Banks and the recovery will dominate the finance ministers' agenda
Deepening divisions have appeared
among international finance ministers, meeting in London, about how to
curb excessive bank bonuses.
French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has promised to launch an "onslaught" against large payouts.
The UK has dismissed the idea, while other countries remain concerned about how best to recover from the recession.
The issues are set to dominate a meeting of the G20 group of leading developed and emerging economies.
At
their meeting - a preparatory session for the next full G20 summit -
G20 finance ministers will consider whether recent signs of economic
improvement should be followed by a reverse of some of the emergency
measures implemented to stimulate the global economy.
France, Germany and Japan have all shown positive growth in recent months.
At
the opening of the meeting on Saturday, British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown warned that withdrawing government support too early could
undermine economic recovery.
"The IMF argue and Mr Strauss-Kahn
(head of the IMF) is here to say this, fiscal policies should continue
to support economic activity until economic recovery has taken hold. "It
is clear in my view that too early a withdrawal of vital support could
undermine the tentative signs of recovery we are now seeing and lead to
a further downward lurch in business and consumer confidence, reducing
growth and employment and actually worsening governments' debt
positions over the longer term." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8239416.stm>
Brown urges G20 to keep spending
Gordon Brown: "Too early a withdrawal of vital support could undermine the tentative signs of recovery we are now seeing"
It would be "a serious mistake" for
rich nations to scale back plans to support the global economy, Prime
Minister Gordon Brown has said.
Mr Brown told a meeting of
G20 finance ministers that despite "tentative signs of recovery",
cutting spending could cause another "downward lurch".
He called on ministers to fully implement the $5tn fiscal expansion plan agreed at last April's summit.
Eight private security guards at the
US embassy in Kabul have been sacked over claims that they took part in
drunken parties and lewd bullying rituals.
The embassy said the guards, who were photographed in various stages of nudity, had now left Afghanistan.
Embassy officials did not confirm the guards' nationalities or names.
A
standards watchdog revealed the scandal this week saying guards had
brawled, engaged in sexual bullying and undermined security at the
embassy.
The Project on Government Oversight,
which sent a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton outlining
the allegations, said it was pleased the state department had taken
action. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8239136.stm>
Thousands stage anti-Chavez demos
The overwhelming theme of the anti-Chavez protests was 'no more Chavez'
Protests against Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez have taken place in cities across Latin America.
Demonstrations
were organised by Colombian activists after Mr Chavez criticised
Colombia for allowing US forces access to seven military bases.
The Venezuelan leader has already frozen diplomatic relations with Colombia and blocked bilateral trade.
Protest organisers used a number of social networking sites to organise the "No more Chavez" demonstrations.
Adam Brookes reports from Bend, Oregon on the US unemployment crisis
Bend, Oregon was a 21st century American boomtown.
It is a beautiful place, in the high desert of central Oregon, amid mountains.
The sunshine is warm, the air crisp and filled with the scent of bitterbrush and pine.
Its people are gracious, their gorgeous surroundings imbuing them with a certain American languidness.
All
these attributes were - in the minds of the city's ambitious planners
and businessmen - what would bring the retirees and tourists flocking
to Bend. To accommodate them, a boom in housing began.
Boom and bust
The population of Bend quadrupled in under 20 years - from 20,000 to 80,000.
Between 2001 and 2005, the median value of a home in Bend rose by 80%.
By
2005, work was getting underway on 700 new homes each month. Some of
the developments are stunning: houses filled with mountain light
clinging to craggy hillsides.
When the building stopped, the lifestyle went very fast. It's a lifestyle I don't see coming back
Dan Hardt Former building contractor
More than 17% of the workforce was employed in construction - far higher than the national average.
In
what had once been an isolated lumber and mill town, high-end
restaurants and brewhouses opened. Shops selling expensive bric-a-brac
bloomed. Massage therapists and hairdressers proliferated.
Downtown
Bend looks like a shrine to post-millenial bijou: pricey shoes, scented
candles, fancy coffee. There is even a shop specialising in beachwear -
despite Bend's location in the high desert.
But when the US slumped, Bend crashed. The value of a home fell 40% in under two years.
And unemployment nearly quadrupled from around 4% two years ago to 15% in the summer of 2009.
"Everything
that Bend produced relied on the credit market", says Carolyn Eagan, an
economist with the Oregon Department of Employment.
"Construction
materials, doors and fittings, recreational vehicles: everything
depended on people being able to consume more than they could use."
Now the credit has dried up, and the building of Bend has stopped.
