A third of hay-fever victims lose control behind the wheel resulting in calls for suffers to be prosecuted if affected on the road
By Mail On Sunday Reporter
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Motorists have been urged not to take to the road while suffering from hay fever, after a third of drivers with the condition admitted to losing control at the wheel.
And traffic police have warned that driving while affected by hay fever could even result in prosecution.
Sore, streaming eyes can impair vision, while constant sneezing due to the pollen allergy can force drivers to close their eyes, a survey from Halfords showed.
Hay-fever: Motorists suffering from hay-fever have been warned that losing control of a car because of the condition could lead to prosecution
Researchers found more than a quarter of motorists regularly take to the roads despite suffering from hay fever. And a third of sufferers say they have momentarily lost concentration while driving.
PC Steve Rounds, from the Central Motorway Police Group, said: ‘Hay fever can cause frequent sneezing, forcing the sufferer to briefly shut their eyes and vision can also be affected by irritated, streaming eyes.
‘So although I have a lot of sympathy, driving while affected in such a way would be irresponsible and could be held as an aggravating factor in any accident that led to a serious injury, or fatality.’
He added: ‘It is also important to be aware of the drowsiness caused by some medication taken to ease hay fever, and to read warnings on product packaging carefully, before deciding whether to drive.’
Scientists say this summer is set to be one of the worst ever for hay-fever sufferers.
Twice as many people suffer today compared with 20 years ago.
According to the National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit, the total number of sufferers – currently more than ten million – could triple by 2030.
Insurance firms estimate that more than two million UK motorists have had an accident, near-miss, or momentarily lost control of their car as a result of sneezing.
Categories: News Tags: affected, Behind, Calls, Control, hayfever, Lose, prosecuted, resulting, road, suffers, Third, victims, Wheel
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Afghanistan: Secret files reveal Taliban will retake control when NATO troops withdraw
- Report compiled by U.S. forces claims Pakistan security agency is assisting Taliban attacks against NATO forces
- Afghans bracing for return of Taliban when foreign troops withdraw in 2014
- Taliban detainees claim Pakistan employs network of spies to give strategic advice to militants
- Pakistan Foreign Ministry dismisses claims as ‘frivolous’ and insists it is committed to non-interference in Afghanistan
- 10-year conflict has seen nearly 3,000 service personnel killed
By Wil Longbottom
Last updated at 6:53 PM on 1st February 2012
A secret U.S. military report claims the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, are set to retake control over Afghanistan when NATO-led forces withdraw from the country.
The State of the Taliban report, compiled by U.S. forces, said Pakistan’s powerful security agency – the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) – was assisting the Taliban in directing attacks against foreign forces.
It is a damning assessment of the war, now dragging into its eleventh year and which has already seen nearly 3,000 service personnel killed – 1,846 U.S. and 390 British.
Scroll down for video
Poised: A Taliban militant holds a grenade launcher in Herat. A secret U.S. report claims the insurgent movement is poised to regain control of Afghanistan when NATO troops withdraw
Unbowed: The document claims Taliban fighters are being supported by Pakistan intelligence services across the border
The report could heap further pressure on British Prime Minister David Cameron, and U.S. President Barack Obama, as they face strengthened calls to withdraw troops earlier.
It could also reinforce the view of Taliban hardliners that the group should not negotiate peace with the U.S. and President Hamid Karzai’s unpopular government while in a position of strength.
The report, seen by The Times newspaper, said: ‘Though the Taliban suffered severely in 2011, its strength, motivation, funding and tactical proficiency remains intact.
‘Many Afghans are already bracing themselves for an eventual return of the Taliban.’
It was compiled from the interrogation of more than 4,000 Taliban and al Qaeda detainees at Bagram air base in Afghanistan.
Attacks: An explosion after an airstrike in Nanagarhar, Afghanistan. The report, based on interrogation of insurgents, claims Taliban fighters are being given weapons and training by Pakistan-backed militants
Cost: The remains of Private First Class Cody R. Norris arrive at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware. More than ten years after the U.S.-led conflict in Afghanistan, the Taliban are poised to regain control
The detainees have revealed that Pakistan employs a network of spies and go-betweens to give strategic advice to the Taliban, The Times reported.
‘The Government of Pakistan remains intimately involved with the Taliban,’ the report says.
‘ISI is thoroughly aware of Taliban activities and the whereabouts of all senior Taliban personnel.
‘Senior Taliban leaders meet regularly with ISI personnel, who advise on strategy and relay any pertinent concerns of the Government of Pakistan.’
Militant groups on the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan provide electronics, explosives and suicide vests to the Taliban, with one detainee claiming: ‘The Taliban are not Islam. The Taliban are Islamabad.’
No confidence: An Afghan border police officer receives his graduation certificate. There are concerns that the police, security forces and Afghan army will not be able to maintain order in the country when NATO forces leave
Unpopular: The Taliban is playing on public opinion of President Hamid Karzai’s government
The allegations have drawn a strong response from the Pakistani Foreign Ministry.
Spokesman Abdul Basit said: ‘This is frivolous, to put it mildly. We are committed to non-interference in Afghanistan.’
Large swathes of Afghanistan have already been handed back to Afghan security forces, with the last foreign combat troops due to leave by the end of 2014.
