Brexit compounded UK's shortage of doctors, says study

LONDON, United Kingdom - Brexit has compounded a shortage of doctors in Britain, with an estimated shortfall of 4,000 in major specialty areas from EU countries, a study published Sunday said.

It comes as the crisis-hit NHS state-funded health service struggles after years of underfinancing, with record waiting lists for some hospital care due to the Covid pandemic but also a lack of doctors and nurses.

The Nuffield Trust, an independent health think tank, focused on four fields of medicine -- anaesthesia, pediatrics, cardio-thoracic surgery and psychiatry -- where European doctors had been particularly relied upon before the UK left the European Union.

It found that in the four areas -- where recruitment was already challenging -- "the increase in EU and EFTA (European Free Trade Association) staff slowed down, falling below the projected increase".

If the trend seen before Brexit had continued, there should have been more than 41,000 doctors from the EU or EFTA (Norway, Switzerland, Iceland and Liechtenstein) registered in 2021, or at least 4,000 more than the figures showed.

"The campaign and result of the EU referendum is the obvious reason for a change in trend around 2015 and 2016," the study, commissioned by The Guardian newspaper, said.

It highlighted initial uncertainty over new rules for the movement of people, followed by tighter visa rules and "deteriorating work conditions" in the health system.

"The findings suggest that stagnation in the number of EU doctors in these specialities has exacerbated existing shortages in areas where the NHS has not been able to find enough qualified staff elsewhere," it added.

The Royal College of Nursing last week announced that its members would next month hold their first strike action in the union's 106-year history in England and Wales, citing pay, conditions -- and chronic staff shortages.

Agence France-Presse

Shell ditches the Dutch, seeks move to London in overhaul

Royal Dutch Shell said on Monday it would scrap its dual share structure and move its head office to Britain from the Netherlands, pushed away by Dutch taxes and facing climate pressure in court as the energy giant shifts from oil and gas.

The company, which long faced questions from investors about its dual structure and had recently been hit by a Dutch court order over its climate targets, aims to drop "Royal Dutch" from its name - part of its identity since 1907 - to become Shell Plc.

The firm has been in a long-running tussle with the Dutch authorities over the country's 15 percent dividend withholding tax on some of its shares, making them less attractive for international investors. Shell introduced the two-class share structure in 2005 after a previous corporate overhaul.

The new single structure with all shares under British law means none of its shares would be under this tax. It would also allow Shell to strike swifter sale or acquisition deals.

In a further knock to its relations with the Netherlands, the biggest Dutch state pension fund ABP said last month it would drop Shell and all fossil fuels from its portfolio.

The Dutch government said on Monday it was "unpleasantly surprised" by Shell's plans to move to London from The Hague.

In a political long-shot, Dutch Economic Affairs Minister Stef Blok contacted the heads of political parties in parliament on Monday to gauge support for scrapping the dividend tax, broadcaster RTL reported.

The government was forced to withdraw the same plan in 2018 following widespread opposition to the move, which was seen by the public as a gift to foreign shareholders.

Shell's decision will, however, be seen as a vote of confidence in London after Britain's exit from the European Union triggered a shift in billions of euros in daily share trading from the UK capital to Amsterdam.

Shell's shares, which will still be traded in Amsterdam and New York under the plan, climbed more than 2% in London on Monday morning after the news.

"The current complex share structure is subject to constraints and may not be sustainable in the long term," Shell said, as it announced its plan to change the structure.

The dual structure means Shell now has primary listings in both London and Amsterdam, as well as two overarching legal headquarters despite operating as one economic group.

Such set-ups are expensive and complex, requiring the replication of board-level functions in two jurisdictions as well as being incorporated under two different legal regimes.

The change requires at least 75 percent of votes by shareholders at a general meeting to be held on Dec. 10, the company said.

"Among other benefits, the proposed changes will increase Shell's ability to buy back shares," Jefferies said in a research note.

Shell has said it would return $7 billion from selling U.S. assets to ConocoPhillips in addition to an ongoing share buyback program.

'MORE AGILE'

Monday's move follows a major overhaul Shell completed this summer as part of its strategy to shift away from oil and gas to renewables and low-carbon energy. The overhaul included thousands of job cuts around the world.

In May, a Dutch court ordered Shell to deepen its planned greenhouse gas emission cuts in order to align with the Paris climate deal which aims to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Shell has said it would appeal.

"If this decision will enable the company to be more agile in order to execute its transition to net zero, then it should be viewed positively," said Adam Matthews, chief responsible investment officer at Church of England Pensions Board, a Shell shareholder.

Matthews, who is leading talks with Shell on behalf of the investor group Climate Action 100+, said it should not remove Shell's responsibility to implement the Dutch court ruling.

Shell said the change would not change the impact of the court decision.

Shell is also battling calls made last month from activist investor Third Point for the firm to be broken up into multiple companies. Shell's top executives hit back, saying the firm's businesses worked better together.

Corporate giants are under growing pressure to simplify their structures with General Electric, Toshiba and Johnson & Johnson announcing plans last week to split into separate companies.

Dual listings, which are more expensive to maintain, are also falling out of favor.

Consumer products giant Unilever abandoned its dual Anglo-Dutch structure last year in favor of a single London-based entity. Miner BHP Group has also called time on such a structure.

If BHP and Shell complete their shifts to single share structures, Rio Tinto, Carnival and Investec will be the few remaining dual-listed companies on London's main market.

-reuters

London set for tighter virus curbs as new variant emerges in England

LONDON - The British capital faces tougher COVID-19 measures within days, the UK government said on Monday, with a new coronavirus variant emerging as a possible cause for rapidly rising infection rates.

Health Secretary Matt Hancock said London, and parts of three surrounding counties, would move into the highest of three levels of restrictions in force across England from Wednesday.

Pubs, bars, restaurants and other hospitality venues will have to close, except for takeaway food, as will theatres and other venues in the entertainment sector.

Members of different households can't mingle indoors, although people can still meet in groups of up to six in public places outside. Shops and schools can remain open.

"This action is absolutely essential, not just to keep people safe but because we have seen early action can prevent more damage and longer-term problems later," Hancock told parliament.

In some areas, cases are doubling every seven days, he said, warning: "It only takes a few doublings for the NHS (National Health Service) to be overwhelmed."