The
town is dotted with developments that got underway, and then ground to
a halt. They are desolate expanses of weeds, dust and discarded
construction materials. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8239227.stm>
Maths 'no better than in 1970s'
Tests showed pupils are now more familiar with decimals than fractions
Pupils are no better at maths now than they were 30 years ago - despite a rise in exam grades, a study suggests.
Researchers
asked 3,000 11 to 14-year- olds in England to sit maths exams taken by
pupils in 1976, and compared their scores with the earlier results.
Analysis suggested there was little difference between the two generations.
But
among pupils from the previous generation taking O-level maths, less
than a quarter gained a C or above, compared to 55% in GCSEs last year.
'Teaching to the test'
Dr Jeremy
Hodgen, of King's College, London, who lead the research team,
suggested the disparity between unchanged ability and the increase in
grades was partly down to schools' obsession with Sats results and
league table positions.
He said: "There's a great deal of
teaching to the test, so that in trying to increase scores, schools
develop an understandable focus on the test, so there's a narrowing of
the curriculum."
He also said mainstream schools today had a
higher proportion of lower-achieving pupils, whereas in the 1970s many
of these pupils would have been in special schools.
The researchers found some differences in the abilities of the two groups of pupils in different areas of mathematics.
Today's
secondary school pupils were much more familiar with decimals than they
were 30 years ago. On the other hand, fractions appeared to be much
harder for today's pupils, the study suggested. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/education/8238759.stm>
Turning the page on Google books
Google's plan to digitise books has generated a lot of debate
Bill Thompson talks to Google to find out more about its intentions for the proposed book search system.
After my
criticism
of the proposed Google Book Search settlement was published on the BBC
News website Google offered the opportunity to talk about my concerns
with Santiago de la Mora, the company's director of book partnerships
in Europe.
We
talked extensively about the rationale behind Book Search, the detail
of the settlement and my worries over its possible adverse impact on
other digitisation projects.
It is clear that for those within
Google who are developing Book Search the goal is to enhance user
choice and build the market for books, not simply driving more traffic
and generating more advertising revenue for Google itself.
Throughout our conversation Mr de la Mora was adamant that enabling
people to find books online will benefit readers, authors and
publishers.
He pointed out that the overall goal of Google Book
Search is to "help users to connect and find content that has been very
difficult to find, languishing on bookshelves", and that it already has
thousands of publishers and libraries as partners.
He sees the
proposed settlement as being "about a new market for books that can be
found online", one that will work by letting users search, offering
them a preview, and then letting them buy. He also told me that the
scope of the project is enormous, offering "an opportunity to have
every book with a US copyright imprint brought back to life".
The
result, he told me, will be more choice for everyone. In the first
instance "users will have more books to choose from and that can only
increase user satisfaction", but authors and rights holders will also
have the choice of whether to have their books indexed and sold.
Different models
With
regard to the Book Rights Registry, the independent body that will be
set up with funds from Google to supervise the process of identifying
and rewarding rights holders, Google's view is that its freedom to
digitise orphan works without penalty will provide "an incentive to
authors and publishers to claim and monetise their work", but Mr de la
Mora was also careful to point out that "in the end the decision rests
with the copyright holder", and Google will respect their decisions.
One
of my main worries is that the current settlement will stop other
initiatives, making Google the world's librarian. The Book Rights
Registry is able to make deals with other organisations, so that other
projects could be started, although there is no indication yet that
this will happen. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8238654.stm>
Straw admits Lockerbie trade link
Justice Secretary Jack Straw says trade with Libya was considered
Trade and oil played a part in the
decision to include the Lockerbie bomber in a prisoner transfer deal,
Jack Straw has admitted.
Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, the
UK justice secretary said trade was "a very big part" of the 2007 talks
that led to the prisoner deal with Libya.
However, Mr Straw's spokesman accused the press of "outrageous" innuendo.
Scotland's Justice Secretary granted Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi compassionate release because he was terminally ill.
£550m oil deal
The
57-year-old was serving life in Greenock prison for the 1988 bombing of
PanAm flight 103 over Lockerbie, which killed 270 people.
On
Wednesday, Prime Minister Gordon Brown insisted there was "no
conspiracy, no cover-up, no double dealing, no deal on oil" over his
release.
But officials admit the prisoner transfer agreement
(PTA) was part of a wider set of negotiations aimed at bringing Libya
in from the international cold, and improving British trade prospects
with the country.
"Libya was a rogue state," Mr Straw told the paper.
"We wanted to bring it back into the fold.
Ms Sturgeon said the Scottish Government was right to reject the "tainted" PTA
"And yes, that included trade because trade is an essential part of it and subsequently there was the BP deal."
Mr
Straw said Mr Brown was not involved in the decision to press ahead
with the PTA, saying: "I certainly didn't talk to the PM. There is no
paper trail to suggest he was involved at all."
