Government saves 11-year-old from forced marriage in Dhaka

By Mithran Samuel, Maria Ahmed, Derren Hayes and Amy Taylor

Government saves 11-year-old from forced marriage in Dhaka
The government’s forced marriage unit has rescued an 11-year-old British girl whose parents married her to a Bangladeshi man in Dhaka, it has emerged.
Source:- The Guardian, Wednesday 9 May 2007, page 11
 
Labour members see housing and education as priorities – poll
Gordon Brown is due to inherit a Labour party which puts education and housing as its top priorities, and believe that last week’s local elections were bad for the party and not “the respectable springboard for the general election,” claimed by Tony Blair.
Source:- The Guardian, Wednesday 9 May 2007, page 13
 
High on survival
Interview with Mark Johnson, former drug abuser turned policy maker
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday 9 May 2007, page 5

Thanks for the memory
Dementia can be a taboo subject for south Asian people, but one scheme is removing barriers to help
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday 9 May 2007, page 7
 
Cast in a new role
A new scheme teaches troubled youngsters how to fish, and be calm, with extraordinary success
Source:- Society Guardian, Wednesday 9 May 2007, page 7
 
A dad or a dud?
Deadbeat dads are the biggest reason children fail at school, the government will claim today.
Source:-The Sun, Wednesday 9 May 2007, page 28
 
Drug case ‘urgent’
The ruling by the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to restrict the use of drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease on the NHS will be challenged in High Court next month.
Source:-The Times, Wednesday 9 May 2007, page 4
  
Paedophile jailed
A police sergeant who carried out sex attacks on a young person girl between 1995 and 2003 was jailed for 12 years.
Source:-The Times, Wednesday 9 May 2007, page 4

Watchdog slams government on tax credits
The parliamentary public spending watchdog has highlighted a lack of a “credible and effective response” by the government to the “flood of money” wasted through tax credits.
In a report, the Commons public accounts committee said billions of pounds had been written off in overpayments and efforts to recover money from vulnerable families had caused significant distress.
Source:- Financial Times Wednesday 9 May 2007 page 2

Warning over resources for split ministry
Trade unions, prison reform campaigners and opposition MPs have warned that today’s split in the Home Office could fail due to a lack of funding and inadequate planning.
Civil service unions questioned the feasibility of creating the new Ministry of Justice, combining the Department for Constitutional Affairs and the Home Office’s criminal justice functions, without extra resources, while the Prison Reform Trust warned that the new ministry would face pressures to release prisoners early due to overcrowding.
Source:- Financial Times Wednesday 9 May 2007 page 2

Conductor ‘molested boys after plying them with drink’
An orchestral conductor is standing trial on 15 counts of indecent assault of young boys, including those whom he taught at a school in West London.
Robert King denies the charges, which relate to alleged events between July 1982 and September 1995.
Source:- The Daily Mail Wednesday 9 May 2007 page 25

Alzheimer’s High Court date fixed
The High Court will hear the case to overturn a decision to restrict the provision of dementia drugs on the NHS on 25 June, it was announced yesterday, in a judicial review expected to last four days.
The case is being brought by drugs firms and patient representatives against the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence.
Source:- The Daily Mail Wednesday 9 May 2007 page 36

Mother: I killed kids
A mentally-ill mum admitted killing her two young children in court yesterday.
Vivian Gamor, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of three-year-old Kenniece Gamor-Ogunkoya and Antoine Gamor-Ogunkoya, 10, who were found dead at their home in Hackney, east London.
She was remanded in custody until 25 June.
Source:- The Sun Wednesday 9 May 2007 page 22

Brown’s first task is to curb NHS ‘privatisation’
Gordon Brown is expected to call a halt to the expansion of private sector involvement in the NHS to mark a shift in direction from Tony Blair, when he becomes prime minister.
The suggestion follows a report from the British Medical Association which said that the private sector should only be used to deliver a service that the NHS cannot provide.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 9 May 2007 page 4

Teachers on £25,000 happiness training
Manchester Council is spending £25,000 on sending 25 teachers to America to train them in giving happiness lessons, which will start in September at nine schools in the city.
Assistant chief education officer Jenny Andrews said research showed that resilience to set-backs could be taught providing children with benefits for later life.
Source:- The Daily Telegraph Wednesday 9 May 2007 page 13

Thousands of NHS patients still facing ordeal of mixed-sex wards
A significant number of hospital patients are still being cared for on mixed sex wards, a decade after the government made a commitment to abolish them a new inquiry it set to reveal.
The Department of Health investigation, which is out tomorrow, has found that 31 NHS trusts out of 172 are still using mixed sex wards.
Source:- The Independent, Wednesday 9 May 2007, page 4

Scottish news

Asian business award for care homes director
The director of a group of Scottish care homes for older people has been named newcomer of the year in a UK awards ceremony recognising Asian enterprise.
Arti Poddar, who has just been made managing director of the Asian faith channel, Aastha, picked up the honour at the Eastern Eye Asian Business Awards ceremony in London.
The 23-year-old, who runs Lambhill Court, which operates four care homes in Glasgow, was named Young Achiever of the Year Award at the Scottish Asian Business Awards last year.
Source: The Herald, Wednesday 9th May

Welsh news

Racism on the rise in city’s schools
More than 200 racist incidents took place in schools in Cardiff last year, new figures show.
The 219 incidents involved insults, name-calling and verbal abuse. The figure is up from 150 in 2004 to 2005.
Source:- South Wales Echo, Wednesday 9 May 2007

Bodies call for review of Welsh funding
A group of health and education groups want the government to carry out an inquiry into the way Wales is funded over fears that it is missing out on millions of pounds.
The bodies say the situation may be occurring due to the way the Barnett formula, which determines how much the Assembly gets from the UK Treasury, works.
Source:- Western Mail, Wednesday 8 May 2007