London had already seen a "sharp rise" in daily cases and hospital admissions, and there is concern about the "new variant" of the coronavirus initially detected in southeast England, where cases are now rising the fastest, officials said.

England's Chief Medical Officer Chris Whitty stressed there was no evidence that the variant is more dangerous, infectious or able to evade testing.

He also cautioned against blaming it for the spike in cases across the country's southeast.

"The variant may or may not be contributing to that," Whitty said at a press conference, adding: "We don't know what's cause and effect."

'INCREDIBLY DISAPPOINTING'

Andrew Davidson, reader in virology at Bristol University, said coronaviruses are known to mutate, have done elsewhere in Europe and North America, and were not always more virulent.

"However, if they spread more easily but cause the same disease severity, more people will end up becoming ill in a short period of time," he said.

Jeremy Farrar, director of the Wellcome Trust, said it was not yet clear how the variant would affect the first vaccines and treatments.

"The surveillance and research must continue and we must take the necessary steps to stay ahead of the virus," he added. 

Britain last week became the first country to offer the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine and is now rolling out the program to GP surgeries, and in care homes in Scotland.

The move comes two days before a national review of the tier system and just as the struggling hospitality and entertainment sector is trying to rebound from a torrid year of closures.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan described the decision as "incredibly disappointing" for businesses but added: "It's much better to act early, rather than too late."

'CATASTROPHIC YEAR'

Theater producer Cameron Mackintosh, though, said "the sudden volte-face by the government... is devastating for both the theatre and the economy".

Christmas is normally a money-spinner for theatres, with shows including pantomimes, and was this year seen as vital given hardships faced by actors, backstage and front of house staff.

Jon Morgan, director of the Theatres Trust, said the new closures would create more uncertainty and losses, and compounded a "catastrophic year for theatre". 

"My entire cast and company are now crying," added Michael Harrison, who is producing "Pantoland at the Palladium". 

Catherine McGuinness, of the City of London Corporation, urged the government to keep its decision "under close review" and urged "adequate support" for businesses most affected.

Shops and hairdressers can stay open in Tier 3, as can schools but several London districts are sending children home from Tuesday because of rising numbers of cases among older children.

Testing of 11 to 18-year-old students began in the worst-affected areas on Monday.

On Friday, the "R number" in London indicating how many other people someone with the virus will infect was between 0.9 and 1.1, according to the government's website.

London has seen more than 201,000 of the 1.8 million positive tests countrywide, and more than 7,000 of over 63,000 deaths.

Agence France-Presse

Teens arrested over homophobic attack on lesbian couple in London

LONDON, United Kingdom — British police said they had arrested four teenagers on Friday after a gang of males beat up a lesbian couple who refused to kiss for them on a London night bus.

Melania Geymonat, 28, said she and her girlfriend Chris were left covered in blood after the attack last week.

"They started behaving like hooligans, demanding that we kissed so they could enjoy watching, calling us 'lesbians' and describing sexual positions," she wrote on Facebook.

"It was only them and us there.

"They kept on harassing us, throwing us coins.

"The next thing I know is that Chris is in the middle of the bus fighting with them. On an impulse, I went over there only to find her face bleeding and three of them beating her up.

"The next thing I know is I'm being punched."

Both were taken to hospital for treatment to facial injuries.

Police said the incident happened at around 2:30am on May 30 after the two women, both in their 20s, got on the bus in north London.

"They were approached by a group of four males who began to make lewd and homophobic comments to them," London's Metropolitan Police said in a statement.

"The women were then attacked and punched several times before the males ran off the bus. A phone and bag were stolen during the assault."

They said four males aged between 15 and 18 were arrested on Friday on suspicion of robbery and aggravated grievous bodily harm.

The teenagers have been taken to separate police stations for questioning.

"This was a disgusting attack on two women who appear to have been picked out and targeted by a group of youths," said Detective Superintendent Andy Cox.

"CCTV footage from the attack is being reviewed by detectives.

"Active enquires are in hand to trace other individuals suspected to have been involved.

"Attacks of this nature on London buses are rare."

Geymonat is from Uruguay while British newspapers reported that her girlfriend is from the US.

British Prime Minister Theresa May said the assault was "sickening".

"Nobody should ever have to hide who they are or who they love and we must work together to eradicate unacceptable violence towards the LGBT community," she said.

source: philstar.com

UK PM survives confidence vote over Brexit deal

LONDON, United Kingdom — British Prime Minister Theresa May on Wednesday survived a confidence vote by her own MPs but lost the support of one third of her colleagues, signalling the battle she still faces to get her Brexit deal through parliament.

May won the backing of 200 Conservative lawmakers, but 117 voted to oust her -- and only after she conceded she would step down before the 2022 election.

"I'm pleased to have received the backing of my colleagues in tonight's ballot," she said outside her Downing Street office after the result was announced.

"A significant number of colleagues did cast votes against me and I've listened to what they've said."

She said she wanted to "get on with the job of delivering Brexit", and to see "politicians on all sides coming together".

The result, announced after a secret ballot, was met with huge cheers from May's supporters gathered in parliament, while the pound rose on the news.

But leading Brexit rebel Jacob Rees-Mogg, one of at least 48 Tory MPs who triggered the vote by writing a letter of no confidence in May, said it was a "terrible result".

"She ought to go and see the queen and resign urgently," he told the BBC.


Brexit figurehead Nigel Farage tweeted that May "limps on to her next failure, the deal won't pass and the real crisis is close".

Rees-Mogg and other eurosceptics hate the divorce deal May agreed with the EU last month, which they fear risks tying Britain to the bloc for years after Brexit on March 29.

The confidence vote followed her decision on Monday to postpone a planned vote in the House of Commons on the text, because she feared a crushing defeat.

She has promised to hold that vote by January 21 -- when she may yet still lose, plunging the Brexit process into fresh crisis.

Irish warning

May heads to Brussels on Thursday for a pre-planned EU summit, where she will press fellow leaders to give her something to help sell the Brexit deal to sceptical MPs.

Many Conservatives, and the Northern Irish Democratic Unionists (DUP) who prop up the government, fear an arrangement to keep open the Irish border could see Britain trapped in an endless customs union with the EU.

