user: Text: The Ministry of Defence wasted £6 million on new high-tech earplugs that were supposed to allow soldiers to hear each other on the battlefield while blocking out the noise of explosions and gunfire. Senior officials tested the equipment in the UK before authorising the purchase. However, once the earplugs were tested on the battlefield, they were found to be ineffective. Each set of earplugs was specially moulded for an individual soldier at a cost of £500. The new ear plugs were designed to allow soldiers to communicate on the battlefield while protecting their hearing from the sound of gunfire, but the system was scrapped because it didn't work (file picture) The RAF were forced to write-off a BAE125 similar to this after it suffered hail damage at a cost of £488,000. The Personalised Interfaced Hearing Protection system was believed to be similar to the technology used by pop stars. MoD officials ordered 10,000 sets of the ear plugs to help protect the hearing of soldiers. Troops are reluctant to use traditional ear defenders on the battlefield as they cannot hear their comrades or vital radio communications. At the same time, the MoD admitted that it paid out £374,000 due to 'Noise Induced Sensorineural Hearing Loss'. The MoD also wasted £7.2 million on a mobile mine detection capability for Warrior vehicles, which was deemed 'unsuitable'. According to the report, an RAF HS125 aircraft was removed from service early after it sustained damage during a hailstorm, costing the taxpayer £488,000. A stock take at RAF Marham discovered £10 million of missing equipment, while £1.5 million was spent on faulty software. In total, approximately £5.7 billion was wasted by the MoD, with £860 million spent on obsolete equipment. Shadow defence secretary Vernon Coaker said troops were being sacked while 'money was frittered away on dud equipment'. The Ministry of Defence told The Sun: 'The ear defenders were trialled ahead of use in theatre, but during the constant rhythm of operations it became clear they required modification.'
Highlights: MoD purchased 10,000 sets of high-tech ear plugs which did not work. The Personalised Interfaced Hearing Protection was tested in the UK. When it was deployed in Afghanistan, soldiers complained it didn't work. The MoD spent £7.2 million on a failed mobile mine detector system. An RAF aircraft was written off at a cost of £488k following a hail storm.
in: Considered one of modern Africa's founding fathers, Zambia's first President Kenneth Kaunda has spent much of his life fighting some of Africa's toughest battles. From his struggles against the racism and oppression of colonial rule in the 1950s to the fight against AIDS today, it's been an eventful life for Zambia's former leader. Kaunda's rise to prominence started in the early 1950s, a time of growing political unrest in the region. Independence movements across Africa were gaining momentum and activists, becoming ever more defiant, were demanding the end of colonialism and the right to self government. In Northern Rhodesia -- soon to become Zambia -- Kaunda was in the midst of the struggles, fighting against a repressive and racist regime, he explained to CNN. "We were going to defy unjust laws, conditions of slavery more or less...There was segregation of the worst form." He continued: "Schools for whites, schools for blacks, hospitals for whites, few hospitals for blacks. And so it went on. Everywhere there was racial discrimination." But his fight for independence was not without consequence and in 1959 Kaunda was arrested and jailed for ten months. For Kaunda, prison was an inevitable part of the fight for freedom. "I think I succeeded in the end but it meant going into prison defying unjust laws, being arrested by the police, beaten up, thrown into prison," he said. "You come out and you still continue and we did this and in the end thank God we succeeded." After his release in January 1960 Kaunda became leader of the newly formed United National Independence Party (UNIP) and in 1964 after elections and much political wrangling, Zambia was finally granted independence from the British with Kaunda as its president. It was a presidency which was to last 27 years, but under one party rule. A decision highly criticized, with many accusing Kaunda of presiding over a dictatorship. But Kaunda has remained defiant about his decision to form a one-party state, telling CNN: "My colleagues and I decided we're going to go into one party. The reason for that, there was no way, no way at all in which we could have fought and defeated colonialism all around us, with so many parties in Zambia at that time. No way at all. He continued: "No, I have never been a dictator. It was a bargain with the people. But even then I knew it was not the best thing to do. But in that situation it was the only way out." In 1990 Kaunda finally legalized opposition parties setting the stage for free, multi-party elections, which took place in 1991. The elections saw the end of Kaunda's leadership with Frederick Chiluba from the Movement for Multiparty Democracy coming to power. Now, after 20 years away from the political spotlight, Kaunda is still campaigning. His major battle today is the fight against HIV/AIDS, a disease running rampant throughout his country, affecting one in eight Zambians. It's a cause close to the former leader's heart and one which has affected him personally. "My own child, one of them, died of Aids. A brilliant boy," Kaunda told CNN. "He died of AIDS but that's not the reason why I am fighting AIDS. I fight AIDS because it's a killer disease, destroys the human race in all fields." It's this constant will to fight that leaves Kaunda positive about the future of his country and Africa. This despite the many challenges ahead. "I'm very hopeful that things will come right," he said to CNN. "Because you see there was a time when a leader went wrong and they became an oppressor...but today things have begun to change. "The struggle, the condemnation is quite often within the continent of Africa. It's a good beginning towards a realization of what, democracy is right in this world, east, west, north, south. So I'm confident that we have begun to grow." Susannah Palk contributed to this report.
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assistant: Kenneth Kaunda became Zambia's first President after independence in 1964. During the country's struggles, Kaunda was jailed twice by the colonial authorities. Once in power, he governed for 27 years under one-party rule. Twenty years out of politics, Kaunda continues to campaign against the spread of AIDS.