2012 'second wettest on record'

3 January 2013 Last updated at 10:07 ET By Mark Kinver Environment reporter, BBC News

A look back at a year of extreme weather

The past 12 months were the second wettest on record in the UK, according to data released by the Met Office.

The total rainfall for the UK during 2012 was 1,330.7mm (52.4in), just 6.6mm short of the record set in 2000.

Most areas were affected by the extreme weather, with thousands of homes flooded and farmers struggling to grow crops in the saturated soil.

The latest data comes as analysis says the frequency of extreme rainfall in the UK may be increasing.

Continue reading the main story

Top five wettest years in the UK

1. 2000 - 1,337.3mm

2. 2012 - 1,330.7mm

3. 1954 - 1,309.1mm

4. 2008 - 1,295.0mm

5. 2002 - 1,283.7mm

(Source: Met Office)

BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin said statistics showed that days of particularly heavy rainfall had become more common since 1960.

The study into extreme rain was based on statistics from the National Climate Information Centre, the UK's official climate record.

The Met Office said this was the wettest year on record for England, the third wettest for Wales, the 17th wettest on record for Scotland and the 40th wettest for Northern Ireland.

The records date back to 1910.

The Met Office added that four of the top five wettest years had occurred since 2000.

"The trend towards more extreme rainfall events is one we are seeing around the world, in countries such as India and China, and now potentially here in the UK," said Met Office chief scientist Prof Julia Slingo.

Continue reading the main story

Analysis

Steve Cleaton Forecaster, BBC Weather Centre

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Although it has been the second wettest year on record for the UK, the start of the year was in fact dominated by talk of drought.

The big switch in weather conditions came as the 5th driest and 3rd warmest March on record gave way to the wettest April on record. We then experienced the wettest April to June on record, with June itself being the wettest June on record.

This drastic change was largely attributed to a shift in the position of the jet stream, a fast moving ribbon of air that flows high in the atmosphere. The jet stream helps create and steer low pressure systems towards and across the UK, and tends to meander from north to south through the year.

The extent of the jet stream's meandering largely results from the natural variability of our weather. During 2012, the jet stream was positioned to the south of the UK for extended periods of time.

This set-up resulted in the prevalence of Atlantic weather systems to be drawn across the UK from the west, bringing all the wet weather.

The wettest month of the year was December with 180.3mm of rain being recorded in the UK.

"Much more research is needed to understand more about the causes and potential implications."

Most areas in the UK experienced flooding during 2012, affecting thousands of homes and businesses.

In the run-up to Christmas, South-West England was particularly badly affected, with a number of railway lines remaining closed over the entire festive period.

The Environment Agency said almost 8,000 properties in England and Wales were flooded during 2012 and it sent more than 200,000 warnings to households and businesses.

However, it added that flood defences had protected more than 200,000 properties in at-risk areas.

'Double-whammy'

The rural economy was hardest hit by the poor weather, explained National Farmers Union (NFU) president Peter Kendall.

"The NFU estimates the appalling weather of 2012 has led to a financial black hole on Britain's farms amounting to a staggering ?1.3 billion," he said.

"As we enter 2013, many farmers are in areas under water or facing a double-whammy of huge feed bills for their livestock."

According to insurer NFU Mutual, weather-related claims from farmers were expected to exceed ?108 million but if the cost of reduced yields and failed harvests was also included then the final bill would be much higher.

Country Land and Business Association president Harry Cotterell said: "Farmers have lost valuable crops to the freak weather, which has had a knock-on impact for consumers as prices rise and produce becomes scarce and of poor quality."

The end of the year was in stark contrast to the beginning of 2012 when politicians, farmers and water industry officials held a "water summit" to look at supply concerns.

Areas in southern and South-East England were experiencing very low groundwater levels, prompting a number of water companies to impose hosepipe bans.

Institution of Civil Engineers Water Panel chairman Michael Norton said now was an ideal time to look at how the UK manages its water resources, in times of drought as well as during flooding events.

"The management of drought and flooding are interdependent and require a coherent strategy," he explained.

"Without a strategy, we will continue to swing from flooding to drought and climate change will only exacerbate the situation.

"There are many measures that can help us manage water more effectively from multipurpose reservoirs, storage ponds for agriculture, sustainable urban drainage systems, and household rainwater harvesting.

"But this requires a strategy bringing in all of the key players involved in water resource management and usage."

