BBC News | UK | World Edition

Brown visits UK troops in Helmand
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:43:02 -0000
Gordon Brown tells British troops they are "the heroes of our country", on a surprise trip to Afghanistan.
Big jump in top GCSE exam grades
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 10:21:51 -0000
There has been the biggest annual rise since 1990 in the proportion of GCSE exams awarded the best grades.
Drink-drive mother sent to jail
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:43:41 -0000
A woman whose child was seen shouting "stop mummy driving" is jailed for drink-driving after crashing into a fence.
Gary Glitter 'will fly to London'
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:24:43 -0000
Convicted paedophile and former pop star Gary Glitter has agreed to fly to London, Thai police have said.
Energy firm E.On to raise prices
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 11:09:53 -0000
Energy firm E.On is to raise gas prices by 26% and electricity prices by 16% on 22 August, blaming higher wholesale costs.
Guantanamo inmate wins ruling
Thu, 21 Aug 2008 12:40:12 -0000
A UK resident detained by the US wins a High Court ruling that the UK government should disclose material which he says backs his torture claims.

The Economist: Britain

The Tories and values:
Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:49:44 -0000
A mini-revival of social conservatism is in the airBRITISH conservatives have largely eschewed the culture wars fought by the American right. Tories have had old-fashioned views on marriage and other moral issues, to be sure, but they have rarely given them much prominence. The lack of a vocal religious right partly explains why they have had a cooler relationship with the Republicans than the Labour Party enjoys with the Democrats. And David Cameron, their leader, began his stewardship of the party in liberal style, declaring himself eminently relaxed about the exotic lifestyles to be found in modern Britain.All the more interesting, then, that recent weeks have seen tentative but unmistakable stirrings of social conservatism from the Tories. In July Mr Cameron gave a speech (in a church, no less) denouncing moral relativism. The fight against crime and other ills was, he said, being hamstrung by society’s “refusal to make judgments about what is good and bad”. On August 4th Michael Gove, the party’s schools spokesman, deplored the portrayal of women in men’s magazines. Conservatives such as Iain Duncan Smith, the party’s former leader, and Ed Vaizey, its arts spokesman, have also criticised the British Board of Film Classification for giving the new Batman film a lenient 12A rating. Even the party’s embrace of the “libertarian paternalism” espoused in “Nudge”, the year’s most talked-about book among policymakers, is telling. ...
Inflation:
Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:49:44 -0000
As long as prices surge the Bank of England cannot cut interest rates. That will not help a floundering governmentOVER the past few months the economy has developed a disquieting tendency to outgloom the gloomiest prediction. The housing market in particular has fared much worse than expected as house prices, turnover and residential investment have all tumbled. That is one big reason why economic activity is turning down sharply, trumping earlier forecasts of a moderate slowdown and pushing up the jobless count. But above all the upsurge in inflation has proved far more extreme than was once projected. The Bank of England has the task of keeping the annual rate of inflation, measured by the consumer-prices index (CPI), at 2%. As recently as March it appeared to be on top of the job: inflation, at 2.5%, was only a bit higher than the official target. But by May inflation had reached 3.3% and it vaulted to 4.4% in July. The 0.6 percentage-point rise since June, when inflation was 3.8%, was the biggest since the series started in 1997. ...
English spelling:
Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:49:44 -0000
The rules need updating, not scrappingGHOTI and tchoghs may not immediately strike readers as staples of the British diet; and even those most enamoured of written English’s idiosyncrasies may wince at this tendentious rendering of “fish and chips”. Yet the spelling, easily derived from other words*, highlights the shortcomings of English orthography. This has long bamboozled foreigners and natives alike, and may underlie the national test results released on August 12th which revealed that almost a third of English 14-year-olds cannot read properly. One solution, suggested recently by Ken Smith of the Buckinghamshire New University, is to accept the most common misspellings as variants rather than correct them. Mr Smith is too tolerant, but he is right that something needs to change. Due partly to its mixed Germanic and Latin origins, English spelling is strikingly inconsistent. ...
Real ale:
Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:49:44 -0000
Folk-drink or aspirational libation?EARLS COURT, a vast, high-ceilinged exhibition centre in west London, does not make for a promising pub. There are few seats, and the bright fluorescent lights do little to make drinkers feel at ease. But the lack of creature comforts did not dampen the high spirits of the students, beer connoisseurs and off-duty businessmen attending the Great British Beer Festival, billed as the world’s biggest, on August 5th-9th. They roamed from bar to bar, sampling over 450 varieties of beer and cider.Such good cheer may seem odd, given that beer seems to be falling out of favour in Britain. Sales have dropped by 9% over the past decade, in part because wine has grown more popular. But not all beers are the same. The festival was organised by the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), a 90,000-strong lobbying group promoting traditional, unpasteurised, unfiltered beer, stored and served from casks wherein, with live yeast, it continues to ferment. ...
Nuclear disarmament:
Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:49:44 -0000
The new nuclear pioneersBRITAIN as a “disarmament laboratory”? Tell that one to veterans of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). Earlier this year they celebrated the 50th anniversary of the first Easter protest march to Aldermaston, home of the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) where research and design work continues on Britain’s Trident-based nuclear warheads. Yet AWE has lately been turning its nuclear skills to a rather different purpose: finding solutions to some of the many difficulties that disarmament would pose if it ever turned from slogan to reality. To CND’s regret, and the annoyance of the Scottish Nationalists who want to eject the submarines that carry the country’s nuclear-tipped Trident missiles from their Faslane base on the Clyde, Britain is not about to disarm unilaterally. It remains one of the five officially recognised nuclear powers, alongside America, China, France and Russia. Over the protests of its own left-wingers, last year the Labour government persuaded Parliament to replace the deterrent’s ageing submarines; legislators will probably have to vote before long on replacing the missiles and warheads too. ...
Oyster cards:
Thu, 14 Aug 2008 11:49:44 -0000
The contract for London’s transport card is up for grabsFEW phrases in British politics are more radioactive than “Private Finance Initiative” (PFI), a convoluted scheme under which government pays private firms to carry out work on its behalf. Many such contracts have been plagued by delays and costly legal disputes. For all the talk of greater efficiency, the real attraction of building and running schools and hospitals, say, through a PFI arrangement is that it allows the government to shove spending off the official balance sheet (although that loophole is to be closed next year). Yet not all PFIs have been disasters. One of the best has been London’s Oyster-card system, which allows travellers to store their entitlement to use the Tube or city buses on a computerised card that gets them through ticket barriers with a simple wave of the wallet. The little blue card has been a big success: over 10m have been issued since its launch in 2003, 6m are in active use and four-fifths of the journeys on London’s public transport involve one. ...

