Nearly 40 years after the first of its 210 nuclear tests, France is preparing to compensate people affected by the fallout. The move leaves the UK isolated in its policy of rejecting liability for illnesses suffered by test participants, reports Aidan Lewis.

France carried out 17 tests in the Sahara and 193 in French Polynesia

Early in the morning of 13 February, 1960, several thousand French servicemen gathered in the Algerian Sahara to witness “Gerboise Bleue” or “Blue Desert Rat”, an atmospheric nuclear explosion four times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

This was the moment France obtained its nuclear deterrent, to the great joy of the president of the time, Charles de Gaulle.

But the test programme it launched also exposed participants and local populations to potentially lethal radiation.

Both groups claim that they have been plagued by health problems, from aggressive cancers to minor cardio-vascular complaints.

Yet the secrecy surrounding the test programme and the difficulty of scientifically proving a link between radiation and illnesses that often emerged decades later have complicated their struggle for compensation.

Slow progress

Only now, with many of the veterans dead or dying, is the French government drawing up a bill that starts to satisfy their demands.

Hitherto, France and the UK stood side by side in denying general liability for health problems suffered by those present at the tests.

Of the major powers that tested nuclear weapons during the Cold War:

• The US system offers one-off payments or healthcare costs to military and civilian test workers; the government has also made $45m (£28m) available to people affected by testing on the Bikini and Enewetak atolls in the Marshall Islands
• In Russia, the government passed a series of decrees in 2004 that provide healthcare and a small monthly payment to test participants, though there is no blanket compensation scheme; the government of Kazakhstan, home to the former Soviet test site of Semipalatinsk, has been paying compensation to the local population there
• In China, the government is thought to have a secret programme to compensate nuclear test personnel, but it has avoided any public discussion of the issue
• In the UK, the government has maintained that there is no evidence of abnormal levels of illness in test veterans. It has said it compensates where liability is proven, but argued that claims currently being made were brought too late.

The High Court in London ruled on Friday that a group of more than 1,000 veterans has the right to sue the Ministry of Defence for compensation, but the case is likely to take years to reach any conclusion.

France’s ‘conscience’

For a very long time… compensating the victims of nuclear tests was to risk weakening this colossal effort that France made to give itself a nuclear weapon Herve Morin French defence minister

The French government long blocked compensation claims by systematically appealing – usually with success – against occasional court victories by veterans.

The new bill would offer money to people present at tests – which continued until 1996 – who have contracted one of 18 types of cancer designated by the UN. This brings France broadly into line with the US.

After presenting the bill to the cabinet late last month, Defence Minister Herve Morin said that if the government had moved sooner, the effect could have been like “sticking a pin in a balloon”.

“For a very long time, engaging in a process of compensating the victims of nuclear tests was to risk weakening this colossal effort that France made to give itself a nuclear weapon, and thus to preserve its sovereignty,” he said.

But he also acknowledged the “physical and psychological distress” of the veterans, and the need for France to “put its conscience at rest”.

Continuing struggle

“For decades they told us that unlike others, the French nuclear tests were clean, and that there were no health consequences for the veterans or the local populations,” says Jean-Paul Teissoniere, a lawyer who has represented the veterans.

“Today they are telling us that there are several hundred victims to be compensated – in reality we think there are more – but the act of recognising that the French tests were toxic and caused illnesses is in itself a new phenomenon that we welcome.”

The government’s plan follows a gradual acceptance in the scientific and medical community that even people who received relatively low doses of radiation could suffer health problems.

Campaigners also see it as a response to their pressure.

“It became untenable to keep on denying and doing nothing after so much political, media, and judicial activity,” says Michel Verger, who heads Aven, the association for French nuclear test veterans.

But they also suspect that the government’s hand was forced by growing cross-party support in parliament for a bill. Rather than leaving it to members of parliament to draft, the theory goes, ministers decided to write it themselves.

They are going to give as little as possible – the struggle will continue Aven President Michel Verger

The French government says it will provide 10m euros (£8.8m) this year, and can later supplement this sum from the defence ministry’s multi-billion-euro annual pension budget.

It has dropped a requirement in early drafts that applicants must have been exposed to a specified minimum level of radiation, and estimates that a few hundred people or their dependents will be eligible.