After a whistlestop tour of European capitals on Tuesday, she said on Wednesday she would continue to seek "legal and political assurances" over the temporary nature of the so-called "backstop".

But while EU leaders expressed sympathy for her difficulties, they firmly rejected any attempt to renegotiate a Brexit deal that was only secured last month after 17 months of talks.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday she still "has hope for an orderly exit" but "no intention to change the exit agreement".

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar had a similar message after a call late Wednesday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker.

His office said the pair "agreed to work to provide reassurance to the UK (but) the agreement cannot be reopened or contradicted".

'Enough to cling on'

MPs and ministers had rallied round May ahead of the vote, and finance minister Philip Hammond said May's victory would unite the party and "flush out the extremists".

But in a private meeting with MPs before they cast their ballots, she acknowledged the weakness of her position by setting a limit on her own leadership, lawmakers said.

"It is not her intention to lead the party in the 2022 general election," Solicitor General Robert Buckland told the BBC afterwards.

May is now immune to further Conservative confidence votes for a year, but if defeated on her Brexit deal, her government could still face a confidence vote in parliament.

Simon Hix, of the London School of Economics, said Wednesday's result was "enough to cling on, but 117 against her means the Commons arithmetic on Brexit is now even tougher".

Labour's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said it showed the "Tory civil war... is far from over", adding: "More trouble ahead."

The delays to the Brexit deal have prompted both the EU and Britain to step up preparations for the potentially disastrous scenario where there is no agreement at all.

source: philstar.com

For a prince's wedding, even the greenery has royal roots

WINDSOR, England — Even the foliage in the flower arrangements will have royal roots.

Philippa Craddock, the London florist selected by Meghan Markle and Prince Harry to design the blooms for their wedding ceremony, said Wednesday that ferns and branches of silver birch, English oak and beech from Windsor Great Park will be part of the greenery adorning the scenery at nearby St. George's Chapel.

An integral part at that, according to Craddock.

"The base is the foliage, that's where the designs start from, and then the flowers are complementary on top of that, but actually it's very much the foliage and shapes of the branches that will give us the shape of the designs," she told Britain's Press Association.

Windsor Great Park is one of the public open spaces owned by Britain's monarch. Unsurprisingly, its 4,800 acres have quite the pedigree.

William the Conqueror hunted there in the 11th century when the park was a forest. King Charles II was the one who tamed the land in the late 17th century. Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, the husband she would forever mourn after his death at Windsor Castle, were devoted park patrons.

Harry's great-grandfather, King George VI, set in place the first of 60 oak trees that were planted in honor of his 1937 coronation. Another row of oaks honors Harry's grandfather, Prince Philip, who holds the title of park ranger. Still another celebrated Queen Elizabeth II's 80th birthday.

Kensington Palace previously revealed that roses, peonies and foxgloves also will be in the church arrangements at Saturday's wedding. Beyond that, Craddock and the garden keeper at Windsor Great Park, John Anderson, are staying respectfully discreet.

"There are moments where I've focused on it being another commission, so it's like working with any one of our couples, and of course you take a step back and you just realize the enormity of it," Craddock said. "It's a huge occasion and we're just hugely privileged."

source: philstar.com

FOCUS | Buyer's remorse as Brexit sinks in

LONDON - As the markets crashed, sterling hit a 31-year low and Prime Minister David Cameron resigned, it dawned on some of those who voted for Britain to leave the EU that they may have got it wrong.

"It's a bit too soon to know what's going to happen but I have the feeling I made a mistake," 32-year-old Pam McVey told AFP as she celebrated London's Gay Pride this weekend.

As the early implications of Thursday's historic referendum became clear, there was a buzz on social media as people shared the regrets of some of the 52 percent of Britons who voted to quit the 28-nation alliance.

"I'm a bit shocked, to be honest. I didn't think that was going to happen," said Adam, a young man interviewed on the BBC in a widely shared clip.

"My vote, I didn't think it was going to matter too much because I thought we were going to remain.

"The David Cameron resignation has blown me away to be honest. I think the period of uncertainty that we're going to have for the next couple of months, that's just been magnified now. So yeah, I'm quite worried."

Few people have had the courage to admit that they were wrong, but the hashtags #regrexit and #BrexitRegret or #Bregret were trending on Twitter -- used mostly to mock those who regretted their choice.

"We're the girl who got drunk & dumped her loving, stable boyfriend because he was a bit boring and now realises she's ruined her life," tweeted Leila Molana-Allen.

'What is the EU?'

Others had regrets that they had not voted in a referendum that will have far-reaching consequences.

"I didn't know we could vote," said Bianca Kostic-London, a 30-year-old Australian who would have been eligible because she is a citizen of the Commonwealth.

She cried when she realized. "I said it was my fault," she said, hand on her chest. "I did feel very bad and disappointed."

Research during the campaign revealed how many Britons were misinformed about the EU, particularly on immigration and economic issues -- the main focuses of the battle for votes in the run-up to the referendum.

It seemed that many did not seek to address this problem until it was too late.

Google Trends revealed that the second top search in Britain on Friday, as the results rolled in, was "What is the EU?"

For some of the regions who voted to leave, the result also prompted an urgent call for reassurance that the government in London would match any EU funds they might lose when Britain finally breaks with the bloc.

The leader of Cornwall council said he was seeking "urgent steps" to ensure the impoverished county in southwest England would be protected.

"We will be insisting that Cornwall receives investment equal to that provided by the EU program which has averaged £60 million ($82 million, 73 million) per year over the last 10 years," said John Pollard.

Similar appeals came from Yorkshire in northern England, and from the first minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, who had advocated a vote to "Remain" but whose countrymen and women chose to leave.

Wales and its three million population has benefited from more than £4 billion since 2000 from EU structural funds.

"Hi I'm Welsh. My community depends on EU funding and I voted out. FUCK #eufuckup" @eufuckup," wrote one social media user on twitter.

Others defended their decision, right or wrong. "I voted leave. if it turns out that it was the wrong decision in the future, I have the right to regret it," wrote one.

source: interaksyon.com

Tens of thousands in London march against austerity, Cameron over Panama Papers

LONDON, United Kingdom - Tens of thousands of people marched through London on Saturday in protest against government spending cuts, with some activists demanding Prime Minister David Cameron's resignation over his family's offshore finances.

