Medical doctors getting jobless - BBC News 2009

The British Medical Association has warned that 10,000 doctors could miss out on training jobs in the NHS. What could they do instead?

It is not what Robert Thomas had in mind. Despite conquering medical exams for seven years his dreams of becoming a top consultant have been replaced by the prospect of the dole queue.

Despite a glittering academic record he says he has not been offered even an interview for one of the all-important NHS training contracts - and time is running out.

'Miserable times'

The contracts enable junior doctors to train to become GPs or consultants and move on to the next stage in their careers.

As the BMA says many of the 10,000 students will not find contracts this year, the question of what to do instead looms large.

But many young doctors are now so disillusioned with the medical profession they are, like Dr Thomas, considering a career change. Caroline Stones, 26, is searching for one of the training contracts after completing a number of six-month placements since her graduation.

She said: "Not getting a contract will leave a very big gap on my CV. I could work as a locum but there will still be the question of why I wasn't training.

"A lot of people in my position have already got jobs in Australia and New Zealand but I'm not prepared to leave the country. I'm settled here.

"I would be happy to leave the industry altogether. I'm considering retraining and doing something completely different.

"I'm sure there are companies which would want to use my people skills and management skills."

Jobless in UK

The number of people out of work in the UK rose 244,000 to 2.22 million in the first three months of 2009, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

The jobless rate rose from 6.7% to 7.1%. Unemployment benefit claimants in April rose 57,100 to 1.51 million.
The quarterly rises in the jobless rate and number were the biggest since 1981.
The figures were due to be released by the ONS at 0930 BST on Wednesday, but came out at 1400 on Tuesday after an "accidental early release".

The ONS has launched an inquiry into how the early release happened.
"The standout numbers are the big increase in the unemployment rate at 7.1%," said Brian Hilliard, chief UK economist at Societe Generale.

"We had been looking for 6.9% so that is a really sharp acceleration."
In another sign of the severity of the economic slowdown, average earnings including bonuses were 0.4% lower in the first three months of 2009 than they had been in the same period of 2008.
'Pretty awful'
Average earnings had not fallen since records began in 1991. The ONS said it was "mainly due to lower bonuses in the financial sector".
Excluding bonuses, average earnings grew by 3.0%, down 0.2% from the previous period.

"The smaller than expected rise in the UK claimant count in April is good news, but the rest of the labour market figures are pretty awful," said Vicky Redwood from Capital Economics. There were 455,000 job vacancies in the first three months of the year, which was down 51,000 from the previous quarter and 232,000 less than the same period of 2008.
"I fear that the unemployment rate... is certain to deteriorate much further. We're looking at figures of 10% around the turn of the year," Mr Hilliard said. The Employment Minister Tony McNulty conceded that the figures were "very bad", but took some comfort from the slowing rate of increase in the claimant count.

Recession & Jobless

Recession in the US 'has arrived'

Merrill said Friday's employment figures confirmed the recession
The feared recession in the US economy has already arrived, according to a report from Merrill Lynch.
It said that Friday's employment report, which sent shares tumbling worldwide, confirmed that the US is in the first month of a recession.

Its view is controversial, with banks such as Lehman Brothers disagreeing.

But a reserve member of the committee that sets US rates warned that it could do little about the below-trend growth expected in the next six months.

"I am concerned that developments on the inflation front will make the Fed's policy decisions more difficult in 2008," Charles Plosser, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia said.

He was referring to the problems faced by the US Federal Reserve, which might want to cut interest rates to avoid a recession, but is worried about inflationary factors such as $100-a-barrel oil.

'Significant decline'

An official ruling on whether the US is in recession is made by the National Bureau of Economic Research, but this decision may not come for two years.

The NBER defines a recession as "a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months".

It bases its assessment on final figures on employment, personal income, industrial production and sales activity in the manufacturing and retail sectors.

Merrill Lynch said that the figures showing the jobless rate hitting 5% in December were the final piece in that puzzle.

"According to our analysis, this isn't even a forecast any more but is a present day reality," the report said.

Venice is sinking because of global warming

Tourists have been warned to stay away from Venice which has been hit by the biggest flood in more than 20 years.

A combination of heavy rain and high winds has led to the sea levels in the romantic Adriatic lagoon city rising 5ft above normal.

