Britain in grip of longest cold snap for 10 years

Britain is in the grip of the longest cold snap for more than 10 years as forecasters predict another week of freezing temperatures.

Daily Mail |  Jan 3, 2009

By Richard Alleyne

Cold, mainly dry and frosty conditions, which set in on Boxing Day, are likely to continue for at least seven days as the weather is dominated by a huge region of high pressure coming from the Continent.

For this time of year, forecasters say it is likely to be the longest prolonged spell of cold weather – where temperatures barely rise above zero centigrade (32F) – since 1996.

Usually long spells of cold weather occur around February when the effect of warming from the Atlantic sea is reduced.

“We have another five to seven days of colder weather still to come which will make it the longest spell since 1996 at this early stage of winter,” said Philip Eden, the Daily Telegraph weather correspondent.

“Usually prolonged cold spells happen in late January and February because the weather in early winter comes from the warm Atlantic sea rather than the cold Continent.

“Over the last 20 years winters temperatures have risen quite substantially so we have perhaps forgotten what it is like to have this sort of spell of weather.

“They have become less common.”

Not only has the weather been cold but for huge swathes of the country, it has been extremely dry.

“Over a huge part of the UK it hasn’t actually rained since the 13th of December,” said Mr Eden.

“Three weeks without rain at the this time is very unusual and again has not happened since around 1996.”

The temperatures are likely to reach their coldest at 15.8F (-9C) on Sunday night when there is also likely to be some rain. Forecasters have warned commuters for the big return to work on Monday to be extra cautious.

“There could be some severe black ice patches on the road for the big return to work because there could be rain falling on frozen ground on Sunday night,” said a spokesman for the Met Office .

The relatively calm, cold spell is expected to break after next weekend with bands of rain, strong westerly winds and milder conditions spreading from the Atlantic.

The lowest temperatures this cold snap reached 10F (-12C) in the north of Scotland as freezing prevented the sun from heating the ground.

Manchester was the coldest major city with daytime temperatures persisting close to 27F (-3C) for much of the day. London and the South East were less cold.

These temperatures do not threaten long-term records. Just over a decade ago, in the last days of 1995, new low temperature records were being set in Scotland. The details of these temperatures place the current cold spell into perspective.

On December 30 1995 the UK national low temperature record of 17F (-27.2C) was equalled – on this occasion it was recorded at the small Sutherland village of Altnaharra. This temperature was previously recorded in 1895 and 1982 in eastern Scotland.

Remarkably, 1995 saw new record-low temperatures set for each day from December 27 to 30. Such “date-records” are not that difficult to achieve but this spell of intense cold, just over a decade ago, really shows how much colder the turn of the year can be – and how far from a record we are right now.

Blackwater guards plead not guilty to Iraqi murders

Five former guards from US security firm Blackwater Worldwide, a government contractor in Iraq, have pleaded not guilty to killing 14 Iraqi civilians and wounding 18 others by gunfire and grenades at a busy Baghdad intersection in 2007.

Telegraph | Jan 6, 2009

US federal judge Ricardo Urbina set a trial date for January 29, 2010 for the defendants, aged 24-29. Relations between Washington and Baghdad soured after the high-profile shooting that also caused an outrage over a perceived lack of oversight of security contractors in war zones.

The defendants were arraigned in federal court on 14 counts of voluntary manslaughter, 20 counts of attempted manslaughter and one weapons violation count.

A sixth guard had pleaded guilty to charges of voluntary manslaughter and attempt to commit manslaughter for the September 16, 2007 shooting in Nisur Square.

The defendants, who were part of a Blackwater detail guarding a convoy of trucks, opened fire with automatic weapons on unarmed civilians in Baghdad.

US prosecutors said 14 civilians were killed. An Iraqi investigation found that 17 civilians were killed.

The defendants – military veterans Evan Liberty, Donald Ball, Dustin Heard, Nicholas Slatten and Paul Slough – risk sentences of 30 years to life imprisonment.

Critics have repeatedly accused Blackwater of having a cowboy mentality and a shoot-first-ask-questions-later approach when carrying out security duties in Iraq.

After the incident, the Iraqi government pressed the State Department to withdraw Blackwater from the country, but the security firm’s contract was renewed in 2008.