Mr Norton called on the government to establish a "UK Water Security Task Force" to provide the necessary leadership to deliver long-term water security.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20898729#sa-ns_mchannel=rss&ns_source=PublicRSS20-sa

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Zaka Ashraf slams Bangladesh's decision to postpone planned tour ...

Zaka Ashraf slams Bangladesh?s decision to postpone planned tour to Pakistan ? Cricket News Update

Zaka Ashraf, the chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, on Tuesday criticised Bangladesh Cricket Board?s (BCB) decision to postpone a planned cricket tour to Pakistan a second time due to security concerns, saying his country will ?reconsider? its bilateral ties with Bangladesh.

Reacting aggressively to the BCB?s decision to put their this month?s proposed tour of Pakistan on hold, Ashraf said that they will not sacrifice their interests for those who do not honour their words. The PCB chief also said that his board never forced the BCB management to send its national team to Pakistan.

"If they don't want to come it?s their own decision and we didn't force them," Zaka Ashraf told ESPNcricinfo. Bangladesh, he claimed, had confirmed the tour to the Pakistan Cricket Board as well as to the International Cricket Council (ICC).

"three times and still they backed off. Now their own reputation is at stake. If they don't want to respect their bilateral relationship then we will also respond in the same manner," added the PCB chief.

The Bangladesh cricket team was originally scheduled to tour Pakistan in April last year, after a deal had been cut between the PCB and the BCB, according to which the former would back the then BCB president Mustafa Kamal as the nominee for the ICC vice presidency. But the itinerary was embargoed after the Dhaka High Court ordered the Bangladesh government to suspend the matches on security grounds.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board?s top brass last month agreed in principle to send the national team to Pakistan for a short limited-overs series in the mid of January 2013. However, the BCB president Nazmul Hassan, on Monday expressed dissatisfaction over the security situation prevailing in Pakistan, and said that the Bengali Tigers would only tour the troubled country if the security situation there improves.

"...there is concern among us about the country's security situation, it has deteriorated. We don't think it will be wise to visit Pakistan at this time," the BCB chief told media persons on Monday.

Ashraf said that it was almost confirmed that the Tigers would tour Pakistan this month, adding that his Bangladesh counterpart?s announcement came as a surprise to him, especially after the Pakistan government had promised a top-level security.

"We had promised the best security arrangements and were hosting matches in Lahore, which is very safe," said Ashraf. "An international eleven last year played matches in Karachi and there were no problems?Soon we will manage to get a better team to tour Pakistan than Bangladesh," concluded the PCB chief.

Source: http://blogs.bettor.com/Zaka-Ashraf-slams-Bangladeshs-decision-to-postpone-planned-tour-to-Pakistan-Cricket-News-Update-a212374

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Allergy vaccination Reducing health care costs for children of third ...

The retrospective study of 10 years in the U.S. is the first to show a significant reduction in health costs over three months and the decline continues over a period of 18 months. The study compared data from Florida in 2770 supports children with allergic rhinitis who received allergen immunotherapy to a control group of more than 11,000 sick children who have not received such treatmentWe miss the opportunity to significantly improve the results of health care and reduce costs when treatment is allergen immunotherapy are not considered, said ACAAI President Sami Bahna, MD, Dr.PH We certainly physicians have the basic information needed to identify patients for referral and evaluation by an allergist.

D., President and CEO BioMedEcon Scientific, and lead author of the study . The results are even more impressive, given the results were based on the provision of care real world , rather than the treatment provided within a tightly controlled clinical trial.

This is great news not only for families who live less than out-of-pocket expenses for drugs for allergies, but also the growth of national health crisis, said Linda S. Cox, MD, former president of the ACAAI Immunotherapy and Diagnostics Committee and co-author of the study. Because of the serious medical and economic consequences of childhood allergic rhinitis, early diagnosis and aggressive treatment should be our priority.

The overall response rate was 55 percent, with a remarkable response rate of 50 percent in 18 patients with metastatic disease, researchers at the University of Michigan Andrzej A.

Dlugosz, MD, and Moshe Talpaz, MD, observed in an editorial accompanying the study in the online edition of September 2 the New England Journal of Medicine.

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Thrill-seeking tourists skate on ice rink in Indias northern state | IND ...

STORY: Thousands of thrill-seeking tourists thronged Shimla city, the queen of hill stations, in India?s northern Himachal Pradesh state for its well-known ice-skating sports on natural ice.

