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‘Empire strikes back’: Turkish seculars oppose ‘Ottoman dress’ for hostesses

Tuesday, 26 February 2013 20:10
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Turkey’s proposed new more modest dress code for its flight attendants has been criticized by the country’s seculars with some Twitter users deriding the new suggested uniforms as reminiscent of the costumes worn in the Ottoman era, a newspaper reported Monday. 
 
According to The New York Times on Monday, the proposed new look include long dresses and skirts below the knee, and Ottoman-style fez caps. 
 
Critics, who likened the suggested uniforms as to those worn in the “Magnificent Century,” a popular Turkish soap opera about the decadent reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent in the 16th century, heightened their disapproval amid media reports of Turkish Airlines banning alcohol on their flights. 
 
However, earlier this month the national carrier denied the reports and said its policy to serve alcohol on both its domestic and international flights continues to be uninterrupted.
 
Secular Turks, who fear over-domination by the ruling Islamist Justice and Development Party headed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, are wary that the party’s decade-long run in power will change the country’s traditional secular culture. 
 
They also doubt that the national airline, nearly 50-percent-owned by the government, is simply trying to please Erdogan. 
 
“Turkish Airlines is leaning toward a more conservative line,” Serdar Tasci, a sociologist who also works as a consultant to the main secular political party, the Republican People’s Party, or C.H.P., told the paper. “On the one hand it is trying to be a global brand, and on the other it is allying with the neoconservative policies of the political power.” 
 
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In a country where women are not allowed to wear the head scarves, it saw a breakthrough change when Erdogan’s party lifted ban on female students wearing Islamic head cover in schools providing religious education late 2012 in addition to restricting the serving of alcohol in certain places. 
 
“It is a reaction [seculars not wanting the new dress code] against imposing a certain lifestyle to all institutions in Turkey,” Ayse Saktanber, a sociologist at the Middle East Technical University in Ankara, told the paper. “Turkey is a pragmatic society which doesn’t like to fall behind the world. These new costumes came with the alcohol ban on planes.” 
 
“Even my students with head scarves find these ridiculous,” she added. 
 
Erdogan’s party has worked to tame the influence of the military - the self-appointed guardians of secularism since the modern republic was founded in 1923 - over the past decade, but he denies an Islamist agenda.
 
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Horsemeat found in Ikea meatballs in Czech Republic

Tuesday, 26 February 2013 13:57
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Ikea has withdrawn meatballs from sale in 14 European countries after tests in the Czech Republic found traces of horsemeat in a batch made in Sweden.
 
Meatballs from the same batch had been sold in many states, including the UK, France and Portugal, the retailer said.
 
Swiss food giant Nestle meanwhile said it had found horse DNA in meat from the Spanish supplier, Servocar.
 
The discoveries come as EU agriculture ministers meet for talks expected to focus on the growing horsemeat scandal.
 
Since the first horsemeat was discovered in frozen meals and burgers in the UK and Ireland last month, traces have been found in meat products across Europe.
 
'Testing like mad'
Ikea's announcement on Monday came after the Czech State Veterinary Administration said horsemeat had been found in 1kg (2.2lb) packs of meatballs manufactured in Sweden and shipped to the Czech Republic for sale in Ikea stores there.
 
A total of 760kg (1,675lb) of the meatballs have been intercepted and stopped from reaching Czech shelves, according to the Associated Press.
 
Horsemeat had also been found in beef burgers imported from Poland, the Czech State Veterinary Administration said.
 
In a posting on its Swedish Facebook page, Ikea first confirmed it was halting all sales of meatballs at its stores in the country.
 
Later, the company announced that meatballs from the affected batch of meatballs had also been sent to Ikea stores in Slovakia, Hungary, France, the UK, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and the Republic of Ireland.
 
Ikea insisted that it had not found any horsemeat during in-house tests on its own range of food products, carried out two weeks ago, but said new tests would now be carried out.
 
"We do not tolerate any other ingredients than the ones stipulated in our recipes or specifications, secured through set standards, certifications and product analysis by accredited laboratories," a statement said.
 
Also on Monday, the Spanish agriculture ministry announced that traces of horsemeat had been found in beef pasta meals produced by brands owned by Nestle.
 
A statement on the Swiss company's website said it was withdrawing six "La Cocinera" products and one "Buitoni" product from shops in Spain, and that it had halted all deliveries from the meat supplier, Servocar.
 