Demonstrators converged on Trafalgar Square calling for more investment in the health service, housing, education, and public sector pay, while some held up banners saying "Ditch Dodgy Dave" and "Cameron Must Go -- Tories Out!"

The protest, which also included demands to protect Britain's troubled steel industry, was planned long before Cameron's admission last week that he once held shares in his late father's offshore investment fund.

But The People's Assembly, which helped organize the trade union-backed march, said the revelations sparked by the so-called Panama Papers "prove that this is a government for the privileged few."

Cameron took the unprecedented step of releasing a summary of his tax returns for the past six years, but a new poll published late Saturday found 52 percent of voters believe he has not been "honest and open" about his finances.

A further 44 percent said his handling of his financial affairs was "morally repugnant," according to the ComRes survey for the Independent and the Sunday Mirror newspaper.

"For somebody in that position, you have a duty of care to the people of the country to be very open, very transparent," demonstrator Sarah Henney told AFP.

"Just because something is legal doesn't always make it right."

Opposition Labor finance spokesman John McDonnell was among a number of political figures who addressed the protesters, and he called for an end to the spending cuts introduced after the global financial crisis.

He later told the Press Association news agency: "I think Cameron should go, but I think he should take his party with him.

"His government is now bankrupt in terms of political ideas, and bankrupt in terms of what they have done with the economy as well."

Cameron, who was re-elected last year with a parliamentary majority, said he sold his shares in his late father's offshore investment fund before taking office, and denied the fund had been established to avoid tax.

But the row put the premier under pressure at a difficult time, as he seeks to manage an increasingly bitter fight within his Conservative party over the upcoming referendum on EU membership.

Some 128 of the 330 Conservative lawmakers in parliament and several of Cameron's own ministers are campaigning against him in favor of leaving the European Union ahead of the June 23 vote.

Veteran Tory MP Ken Clarke warned Saturday that if Cameron loses the referendum, he will be forced out of office.

source: interaksyon.com

Google launches Glass in London

Google have launched their wearable goggles, Glass, in London. The Guardian are set to be stocking up in a bid to look ahead of the game while the Daily Mail are furiously writing 1,000 op-ed pieces about how evil the whole idea is.

The internet giant has launched their Explorer Programme which now allows anyone over the age of 18 to buy a pair of Glass(es), despite still being in the prototype phase.

And it’ll cost you £1,000.

That won’t matter to tech-savvy Londoners with money to burn – soon, they’ll be annoying everyone on the train or in coffee shops by talking to their specs by saying “Glass, which is the most annoyingly named craft beer I can buy?” as well as; ”Glass – search dominatrix services in the Shoreditch area”.

Of course, it isn’t all about looking for dark sexual gratification – you can watch videos, read emails and other stuff which you can do with your phone or tablet. However, Glass leaves your hands free to rub your thighs and give people the middle finger.

At the UK launch, Marketing Director of Google Glass Ed Sanders said: “One of the reasons we’re here in the UK is the country’s spirit of innovation. The consumers, developers and inventors in the UK have a very rich heritage of embracing new technology.”

“Glass is not a finished product yet and part of the spirit of the explorer programme is so that we can work closely with developers and consumers in the UK at a local level to find out what will take the product forward.”

However, the fact that British people are a little more reserved than our American cousins may mean that this device is hamstrung initially.

We await the first arrest from someone using Glass while driving.

source: bitterwallet.com

Refund your Oyster or help charity

Do you have an Oyster card which you bought for lols that time you went to London and then completely forgot about?

Well then you should check out if you can get the spare money back, as there’s £124 million on them (not yours, but loads in general)

Transport for London reckon – out of the 75 million cards issued since time began (2003) – that there’s around 28 million cards that haven’t been used for over a year, and THESE have a combined amount of £64 million on them. Lordy. TfL also has £59.5 million in deposits on these cards too.

Once you’ve found your card, here’s what you can do:

Phone: call 0343 222 1234 with your Oyster number to hand and go through all the security questions, get the nice person on the other end to cancel your card, which you then send to TfL’s customer services HQ to get a full refund of your credit and deposit via bank transfer, cheque, or TfL website credit.

Post: Complete a TfL refund form and send it in to TfL with your Oyster. (Admittedly, if you live in, say, outside of London, a TfL refund form may be difficult to come by).

Person: You can apply for a refund at any London Underground ticket office (BE QUICK WHILE THEY STILL USE HUMANS) and someone will be able to help you.

If the payment method you originally used was a debit or credit card that’s since expired, you can ask for the refund to be transferred to a nominated bank account or to receive it via cheque. If you haven’t registered your card, you’ll need to show some form of ID in order to get the refund. You can’t get a refund on behalf of someone else.

If you can’t be arsed to do any of this, and fancy being nice, TfL donate unused cards to charity, and the spare cash goes to the Railway Children charity which helps nippers on the streets of Africa, India and the UK. Which is quite nice isn’t it? (Although you’ll probably go for the refund though eh?).

source: bitterwallet.com

‘Lawrence of Arabia’ actor Peter O’Toole dies, aged 81

LONDON | Actor Peter O’Toole, who shot to international fame in the film classic “Lawrence of Arabia”, has died aged 81 in London after a long illness, his agent said on Sunday.

O’Toole, who survived a bout with stomach cancer in the 1970s but whose health had been damaged by years of heavy drinking and chain-smoking, died in a London hospital on Saturday, Steve Kenis, his agent, told Reuters.

“Peter O’Toole’s family announced today that very sadly Peter died yesterday, peacefully in hospital. He had been ill for some time,” Kenis said in a statement.

O’Toole appeared in many acclaimed films, but is best remembered for his lead role in David Lean’s 1962 blockbuster “Lawrence of Arabia” in which he played T.E. Lawrence, the eccentric British army officer who fought with Arab irregular troops against Ottoman Turkish rule in World War One.

O’Toole’s striking good looks and charm sustained him through a stage and film career of more than 50 years that swung wildly between triumph and disaster, garnering him eight Oscar nominations but, to the disgust of his admirers, no win.

The most-nominated actor never to win the award, he eventually and reluctantly accepted an honorary Oscar in 2003.

