Support grows for motion tabled by MP Chuka Umunna to return nationalised lender to the mutual sector. That means the Northern Rock Bank would become the Northern Rock Building Society again, a mutual building society without any shareholders.

This article titled “MPs step up pressure to remutualise Northern Rock” was written by Jill Treanor, for The Observer on Saturday 30th April 2011 23.06 UTC Political pressure for the remutualisation of Northern Rock is gathering strength: 100 members of parliament have signed an early day motion backing the return of the nationalised lender to the mutual sector. Chuka Umunna, the Labour MP who tabled the motion, said 19 MPs had lent their support in the past week. Northern Rock and UK Financial Investments (UKFI), which looks after the taxpayer’s interests in the bailed-out banks, have appointed Deutsche Bank to explore options for the Newcastle-based lender. Deutsche will present ideas to UKFI that could be used as the basis of any recommendations made about Northern Rock to the chancellor. The lender, notorious for granting 125% mortgages before the financial crisis, was nationalised by Labour in February 2008 after it suffered the first UK bank run in living memory and thousands of anxious depositors queued round the block to withdraw funds amid fears about its solvency. After it was rescued by the government, the bank was split to create Northern Rock plc, the “good” bank that has resumed lending, and Northern Rock Asset Management, the “bad” bank that was merged with Bradford & Bingley’s mortgage business, another nationalised casualty of the credit crunch. Deutsche is looking at the options for Northern Rock plc. While Labour was in office, the then Treasury minister Sarah McCarthy-Fry revealed that ways of remutualising Northern Rock had been considered, but warned: “I’m not pretending it’s going to be easy.” Coventry building society has presented itself as being interested in linking up with Northern Rock, although little information has emerged as to how it might facilitate any deal. An analysis by Landman Economics has suggested that “profit participating deferred shares” could help the government recoup the money tied up in the lender. Landman’s analysis concludes that a trade sale or stock market flotation would not raise enough funds to pay back the taxpayer in full. Labour ex-minister Gareth Thomas, who has campaigned for the Rock to be remutualised, said he had doubts about whether George Osborne was interested. “I do not believe the Treasury is taking this seriously,” he said. Another option is merging the 70 Northern Rock branches with the 600 that Lloyds Banking Group has to sell to comply with EU rules on state aid.

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I’ve been doing this for 3 or 4 years now. Transport minister says ‘it is crazy these days for people to go to work when work can come to people’  But once people get the taste for working from home, they may well also realise that it isn’t necessary to work for corporations any more either, and so the pyjama nation disruption of old work patterns continues apace.

This article titled “Sleep in or work from home: minister’s plans to ease rush hour” was written by Polly Curtis, Whitehall correspondent, for The Guardian on Wednesday 6th April 2011 23.07 UTC The transport minister, Norman Baker, wants to dramatically reduce rush hour in the capital and across the country by convincing companies to let people work from home, come in late, or set up satellite offices that will create commuting routes which go against existing traffic. Ministers are investigating tactics to “nudge” people into abandoning the rush hour, such as convincing train, tube and bus companies to offer bigger discounts for travelling outside the busiest hours. Instead of just peak and off-peak fares, the price of a journey could be staggered incrementally, with the most expensive fares around the times of 9am and 5pm. The system could be organised so that a 6.30am fare is cheaper than a 7.30am fare, for instance. “It is crazy these days for people to go to work when work can come to people. It is even crazier that we all travel on the same train on the same day at the same time. We should be able to spread the peak across different times,” Baker said. The plan would reduce carbon emissions, but ministers are also warning that there is urgency to fast-track changes to the rush hour because of the Olympics, warning that it would be “impossible” for the capital to accommodate the visitors anticipated for the games as well as going about its business as usual. Baker said: “We are going to have a gigantic influx of people all wanting to travel to see their events and it is simply not possible for everything to keep running if every one carries on as normal, so you have got to work differently to do this.” “This is not just the Olympics. It is winter too. Should business shut down when it snows? No. Should government spend taxpayers’ money investing in hundreds of snow ploughs? No. We should make sure we can carry on in business and government without everyone needing to travel in that period.” Options being considered include new “office hubs” in rural areas which would allow people to hotdesk closer to home. Some might have childcare facilities attached in “co-working” zones. Flexi-working, late or early starts, could stagger the rush hour and give people a greater work-life balance. More video-conferencing might mean people don’t have to leave home at all. The Trades Union Congress is backing the consultation. A TUC spokesman said they were pleased the minister was taking an interest. Staggering payments to encourage people to travel outside rush hour have been most stringently applied in Singapore, which also began the first road-pricing scheme in 1975. The system adjusts the price according to how busy the roads are at the time of driving. Singapore also has some of the world’s highest car taxes, and new cars are rationed in a bid to keep the state, the size of the Isle of Wight and having 4 million residents, congestion free.

