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http://www.jusnews.co.uk Just another WordPress weblog Thu, 15 Dec 2011 21:04:59 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Just another WordPress weblog no http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/05/harriet-harman-congratulates-labours-sheffield-victors/ http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/05/harriet-harman-congratulates-labours-sheffield-victors/#comments Fri, 06 May 2011 10:46:43 +0000 Bill Carmichael http://www.jusnews.co.uk/?p=10585 http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/05/harriet-harman-congratulates-labours-sheffield-victors/feed/ 0 Harriet Harman congratulates Labour’s Sheffield victors Labour’s deputy leader Harriet Harman has arrived in Sheffield to congratulate the local Labour party on their victory in yesterday’s local council elections. Listen to Harriet Harman, Labour She is meeting the new council leader, Julie Dore, and other Labour Party workers in the city who are euphoric after regaining control of the council last night. In a night of drama Labour inflicted a heavy defeat on their Lib Dem rivals, taking nine seats and sparking a crisis in the coalition government. The significance of the result cannot be overestimated with Sheffield Hallam MP and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg coming under intense pressure after his party’s poor showing in the polls. The fact that such a senior figure as Harman has chosen Sheffield for a high profile visit shows how much Labour values the Sheffield victory.     Labour’s deputy leader Harriet Harman made a special visit to Sheffield today to congratulate the local Labour party for their victory in yesterday’s local council elections. http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/05/paul-scriven-people-are-a-bit-harsh-to-the-liberal-democrats/ http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/05/paul-scriven-people-are-a-bit-harsh-to-the-liberal-democrats/#comments Fri, 06 May 2011 02:54:07 +0000 Wenli Cheng http://www.jusnews.co.uk/?p=10282 http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/05/paul-scriven-people-are-a-bit-harsh-to-the-liberal-democrats/feed/ 0 By Emma McHale and  Wenli Cheng Liberal Democrats campaign The voters’ decisive rejection of the Liberal Democrats in Sheffield was a “harsh” verdict on the party, according to the city’s Lib Dem leader. Paul Scriven, said he was “very disappointed” to lose and believed people would come to regret voting the Lib Dems out. “People will look back and think they were a bit harsh to the Liberal Democrats,” he told Jusnews reporters at last night’s count. But Mr Scriven gave his backing to national leader Nick Clegg who is being blamed today for the party’s poor showing at the polls. Mr Scriven described this year’s campaign as “very long”. He said: “I am clearly aware that there are some national issues around, which no matter who was in Government were probably going to take some pain as people feel very apprehensive about the future. Culprits “But I genuinely believe that in the long term these difficult decisions have got to be taken. We can’t keep borrowing four hundred million pounds a day and the Government’s got to get that under control.” “What’s happened here is like an economic fire, where the fire fighters have turned up and are getting blamed for  starting the fire. Where the real culprits for starting the fire have suddenly become gods. They’ve left you and I with four hundred million pound of debt every single day and that’s why we’re having to borrow as a country. “I believe that in the future, people will look back and think “actually we were a bit harsh on the Liberal Democrats in 2011 because there were things that Nick Clegg brought to the Government like fairer taxes, money for the most deprived kids  in terms of the pupil premium, pensioners being £1000 better off than when the lifetime of the pension and 2000 extra apprenticeships.” Vision “What I do know about Nick Clegg is this: He’s a politician who is thinking about the future. Your future and my future. He’s wanting to get the economy right. He’s got the back bone, the vision and the goal to stand there and take the crap that’s been thrown at him for our long term interests. What he hasn’t done is what Tony Blair and Gordon Brown used to do is to take short-term party advantage based on an opinion poll or a focus group. We are in this for the long run to sort out the future, not just for us. “But for the generations that come after us to make sure the country’s stable. I’ve got every confidence in Nick Clegg for having the backbone, the focus and the vision to get us out of this mess and really importantly bring a sense of fairness to the Government. Listen to the full interview Listen! The voters' decisive rejection of the Liberal Democrats in Sheffield was a "harsh" verdict on the party, according to the city's Lib Dem leader. http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/05/jillian-creasy-green-receive-50-on-first-polling-station/ http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/05/jillian-creasy-green-receive-50-on-first-polling-station/#comments Fri, 06 May 2011 00:50:41 +0000 Arwa