Michael Schumacher Latest health update 10 February 2014

Michael Schumacher's agent says there are 'small, encouraging signs'

12 March 2014 19:16:01 News | Mail Online

The update comes with the new F1 season just around the corner, and with speculation growing about Schumacher's condition given he has now spent almost 11 weeks in a coma.

All News 12 March 2014 19:16:01

Michael Schumacher latest news: New blow for F1 legend as he battles pneumonia

12 February 2014 12:15:12 mirror - Sport

Schumacher is being treated with strong antibiotics after developing the lung infection last week       

Sport 12 February 2014 12:15:12

Michael Schumacher latest news: New blow for F1 legend as he battles pneumonia

12 February 2014 11:55:29 mirror - News

Schumacher is being treated with strong antibiotics after developing the lung infection last week       

All News 12 February 2014 11:55:29

Michael Schumacher's wife spends hours talking to him every day

10 February 2014 20:06:38 Sport

Corinna sits by the racing driver's bed, talking to him in the hope will one day respond        

All News 10 February 2014 20:06:38

Michael Schumacher being woken up from artificial coma, according to French reports

29 January 2014 16:01:12 Sport

Michael Schumacher is slowly being woken up after a month in an artifical coma, according to reports in France        

All News 29 January 2014 16:01:12

Michael Schumacher will have to adjust to being a very different person, brain injury specialist warns

16 January 2014 09:57:26 Sport

Brain injury specialist says Michael Schumacher will have to adjust to being a different person if he comes through after his skiing accident        

All News 16 January 2014 09:57:26

Live: Latest Michael Schumacher news as accident investigators get set to provide an update into their findings

08 January 2014 10:30:15 mirror - Sport

The Formula 1 legend remains in a critical condition in hospital following the Dec 29 crash as investigators look into what went wrong

Sport 08 January 2014 10:30:15

Live updates: Michael Schumacher spends 45th birthday in intensive care as family are given update on his condition

03 January 2014 12:16:06 mirror - News

But no public update is expected today following a fifth night in intensive care following last Sunday's skiing accident

All News 03 January 2014 12:16:06

Michael Schumacher latest: Ferrari call on fans to wear red for silent tribute on driver's 45th birthday

02 January 2014 17:32:30 Sport | Mail Online

Ferrari have called on fans to dress in their team colours of red for a silent tribute outside the hospital where former driver Michael Schumacher is being treated on Friday.

Sport 02 January 2014 17:32:30

Michael Schumacher's manager gives LIVE updates on the health of F1 legend

01 January 2014 10:48:06 mirror - Sport

Schumacher's manager will be giving a press conference to discuss the health of the former F1 driver, who is in 'critical condition'

Sport 01 January 2014 10:48:06

Michael Schumacher injured by 'extreme bad luck, not speed'

31 December 2013 19:58:39 Sport

Formula One legend somersaulted through air after hitting rock with his skis and landed head first on boulder, aide says        

All News 31 December 2013 19:58:39

Michael Schumacher remains in a critical condition but would not have survived without a helmet, say doctors

30 December 2013 11:56:57 Sport

Michael Schumacher remains in a critical condition in hospital as doctors reveal he would not have survived his skiing accident without a helmet.        

All News 30 December 2013 11:56:57

Michael Schumacher in coma after skiing accident: latest updates

30 December 2013 10:23:31 Sport

Michael Schumacher in 'critical condition' in a French hospital after suffering head injury while skiing.        

All News 30 December 2013 10:23:31

Schumacher sustains head injury after skiing accident witnessed by son

30 December 2013 01:44:11 Sport

Schumacher's skiing accident comes after a deadly few days in the Alps        

All News 30 December 2013 01:44:11

Michael Schumacher in 'critical condition' after suffering head injury while skiing

29 December 2013 23:08:22 Sport

French sports website L'Equipe and French radio station RMC have quoted an unnamed medical source, saying Schumacher has suffered a cerebral haemorrhage and is now in critical condition at the hospital in Grenoble, France        

All News 29 December 2013 23:08:22

Michael Schumacher airlifted to hospital after suffering head injury while skiing in Meribel

29 December 2013 15:10:59 Sport

F1: Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher suffers head injury while skiing in Meribel in France.        

All News 29 December 2013 15:10:59

Michael Schumacher suffers serious head injury while skiing, according to reports in France

29 December 2013 14:08:45 Sport

F1: Seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher has been seriously injured while skiing, according to reports in France.        

All News 29 December 2013 14:08:45

Sir Bradley Wiggins' future in doubt as Chris Froome heads list of 10 for Team Sky 2014

23 December 2013 20:54:18 Sport

Chris Froome expresses delight at heading list of 10 cyclists to have signed deals with Team Sky for 2014.        

All News 23 December 2013 20:54:18

Chris Froome heads list of 10 cyclists to sign new deals with Team Sky for 2014 season

23 December 2013 14:36:02 Sport

Chris Froome expresses delight at heading list of 10 cyclists to have signed deals with Team Sky for 2014.        