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Tepco officials say that a 20cm crack found in a containment pit under reactor two may be source of radioactive water from Japan‘s Fukushima plant leaking into the sea.

This article titled “Radioactive water from Japan’s Fukushima plant is leaking into sea” was written by David Batty and agencies, for guardian.co.uk on Saturday 2nd April 2011 12.14 UTC Radioactive water from Japan’s quake-striken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant is leaking into the sea, its operator said. The 20cm (8in) crack in a containment pit under reactor two may be the source of recent radiation in coastal waters, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) officials said. Hidehiko Nishiyama, deputy director-general of the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency, said Tepco was planning to pour concrete into the pit to seal the crack, which may have been leaking since the magnitude 9.0 earthquake three weeks ago. “This could be one of the sources of seawater contamination,” Nishiyama said. “There could be other similar cracks in the area, and we must find them as quickly as possible.” Readings released on Saturday showed radiation in seawater had spread to 25 miles (40km) south of the plant. The concentration of iodine there was twice the legal limit, but officials stressed it was still well below levels that are dangerous to human health. The announcement of the radioactive leak came as Japan’s prime minister Naoto Kan surveyed the damage in the town of Rikuzentakata, which was gutted by the devastating tsunami that hit the country following the quake. The prime minister bowed his head for a minute of silence in front of the town hall, one of the few buildings still standing, which has all its windows blown out and debris piled up in front of it. “The government fully supports you until the end,” Kan later told 250 people at an elementary school that is serving as an evacuation centre. He met with the town’s mayor, Megumi Shimanuki, whose 38-year-old wife was swept away in the wave and is still missing. Shimanuki, whose family is living in a similar shelter 100 miles (160km) away in Natori, said Kan did not spend enough time with people on the ground. “The government has been too focused on the Fukushima power plant rather than the tsunami victims,” said Shimanuki, 35. “Both deserve attention.” One member of the power plant crew described difficult conditions inside the complex in an interview in the Mainichi newspaper. He said the plant has run out of the nylon protective booties that workers put over their shoes. “We only put something like plastic garbage bags you can buy at a convenience store and sealed them with masking tape,” said the anonymous worker. He added that the grounds of the power plant were littered with dead fish churned up by the tsunami. Japanese media reported that nuclear workers had been offered up to 400,000 yen (£3,000) a day to work inside the crippled reactors. Before the crisis some contract workers were reportedly being paid as little as 10,000 to 20,000 yen (£75 to £150) a day. Three weeks after the tsunami more than 165,000 people are living in shelters, while 260,000 households still do not have running water and 170,000 do not have electricity.

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Fukushima workers surviving on two small meals a day, Japanese technicians sleep in corridors during three-day shifts, nuclear radiation monitors shared between employees.