But given that 150,000 people are estimated to have taken part in the French tests – including thousands of locally recruited workers who helped with setting up and dismantling the sites – the veterans say the government needs to go much further.

Mr Verger, who watched Gerboise Bleue as a young conscript with the military postal service and is now a spritely 70-year-old campaigner, is leading the push to amend the bill.

“It’s a bill in which the victims’ associations are not represented anywhere,” he says.

The veterans’ association wants a dedicated fund and an independent committee that can monitor rulings on claims.

“They are going to give as little as possible. The struggle will continue.”

Britney announces Australian tour

Britney Spears has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide

Pop star Britney Spears has announced she will tour Australia in November for the first time in her career.

In a statement on her website, the 27-year-old said she had wanted to visit the country for “quite some time”.

The star, who is currently performing in London, will play six nights, kicking off in Perth.

“My Circus tour is the best show I have ever created and I can’t wait to perform it for all of my Australian fans,” she said.

She will also play two gigs in Melbourne, Sydney and one concert in Brisbane.

Erratic behaviour

Since topping the charts as a teenager with Baby One More Time, the star has sold more than 60 million albums worldwide.

In recent years there has been concern over her health, as her erratic behaviour eventually led to a stint in rehab. She also lost full-time custody of her two sons.

The tour, which started in the US, has received mixed reviews, with many critics disapproving of Spears’ decision to mime large portions of the show.

However, her high energy dance routines have been praised and some agree the gigs mark her official comeback.

Her current album Circus was released on 2 December – the date of her birthday.

It debuted at number one in six countries including Canada, Switzerland, Mexico, Brazil, Japan, and top 10 in an additional seven countries.

Hollywood actors agree pay deal

The Screen Actors Guild leaders still appear divided on the pay deal

The main US actors’ union has agreed a deal with the major Hollywood studios after a year of acrimonious pay talks which almost led to strike action.

Members of the Screen Actors Guild voted to back a two-year deal covering films and prime-time TV shows.

The SAG said the deal raised actors’ minimum pay by 3% as part of a $105m package of improvements.

But there appeared to be no significant pay increase for internet appearances – a key sticking point in the talks.

Slightly more than one-third of the union’s 120,000 members cast their ballots.

Some 78% of them voted to accept the new contract.

‘Devastatingly unsatisfactory’

But analysts say the year-long negotiations failed to bring much benefit to the guild.

Alan Rosenberg was unimpressed with the new contract

The talks led to infighting among SAG top brass, and a damaging split with another actors’ union, Aftra.

While Aftra settled pay terms for internet appearances, SAG held out for a better deal.

Over the past year the guild’s members have lost out as major studios sent more work to Aftra.

And the SAG leadership itself appears to be divided over the new deal.

SAG President Alan Rosenberg labelled the contract “devastatingly unsatisfactory” and called on members to “ready themselves for the battle ahead” for negotiating new terms in 2011.

But chief negotiator John McGuire called it a “solid deal” and interim national executive director David White said it “puts Sag in a strong position for the future”.

Blood and bedtime stories

There’s rarely room in children’s books for scenes of slaughter and pictures of people being impaled, so why does one author want to change this?

There have been many calls to protect the young from violent images, but it’s not often the opposite case is argued, that there aren’t enough aggressive pictures in children’s books.

But award-winning children’s author Ted Dewan is conscientiously putting scenes of mayhem and destruction into his latest book, not drawn by an adult but by the children themselves.

Children, particularly boys, often produce violent images in their drawings, he says. But when it comes to children’s books, this becomes a taboo. They’re often fluffy and fleecy, but there’s rarely room in the children’s section for the scenes of slaughter that many boys like to draw.

One True Bear is a moral tale about a bear and boy

Mr Dewan wants children’s literature to face up to this “hidden art” and to cast some light on the “type of pictures that don’t get put up on the fridge”.

“I think that boys’ exploration of violence is often confused with the commercial products that exploit their interest in violence and that makes parents nervous,” he says.

In the anxious, risk-averse, cotton-wool culture of modern parenting, a picture of machine gun massacres isn’t going to look good on the wall.

His book, One True Bear, is being claimed as the first picture book of its kind to include the “particular kind of drawing that boys do”. Which he says parents of boys “know all about”.

These primary school children’s line drawings include battlefield scenes, planes dropping bombs, people shooting each other, tanks, someone impaled on a spike, buildings on fire and a clown with limbs pulled off.