Before doing so, he composed a hand-written open letter to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Later describing his reluctance to accept the award, he wrote: “I was enchanted but said that as I was still in the game and might yet win the lovely bugger outright, would the Academy please defer the honor until I am 80?”

Believed to have been born in Ireland, O’Toole grew up in England and trained as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) where he was in the same class as Albert Finney.

His piercing blue eyes, tousled brown hair and 6-foot-3-inch (1.9 meter) frame made him an instant hit with women when he began his stage career in 1954.

He initially made waves on stage in several key Shakespearean roles, including an acclaimed turn as “Hamlet,” before gaining fame in films such as “Goodbye, Mr. Chips,” “The Ruling Class”, “The Stunt Man” and “My Favorite Year.”

A SWAGGERING ROMANTIC

Living down his Lawrence of Arabia role became a major problem, however, and for most of the 1970s, O’Toole found he was playing nothing but the swaggering romantic actor.

In 1980, he made a humiliating return to the Shakespearean stage in London after a 20-year absence.

O’Toole’s blood-soaked Macbeth at the Old Vic theatre provoked outright laughter from the audience and made front-page news for its sheer awfulness.

For the next few years, O’Toole found it difficult to be taken seriously as an actor. But in the late 1980s, he made a startling comeback.

He also gave up drinking. Years of abdominal pain and almost continuous consumption of alcohol had led to a diagnosis of pancreatitis and a warning that liquor would soon kill him.

A cameo role as the kindly but bemused English teacher in Bernardo Bertolucci’s 1987 Oscar-winning film ““The Last Emperor” showed the public a new side to the hell-raiser they had come to expect.

A year later, at the age of 56, he won rave reviews for playing his old Soho drinking pal in the play ““Jeffrey Bernard is Unwell” in a part that seemed to mirror his own misfortunes.

He had announced he was retiring only last year.

“It is time for me to chuck in the sponge. To retire from films and stage. The heart for it has gone out of me: it won’t come back,” O’Toole said in a statement.

“It’s my belief that one should decide for oneself when it is time to end one’s stay.”

Michael Higgins, the president of Ireland, was one of the first to react to his death.

“Those who saw him play leading roles on the screen from Lawrence in 1962, or through the role of Henry II in Becket, and The Lion in Winter, or through the dozens of films, will recognize a lifetime devoted to the art form of the camera,” Higgins said in a statement.

British Prime Minister David Cameron said in a tweet that “Lawrence of Arabia” was his favorite film, hailing O’Toole’s performance in it as “stunning”.

Daughter Kate O’Toole thanked the public for what she described as an outpouring of love for the late actor.

She asked for her family to be allowed to grieve in private, saying in the same statement it would organize a memorial service “filled with song and good cheer” in due course.

O’Toole leaves behind children Kate and Patricia from his failed marriage with Welsh actress Sian Phillips and Lorcan, his son from a relationship with Karen Brown, a former girlfriend.

source: interaksyon.com

Nobel Prize-winning British author Doris Lessing dies aged 94

LONDON - British author Doris Lessing, whose powerful feminist and anti-colonial writing won her the Nobel Literature Prize, died on Sunday at the age of 94.

The author's longtime agent and friend Jonathan Clowes said Lessing had died peacefully at her London home in the early hours of the morning.

"She was a wonderful writer with a fascinating and original mind," Clowes said.

"It was a privilege to work for her and we shall miss her immensely."

Best known for the 1962 novel "The Golden Notebook" which is today considered a landmark feminist work, Lessing became the oldest winner of the Nobel Literature Prize in 2007.

She penned more than 50 novels ranging from political critiques to science fiction -- many of them inspired by her own experiences of a lonely childhood in Africa and involvement in radical leftist politics.

She was out grocery shopping when she was announced as the winner of the Nobel Literature Prize, and only found out when she returned home to find journalists swarming on her doorstep.

Her reaction was a characteristic: "Oh, Christ."

Nicholas Pearson, her editor at HarperCollins, said Lessing's life and career had been "a great gift to world literature".

"She wrote across a variety of genres and made an enormous cultural impact," he said in a statement.

"Even in very old age she was always intellectually restless, reinventing herself, curious about the changing world around us, always completely inspirational. We'll miss her hugely."

Charlie Redmayne, CEO of HarperCollins UK, said Lessing was "a compelling storyteller with a fierce intellect and a warm heart".

Tributes poured in for the writer on Twitter, while the Swedish author Per Wastberg pronounced her "one of the world's greatest contemporary writers".

"At an advanced age, she wrote some very beautiful works," Wastberg told the Swedish news agency TT.

"I think her books will pass into posterity."

Lessing published her first novel "The Grass Is Singing" in 1950. She went on to pen operas, short stories and two plays as well as dozens of other novels, including several science fiction works.

On granting her the Nobel Literature Prize, the Swedish Academy praised the "scepticism, fire and visionary power" with which she had examined her own society.

Among the other awards she has won are the Prix Medicis in 1976 and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in 1995.

Born in what is now Iran in 1919, Lessing was raised by British parents in Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe. She taught herself from the age of 13 by reading authors such as Dickens and Tolstoy.

After running away from her second husband and moving to Britain in 1949, she became involved in the British Communist Party but resigned in 1956 at the time of the Hungarian uprising.

She became an increasingly outspoken critic of corruption and embezzlement by African governments and repeatedly used her razor-sharp writing to attack colonialism.

She was barred entry to South Africa in 1956, but was finally able to revisit in 1995, after the fall of apartheid.

Twice divorced, Lessing is survived by a daughter and two granddaughters.

source: interaksyon.com

Fans to get sneak peek at new ‘Hobbit’ film in London, NY, LA, Wellington

WELLINGTON | Hobbit fans will get a sneak peek at the second film of the trilogy — “The Desolation of Smaug” — after director Peter Jackson announced a global live presentation next month.

Cinemas in London, New York, Los Angeles and Wellington will be satellite-linked on November 4 for an event including a question and answer session with cast members, Jackson said on his Facebook page.

The time difference means it will be November 5 for Kiwi fans.

Jackson did not say who would be involved, but the official Hobbit website on Monday said cast members would include Orlando Bloom, Evangeline Lilly, Lee Pace, Luke Evans and Andy Serkis.

