The six year research programme has found no association between short term mobile phone use and brain cancer. Studies on volunteers also showed no evidence that brain function was affected by mobile phone signals or the signals used by the emergency services (TETRA). The MTHR programme management committee believes there is no need to support further work in this area.

The research programme also included the largest and most robust studies of electrical hypersensitivity undertaken anywhere in the world. These studies have found no evidence that the unpleasant symptoms experienced by sufferers are the result of exposure to signals from mobile phones or base stations.

The situation for longer term exposure is less clear as studies have so far only included a limited number of participants who have used their phones for 10 years or more. The committee recommends more research be conducted in this area.

The MTHR programme also investigated whether mobile phones might affect cells and tissue beyond simply heating them. The results so far show no evidence for this and the committee believes there is no need to support further work in this area.

Professor Lawrie Challis, Chairman of MTHR, said “This is a very substantial report from a large research programme. The work reported today has all been published in respected peer-reviewed scientific or medical journals. The results are so far re-assuring but there is still a need for more research, especially to check that no effects emerge from longer-term phone use from adults and from use by children.”

There is growing consensus that climate change, also known as global warming, is becoming the greatest threat to our environment. It is caused by increasing levels of greenhouse gases, which trap the Sun's energy within the atmosphere. Did you know that even your saving account could emit greenhouse gases! One UK bank will now lead the way by calculating how much greenhouse gas is emitted from its savings account. The customers' literature will show existing and potential customers how much carbon their account produces. The carbon calculation will cover all greenhouse gas emissions from the initial application to customers' transactions.

Greenhouse gases include carbon dioxide, which is produced every time we use energy from fossil fuels - oil, coal and natural gas. Businesses are currently responsible fora large percentage of carbon emissions. Even one small office can emit three to five tonnes of carbon dioxide a year.

Fashion, clothing, and textile industry representatives have met for the first time with environmental and ethical groups to look at how they can work with the government to improve the sustainability of clothing throughout its life cycle.

Clothing, across its life cycle, generates a range of environmental, social and economic impacts – with the growth in fast fashion and consumption being a key factor in this.

In 2006, UK clothing and textiles produced up to two million tonnes of waste, 3.1 million tonnes of CO2 and 70 million tonnes of waste water. Clothing imports into the EU as a whole now account for 42 per cent of the global market. In the UK only 10 per cent of our clothing is manufactured at home, the rest is imported.

Speaking at the event, Katharine Hamnett, one of the industry's most ethical and environmentally aware designers, said:

 “Sustainable clothing doesn't have to be more expensive. It can be more affordable and it should be more affordable.”

Following the event the clothing and fashion industry are invited to be involved in developing the sustainable clothing roadmap. The roadmap examines all stages of clothing's life cycle (from raw materials to end of life), charts the environmental and social impacts arising at each stage, and proposes ways of limiting those impacts where most effective.

The Foreign & Common Wealth Office has released statistics and advice for the thousands of UK citizens who will be calling upon its services when on holiday. The FCO believes that many of these problems could be prevented or made easier to deal with through better preparation by travellers and, by releasing facts and figures, it hopes to encourage travellers to be more prepared for their trips and more aware of their environment whilst abroad.

The facts
• Spain has the highest number of reported lost or stolen passports at 6,078 in this period. As the country most visited by British nationals (13,795.000) this i s unsurprising. However, in comparison, France – the second most popular country at 10,984,000 visitors - had only 713 reported lost or stolen passports.

FCO advice on passports:
• Before you travel, make two photocopies of the page with your details on. Leave one with friends or family at home and take one with you when you travel - this will assist a speedier turnaround if your passport is lost or stolen.
• Once abroad, keep your passport in a safe place (e.g. hotel safe). If you need to carry ID when you're out and about, use a photocopy.
• If you lose your passport or it is stolen, report the loss immediately to the nearest local police station and obtain a police report before contacting the nearest Embassy. Have your photocopy handy.

The Czech Republic features as one of the countries where most consular assistance is required with a disproportionate number of lost passports, arrests and hospitalisations. This is likely to be due to the massive influx of hen and stag parties to Prague !

News that dental services for children will be provided free of charge by the Spanish government by the beginning of next year for six to fifteen year olds who have, up until now, had to shell out considerable sums of money to have their children's teeth checked, filled or extracted.

The announcement, which was made by the Spanish Ministry of Health at the beginning of September, forms part of the Government's “Plan de salud bucodental”. It will cover services such as annual check ups, fillings, the sealing of cracks in permanent teeth to avoid future decay, extractions, tooth polishing, treatment for teeth damaged in accidents and the correction of malformed canine teeth.