Almari http://www.jusnews.co.uk/?p=10276 http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/05/jillian-creasy-green-receive-50-on-first-polling-station/feed/ 0 Green councillor Jillian Creasy The Green party in Sheffield experienced mixed fortunes in Thursday’s elections – holding onto one key seat, but failing in another where they were highly fancied. Green councillor Jillian Creasy fought off a determined Labour challenge in the city’s Central ward gaining 2530 votes –  293 votes ahead of her closest challenger Labour’s Mohammed Akbar. But an expected strong challenge by the Greens in the city’s Broomhill seat failed to dislodge Labour. Experienced Green activist Bernard Little, with 1315 votes, came in third behind victor Stuart Wattam (1,741) for Labour and second placed Alan Whitehouse (1,371)  for the Lib Dems. Earlier in an interview with Jus News reporters Ms Creasy had sounded an optimistic note at the Sheffield count noting that the Greens secured about 50% of the votes from the first polling station to be counted. She said that voters had recognised that the Greens offered  “a real alternative in policy terms “ citing an alternative budget they proposed in council as an example of this. The result gives the Greens two seats on the 84-seat council chamber. Listen to the full interview Listen! The Green party in Sheffield experienced mixed fortunes in Thursday's elections - holding onto one key seat, but failing in another where they were highly fancied. http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/05/team-sky-recruit-rotherham-rider/ http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/05/team-sky-recruit-rotherham-rider/#comments Wed, 04 May 2011 15:00:12 +0000 Tom Coleman http://www.jusnews.co.uk/?p=9187 http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/05/team-sky-recruit-rotherham-rider/feed/ 0 Downing is set to compete in his first ever Grand Tour Rotherham cyclist Russell Downing is set to make his Grand Tour debut, after being included in Team Sky’s squad for the Giro D’Italia. Downing joined up with the team last season following his triumph in the Tour of Ireland in 2009. “I can’t wait to test myself against the best in the business in the sprints and hopefully a few of the punchier stages might suit me” he said. The 32 year old will join fellow Brit Peter Kennaugh in the nine man squad, led by Sweden’s Thomas Lofkvist. The Tour begins in Turin on 7 May and will finish in Milan on 29th May. Rotherham cyclist Russell Downing is set to make his Grand Tour debut, after being included in Team Sky's squad for the Giro D'Italia. http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/04/is-2011-the-year-of-the-criminal/ http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/04/is-2011-the-year-of-the-criminal/#comments Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:08:03 +0000 Tom Hegarty http://www.jusnews.co.uk/?p=8205 http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/04/is-2011-the-year-of-the-criminal/feed/ 1 Crime is on the rise in Sheffield, as the cuts of the coalition government Sheffield Police face massive cuts begin to bite. In the busy S1 city centre area during December 2010 there were a total of 1190 crimes reported to the police, with 95 of them violent. Next month in January 2011, these figures rose to 1215 and 109. And in South Yorkshire Police’s most recent figures, February 2011 saw a total of 1482 crimes reported with 132 of them violent.   Discussing the cuts, South Yorkshire Chief Constable Meredydd Hughes said “The Government has announced changes to the benefits system. This may well put pressure on some individuals to consider committing acquisitive crime in order to mitigate the impact of reductions in their income.” This would certainly explain the spike in Sheffield’s crime figures over the past few months, and indicates that it could well be set to continue. Police spending is set to be cut by 20% nationally, as part of the government’s ongoing “austerity” campaign. This could result in the loss of 1100 officers currently patrolling the streets today. Mr Hughes delivered a stark warning that cuts of the scale proposed would affect all areas of the police, frontline as well as support staff. Mixed Responses Local residents gave mixed responses to the forthcoming police downsizing. Michael Andrews, 63, retired postman from Hunters Bar put his take on the police cuts bluntly: “You can’t reduce the police and not have a negative effect on society.” Meanwhile, 4th year Sheffield University student Jessica Gascon, 19, said “I’m not sure exactly where’s the worst for crime in Sheffield, Broomhall maybe? I think the police waste a lot of time though, maybe a few cuts here and there wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world.” Victims of Violence Cabbie, Amar Hussein, 31, said “The worst area for crime is Pittsmoor, or Burngreave and after that, maybe Hillsborough or the Manor. I do think the cuts will have a negative impact on society because with petty crime, police won’t be able to respond as fast. They’ll only be able to pay attention to the most serious crimes – stabbings, or violent disorder or something.” Amar’s been the victim of violence himself: “I’ve had abusive language directed at me, violent situations too. It’s happened a few times. There’s a lot of violence at night, at the weekends particularly. And that’s when we’ll miss our police the most.” Burngreave and Pittsmoor were frequently mentioned as the areas Sheffield residents were most scared to venture to. Both are located in the S3 postcode, which saw 1293 crimes reported to the police during February 2011, 106 of which were violent. S3 is the only postcode in the city that frequently approaches the levels of crime in the city centre and is notorious for gang crime and violence. Inevitable? Police walking the beat, a thing of the past? Barnsley resident Jillian Anderson, 39, who works in Sheffield said that the cuts could be seen as inevitable by many, including herself, but expressed anger at the existing police force as well: “I’m very angry about some of the policing that’s taken place locally recently. The policing of the “Lib Dem” conference was positively dangerous. The steel ring and barricades were very intimidating. That isn’t the sort of city I want to be in, and that’s not the sort of behaviour I want from our police.” Janet Foster, 44, a native Sheffielder who’s just returned from four years in Spain, said “I think it’s diabolical. Just diabolical. Even though I’ve been away from Sheffield I keep up with the news via the internet and you can see the crime rates going up and up all the time. Particularly in the city centre where people need to feel safe, and I certainly wouldn’t feel safe in the city centre at night anymore by myself.” In the wake of the £2 million spent by South Yorkshire police in providing security for the Liberal Democrats [...] With police cuts looming, Sheffielders talk crime and the places they fear to tread. http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/03/cast-given-24-hours-to-produce-a-musical/ http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/03/cast-given-24-hours-to-produce-a-musical/#comments Mon, 14 Mar 2011 14:23:38 +0000 Iulia Rosu http://www.jusnews.co.uk/?p=5657 http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/03/cast-given-24-hours-to-produce-a-musical/feed/ 0 Sheffield University’s 24 Hour Charity Musical 2011 is announced this evening at 7pm in the Octagon.  From this point the team has 24 hours to rehearse, choreographe and produce it. Raising money for the Musical The curtain will go up on the musical at 7.30pm on Tuesday, 15th March. The first Musical was done in 1997 and it has been produced every two years. Sean Linnen, director of the Musical, said that this year the cast has nearly 60 members and the crew has over 100 members. “It is a massive event. I hope that we will have a really good audience,” Linnen said. All the money raised will be donated to Cavendish Cancer Care. Sean Linnen added: “I think it is the  most well known musical that has ever been done within 24 hours. “What they have done before with  Bugsy Malone, Little Shop Of Horrors and The Wizard Of Oz, I think [the 2011 Musical]  is more well-known than those three, certainly, and it’s got huge numbers in it. “The musical will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will tug at the heart strings.” University of Sheffield has become so famous for doing the 24 Hour Charity Musical that one of the questions on Unversity Challenge in 2010 asked by Jeremy Paxman was: “Which University is famous for the Twenty Four Hour Musical?” Two years ago there were hundreds of people involved in getting the show up and running.   Sheffield University's 24 Hour Charity Musical 2011 is announced this evening at 7pm in the Octagon. http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/03/japanese-community-in-sheffield-fear-for-loved-ones/ http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/03/japanese-community-in-sheffield-fear-for-loved-ones/#comments Mon, 14 Mar 2011 10:58:09 +0000 Yuya Shino http://www.jusnews.co.uk/?p=5490 Read the LIVE updates.]]> http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/03/japanese-community-in-sheffield-fear-for-loved-ones/feed/ 0 Live update – Japanese disaster Japanese exchange students show support The Japanese community in Sheffield reacted with shock today after a second hydrogen blast in three days, at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant, which injured 11 people and sent a column of smoke into the air. It follows Saturday’s explosion at the power plant, where four workers suffered fractures and bruises. It is another blow for the Japanese community in Sheffield, after Friday’s 9.0 magnitude earthquake – which is the fifth largest in the world since 1900 – and subsequent tsunami. Searchers have found over 2,000 bodies and it is feared that the death count could pass the 10,000 mark. Japan is preparing for another night of water, electricity, fuel and food shortages as residents fear for their missing loved ones. Listen! A Japanese perspective Yuya Shino, a web journalism student at Sheffield University, said: “The Japanese community is in a state of shock. We’ve been glued to the TV and internet over the weekend watching the terrible events at home. “Luckily my family is OK, but communications are difficult and some