LONDON (Reuters) - House building in Britain is making its strongest recovery in more than 15 years, but supply is still failing to keep pace with demand, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
In the third quarter of this year, a net balance of 41 percent of surveyors reported a rise in privately-funded housing projects. That was up from 31 percent in the second quarter and the highest since the survey began in 1998.
The government is likely to seize on the survey as evidence that its controversial "Help to Buy" mortgage subsidies are boosting supply, and not just prices. But the industry body reckons the sector is merely recovering from a low base and still playing catch-up with the growth in household formation.
"While it's certainly good news that construction - and especially house building - is finally on the rise right across the UK, we are certainly not out of the woods yet," said the institution's chief economist, Simon Rubinsohn.
"Critically, we're still way behind in terms of building enough homes to meet the nation's growing housing need and overall construction projects are at a historical low."
The construction industry was the part of the economy worst hit by the financial crisis, and housing completions are still running more than 40 percent below their early 2007 peak.
Britain has strict planning regulations and homebuilders have blamed a scarcity of land for development as the main obstacle to new building work.
The survey published on Tuesday also showed skill shortages and difficulties in sourcing building materials, highlighting the industry's relatively slow response to demand.
A shortage of affordable housing has become a major political issue at a time when house prices are rising twice as fast as inflation. Property prices in London are rising even faster, at an annual rate of more than 10 percent, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The opposition Labour party has pledged to double the current rate of house building to more than 200,000 a year. Economists believe the annual rate of household formation is between 220,000 and 240,000.
(Reporting by Christina Fincher; Editing by Ruth Pitchford)
MOSCOW (AP) — A female suicide bomber blew herself up on a city bus in southern Russia on Monday, killing six people and injuring about 30, officials said. The attack in Volgograd added to security fears ahead of the Winter Olympics in Sochi.
The suspected bomber was from the North Caucasus, a region in southern Russia where an Islamic insurgency has been simmering for more than a decade following two separatist wars in Chechnya. A local official said the suspected attacker was married to an Islamic militant.
Volgograd lies 650 kilometers (400 miles) to the northeast of the North Caucasus, while Sochi sits to the west along the Black Sea.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for Monday's suicide bombing, but it was the first outside the North Caucasus since Chechen rebel leader Doku Umarov three months ago called for a resumption of attacks on civilians and urged militants to target the Sochi Games, which are to be held in February.
Russia in past years has seen a series of terror attacks on buses, airplanes and other forms of transportation, some of them carried out by suicide bombers. The last suicide attack on a bus was in 2008.
Twin bombings on the Moscow subway in March 2010 carried out by female suicide bombers killed 40 people and wounded more than 120. In January 2011, a male suicide bomber struck Moscow's Domodedovo Airport, killing 37 people and injuring more than 180.
Umarov, who had claimed responsibility for the 2010 and 2011 bombings, ordered a halt to attacks on civilian targets because of the mass street protests against President Vladimir Putin in the winter of 2011-12. He reversed that order in July.
The suspected bomber was from Dagestan, one of the predominantly Muslim republics in the North Caucasus, said Vladimir Markin, the spokesman for the Investigative Committee, Russia's main investigative agency.
In a statement, he identified the suspect as 30-year-old Naida Asiyalova. Russian state television showed pictures of Asiyalova's passport.
In Dagestan, the center of the insurgency, bombings and shootings occur almost daily. Most of them target law enforcement officers, not civilians. The Tsarnaev brothers, accused of carrying out the Boston Marathon bombings, have roots in Dagestan and Chechnya.
Rasul Temirbekov, a spokesman for the Investigative Committee's branch in Dagestan, said the suspected bomber was married to an ethnic Russian, Dmitry Sokolov, whom she had met while both were university students in Moscow.
She encouraged him to become a rebel, and he quickly gained a reputation as an expert in explosives, Temirbekov said. Sokolov, whose nom de guerre is Abdul Jabbar, has been on the run.
Temirbekov said that the suspected suicide bomber had a fatal bone illness.