Blair’s Iraq war adviser to work for Prince William and Prince Harry

Queen Elizabeth II and England’s Ambassador to the United States Sir David Manning (L) escort US President George W. Bush prior to a dinner at the Ambassador’s Residence of the British Embassy in Washington, DC, 08 May 2007 AFP/Getty Images

Sir David Manning, who acted as a go-between for Tony Blair and George Bush in the run-up to the Iraq war, is to work for Prince William and Prince Harry.

Telegraph | Jan 6, 2009

By Andrew Pierce

Sir David Manning, Britain’s former ambassador to Washington, will act as an unpaid adviser to the young princes. He will act as a “wise man” and will be on call if and when they require alternative outside advice as they continue to develop their public profiles. The Queen personally appointed Sir David to work with her grandsons.

Sir David’s secret memos published after the Iraq invasion revealed that Mr Blair had promised Mr Bush he would back a military strike a year before the conflict began.

The new role of Sir David was announced as Clarence House confirmed that the princes would be given their own private offices at Kensington Palace.

The Daily Telegraph reported on Monday that the Queen had backed the decision for the princes, aged 24 and 26 respectively, to have some independence from their father by having their own offices.

However, the Prince of Wales will continue to fund the office through his Duchy of Cornwall income. There will be no cost to the taxpayer.

The Household, which has been created with The Prince of Wales’s support, lays the basis for The Princes’ lives in the future as they progress their public, military and charitable activities.

Related

David Manning – From Wikipedia

Sir David Geoffrey Manning, GCMG CVO (born 5 December 1949) was the British Ambassador to the United States from 2003 to 2007. He authored the so-called “Manning Memo” summarizing the details of a January 2003 meeting between American president George W. Bush and British prime minister Tony Blair during the run-up to the invasion of Iraq.

He was appointed Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George (GCMG) in the 2008 New Year Honours.

Bush-Blair 2003 Iraq memo

The Bush-Blair 2003 Iraq memo or Manning memo was a secret memo of a meeting between American President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair that took place on January 31, 2003. It purportedly showed that the Bush administration had already decided on the US invasion of Iraq at that point. The memo was written by Blair’s chief foreign adviser at the time, David Manning, who participated at the meeting.

It has become controversial for its content, which shows Bush floating the idea of painting a U-2 spyplane in UN colors and letting it fly low over Iraq to provoke the then-leader Saddam Hussein to shoot it down, providing a pretext for America and Britain’s subsequent invasion. It also shows George Bush and Tony Blair making a secret deal to carry out said invasion regardless of whether weapons of mass destruction were discovered by UN weapons inspectors, in direct contradiction with statements Blair made to Parliament afterwards that Saddam would be given a final chance to disarm.

Iraq Dossier Cast of Characters

Thailand blocks thousands of websites for ‘insulting’ king

Thais have long been offended by insults against their king but the issue has become particularly sensitive during the political upheaval of recent months Photo: BLOOMBERG

The Thai government has blocked 2,300 websites deemed insulting to the country’s monarchy and is planning to block 400 more.

Telegraph | Jan 6, 2009

By Thomas Bell in Bangkok

King Bhumibol is worshipped by many Thais as the semidivine father of the nation. There are also acute sensitivities about what some people see as the palace’s role in politics. Strict lese majeste laws, which make “insulting” the monarchy punishable by up to 15 years in jail, effectively prohibit any public discussion of the subject.

“The blocking of websites that disseminate content and pictures which insult the monarchy is one of the government’s crucial policies,” the information and communication minister Ranongruk Suwanchawee said on Tuesday.

He added that the law would be strengthened to increase the power of officials to block websites as soon as parliament reopens after the new year holiday.

Among the web pages blocked is a recent article in the Economist magazine which claimed that the monarchy frequently involves itself in political affairs. Thai officials insist that the king’s role is purely ceremonial and are extremely sensitive to any suggestions otherwise.

Many of the blocked sites have message boards where Thais discuss politics and the monarchy.

Thais have long been offended by insults against their king but the issue has become particularly sensitive during the political upheaval of recent months.

Protesters who overran Bangkok’s airports at the end of last year and helped bring the current government to power claimed they were acting to protect the monarchy. The former prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, and his supporters in the former government were portrayed as somehow opposed to the monarchy – an allegation they denied.

Some observers believed the anti-Thaksin movement had the backing of figures close to the palace but King Bhumibol made no comment on the events.

The army chief Gen Anupong Paojinda recently told an audience of 800 battalion commanders to monitor the internet for attacks against the king. Members of the new government have called for tougher penalties for lese majeste.

An Australian author, Harry Nicolaides, has been in jail awaiting trial for 4 months over passages of a self-published novel that were deemed to refer to the real-life crown prince.

December was snowiest in 40 years; colder too

St. Cloud Times | Jan 6, 2009

By Kirsti Marohn

St. Cloud Minnesota – Last month was the snowiest December in St. Cloud since 1969 and the coldest since 2000, according to a new report.

It was also the fourth snowiest December on record, St. Cloud State University meteorologist Bob Weisman says in his monthly weather summary.

Twenty-three inches of snow were recorded in St. Cloud last month, more than 14 inches above normal. There were 11 days with measurable snowfall, including 6.1 inches from a major storm on Dec. 30 and snowfalls that set daily records on Dec. 14 and 20.

And there could have been more. A couple snowstorms that hit southeastern Minnesota missed St. Cloud, Weisman notes.

Last month also was significantly colder than normal, according to Weisman. The average temperature in St. Cloud was 8.5 degrees, which is nearly 6 degrees colder than normal. That ranks as the 15th coldest out of the 128 Decembers on record in St. Cloud.

St. Cloud even saw one day — Dec. 15 — when the temperature never climbed above zero, Weisman reported. The following morning, the low temperature dropped to 24 degrees below zero, setting a record for Dec. 16.

The cold and snow are related, according to Weisman.

“Snow can reflect 80-90 percent of the sun’s energy back to space, so having a bright, white snow cover can allow arctic air masses to move into Minnesota without warming very much,” he wrote.

Atheist buses denying God’s existence take to streets

The campaign’s modest £5,500 target was met within minutes and more than £140,000 has now been donated Photo: PA

Atheist adverts declaring that “there’s probably no God” have been placed on 800 buses around Britain after an unprecedented fundraising campaign.

Telegraph | Jan 6, 2009

By Martin Beckford

Organisers originally hoped to put the message on just a handful of London buses, as an antidote to posters put up by religious groups which they claimed were “threatening eternal damnation” to non-believers.

But after the campaign received high-profile support from the prominent atheist Prof Richard Dawkins and the British Humanist Association, the modest £5,500 target was met within minutes and more than £140,000 has now been donated since the launch in October.

Enough money has now been raised to place the message – “There’s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life” – on 200 bendy buses in the capital for a month, with the first ones taking to the streets .

A further 600 buses carrying the adverts will be seen by passengers and passers-by in cities across England, Wales and Scotland, from Aberdeen and Dundee to York, Coventry, Swansea and Bristol.

In addition, two large LCD screens bearing the atheist message have been placed in Oxford Street, central London, while 1,000 posters containing quotes from well-known non-believers will be placed on Underground trains for two weeks starting on Monday.

They feature lines doubting the existence of God, and celebrating the natural world, written by Albert Einstein, Katharine Hepburn, Douglas Adams and Emily Dickinson.

It is the first ever atheist advertising campaign to take place in Britain, and similar adverts are now also running on public transport in America and Spain.

Ariane Sherine, a writer who first thought of the atheist bus adverts, said: “You wait ages for an atheist bus, then 800 come along at once. I hope they will brighten people’s days and make them smile on their way to work.”

The campaign has even been welcomed by religious groups for increasing the profile of debate about faith, and although there was tight security outside the launch event by the Royal Albert Hall, the campaigners have not received any threats from fundamentalists.

Paul Woolley, director of Theos, a theology think tank which donated £50 to the cause, said: “The posters will encourage people to consider the most important question we will ever face in our lives.”

Some atheist supporters of the campaign were disappointed that the wording of the adverts did not declare categorically that God does not exist, although there were fears that this could break advertising guidelines.

Prof Dawkins, the renowned evolutionary biologist and author of The God Delusion, said: “I wanted something stronger but with hindsight I think it’s probably a good thing because it makes people think. It’s just food for thought – people will have conversations in pubs when they see these buses.”

Hanne Stinson, chief executive of the British Humanist Association, said the adverts were “overwhelmingly positive” and were intended to reassure agnostics and atheists that there is nothing wrong with not believing in God.