 

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ActionAid - Child and community development charity based in the UK to help world's poorest people.
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Adventist Development and Relief Agency - Works in partnership with people who work together for the basic human rights of food, shelter and a reasonable quality of life.

Afghanaid - An independent charity to provide assistance to Afghans in hardship and distress. Information about its programmes in Afghanistan, and its activities and organisation in UK.

African Foundation for Development (AFFORD) - An organisation in Britain, bringing together Africans from different countries and backgrounds to involve Africans abroad more directly in Africa's development. Information and news about activities, events and membership.
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AYELU - Fundraising charity for Ethiopia with information about current appeals, UK projects, the organisation's mission and how to make a donation.
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Catholic Fund for Overseas Development (CAFOD) - Development and relief organisation that works in over 75 countries to tackle the causes of poverty and encourage development regardless of race, religion or politics.
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Christian Aid - Organisation that works in over 60 countries helping people, regardless of religion or race, to improve their own lives and tackle the causes of poverty and injustice.
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Commonwealth Education Fund - Raising funds to maintain education at the top of the agenda of developing countries in the Commonwealth. Information about the organisation and the global education crisis; includes downloadable country strategy papers.

Commonwealth Legal Education Association - A charity which aims to foster high standards of legal education and research in Commonwealth countries by building links and distributing materials. Information on activities, newsletters and a database of materials dealing with human rights.
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Dentaid - UK-based charitable organization that provides equipment, training, and oral health services to hospitals, clinics, and dentists in the developing world.

Department for International Development (DFID) - UK Government Department responsible for promoting development and the reduction of poverty.

Education Action International - Information about its international programme of support in education, and its UK work with refugees. Includes news, events, and membership details.
Meta Description: [ Education Action International, formerly the World University Service and RETAS, is a non-governmental organization specializing in international development work with refugees, with a particular focus on education for people affected by conflict in their home countries and countries of refuge ]

Fahamu - Supports progressive social change in Africa through information technology. Information on human rights training, services provided to partners in Africa, specialized newsletters and information on training sessions.

Farm Africa - Providing practical help to poor rural African farmers and herders, enabling them to produce more food for their families. Information on projects and fundraising.
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Find Your Feet - Works in partnership with groups in South Asia and Southern Africa to offer long-term sustainable solutions to poverty.

For-ethiopia - UK-based charity providing sustainable development projects to people in Ethiopia.
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Grass Roots Ethiopia - UK-based charity carrying out community development projects in and around the Gamo Highlands of southwest Ethiopia.
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Harvest Help - UK registered charity working at the village level in Malawi and Zambia. Details of activities, current and past projects, news and organisation background.
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500 Hazel's Footprints Trust - Overseas school voluntary work promotion charity with aims, a background, news and links.
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Human Relief Foundation - A Muslim-based international development and relief organization offer information about their programmes, appeals, and structure. Also includes news and press releases.
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India Environment Trust - Organisation supporting the work of environmental NGO's and citizens who work on protecting India's environment. A background, mission staement, current projects and donation information is available on the site.
Meta Description: [ India Environment Trust are a charity based organiation helping India ]

Interpal: Palestinians Relief and Development Fund - Registered charity providing support to the poor and needy Palestinian people. Information about their programmes, publications and appeals. Contact details.

Iqra International - Aims to help downtrodden, poor and needy people, irrespective of their race or religion, initially focusing on South East Asia and Africa. Information about their projects and activities.

