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Showing posts with label UK News. Show all posts
Showing posts with label UK News. Show all posts

'Safe to drive': No flaws found in Toyota electronics

Category: , By Echo
WASHINGTON — A 10-month investigation found no flaws in Toyota (TM) vehicles' electronic systems that might cause unintended acceleration, but federal officials say they will propose new safety rules for all cars based on the engineers' findings.

"Toyota vehicles are safe to drive," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Tuesday after recounting that he had advised his daughter last fall it was OK to buy a Toyota SUV.



The report confirmed an earlier Department of Transportation study of vehicle data recorders that found no electrical cause for Toyota acceleration incidents. Toyota has recalled nearly 12 million vehicles worldwide for mechanical defects — sticking gas pedals or floor mats that could jam pedals — that could lead to unintended acceleration.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, however, will propose rules this year to standardize keyless ignitions and require all new vehicles to have onboard data recorders and brake override systems that would stop the car if the brake and gas pedals are pressed at the same time.

"We believe this rigorous scientific analysis by some of America's foremost engineers should further reinforce confidence in the safety of Toyota and Lexus vehicles," said Steve St. Angelo, chief quality officer. He said he hoped this would end speculation about the safety of Toyota's "well-tested and well-designed" electronic throttle controls.

In the latest study, DOT safety officers and NASA engineers examined 280,000 lines of computer code, bombarded Toyotas with electromagnetic radiation and tested components of nine vehicles that were subjects of complaints to determine what, if any, conditions could trigger acceleration.

"Our detailed study cannot say it's impossible," but engineers find no electronic malfunction that led to acceleration, said Michael Kirsch, principal engineer at NASA's Engineering and Safety Center.

In many incidents, investigators found drivers hit the gas pedal instead of the brake, said NHTSA Deputy Administrator Ronald Medford, adding that there will be research on safer pedal placement.

The National Academy of Sciences is investigating sudden acceleration among all auto brands, and results are expected this fall.

Reports of unintended acceleration by Toyota vehicles soared after a crash that killed a California Highway Patrol officer and three family members near San Diego in August 2009. In a 911 call before the crash, a passenger said the Lexus sedan could not be stopped.

That crash was blamed on an incorrect and unattached floor mat. Toyota later concluded that floor mats in some of its models could jam the gas pedal and recalled 5.3 million vehicles.

In January 2010, Toyota also recalled 2.3 million vehicles to replace gas pedal assemblies that could stick.
 

Julian Assange extradition hearing opens in London

Category: , By News Updater
LONDON - The extradition trial of Julian Assange, the mastermind behind the WikiLeaks Web site, opened on Monday with the 39-year old Australian placidly watching from the plaintiff's bench as his lawyers argued against sending him to Sweden to face sexual assault allegations.

With his celebrity supporters present in the courtroom, including Bianca Jagger and the socialite Jemima Khan, Assange, wearing a dark suit and purple tie, scribbled down notes and settled in for what is set to be the two-day hearing.

British lawyers representing Swedish prosecutors argued for Assange's extradition over allegations of rape, molestation and unlawful coercion lodged by two women who entered into brief relationships with Assange in Sweden last August.

Assange has denied said any wrongdoing, insisting he had consensual sex with both women.

Geoffrey Robertson, one of Assange's lead attorneys, argued that Assange could not receive a fair trial in Sweden in part because rape cases there are heard in private. Conducting such a case in secret, without press and the public present, he argued, "risks a flagrant denial of justice."

Given the broad laws governing extradition between European Union nations - which are structured to allow expedited extraditions -- experts say Assange faces a hard-fought case. His lawyers, however, were challenging the Swedish petition on multiple grounds.

They argued that Sweden should not have requested Assange's extradition because prosecutors there have not yet officially filed criminal charges against their client, instead issuing a warrant based on their desire to question Assange in connection with the allegations.

They have also suggested that the case is politically motivated, one of the rare justifications for refusing inter-European extradition requests. The defense asserts that the allegations against Assange amount to a conspiracy that would end with Assange being extradited to the United States to face charges for the leaking of secret State Department documents on the Internet.

The lawyers acting on behalf of Swedish prosecutors dismiss the conspiracy theory as false and unfounded.

Though the hearing is set to conclude on Tuesday, most analysts believe the judge will not issue a written verdict in a week or two. After that decision comes down, both parties will have the right to appeal to Britain's high court in a process that could drag on for months.

On Monday, about a dozen Assange backers gathered outside the Belmarsh high-security prison, where the court is being held. Some were wearing orange Guantanamo Bay prison outfits, while others wielded placards reading "don't shoot the messenger," and "the truth has been raped."
 

Immigrants must know English: Cameron

Category: , By Echo
London: Britain is planning to introduce tougher rules to ensure that immigrants specially from the Indian sub-continent have a "reasonable standard" of English, Prime Minister David Cameron has said.

"Migrant families have an obligation to teach their children English before they start school. We will bring forward tougher rules to ensure those arriving in the UK have a reasonable standard of English," Cameron told the House of Commons.
According to a report, one in six children do not speak English as their first language. Ministers believe that children brought up in London stand a better chance of succeeding if their parents have a good grasp of the language.



Cameron spoke out after a Commons exchange with Yorkshire Tory MP Kris Hopkins, who said: "Sadly in Keighley, too many children start school and don't speak English."
He then asked Cameron: "Do you agree with me that there is a responsibility and an obligation upon parents to make sure their children speak English?"
Cameron replied: "I completely agree with you. The fact is, in too many cases this isn't happening.

"The last government did make some progress on making sure people learned English when they came to our country. I think we need to go further. If you look at the figures for the number of people who are brought over as husbands and wives, particularly from the Indian sub-continent, we should be putting in place and we will be putting in place tougher rules to make sure they do learn English so when they come, if they come, they can be more integrated into our country."

A recent study by MigrationWatch found that children who speak English as their first language are in a minority in some inner-city London schools.
According to a report in the Daily Mail, Birmingham, Bradford and Leicester all have more than 40 per cent of pupils in primary schools who do not have English as a first language.
To date, the government's policies have focused upon marriage visas. Since September, those coming to Britain to marry UK citizens have been forced to sit pre-entry tests proving a basic level of English.

Lawyers argue that the tests, which apply only to those from non-English-speaking countries, are discriminatory, and breach human rights law. But Immigration Minister Damian Green argued that the English language requirement would allow for a "more cohesive society".