Additional cinemas will be set up in select locations worldwide where fans can gather to watch the event live. It will also be streamed on the Internet.

Jackson, a New Zealander, said further details on locations and timings would be released in coming days on the official Facebook and Twitter pages.

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” is not due to be officially premiered until December 13.

The first film in the series, “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey”, was released in December last year with the final chapter “The Hobbit: There and Back Again” scheduled to come out in July next year.

According to the Hobbit website, production of the the trilogy has so far cost US$561 million. “An Unexpected Journey” took in just over US$1 billion at the box office.

source: interaksyon.com

James Bond’s iconic Lotus Esprit ‘submarine’ car sells for $860,000

LONDON — The iconic submarine car driven by James Bond in the 1977 classic The Spy Who Loved Me fetched £550,000 ($860,000, 650,000 euros) when it was floated at auction for the first time in London on Monday.

Following an intense bidding battle, The Lotus Esprit was finally sold to a telephone bidder at RM Auctions in Battersea, south London.

The car was made for the scene in which Bond, played by Roger Moore, evades the gunfire from an overhead helicopter by plunging into the water, accompanied by a nervous Barbara Bach in the passenger seat.

“We are very happy with that price, it is very strong money for what is an important piece of movie memorabilia,” said Peter Haynes of RM Auctions Europe.

“Bearing in mind it is not a car that can be driven on the road, the price just goes to prove the draw that all Bond-related memorabilia has,” he added.

source: interaksyon.com

London concerned over trash cans collecting smartphone data

LONDON — Authorities in London’s financial district on Monday ordered a company using high-tech trash cans to collect smartphone data from passers-by to cease its activities, and referred the firm to the privacy watchdog.

The City of London Corporation, which manages the so-called “Square Mile” around St Paul’s Cathedral, said such data collection “needs to stop” until there could be a public debate about it.

The start-up company responsible, Renew, claims the technology could help advertisers tailor their marketing campaigns based on how often people pass a certain shop and how long they stay in there.

Chief executive Kaveh Memari said trials were at a very early stage and his company was only counting the number of people walking past — without collecting any personal details.

He dismissed as alarmist concerns that individuals were being tracked, telling AFP: “We can’t really track people, we don’t see people — all we see is a device.”

But a City of London spokesman said: “Irrespective of what’s technically possible, anything that happens like this on the streets needs to be done carefully, with the backing of an informed public.

“We have already asked the firm concerned to stop this data collection immediately and we have also taken the issue to the Information Commissioner’s Office.”

Renew installed its high-tech recycling bins around London during last year’s Olympic Games. The “pods” are bomb-proof and wi-fi-enabled and have digital screens showing real-time financial information, adverts and local information.

They company hopes to expand to other cities including New York, Dubai and Rio de Janeiro, which is hosting the 2016 Olympics.

This summer, the firm began testing if the pods could collect data from smartphones, and during one week in June registered more than half a million unique devices.

It recorded the brand and also hopes to map footfall around specific areas, which it said “provides an unparalleled insight into the past behaviour of unique devices – entry/exit points, dwell times (time spent in a location), places of work, places of interest, and affinity to other devices”.

However, Memari said this was still in the future, telling AFP: “The implications of where this technology could go, got a lot more exciting than actually what our trial was.”

He compared the technology to websites which count the number of hits or unique visitors — they provide a measure of use but do not know who those people are.

And he insisted that using such data for targeted advertising — for example by noting that a person regularly visits one coffee shop and showing them ads for a rival chain — would be implemented in discussion with data protection groups.

He said: “Future developments will not just depend on technology, but also, most importantly, on people being comfortable with interactive technology.”

source: interaksyon.com

Uncle Prince Harry on royal baby: 'I'll make sure he has fun'

Britain's Prince Harry said on Thursday (July 25) he would make sure his new nephew, Prince George Alexander Louis, born on Monday (July 22), would have 'fun' growing up.

Prince Harry made the comments while viewing a photographic exhibition in London documenting the work of his Africa-based charity Sentebale, which works to help the vulnerable children of Lesotho.

The prince said he was delighted by the new addition to the family, but joked that his brother, Prince William would have to take serious note of the high rates Prince Harry intends to charge for baby-sitting duties.


"It is fantastic to have another addition to the family. I only hope my brother knows how expensive my baby-sitting charges are!"

Prince Harry said he had already held the new prince who was 'crying his eyes out' when they first met.

Asked what his mission would be as an uncle, Prince Harry said: "To make sure he has a good upbringing, keep him out of harm's way and make sure he has fun. The rest of it I leave to the parents." The new baby, born to Prince William and his wife Kate, is third in line to the throne and will be known as His Royal Highness Prince George of Cambridge.

source: interaksyon.com

William and Kate show off royal baby boy

LONDON - Britain's Prince William and his wife Kate gave the world its first glimpse of their newborn baby son on Tuesday, cradling the future king in their arms as they left hospital to go home.

The Duchess of Cambridge told the massed international media that it had been a "very emotional" experience, while the duke said that they were still working on a name for the third-in-line to the throne.

The baby raised a tiny hand above his white blankets but remained quiet and peaceful, despite cheers from well-wishers and shouts of hundreds of photographers outside St. Mary's Hospital in London.

The baby was born at 4:24 p.m. (1524 GMT) on Monday after at least 10 hours of labor, weighing a healthy eight pounds six ounces (3.8 kilograms), ending weeks of anticipation around the globe.

Kate, wearing a loose-fitting cornflower-blue dress, held the baby as the royal couple emerged from the front door of the hospital's private Lindo Wing, before passing him to her husband.

"He's got a good pair of lungs on him, that's for sure," 31-year-old William -- the son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana -- told the press.

"It's a special time," added Kate, also 31. "I think any new parent would know what this feeling feels like."

After speaking briefly to the press, William and Kate returned to the hospital before re-emerging minutes later with their son in a car seat.

William secured the seat in the back of a black Range Rover parked outside the hospital, before driving his family back to their home at Kensington Palace.

Kate's sister Pippa was reportedly waiting for them at the palace.

First visitors

The couple had earlier received their first visitors with heir to the throne Prince Charles and Kate's parents Michael and Carole Middleton -- all first-time grandparents -- turning up at the hospital.