Islamic Aid - Contact details for organisation working to provide emergency aid, food, shelter, water to people affected by poverty, war and disasters.
Meta Description: [ an Islamic relief charity helping the poor, orphans, disabled & victims of earthquake, floods. Your helping hand to use zakah, sadaqah, etc properly. UK based Muslim aid organisation. ]

Islamic Relief - A UK-registered charity which works internationally in emergency relief, development projects, support for orphans, and Waqf. Includes information about their programs and current appeals.
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Kandu Arts - Registered charity 1071275, focusing on sustainable development. Other work is on homelessness and the environment. Information about the organisation including history, affiliations and projects as well as contact information.

Learning For Life - Works with dedicated partners in Asia to provide education to vulnerable communities - in particular girls. Information on projects supported, events listing, and details of how you can help.

Mary Slessor Foundation - Continuing the work of Mary Slessor in Akpap Okoyong, Nigeria. Information about their development projects, and the Scottish charity supporting it.
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Medical Aid to Palestinians - Information about the organisation, its activities and programmes delivering basic healthcare to Palestinian refugees.

Methodist Relief and Development Fund - Supports the poorest of the poor with programmes of long-term development, humanitarian aid and development education. Includes news, partner stories, information on projects and appeals.

MicroAid - Connects donors with small-scale projects in Indonesia, providing business advice to families and communities. Information about the work supported, and feedback to donors.
Meta Description: [ MicroAid is a UK company providing web platform software to worldwide community groups including E-Newsletters, E-Donations and Web Site Builder tools. Powered by MicroAid ]

Muslim AId - International relief and development organization, working in partnership with local community-based groups. Includes information on projects, programs, and their structure.

500 Muslim Care - Registered charity promotes education, health and self-sufficiency among needy communities in the United Kingdom and abroad. Information about projects and appeals.

Nazir Welfare Trust (NWT) - UK-based volunteers working to help the poor and needy in Pakistan.
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No Strings - Charity which uses puppetry to educate children in the developing world on landmine safety awareness, HIV and AIDS, health and street kids' issues. Information on the organisation and its areas of work, and an online donation facility.
Meta Description: [ No Strings is an aid charity using puppetry to provide life-saving and culturally sensitive education for children in the developing world. No Strings aims to foster landmine safety awareness, educate children about HIV and AIDS, and about kids issues. ]

One World Action - Organisation that is working for a world free from poverty and oppression, to promote democracy, womens rights and equality, workers rights, and safeguard the rights of all people.

PLAN International UK - Humanitarian, international development organisation which is devoted to providing assistance to underprivileged children in developing countries by offering a child sponsorship service.
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Plunkett Foundation - A charity which aims to promote self-help in rural communities in the UK and worldwide. A major focus is support for agricultural co-operatives and other forms of farmer-controlled businesses. History, current activities, publications and membership information.

SAM Chernobyl Relief - Christian charity seeking to encourage and emotionally strengthen the children and people of Belarus. Site give details of the charities aims, projects, photos and how to donate.
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Save the Children UK - The UK's largest children's charity. Online donations and shopping as well as full description of activities.
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Send a Cow - Provides livestock to poor farmers of East Africa, with training and veterinary support. Information about projects, and on-line donation facility.
Meta Description: [ Send a Cow is dedicated to helping people farming in sub-saharan Africa. By sending everything from cows to chickens to trees and honey bees, our aim is to tackle poverty and support sustainable development ]

Shell Foundation - Charity supports efforts worldwide to achieve sustainable development. This website includes the Foundation's main programmes and projects, its focus and rationale and information for applicants.

Tearfund - A leading relief and development charity, working in partnership with Christian agencies and churches worldwide to tackle the causes and effects of poverty.
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Techknowledgy - Charity dedicated to supplying the Third World with basic computer equipment to aid educational development. FAQs and details of how you can donate either funds or equipment.
Meta Description: [ Computer Literacy in Developing Countries ]

Thare Machi Starfish Initiative - Charity supporting basic education for women and girls in India and Africa using modern technology. Information about the organisation and its projects.

The Jordan Children's Trust - UK-based charity helping disabled children in Jordan's refugee camps. Details of project supported, and invitation to make a donation.
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Trade Aid - Charity, based in Salisbury, working to create sustainable employment and education in Mikindani, Tanzania. Site contains details of aims, projects and volunteering.

Tsunami 2004 - Non-commercial information portal connecting the agencies involved with the task of helping, supporting and rebuilding Asia. Site includes a news update, images and how to help.
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Village Education Project - A charity improving education in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania. Information about projects, and ways to help.

War on Want - Organisation campaigning for a world without poverty. Information about membership, project activities, current campaigns, and news. Includes a brief history.
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WaterAid - International NGO dedicated exclusively to the provision of safe domestic water, sanitation and hygiene education to the world's poorest people.
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World Vision - Christian organisation working in 92 countries helping people in their struggle against poverty, hunger and injustice. Provides aid and emergency aid and has child sponsorship programs.