7/7 bomber's widow loses legal aid bid

The widow of one of the 7/7 suicide bombers today lost her High Court bid to overturn a decision refusing her legal aid for representation at the upcoming inquest into the deaths of 52 people in the attacks in London in 2005.

Two judges in London dismissed the challenge by Hasina Patel, whose husband was plot mastermind Mohammed Sidique Khan, over the refusal to provide her with funding.

It had been argued on her behalf at a hearing earlier this week that the decision to deny her legal aid was "unfair, irrational and unlawful".
But today Lord Justice Thomas and Mr Justice Silber said the decision by the Lord Chancellor "cannot be described as unreasonable or irrational".

Lord Justice Thomas said the court was told that Ms Patel's position "was that she was interested to understand why her late husband and the other bombers acted as they did" and that what she was seeking "was an opportunity to ask questions of witnesses at the inquest which bore on their knowledge and experience of her husband and others".

The judge said: "Far from providing any information that might assist the wider public interest, she has flatly and unequivocally declined the opportunity to do so.

"Although requested by this court to show how she could help establish why her late husband and the others whom she knew acted to murder fellow citizens, she has provided not an iota of evidence to us which could show how in some way she could bring a wider benefit let alone a significant benefit to the inquests or to the understanding of the victims of the bombing."

He said there was "no basis on which the Lord Chancellor could properly have come to any decision other than the one he had reached".

It emerged in April that ministers had rejected two applications for legal aid by relatives of the bombers after ruling they did not meet the criteria for public funding for their lawyers.

The Government already agreed that legal aid will be offered to the families of the four 7/7 bombers' innocent victims of the attacks.

It was argued on behalf of Ms Patel - who has since remarried - that it had been "inconsistent" not to also grant her funding.

Lord Justice Thomas said the case for the Lord Chancellor was that he was "entitled and indeed obliged" to make the decision he did.

Dismissing her case, the judge said there was "no reason that we can discern why the interests of the claimant, on the basis of the information before us, cannot be fully and properly dealt with by her giving a statement of the background of her late husband and others to the legal team acting for the coroner".

He added: "Indeed as a resident of the United Kingdom it must have been her duty to have supplied all that information by now."

copyright: Watcopy.com always presents its customers their best productions. And they want to make sure that every customer will find their favorites  Replica Watches here.

Charities condemn plans to let councils house locals before immigrants

Plans to allow councils to give local people priority over immigrants waiting for social housing could lead to the "unjust and inhumane" treatment of vulnerable people, charities warned today.

The government plans to give councils the power to set their own housing allocation policies. This would allow them to give preference to people with strong connections to the local area.

Grant Shapps, the housing minister, said need would remain a criterion, but councils and housing associations could also take into account "the desire of local people" in framing allocation policies. "It causes a great deal of concern and is very problematic for social cohesion when people find they aren't provided with any preference when they are actually in the area they have lived in for a very long time," he told the Sunday Times.

But the Refugee Council said the plans – part of the decentralisation and localism bill in parliament later this year – could hurt some of society's neediest.

Donna Covey, its chief executive, said: "Councils must ensure that those in greatest need of housing are given priority, so it would be unjust and inhumane to force refugees to the end of the queue simply because they were not born in the UK. That would be no way to treat people who have suffered unimaginable horrors in their own countries and have subsequently been offered protection here.

"We're pleased the government is looking to improve the asylum system, so as part of that they must ensure people who have been granted asylum here are given the same opportunities as other people living in the UK, as is their right."

The charity Shelter also urged the government to prioritise need over nationality. "Social housing is a scarce resource and it is vital that priority is given to those who need it most," said a spokeswoman.

Research shows that new migrants already do not get priority over UK-born residents when housing is allocated.

A report from the Equality and Human Rights Commission last year found that only 2% of all social housing residents are people who have moved to Britain in the last five years and that nine out of 10 all people in such housing were UK-born. Four million people, and one in five households, in England live in social housing.

Many town halls would like more power to set their own housing policies. Edward Lister, the Tory leader of Wandsworth council, in south London, said: "If the housing allocation rules are going to be changed, we would welcome that. We want to give a measure of priority to local residents. It builds stability in the community and keeps families together."

copyright: Fashion-replica.com sells the highest quality  Replica Watches at a price anyone could afford.