Founded by the British in 1920, the ice skating club in the Himalayan hill resort is also home to South Asia?s only open-air natural ice rink.

The skating rink attracted hundreds of tourists, children and adults, alike who have come to enjoy this adventure sport.

The members of the club were also happy that the ice skating club has become a centre of attraction for number of tourists during winters and the number of tourists wishing to experience this recreation of ice-skating has been increasing over the years.

?This ice skating rink is very important as it started since 1920. It is the only ice skating rink in South-East Asia. We provide training in figure skating, speed skating, and ice hockey to children. Apart from this many tourists also come to enjoy. It is all-together a different experience for them. It is a special thing for children in December as they come to spend their vacation and for recreational activities,? said Bhuvnesh Banga, the Secretary of Ice-Skating Club, Shimla.

The tourists said that they had a unique experience and thoroughly enjoyed ice-skating on natural ice.

?We are enjoying as this is the South Asia?s only open-air natural ice rink. We enjoyed a lot,? said a tourist from Delhi, Prashant.

Skaters slide on the rocky hard ground frozen with ice, which requires both balancing skills and practice. The thin razor-edge skates on the ice tests the enthusiasts? balancing endurance.

Every year, the club hosts a special winter carnival, organising ice-hockey and skating competitions.

Thousands of eager tourists and ice adventure enthusiasts from all over the country participate in this carnival.

Millions of tourists visit Himachal Pradesh every year and the figure has been increasing by about 15 per cent annually. Tourism is the mainstay of Himachal Pradesh?s economy.

Related posts:

1. Foreign tourists enjoy horse dance at famed annual Pushkar Fair in northwestern India
2. Political parties gear up for provincial poll campaigning in India?s northern state
3. Youth voters to play a vital role in provincial polls in India?s northern state
4. Cultural troupes from across country participate in International folk Dance festival in northern India
5. Restoring hill station?s glory, key agenda for provincial polls in India?s northern state

Source: http://www.indtvusa.com/thrill-seeking-tourists-skate-on-ice-rink-in-indias-northern-state/

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Source: http://allemanpmarjorie77.typepad.com/blog/2013/01/thrill-seeking-tourists-skate-on-ice-rink-in-indias-northern-state-ind.html

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Analysis: Six months on, Monti's labor reform has changed little

ROME (Reuters) - Overhauling Italy's rigid labor rules was supposed to be Mario Monti's flagship reform.

It required drawn out, often heated bargaining with unions, employers and political parties. Yet six months after their approval the measures seem to be having little effect on hiring, firing or the labor market in general.

The technocrat premier's aim was to encourage hiring of permanent rather than temporary workers and to make it easier for firms to shed staff during economic downturns. Businesses and workers' bodies say it is doing neither.

Monti, who resigned as prime minister last month, hoped to boost a chronically low employment rate and end a "dual" labor market made up of over-protected older workers and millions of mostly young people on temporary jobs with no labor rights.

However, he quickly ran into strong opposition, led by the CGIL union which found support from the centre-left Democratic party (PD) that he relied on for his majority and which is now, polls suggest, likely to win February elections.

The unions, which largely represent older, more protected workers, held a series of strikes and protests to defend existing job protection. Labor minister Elsa Fornero, who drew up the reform proposal, became a hate figure for millions of workers.

After being watered down during a lengthy passage through parliament, the final version of the plan, approved in June last year, slightly eased firing restrictions in large and medium sized firms and made temporary hiring more costly.

Unions warned it could lead to a firing spree, while businesses said it would discourage new hires. Six months on, unionists now admit their fears were exaggerated, but employers say their concerns are being confirmed.

"There is no evidence that companies are firing more under the new rules. It just isn't happening," said Pierangelo Albini, responsible for labor issues at employers' lobby Confindustria.

No official data is available on the number of workers who have been dismissed under the new norms but even the unions, which are monitoring the situation closely, estimate the figure is negligible.

They were quick to denounce isolated cases concerning telecoms companies Huawei and Vodafone, which attracted attention in Italian media, yet each one involved no more than a couple of workers.

"The reform doesn't actually change much in terms of firing procedures," said Michele Tamburini, a labor lawyer with a U.S. law firm in Milan. "Potentially, it could make firing easier but it all depends how it is interpreted by judges and hardly anyone wants to test it."