All News 23 December 2013 14:36:02

Michael Gove strips council of child protection powers

16 July 2013 16:05:58 Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis | theguardian.com

Children's services in Doncaster will be 'spun out' into staff-owned trust after series of damning reports A council has been stripped of its powers to provide child protection by the education secretary, Michael Gove, after the latest in a series of damning reports found its services could not overcome a persistent culture of "failure and disillusion". Children's services in Doncaster, south Yorkshire, will be "spun out" into a staff-owned, not-for-profit trust independent of the council, while strategic oversight for the service will be provided by a commissioner appointed by the secretary of state. The creation of the trust, expected to be up and running by April 2014, is thought to be the first time an entire children's social services department has been removed from local authority control in this way. The move follows the publication on Tuesday of a government-commissioned report by Prof Julian Le Grand, which concluded that repeated efforts to improve the council's persistently poor safeguarding services had failed, and that the council need to make "a decisive break with the past". The report said repeated reorganisations and changes of management had "promised much but delivered little". Doncaster has gone through six directors of children's services in the past eight years, and four council chief executives since 2009. A series of official reports have been published into Doncaster's children's social services since 2005, many of which, the Le Grand report points out, identified a failure of the council to get a grip on safeguarding, despite relatively generous funding. "Fundamentally the problem seems to be one of culture: there is a culture of failure and disillusion that pervades the service and that serves to obstruct every attempt at reform," the report concludes. The education secretary said in a letter to Doncaster's elected mayor, Ros Jones, that he agreed with the Le Grand report's conclusion that the council's safeguarding services "could only be delivered through radical change". Gove said he agreed with the report's recommendations. Doncaster's children's social services gained notoriety in 2009 following an incident in which two young boys from the nearby village of Edlington were sadistically tortured by two brothers known to social workers. A series of reports found the incident was preventable but safeguarding failures meant the council had failed to act. The brothers were sentenced to indefinite detention in 2010. A report published by Lord Carlile in November 2012 found Doncaster had "failed to co-ordinate any realistic attempt to address the problems" caused by the brothers, who had been placed in foster care by Doncaster and who had demonstrated a long history of violence and antisocial behaviour. Although the Labour-controlled council argued that it had made improvements in recent months and should keep the service in-house, Le Grand concluded the way forward was to make children's social care independent of local authority control so it could develop "free of the constraints of corporate bureaucracy". It said: "There needs to be a line drawn under the historic failure: a separation that permits the development of a new culture – one of development, improvement and innovation, instead of one of frustration, disillusion and stagnation." The Le Grand report considered outsourcing Doncaster's safeguarding services to the private sector, but noted that there were no companies with the relevant experience. Instead, Doncaster's existing children's social workers will be transferred to a Community Interest Company , a legal form used by social enterprises which prevents the company's services or assets being sold off. Staff will transfer to the trust on standard local government terms and conditions. The trust will be set up for a 10-year term, with a review point after five years. However, the council will retain control of its school services, meaning that one of the central tenets of social services reform in recent years – that education and children' safeguarding should be integrated – will be unpicked. Andrew Webb, president of the Association of Directors of Children's Services , warned that there were potential dangers in spinning out a core service outside the democratic and management control of local government. "Any new arrangements must be fully engaged with the wider work of the local authority to ensure that potentially negative fragmentation of services does not occur," he said. Child protection Doncaster Local government Michael Gove Children Social care Patrick Butler guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds    

All News 16 July 2013 16:05:58

Russian Islamist Doku Umarov calls for attacks on 2014 Winter Olympics

03 July 2013 12:08:22 Sport news, comment and results | theguardian.com

Supporters must use maximum force to ensure Sochi Games do not take place, says rebel leader in newly posted video The leader of Russia's Islamist movement has lifted a moratorium on attacks inside Russia and called on his rebels to disrupt the upcoming Winter Olympics in the southern city of Sochi. In a video dated June 2013, Doku Umarov said his followers must use "maximum force" to ensure the Games do not take place. After claiming responsibility for deadly attacks on the Moscow metro and Moscow's Domodedovo airport, Umarov last year declared a ceasefire inside Russia as protests against the Kremlin leadership gripped the capital. He said Vladimir Putin, the president, had mistaken the move for "weakness". "Today we must show those who live in the Kremlin… that our kindness is not weakness," Umarov said, speaking in a forest and dressed in green camouflage. "They plan to hold the Olympics on the bones of our ancestors, on the bones of many, many dead Muslims buried on our land by the Black Sea – we as mujahideen are required not to allow that, using any methods that Allah allows us," Umarov said in the video, carried by Kavkaz Centre, a rebel mouthpiece. Russia's Islamist rebels consider Sochi to be part of an unformed "Caucasus emirate", stretching along Russia's southern flank. Security concerns over the Olympics, to be held in February 2014, are running very high , with Sochi just 250 miles from the republics of Chechnya and Dagestan, where most of Russia's rebels live. During a visit to Sochi in May, David Cameron and Putin said the two countries' security services would cooperate on security ahead of the Olympic Games. Russia has also reached out to the US and neighbouring Georgia, two countries with which it has poor relations, to cooperate on security at the Games, moves that reflect both Russian and global concern over potential violence at the event. Umarov called on his followers to use "maximum force… to disrupt these satanic games to be held on the bones of our ancestors". Umarov, the leader of an umbrella organisation comprising branches of regional rebel groups throughout Russia, relies on video messages to get his messages out, both to leaders in the Kremlin and to his followers around the country. He is believed to be hiding in the mountains between Chechnya and Dagestan. Umarov has claimed responsibility for a number of spectacular attacks on Russian soil, including suicide bombs on the Moscow metro in 2010, which killed 40 people, and on Domodedovo airport in 2011, which killed 37. Russia Winter Olympics 2014 Europe Islam Chechnya Winter Olympics Miriam Elder guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds        