Video broadcast on state Rossiya television showed that Monday's explosion occurred as the bus was moving in the far right lane of a divided six-lane road. The video, taken from a vehicle traveling behind the bus, showed a burst of flame and gray smoke. Fragments of what appeared to be window frames and other parts of the bus were left scattered across the road.
When the bus came to a stop, the video showed many passengers jumping out.
Markin said seven people died, including the suicide bomber, and 33 asked for medical assistance, 28 of whom were hospitalized. Emergency officials said about 40 people were on the bus.
The local government on Monday placed security forces in the Volgograd region on high alert for 15 days.
___
AP writers Vladimir Isachenkov in Moscow and Arsen Mollayev in Makhachkala contributed to this report.
Our dear Britney Spears was bizzy as heck when she was in London last week and even tho she’s been back home in the US for a few days now, the interviews she participated in while she was in the UK are still coming to light. The embed above features an interview that Britney gave to The Showbiz 411 and even tho she may be a tiny bit awkward, it seems to me that she is warming up and getting back into the swing of doing these sit down chats. She looks great, she sounds cute and it gives me hope that she will get better and better as new promo opportunities present themselves as her Britney Jean album nears release and her Las Vegas residency Piece of Me gets closer. Wee!
Samsung already has extended warranties, but you'd be forgiven if you didn't notice them -- they're not exactly well-advertised. That may soon change, as the company has quietly filed for a catchier "Samsung Protection Plus" trademark in the US. There's little to reveal what would come with ...
LARISSA, Greece (Reuters) - A Roma couple accused of abducting a mystery four-year-old girl dubbed the "blonde angel" by Greek media told a court on Monday that her biological mother willingly gave her to them as a baby because she could not look after her.
The discovery of the girl, known as Maria, has riveted Greece and prompted thousands of calls with leads from across the world as authorities try to track down her real parents, as DNA tests have shown she was not born to the Romas.
The case has raised questions about whether children are being stolen to order and whether the couple were part of a wider child trafficking ring - in addition to deepening mistrust between the Roma community and the Greeks.
They were arrested after police, who raided a Roma camp in central Greece last week in search of drugs and weapons, found the girl with pale skin and blue eyes who did not resemble the family she was living with.
The couple deny they snatched the girl and say they took her under their care after her mother handed the girl to them shortly after giving birth.
"It was an adoption that was not exactly legal but took place with the mother's consent," Constantinos Katsavos, one of the lawyers representing the 39-year-old man, told reporters, adding that is what the couple testified in court.
The Roma couple were ordered held in custody pending trial after responding to charges of abduction and procuring false documents behind closed doors as more than a dozen policemen stood guard outside.
So far more than 5,000 people, from Texas to Sweden, have phoned the charity looking after Maria to offer clues or search for their missing children.
Based on her characteristics, police believe Maria, who utters just a few words in Greek and Roma dialect, is eastern or northern European.
Parallels have been drawn to the case of Britons Madeleine McCann, who vanished while on holiday in Portugal in 2007, when she was three, and Ben Needham, who disappeared on the Greek island of Kos in 1991, when he was a toddler.
In the sunny, bustling square outside the court in the city of Larissa where the Roma couple faced magistrates, members of the Roma community gathered to show their support and said they were being unfairly stigmatized.
"They are completely innocent. These are all fairy tales and we're going to prove it to society," Babis Dimitriou, the head of the local Roma community, told Reuters.
"They accuse the Roma of everything - of stealing, of snatching kids. Do these things only happen among our race? This is a huge insult for us," he said.
Police have found the woman had two different identification documents and other papers suggested the couple had up to 14 children, but six were registered as having been born within less than 10 months.
"It's unfair," a Roma woman who gave her name as Kyriaki said outside the court on hearing the decision to hold the couple in custody. "She raised this child since she was a baby."
(This story is corrected with year when Ben Needham disappeared to 1991 from 2001 in 10th paragraph)
Fostering community gardens in an area with historic soil contamination
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
18-Oct-2013
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Contact: Susan V. Fisk sfisk@sciencesocieties.org 608-273-8091 American Society of Agronomy
Oct. 17, 2013The soil in industrial cities is often an overlooked resource. Years of manufacturing or other industrial processes can leave contaminants in the soils and scare residents away from using the land. As the local food movement grows, though, planners and gardeners must reconcile the desire to grow food in cities with the fear that the soils are contaminated.
On Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 10:35 am, Kristen McIvor of the Pierce Conservation District will discuss the challenges and benefits of urban gardening. Her talk, Fostering Community Gardens in an Area with Historic Soil Contamination, is part of is part of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America Annual Meetings, Nov. 3-6 in Tampa, Florida. The theme of this year's conference is "Water, Food, Energy, & Innovation for a Sustainable World."
In Tacoma, Washington, a copper smelter operated for nearly 100 years contaminating the soil in some areas of the city. While remediation has improved soils, residents have become hyper-aware of the threat of soil contamination. But often, that fear is misplaced.
In her effort to establish community gardens, McIvor has worked with soil throughout the city. "We test all of the soils before we start building a garden," she explains. "None of the tests have shown any results to be concerned about. Even though there is the perception of soils being very toxic here, our experience is that that is not true."
While testing has shown that there is little to fear in the soils of Tacoma, residents are still hesitant to dig in and start growing food. And without dedicated growers and organizers, urban agriculture can't flourish. So McIvor and her colleagues work hard to educate growers and help them manage their gardens in ways that eliminate any contamination fears.
Raised beds are often built on top of existing land and filled with new soil or compost. And the city of Tacoma does its part to help. TAGRO, a biosolid-based soil product that contains nutrients that plants need, is provided to growers free of charge. Raised beds and TAGRO help growers feel comfortable with the soil and build productive gardens. And residents are taking notice.
"With TAGRO, you can turn a beginning gardener into someone who has a garden plot full of food," says McIvor. "When people see the amazing yields, it's not a hard sell."
The number of urban gardens in Tacoma has increased from 14 to 34 in just three years. Other cities can follow that lead and find ways to educate people about soils and contamination while encouraging growers. These efforts will give people access to fresh, local food regardless of the history of their soil.
###
Media Invitation
Contact:
Susan V. Fisk, 608-273-8091, sfisk@sciencesocieties.org. Please RSVP by October 25, 2013 Members of the media receive complimentary registration to the joint meetings. If you would like a 1-on-1 interview with McIvor, contact Susan Fisk at the email above.
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AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
Fostering community gardens in an area with historic soil contamination
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
18-Oct-2013
[
| E-mail
]
Share
Contact: Susan V. Fisk sfisk@sciencesocieties.org 608-273-8091 American Society of Agronomy
Oct. 17, 2013The soil in industrial cities is often an overlooked resource. Years of manufacturing or other industrial processes can leave contaminants in the soils and scare residents away from using the land. As the local food movement grows, though, planners and gardeners must reconcile the desire to grow food in cities with the fear that the soils are contaminated.
On Tuesday, Nov. 5 at 10:35 am, Kristen McIvor of the Pierce Conservation District will discuss the challenges and benefits of urban gardening. Her talk, Fostering Community Gardens in an Area with Historic Soil Contamination, is part of is part of the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America Annual Meetings, Nov. 3-6 in Tampa, Florida. The theme of this year's conference is "Water, Food, Energy, & Innovation for a Sustainable World."
In Tacoma, Washington, a copper smelter operated for nearly 100 years contaminating the soil in some areas of the city. While remediation has improved soils, residents have become hyper-aware of the threat of soil contamination. But often, that fear is misplaced.
In her effort to establish community gardens, McIvor has worked with soil throughout the city. "We test all of the soils before we start building a garden," she explains. "None of the tests have shown any results to be concerned about. Even though there is the perception of soils being very toxic here, our experience is that that is not true."
While testing has shown that there is little to fear in the soils of Tacoma, residents are still hesitant to dig in and start growing food. And without dedicated growers and organizers, urban agriculture can't flourish. So McIvor and her colleagues work hard to educate growers and help them manage their gardens in ways that eliminate any contamination fears.