Be a better parent – and improve your child's mental health

Parent and teacher . . . Nicola Williams and her children. Photograph: Linda Nylind for the Guardian

As a parent it can sometimes feel as if you are drowning in conflicting information about your child's requirements; what they should be eating, what they should be learning. But there is one area where we might all like a little more help; how to improve parenting skills that can be of long-term benefit to their mental health.

One in 10 children in the UK suffers from a diagnosable mental health disorder, and mental health issues for young people are an increasingly urgent concern. Now a pilot project in Southwark, south London, has found that teaching parents skills and techniques to better care for their children is having impressive consequences. The Empowering Parents, Empowering Communities course offers training in parenting, then teaches the mothers and fathers how to pass on what they have learnt. The results, for families in one of the most deprived boroughs in the country – where children have an above average likelihood of mental health problems – are being described as "inspirational".

Hunaida Osman took the original course at the Maudsley hospital and now teaches the techniques to other parents. "I was definitely the sort of parent who got angry easily and just shouted, 'Stop that'," she says. "I've got much better at explaining why I don't want my children to do something, and at praising them when they do something right. And it's been great for the parents I've taught too; for some families who are on a low income, living in crowded conditions, with children who are playing up, you really need a bit of help and support in the best ways to deal with those kids."

Nicola Williams, another parent teaching the course, says those whose children have mental health issues have been particularly pleased. "There was one mother who'd had a lot of trouble with her son. She came along for a couple of sessions, but she didn't have any faith in what the course could do for her. She didn't really want to get involved in it at all.

"We gave her a handout which was about a really simple technique, using little mood faces to show what sort of mood you're in; smiley faces if you're happy, that sort of thing. And it was amazing. Her son used them when he got home from school every day, and she said just knowing what mood he was in made everything much simpler."

Dr Crispin Day of the Institute of Psychiatry is evaluating the course as part of a long-term study. "About half the children whose parents are on the course have difficulties which would be equivalent to a diagnosed disorder, but the parents who go to the group are reporting that their children are showing a significant reduction in the severity of their behaviour problems."

Day has been running several groups simultaneouslyand early results are promising. For example, when parents were asked to say how concerned they were about their children on a scale between one to 10, levels on average dropped from approximately five-and-a-half out of 10 to two-and-a-half. Parents also filled out the Eyburg child behaviour inventory, which gives a score indicating how likely it is that the child may need clinical help (a score of 127 and over); the average score of the attending group dropped from just above 125 to 106.

copyright: Replica Watches is the expression of being myself, if you own it. The cheap  Replica Watches is worth of your attention in replicas. So seize the rare chance and take time to indulge．

Singer who gave her lover HIV is spared jail

The German pop star Nadja Benaissa was handed a suspended two-year prison sentence yesterday for infecting her lover with HIV.

Benaissa, a singer in the band No Angels, had faced a maximum of 10 years in jail after she was found guilty of causing bodily harm to one man and attempted bodily harm to two others.

She admitted having unprotected sex while aware she was carrying HIV, but denied that she deliberately infected anyone. The court accepted she had shown remorse and that she did not believe she would pass on the virus.

Peter Liesenfeld, for the prosecution, called for the suspended sentence during closing arguments in the trial, saying: "She deserves lenient treatment because she had confessed to what she did and shown an understanding of her guilt. The confession was an important point that must be taken into consideration."

The trial has prompted vigorous debate in Germany. Some sexual health campaigners have argued that the high-profile nature of the case will make it harder to persuade carriers of STDs to be open about their condition, while others argued that the prosecution was an over-reaction. The news magazine Der Spiegel called the pursuit of the case "a stigmatising witch-hunt", and Aids support groups have worried that people carrying HIV will feel "pressured" to take sole responsibility for safe sex.

On Wednesday Benaissa admitted that she had been "cowardly" in keeping quiet about her infection. "I wish with all my heart that I could turn the clock back," she said in tears. "The fact is, I made a great mistake."