‘Double standards’

It’s not some kind of Tarantino for toddlers. It’s a moral tale of how a self-sacrificing teddy bear wins the affections of a violent boy. The bear’s gruff generosity redeems the angry youngster. And almost all the illustrations are soothingly traditional, with these grittier images kept in the background.

But should there be any place for these violent outpourings from children? Is it a bad influence? Should we be discouraging these pencil-drawn horror shows?

“These pictures are part of boyhood,” says Mark Haddon, author of The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time.

When children watch Peter Pan we don’t expect them to jump out of the window Author Mark Haddon

His own son is one of the children whose drawings are used in the book. He says as the father of boys, when it comes to boys’ artistic self-expression, it’s “Armageddon on paper”.

Among the children’s drawings in Ted Dewan’s book, he says his son particularly loved the picture of people being catapulted onto a giant cactus.

But he says children themselves make a clear distinction between such imaginary violence and real conflict and adults exaggerate the susceptibility of the young to be influenced.

“When children watch Peter Pan we don’t expect them to jump out of the window. We underestimate their ability to filter,” he said.

“We don’t trust children to understand the difference between reality and play acting.”

Pressures

Mr Haddon is also scathing about how parents can have double standards about violent games.

“We hate violence with a contemporary feel,” he says. “There are Guardian-reading families who would hate to see their children with plastic machine guns, but they’re quite happy to give them swords and shields. It’s more heritage.”

So where is the boundary between allowing children to express themselves and exposing them to unnecessary violence?

US-based psychologist Michael Thompson is the author of the best-selling book, Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys. It examines the contradictory pressures on boys and to help parents understand their behaviour.

Ted Dewan says these pictures don’t go up on the fridge

Dr Thompson’s book hit a chord – and put him on the Oprah circuit – by expressing the anxieties parents felt around modern boyhood.

Why were boys doing so badly at school compared to girls? Is there anything wrong with boys being boisterous and physical? And if they keep drawing guns, does it mean they want to shoot someone?

“What makes boys violent is being treated with violence, seeing their fathers commit violent acts, watching bigger boys commit violent acts in gangs,” he says.

But he concludes there is a major distinction between such exposure to real violence and the imaginary violence that is a natural part of growing up, either in play or in drawings or stories.

“Children, boys in particular, have been play acting at hunting, chasing, killing and dying since the beginning of human history,” says Dr Thompson.

“There is no connection between writing violent stories and committing violence. If you write violent stories, you are not going to end up in jail, you are going to end up in Hollywood writing action movies.”

One True Bear, By Ted Dewan, published by Orchard Books.

‘Iconic’ Antarctic hut burns down

The bitumen and timber hut burst into flame in the dry conditions

An isolated hut in Antarctica favoured by explorer Sir Edmund Hillary has burnt down after a fuel leak during a routine inspection at minus 35C.

Antarctica New Zealand said the “iconic” A-frame timber and bitumen hut on the Ross Ice Shelf went up in flames during re-ignition of the heater.

A spokesman said the hut, stationed on the ice since 1971, “will be sadly missed”.

Everest-conqueror Sir Edmund visited during his last trip to Antarctica.

Spokesman Lou Sanson said: “The A-Frame represented something uniquely Kiwi in Antarctica.

“It was the concept of a mountain hut mixed with a bach and it said something about who we are.”

Fire hazard

With the extremely dry conditions, he said it was fortunate that staff removed themselves from harm quickly.

The hut had been used by New Zealanders since 1971

“Fire is the biggest hazard in Antarctica. Earlier this season, two Russians were killed when one of their buildings burned down,” said Mr Sanson, quoted by the New Zealand Herald.

About 12,000 New Zealanders, including prime ministers, poets and scientists, have stayed in the hut during field training and as a retreat from New Zealand’s Scott Base.

In May 2004 it survived 12 hours of over 160kph winds with two Scott Base staff inside.

It was once owned by the US, stationed next to Scott Base at McMurdo Station, but they abandoned it in 1971.

Scott Base operates with about 10 staff during the southern winter, with no physical contact from beyond the continent between February and August.

Violence dominates at Cannes

Charlotte Gainsbourg defended the violence of her film Antichrist

Critics at Cannes have a reputation for toughness, but in 2009 they needed a stomach made of tungsten steel to watch some of the violent competition films.