This article titled “Japanese nuclear workers face new threat from radioactive groundwater” was written by Justin McCurry in Tokyo, for The Guardian on Friday 1st April 2011 13.57 UTC Workers at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant face new threats to their health after radiation exceeding safety levels was found to have seeped into groundwater near the facility. The plant’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), was the target of further criticism amid reports that some workers at the site had not been provided with personal radiation monitors. Tepco’s handling of the crisis has come under closer scrutiny since three workers were exposed to dangerously high levels of radiation last week. They have all been discharged from hospital after suffering no ill effects. Japan’s nuclear and industrial safety agency, Nisa, ordered the firm to review its latest radiation measurements taken from the air, seawater and groundwater, saying they seemed suspiciously high. Earlier on Friday Tepco reported that groundwater beneath one of the plant’s six reactors contained levels of radioactive iodine 10,000 times higher than government standards. “We have our suspicions about their isotope analysis,” said Hidehiko Nishiyama, a Nisa spokesman. Tepco said that a computer software fault could be responsible for the high readings, but added that the data could turn out to be accurate. Experts said it was unlikely that the radioactive iodine-131 found nearly 15 metres (50ft) below one of the reactors would find its way into drinking water. For several days authorities have issued assurances that none of the radiation readings are high enough to present a threat to people living beyond the 12-mile (20km) evacuation zone. But the risks being taken by about 600 technicians, engineers, firefighters and troops as they struggle to contain radiation leaks have only increased. Tepco admitted it had not been able to provide enough dosimeters to teams of workers who are completing gruelling three-day shifts in an attempt to remove and dispose of radioactive pools of water and prevent damaged fuel rods from going into full meltdown. Tepco said it had secured additional gauges to replace hundreds that were damaged in the 11 March tsunami. “We must ensure the workers’ health and safety, but we also face a pressing need to get the work done as quickly as possible,” Nishiyama said, adding that sharing meters up until now had been “unavoidable”. Soon after the disaster the health ministry raised the maximum radiation level to which each worker can safely be exposed from 100 millisieverts a year to 250 millisieverts a year to enable them to spend more time in contaminated areas. Nisa said that 21 workers had so far been exposed to radiation exceeding 100 millisieverts, although tests have shown that no one has been exposed to radiation high enough to damage their health. Sumio Imoto, a spokesman for one of Tepco’s main subcontractors, said its labourers were being looked after and were not taking unnecessary risks. “The safety of our employees is our primary concern,” he said, “but keeping up morale is a big challenge.” Robert Peter Gale, a US medical researcher who has been advising the Japanese government, said: “There’s a huge difference between whole-body and partial-body radiation. “One of my primary considerations is the geometry of the reactor and the likelihood that people are in a configuration that would give them full-body radiation. It’s not impossible, but it’s highly unlikely. They have to be exposed in their entirety from three to four metres to get a whole-body dose. This is not a kamikaze situation.” According to the few reliable descriptions of conditions at the plant, the workers are given just two meals a day – crackers and a small carton of vegetable juice for breakfast; dried rice and canned fish or chicken for dinner – and take naps in cramped corridors on lead-lined sheets to limit their exposure to radiation. “That’s where they sleep, with only one blanket each to wrap themselves around,” said Kazuma Yokota, a Nisa official who spent five days at the plant. Yokota said the rush to save the plant meant some workers had been unable to change their underwear, while high radiation levels were hampering the arrival of fresh supplies. Conditions have marginally improved amid widespread admiration for the workers, initially nicknamed the Fukushima 50 because they worked in groups of that number. Their daily bottled water allowance has increased and the government has vowed to improve food supplies. The workers’ nightly meeting ends with shouts of “ganbaro!” (“let’s keep going”). The anonymous workers have little or no contact with the outside world while they are on site, and media interviews are discouraged. “They are doing their best while they aren’t even able to contact members of their family,” Yokota said. After three days’ work they spend three days at J-Village, a nearby sports complex, for a shower, proper food and sleep. “It isn’t perfect, but it does provide a place for the workers to pull back and get some rest before they have to go back in,” said a Tepco spokesman, Hirota Oyama. “They can eat fresh vegetables, something they can’t do on the site.” The prime minister, Naoto Kan, will visit the sports complex on Saturday to show his support. His spokesman, Yukio Edano, said: “I humbly bow to the workers and officials who are doing difficult jobs at the plant’s frontline.” Japanese media reported that nuclear workers had been offered up to 400,000 yen (£3,000) a day to work inside the crippled reactors. Before the crisis some contract workers were reportedly being paid as little as 10,000 to 20,000 yen (£75 to £150) a day. Tepco said it was considering using “jumpers”, or workers who enter highly radioactive reactors to perform short but essential tasks, then evacuate quickly to avoid prolonged exposure to radiation. An early return home is unlikely given the perilous condition of the plant three weeks after the tsunami. As Kan warned on Friday: “I am prepared for a long-term battle over the Fukushima nuclear plant and to win this battle. “At the current stage we cannot say that the plant has been sufficiently stabilised. But we are preparing for all kinds of situations and I am convinced that the plant can be stabilised. We cannot say at this stage when this will happen, but we are doing our best.”