An Aids specialist told her trial in Darmstadt that she "almost certainly" was the source of her former lover's infection. Benaissa, 28, did with "probability bordering on certainty infect a man with HIV by having unprotected sex with him," said the medical expert, Josef Eberle.

It had been thought that Dr Eberle might muddy the facts in the case by saying the victim could have contracted the virus which can cause full-blown Aids from someone else.

But he told the court: "Ms Benaissa was the source of the infection", citing the fact that both she and the victim, now 34, both had "a relatively rare" strain of the virus.

No Angels was Germany's most successful girl band, and it enjoyed wide success across the continent. At the start of the trial the 34-year-old man who became infected by her said his life was in ruins. He also said that when he discovered his infection the band's management tried to buy his silence because they feared for the future of the group.

"You caused me so much grief," he told her in court last week. "My quality of life has shrunk enormously. I cannot travel to many countries. I have been told by my doctor that my condition can become full-blown Aids at any time. My income is halved but this is not about money. I am getting nausea all the time."

copyright: Fashion-replica.com was built to help out people who are interested in purchasing  Replica Watches .This site could be your best business partner which offer you top quality products.

To marmalade's rescue from darkest Peru

After successfully concluding negotiations with the handlers of an anthropomorphised South American bear, Britain's biggest marmalade maker has pulled off one of the most obvious commercial tie-ups in history: signing up Paddington Bear.

From this month, jars of Robertson's Golden Shred will carry images of the marmalade-loving children's character from "darkest Peru" in exchange for an undisclosed sum to his creator, Michael Bond.

For Robertson's, the deal should attract children to marmalade, whose sales have been tumbling for years and which is overwhelmingly bought by the over-45s. It is also an opportunity to develop a long-term association with an affectionately regarded figure following an indifferent response to the licensing of characters from the stories of Roald Dahl.

Robertson's phased out its Golly mascot in 2002, saying it no longer connected with modern shoppers but denied it was responding to complaints about racism.

The brand's owner, Premier Foods, was only able to secure the deal after a contract for Paddington with Marmite had expired. David Atkinson, spreads manager at Premier Foods, hoped the UK's most famous Peruvian would appear for as long as Golly, who lasted for 90 years.

"At the moment we have got no firm end to the tie-up and there are no plans to take him off," he said. "When you have got someone as well known as Paddington, the most famous marmalade lover in the world, why would you want to take him off again?"

Britain is the only country which consumes significant quantities of marmalade, spending £55m a year on the orange preserve, but sales fell by 3 per cent last year.

Mr Atkinson was at a loss to explain why it had taken so long to hire Paddington. "It's just something we haven't done," he said. "If you go back far enough, there were the golliwogs and we had a while with Roald Dahl, but that didn't really get traction with consumers. We looked at this 18 months ago but, unfortunately, when we were looking at it Paddington appeared on TV with Marmite so we weren't able to do a tie-up."

Premier Foods would not discuss how much it paid the Bond family, but it is not believed to be substantial.

Michael Bond, 84, based his creation on a teddy bear he noticed on a shelf in a shop near Paddington railway station in London on Christmas Eve 1956, and the first story was published in 1958.

His daughter, Karen Jankel, 51, acts as the "guardian" of the bear's commercial deals, which are dealt with by the entertainment company Chorion. "We have to weigh things up and have to work out whether they are a good idea but, being marmalade, this was quite an easy decision. It's a good fit," Mrs Jankel said.

"It is extraordinary that it hasn't happened before now. It's probably because marmalade isn't normally thought of as a children's product, but Paddington appeals to a range of age groups. He's very much a family bear."

copyright: At Fashion-replica.com, you can buy several very nice  Replica Watches in various looks and styles, all with the superior quality of the real thing.

Trapped miners in fine voice after receiving fresh supplies

Singing the national anthem in a full-throated chorus, 33 miners trapped deep underground thanked their rescuers and settled in for a long wait until a tunnel wide enough to pull them out can be carved through half a mile of solid rock.

Raising hopes further, a second borehole punched into the chamber where the miners are entombed, and a third probe was nearing the spot yesterday. After parcelling out tiny bits of food and drinking water carved from the mine floor with a backhoe for 19 days, the miners were getting glucose and rehydration tablets to restore their digestive systems. Capsules carrying oxygen were also sent down through a six-inch borehole to help the men to survive the hot, stuffy, humid conditions in the lower reaches of the gold and copper mine.

