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Extent of CIA rendition flights revealed by Kingston research

A new University-hosted database has tracked more than 11,000 flights by 120 plus aircraft linked to rendition, secret detention and torture carried out as part of the US-led ‘war on terror'. Rendition involves terror suspects being transported from around the globe to secret prisons for 'enhanced interrogation'.

The database includes profiles of the aircraft used to move detainees from site to site, as well as over 50 companies involved in operating these aircraft. It also enables users to search for, and view, underlying data via an interactive map showing rendition flights. Flight data underpinning the database is collated from more than 40 separate sources.

The database is the latest addition to The Rendition Project, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC). Its release has been heralded by the Guardian newspaper as a 'groundbreaking research project which sheds unprecedented light on one of the most controversial secret operations of recent years'. Launched in May 2012, The Rendition Project is led by Dr Sam Raphael, Senior Lecturer in International Relations at Kingston and Dr Ruth Blakeley, Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Kent. The research team have been working closely with Reprieve, a UK-based legal action charity which has led the way in investigating secret prisons and representing victims of rendition and torture.

"The data we have amassed provides the most comprehensive picture to date of the nature, scope and evolution of the CIA's rendition programme," Dr Raphael explained. "The project team have obtained invoices and air traffic data which demonstrate which countries, and which companies, were involved with the extra-legal transfer of prisoners."

Much of the information was obtained through Freedom of Information legislation and the associated website is designed to become a clearing-house for the information released through these efforts.

The Rendition Flights Database, produced in collaboration with The Information Lab, a company specialising in this type of web tool, can be viewed here: http://www.therenditionproject.org.uk/global-rendition/the-flights/index.html

Find out more about studying International Relations at Kingston University.

Get serious about the suburbs, says new book by Dr Rupa Huq

Kingston University sociology lecturer Dr Rupa Huq has launched a new book which lifts the lid - and draws back the net curtains - on the hitherto uncharted world of today's suburban Britain.

The book ‘On the Edge: The Contested Cultures of English Suburbia' tells the story of the English suburbs, which the writer believes is a greatly neglected subject. It argues that the stereotypical depiction of suburbia as little more than rows of twee Acacia Avenues - or less fondly as a place of stifling conformism and stagnation - is now hugely wide of the mark. The suburbia of 2013, it contends, is a place full of diversity and conflict....

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Kingston launches distance learning MBA with Study Group

Kingston Business School has officially launched its first distance learning Master of Business Administration degree. As well as costing less than the traditional programme, the new three-year course will allow students to be much more flexible when it comes to fitting study into their working life.

It is aimed both at people living overseas and those in the UK whose career schedules prevent them from completing the full-time Kingston-based MBA....

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Scientists put bowel cancer under the microscope

Patients with bowel cancer - the third most commonly diagnosed form in the United Kingdom - could enjoy increased survival rates as a result of a new study led by an expert from Kingston University. Professor Helmout Modjtahedi is heading an investigation examining why some tumours are hard to treat and how they can be targeted with the most effective therapies.

During the study, specimens from patients with tumours of the colon or rectum, known as colorectal or bowel cancer, will be examined for biomarkers - proteins on the surface of cells. This would help pinpoint which individuals were most likely to benefit from specific therapies, particularly two new antibody-based drugs, Professor Modjtahedi said. Since the drugs cost tens of thousands of pounds a year, targeting their use would help health authorities reduce expenditure, while patients who would not benefit from them could be spared the trauma of unnecessary treatment and offered an alternative therapy instead....

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Honorary degree marks courage of 7/7 survivor Gill Hicks

A survivor of the 7/7 terrorist attacks in London has been honoured by Kingston University and St George's, University of London. Gill Hicks, who lost both legs in the disaster, was made an Honorary Doctor of Science by the Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education in recognition of her determination to overcome her injuries and her work raising awareness of disability.

On the morning of July 7 2005, Ms Hicks was a passenger on a Piccadilly line train on her way to work at the Design Council. Unbeknown to her, 19 year old Jermaine Lindsay had also boarded the same carriage and moments later, detonated a bomb that killed 26 people and seriously injured many more. An hour passed before a barely conscious Ms Hicks was rescued from the tube tunnel and taken to St Thomas' Hospital - the last person to be pulled alive from the train. Her hospital identification wristband read ‘One Unknown - estimated female', a chilling indication of the extent of her injuries....

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Sport and exercise sciences specialists help Briton achieve top 10 placing at Marathon des Sables

Competitors at the annual Marathon des Sables (MDS) made the most of the facilities at Kingston University in the run up to the arduous five day event. Labelled the ‘toughest foot race on earth', it consists of marathons and double marathons across the Sahara Desert in temperatures in excess of 50degC.

Each year the Sport and Exercise Sciences department works with runners to help them prepare and adjust to the extreme temperatures they will encounter in the desert by using Kingston University's specially designed environmental heat chamber. This year Danny Kendall, who has completed the marathon four times, trained in the chamber. "As an athlete competing in such a gruelling event, you try to prepare as best as possible and I found the time training in a heat chamber invaluable to my preparation," he said.

"I went out for a ‘hot' holiday three weeks out from the race and ran 20 miles a day for nine days in the heat of the day. It was ideal preparation. When I returned to the United Kingdom it was important not to loose the adaptation I had achieved so I maintained some heat training in the Kingston University heat chamber by running on a treadmill. As a result, I never found the heat a real issue in the race."

Danny set his sights on a top 10 position and the top British performance of all time, bettering the 12th position set by James Cracknell in 2010. He achieved his goal by finishing 10th overall.

"We'd like to congratulate Danny and athletes Simon Maisey, Steve Drake and Craig Dixon, who also trained with us at Kingston, on their fantastic achievements," Chris Howe, physiology laboratory technician at the University's Faculty of Science, Engineering and Computing, said. "We wish them the best of luck for their future challenges."

• Learn more about the range of Sport, Nutrition and Exercise Science Assessments at Kingston University.

Support from social workers crucial as austerity bites

Britain's current economic woes are putting vulnerable children and families under growing pressure and social workers have a crucial role to play in helping them cope, according to a senior academic from Kingston University and St George's, University of London.

Professor Hilary Tompsett, from Kingston and St George's Faculty of Health, Social Care and Education, was speaking after joining the governing board of the new College of Social Work. A registered social worker with more than 25 years' experience specialising in children and families, mental health and older care as both a practitioner and educator, Professor Tompsett was one of four new board members chosen by the College in its first elections in February....

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Unearthing the hidden women of science and inspiring the next generation

A group of historians and scientists is about to embark on a major project to scrutinise the role of British women in science. They will focus on finding and assessing the careers of scientific women who may not have received credit or recognition for their work. The £33k project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council and run jointly by Kingston University, University of Liverpool, the Royal Society and the Rothschild Archive London, aims to examine how women were involved in scientific societies between the years 1830 to 2012 and look at how that can inform policy today.

It will involve the establishment of a network of academics to gain a better understanding of how historical perspectives might impact future education policy making. Recent statistics show that only a third of science, technology, engineering and maths students in Britain are female and just 11 per cent of senior positions in science are held by women. "Women's unequal participation in science subjects at all levels, both in education, academia and in industry, is currently receiving close attention from policy makers, educationalists and social commentators," project leader Dr Susan Hawkins, a senior history lecturer from Kingston University, said. "Part of the purpose of our work will be to closely examine data on women in science in the 19th and 20th Centuries. The hope is that by looking at women's relationship with science in the past, we can pinpoint ways to encourage young women to participate more fully in the subject."...

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