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Intense fighting continues as Gaddafi forces enter the rebel stronghold of Benghazi. One jet, believed to be the rebels’ only plane, is shot down.  International leaders meet in Paris to discuss action against Gaddafi in Libya.

This article titled “Libya rebels on the defensive as Gaddafi forces enter Benghazi” was written by Chris McGreal in Benghazi and Matt Wells, for guardian.co.uk on Saturday 19th March 2011 13.08 UTC Forces loyal to the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi have penetrated the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, apparently shooting down the revolutionaries’ only jet fighter and capturing parts of the city. Intense but sporadic fighting has taken place in the south-west of Benghazi, in defiance of international demands for an immediate ceasefire and forcing rebels to mount a fierce defence. It was not immediately clear whether the downed jet belonged to Gaddafi or rebel fighters, but rebels later conceded it was their only plane. Talks on implementing the UN-sanctioned no-fly zone have started in Paris, attended by US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, the British and French prime ministers, Arab leaders and ambassadors from the 28 Nato states. Benghazi residents were angry at the delay. “Europe and America have sold us out. We have been hearing bombing all night and they have been doing nothing. Why? We have no one to help us but God,” Hassan Marouf, 58, told Reuters, standing outside the door of his house. “Us men are not afraid to die, but I have women and children inside and they are crying and in tears. Help us.” Diplomats say military action is unlikely until after the Paris meeting. A French government source told Reuters: “Everything is ready but the decision is now a political one. It’s clear we have to move quickly.” Fighting continued in Benghazi and Misrata, despite a promise of a ceasefire on Friday by the Libyan foreign minister, Moussa Koussa. That statement has not been broadcast on Libyan state TV, suggesting it was intended only for an international audience. Rebels told the Guardian that Gaddafi’s forces had entered the south-west of Benghazi, where a large, well-armed contingent was holding them back. The rebels later claimed to have repelled the Gaddafi forces, saying they had captured tanks and prisoners. Earlier on Saturday, a jet fighter was seen in the air, circling Benghazi. Suddenly it went into a spin, erupted in a ball of fire, and plunged to the ground in the west of the city. The rebels concede it was their only plane, a Russian-made fighter-bomber. Rebel leaders called for the west to act quickly. Mustafa Abdel-Jalil, head of the rebel council, told al-Jazeera: “Now there is a bombardment by artillery and rockets on all districts of Benghazi. There will be a catastrophe if the international community does not implement the resolutions of the UN security council. “We appeal to the international community, to the all the free world, to stop this tyranny from exterminating civilians.” Gaddafi said western powers had no right to intervene in Libya. Mussa Ibrahim, a government spokesman, quoted the Libyan leader as saying in a letter to France, Britain and the UN: “This is injustice, this is clear aggression. You will regret it if you take a step towards interfering in our internal affairs.” The Libyan government blamed the rebels, which it says are members of al-Qaida, for breaking the ceasefire around Benghazi. But rebels said Libyan jets had bombed the road to Benghazi airport and elsewhere on the outskirts. Fathi Abidi, a rebel supporter who works on logistics, said at the western entrance to the city: “They have just entered Benghazi and they are flanking us with tanks, missiles and mortars.” Inside the city, residents set up makeshift barricades with furniture, benches, road signs and even a barbecue at intervals along main streets. Each barricade was manned by half a dozen rebels, but only about half of those were armed. Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the UN, said she believed Gaddafi had violated the terms of the UN resolution which required him to stop fighting in Libya.