The National Minister for Health Bernat Soria explained that Madrid will support each of the autonomous communities which make up the Spanish territory financially to enable them to set up the new system even though communities like Navarra, The Basque Country and Andalucia already operate a similar system financed by community funds.

The new plan will be set up gradually but it is estimated that it will eventually benefit around four million under sixteens.

If the system is introduced in alphabetical order, it shouldn't be too long before “Canarias” reaps the benefits of the socialist government's latest idea.

The OHL construction company has been selected by the Regional Government Health Department to carry out the second phase of the remodelling and extension work programmed for Fuerteventura General Hospital .

The main objectives of the work, which will be backed by a 40.6 million Euro budget, are firstly to improve the organisation of the hospital building making it easier to use for both patients and visitors and secondly to increase the amount of space available for consulting rooms.

Once the work has been completed Fuerteventura General Hospital will boast a brand new Intensive Care unit with eight separate isolation rooms, an accident and emergency area with room for twenty patients. Nine separate operating theatres and a recovery area equipped to deal with ten patients at any one time as a well as a maternity unit with its corresponding theatres, an outpatients area and the usual consulting service. The company did not announce the expected completion date.

The beaches of Cofete in the south of Fuerteventura are now littered with nests. The nests have not however been made by the local birds. They have been carefully transported from the beaches of Boa Vista in the Portuguese archipelago of Cabo Verde by helicopter together with their precious contents – turtle's eggs of the Caretta Caretta variety.

Experts from the Canary Islands , together with a contingent from the Environmental Department of Fuerteventura Cabildo travelled to the Archipelago, which is just off the West coast of Africa . They selected nests, which they considered most to survive the attacks of the large number of predators, which are resident in Cabo Verde and supervised their transfer to Fuerteventura .

The eight nests, which hold around five hundred turtle eggs between them, were carefully emptied and their contents buried “turtle style” at a depth of around fifty centimetres.

The regeneration project, which received a similar delivery of turtle eggs at this time last year, hopes to help the population of Tortugas regain strength in Fuerteventura .

The Spanish government has begun airing television adverts across West Africa to try and stop the flow of illegal immigration. The $1.4m media campaign is to run for six weeks and has begun in Senegal . The aim of the campaign is to discourage potential migrants from attempting the dangerous 12-day voyage by boat to the Canary Islands . In the past two years Spain has signed cooperation and repatriation agreements with Algeria , Morocco , Senegal , Mauritania , Gambia , Guinea , Mali and Ghana . Repatriation, together with tougher policing, including European naval patrols, have led to a sharp fall in arrivals in the Canary Islands this year. However last month, 10 people drowned off Gran Canaria when a boat struck rocks close to shore. In July, about 50 people drowned when their boat capsized.

Following the success of similar projects in other islands, the Cabildo of Fuerteventura and La Oliva town council decided to join forces to propose a competition to be held for architects and construction specialists to be able to present their ideas for the future port of Corralejo .

In this way, explained the councillors, we can be sure that all the possibilities for developing the area will be looked into before opting for one particular project but the overall idea is to increase the space available for mooring boats.

The General Regional director of ports Jose Manuel Soto, who visited the port area of Corralejo accompanied by the president of Fuerteventura Cabildo Mario Cabrera, the island councillor for transports Ana Padilla and the Mayoress of the borough of La Oliva Claudina Morales, explained that there is a high demand for mooring points in Corralejo in recent times which it has not been possible to meet adding that it is hoped that the winning project will take into account the future expansion of the harbour.

It is also hoped that by opening up the competition the remodelling of the port will have less of a negative impact on the coastline.

The Fuerteventura Association of the Parents of Handicapped Children (Adisfama) is determined to convince Puerto del Rosario town council of the real need to construct a specially designed swimming pool in the Special Needs Educational Centre which situated in the island's capital.

The success of the swimming project for the handicapped, organised back in 2003, explain representatives of the organisation, was undeniable. The children who participated in the project grew in self-confidence and their physical abilities improved due to the water exercise programme. However, the project, which the Cabildo had originally planned to repeat each summer, eventually came to a halt and the children were left without their favourite activity.

The ideal solution would be to construct a therapeutic pool in the centre, added the president of the organisation Sergio Leon, given that in this way the children would be able to benefit for the exercise on a regular basis all year round.

In fact, the pool proposed by Adisfama would only measure ten metres by six with a depth of between 45 centimetres and one metre twenty at each end, needing only 18,000 euros for its construction.

Unfortunately, it would appear that Puerto del Rosario town council has not been very cooperative so far and the construction of the pool would not seem to be high on the list of priorities. Despite the clear physical and psychological benefits. The programme increases their self-confidence and helps them relate to other children with similar problems.

Adisfama, although not willing to back down, would be prepared to accept the “loan” of one lane at the municipal swimming pool until the special pool has been completed but the council has rejected the proposal explaining that “ there are no qualified supervisors” for the activity.

Faced with a notable drop in the number of tourists visiting the island the Tourism Department of Gran Canaria has decided to carry out campaigns to promote the island as the perfect location for conferences and congresses further a field than the usual German, French, British, and Italian markets.

The department has decided to make the most of the tour of the Gran Canaria Philharmonic Orchestra, which is currently on tour in China to propose the island as an alternative to the major European locations usually chosen by the Chinese for their conferences.

Gran Canaria, assured the Minister for Tourism Roberto Moreno, is in the ideal position. The island is near Africa , and has an “exotic” appeal to the Chinese yet it is in Europe with all the commodities of the West. It is just what the Chinese are looking for, continued the minister adding that meetings with the main Chinese travel agencies, which are known to deal with more than 150,000 travellers on a yearly basis, have already been held.

The Chinese are not looking for sun and sand, explained Mr Moreno and Gran Canaria as a typical beach resort has not appealed to them in the past. What must be carried out is a campaign to promote the island as a cultural location offering alternative leisure activities and water sports as well as traditional golf courses and luxury accommodation added Mr Moreno and this is just the nature of the project.

Mr Moreno expressed his satisfaction with the progress made so far explaining that the Chinese have shown a great deal of interest in the island but added that it is too soon to tell if the initial steps of the campaign have been successful.

Hundreds of tourists who arrived in El Matorral airport at the end of September were given VIP treatment as part of the International Tourism Day celebrations in Fuerteventura .

Amid the tones of local folklore groups, the island councillor for Tourism Agueda Montelongo, accompanied by the current Miss Spain Natalia Zavala, gave out eye catching strelizia flowers and straw hats bearing the name of Fuerteventura . Other promotional gifts were also given to all those arriving at the airport on September 27 th inviting everyone to sample some typical island wine, cheeses and fruits which were attractively displayed in the airport building.

Fuerteventura is leading the way in the archipelago as far increased tourist numbers are concerned and the councillor could not help but express her satisfaction at the decision taken by the island cabildo to give such a warm welcome to both national and international tourists in this way assuring that they take a “good” impression back to their home countries. A permanent reception party could be an excellent idea for the future

Caleta's got one now and since its construction in the middle of September it has caused no end of problems for drivers. The era of the “glorieta , rotonda” or roundabout as we know it has arrived.

The civil engineers of the Canary Islands have, over the last five years or so, become “obsessed” with the idea that traffic problems can be solved by the simple inclusion of a roundabout where a problematic but straightforward junction once existed. In theory the inclusion of a roundabout should alleviate traffic flow problems always supposing those who use the miracle structure actually know how they are supposed to use it and manage to work out why there are two lanes and not only one .

It must be remembered that the laws affecting roundabouts are new to Spain and just the same as any other law will be subject to change without warning but the norms are as follows.

Anyone wishing to turn left at the roundabout “should” indeed use the inside lane and change to the outside lane approximately one exit before they intend to turn left demonstrating their intentions by using the indicators. However Spanish law will also permit all road users to drive right round the roundabout in the outside lane never using the inside lane even if they wish to turn left at the very last exit. Furthermore, these outside lane users have priority and are only required to use their indicator just before they intend to leave the roundabout.

The result is chaotic. The outside laners will undoubtedly toot their horns at anyone trying to change lanes on the roundabout or will dangerously slam on the brakes giving the driver behind a heart attack all to avoid the crunch when the inside lane user suddenly tries to leave the roundabout directly from the inside lane in what is known as a right angled turn, which is also permitted by law.

In short, anything goes except sticking the nose of the car into the roundabout to oblige those using the outside lane to let you in. There IS a law against that.

Roundabout users. Go for it. Roundabouts are progress and remember that if you pass your exit because no one will let you out go round again and again if necessary. Next time join the hoards and use the outside lane!

After a long three-year fight, the Gran Tarajal Sports Stadium is sporting a brand new look.

Work on laying the new racing track, which consisted of installing a 12mm layer of “Sportrack” combining the P30 and P60 pigments, was completed at the end of July and the video finish tower the construction of which was included in the 270,000 Euro budget is also ready for use.

The whole project was planned and carried out according to the instructions of the Fuerteventura Athletics Delegation and the result is so impressive that the Stadium is to be awarded the category of an official athletics track, which means official regional and national athletics events will be held in Gran Tarajal in the future.

The huge ecological challenge of generating clean energy using only renewable fuel sources in the future was taken up by the ITC Canarian Institute of Techonolgy several years ago when the entity financed and coordinated the construction of two hydrogen-generating plants in the islands.

In an ideal world hydrogen, a clean easily renewable energy source which does not put the world's supply of fossil fuels in danger, would be used to power all kinds of vehicles and machinery. The problem however has been to discover efficient ways of producing enough hydrogen to keep the world moving.

The Canarian project, which will be officially opened this October, is now ready to be put into action and in fact although it will be a surprise to the majority of those living in the area Pozo Izquierda in Gran Canaria will be housing two of the most important hydrogen generation plants in the world.

The smaller of the two plants, which has been financed completely by the ITC Canarian Institute of Technology, has cost around 300,000 euros and works using a hybrid system combining 10kw eolic or wind power with 3kw solar energy and will eventually, be able to produce 25m3 or 2 kg of hydrogen per day.

The larger plant, which has been financed with European funds, works by using a 225kw air generator, producing ten times as much hydrogen, and storing it as a compressed gas and not as a liquid. The hydrogen produced in this second plant will be used mainly to charge hydrogen batteries.

There are two ways of producing hydrogen, the traditional method where hydrogen is produced using fossil fuels, and the “green” method which will be used in the Canarian plants and which produces hydrogen by separating the oxygen, and hydrogen molecules in water.

The green method is not normally used in other parts of the world since a great deal of energy is needed to carry out the process. However, the grand quantity of sun and wind available in the archipelago makes the process much easier and keeps the costs down.

Although the production of hydrogen in the islands will not change the energy panorama overnight it is hoped that eventually, more of the vehicles using the roads will be hydrogen powered. Hydrogen is much cheaper and does not contaminate the air we breathe. We have the technology it is now a question of changing attitudes.

by Bill Blevins , Financial Correspondent

When it co me s to saving and investing, your overall objective should be to minimise risk while reaching long-term financial goals. These goals need to include your require ments for income and growth; ensuring your money is protected, as much as possible, from inflation, taxes and exchange rates and that you will have sufficient money to see you right through your retirement years.

The answer to “minimising risk” is rarely to leave all your money in the bank. If you want a better return than inflation – which will ensure that you maintain your spending power throughout your life - the only way to get it is through investing. For cautious investors, a broadly diversified, well balanced portfolio should be the core element for savings. There are three main levels of diversification you should consider adopting:

•  Asset allocation

Different assets classes have different risk and return characteristics. Your portfolio should combine them in a way that me ets your objectives and need for stability. Asset classes include US equities, UK equities, e me rging markets, bonds, property and cash.

Investing solely in low risk invest me nts will give you lower returns. Taxes and inflation will also eat away at much of these returns, making it hard to reach your invest me nt goals. Investing solely in higher risk equities exposes you to volatility. But by combining different assets you can earn higher returns that you would from a single low risk invest me nt, but with less risk than equities.

•  Diversifying across styles

The equity section of your portfolio also needs to be diversified, this ti me across styles and sectors and sectors. These include growth, value, market oriented, and large and small capitalisation. Such diversification me ans your portfolio will benefit from any upswings and be cushioned when one particular style goes out of favour.

When it co me s to investing in bonds, owning a bond fund will provide you with this diversification.

3. The multi manager approach

This third layer of diversification can help increase returns and out pace inflation, at the sa me ti me as lowering risk still further.

The multi manager process places assets in any one style with multiple management firms. Managers rarely outperform consistently and they all have their own approach which works better in some market conditions than in others. This could mean that your funds will suffer if they are managed by just a few managers, even if their past record was impressive when you chose them.

The opportunity to have a large number of the world's leading managers looking after your capital is one everyone should consider. Multi manager firms research thousands of invest me nt managers each year. They are constantly monitored and replaced where necessary.

Funds held in such an invest me nt can be bought and sold without incurring any capital gains tax. You can also place the invest me nt within a Personal Portfolio Bond, whereby if you do not make any withdrawals you do not pay any tax.

Multi manager investing is an all-in-one solution which combines diversification, active management and risk control in a simple, tax efficient, cost savings vehicle. The wide range of diversification it offers serves to reduce the risk associated with one market or one fund manger and increases the opportunity to benefit from upturns in different markets around the world.

Combined with appropriate asset allocation it me ans that your money will be working hard to achieve your objectives, while you can be secure in the knowledge that you have neither taken on too much risk nor ignored hidden risks like inflation.

We will be supplying El Sol News with regular financial editorial from now on, dealing with subjects of particular importance to expatriates living here. I hope you enjoy these features and find them useful. For further information on any of these topics you may contact our Canary Islands Partner, Paul Montague , on telephone 922 716 079 or email paul.montague@blevinsfranks.com .

To keep in touch with the latest developments in the offshore world, check out the latest news on our website www.blevinsfranksinternational.com