Royal Bank of Scotland Asia Securities in a Dec 9 research report says: “Non-cash and potentially uncollectible export incentives account for a rising share of Olam’s earnings. This suggests earnings are both more risky and possibly overstated. In addition, we are concerned about the company’s lengthening cash cycle. We lower our DCF-based target price to $1.63 (from $2.63).
Posts Tagged ‘Royal’
British royal taps police for loan
December 10th, 2009 |
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Britain’s Prince Charles borrowed nearly £3,000 (Dh17,960) from his protection officers after the royal found himself short of cash and needing to fork out for “travel expenses,” a report said yesterday. The heir to the throne repaid the £2,744.34 to his officers after they stumped up the money
Thai military on royal insult alert: ministry
September 25th, 2009 |
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Thailand’s defence minister has urged the 300,000 members of the country’s military and their families to be on the lookout for insults to the monarchy, a ministry spokesman said. The call intensifies a recent official crackdown under Thailand’s harsh lese majeste laws, which state that
Nurses to discuss assisted suicide law
July 25th, 2009 |
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Royal College of Nursing to meet Margo MacDonald, the Scottish MP behind the End of Life Choices bill
The Royal College of Nursing is to meet Scottish MP Margo MacDonald to discuss proposals on legalising assisted suicide after the organisation dropped its five-year opposition to the policy.
MacDonald, who has Parkinson’s disease, is planning to introduce a bill to legalise assisted suicide in Scotland in the autumn.
She said discussions with the nurses’ organisation would be extremely useful. “The RCN recognises that there is a public mood to deal with choices at the end of life,” she told the BBC. “They recognise that their members will be asked by patients about it because very often the relationship between the nurse and the patient is perhaps the closest one.”
The Royal College of Nursing has opposed assisted suicide since 2004, but adopted a neutral stance yesterday after a recent consultation in which almost half (49%) of its members said they supported the policy, while two out of five (40%) said they were against it. It is to issue detailed guidance to nurses.
Dr Peter Carter, RCN chief executive, told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that the organisation recognised that assisted suicide was a complicated issue. He said the shift to the neutral stance would allow nurses to talk to patients about it if they were questioned, but added: “That must not be confused with us being proponents of assisted suicide.”
He called for authorities to clarify the law on assisted suicide. Currently, anyone who assists someone to take their life faces up to 14 years in prison, although no one has yet been prosecuted. Earlier this year the appeal court rejected a legal challenge by Debbie Purdy, a multiple sclerosis patient, who wanted a guarantee that her husband would not be prosecuted for helping her to travel to Switzerland to take her life. The House of Lords is expected to rule on her case next week.
The move comes as a poll found that 74% of people want doctors to be allowed to help terminally ill people end their lives.
The survey in today’s Times found that six out of 10 people said they wanted friends and relatives to be able to help their dying loved ones to take their own lives, without fear of prosecution.
The poll also found that only 13% supported a blanket right to assisted suicide regardless of the individual’s health, while 85% said it should be legal only “in specific circumstances”.
In July doctors at the British Medical Association stuck by their opposition to assisted suicide, having briefly adopted a neutral stance several years ago.
The Christian Nurses and Midwives organisation said today it regretted the RCN’s policy shift. Secretary Steve Fouch said it sent out the wrong signals “at a time when there is growing anxiety about how we will care for the elderly and severely disabled in the future”.
The latest moves follow high-profile cases involving Britons using the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland. On July 10 renowned conductor Sir Edward Downes and his wife Lady Joan died together in the Zurich clinic which has helped more than 115 people from the UK to commit suicide since it was founded in 1998.
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20th UK soldier dies in Afghanistan in a month
July 25th, 2009 |
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• Serviceman killed by explosion in Helmand province
• Seven Taliban militants die in Khost attack
A British soldier from the 40th Regiment Royal Artillery has been killed in an explosion in southern Afghanistan, the Ministry of Defence said today.
He was killed on a vehicle patrol in the Lashkar Gah district of central Helmand province.
Lieutenant Colonel Nick Richardson, a spokesman for Task Force Helmand, said: “He was one soldier, who was here for one cause, to help the Afghan people.
“This true hero paid the ultimate sacrifice and his memory will live with us forever. We mourn his loss and our thoughts and prayers are with his family and friends at this very sad time.”
Next of kin have been informed.
He is the 20th British serviceman to die in Afghanistan this month. Since the start of operations in 2001, 189 British service personnel have died.
An MoD spokesman said: “It is with great sadness that the Ministry of Defence must confirm that a soldier from 40th Regiment Royal Artillery ‘the Lowland Gunners’, attached to the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion the Royal Regiment of Scotland, has been killed.”
His death comes after the head of the armed forces warned that British troops in Afghanistan faced more tough fighting – and more casualties – in the weeks ahead.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup, the chief of the defence staff, said soldiers taking part in the Operation Panther’s Claw offensive had faced an “enormous battle” to break through Taliban defences.
Meanwhile, Taliban fighters today attacked the main police station in the city of Khost, triggering gunbattles that left seven militants dead and four people wounded, officials said.
