Anti-smoking groups in Indonesia have threatened to take legal action against the country’s social affairs minister for distributing free packets of cigarettes to members of indigenous tribe.
As a goodwill gesture, she gave gifts including packets of cigarettes. When pictures circulated on the Internet, it sparked heated debate. Now two non-government groups are demanding an apology and threatening the minister with legal action. They say she violated government rules. She’s reportedly dismissed the criticism. Smoking is rampant in Indonesia including amongst children.
New research suggests that the average fourteen-year old boy in Britain spends more than eight hours a dayin front of screens of various kinds mainly on the Internet. Our technology reporter Rory Cellan-Jones hasthe story.
Television has been the most popular pastime for children over the twenty years as their media habits havebeen surveyed by the marketing firm Child Wise. Now that’s changing. In 1995, the average fourteen-year old boy watched 3.3 hours of TV a day. That’s now down to 2.4 hours. But when you add time spent on the Internet and on mobile phones, they are in front of screens for more than 8.5 hours a day.
There are forty days to go until the general election here in the UK. Our British affair correspondent hasbeen taking a look at one of the key issues—immigration. Today, he is in Bradford, a city in the north ofEngland with a large predominantly Pakistani Muslim population. It’s often portrayed in the media as a divided society where integration has failed.
Well, we’re here serving those in need.
And just looking around, it’s absolutely clear to see that all your clients, the people you are feeding or serving here, they are British, where also are they from?
From the Muslim community, from the eastern Europe community. This is about humanity. And it’s about serving those in need.
And this was your response?
This was our response. Let’s do something.
I think that’s absolutely nonsense.
Now tell me, a lot of people point fingers at Bradford and they think your community is isolated from the wider British society. Is there anything in that? Do you see that?
Is it? Really?
It is. Bradford is a multicultural district where people do help each other, people do respond to each other’s needs.
But ten years ago, there’s a report suggested that there was quite a lot of segregation in some of our northern cities and Bradford was one which was pointed to. Is that not real?
I think you’ll find out in most cities where you’ll have residential segregation. We certainly believe that we are under a microscope at the moment with regards to issues that are taking place whether it’s to do with foreign policy and terrorism attacks.
Do you feel unfairly judged?