Tamburini said he and his colleagues at other firms had seen no rise in new business in the form of contested dismissals, as some commentators had expected.

PROBLEMS REMAIN

Monti, who says he will seek a second term at the Feb 24-25 election, initially defended the reform as a good compromise but now acknowledges its limits and blames the left-wing CGIL union for blocking more radical changes.

In a new policy platform presented before Christmas he urged a "drastic simplification" of labor market rules to "overcome the dualism between protected and unprotected workers". These were exactly the goals his reform was meant to achieve.

"Monti's intentions on the labor reform were right but the politics of it were all wrong," said Riccardo Barbieri of Mizuho International. "The PD couldn't let him make firing easier in a pre-election period and in the middle of a recession."

Despite criticism of some of his reforms, investors would love to see the former European commissioner stay on after the election, ideally at the head of a more cohesive majority that allows him to push through his new agenda.

Tens of thousands of workers have lost their jobs since the labor reform was passed as companies close or downsize, but they are still shedding staff under the old terms rather than risking difficulties by trying to capitalize on the reform.

"There has been very little recourse to the new rules," said Giorgio Santini, head of labor issues for the CISL trade union, Italy's second largest.

One reason may be that firing procedures are more complicated than ever because the changes have increased the discretionary power of the courts.

The reform made it possible for private firms with more than 15 employees to fire individual workers for business reasons, such as a fall in demand, without necessarily having to re-instate them if a judge ruled the dismissal was unjustified.

In smaller firms, where job protection was much weaker, nothing changed under the reform. The public sector, where protection is strongest of all, was also unaffected.

Companies were always able to shed staff if they were restructuring or closing a product line but it was much harder to fire people for poor performance or other reasons. Paradoxically it was easier to shed 10 or 20 workers than one or two.

The courts can now order firms to offer wrongly dismissed workers financial compensation rather than giving them their job back. However, if the unfair dismissal is for discriminatory or disciplinary reasons, re-instatement is still obligatory.

Judges now have to decide not only whether a dismissal is justified but also whether it is being attempted for business reasons, disciplinary reasons or due to discrimination.

Unions have been ready to fight any cases where they suspected firms were presenting bogus business reasons to shed workers considered difficult or disruptive. Yet even the leftist CGIL union said few had emerged.

"There have been maybe a couple of hundred cases that firms have tried to justify under the new rules, and in many we have seen evidence of discrimination and we've contested them," said the CGIL's head of labor policy Claudio Treves.

Other unions put the figure considerably lower.

APPRENTICESHIP FLOP

Santini of the CISL union said a positive aspect of the new rules was that they oblige firms to co-ordinate more pre-emptively with unions before trying to fire, meaning that shedding staff had not actually become easier at all.

He said that with the unions acting as mediators there are signs that dismissed workers are more willing to come to terms for financial compensation rather than taking their cases through the courts, though he added that this had often happened even before the reform.

Yet if firing has not become easier, hiring has become more difficult, according to both the CISL and Confindustria.

Monti tried to boost the role of apprenticeships, taking Germany as a model, to replace temporary or "precarious" contracts that are seen as the unacceptable face of the dual labor market. These contracts were not scrapped, as some experts urged, but the rules for using them were tightened.

However, both the CISL's Santini and Confindustria's Albini said apprenticeships have failed to take off because of too much bureaucracy and a rule - required by Italy's Constitution - that regional governments must be partly responsible for organizing the apprenticeship courses, something they are failing to do.

"What is happening is confirming some of our worries," said Albini. "It's no easier to fire but it is more expensive and complicated to hire on a temporary basis, which is important flexibility especially at a time of crisis."

When the labor reform was being watered down in parliament last spring two of Italy's leading economists, Alberto Alesina of Harvard in the United States and Francesco Giavazzi of Milan's Bocconi University, warned Monti of the dangers of a weak compromise.

"Making do with marginal adjustments would be worse than not doing anything because it would create the illusion that a problem has been solved when it isn't true," they said in a joint newspaper column. Their fears now seem well grounded.

European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said in November it remained "fundamental" that Italy reform its labor market to make it less rigid. Yet it is unlikely that unions or leftist parties will consider returning to the issue soon.