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Down with the interim coalition Government. The Tunisian mass movement is being emulated in the whole region. In the revolutionary process, the mass of workers, young people and poor are learning very quickly. Past illusions in the ‘benevolent’ and protective role of the army have been replaced by a much more defiant attitude. Egypt take note.

This article titled “Tunisian prime minister Mohamed Ghannouchi resigns amid unrest” was written by Kim Willsher, Paris, for The Guardian on Sunday 27th February 2011 19.58 UTC Tunisia was thrown into turmoil once more after Mohamed Ghannouchi resigned as prime minister of the post-revolution government amid further clashes between police and protestors. The interim president, Fouad Mebazaa, named the former government minister Beji Caid-Essebsi as Ghannouchi’s replacement. Ghannouchi said he felt forced to stand down “because I am not willing to be a person that takes decisions that would end up causing casualties”. He made the announcement after three people died on Saturday and nine others were injured during outbreaks of violence on the streets of the capital, Tunis. Tunisia’s interim coalition has struggled to assert its authority since a wave of protests that started in December sparked what was called the “jasmine revolution”, leading to the overthrow in January of president Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, who had ruled for 23 years. Protestors have targeted Ghannouchi, accusing him of being too close to the former government. They have also become frustrated over the slow pace of change since the revolution despite the interim government’s pledge to hold a general election by 15 July this year. Ghannouchi, 69, who since 1989 had held various ministerial posts under the old regime, told a news conference he had thought carefully about the decision. “I am not running away from responsibility,” he said. “This is to open the way for a new prime minister.” He added: “This resignation will serve Tunisia, and the revolution and the future of Tunisia.” On a third day of clashes, police fired tear gas and warning shots in an effort to disperse stone-throwing youths and protesters shouting anti-government slogans around Habib Bourguiba avenue in central Tunis. More than 100 people were arrested and accused of “acts of destruction and burning”, according to a statement by the Tunisian interior ministry put out by the state-run news agency Tunis Afrique Presse. Demonstrators want the interim government disbanded along with the current parliament. They also seek the suspension of the constitution and the formation of an elected assembly that can write another, organise elections and oversee the transition to democracy. Ghannouchi took power after Ben Ali fled on 14 January. He formed a new “national unity” government, including opposition party members and a blogger.   Tunisia’s revolution was sparked by the death of a young street vendor, Mohammed Bouazizi, in December. In an act of desperation which sparked unrest in several other Arab countries in the region, Bouazizi set fire to himself after officials stopped him selling vegetables without permission.

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The reform package being offered by the Egyptian army in power falls way short of the list of demands put forward in the  peoples communique number 1 from the organising committee of protesters from January 25th