Congratulations have poured in from around the globe for the baby, a great-grandchild of Queen Elizabeth II, who will one day reign over Britain and 15 other Commonwealth realms around the world.

The baby remains officially nameless, although bookmakers have picked George and James -- traditional names that hark back to previous kings -- as favorites.

To mark the birth, the Royal Artillery fired a 41-gun salute at London's Green Park and 62 rounds were fired at the Tower of London. Bells at the 11th century Westminster Abbey, where the couple married in April 2011, rang out for more than three hours.

By mid-afternoon, Kate was well enough for a visit from her parents, self-made millionaires who run a party supplies business. They arrived in a humble black London taxi and initially looked bewildered by the sheer scale of the international media presence.

"He's absolutely beautiful. They're both doing very well and we're so thrilled," a beaming Carole Middleton told the media when she had recovered her bearings.

Asked if she would reveal the name or had made any suggestions, Kate’s mother laughed and said: "Absolutely not."

Charles arrived around two hours later with his wife Camilla in a chauffeur-driven limousine.

"Marvelous, thank you very much, absolutely wonderful," said Charles, who earlier in the day had been on a tour of Yorkshire in northern England.

"I'm thrilled and very excited," Charles said during his official visit in Yorkshire.

His second wife, Camilla, spoke of a "wonderfully uplifting moment for the country", adding that Charles would make a "brilliant" grandfather.

Wrapped in the flag

Hordes of TV crews, photographers and royal fans wrapped in British flags had camped outside the hospital for three weeks waiting for the baby, testament to the enduring appeal of the British monarchy and particularly the glamorous William and Kate.

At Buckingham Palace, crowds straining for a glimpse of the official birth announcement on a gold easel in the forecourt were treated to a special edition of the Changing the Guard ceremony.

The Queen's Guards, resplendent in red tunics and bearskin hats, performed Cliff Richard's "Congratulations", to cheers from well-wishers and tourists outside the gates.

The baby will be titled His Royal Highness, Prince (name) of Cambridge -- the blank to be filled in when his name is announced.

William's name was not announced for a week, while the world had to wait a whole month when Charles was born in 1948.

William and Kate did not know the sex of their child until he was born, although the duchess reportedly told a soldier at a St. Patrick's Day parade in March: "I'd like to have a boy and William would like a girl."

It is the first time since 1894 that three direct heirs to the throne have been alive at the same time, and the 87-year-old queen said she was "delighted" at the birth of her third great-grandchild.

William and Kate are hugely popular and have been widely credited with revitalizing the British royals following decades of scandal and the death of William's mother Diana in a car crash in 1997.

Support for the royal family dipped after Diana's death, a year after her divorce from Charles, as the royal family's handling of the aftermath prompted accusations that they were out of touch.

But last year's celebrations of Queen Elizabeth's 60th year on the throne showed support for the monarchy was running at a record high.

Witnessing history

Apart from the media, the event attracted hundreds of well-wishers from the public.

"We're here to witness history, where a future monarch has been born. I just can't wait to see them today," said Maria Scott, a housewife from Newcastle in northern England who had camped outside the hospital since Saturday.

More than 25,300 tweets a minute were sent immediately after news of the birth broke on Monday night, Twitter said, while the hashtag #RoyalBaby was used 900,000 times in the first 24 hours after Kate went into labour.

US President Barack Obama led the international messages of congratulations, which also poured in from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, France, Israel, Japan and Singapore.

The British mass-circulation newspaper the Sun temporarily renamed itself "The Son", and most newspapers issued special supplements.

William and Kate, who met when they were students at university in Scotland about 10 years ago, have officially been known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge since their wedding.

The couple, who have been living in a cottage in north Wales where William is based as a Royal Air Force helicopter pilot, will eventually take up residence with their baby at Apartment 1A in London's Kensington Palace, William's childhood home, when a 1 million pound ($1.5 million) refurbishment is completed later this year.

Royal experts said the new prince would now be taken out of the public glare.

"Having a baby is a very private moment, and they are a private couple, so the next time we see the baby will be the official photo, and that could be weeks," said Joe Little, managing editor of Majesty magazine. (Additional Reuters reports from Belinda Goldsmith, Peter Griffiths, Li-Mei Hoang, Stephen Addison and Dasha Afanasieva)

source: interaksyon.com

Filipino nurses assisted Kate Middleton in giving birth to the future king of Britain

LONDON--Filipino nurses were among those who assisted Kate Middleton in giving birth to a future king of the United Kingdom, Filipinos working at St. Mary's Hospital told InterAksyon.com on Tuesday morning in London.



A Filipina nurse who requested anonymity said that several Filipino "theatre nurses"--equivalent to nurses assigned to a hospital's operating room--had assisted in Middleton's childbirth on Monday at room 301 of the exclusive Lindo Wing of St. Mary's Hospital.


However, these nurses have been ordered to keep other details of the childbirth to themselves in light of keeping the privacy and security of the royal family.


About 300 Filipino nurses work at St. Mary's Hospital, according to the Filipina nurse interviewed by InterAksyon, adding that Filipinos are "dominant" in terms of number in the said hospital. She herself has been employed at St. Mary's Hospital's admission ward (akin to an accident emergency room) for 13 years now.


"Masaya kaming lahat na dito nanganak si Kate," the Filipina nurse said. (We're all so happy that Kate gave birth in this hospital.)



Besides nurses, the hospital also employs Filipino cleaners, porters, logistics personnel, ambulance service trainers, administrative staff, among others.

At least five other Filipinos working at St. Mary's Hospital said Filipino nurses were indeed assigned at Lindo Wing.




For Jonard Cartagena, an ambulance service trainer in St. Mary's Hospital, the publicity and worldwide attention brought by the royal baby's will definitely help boost sales of retailers of memorabilia and souvenirs that will ride on the event, as well as lure in more tourists.

"London is back in the map," said Cartagena, who has been working in the UK the past 26 years.

More than 200,000 Filipinos live and work in the UK and most of them is in and around London, the capital.

source: interaksyon.com

Last-minute bets pour in for British royal baby

LONDON - A flood of last-minute bets on Britain's royal baby poured in on Monday even as Prince William's wife Catherine was in hospital in labor.

Most of the money was going on the name of the third-in-line to the throne, with one bookie suspending betting on the subject.