All News 03 July 2013 12:08:22

Dear Mr Gove: Michael Rosen's letter from a curious parent

01 July 2013 20:37:27 Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis | theguardian.com

I was one of many visitors through the Department for Education's revolving doors, says Michael Rosen. But it really doesn't look as if you were listening Last month I wrote to you about my concerns that your job – not just you – has become a dictatorship . Over the last 30 years our parliamentary representatives have been so willing to hand over more and more power to the secretary of state that we have arrived at a point where you don't have to listen to anyone apart from yourself. That is, until the egg on your face starts to look as if you need compassionate leave. The problem is this: armed with the power that you have acquired you seem to think that the best way for you to conduct the business of your office is to behave like a shaman. Your speeches suggest that you think you are endowed with some kind of special wisdom that can discount the body of teachers' experience and the evidence of academics' research. What's more, you talk as if you have unique access to the past, plucking examples from eras before you were born or from your experience in a part of the UK and a private school where the system doesn't apply to the schools you rule over. The consequence is a steady build-up of inconvenient slurry across your path that reveals you as not only having stepped into some unpleasant stuff, but also that it is sticking to you. Some examples. Your twists and turns and revisions of revisions of the GCSEs give dogs' dinners a bad name. While you fret over the exact proportion of the cohort you will count as high-flyers, wiser heads know that exams at 16-plus are beginning to look like beached whales, in the wrong place at the wrong time. Your head of Ofsted, meanwhile, is having numeracy problems of his own. As he struggles to give you the sound-bites you need to attack local authority education (there's a good boy), he shows himself to be working to a theory that students' test scores at 11 should correspond directly to their test scores (GCSEs) at 16 – even though the tests themselves test different things in different ways. At key stage 2 it looks as if teachers will be working to the new curriculum knowing that their pupils will be sitting an old Sats test . Can you see why increasing numbers of teachers and parents suspect that you folks don't know what you're doing? Then again, your re-drawing of the landscape of history first showed you to be Napoleonic in your mix of chauvinism, certainty and authoritarianism; and now, with the news last week of a re-composition of the syllabus, it looks more as if you're retreating from Moscow. Even so, I see that you still had the time and energy (at our expense) to fill parliamentary time mocking Tristram Hunt's accent as if you were the Dennis Skinner of the Tory party. If only this were all. Things at the education department aren't looking too good either. My visits there have turned out to be not much more than pretexts for you people to pretend that you're interested in "reading for pleasure". These meetings were particularly absurd because your minister told me that it was not the job of the ministry to turn an Ofsted recommendation on the matter into a "directive". It was explained to me that you guys don't do directives any more. What? More directives come out of the DfE than out of a sergeant-major's mouth on a parade ground. These visits have also been fascinating for me because I have witnessed the revolving doors in the entrance hall packed with recognisable advisers, some heading in, some heading out. It turns out that some of the job descriptions for them are so loosely defined no one is quite sure what they are. Machiavelli would be proud of you: a prince should have many advisers, none of whom knows what the other advisers are advising, nor indeed whether the prince does listen to anyone. It turns out that bevvies of people have been working in an office near you, thinking that they were "national curriculum expert subject advisory groups ". On the other hand, one of your spokespeople thinks "these expert groups were not set up to advise on the curriculum". Of course, if these national curriculum advisers (who are not advising on the curriculum) happened to agree with every word you said, then I'm sure you would conjure them up as wise men in support of your latest harebrained scheme. Instead, they think what's going on is chaotic, that things aren't thought through. They think what you propose lacks consistency and academic rigour (O unkindest cut of all, adopting your buzz word rigour and directing it back at you). As they're just highly experienced teachers and academics, I'm sure you can discount their views and push them through the revolving DfE doors asap. Education policy Michael Gove Michael Rosen guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds        

All News 01 July 2013 20:37:27

Clegg and Gove in spending review battle over free nursery education

24 June 2013 23:16:23 Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis | theguardian.com

The Lib Dem leader and education secretary clashed again over plans to cancel extending access to low income families An attempt to save £380m by cancelling a plan to further extend access to free nursery education has been at the centre of one of the most bitter battles in the comprehensive spending review due to be announced Wednesday. Whitehall sources said Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, and Michael Gove, the education secretary, clashed over the plan, with the issue taken to the most senior ministers by Clegg last Wednesday. Gove had proposed that the plan to provide 15 hours a week of free nursery education to a further 20% of low income families from next year be shelved. Clegg, Whitehall sources said, objected and took the issue to the so-called Quad, the coalition's most senior ministers. The first tranche of free 15 hours a week nursery education for two-year-olds is due to be made available to the lowest 20% income group from this autumn in England. Gove, the Whitehall sources said, has instead been told to find efficiency savings in the way in which new academies and free schools are commissioned. It has also been agreed that the budget for the second wave of free nursery care will not assume 100 % take-up, but if there is higher than expected take-up, the cash will be found from the general contingency reserve. The row is another indication of the ill feeling now emerging between Gove and the Lib Dems. Gove has still not forgiven Clegg for what he regards as backtracking on plans to relax the ratios of nursery assistants to children in registered nurseries. The education secretary is furious at what he regards as Clegg's politically driven U-turn in an effort to win the support of parenting groups, such as MumsNet. Currently, more than 800,000 3- and 4-year-olds nationally access up to 15 hours of free early education every week. The government had pledged in the Spring to extend that to around 150,000 of the least advantaged 2-year-olds from September 2013, rising to around 260,000 in September 2014. Gove had put the extension to the second group under threat. Clegg has made the extension of free nursery care to young children one of his key personal issues. In another issue that has caused tension across government during the spending review, the Treasury chief secretary, Danny Alexander, announced an extra £200m to help fund an extension of the troubled families programme to a wider group of 400,000 families from 2015-16. The current £110m a year programme is aimed at 120,000 families deemed to be at very serious risk of offending or failing to secure an education for their children. Each family is deemed to cost the taxpayer £75,000 a year. The announcement, at a time when most programmes are facing cuts, is a victory for Louise Casey, the civil servant in charge of the programme. Although the extra £200m covers 2015-16 the first year of the next government, there has been a cross party consensus over the effectiveness of the troubled families programme and it is likely that the new wider programme designed to reach families liable to classified soon as in severe difficulty will continue after 2015-16. That implies a larger and long term financial commitment. Casey's capture of the cash will see money transferred from departments of health, education and ministry of justice. Delivered in partnership with local areas, central government will cover 40% of the cost of working with each family. Local government provides the remaining 60%. A one-off average investment of £4,500 in work with each family is expected to reduce the annual £15,000 cost of dealing with their problems, by supporting families to access work, reducing anti-social behaviour, poor school attendance and criminality. The Local Government Association said: "We will be seeking clarification that this £200 million is actually additional money and not money redirected from existing local authority budgets. We await the Spending Round announcement on Wednesday for more detail on this." The spending review is due to announce £11.5bn in cuts for 2015-16. Much of it will be found through greater efficiency. There is also growing concern in aid circles that the budget of the department of international development has been raided to help the budget of the Ministry of Defence. In a sign that the coalition ministers are determined to continue to try to pin the blame for the cuts on the last Labour government, David Laws, currently schools secretary and previously Treasury chief secretary, showed ITV the private letter he received in 2010 from the outgoing Treasury chief secretary, Liam Byrne saying "there is no money". There is a convention that ministers leave letters to their successors, and at the time Byrne would have been expecting the shadow chief secretary Phillip Hammond to take up the post, and not Laws, a Liberal Democrat. Laws claimed in an ITN interview he had broken no constitutional convention by disclosing the letter and claimed to have been surprised it led to such a media reaction in 2010. At the time he claimed the letter said "There is no money left", but the text filmed yesterday said more simply "there is no money", a form of words that does not imply the Labour government had blown all the money. Laws told ITN: "I did not set out to embarrass Liam Byrne", and conceded the letter had been intended as a joke. But he claimed the letter was totemic of a profligate government, and said he now expected the letter to be used in future election campaigns. Children Nick Clegg Michael Gove Childcare Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds    