(Reporting by Gavin Jones)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/analysis-six-months-montis-labor-reform-changed-little-094317436--finance.html

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Kanye West, Kim Kardashian expecting 1st child

FILE - Kim Kardashian, right, and Kanye West, left, are shown before an NBA basketball game between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks in this Dec, 6, 2012 file photo taken in Miami. The rapper Kanye West announced at a concert Sunday night Dec. 30, 2012 that his girlfriend is pregnant. He told the crowd of more than 5,000 at the Ovation Hall at the Revel Resort in song form: "Now you having my baby." ( AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)

FILE - Kim Kardashian, right, and Kanye West, left, are shown before an NBA basketball game between the Miami Heat and the New York Knicks in this Dec, 6, 2012 file photo taken in Miami. The rapper Kanye West announced at a concert Sunday night Dec. 30, 2012 that his girlfriend is pregnant. He told the crowd of more than 5,000 at the Ovation Hall at the Revel Resort in song form: "Now you having my baby." ( AP Photo/Alan Diaz, File)

FILE - In this Oct. 4, 2012 file photo, television personality Kim Kardashian poses for photographers at the red carpet during the 40th anniversary of Cosmopolitan magazine in Spanish in Mexico City. Kanye West announced at a concert in Atlantic City Sunday night, Dec. 30, 2012 that his girlfriend Kardashian is pregnant. (AP Photo/Marco Ugarte, File)

FILE - In a Monday, May 7, 2012 file photo, Kanye West arrives at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute gala benefit, in New York. West announced that his girlfriend Kim Kardashian is pregnant at a concert in Atlantic City Sunday night, Dec. 30, 2012. (AP Photo/Charles Sykes, File)

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) ? A kid for Kimye: Kanye West and Kim Kardashian are expecting their first child.

The rapper announced at a concert Sunday night that his girlfriend is pregnant. Kardashian was in the crowd at Revel Resort's Ovation Hall with her mother, Kris Jenner, and West's mentor and best friend, Jay-Z. West told the crowd of more than 5,000 in song form: "Now you having my baby."

The crowd roared. And so did people on the Internet.

The news instantly went viral on Twitter and Facebook, with thousands posting and commenting on the expecting couple.

Most of the Kardashian clan also tweeted about the news, including Kim's sisters. Kourtney Kardashian wrote: "Another angel to welcome to our family. Overwhelmed with excitement!"

West, 35, also told concertgoers to congratulate his "baby mom" and that this was the "most amazing thing."

Representatives for West and Kardashian, 32, didn't immediately respond to emails about the pregnancy.

The rapper and reality TV star went public in March.

Kardashian married NBA player Kris Humphries in August 2011 and their divorce is not finalized.

West's Sunday-night show was his third consecutive performance at Revel. He took the stage for nearly two hours, performing hits like "Good Life," ''Jesus Walks" and "Clique" in an all-white ensemble with two bandmates.

___

AP Writer Bianca Roach contributed to this report.

___

Follow Mesfin Fekadu on Twitter at http://twitter.com/MusicMesfin . Follow Bianca Roach at http://twitter.com/B__Roach

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/4e67281c3f754d0696fbfdee0f3f1469/Article_2012-12-31-Kanye%20West-Kim%20Kardashian/id-bc94f865943e4272bf4ff57ae358f6ed

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Germany to avoid recession in 2013- employer association head

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany will avoid recession in 2013 and achieve growth rates similar to 2012, Dieter Hundt, leader of Germany's employer association, said in an interview with Reuters.

"I'm expecting that we won't experience recession in Germany next year and the economy will once again grow at similar levels as this year," Hundt said.

The German economy has so far managed to fend off the euro zone's troubles, expanding by 4.2 percent in 2010 and 3 percent last year.

The country's gross domestic product in 2012 is expected to grow by about 0.9 percent. In 2013, private economists have forecast GDP to increase by about 0.7 percent, down from mid-2012 predictions of 1.3 percent.

Hundt also said that he was concerned about high wage demands in Germany in 2013 after workers got big increases in 2012 thanks in part to intervention by Chancellor Angela Merkel and members of her cabinet.

Even though unions are calling for big increases again in 2013, Hundt said he was confident wage deals would be moderate.

He said he expected the wage negotiators would continue their flexible policies that differentiated between sectors doing well and others that were struggling.

He was optimistic the unions would factor in the slight economic weakening in Germany this year into their demands.

(Reporting By Gernot Heller; writing by Erik Kirschbaum. Editing by Jane Merriman)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/germany-avoid-recession-2013-employer-association-head-102142485--business.html

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