"The money really is pouring in. We have taken about £30,000 ($45,000, 35,000 euros) in the last three hours. It's unbelievable," Rory Scott, a spokesman for Irish bookmakers Paddy Power, told AFP.

"The majority of that is on the name. We have suspended betting on the date."

Speculation that the baby is a girl, based on a misheard comment by Kate in March, means girls' names are most popular with the punters.

"There is a clear view that the baby will be a girl so there is lots of activity around girls' names," a spokeswoman for British betting firm William Hill told AFP.

"Alexandra and Charlotte are the most popular."

Other favored names are Diana, William's mother's name; Elizabeth, after the current queen; and Victoria, after Britain's longest reigning monarch.

Those who think the baby will be a boy have plumped for George and James.

James is the name of Kate's brother but George has been the favorite "from day one", say the bookies.

Bookies say they have taken more than £1 million in total on what they have called the biggest novelty (non-sporting) market of all time.

Bets have come in from around the world with one Austrian man placing £1,000 on a male baby.

Scott said the amount of money is "quite staggering" and compared to what would be placed on English football's FA Cup final.

"We have taken about £10,000 a day over the weekend," he said.

The most bets by volume have been on the name Diana but they have been smaller amounts of money and it has drifted out of the odds, he said.

The date itself seems nearly certain with firms suspending the betting on Monday now that the Duchess of Cambridge is in labor.

In the run-up it was an unpopular choice of day, though.

"The 17th was the most popular. Only five percent of the bets were placed on today -- today was an outsider," said the William Hill spokeswoman.

"Everyone seemed to think that the baby would come last week."

Even after the birth there will be no rest for the betting firms, with people now betting on Kate's sister putting in an appearance.

"We are running bets now on the colour of the dress Pippa will be wearing on her first visit to the hospital and how many times Pippa will run the media gauntlet, how many times she will enter in the hospital and who will be holding the baby on the steps. The current favourite is William," Scott said.

There are also bets on the godparents with "the usual suspects -- David Beckham, Prince Harry, and Pippa" among the favorites, said the William Hill spokeswoman.

And the betting bonanza could go on for years -- firms are already taking wagers on baby number two.

source: interaksyon.com

Britain's royal baby: a world obsession or media hype?

LONDON - As the world's media whips itself into a frenzy over Prince William and his wife Kate's baby, some bemused spectators are wondering if Britain's royal family really is that fascinating or just hype.

From breathless reports about the baby's due date to endless speculation about the name and manner of delivery, TV crews from around the world have been delivering almost hourly updates outside the London hospital where Kate is due to give birth.

But do audiences really share their enthusiasm about the birth of a child who will be third in line to the British throne, or are they, like Queen Elizabeth's cousin Margaret Rhodes, struggling to see what all the fuss is about.

"You know everybody has babies, and it's lovely, but I don't get wildly excited about it," Rhodes, 88, told CNN.

Recent opinion polls suggest she is not the only one who has not been transfixed by the daily press barrage or glued to some British newspapers' live web shots of the as-yet unbreached entrance to St Mary's Hospital in west London.

According to the Pew Research Center, only 25 percent of Americans surveyed last December when Kate's pregnancy was announced were very or fairly closely following the news.

Previous studies of interest in eight British royal stories dating back to 1986 - including William and Kate's sumptuous wedding in April 2011 - found 60 percent did not follow or were not closely following these events.

There was one exception. The 1997 death of William's mother Princess Diana in a car crash in Paris grabbed the attention of 85 percent of US respondents.

British cynicism

Even in Britain a YouGov poll this week found only 46 percent were very or fairly interested in the birth, which was less than in India, where 57 percent of those surveyed expressed an interest in the arrival of the new royal.

"In Britain there seems to be more cynicism to the royal family, whereas abroad, particularly in America, there is a more romantic imagining of what royal life is like," said Arianne Chernock, an expert on the history of monarchy at Boston University.

"It helps having a few very charismatic figures, but it has to do with the legacy of Britain and the power it had in the world in the 18th and 19th centuries."

Wei Zhang from Hong Kong Phoenix TV, camped outside St Mary's hospital, said there was huge interest in Hong Kong, a British colony until 1997, and in mainland China.

People back home, he told Reuters, wanted to see pictures and videos of "the royal family, everything about the royal family. The princes, the queen, everything".

Chernock said the media fuelled the fascination.

"We are seeing an amplification because of social media, the 24/7 news cycle and the fact there are so many media outlets now," she told Reuters.

Genuine affection

For citizens in countries such as Canada and Australia, two of the 16 realms of which the baby is destined to be the future king or queen, even those who want to get rid of the monarchy admit there is genuine affection and interest.

"The fact is most Australians have nothing but goodwill for the royal family in Britain," Australian Republican Movement national director David Morris told Reuters. "But that does not mean that we see them as ruling over us."

So why do people still care about the British royals, who wield no real power and whose position is largely ceremonial?

Part of the fascination stems from the triumph of a highly rated public relations team that over the last decade has rebranded a staid institution, aided by the emergence of media-savvy royals such as William and his younger brother Harry.

Interest was also boosted by the travails of the royal family in the 1990s, with the marriage breakdowns of three of the queen's children, most notably that of Prince Charles and Diana, which turned them into a celebrity soap opera.

"Twenty-one years ago, everyone talked about the soap opera of the British royal family in tragic and disastrous terms, and fair enough, it's all come good," royal historian Robert Lacey told Reuters.

"So if it was a soap opera then, all the more so now."

Carolyn Harris, a Canadian historian who specializes in European monarchies, said the constant attention creates a familiarity that in turn fans the appeal.

"Audiences worldwide feel as though they watched William and Harry grow up and mourned with them when Princess Diana died in 1997," she told Reuters.

Author Claudia Joseph, who has penned a biography of Kate, said the huge popularity of Diana and now Kate also helped.

"Everybody's been waiting for a royal princess to step into Diana's footsteps. William is immensely popular around the world because of being Diana's son as well as the way he carries himself," she told Reuters.

"People like a fairytale, and the idea you can come from nowhere and marry a prince." (Additional reporting by Belinda Goldsmith and Amritha John in London, and James Grubel in Canberra)

source: interaksyon.com