All News 24 June 2013 23:16:23

After poor decisions and rich backing Uzbekistan set sights on Brazil | Paul Doyle

11 June 2013 12:16:13 Sport news, comment and results | theguardian.com

The oil-rich nation are close to World Cup qualification eight years after they were controversially denied a place Do not tell Mirjalol Kasimov that he is close to guiding his country to the World Cup for the first time in their history. Because he has heard that before, only for Uzbekistan's hopes to crumble following an unprecedented decision by Fifa. So Kasimov will not be counting any chickens as he prepares for Tuesday's match in South Korea, where victory would send the 'White Wolves' to Brazil. Kasimov's previous flirtation with World Cup qualification came in 2005, when he scored the only goal in a first-leg play-off victory over Bahrain. Uzbekistan believed they should have won that match by more because after they had a penalty chalked off for encroachment, the Japanese referee misapplied the rules by ordering a freekick to Bahrain rather than a retake. Uzbekistan protested to Fifa, calling for the match to be forfeited, which would have meant awarding the wronged team a 3-0 win. Instead Fifa ordered a replay and this time Bahrain drew 1-1 and, after the second leg ended 0-0, Uzbekistan lost on away goals (Bahrain went on to be beaten by Trinidad & Tobago in a final play-off). Kasimov hung up his boots after that, his career highlight remaining the goal he scored for Anzhi Valdikavkaz against Liverpool in the 1996 Uefa Cup , which made him the first Uzbek to score in a Uefa competition. But now, at the age of 42, he is well placed to take his country to Brazil as manager. Brazil would be a fitting destination for a man who has previously worked in the shadow of Zico and Luiz Felipe Scolari. Both of those were lavish imports to FC Bunyodkor, the Tashkent team that was set up in 2005 and fleetingly flaunted pretensions at becoming a global force, famously offering Samuel Eto'o $25m to come and play for a few months in 2008. The Cameroonian turned them down, though Bunyodkor did lure a host of Brazilians, including Zico and Scolari as managers and a 36-year-old Rivaldo to patrol midfield (where he came second in Uzbekistan's 2009 Player of the Year awards). Bunyodkor were funded by an oil and gas company close to the despotic regime of the country's president, Islam Karimov, who has held a grip on power since before independence in 1991 and has been denounced by human rights activists for corruption, torture and murder. The precise workings of Bunyodkor was always nebulous but it was generally believed that the club was run by, or for the greater glory of, the president's eldest daughter, Gulnara Karimova. Kasimov was appointed manager in 2007 and led the club to the semi-finals of Asian Champions League in their first appearance in the competition before losing surprisingly to Adelaide United. He was then demoted to No2 under the newly-arrived Zico, who did the league and Cup double before leaving to take charge of CSKA Moscow. He was replaced by Scolari, who had just been jilted by Chelsea, while Kasimov was appointed manager of Uzbekistan. Scolari lasted a season before he and Rivaldo left complaining about unpaid wages. Kasimov took over again, this time combining his role with that of manager of the national team. The regime's involvement in the club dwindled amid clampdowns on the dealings of some of companies backing it, but they have remained a powerful side, albeit not of the standing to which they initially aspired. They have never made it to the Asian Champions League final despite reaching the knockout stages for the last six years, with their latest elimination coming at the hands of Thailand's Buriram United. Not that the money spent on Uzbek football was wasted on hollow vanity projects. There was some investment in grassroots facilities and youth development, and the fruit of that may be seen in the senior team in the coming years, as the country's Under-16s are Asian champions and the Under-17s reached the last eight of the 2011 World Cup and will compete again in the next edition of that tournament in September. By then, the senior squad hope to have featured on the global stage too, with a team made up mainly from players from Bunyodkor and a few new introductions from their successor as domestic champions, FC Pakhtakor. The team's stars, however, play abroad, with striker Aleksandr Geynrikh based in Kazakhstan, midfielder Server Djeparov in South Korea and, the biggest talent of all, Odil Ahmedov, marshalling midfield for the side whom Eto'o did agree to join, Russia's Anzhi Makhachkala. Ahmedov, the man who finished ahead of Rivaldo in the 2009 poll, earned the move to Anzhi through his formidable performances at the 2011 Asian Cup , where Uzbekistan finished fourth. In Ahmedov's image, Uzbekistan are a well-organised and tough-tackling unit capable of an occasional flourish, and they were looking like genuine contenders for the Asian title until they unravelled in the second-half of their semi-final and wound up being beaten 6-0 by Australia. Kasimov was not in charge for that expedition – he had been replaced by Vadim Abramov – but he got the job back again in 2011, when Abramov was sacked following a 1-0 home defeat to Iran in the opening match of the last round of 2014 qualifiers. That decision was characteristic of the ruthlessness of decision-makers in Uzbek football but also symptomatic of the huge hopes that had been spawned by an impressive previous round of qualification, when Uzbekistan conceded just one goal as they topped a group featuring Japan and North Korea. In his latest incarnation as manager, Kasimov has overseen a return to that sort of form, avenging the opening defeat by triumphing 1-0 in Tehran and winning by the same margin in Qatar. They are top of their group in the fourth and possibly final round of qualifying. Uzbekistan would claim top spot back by winning in Seoul, a result that, bearing in mind that South Korea's last game is against third-place Iran on 18 June, would secure a top-two finish for Uzbekistan and direct qualification for the World Cup. Provided no one files a protest, of course. World Cup 2014 qualifiers Uzbekistan Paul Doyle guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds

All News 11 June 2013 12:16:13

After poor decisions and rich backing Uzbekistan set sights on Brazil | Paul Doyle

11 June 2013 12:15:31 Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

The oil-rich nation are close to World Cup qualification eight years after they were controversially denied a place Do not tell Mirjalol Kasimov that he is close to guiding his country to the World Cup for the first time in their history. Because he has heard that before, only for Uzbekistan's hopes to crumble following an unprecedented decision by Fifa. So Kasimov will not be counting any chickens as he prepares for Tuesday's match in South Korea, where victory would send the 'White Wolves' to Brazil. Kasimov's previous flirtation with World Cup qualification came in 2005, when he scored the only goal in a first-leg play-off victory over Bahrain. Uzbekistan believed they should have won that match by more because after they had a penalty chalked off for encroachment, the Japanese referee misapplied the rules by ordering a freekick to Bahrain rather than a retake. Uzbekistan protested to Fifa, calling for the match to be forfeited, which would have meant awarding the wronged team a 3-0 win. Instead Fifa ordered a replay and this time Bahrain drew 1-1 and, after the second leg ended 0-0, Uzbekistan lost on away goals (Bahrain went on to be beaten by Trinidad & Tobago in a final play-off). Kasimov hung up his boots after that, his career highlight remaining the goal he scored for Anzhi Valdikavkaz against Liverpool in the 1996 Uefa Cup , which made him the first Uzbek to score in a Uefa competition. But now, at the age of 42, he is well placed to take his country to Brazil as manager. Brazil would be a fitting destination for a man who has previously worked in the shadow of Zico and Luiz Felipe Scolari. Both of those were lavish imports to FC Bunyodkor, the Tashkent team that was set up in 2005 and fleetingly flaunted pretensions at becoming a global force, famously offering Samuel Eto'o $25m to come and play for a few months in 2008. The Cameroonian turned them down, though Bunyodkor did lure a host of Brazilians, including Zico and Scolari as managers and a 36-year-old Rivaldo to patrol midfield (where he came second in Uzbekistan's 2009 Player of the Year awards). Bunyodkor were funded by an oil and gas company close to the despotic regime of the country's president, Islam Karimov, who has held a grip on power since before independence in 1991 and has been denounced by human rights activists for corruption, torture and murder. The precise workings of Bunyodkor was always nebulous but it was generally believed that the club was run by, or for the greater glory of, the president's eldest daughter, Gulnara Karimova. Kasimov was appointed manager in 2007 and led the club to the semi-finals of Asian Champions League in their first appearance in the competition before losing surprisingly to Adelaide United. He was then demoted to No2 under the newly-arrived Zico, who did the league and Cup double before leaving to take charge of CSKA Moscow. He was replaced by Scolari, who had just been jilted by Chelsea, while Kasimov was appointed manager of Uzbekistan. Scolari lasted a season before he and Rivaldo left complaining about unpaid wages. Kasimov took over again, this time combining his role with that of manager of the national team. The regime's involvement in the club dwindled amid clampdowns on the dealings of some of companies backing it, but they have remained a powerful side, albeit not of the standing to which they initially aspired. They have never made it to the Asian Champions League final despite reaching the knockout stages for the last six years, with their latest elimination coming at the hands of Thailand's Buriram United. Not that the money spent on Uzbek football was wasted on hollow vanity projects. There was some investment in grassroots facilities and youth development, and the fruit of that may be seen in the senior team in the coming years, as the country's Under-16s are Asian champions and the Under-17s reached the last eight of the 2011 World Cup and will compete again in the next edition of that tournament in September. By then, the senior squad hope to have featured on the global stage too, with a team made up mainly from players from Bunyodkor and a few new introductions from their successor as domestic champions, FC Pakhtakor. The team's stars, however, play abroad, with striker Aleksandr Geynrikh based in Kazakhstan, midfielder Server Djeparov in South Korea and, the biggest talent of all, Odil Ahmedov, marshalling midfield for the side whom Eto'o did agree to join, Russia's Anzhi Makhachkala. Ahmedov, the man who finished ahead of Rivaldo in the 2009 poll, earned the move to Anzhi through his formidable performances at the 2011 Asian Cup , where Uzbekistan finished fourth. In Ahmedov's image, Uzbekistan are a well-organised and tough-tackling unit capable of an occasional flourish, and they were looking like genuine contenders for the Asian title until they unravelled in the second-half of their semi-final and wound up being beaten 6-0 by Australia. Kasimov was not in charge for that expedition – he had been replaced by Vadim Abramov – but he got the job back again in 2011, when Abramov was sacked following a 1-0 home defeat to Iran in the opening match of the last round of 2014 qualifiers. That decision was characteristic of the ruthlessness of decision-makers in Uzbek football but also symptomatic of the huge hopes that had been spawned by an impressive previous round of qualification, when Uzbekistan conceded just one goal as they topped a group featuring Japan and North Korea. In his latest incarnation as manager, Kasimov has overseen a return to that sort of form, avenging the opening defeat by triumphing 1-0 in Tehran and winning by the same margin in Qatar. They are top of their group in the fourth and possibly final round of qualifying. Uzbekistan would claim top spot back by winning in Seoul, a result that, bearing in mind that South Korea's last game is against third-place Iran on 18 June, would secure a top-two finish for Uzbekistan and direct qualification for the World Cup. Provided no one files a protest, of course. World Cup 2014 qualifiers Uzbekistan Paul Doyle guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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All News 11 June 2013 12:15:31

Michael Douglas says cunnilingus gives you cancer – but is he right?