people have not been able to contact loved ones. “The main worries for people in the damaged area of north east Japan is the possibility of a big after-shock over the next few days and all over the country people are concerned about the risk of radioactive leakages from the damaged nuclear plants. “Of course the worries about radioactive contamination reminds people of the nuclear bomb attacks in World War II.” Raising £975 in one day Naho Iwata, a student at the University of Sheffield, has started fund-raising in order to help relief efforts back home. Iwata, who contacted her friends on Facebook about the tragedy and was aided by 15 fundraisers, said: “I would like to do anything for Japan as soon as possible, just now, from today. “I’m not sure if I would do the same thing if I was in Japan. I may have thought that someone would have done so, but only we can help Japan in Sheffield.” On Sunday, alone, almost £1,000 was raised – which will go to the Japanese Red Cross. Save Japan in Sheffield William Christopher, 27, who is half-Japanese and half-British, was involved in a meeting called Save Japan in Sheffield. On why he attended the meeting, he said: “Because I used to live in Kobe, until I was 11-years-old, the news reminds me of the Great Hanshin earthquake in 1995. “I want to take actions for Japan, not just watching the news. If we work as a group, we can have a better idea than if we each think about it individually. “We would like to do fund-raising but – at the same time, as students and young people – we would also like to do something that others wouldn’t do for Japan. “When I was in Kobe, a lot of people lost close friends; my teacher suddenly started crying in the classroom. I know people in there need mental care.” Meeting attracts attendants Amelia Cook – a 27-year-old who studied Japanese Studies at the University of Sheffield – attended the Save Japan in Sheffield meeting, which was held on Saturday. Cook said: “I came to today’s session because we’ve seen a lot of earthquakes recently in the last few years, in countries that I have no connection to, and it’s the first time that I’ve really felt my friends could die and last night I was very worried that some of my friends had died. “So it’s the first time that I felt strongly that earthquakes – something we don’t experience in England – are things that could kill and I would like to help rebuild the country that I love. “I would like to find creative ways to help people in Japan that raises awareness not just of this earthquake, but also the damage that earthquakes can do.” Talking about the disaster Exchange student Yuta Kaizu produced a slideshow about the earthquake, during a Japanese Language Lecture as part of the International Language Festival, yesterday. He said: [...] A second hydrogen blast in three days at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant has shocked the Japanese community in Sheffield. <strong><a href="http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/03/live-update-japan-disaster/">Read the LIVE [...] http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/03/sheffield-uni-to-host-languages-buffet/ http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/03/sheffield-uni-to-host-languages-buffet/#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 17:13:13 +0000 Shawn Wang http://www.jusnews.co.uk/?p=5236 http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/03/sheffield-uni-to-host-languages-buffet/feed/ 0 First International Languages Festival in Sheffield In the Book of Genesis, the whole earth used to be of one language. People resolved to build an enormous tower, known as the Tower of Babel, with its top to the heavens. But it was never finished. God came down and confounded people’s language so that they couldn’t understand one another’s speech. Now ethnologists estimate over 6000 languages and dialects are used across the globe. Sheffield University offers people a chance to taste nearly 150 of them over this weekend by hosting the first international languages festival in the UK. Apart from traditionally popular languages like Spanish and German, there is also a wide selection of African languages, Chinese dialects and English dialects, and even Esperanto, sign language and Braille. All classes are in the form of 40-minute interactive presentations given by teachers and students of Sheffield University as well as guests lecturers, including Mr Tsering Gonkatsang from Faculty of Oriental Studies, University of Oxford, who is going to teach Tibetan language. “It’s like a languages buffet in which you can have a taste of everything,” said Di Dai, sponsorship coordinator of the festival. The International Languages Festival was first founded in Tours, France in 1995, by a master of Esperanto named Dennis Keefe. Since then the idea has spread to Russia, Finland and China. This time it comes to Sheffield, UK. Max Marzec, a third year undergrad at Sheffield University, helped Mr Keefe organise the festival at Nanjing University in China last year when he was studying there as an exchange student. He decided to bring this “absolutely splendid” concept back to UK. He said organising the festival in the UK was far more challenging. In