But many Afghans doubt their army, security forces or police will be able to take firm control of one of the world’s most volatile countries once foreign combat troops leave.
The accusations will likely further strain ties between the West and Islamabad, which has long denied backing militant groups seeking to topple the U.s.-backed government in Kabul.
Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar is visiting Kabul today on a mission to repair strained diplomatic ties with Afghanistan’s government and to meet Karzai to discuss possible peace talks with the Taliban.
Ties between Pakistan and the U.S. are at a low after a series of setbacks since the raid that Osama bin Laden in May last year and humiliated Pakistan’s powerful generals.
PAKISTAN JETS BOMB HIDEOUTS
Pakistani fighter jets bombed the hideouts of two militant commanders along the Afghan border today, killing up to 31 insurgents.
One of those killed was reported to be a Pakistani Taliban leader in the Orakzai region, Moin ud Din.
The strikes followed clashes between soldiers and militants over a strategic mountain in Kurram last week, in which more than 60 people were killed.
In recent years, the Pakistani military has launched a series of offensives against militants in the border regions – which are only nominally controlled by the central government.
Large areas remain under the effective control of extremists, who use the region to plan attacks in Pakistani cities and Afghanistan.
Gunmen also attacked a Pakistan paramilitary checkpoint in the Marwah area of Baluchistan province last night, killing six troops.
And the bodies of seven unarmed men were discovered near the checkpoint.
A cross-border NATO air strike in November which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers deepened the crisis, prompting Islamabad to suspend supply routes into Afghanistan.
Islamabad has resisted U.S. pressure to after insurgent groups like the Taliban and the Haqqani network, arguing the West overlooks complex realities on the ground.
The Pentagon has long been concerned over perceived ties between elements of the ISI and extremist networks.
Despite the presence of 100,000 foreign troops, violence in Afghanistan is at its worst since the Taliban were ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in 2001, according to the UN.
Earlier this month, the Taliban announced it would open a political office in the Qatari capital Doha to hold peace talks with the U.S.
But there have also efforts to set up talks in Saudi Arabia because Mr Karzai believes his government could be sidelined.
The report also suggests the Taliban has begun moderating its hardline Islamist stance in a bid to win over the Afghan people.
Video: Pakistan’s Foreign Minister in Kabul responds to U.S. military report
Categories: News Tags: 'Nato, Afghanistan, Control, files, retake, Reveal, Secret, Taliban, troops', withdraw
Men who ‘control’ their partners targeted in domestic violence crackdown
By Jack Doyle
Last updated at 9:04 PM on 11th December 2011
Men accused of ‘bullying or abusing’ their wives could face criminal charges under new domestic violence laws.
It could mean prosecution for husbands who treat their wives in a controlling way but do not assault them physically.
The change is being proposed by Liberal Democrat ministers as part of a review of domestic violence to be published this week.
Domestic abuse could be defined in law under Lib Dem plans to be launched this week
Ministers are also likely to confirm plans to criminalise parents who force their children into arranged marriages.
Critics of domestic violence laws point to the lack of an agreed legal definition or specific criminal offence for attacks in the home.
The guidelines could cover anyone exercising ‘coercive control’ over their partner.
This would include demonstrating a pattern of threatening behaviour or emotional abuse.
It could also cover ‘economic control’ and the manipulation of children.
For the first time, the law could make clear that under-18s can be victims of domestic abuse.
A government television campaign has targeted abusive boyfriends amid fears girls are becoming victims in their teenage years and are unable to break the pattern throughout their lives.
The new definition would also cover women who bully their male partners.
Around 5 per cent of men report having been the victims of domestic abuse.
Around one in four women is thought to be a victim of domestic violence. But figures suggest that only one in 15 cases that reach the criminal justice system leads to a conviction.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg is hoping to tighten up the law covering domestic violence to include a new definition with psychological abuse
A government-agreed definition of domestic violence already exists. This describes it as ‘any incident of threatening behaviour, violence or abuse (psychological, physical, sexual financial or emotional) between adults who are or have been intimate partners or family members, regardless of gender or sexuality’.
But ministers fear the police, councils and government agencies are not applying this rigorously enough and will consult on whether there should be a new legal definition and how it should be phrased.
The proposals could, however, raise concerns that the law is being widened to criminalise non-violent behaviour unfairly.
Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone will launch the proposals on Wednesday.
Earlier this year three police forces began trialling Domestic Violence Prevention Orders, which allow the courts to prevent suspected abusers returning home to their wives or girlfriends for 28 days.
Domestic violence is thought to account for one in five of all crimes of violence committed every year.
A Home Office action plan published in March made 88 recommendations for changes to cut violence against women and girls.
Earlier this year, David Cameron described forced marriage as ‘little more than slavery’. Up to 3,000 British Asians, many of them young and vulnerable, are forced into arranged marriages every year.
Currently the courts can impose Forced Marriage Prevention Orders, which instructs parents and relatives not to take children abroad and make them marry against their will.
Breach of such an order will become a crime.
Separately, ministers are considering a new law allowing women to find out if their boyfriend has a history of violence.
It would allow the police to tell women who ask whether their prospective partner is a danger to them or their children.
The planned legislation is known as Clare’s Law after Clare Wood, 36, who was killed in 2009 by a man she met through Facebook.
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