To do that they would need equivalent figures from previous years with which today’s data could be compared, said Martin Ward, of the Secondary Heads Association.The data was published just days after the mother of Luke Walmsley said schools should have more power to get rid of the type of “evil bully” who murdered her 14-year-old son.Chris Keates, acting general secretary of the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, said the assault figures came as no surprise but accused schools of trying to play down the problem for fear of being stigmatised as failing.Ms Keates said: “The level of assaults on teachers and pupil-on-pupil violence are of deep concern. Andy Duncan, the new chief executive of Channel 4, has for the first time raised the prospect of the broadcaster becoming allied to the BBC in what would be a radical shake-up in the UK television industry. They wrote wave after wave of competing viruses, apparently with the intention of taking over rival zombie machines.Len Hinds, the policeman heading the NHTCU, warned companies not to give in to extortion: “It’s the same game as the Krays played,” he said “They say they’ll stop, but they won’t They’ll come back.”. Ryanair insisted yesterday it could withstand a further oil shock, despite opting not to hedge against a winter of high fuel costs. “First I need to get the business back on an even keel, patching up the holes, and until I have done that I can’t consider where we are going to set sail for.”. Nestor’s business providing home helps to local authorities is the only part of the group currently growing.Mr Booty said he was expecting to outline future plans for the company towards the end of the year.

A new national database of NHS nurses willing to work overtime or part-time has reduced the need to bring in expensive private sector agencies. Mr Booty said he had a preference now for a mixture of central and local facilities.Nestor also said yesterday that there was no improvement in its biggest business, providing emergency nursing cover to hospitals. However, a decision on the future of the call centres will not be made until later this month. But he said he was optimistic of improving Primecare’s market share after the initial hiatus “This will be a learning experience for the trusts.

A number want to give it a go themselves rather than give it to the private sector, but that is an unproven solution, and we will be there to provide support later,” he said.An internal restructuring will save £4m a year, Nestor said. Analysts also predicted that one of the two call centres – in Sheffield and Birmingham – would be closed.Local health trusts are taking over responsibility for out-of-hours cover and have opted to make in-house arrangements.Stephen Booty, the acting chief executive of Nestor since Justin Jewitt was ousted in May, said the NHS had proved to have “a natural philosophical resistance” to using the private sector. The collapse has been devastating for the company because it bet £12m on the construction of two giant call centres, expecting to handle a substantially increased workload.Investors were warned to expect the write-off of most of the £87m of goodwill associated with the acquisition of Primecare in 2001. Nestor Healthcare, the doctors and nurses agency, warned yesterday that it will lose more than half its business providing out-of-hours GP cover because the National Health Service is taking the work away from the private sector. “AstraZeneca’s highest priority is patient safety,” it said in a statement.

“The company has operated diligently in accordance with the strict reporting procedures of the FDA. There is a global safety database for Crestor that continues to confirm a safety profile that is comparable to that of other marketed statins.”. The company lashed out at Public Citizen, describing the group’s claims as “one more false, misleading, inaccurate report”, and insisted that it had complied with all the laws regarding disclosure of side effects.Patients are warned that in rare cases Crestor, the latest in a class of drugs known as statins, can cause a potentially fatal muscle-wasting disorder or kidney failure. A high-profile consumer campaign to have AstraZeneca’s new anti-cholesterol pill banned in the US escalated dramatically yesterday, when the UK pharmaceutical giant was accused of suppressing details of potentially fatal side effects. Microsoft is expected to introduce a new version of the Xbox in 2006, with a new PlayStation console from Sony likely to follow soon after..