Nestle said testing continued across its products, a week after it announced that it was withdrawing two types of beef pasta meals from supermarkets in Italy and Spain which had been supplied by a company in Germany, H J Schypke.
 
A Nestle spokesman told the BBC the discovery of horsemeat in the products of a second supplier was not an indication that the problem was widespread across the company, but because "we are testing like mad".
 
'Concrete action'
The labelling of the origin of meat and the traceability of the products will be high on the agenda at the EU ministers' meeting.
 
Europe's food retailers depend on a complex network of brokers, cold stores and meat-cutting plants around the continent from which to source the ingredients wherever they are cheapest, says the BBC's Christian Fraser, in Paris.
 
The evidence of the past few weeks shows that national food safety authorities have failed to identify a problem in the supply chain over a significant period of time, he adds.
 
While the original agenda of the EU meeting included support for rural communities and the common fisheries policy, it is expected ministers will now try to come up with measures to tackle the horsemeat scandal.
 
Those could include a pan-European labelling project for frozen food, a move which has the backing of France and Germany.
 
Paris and Berlin both want compulsory labelling and traceability.
 
UK Environment Secretary Owen Paterson said on Friday that he would "continue to insist on concrete, co-ordinated action right across Europe when I meet European agriculture ministers on Monday".
 
But a workable deal could be difficult, our correspondent says. The discovery of horsemeat comes in long, complex and poorly regulated supply chains in the meat industry.
 
At least a dozen countries are involved in the horsemeat affair, which implicates some of the biggest meat processors and food producers.
 
Italy joined the list on Saturday, reporting horsemeat in some lasagne products.
 
On Friday, Germany's consumer affairs ministry announced it had found traces of horse DNA in 67 of 830 food products tested.
 
Irish authorities on Friday suspended production at one processing plant after horsemeat was found labelled as beef.
 
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Meat scandal
 
  • In mid-January, Irish food inspectors announced they had found horsemeat in some burgers stocked by UK supermarket chains
  • Subsequently, up to 100% horsemeat found in several ranges of prepared frozen food in Britain, France and Sweden
  • Concerns that a drug used to treat horses, and which may be harmful to humans, could be in food chain
  • Meat traced from France through Cyprus and the Netherlands to Romanian abattoirs
  • Investigation suggests adulteration was not accidental but the work of a criminal conspiracy
 
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NHS foreign doctors must speak English, say ministers

Monday, 25 February 2013 00:41
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Foreign doctors wanting to treat NHS patients in England will have to prove they have the necessary English skills, the government has confirmed.
 
Concerns were raised after a German doctor, Dr Daniel Ubani, gave a patient a fatal overdose on his first and only shift in the UK.
 
He had earlier been rejected for work because of poor English skills.
 
From April there will be a legal duty to ensure a doctor's English is up to scratch before they are employed.
 
Foreign doctors will have to prove they can speak a "necessary level of English" before they are allowed to treat patients in hospitals or in GP surgeries, the Department of Health said.
 
Dr Ubani had been refused work by Leeds Primary Care Trust, but was later employed in Cambridgeshire.
 
From April, there will be a national list of GPs to prevent doctors being rejected in one part of the country and then cropping up somewhere else. GPs will have to prove their language skills before being put on the list.
 
Health minister Dr Dan Poulter said the measures were about protecting patients, who "should be able to understand and be understood by their doctor if we are to give them the best care they deserve".
 
"These new checks will ensure that all doctors who want to work in the NHS can speak proficient English and to prevent those who can't from treating patients," he said.
 
New powers for the body which regulates doctors in the UK - the General Medical Council - are also being discussed. A change of law could give it powers to test the communication skills of doctors from within the EU as it already can for non-EU doctors.
 
Niall Dickson, chief executive of the GMC, said tighter rules would "strengthen patient safety".
 
He added: "Our position is clear - patients must be confident that the doctor who treats them has the right communications skills to do the job.
 
"If doctors cannot speak English to a safe standard then the GMC must be able to protect patients by preventing them from practising in the UK.
 
"At present we can do that for doctors who have qualified outside Europe but we cannot do it for doctors within the European Union.
 
"We have been working hard for some time to close this loophole in UK legislation which has caused so much concern to patients and their families and we are delighted that the government has decided to act."
 