Raised beds are often built on top of existing land and filled with new soil or compost. And the city of Tacoma does its part to help. TAGRO, a biosolid-based soil product that contains nutrients that plants need, is provided to growers free of charge. Raised beds and TAGRO help growers feel comfortable with the soil and build productive gardens. And residents are taking notice.
"With TAGRO, you can turn a beginning gardener into someone who has a garden plot full of food," says McIvor. "When people see the amazing yields, it's not a hard sell."
The number of urban gardens in Tacoma has increased from 14 to 34 in just three years. Other cities can follow that lead and find ways to educate people about soils and contamination while encouraging growers. These efforts will give people access to fresh, local food regardless of the history of their soil.
###
Media Invitation
Contact:
Susan V. Fisk, 608-273-8091, sfisk@sciencesocieties.org. Please RSVP by October 25, 2013 Members of the media receive complimentary registration to the joint meetings. If you would like a 1-on-1 interview with McIvor, contact Susan Fisk at the email above.
[
| E-mail
Share
]
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.
TOKYO (AP) — Dressed in white hazmat coveralls and carrying a dosimeter, documentary film director Robert Stone ventured into the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant's exclusion zone a year after a massive earthquake and tsunami triggered meltdowns in three reactors.
As he encountered abandoned homes, shops and toppled cars in the scene in his new film "Pandora's Promise," Stone asked a traveling companion, "So, are you still pro-nuclear?"
Stone, a British filmmaker based in New York, confronts viewers with the thorny question of whether nuclear energy should be abandoned because of the Fukushima disaster. His answer is no, because he believes nuclear energy can help solve climate change.
Stone was clear about that when he started making the film before the March 2011 meltdowns at Japan's Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant. He raises the question as he interviews respected environmentalists who are pro-nuclear, and visits Chernobyl and Fukushima himself to see the aftermath of their disasters. He also travels to major cities around the world, carrying his dosimeter and comparing radiation figures.
"As somebody who was making a documentary that is advocating for more nuclear power, going to Fukushima was deeply disturbing and very emotional," Stone told The Associated Press in a recent interview during a visit to Japan to promote his film ahead of its Japanese opening in February.
"You read the dosimeter, you take the readings around and it's not what it should be," he said of his Fukushima visit. "What disturbs people there is that they want everything to be as it was, and it's not."
He found himself torn between his rational half which said nuclear energy makes sense, and his emotional half which warned him of radiation and told him he should leave the zone immediately. He compared that reaction to the people he met in Fukushima during his visit, including evacuees who nonchalantly smoked cigarettes outside their temporary homes but refused to let their children play outdoors.
The film incorporates such mixed feelings "because those are my own feelings as well," he said, acknowledging that he used to be anti-nuclear until he decided that the movement against climate change wasn't going anywhere. His 1987 Academy Award-nominated first documentary "Radio Bikini" was an anti-nuclear film.
Stone said many people expected him to abandon his latest film after the Fukushima disaster, but he continued with it "to say what a lot of people believe but they haven't stood up and said." He now thinks that the Fukushima crisis even reinforces his case.
In the 87-minute film, environmental activists, authors and experts including Stewart Brand, Gwyneth Cravens, Michael Shellenberger and Mark Lynas argue that nuclear power can be safer and more pro-environment than fossil fuel. Anti-nuclear activists like physician Helen Caldicott are portrayed as alarmists and given little space.
He urges Japan to use the Fukushima crisis as a chance to refine its technology, science and engineering to build the world's best reactors instead of withdrawing from nuclear power.
Stone said he hopes the film, which was much talked about at the Sundance film festival in June, will be well received and prompt a discussion in Japan.
"I suspect there are a lot of people in Japan who will quietly acknowledge that this is the way to go, but they are just waiting for somebody to stand up and say it. So I think we'll get support," he said.
Samsung already has extended warranties, but you'd be forgiven if you didn't notice them -- they're not exactly well-advertised. That may soon change, as the company has quietly filed for a catchier "Samsung Protection Plus" trademark in the US. There's little to reveal what would come with ...
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