Rape, scalping and mutilation had some film buffs running for the cinema exit doors – but these were the movies that the Cannes jury chose to reward this year.

Charlotte Gainsbourg was voted best actress for Lars Von Trier’s Antichrist, which caused uproar among critics for a graphic scene of genital mutilation, and led to accusations of misogyny. The scene will reportedly be edited before it reaches the general public.

The star of the movie remained defiant.

“I’m very proud to have been in this film,” Gainsbourg told a winners’ press conference. “I know people have had different reactions to it, but he’s a great artist.”

Gory romp

Brilliante Mendoza from the Philippines was given the best director prize for Kinotay, which features the lengthy rape and murder of a prostitute.

“It’s not a date movie, ” jury member Hanif Kureshi told the press in defence of the award.

“You’ve just got to admire its heart. Having said that – it’s not something I want to see again.”

Then there was Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds in competition. A gory romp through an alternative history of World War II, the focus of the movie was on disposing of as many Nazis as possible in inimitable Tarantino style.

Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt brought Cannes to a standstill

It didn’t win a film prize – but Christoph Waltz won the best actor award for his comically menacing SS officer.

Inglourious Basterds proved to be the highlight of this year’s festival, even if it didn’t win unanimous critical praise.

The sight of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie on the red carpet, along with Tarantino, brought the festival to a standstill and gave it a worldwide photo opportunity that had been sadly lacking.

Maybe the economic gloom meant studios were less willing to spend money on hospitality budgets for their talent – but the paparazzi found themselves kicking their heels.

Parties which promised Sir Mick Jagger or even Michael Jackson instead delivered Paris Hilton and Peaches Geldof – over and over again.

Little wonder that when Twilight star Robert Pattinson dropped into Cannes for a couple of days he was mobbed wherever he went.

And then there was the first snippet of Disney’s 3D animation, A Christmas Carol, which was aired to the press.

Jim Carrey, who plays Scrooge, was flown in with Colin Firth for a photo opportunity in front of the famous Carlton Hotel.

Nearly 200 TV crews and photographers had hours to contemplate the irony as they waited in the sweltering heat in front of a winter wonderland scene, complete with snow and Christmas trees.

Movie stars may have seemed like an endangered species, but there was a bounty of women directors.

Brit disappointment

The fact that two – Jane Campion and Andrea Arnold – had made it into competition in a year where a woman, Isabelle Huppert, was chair of the jury, gave the press a whole new line of questions on sexual equality in cinema.

Arnold went on to win the Jury Prize for Fish Tank, a film set on an Essex housing estate and starring a teenager who was “discovered” on a railway platform.

But there was disappointment that another British entry, Looking for Eric by Ken Loach, wasn’t recognised – despite critical praise and Eric Cantona starring in it.

Austrian Christoph Waltz won the best actor award

Instead it was a non-controversial choice for the Palme D’Or – Austrian director Michael Haneke’s White Ribbon.

Set in Germany at the outbreak of World War I, it was a surprise win. However, his last film, Cache, was expected to win the Palme and didn’t, so it was his night of delayed triumph.

Cannes feels like two festivals – one for the film competition and the other for the celebrity circus going on around it.

The event succeeded in the first instance by getting reporters talking, but on the second it proved to be slightly “Inglourious”.

Eczema’s link to asthma uncovered

Eczema causes red itchy patches on the skin

Scientists believe they have found what triggers many children with eczema to go on to develop asthma.

The Public Library of Science Biology study points to a way to stop what is known as the “atopic march”.

The US team at the Washington University School of Medicine showed that a substance made by the damaged skin triggered asthma symptoms in mice.

The same substance, thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP), is also produced in the lungs of asthma patients.

Now it will be important to address how to prevent defective skin from producing TSLP Lead researcher Dr Raphael Kopan

Early treatment of the skin rash and blocking TSLP production might stop asthma developing in young patients with eczema, they hope.

Drugs that act on TSLP might also protect against asthma development even in cases that are not linked to eczema.

Atopic march

Allergies and asthma often occur together. Studies show that 50-70% of children with severe allergic skin problems – atopic dermatitis – go on to develop asthma.

The researchers studied mice bred with a genetic defect that made them develop a condition similar to eczema in humans.

