Stories from over the Summer
Cameron recalls Parliament as London riots spread
David Cameron vows to do “everything necessary to restore order to Britain’s streets as he recalls Parliament and trebles police presence in London. There will be 16,000 officers on patrol tonight.
Speaking outside Downing Street after holding an emergency meeting with Cobra, the Government’s crisis committee, David Cameron condemned the ugly scenes of violence sweeping across Britain.
He said the “sickening scenes” were cases of criminality, “pure and simple, and it has to be confronted and defeated”.
Mr Cameron announced that 16,000 police officers will take to the streets of London tonight, more than double the 6,000 on patrol last night. Mr Cameron said reinforcements have been called in from across the country, and all holiday leave for the Metropolitan Police has been cancelled.
Plastic bullets – never used before during UK disturbances – are being considered as “one of the tactics” available to officers.
There have been 563 arrests so far and 105 people charged following the disorder in London.
Parliament is to be recalled for a day on Thursday, he confirmed, adding that court procedures will be “speeded up” and many more arrests will be made.
“If you are old enough to commit these crimes you are old enough to face the consequences,” Mr Cameron said.
Mr Cameron cut his holiday short to return to London in the early hours of this morning, after riots spread across the capital for the third night, and beyond to Liverpool, Bristol and Birmingham.
The PM spoke of his huge sympathy of the innocent families and business owners who have suffered at the hand of the rioters.
He added: “I also feel for all those who live in fear because of these appalling scenes that we’ve seen on the streets of our country. People should be in no doubt that we are on the side of the law-abiding people who are appalled by what has happened in their own communities.”
Causeless copycats
The riots spread from Saturday’s isolated case in Tottenham, which flared up from a demonstration after the death of Mark Duggan, to scores of causeless copycat rampages last night.
Scotland Yard Deputy Assistant Commissioner Stephen Kavanagh said there was a “changing nature” in the make-up of the rioters, with the profile changing “dramatically” last night, ranging from 14 to 17-year-olds to “older groups in cars doing organised looting”.
E.Nan, a young man from Hackney, east London, said: “We ain’t got no jobs, no money. We heard that other people were getting things for free, so why not us?”
The riots have broken out amid a deepening economic gloom, with the economy struggling to grow as the government imposes deep public spending cuts and tax rises.
“This is not about race, faith and class pure and simple,” said Professor Mike Hardy, Executive Director of the Institute of Community Cohesion. “One of the most powerful drivers is about the haves and have-nots. It’s about those who are excluded.”
Government action
MPs will debate action in a recall of Parliament on Thursday, the Prime Minister said.
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons Home Affairs select committee, called an emergency meeting for Thursday to consider the terms of reference for an inquiry into the riots. The meeting will not be open to the public.
“It is a tragedy to see that our capital city and other urban centres are being scarred in this way,” he said.
“It is important that we look urgently at the causes and policing of what has happened and establish whether the police require additional resources and powers to tackle riots of this scale.”
Mr Kavanagh apologised “that London has got to wake up to these scenes” as he revealed 525 people had now been arrested since rioting began on Saturday.
He said resources were stretched “to an extent never seen before” by last night’s “unprecedented” rioting.
Hooded youths ransacked high streets and shopping centres, setting shops and buildings on fire, devastating communities and causing millions of pounds of damage.
Police received almost 20,800 emergency 999 calls last night, 400 per cent more than the usual 5,400.
“Last night was the worst the Metropolitan Police Service has seen in current memory for unacceptable levels of widespread looting, fires and disorder,” a spokesman said.
Announcing plans to draw on support from police forces outside London, Mr Cameron said: “As ever, police officers have shown incredible bravery on our streets in confronting these thugs, but it’s quite clear that we need more, much more police on our streets and we need even more robust police action and it’s that that I’ve been discussing in Cobra this morning.”
2 British Men Given Jail Time for Inciting Riots on Facebook
A British court has sentenced two men to four years in prison for their failed attempts to use the social networking site Facebook to incite rioting during last week's unrest in the country.
Jordan Blackshaw, 20, and Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, 22, were convicted of creating Facebook pages aimed at encouraging violent disorder in their hometowns in northwest England.
Both men pleaded guilty to creating the pages, which were entitled "Smash Down Northwich Town" and "Let's Have a Riot in Latchford."
Police say they infiltrated the Facebook page of Blackshaw last week and promptly arrested him after no one else joined him for the riot. Sutcliffe-Keenan's page was only up for a few hours before he took it down.
Separately, a British teenager appeared in a London youth court Tuesday to face charges that he murdered a 68-year-old retiree during last week's rioting. Richard Bowes died Thursday of head injuries after being attacked by rioters in west London. The teenager, whose name has not been released because of his age, was also charged with violent disorder and burglary.
Nearly 3,000 people across the country have been arrested for participating in the riots, which left five people dead. Almost half of those detained have been charged with riot-related offenses.
On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg announced the formation of an independent panel to investigate the causes of the riots and hear from victims and affected communities. However, he stopped short of announcing a full public inquiry, which many in the opposition Labor party had wanted.
Clegg said convicted rioters, wearing orange clothing, would soon be put to work cleaning up the devastated communities, as part of a "community payback" plan.
The violence started after the fatal police shooting of a man in London's economically depressed Tottenham neighborhood and quickly spread to other cities across Britain, terrorizing the country for four straight nights.
Chocolate may protect the brain and heart
Eating high levels of chocolate could reduce the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke, according to a review of previous research.
Data from 114,009 patients suggested risk was cut by about a third, according to a study published on the BMJ website.
But the researchers warned that excessive consumption would result in other illnesses.
The British Heart Foundation said there were better ways to protect the heart.
The analysis, conducted by scientists at the University of Cambridge, compared the risk to the brain and heart in groups of people who reported eating low levels of chocolate, fewer than two bars per week, with those eating high levels - more than two bars per week.
Chocolate shield
It showed that the "highest levels of chocolate consumption were associated with a 37% reduction in cardiovascular disease and a 29% reduction in stroke compared with the lowest levels".
One of the researchers, Dr Oscar Franco, said chocolate was known to decrease blood pressure.
He told the BBC the findings were "promising", but needed further research to confirm any protective effect.
The study also warns that chocolate can lead to weight gain and Type 2 diabetes. It suggested that chocolate could one day be used to protect from heart problems and stroke - if the sugar and fat content of chocolate bars was reduced.
Dr Franco added: "The advice if you don't eat chocolate is not to start eating chocolate."
For those who did eat chocolate, he recommended that they should "avoid binge-eating" and eat "small amounts [of chocolate] on a regular basis".
Victoria Taylor, senior heart health dietician at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Evidence does suggest chocolate might have some heart health benefits but we need to find out why that might be.
"We can't start advising people to eat lots of chocolate based on this research.
"It didn't explore what it is about chocolate that could help and if one particular type of chocolate is better than another.
"If you want to reduce your heart disease risk, there are much better places to start than at the bottom of a box of chocolates."
Comments
I'm on holidays once more time but I promise you to work on the blog as soon as I finish them. I have to cach up with it.
I'm easing back into the way of things but reluctantly.
Remember to make use of facebook and twitter too.
I'm on the lookout for new students so if you hear of anyone, pass them my way.
Enjoy your hols. I don't want mine to end...
I have learnt some new vocabulary, such as "riots".
By the way, the new about chocolate is quite interesting.
See you on Wednesday,
Inés
But I think too much chocolate gives you spots so take it easy on the intake LOL
the news is interesting (news is uncountable)