At least six fighters wearing suicide vests and armed with AK-47 rifles and rocket-propelled grenades stormed the area around the police station and a nearby government-run bank. All were shot and killed before they could detonate their explosives, the interior ministry said in a statement.
Another attacker blew up a car near a police rapid reaction force, killing himself and wounding two policemen, the ministry said. A woman and a child were wounded in the banki attack.
A ministry spokesman said all the attackers had been killed, but residents contacted by telephone from Kabul said sporadic firing could still be heard late today.
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Nurses ‘neutral’ on assisted suicide
July 25th, 2009 |
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The Royal College of Nursing has today dropped its five-year opposition to the principle of assisted suicide after a consultation with its members.
Almost half (49%) of its members said they supported assisted suicide, while two out of five (40%) said they were against it.
The move comes as a poll in today’s Times found that 74% of people want doctors to be allowed to help terminally ill people end their lives.
The survey found that six out of 10 people said they wanted friends and relatives to be able to help their dying loved ones to take their own lives, without fear of prosecution.
But it also found that only 13% supported a blanket right to assisted suicide regardless of the individual’s health, while 85% said it should be legal only “in specific circumstances”. The Royal College of Nursing has opposed assisted suicide since 2004, but now has a neutral stance. It plans to issue detailed guidance to nurses on the issue, as the consultation also revealed a need for information.
Dr Peter Carter, the college’s chief executive, said: “We fully support the common themes that came through the consultation, namely maintaining the nurse-patient relationship, protecting vulnerable patients and making sure there is adequate investment in end-of-life care.”
Sandra James, chairwoman of the RCN’s council, said: “In reaching our decision we considered individual members’ opinions as well as the views from RCN branches and forums, and non-RCN affiliated bodies.” In July doctors at the British Medical Association stuck by their opposition to assisted suicide. It followed high-profile cases involving Britons using the Dignitas clinic in Switzerland.
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Oldest WWI veteran dies aged 113
July 18th, 2009 |
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Henry Allingham, the world’s oldest man and one of the last surviving World War I servicemen, has died at the age of 113, his care home has said.
Mr Allingham served with the Royal Naval Air Service during WWI, later transferring to the Royal Air Force and serving at Ypres.
Bosses at his care home said everybody was "saddened by Henry’s loss and our sympathy goes out to his family".
Last month, Mr Allingham, born in 1896, became the world’s oldest man. </p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Swine flu cases up sixfold in a week
July 15th, 2009 |
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The number of people diagnosed with swine flu soared almost sixfold during the course of last week in some parts of England, NHS figures revealed today.
The virus is spreading fast across much of the country and the total of those affected rose by 42% in the seven days up to last Sunday, according to data provided by family doctors.
Information collected by the Royal College of General Practitioners’ research and surveillance centre in Birmingham, which monitors communicable and respiratory disease, shows that the rate of people diagnosed with influenza-like illness in the north of England leapt from 6.6 per 100,000 of population during 29 June to 6 July to 37.2 per 100,000 between 6 and 16 July.
It more than doubled in central England from 42.8 to 93.9 per 100,000 but only rose slightly in the south of England from 72.1 to 74.9 per 100,000. However, cases in London – the worst affected swine flu “hotspot” so far with the West Midlands – declined from about 180 to 140 per 100,000. Across England as a whole the incidence increased from 51.88 to 73.42 during that week, a rise of 42%.
Sir Liam Donaldson, the Government’s chief medical officer, will tomorrow afternoon release latest details of the numbers of people who have died or been hospitalised by or been diagnosed with the H1N1 bug. The death toll currently stands at 16.
Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College, said: “Swine flu is spreading rapidly across the whole of the country now. GPs are saying that they are coming under a lot of pressure from patients who have it, and many GPs say that the publicity surrounding the death of six-year-old London schoolgirl Chloe Buckley has increased demand and made people more anxious, although there is no reason for them to be so.”
Children aged between five and 14 remain the worst affected, with an incidence rate of 160 per 100,000. The rate among under-fives is 114 per 100,000 and 89.4 among those aged 15-44.
There appeared to be an element of “inconsistency” in official advice over whether GPs are expected to prescribe anti-viral treatment to all those diagnosed with swine flu.
The NHS Direct website informs patients that: “If swine flu is confirmed, ask a healthy friend or relative to visit your GP to pick up a document entitling you to antiviral medication.” The statement raises the expectation that those diagnosed will automatically be given Tamiflu or Relenza to help relieve symptoms.
But advice circulated by the Royal College makes it clear that even if a diagnosis is confirmed, clinical discretion means it may not be necessary to prescribe anti-viral drugs to an infected, healthy patient. Doctors, the college insisted, should excercise clinical discretion in their decision on whether or not to give the drugs.
The advice given to GPs treating those diagnosed with swine flu who are not in a vulnerable medical category is to “consider authorisation of antivirals bearing in mind whether the patient has a strong preference for active treatment.”
Professor Steve Field, chairman of the Royal College of GPs, agreed that there appeared to be an “inconsistency” between the two lines of advice.