The defective skin secreted TSLP, which the researchers believe alerts the body that its protective barrier has failed.

When they tested the lungs of the mice, they found this tissue also responded strongly to the TSLP signal and had the hallmark traits of asthma – mucous secretion, airway muscle contraction and invasion of white blood cells.

These results were obtained from studies with mice, so it is important to establish whether the same causal link exists in humans Dr Elaine Vickers of Asthma UK

They did more experiments and found that even mice with normal skin but bred to overproduce TSLP also developed asthma-like symptoms, suggesting TSLP is indeed the culprit.

Lead researcher Dr Raphael Kopan said: “We are excited because we’ve narrowed down the problem of atopic march to one molecule.

“We’ve shown that the skin can act as a signalling organ and drive allergic inflammation in the lung by releasing TSLP.

“Now it will be important to address how to prevent defective skin from producing TSLP. If that can be done, the link between eczema and asthma could be broken.”

Dr Elaine Vickers of Asthma UK said: “This is the first piece of research to suggest that the natural protein TSLP could play a direct role in causing people with eczema to develop asthma.

“These results were obtained from studies with mice, so it is important to establish whether the same causal link exists in humans.

“Scientists are already exploring the potential of targeting TSLP to create new treatments for eczema, asthma and other allergic conditions.

“Although it is still a long way off, this research raises the exciting possibility that as well as improving symptoms, these treatments might be able to limit, or even prevent, the development of asthma.”

Iran ‘blocks access to Facebook’

Facebook says it is investigating reports of the ban

Iran’s government has blocked access to social networking site Facebook ahead of June’s presidential elections, according to Iran’s ILNA news agency.

ILNA suggested the move was aimed at stopping supporters of reformist candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi from using the site for his campaign.

Facebook, which claims to have 175m users worldwide, expressed its disappointment over the reported ban.

So far there has been no comment from the authorities in Tehran.

‘Access not possible’

“Access to the Facebook site was prohibited several days ahead of the presidential elections,” ILNA reported.

Mr Mousavi was Iran’s prime minister when the post was abolished in 1989

It said that “according to certain Internet surfers, the site was banned because supporters of Mir Hossein Mousavi were using Facebook to better disseminate the candidate’s positions”.

CNN staff in Tehran reported that people attempting to visit the site received a message in Farsi that said: “Access to this site is not possible.”

Facebook expressed disappointment that its site was apparently blocked in Iran “at a time when voters are turning to the Internet as a source of information about election candidates and their positions”.

Mir Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister, is seen as one of the leading challengers to incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in the 12 June elections.

His page on Facebook has more than 5,000 supporters.

Boost for future broadband speeds

The money is funding cheaper ways to send data using lasers.

The UK government is spending £1m to develop technologies to boost future broadband speeds.

The money is being spent on research that could boost browsing speeds to between 1 and 10 gigabits per second.

The technologies being researched are all to do with broadband delivered by fibre-optic cables.

Some of the 13 projects being funded aim to make it easier and cheaper to build fibre networks to ensure they can reach as many people as possible.

Home net

The cash is being put up by the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) for research that will set firms on the path to creating all the pieces of future “ultra-fast” broadband networks.

It will also help those UK firms join larger European projects that are also committed to boosting broadband speeds.

“There’s a Moore’s Law for bandwidth in the home,” said Mike Biddle, a lead technologist for the TSB. “It’s doubling roughly every 21 months.”

“If you look out to 2020 you start to need about 1 gigabit per second (gbps) and beyond,” he added.

“Although you can already get 1 or 10gbps you cannot do it at the right cost point,” he said. “That’s the barrier we are trying to crack.”

One project winning funds will survey possible technologies for ultra fast broadband, and plot a roadmap that dictates the best way for the UK to prepare its infrastructure for that high-speed future.

Others will look into ways to create so-called passive components that make the job of connecting homes to fibre networks straightforward. Currently, building multi-gigabit networks involves complex, expensive components such as tunable lasers.

One scheme, called HOWL (Hi-performance Optical-Wireless Links) aims to create a home wi-fi access point that uses a single chip to connect to broadband networks and convert data to wireless for distribution around a home.

Mr Biddle said the funding was also to help UK companies prepare for a similar Europe-wide competition that would put far more money, 7.5m euros (£6.58m) into research into cheaper fibre networks.