rights organisation, Fenamad, also said the Cicada team ignored warnings and travelled upriver to very isolated villages. An American anthropologist who met the TV team in Peru has also said they complained the first tribal area they visited was "too Westernised" and looked for a more remote location. The Cicada team is said to have visited the Matsigenka people, who live in the isolated Amazonian Cumerjali area of south-eastern Peru. Four members of the tribe are reported to have died and others have been seriously ill since the TV team's alleged visit. Anthropologists believe there are about 15 isolated groups of indigenous people living without contact with the outside world, says the BBC's Dan Collyns in Peru's capital, Lima. Their isolation means their immune systems have not built up the capacity to deal with illnesses common in less remote regions. Peru's indigenous communities often complain that timber companies and oil prospectors encroach on their land and spread disease among their members. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/7318021.stm

Towns and cities around the world are turning out the lights for an hour to highlight the threat of climate change. Sydney was the first major city to begin "Earth Hour", when at 2000 (0900 GMT), lights went out on landmarks like the Opera House and Harbour Bridge. Bangkok, Toronto, Chicago and Dublin are among 27 other cities officially due to follow suit at 2000 local time. But critics have dismissed the event as a gimmick that will not make any difference, a BBC correspondent notes. The initiative began in Sydney last year when an estimated two million residents took part, cutting energy usage by more than 10% for the hour. Organisers expect hundreds of towns and cities across the world to take part in the event and hope some capitals not officially involved, such as London and Rome, will mark the event by dimming lights on some landmarks. In its own contribution, the Google web search engine is putting a dark background on its homepage. Top emitter Organisers insist the aim of Earth Hour is to show that communities care passionately about climate change and want to keep up the pressure on governments to act decisively. Andy Ridley of the WWF, which is behind the initiative, says interest has been immense. "We're aware of villages in Norfolk in England that are doing Earth Hour and we're aware of the big cities like Chicago and Sydney that are doing it," he told the BBC. Celebrations in Australia to mark Earth Hour include traditional Aboriginal torchlight performances, environmentally friendly dinner parties and special candlelit evenings for single people, the BBC's Phil Mercer reports from Sydney. Some pubs are spending the evening without the lights on while many Australians are marking the occasion quietly in the darkness at home. Australia is one of the world's worst per capita emitters of greenhouse gases and many believe recent droughts and floods are the result of man's destabilising influence on the climate, our correspondent says. New Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has made the environment one of his priorities, signing up to the Kyoto Protocol on tackling climate change soon after he took office. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7319929.stm

A 14-year-old boy died in west London after his throat was slashed by a friend, police have said. Amro Elbadawi, from West Kilburn, was injured in Dart Street, Queen's Park, on Thursday. He died in hospital. Police said a 16-year-old arrested on suspicion of Amro's murder was a "long-standing" friend of the victim. Det Supt Colin Lee said one line of inquiry was that Amro died after a play fight went wrong. A knife has been recovered from the scene. 'Terrible shock' Amro, a British national with family originating from Egypt, was fatally injured as he walked home from the Paddington Academy school in Queen's Park on Thursday evening. He staggered into a nearby health centre where a council employee cradled him in her arms as they waited for an ambulance. He died in hospital an hour later. Det Supt Lee said the boy's family was "distraught" and added: "This has been a terrible, terrible shock for them." He added: "We would appeal to people: 'Do not carry knives'." Up to 100 youths gathered at the area of the incident on Friday, where floral tributes were left. One message read: "To the best boyfriend in the world (Amro). I miss you and love you." Online tributes described Amro as a member of the SD Crew, also known as Street Disciples or Street Dreamz. One message said Amro's nickname was "Lionheart" and another message read: "RIP Amro, I love you to bits, I won't 4get u." The head of Westminster City Council's youth service, Sharon Cohen, said two of her staff saw the incident "between two young people who were friends". "From what young people tell us there is no suggestion this was gang related or pre-meditated," she said. "The sad reality is that if you carry a knife there is the real danger that the pettiest of teenage disputes can all too quickly turn into a tragedy." Paddington Academy principal Phil Hearne said staff were "deeply saddened" by Amro's death. "He was a student in Year 10 studying for his GCSEs and will be greatly missed," Mr Hearne said. "Our thoughts and prayers are with his family." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7320169.stm

yes & yes :D i also have a cool penguin av when i want to switch :)

11:47am setting up WikiColdplay ready for the 2008 Festival reviews & pictures that all you lovely coldplaying peeps are gonna send us

there's still reviews spots :D

Coldplay 2008: The Official Festival Appearances Thread Hey guys!! I'm being super-organised for once and am setting up WikiColdplay ready for the festivals. Last summer, I spent time helping Ian log all the live concerts with setlists, pictures & reviews. We want to be able to do the same this summer and we can't do it without your help. So, if you're going to see our boys live, please check in with coldplaying.com afterwards and share your experience. Previous concerts can be found here

:sneaky: there's just something about busybeeburns.........

Marshmallows for Breakfast - Dorothy Koomson

Perfect Match - Jodi Picoult

because the seasons would appear to be slowly shifting. historically, the uk had snow in november/december/ January time. the last few years the snow falls tend to be more January/February/March.

Am in between at the mo. Have a Lee Child, a Pride & Prejudice sequel and a few others but can't decide which

Ian, How dare you have a Parachutes moment without me. :angry: you'd best save the arobtth til later

he is home :D its me in work :cry:

no i didn't. i never said anything of the sort

grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr you will be when i get home :angry:

ooooooh! can we watch part 2 when i get home from work? pleeeeeaaaassssseeeeee?

arrgggghhhh don't die!

I'll actually have to help Ian out & start doing some admin work again :o

as they're currently cheapest, i shall :kiss:

Someone who knows where you lovely people can get online cds, wanna help out please?

i don't know where they buy their music from :( I'm struggling with uk sites. anyone who knows the us market can start their own thread :)