He said: “The last time [the advice] was changed was to give more discretion to GPs for dealing with those outside the at risk groups and partly to send the message to patients that they don’t all need Tamiflu.”
The decision whether to prescribe should be reached in “partnership” between doctor and patient, he added. “I don’t think it’s the GP’s job not to give it.”
The Department of Health said it did not believe there was any differnece in the advice being proffered. “There’s not going to be a case of people being refused Tamiflu,” a spokeswoman said.
A GP who contacted The Guardian said that the differing advice being given to GPs and patients was placing an unnecessary burden on GPs and out of hours care “resulting in hytteria and patients in real need being put at risk” because people were being told they needed Tamiflu “when they don’t”.
Gloucestershire police today defended the decision to send three officers wearing face masks, gloves and overalls into a house containing a suspected swine flu victim. “It was a precaution at the time. but won’t necessarily become standard practice”, said a spokeswoman.
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UK facing largest Post Office strike in years
July 14th, 2009 |
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• More than 12,000 postal workers to walk out on Friday
• Strikers protesting against cuts at Royal Mail
Thousands of postal workers across the UK will go on strike on Friday in protest against cuts at Royal Mail, threatening the worst disruption to deliveries in years.
The action will be the latest stage in a series of strikes over jobs, pay and services, which have hit parts of the country in recent weeks and are now set to escalate into a national dispute.
The Communication Workers Union said more than 12,000 of its members in cities ranging from London and Edinburgh to Bristol and Plymouth would walk out for 24 hours.
The union has accused Royal Mail of cutting the pay and jobs of postal workers without agreement, while also reducing services.
On Friday afternoon, a letter and postcard will be delivered to Royal Mail’s chief executive, Adam Crozier, and business secretary Lord Mandelson. This will be followed by a national balloon release, with thousands of balloons rising above Royal Mail workplaces across the UK.
Dave Ward, the CWU deputy general secretary, said: “There are serious and growing problems in the postal sector which urgently need resolving. We have renewed our offer of a three-month no-strike deal to Royal Mail in return for meaningful talks over modernisation. The current cuts, bullying managers and ever increasing workloads on a shrinking workforce cannot continue. Pressure and stress is at breaking point for postal workers so we urgently need a fresh start for a modern Royal Mail.
“The national day of action on Friday is in response to an ever growing number of requests for industrial action from postal workers across the country who feel let down by Royal Mail management. We have almost 400 ballot requests at the moment with more coming daily. Without progress, this could effectively turn into a national strike.”
Last week, Mandelson accused the union of boycotting talks on Royal Mail modernisation. He insisted that it was “inconceivable” that the public would support a bailout of the Royal Mail’s £10bn pension fund deficit without the organisation agreeing to overhaul the way it works.
The CWU was fiercely opposed to the plans for partial privatisation of the Royal Mail that have now been abandoned, and Mandelson has accused it of adopting a “head in the sand” approach to modernisation.
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Festival ban on ‘French Eminem’ sparks row
July 13th, 2009 |
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Government goes from criticising Orelsan to defending him – after rapper is dropped from event in Socialist Ségolène Royal’s region
He is known as the French Eminem: a middle-class teacher’s son from a dull town in lower Normandy who raps about the rural drug epidemic, boredom and the hopelessness of French provincial teenagers.
But ever since the political class expressed outrage at a song from Orelsan’s back catalogue in which he once sang about grotesque violence against a girlfriend who cheated on him, the 26-year-old rap star has become the centre of a national debate over censorship.
The row escalated today as politicians from all political parties waded in to express disgust that Orelsan – real name Aurelien Contentin – had been dropped from the lineup of one of France’s most important summer music festivals, the Francofolies at La Rochelle.
Nicolas Sarkozy’s ruling centre-right UMP party, which earlier this year led criticism of Orelsan’s song, Sale Pute (Dirty Slut), has now issued a statement saying it was “intolerable” to censor an artist. The party rounded on the Socialist Ségolène Royal, head of the western region where the festival takes place, saying she was “attacking freedom of expression”.
Earlier this month, Royal told a local paper she was happy Orelsan’s appearance had been pulled and that she had written to the festival for “clarification” on his part in the lineup.
Jack Lang, the Socialist and former culture minister, warned of a culture of “moral censorship” in France. He said the move to axe Orelsan was symptomatic of broader attacks against freedom of expression by local councils of all political persuasions. Last month, Orelsan’s new album was pulled from all Paris’s municipal libraries, prompting the League for Human Rights to appeal to Paris’s Socialist head of culture to think again.
Orelsan today told French radio his removal from the Francofolies festival was “really abhorrent”. He stressed that he no longer sang Sale Pute on stage, having removed it from his website, and that those censoring him had not seen his act. He said he wanted a meeting with the new culture minister, Frédéric Mitterrand.
Several other French singers made statements in his support. One of them, Cali, said the festival had totally discredited itself. In a letter made public by Orelsan’s record company, Cali said: “There will be a before and an after Orelsan. For my part, I’ll boycott all these muzzled places – with sadness but conviction.”
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