Documents
released by the UK Government show Mr Straw had originally tried to
ensure that Megrahi was exempted from any prisoner deal with Libya, but
in December 2007 he changed his mind.
In January 2008, just weeks after the PTA was sealed, Libya ratified a £550m oil deal with BP.
A
spokesman for Mr Straw said the minister had always made clear that
wider considerations such as trade played a part in the negotiation of
the PTA.
He added: "Jack's position has been on the record for some days.
"He
has never denied that seeking an agreement with Libya over a Prisoner
Transfer Agreement was connected to a wider process of normalising
relations with Libya, including on trade, which is in the interests of
us all.
"The level of innuendo over this issue in the newspapers is absurd and offensive. It's outrageous and far from the truth."
Megrahi's welcome home in Libya angered many in the US and UK
Deputy First Minister of Scotland Nicola Sturgeon said: "All this
discussion about the prisoner transfer agreement is academic because
al-Megrahi wasn't released under the prisoner transfer agreement.
"Having
said that, Jack Straw's comments do tend to support the view that the
Scottish Government always took which was that the prisoner transfer
agreement was tainted and compromised by trade discussions."
The
Scottish National Party MSP added: "That's why I think we were right to
both oppose that agreement, but also to reject the application of the
Libyan Government to have al-Megrahi released under it."
Conservative
foreign affairs spokesman David Lidington said: "It's very hard to
square what Jack Straw says today with Gordon Brown's repeated denials
of any kind of deal.
A cast of dancers, acrobats, actors, and scores of galloping Bedouin horsemen recreated Libya's history
The Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has been celebrating the 40th
anniversary of the military coup which brought him to power in 1969.
David Willey, who first visited Libya seven years before Gaddafi took
over, witnessed the festivities.
It could stand comparison
with any Cecil B DeMille Hollywood production - a lavish one-night
seafront spectacle costing millions and ending with an apocalyptic
firework display in the steamy heat of an African summer night.
Imagine
a monster Bedouin tent, the sort that the nomadic Libyan tribesmen from
whom Colonel Gaddafi claims descent call home during their journeys
through the unending desert wastes of the Sahara.
The colonel
still likes to take a tent with him to stay in when he travels abroad.
A sort of home from home. And a useful place for meeting and greeting
foreign dignitaries.
The flaps of the plastic and steel mock-up
mega-tent opened to reveal a stage larger than that of La Scala opera
house in Milan or the Bolshoi theatre in Moscow.
The often eccentric, unpredictable leader has come in from the cold
A cast of nearly 1,000 dancers, acrobats, actors on stilts, and
scores of galloping white-robed Bedouin horsemen recreated the history
of this huge country during a three-hour sound, light and laser
extravaganza.
All this against a running backdrop of films of
the resistance movement in the early years of the last century against
the often brutal Italian colonial occupation, and of the achievements
of Colonel Gaddafi's 1969 revolution.
It all ended at 0300 in
the morning in a paean of praise for African unity with a voiceover
giving a roll-call of all the countries of Africa.
The image of
the Lockerbie bomber recently returned on compassionate grounds from a
Scottish prison to Libya had also flickered very briefly before our
eyes.
What interested me was the size of the audience.
The
colonel and his distinguished guests sat on a raised platform to watch
the show and we journalists sat in front of them, with a dramatic view
of the galloping desert horsemen thundering past.
Political bible
But where were the people?
The
streets around had been closed to traffic for hours and only a few
thousand had managed to make it through the police security cordon
thrown around the whole of central Tripoli to watch the show, magnified
on giant TV screens around the park.
Where were the people, I
asked myself, whose committees now run this country in an idiosyncratic
political system invented by their leader which has dispensed with all
the normal trappings of democracy?
His revolutionary political
bible, the Little Green Book, with its - to our ears - strange slogans
such as "partners not wage workers" featured prominently in the show we
had been watching.
Oil, that was the real backdrop to this week's mega-show on the Tripoli waterfront
Actors on stage opened its pages while the slogans were projected on screens.
When
I first visited Tripoli seven years before Colonel Gaddafi took over,
Libya was officially designated the poorest country in the world, a
desert kingdom whose sole national resource was selling for scrap the
twisted metal relics of the bitter desert war of the 1940s, the war
material abandoned by the Allied and German armies after battling it
out back and forth along the shores of North Africa.
Italy's
colonial adventure had collapsed with dire results for the local
population. There was not a single qualified Libyan doctor when the
country first attained independence under King Idriss, later forced
into exile by Gaddafi.
Although I was unaware of it at the
time, international oil companies had just struck some of the world's
largest oil and natural gas reserves here.