It was the fourth-highest level recorded over the past century and there were fears that the water could rise further if more bad weather materialises as forecast.

Many of Venice's streets, including the famous St Mark's Square, one of the city's lowest points, were submerged, forcing people to wade through knee-high water.

Ferry and water taxi services were suspended and some luxury stores were also flooded.

Boxes of tourist merchandise floated inside the swamped shops around the square and even the city's famed pigeons sought refuge on rooftops and windowsills.

Alarms went off at 6.37am to alert citizens, but many residents were taken by surprise because authorities had initially not forecast such a high water level.

Mayor Massimo Cacciari warned those planning a visit to "think again" adding that those already in the city should stay indoors.

"It's an exceptional acqua alta,' and unless you absolutely have to, don't go out," he said.

The city would not ask for a state of disaster to be declared since the flooding did not cause any deaths or trigger the collapse of buildings, the mayor added.

But the official overseeing Venice's architectural heritage warned the city was reaching its limits and said the water was receding at a worryingly slow rate.

The Foreign Office urged tourists to check the FCO website for any updates.

Workers were unable to install the raised wooden walkways used during flooding because the water rose too quickly under heavy rains.

In St Mark's Square tourists tried to stay dry by hopping on cafe tables and chairs sticking out of the water. The water was so high that one rowed a small speedboat across the wide square.

Adobe Flash Technology in Television Set

Adobe has secured a deal to put its Flash software into many of the chips that go inside TVs and set-top boxes.
It will enable developers and content providers to create applications to deliver web-based content such as news, weather and share prices to TV screens.

Flash will be included on most chips -those made by Broadcom, Intel, NXP and STMicroelectronics - but the deal does not cover TVs made by Sony and Samsung.
The first applications using Flash are expected to hit TV sets early in 2010.
Sony and Samsung already have a number of connected TVs on the market, but they are using Yahoo's rich media platform of widgets instead of Flash.

Samsung's Dan Schinasi shows off TVs that allow you to surf the internet at the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2009.

More than 420 million TVs, set-top boxes, and media players are expected to ship globally in the next three years and increasingly they are capable of being connected to the net.
Adobe hopes it can get Flash inside many of those devices to create a new generation of connected entertainment services, including streaming video in high definition, and applications that can run in real time alongside video broadcasts, such as interactive news tickers, sport scores, quizzes and the weather.
It could also mean TVs being used for many of the tasks now given over to a computer or laptop, such as using a search engine, online maps, and consuming all manner of digital content.
Adobe has signed up video delivery service Netflix, Disney and the New York Times to make the first batch of applications.

Change is coming to TV and we will see more and more content get used
Flash director of technology strategy for Flash, Anup Murarka
The appeal for content makers and developers is the emergence of a single standard for rich media, which will let them create applications that run on many devices.
"Change is coming to TV and we will see more and more content get used and taken to TV," said Anup Murarka, director of technology strategy for Flash.
Flash is installed on about 98% of PCs and almost 80% of all online video is delivered using Flash, according to Adobe.
It powers services such as YouTube, the BBC iPlayer and a new generation of video games inside the browser, such as Quake Live.

Microsoft has been pushing its own rival platform Silverlight, but it has had limited traction with developers and hardware manufacturers.
The company says its second version of Silverlight has been installed on 300 million machines since it became available six months ago.
But analysts think Silverlight is unlikely to challenge Flash across PCs, mobiles and TV screens in the near future.

Flash is the engine behind YouTube and BBC iPlayer video
Microsoft does have the Xbox 360 in the hands of at least 28 million gamers and the machine could be used to drive take-up of Silverlight in the home.

It also has a few deals with the makers of set-top boxes to power the software that runs TV guides and on-demand services over the internet and this too could be a way to spread Silverlight usage.
Flash Platform Business Unit general manager and vice president David Wadhwani said he still hoped to see Flash on the Xbox 360, as it is already running on the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Wii.

"I don't think it is beyond the realm of reason that we will see Flash on the Xbox.
"It would add clear value to their platform. But the decision is still theirs to make."
Adobe is aiming to become the global standard for all rich media in the "three screen" world - PC, TV, and mobile.
Up to 40% of all mobile devices shipped in 2008 are expected to carry Flash Lite. However, the big omission remains Apple's iPhone.

"We continue to work with Apple to bring Flash to the iPhone," said Mr Wadhwani.