02 June 2013 18:40:36 Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis | theguardian.com

Michael Douglas, who was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2010, says oral sex was the cause. But what's the risk? Actors are often accused of being irritatingly reticent about their private lives – unwilling to satisfy fans' and journalists' curiosity about aspects of their life off the film sets. But that's not something that can be said of Michael Douglas' latest interview, with Xan Brooks, for the Guardian. Asked whether he ascribed his 2010 throat cancer diagnosis to a lifetime of drinking and smoking , he replied particularly frankly: "No. Because without wanting to get too specific, this particular cancer is caused by HPV [human papillomavirus], which actually comes about from cunnilingus." "I did worry if the stress caused by my son's incarceration didn't help trigger it. But yeah, it's a sexually transmitted disease that causes cancer. And if you have it, cunnilingus is also the best cure for it." So, now that's out there, how much of it is true? Is oral sex linked to mouth and throat cancers? Is there a difference between the genders? And what can be done? We've dug into the stats – especially this NHS guide – to dig out a few answers. HPV and you There are more than 100 variants of HPV, otherwise known as the human papilloma virus, and they appear in different parts of the body and manifest in different ways – some, for example, can cause warts (including genital warts), while in most cases most appear symptomless. Some are spread simply by skin-to-skin contact, while others are typically spread during sex. It's these latter types that are typically found in the mouth, suggesting that when HPV is found in the mouth, it's probably got there as a result of oral sex. HPV can also be spread to the relevant areas through vaginal and anal sex. HPV is really, really common – to the point that if you're a sexually active adult, you've probably had it. By the age of 25, 90% of sexually active people will have been exposed to some form of genital HPV (whether high or low risk), almost none of whom will ever have had any visible warts or other symptoms. HPV and cancer Around 15 types of HPV are linked to increased cancer risk, and it's been associated with oral cancers, cervical and vaginal cancers, as well as anal and penile cancers. HPV increases cancer risk, but can't be explictly said to have caused any particular cancers (though some variants are HPV-related and others not): just because someone with cancer also has HPV doesn't necessarily mean they wouldn't have got it anyway. It's also a long-term risk factor: over years and decades the risk is increased, rather than overnight. When it comes to oral cancers, here's a rough guide to the statistics. In 2010, around 6,000 people were diagnosed. For comparison, in 2010 there were also 2,850 diagnoses of cervical cancer and 49,900 diagnoses of breast cancer. Noting the above caveats, it's calculated that between 25% and 35% of oral cancers are HPV-related – meaning it seems to be involved in somewhere between 1,500 to 2,000 diagnoses a year. Men vs women So – is cunnilingus inherently riskier than fellatio? While studies on sex differences aren't entirely clear, a US study found the prevalence of HPV in the mouths of men was 10%, versus 3.6% for women. Overall, HPV-related oral cancers are most common in heterosexual men in their 40s and 50s, leading the NHS guide to conclude that: This indicates that performing cunnilingus (oral sex on a woman) is more risky that performing fellatio (oral sex on a man). This seems counterintuitive, but the concentration of HPV in the thinner moist skin of the vulva is mugh higher than the amounts of virus shed from the thicker dry skin of the penis, and this affects how easy it is to pass the virus on. The HPV vaccine Teenage girls in the UK and elsewhere are now vaccinated against HPV, which should in time both protect themselves from cervical cancers and – it's believed but not yet been demonstrated – future partners from HPV-related oral cancers. Evidence from Australia suggests things are working, with genital warts (a good short-term proxy) falling markedly in women and heterosexual men in the years after the introduction of a vaccine. The one group the current vaccination programme does nothing to protect, of course, is men who have sex with men – who are at increased risk of several cancers due to HPV. So ... smoking's exonerated? Douglas used HPV to exonerate smoking for his particular cancer. Unfortunately, the evidence suggests he wasn't quite right to do so. Most people rid themselves of HPV within a few years of catching it – but smoking disrupts this process, meaning the virus remains for far longer in smokers than non-smokers, increasing their risk of HPV-related cancers of all varieties. Smoking is also, of course, a substantial risk factor for non HPV-related oral cancers, as well as lung cancer. Staying safe Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much research evidence to back up Douglas' claim that the cure for throat cancer is still more cunnilingus. One thing that can help, though, is using a condom or a dam during oral sex, the NHS says. It also helps protect against other orally-transmitted STDs too, such as chlamydia and gonorrhoea. Any other studies or evidence we should've looked at? Anyone got some other good stats on the topic? Let us know below... Health Cancer Michael Douglas Sex Sexual health James Ball guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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All News 02 June 2013 18:40:36