The bore holes will also be used to lower communication lines and to provide ventilation, Chile's Mining minister, Laurence Golborne, said.

Meanwhile, the miners were sending up notes to their families in the same supply capsules yesterday, providing solace to people who have held vigil in the chilly Atacama desert since the collapse.

Their ordeal, however, is far from over. Above ground, doctors and psychological experts are debating how to keep the miners sane during the estimated four months it will take to dig a tunnel large enough to get them out of the safety chamber 2,200 feet (670 metres) underground, where they have been buried since 5 August.

Through a newly installed communication system, the miners told authorities on Monday afternoon that they had used a backhoe to dig for trapped water and ate sparingly from their few supplies.

"They had two little spoonfuls of tuna, a sip of milk and a biscuit every 48 hours," said Dr Sergio Aguilar, a physician on the rescue team.

Dr Aguilar did not say how long those meagre supplies lasted after the landslide that caused a tunnel to collapse inside the San Jose gold and copper mine about 530 miles north of Chile's capital, Santiago.

Officials released a portion of the recording of the dialogue, in which miners are heard singing Chile's national anthem.

copyright: Do not hesitate any more, place an order of  Thomas Sabo and enjoy your shopping at Topthomassabo.com!

'We are well', read the note. But now for the long wait to be rescued

The miracle came in the form of the opening two words of a short note, scribbled in red ink on a crumpled piece of paper. "Estamos bien", the note read. We are well.

For nearly three weeks, relatives of the 33 Chilean miners trapped 700 metres underground in a passage the size of a small apartment had hoped against the odds that their loved ones would be located.

But now the miners themselves face a gruelling four-month wait underground as engineers desperately try to bore through millions of tonnes of collapsed rock to reach them in a rescue attempt that has gripped Chile and shone a spotlight on the safety record of its vital copper mining industry.
Engineers yesterday began reinforcing a shaft no thicker than a grapefruit which is the men's lifeline, and only contact with the outside world.

The miners were cut off from the surface when the spiralling access tunnel at the San Esteban gold and copper mine in Copiapó collapsed 18 days ago. They managed to make their way to an emergency shelter but rescue workers had no idea whether anyone from the group was alive until late on Sunday evening when, after a series of failed attempts, engineers finally managed to drill a probe into the chamber, sparking scenes of intense joy for colleagues, loved ones and rescue workers on the surface.

Images broadcast from a camera that was lowered down the shaft showed some of the miners stripped to the waist and waving. Health officials say the men have lost around 8-9kg and began using the newly drilled shaft to send them desperately needed packages of food and hydration gels in plastic tubing.

The trapped miners were able to alert rescuers to their presence by tying a note to the probe confirming that they were all alive. A series of previous attempts to find the men had failed, leading to fears that they would never be located.

The discovery that everyone was alive was a brief moment of intense jubilation for the hundreds of relatives who have gathered at the mine in the Atacama Desert, holding prayer vigils in the hopes that their loved ones will be rescued.

The Chilean President Sebastiá*Piñera, who travelled to the mine over the weekend, held the note up for reporters yesterday morning and announced: "Never have so few words brought such happiness to an entire nation."

copyright：MBT Shoes are full of amazing, when you choose   MBT Shoes , you choose the better life, be hurry to the Mbtshoes4sales.com.