China, English is a compulsory module at school and people feel the need to learn foreign languages to communicate with the rest of the world. “But here, since everybody speaks English, people may wonder why bother learning another language.” he said. But in this global world being able to speak more than one languages can be massively rewarding, especially in job hunting. “Today many international companies value language ability a lot,” said Max Marzec. Majoring in Chinese studies with German, this 20-year-old Polish man has a good command of seven languages and has been working as a part-time English and Chinese teacher since high school. He said to learn a whole new language one needed to be a child again to experience the world. “Imagine the days when you were a toddler and kept asking ‘what’s that, mama?’” Of course no one can become as multilingual as him by simply taking some 40-minute lessons, but they can be a very good starting point. “Some people may have passion with grammar, but I’m not one of them,” said Max Heckl, a German student now studying screen translation at Sheffield University. He is going to teach basic German in the coming festival. He said he would tell his students what kind of problems they might encounter if they wanted to take German seriously in the future, but at this stage an overview of the cultural background of the language as well as the country was more suitable. Max Heckl said:“Learning a foreign language is not all about that you can go to another country and be able to order beer there. It’s about getting close to the culture.” The Lord Mayor of Sheffield will attend the opening ceremony on Friday 11th March, at 5:30 in the Richard Roberts Auditorium. The festival itself will take place on 12th and 13th March in the Hicks Building. Tickets are £2 per day. Both university students and local people are welcome. In the Book of Genesis, the whole earth used to be of one language. People resolved to build an enormous tower, known as the Tower of Babel, with its top to the heavens. But it was never finished. God came down and confounded people’s language so [...] http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/03/sheffield-scores-low-in-car-friendly-survey/ http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/03/sheffield-scores-low-in-car-friendly-survey/#comments Mon, 07 Mar 2011 10:39:19 +0000 Caroline Nicque http://www.jusnews.co.uk/?p=4745 http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/03/sheffield-scores-low-in-car-friendly-survey/feed/ 0 Sheffield roads score low in survey Sheffield has scored low in a ‘car friendly’ survey conducted by Virgin Money Car Insurances. The city was voted the 56th least car-friendly town in the table of 65 places. Rotherham fared much better, placed seventh on the list.  St Helens on Mersyside was the most car-friendly town in the survey, and Slough was voted the most unpopular. The survey compared motorists views on 65 different towns and arranged them in order based on the responses. Drivers rated the cities according to a range of criteria including parking fees, the cost of petrol and vehicle-related crime. Listen to Richa Kulkarni’s report here: Listen! Sheffield scores low in a 'car friendly' survey conducted by Virgin Money Car Insurances. The city was voted the 56th least car-friendly town in the table of 65 places. http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/02/potholes-damages-stagecoach-buses/ http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/02/potholes-damages-stagecoach-buses/#comments Mon, 28 Feb 2011 11:58:12 +0000 Iulia Rosu http://www.jusnews.co.uk/?p=4120 http://www.jusnews.co.uk/2011/02/potholes-damages-stagecoach-buses/feed/ 0 South Yorkshire councils have paid out more than £700,000 in pothole damage compensation during the last two years, according to new research by the BBC. Potholes damage residents' cars   Lawrence Ward, chief of Stagecoach buses, explained the damage that the potholes have done to their vehicles. “Sometimes the bottom of the bus actually makes contact with the ground. And we normally get bottom scuff in marks on the front bumpers and down the passenger rear side,” he said. “There’s one particular bad pothole on Wordsworth Avenue and on occasions the driver forgets about it and the front wheel digs down that far, and it’s near the bus stop as well, so the actual bus has to accelerate a fair pace to get back out of the pothole again.” Mr Ward said the costs of damages are not very high, but the time of the repairs keeps the buses off the road. “It’s not a great deal in cost, the damage is not severe. It’s the time it takes to repair. The buses are in the garage rather than being out on the road earning money. So it may be off road for a full day,” he added. Repairs Mr. Ward added: “We make regular checks on these roads and if it should be a pothole we bring it to the attention of the council and normally they are not bad in repairing them. “But obviously with severe weather we’ve just had they’ve got quite a lot to work on and it takes longer than normal.” South Yorkshire councils have paid out more than £700,000 in pothole damage compensation in the last two years, according to new research by the BBC.