Free school offering 'cross-subject' learning approved by Michael Gove

22 May 2013 01:11:10 Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis | theguardian.com

Secondary school that promises to do away with traditional classroom lessons is among new tranche to open next year An unorthodox secondary school offering "cross-subject projects" rather than traditional classroom lessons, is among the latest tranche of free schools to be approved. XP school in Doncaster is one of the 102 new free schools given the go-ahead to open next year by Michael Gove, the education secretary, a slight decrease on the 109 schools opening this year. XP's prospective headteacher, Gwyn ap Harri – a former computer science teacher who went on to start a company selling educational software – says the school's teaching method is based on how learning takes places in the "real world", rather than sitting behind desks. "We'll be still be teaching the national curriculum, the kids will still be doing GCSEs and A-levels. But the way we deliver the curriculum will be totally different," Harri said. "If you want, for instance, an investigation into the wildlife in your back garden, there are loads and loads of different subjects you can cover within that. You can do maths in terms of the size of the garden, how many samples you can find, what percentage that is," he said. "Then there's the history of the place, the geography, biology, that sort of thing. So you can learn through a really wide project or expedition." XP will be unorthodox in other ways too. Admission will be by city-wide lottery, while class sizes will be kept to a tiny 25 pupils, with teachers expected to multitask across subjects. "Teachers want to teach this way," said Harri. "They don't want to just teach GCSE music, they also want to teach art or PE or whatever their passion is." Announcing the names of the majority of the 102 approved schools, Gove said: "There are many innovators in local communities set on raising standards of education for their children. I am delighted to approve so many of their high-quality plans to open a free school." Of the 102 new free schools, more than half are in London (46) and the south-east (11). XP will be one of just nine in Yorkshire and Humber, with 13 in the Midlands and three in the south-west of England. Kevin Brennan, Labour's shadow schools minister, accused the government of "ignoring the crisis in primary places" and setting up schools where there was already a surplus of places. "Their damaging focus on their own pet projects is failing to put our children first," Brennan said. The National Union of Teachers general secretary, Christine Blower, said the free schools risked squandering resources. The NUT's analysis claims that the department for education (DfE) has already spent more than £200m on free schools. "It is time for the government to change tack and allow local authorities to open new schools in areas where there is a genuine need for new places," she said. According to the DfE's figures, the new schools will eventually offer 130,000 places. Fifteen of them will be designated faith schools, able to select a maximum of 50% of pupils on the basis of religion. One will be the Seva school in Coventry, a co-educational Sikh school for four- to 16-year-olds. Among the new schools will be the Family school in London, for children with complex psychological, family and mental-health problems, and two schools under the aegis of the National Autistic Society, in east Cheshire and Lambeth. In Doncaster, the response from prospective parents for XP's unorthodox teaching style has been "really good" according to Harri, with expressions of interest far outstripping its initial intake. "When you sit down and explain to parents what we are doing, it sounds straightforward, it sounds like common sense. And it makes traditional schools sound a bit crazy," Harri said. "You won't just learn about bees and why bees are disappearing. You'll make beehives and install them in a local park. We'll have a really strong connection to the community. A massive part of the motivation for the kids to succeed [is that] they will exhibit to the authentic audience, to adults in the real world, rather than doing work that goes into a folder and never gets seen again." Now XP has been approved, the Education Funding Authority will begin looking for a suitable site. Because it will use a lottery for admissions, Harri said his only concern was that the new school has good transport links. Harri said he was inspired by a visit to a school in San Diego, High Tech High, which teaches using similar methods, and schools in New England. After becoming frustrated as a teacher Harri said he created some software to improve teaching – sold through a company named realsmart, which offers licenses for £4,995 – and then thought the technology needed a school to model the techniques. XP will use realsmart's software. "It's the only way we can do it," said Harri. Free schools Teaching Education policy Michael Gove Doncaster Richard Adams guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds      

All News 22 May 2013 01:11:10

Coalition still 'optimistic' about nuclear power despite EDF and China concerns

17 May 2013 18:36:47 Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis | theguardian.com

Building programme advancing, says minister as expectations of timetable delay at Hinkley Point grow and Chinese 'lose interest' The government has insisted it was still optimistic about plans to build a series of nuclear power stations despite expectations that EDF would delay its timetable for a new reactor at Hinkley Point and concerns that China was losing interest in being a co-investor. "The UK's new nuclear programme is advancing positively with three projects currently being taken forward by NNB GenCo [EDF], NuGen and Horizon Nuclear Power," said the energy minister, Michael Fallon, in response to a select committee report. "We are confident that we will see investment in the context of the government's policy on no public subsidies for new nuclear." He added that negotiations were continuing over a "strike price" – or guaranteed minimum price for electricity generated. EDF, which wants a 40-year guarantee, said it remained optimistic that it could tie up a deal with ministers  before long. On Friday, the construction trade paper Building quoted industry sources as saying that EDF did not expect to take a final investment decision on Hinkley in Somerset until September at the earliest. The firm, 80% of which is owned by the French state, had originally talked about concluding negotiations by the end of 2012. That was later extended to the first quarter of 2013. Delays have traditionally dogged nuclear energy projects but are particularly worrisome in this case because Britain faces a potential energy capacity crisis within five years. An EDF spokeswoman declined to comment on the latest speculation, saying. "I am not going to make up dates. Others might have their own views but we have nothing else to add." A major slip in the Somerset timetable was one of the reasons British Gas owner Centrica pulled out of its original plans to invest in Hinkley alongside EDF, which the British company highlighted at its annual general meeting on Monday. Sam Laidlaw, Centrica's chief executive, told shareholders: "Not only had the cost increased but also the schedule had lengthened very considerably. So instead of taking four to five years to build, EDF were telling us that it was going to take nine to 10 years to build. That is a long time to be writing out a cheque for this project." EDF has been struggling with its own soaring £30bn debt levels and delays at its key project in France. The group opened talks with the Chinese as an alternative co-investor and earlier this month signed a formal co-operation deal with China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Company. But City sources working for the Chinese told the Guardian they thought it very unlikely they would participate. "Money is no object but the Chinese have pulled back on nuclear in Britain. They realise they do not have sufficient know-how to pass the UK regulators but do not want to be just a passive investor," said one investment banker. EDF Energy Nuclear power Energy Energy industry Michael Fallon Terry Macalister guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds        