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association, said: "New language checks for doctors are welcome, and long overdue.
 
"Lessons from the past have served to highlight the tragic consequences of poor language skills."
 
Dean Royles, director of the NHS Employers organisation, said foreign doctors had made an "invaluable contribution" but safety needed to be the "top priority".
 
 
(Health and science reporter, BBC News)
 
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Europe horsemeat scandal spreads to Asia

Thursday, 21 February 2013 14:11
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The fallout from Europe's horsemeat scandal has spread far outside the continent, with an imported lasagne brand pulled from shelves in Hong Kong and a new row over the treatment of horses farmed in the Americas, AFP reports.

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Kazakh Aruy pageant final show to be held in Almaty

Thursday, 21 February 2013 11:16
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The final show of Kazakh Aruy (Kazakh Beauty) pageant will be held in Almaty Palace of Students on March 17. Only 18 girls out of 500 candidates have been selected for the final show. They will compete for the title of the most beautiful Kazakh girl, Voxpopuli.kz reports. To vote for the most beautiful girl please see the pictures in the website.

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Miss Kazakhstan UK selected in Great Britain

Wednesday, 20 February 2013 10:59
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Symbat Kulzhagarova, a student of LSC (London School of Commerce), was selected Miss Kazakhstan UK and Ayana Sagynbek kyzy, a student of UCL (University College London), was awarded the Vice-Miss title, Tengrinews.kz reports.

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Nestle finds horse meat in pasta dishes in Italy, Spain

Tuesday, 19 February 2013 08:10
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Swiss food giant Nestle has become the latest retailer hit by Europe's horsemeat scandal, announcing it is removing pasta meals from supermarket shelves in Italy and Spain due to contamination, AFP reports.

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Vivienne Westwood urges Kate to buy less

Monday, 18 February 2013 15:31
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Vivienne Westwood urged Prince William's wife Catherine on Sunday to stop buying so many outfits and to be more environmentally responsible in the way she dressed, AFP reports.

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Luggage belonging to Italian fashion designer Missoni washes up on tiny Caribbean island more than a month after his plane vanished

Saturday, 16 February 2013 12:09
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Police on the tiny island of Bonaire said Thursday that two pieces of luggage from a missing plane that was carrying the CEO of Italian fashion house Missoni has washed up on a local beach.
 
 
In Curacao, Bonaire police spokesman Hans Baltus confirmed that two bags found earlier this week on a rocky beach were from the missing plane carrying Vittorio Missoni, his wife and four others.
 
 
Baltus declined to provide information about the nametags on the battered bags, citing an ongoing investigation.
 
 
However, Missoni family friend Claudio Verna in Italy said that authorities in Bonaire phoned him Tuesday to tell him that two bags were found that belonged to the missing CEO. He said the bags were discovered Tuesday by a local newspaper reporter on the tiny island off Venezuela.
 
 
Baltus said police were in contact with Verna as a family representative.
 
 
The BN-2 Islander plane carrying Missoni and the others vanished shortly after takeoff on Jan. 4 from Los Roques, a tiny archipelago that is a dependency of Venezuela. It was destined for Caracas, the South American nation's capital.
 
 
Late last month, a bag belonging to a tourist who missed that flight washed up in nearby Curacao, which lies some 200 miles (320 kilometers) west of the resort islands of Los Roques. It was the first sign of debris from the missing plane.
 
 
From Italy, Verna said the Missoni family and friends of the missing couple are still hoping that the plane did not plunge into the ocean.
 
 
'You cannot exclude that someone could launch bags in the sea. We are not in the condition now to exclude any other option,' he said.
 
 
Verna said he will fly to Venezuela next week and try to advance plans to hire a boat to search for the missing plane.
 
 
Baltus said the two bags found in Bonaire are expected to be sent shortly to authorities in Venezuela.
 
 
Italy's air safety agency has said the pilot of the vanished plane had an expired medical fitness certificate and that the company operating the aircraft wasn't yet authorized to fly. However, the National Flight Safety Agency has said that neither factor is being blamed for the disappearance at this time.
 
 
Seven minutes after takeoff, the pilot reported that he was at 5,000 feet and 10 nautical miles from the Los Roques airport, according to the agency. The last radar readings showed the aircraft accelerating at 5,400 feet before it quickly lost altitude and speed, veering to the right until it disappeared from the radar.
 
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