This article titled “Egypt’s generals unveil reform package” was written by Jack Shenker in Cairo, for The Guardian on Sunday 27th February 2011 15.56 UTC Egypt’s ruling generals have unveiled a package of far-reaching constitutional reforms, following mounting criticism of the way in which the military is handling the country’s post-Mubarak transition period. A committee of legal experts appointed by the interim government has proposed changes to eight articles of the Egyptian constitution, which will be put to a national referendum next month. The amendments would create new term limits on the presidency, make it easier for Egyptians to run for president, ensure stronger judicial oversight of elections, and restrict the government’s power to maintain emergency laws – all ahead of a general election expected later this year. Committee member Sobhi Saleh, a lawyer who has previously represented the banned Muslim Brotherhood movement in parliament, described the amendments as a historic achievement. “I am very satisfied,” he said. The announcement comes at a critical time for the armed forces, following violent street clashes between soldiers and pro-change demonstrators in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. Peaceful protests calling for the resignation of interim prime minister Ahmed Shafiq, who was a cabinet member under Mubarak and is closely associated with the old regime, were met with a brutal response by military police who used tasers and batons to attack those rallying in the capital. Senior generals later offered a semi-apology for the assault, insisting the aggression was “unintentional”, but that has done little to reassure protesters, some of whom are now comparing the military to Mubarak’s much-hated central security forces. “The army and the police are one,” claimed one activist, deliberately inverting a popular protest chant during the anti-Mubarak uprising that declared “the army and the people are one.” The military remains a popular institution in Egypt for its role in defending the nation during wars in 1956 and 1973, and bound emotionally to many families through a policy of national conscription. Yet with an emerging body of evidence suggesting that the army has been complicit in torture and other human rights abuses during the past month’s unrest, plus the supreme military council’s growing intolerance of strikes and apparent unwillingness to confront lasting remnants of the Mubarak regime, many of those who initially welcomed the generals’ takeover following Mubarak’s downfall are now having second thoughts. “I’m not sure how long the general Egyptian public can maintain the bizarre idea that the army is so great,” said Issandr El Amrani, a political analyst and blogger based in Egypt. “This is the army that took power in a coup in 1952 and ended political pluralism, lost tonnes of wars after that and continued to justify its predation on the national budget despite not having had to fight anyone since 1973.” The process of amending the constitution has been criticised by many of the pro-change protesters who helped end Mubarak’s three-decade rule and who wish to see a new constitution written from scratch. Such a move has been resisted so far by the armed forces, but in an attempt to appease its critics the supreme military council has said that parliament will be formally mandated to draft a completely new constitution following the next election. “What is needed now is to scrap the existing constitution and not to amend it,” said Bahieddin Hassan, director of the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, who has warned that Egypt is in danger of falling prey to “neo-Mubarakism”. “No amendments, however extensive, would be enough to salvage it because the philosophy and spirit of the constitution are diametrically opposed to democratic values and human rights. The present constitution can only encourage despotism.” El Amrani agrees: “Although the amendments may signal some great improvements … it will also deliver the interim military government a clear public mandate. You can expect millions of Egyptians voting overwhelmingly in favour of the amended constitution, delivering a clear sign of public support for the transition model chosen by the military. It will be difficult for opposition groups to then challenge the army, which can point to this popular mandate as the source of its legitimacy.”

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This article titled “New Zealand earthquake strikes Christchurch, killing at least 65 people” was written by Ben Quinn and Mark Tran, for guardian.co.uk on Tuesday 22nd February 2011 13.18 UTC At least 65 people have died and more than 100 are missing after a powerful earthquake struck the southern New Zealand city of Christchurch, collapsing buildings, burying vehicles under debris and sending rescuers scrambling to help people trapped under rubble. The 6.3-magnitude quake struck the country’s second largest city on a busy weekday afternoon. The mayor of Christchurch, Bob Parker, has declared a state of emergency and ordered people to evacuate the city centre. “Make no mistake this is going to be a very black day for this shaken city,” he said. Power and water was cut and hundreds of dazed, screaming and crying residents wandered through the streets as sirens blared throughout Christchurch in the aftermath of the quake, which was centred three miles from the city. The US Geological Survey said the tremor occurred at a depth of 2.5 miles. After rushing to the city within hours of the quake, the prime minister of New Zealand, John Key, said the death toll was 65, and may rise. “It is just a scene of utter devastation. We may well be witnessing New Zealand’s darkest day.” The spire of the city’s well-known stone cathedral toppled into a central square, while buildings collapsed in on themselves and streets were strewn with bricks and shattered concrete. The multi-storey Pyne Gould Guinness Building, housing more than 200 workers, has collapsed with an unknown number of people trapped inside. Television pictures showed rescuers, many of them office workers, dragging severely injured people from the rubble. Elsewhere, police said debris rained down on two buses, crushing them, while emergency workers were moving to rescue survivors trapped in other partially collapsed buildings across the city. New Zealand’s TV3 said 24 people were trapped on the 17th floor of the 19-storey Forsyth Barr office building, near the cathedral. The building was intact but a stairwell had collapsed, it said. Christchurch hospital had to deal with many injured residents. “We’ve had a lot of people at the emergency department … a significant number, a lot of major injuries,” said David Meates, the chief executive of the Canterbury health board. “They are largely crushes and cuts types of injuries and chest pain as well,” he said, adding some of the more seriously injured could be evacuated to other cities, where hospitals have been put on alert and prepared to accept casualties. All army medical staff have been mobilised, while several hundred troops were helping with the rescue, officials said. A woman trapped in one of the buildings said she was terrified and waiting for rescuers to reach her six hours after the quake. “I thought the best place was under the desk but the ceiling collapsed on top. I can’t move and I’m just terrified,” office worker Anne Voss told TV3 news. Emergency shelters had been set up in schools and at a racecourse, as night approached. Helicopters dumped giant buckets of water to try to douse a fire in one tall office building. A crane helped rescue workers trapped in another office block. “I was in the square right outside the cathedral – the whole front has fallen down and there were people running from there. There were people inside as well,” said John Gurr, a camera technician who was in the city centre when the quake hit. The city’s historic cathedral was one of the buildings that took significant damage, while cars were buried under rubble and roads buckled as the tremor opened fissures in the ground. “It is huge. We just don’t know if there are people under this rubble,” a priest standing outside the rubble of the damaged cathedral told Television New Zealand. Search and rescue teams are working through the night to look for survivors, the civil defence director, John Hamilton, said. “We have to be prepared to accept that it is going to be a heavy toll,” he said, adding that it was unclear how many people were trapped in buildings. “There could well be people who are stuck in buildings overnight. I can’t confirm, but I would expect that’s in all probability the case.” All airports and airspace in the country were shut down and all flights into, out of and around the country were put on hold immediately after the earthquake. Airways NZ, New Zealand’s national air traffic control organisation, is based in Christchurch. Local TV showed bodies being pulled out of rubble strewn around the city centre, though it was unclear whether any of them were alive. It was the second time in five months that the city has been struck by a major earthquake. Last September’s 7.1-magnitude earthquake was 30 miles west of Christchurch. About 100 people were treated at hospital with earthquake-related injuries then. Christchurch has been hit by hundreds of aftershocks since that earthquake, causing extensive damage and a handful of injuries, but no deaths. New Zealand, which sits between the Pacific and Indo-Australian plates, records on average more than 14,000 earthquakes a year, of which about 20 would normally top magnitude 5.0. Christchurch is home to about 350,000 people and is a tourist centre and gateway to the South Island.

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OK, here’s my prediction for the outcome of the general election in the United Kingdom, just for fun. New Labour have had their chance and blown it to such an extent that they come third in overall votes, a disasterous result by all accounts. But the Tories fail to win an overall majority in the House of Commons and Gordon Brown tries to stay on as Prime Minister with a minority government, daring the Liberals to vote down the queen’s speech, which they then do. Brown is forced to resign as Labour leader and the battle for a successor begins, with a timetable stretching over many weeks. Meanwhile, the Liberals enter into negotiations with the Tories to see if they can stitch up a coalition government between them. Nick Clegg demands electoral reform as a precondition to more detailed discussions, and David Cameron categorically rules it out. So no deal there. Harriet Harman the current deputy leader of the Labour Party automatically acts as a caretaker leader and approaches Clegg to see what terms he might accept to go in with Labour. A historic deal is then patched together which involves mashing up Vince Cable and Alastair Darling’s economic policies into one chancellorship, big concessions on electoral reform, and a double figure-head leadership which makes Nick Clegg and Harriet Harman both being prime minister. Cameron is thus thwarted from forming a Tory government for at least another four years and such is the jubiliation on Labour back benches that all the other contenders for leadership are persuaded to withdraw from the contest leaving Harriet Harman as uncontested leader of the Labour Party and joint Prime Minister of the UK parliament. Harriet Harman, The UK's second ever female Prime Minister Of course constitutionally, you can’t actually have a joint prime ministership in absolutely everything, there are some occasions when a single name must be applied, such as taking a seat at World Summits etc and in the EU so for these occasions they toss a coin, and Harriet wins.

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