Miliband opens doors to disaffected Lib Dems

Labour leadership contender Ed Miliband today extended an open invitation for frustrated Liberal Democrat MPs to defect.
The shadow energy secretary said the coalition deal with the Tories was causing "widespread unhappiness" in the parliamentary party and the "welcome mat" was out for activist and senior politicians who wanted to switch sides.
His offer came after former Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy was forced to quash persistent rumours that he was quitting the party for Labour.
The MP - who refused to endorse the alliance with the Conservatives when it was forged in May - described the speculation as "absolute rubbish".
"I am not joining the Labour Party and have not had any discussions about it with anyone from the Labour Party," he told the Sunday Mail.
"I will go out of this world feet first with my Lib Dem membership card in my pocket."
Speaking on Sky News' Sunday Live programme today, Mr Miliband said former Lib Dem voters were turning up to his meetings across the country.
"I also know that there is widespread unhappiness among Liberal Democrat MPs," he added.
"I think the idea that everyone is hunky-dory with what's going on is wrong.
"I am not going to start predicting who is going to defect and when they might do so, but I think there is a real chance for us to show that this coalition is going in the wrong direction as far as Lib Dem MPs are concerned - and as I say, the welcome mat is out.
"I think under my leadership we would have a chance of attracting people over."
Lib Dem leader and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg tried to laugh off defection rumours yesterday, despite facing the anger of activists during a public question and answer session in Bristol.
"I can't do better than say what Charles has said which is that it's the silliest of the silly-season stories, it's just nonsense so I'm not going to waste any more time on it," Mr Clegg said.
"I think people want to look for cracks and divisions and tensions where they don't necessarily exist.
"Are there people who are concerned about how the coalition is operating in the Conservative Party?
"Yes, I should think so and there are in the Lib Dem party as well, that's normal.
"We're doing something very different and new but I think people in the Lib Dems know that we have entered this coalition for a five-year period and that the time to judge if it's been a success or not is not in the heat and fury of daily headlines after 100 days, it's after five years. We're governing for the long term, for the long-term benefit of the country as a whole."

copyright: Thomas Sabo Jewelry represents independence on both economy and personality. You don't have to rely on others. Please pick up Thomas Sabo jewellery to show your independence.

Intrepid Summer Movie Series

One of the pleasures of summer in the city is free outdoor cinema. For the current issue, Yola Monakhov photographed a screening on the flight deck of the Intrepid, a retired aircraft carrier that now serves as a museum.

copyright: Beautiful  Thomas Sabo is on sale at Bestthomasabo.com, with the aim is to provide our customers the highest quality Thomas Sabo at the lowest price.

HIV-positive pop singer admits having unprotected sex

A singer who transformed herself from a teenage crack addict to become the star of one of Germany's most popular girl bands broke down in court as she admitted to having unprotected sex despite knowing that she was HIV-positive.

Nadja Benaissa, who rose to fame with the pop group No Angels, was charged last year with one count of grievous bodily harm for allegedly infecting her partner with HIV in 2004. She faces two further charges of attempted bodily harm for having unprotected sex with two other men who did not catch the HIV virus.

Dressed in a purple blouse with her hair in a ponytail, Ms Benaissa appeared in a court in Darmstadt, near Frankfurt, yesterday for the start of a five-day trial which could see her jailed for up to 10 years if convicted.

She broke down as her lawyer, Oliver Wallasch, read out a statement in which she admitted to having unprotected sex despite knowing she was infected. "I am sorry from the bottom of my heart," the statement read. "No way did I want my partner to be infected."

The case has received widespread press interest in Germany and has caused concern among Aids campaigners who have criticised the way the 28-year-old singer has been treated by both the police and media.

Ms Benaissa, whose band has sold more than 5 million records, was arrested in Frankfurt last year just hours before she was due to perform a concert at a nightclub. She was led away in front of her fans and incarcerated for 10 days prompting criticism from HIV campaign groups who said the singer had been subjected to a public "witch hunt". Under German law, failing to disclose being HIV-positive before having unprotected sex is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. The tariff can be extended to life if the person goes on to die of Aids.

Ms Benaissa, who is of Moroccan and Roma descent with German citizenship, is accused of having had sex with three men between 2000 and 2004 without informing them of her condition. The trial is taking place in a juvenile court because the first alleged offences took place when she was 17.

In the courtroom yesterday the singer came face to face with her primary accuser, a 34-year-old man who is HIV-positive. His identity has been kept secret for the trial. "We had sex between five and seven times, about three of those were unprotected," the man told the court. It was only when an aunt informed him that Ms Benaissa was HIV-positive that he went to see a doctor. "[After] a few hours he called me and said I should go to see him," he said. "It was then I knew I was positive."

copyright: You can buy  Thomas Sabo in low price but high quality from Fashionthomassabo.com, which is an online store for Thomas Sabo.