| Radio review: Mind Your Language Konnie Huq's report on mother tongue languages was terrific. What a loss the BBC Asian Network will beThese must be frustrating times to work at the BBC Asian Network. Never supported as noisily as 6 Music, when closure of both stations was mooted, the Asian Network remains doomed despite increased audiences and some terrific output. Last night's Mind Your Language, presented by Konnie Huq, was a case in point: a well-researched report on the survival of mother tongue languages among British Asians.Huq addressed her listeners first through her personal experience of losing her native tongue, along with her siblings and wider family, as she grew up in London. "Now, none of us can speak fluent Bengali," she explained. "Have I lost out?" She then spoke to families taking a very different route, insisting that their children maintain their Asian language, and academics who argued the virtues of doing this.What distinguished the report from, say, a Radio 4 programme, was how it spoke directly to its specific audience. We heard that community colleges, where much language teaching takes place, offer more than linguistic coaching. As one researcher explained, they provide a forum for discussing wider issues, such as what it means to be British and Asian: "That was a safe space for them to turn that over and explore it." This is what the Asian Network offers, too, and what a pity to lose it. RadioAsian NetworkBBCRadio industryLanguageElisabeth Mahoneyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Cat binner charged with animal cruelty A British woman who was caught on camera dumping a cat into a rubbish bin has been charged with causing unnecessary suffering to the animal. abc.net.au |
Global Fight Against AIDS Falters as Pledges Fail to Reach Goal of $13 Billion The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria failed to reach its minimum fund-raising target needed to keep existing programs running. feeds.nytimes.com |
Which would you rather smell like? Another Silly Saturday video to enjoy!It's Saturday and I am ill. But I am not so ill that I can't enjoy sharing these videos with you!First, here's a look at a man who could leave crumbs in my bed, anytime! And next, here's a look at a monster who tries to emulate my man:Now tell me, what are those tickets in the clamshell "to the thing you love" for? (for me, it'd be round-trip tickets to Irian Jaya (West New Guinea) or, if they're from the monster, it'd be tickets for the upcoming screening of the next Harry Potter film in London). Oh, and tell me, which do you prefer: the man or the monster?GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Women's lung cancer rate catching up with men's Research shows dramatic increase in women diagnosed with UK's biggest killer, as they fail to heed no-smoking messageWomen have been urged to take anti-smoking messages more seriously after new research showed lung cancer rates rising among the female population but declining among men.Lung cancer has traditionally been an overwhelmingly male disease, but growing numbers of women are being diagnosed with what is the UK's biggest cancer killer. The trend has alarmed senior doctors, who are urging female smokers to quit and calling on the NHS to do more to warn women of the dangers of taking up the habit.Alexander Ives and Dr Julia Verne, of the NHS's South West Public Health Observatory, used data from the UK Association of Cancer Registries to identify women in England diagnosed with the disease between 1985 and 2006. They found that: "Lung cancer incidence for females increased significantly from 1985-87 (32.3 per 100,000) to 2004-06 (35.4 per 100,000)", a 10% rise. Most recent figures give the rate for men in England as 60 per 100,000.There is great variation between regions. For example, it is expected that by 2030 lung cancer rates in the south-west will be similar among men and women. That is partly because in the last 20 years the disease has soared by 30% among females from poor backgrounds in the region but remained steady among better-off women."There's a problem here with women," said Dr Paul Beckett, chair of the British Thoracic Society's lung cancer and mesothelioma specialist advisory group. "Women need to take on board that lung cancer is not a disease of men, it's a disease of smokers, and either not take up smoking in the first place or quit cigarettes as a matter of urgency."Lung cancer claims more Britons' lives than any other form of the disease. Every day about 108 people are diagnosed with it, and of those 95 die. In the 1950s men diagnosed with lung cancer outnumbered women by six to one.Data released last week by the Office of National Statistics showed that while heart and circulatory problems claim more men than anything else, cancers are now the commonest cause of death in women, accounting for 159 deaths per 100,000 annually. The historic popularity of smoking in Scotland means it has the UK's highest rates of lung cancer, while cancer generally claims 181 lives per 100,000 women north of the border.Other research to be unveiled at the thoracic society's winter conference this week will show that there is still a postcode lottery deciding which patients receive radiation or chemotherapy treatment, or undergo surgery.Lung cancerCancerMedical researchHealthSmokingNHSDenis Campbellguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |