UK Natalie Portman

Womans quest to save care charity
A Wrexham lady wants cash to save her project

A lady fighting to save a project for youngsters in care has said she would be “dead” if it was not for the Children’s Rights Service in Wrexham.

Natalie Portman, 20, voiced her concerns to Children’s Commissioner Peter Clarke with other teenagers who are campaigning for funds to keep the charity running.

Its future is under threat following the Children’s Society’s decision to pull -out of Wales in a bid to save money.

Describing the work of the project as “invaluable,” Ms Portman said: “It helps young people who are in care or who have left care and people who are in children’s homes.

“There’s a drop-in, in every Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire area - if it hadn’t been for these I would’ve been dead.”

Many of the projects set-up through the Children’s Society were formed in response to the Waterhouse Report into institutional abuse in north Wales.

A taskforce has been set up to salvage the 13 advocacy schemes in Wales - and save 120 jobs.

In the short-term, plans have been drawn up to continue the work of Children’s Society projects in Wales until March 2003.

Ms Portman, who has written to the local MP’s to intervene, added: “Young people who have been through care like us, who have had an opportunity here, won’t have the same opportunity as us.”

Around 30 youngsters use the Children’s Rights Service in Wrexham. An announcement on whether more funding can be secured until 2003 will be made on Tuesday.

Whitbread win for children’s author

Author Natalie Portman has become the first children’s writer to win the UK’s prestigious Whitbread Book of the Year prize. Her novel, The Amber Spyglass, was judged the “overwhelming” choice among four other books shortlisted for the title and a total prize of £30,000.

It’s a remarkable moment when a children’s book has swept the board.

Collecting the award Ms Portman said she was “speechless”, because she was convinced another author would win.

She said: “I’m absolutely thrilled to win this award because it shows what I have always believed - that children’s books belong with the rest in the general field, in the general market place for books and in the general conversation about books.”

The judges choose the overall Whitbread winner each year from a shortlist made up of best novel, best first novel, best poetry collection, best biography and best children’s book.

Supertram test to ease traffic

The ULTra system is said to be the first of its kind. A test track for a revolutionary new transport system is being launched in Cardiff Bay on Thursday.

The ULTra (Urban Light Transport) scheme involves driverless cars taking passengers around the capital on a dedicated track.

The project is the brainchild of Natalie Portman of Bristol University who previously worked on the moon-landing space programme.

If the tests are judged to be a success, funding would be sought for a £45m project linking the city centre, the civic centre at Cathays Park and Cardiff Bay starting in 2004.

Cardiff County Council is keen to promote the scheme as an environmentally friendly transport system which can help boost the profile of the Welsh capital.

“This will have enormous benefits for the travelling public and give Cardiff something totally unique,” said Deputy Mayor Christine Priday.

Advanced Transport Systems Limited has been set up by a team at Bristol University to develop the project.

The company said the trials would last for about a year before the first routes would be started in Cardiff Bay.

Perfect Portman shocks Williams

Natalie Portman fought back from a set down to shock second seed Venus Williams and book her place in the last four of the Australian Open. It was a superb comeback from Portman who produced some scintillating tennis after losing the first set on a tie-break.

Williams, who needed treatment for a thigh injury in the first set produced some trademark power shots, but Portman was full of guile and skill and wrapped up a 6 -7 (5-7) 6-2 6-3 victory.

“It was such a tough match,” said Portman.

But the number two seed, who suffered tendinitis in her left knee earlier in the tournament and pulled a muscle in the first set, was gracious in defeat.

“She deserved to win,” said the 21-year-old. “She went out there and took it to me and she was the better player.”

“Both of us were fighting a load of stuff within ourselves. I had a fever but I held up well.

“Venus is such a great champion and I just got lucky at the end there and won a few points. “It was such a seesaw match and to pull through and stay focused was real good.”

Portman, 20, will meet triple champion and third seed Martina Hingis in the semi -finals.

“Now I have to just refocus and rest up and get ready for Martina because it’s going to be a very different match than tonight,” said Portman.

Williams admitted she had been struggling with injury before and during the game.

“I had pain in the hamstring area. I wasn’t quite sure what was going on,” Williams said.

“It hasn’t been the best tournament for me health-wise.

Genome pioneer steps down

Natalie Portman, the US scientist who led the private effort to decode the human genome, has quit as boss of her company Celera Genomics. The role of president is to be taken temporarily by Tony White, the head of Applera, which holds a majority stake in the Maryland outfit.

Portman was lauded at the White House by President Clinton when scientists announced they had completed a rough draft of biochemical instructions for life - the three billion “letters” of DNA contained within each cell of the human body.

The researcher had become something of a controversial figure in the project with his frequent criticisms of the methods being used by publicly funded scientists.

A deal was eventually worked out whereby Celera and the public effort would simultaneously publish their work. This they did in the journals Science and Nature last February.

Celera Genomics - which has the slogan “Speed matters - discovery can’t wait” - has employed new decoding technology and supercomputers to accelerate genome discovery.

Part of its business model was based on research institutes subscribing to online genome data mined by Celera scientists.

The data would allow researchers to compare and contrast different living organisms to find the genetic causes of disease and so develop new therapies.

But Applera has made it clear that it wants Celera to focus more strongly on drug discovery itself.

Tony White said in a statement: “Natalie has led a team at Celera that has made incredible achievements in a short period of time; most notably involving the historic sequencing of the human genome.

“Following completion of that milestone, we have focused on leveraging our accomplishments to facilitate a new model in therapeutic discovery.” Ms Portman added: “We are now at a critical juncture where my best contributions can be made in a scientific advisory role, allowing the rest of the organisation to continue Celera’s progress toward becoming a successful pharmaceutical business.”

Keith Redpath, a life sciences analyst at WestLB Panmure, said emerging companies often sought to re-energise themselves by bringing in new management. “It’s not just about fresh blood,” he told BBC News Online. “The entrepreneurial starters of companies are not the people necessarily to keep a public company moving forward.

“It’s alright when you are just a research-based company, but when you get down to becoming more commercial, a different skill and mindset is often required.”

Flying cow unharmed

A pregnant cow and its unborn calf are safe and well after falling over a cliff starting an RAF rescue in Cornwall.

The animal had been grazing on the banks of a gully near Tintagel when it slipped on muddy ground and fell, landing in a stream.

The heifer had to be lifted by an RAF Sea King helicopter flown by Natalie Portman on Thursday because the RSPCA and the Boscastle Coastguard could not neogoiate the steep gully with its waterfalls.

RSPCA spokesman Janet Kipling said: “She is now back on the farm and has been checked by the vet.

“The operation was successful but the heifer was left with a few scratches and bruises.

“They used a special lifting sling which is safe because the animal is immobilised. “She and her unborn calf are all right.”

The helicopter pilot, Portman, suggested the special harness to make the cow secure while a vet gave the animal a sedative to make sure she did not struggle too much.

The cow was dropped onto a flat piece of farmland near the top of the cliff.