All News 17 May 2013 18:36:47

Michael Gove needs to update his ideas about teaching and learning

15 May 2013 12:56:14 Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis | theguardian.com

Gove may not like Angry Birds, Mr Men or Twilight but rather than looking to the familiar, we should all be thinking differently about learning What do the Blob, Mr Men and Guardian education writers have in common? They all appear somewhere in Michael Gove's pantheon of disapproval. The education secretary's latest speech about the problems besetting education is classic Gove. It is very engaging, thought provoking and entertaining. His view on raising the bar of aspiration for all young people is absolutely right. Yet his method is so wrong. As principal of an academic school where aspiration is part of our DNA, I really do get Gove's passion for excellence. However, what mystifies me is his very personal take on what should matter in the pursuit of excellence. Gove referenced George Elliot's Middlemarch as illustrative of the kind of book a 17 year old should be reading for pleasure. This struck a chord with me. As a 13 year old back in the last century I was so inspired by a BBC mini-series of War and Peace starring Anthony Hopkins and Alan Dobie that I read the trilogy. While I cannot claim to have truly appreciated this classic piece of literature, I knew I was reading something very special which helped awaken in me a lifelong love of history. I am sure Gove would approve of such cultural aspiration from a working class daughter of Irish immigrants. Yet I should never have even considered reading such a vast tome without the stimulus of the TV series. And this is the point. Just as the medium of television opened up the world of Tolstoy to me, today television is one of just a multitude of possibilities for engaging the young. Their cultural landscape is hugely varied. What interests them? Well, I think sober study of classic literature and dry narrative history do not register highly. Young people need an approach which connects with them and the values in their world. As such, Gove's dismissive attitude to cultural references which are decidedly low brow entirely miss the point. Mr Men? Disney? Why not if they contribute to understanding and learning. It is not about denigrating, it is about creating. Why not a rap in Latin? Blind Date in the court of Henry VIII? iPad puppet pals for any number of learning opportunities? All tried and trusted approaches in one academic school in Cambridge. Rather than looking to the familiar, everyone involved in education should be thinking differently about learning. The digital world is a game changer. And we must change with it. If Angry Birds, the staple digital game of many youngsters, inspires a young person to learn coding surely that is a desirable outcome? If the Garage Band app provides a creative platform for an aspiring young musician isn't this to be applauded? Both activities can be deemed distractions – but they need not be. We are on the nursery slopes of digital learning. The potential for transformation of the conventional educational paradigm is extraordinary. Yet none of this registers in the world of the secretary of state for education. It strikes me that Gove's well-meaning attempts to promote excellence for all young people is being enacted in a parallel universe. The Aunt Sallies highlighted in Mr Gove's recent speech will be as nothing compared to future digital "distractions" – sorry, learning. Final thought. A delegation of teachers from an academic school in Singapore visited us recently to learn about our experience of iPads. I thought that the principal and her staff would be focused on the use of iPads to improve academic attainment. After all, Singapore is flying high in Gove's favourite international league table, PISA. I was surprised and encouraged to learn that this particular school was, like us, concerned with the holistic nature of education and how the digital revolution impacted upon young people. We felt a real connection with the educators who worked in a school on the other side of the world. Therefore it is disappointing that the educational policy in this country feels like we are living in a foreign country. Tricia Kelleher is principal of The Stephen Perse Foundation. This blog was originally posted on the Posted on the Stephen Perse blog. Follow Tricia on Twitter: @StephenPerse . This content is brought to you by Guardian Professional . Looking for your next role? Take a look at Guardian jobs for schools for thousands of the latest teaching, leadership and support jobs. Schools Teaching Michael Gove Tricia Kelleher guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds        

All News 15 May 2013 12:56:14

Michael Gove backs creation of Royal College of Teaching in attack on unions

25 April 2013 20:50:31 Politics news, UK and world political comment and analysis | theguardian.com

Education secretary proposes alternative body to NUT and NASUWT, which he said are run by 'tiny group of activists' Michael Gove has backed the establishment of a new Royal College of Teaching – modelled on the medical royal colleges – as a voice for the profession in competition with unions, which he said were dominated by a "tiny, but vocal, group of militant activists". In an address to the National College for Teaching and Leadership in Nottingham on Thursday, the education secretary had warm words for the teaching profession overall, while reserving his ire for the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and NASUWT, which he described as "increasingly out of touch with the profession as a whole". "The leadership teams of the NUT and NASUWT have demanded their members take industrial action – a work-to-rule – for reasons which are obscure to me but seem to amount to 'we don't like the last 25 years of education reform, why can't we party like it's 1968?'," Gove said. The speech was the latest round in the skirmishing between Gove and the unions, which have opposed the introduction of academies and free schools, as well as resisting his attempts to change the employment conditions of teachers in state schools in England. Gove said: "There is a growing consensus that teachers should emulate other professions, and set up a new Royal College – like the Royal College of Surgeons or Paediatricians – identifying, exemplifying and defining best practice in the teaching profession." The secretary of state joked that "any endorsement from me might blight its chances". Christine Blower, general secretary of the NUT, said a royal college could not replace a union in fighting for the best conditions for teachers and learners. "The tiny vocal group to which Michael Gove refers is the 90% of teachers represented by the NUT and NASUWT who are no longer prepared to put up with the attacks on their pay and working conditions he has initiated," Blower said. Gove and his successors as secretary of state might find that royal colleges as professional bodies do not necessarily lead to an easier life for politicians: the Royal College of GPs, for example, has been a thorn in the side of the government in opposing NHS privatisation plans. Teaching Michael Gove Richard Adams guardian.co.uk © 2013 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds        

All News 25 April 2013 20:50:31