It meant
unimaginable future oil wealth for this country of endless desert and a
tiny population concentrated for the most part along a narrow
semi-fertile coastal strip.
There were arguments over the colour of the vapour trails
Oil, that was the real backdrop to this week's mega-show on the
Tripoli waterfront, not the scratchy cinematic record of past colonial
indignities I saw projected on the mega-screen.
The sometimes
eccentric and unpredictable leader has, as it were, come in from the
cold, with Libyans assuming key posts this autumn at the United Nations
and taking their place at international negotiating tables.
Now
that Colonel Gaddafi has foresworn the nuclear option and become
internationally respectable, centre stage are the contracts for the
future exploitation of Libya's oil wealth by the powerful foreign
companies that alone have the know-how to extract liquid gold from the
desert.
Colour spat
You have perhaps to be a bit
colour blind to understand what is really going on behind the scenes in
Libya today. Let me explain.
Italy, the former colonial power,
and Libya, the former colony, have been engaged in a small but telling
emotional spat this week over national colours.
The daredevil
Italian Air Force close-formation aerobatic team invited to scream
overhead during Gaddafi's military anniversary parade trailed the red,
white and green national colours of Italy.
The Libyans had
insisted that only green vapour trails would be acceptable to local
sensitivities. But at the last minute they backed down, and the
Italians sprayed the sky red, white and green.
Yet if you look at the official pictures of the flypast on one Libyan website you will see only green vapour trails.
Accusations of voter intimidation and large-scale ballot-stuffing are rife
Further evidence has come to light of widespread fraud during the recent Afghan presidential election.
One
tribal elder has admitted to the BBC that he tampered with hundreds of
ballots in favour of incumbent President Hamid Karzai.
More than 600 serious complaints are being investigated, but the deadline for new complaints has now passed.
With 60% of polling stations having already declared, Mr Karzai has a clear lead.
In
the latest case of alleged fraud uncovered by the BBC, a tribal elder
from Zaziaryoub district - in the eastern province of Paktia - said he
had helped to fill in about 900 ballots in favour of President Karzai.
The elder says in a neighbouring village, his nephew saw one man fill in more than 2,000 ballots.
Allegations
of fraud have been made against all the prime candidates, but the
election process seems to have been working overwhelmingly in favour of
Mr Karzai, says the BBC's Chris Morris in Kabul.
However, some
of these complaints will not get heard by the Electoral Complaints
Commission, as the time to file an official complaint has passed.
The commission is currently looking into 2,000 fraud claims overall.
Figures
obtained from the campaign of Hamid Karzai's leading opponent, Dr
Abdullah, suggest that in four provinces alone results have been
declared from 28 polling stations which observers had reported were
closed.
Damning evidence
AFGHAN ELECTION
Vote held on 20 August for presidency and provincial councils
Turnout not made official yet but estimated at 40-50%
More than 400 insurgent attacks on polling day, Nato says
More than 2,000 fraud allegations, 600 deemed serious
Final result expected 17 Sept but fraud allegations must be cleared
Hamid Karzai has clear lead over Abdullah Abdullah in presidency race
Just days ago, a tribe in the south made the most serious claim so far.
The
leader of Kandahar's Bareez tribe said that nearly 30,000 votes were
cast fraudulently for President Hamid Karzai instead of primarily for
the main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah.
Mr Karzai's brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, who heads the Kandahar provincial council, called the claims "baseless".
Because
of time needed to investigate the fraud allegations, the final results
of the election may not be known until the end of September.
There
are concerns continuing claims of fraud could undermine the legitimacy
of the election, which Afghanistan's Western allies see as crucial in
their campaign against the Taliban. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8239500.stm>
G20 pledges tougher bank action
The finance ministers agreed to continue with economic stimulus plans
Finance ministers from the world's
most powerful economies have agreed a series of measures to try to
regulate the global banking system.
They want a system that rewards long-term performance rather than short-term risk-taking.
However the G20 meeting in London did not agree on specific limits on the amounts individual bankers get paid.
Britain, the US and Canada opposed the idea, agreeing to ask the Financial Stability Board to examine the issue.
It will report back to the summit of G20 leaders in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania later this month.
UK Chancellor Alistair Darling said all bankers were obliged "to make sure that their pay practices are responsible".
He
said that ministers were determined to stop banks and financial
institutions getting themselves into positions where they could be
brought down.
The chancellor added that every single banker had
to realise they would not be here if it had not been for the efforts of
countries and taxpayers.
The US Treasury Secretary, Tim Geithner, said there was broad agreement on the need for change.
He
said: "Changing compensation practices fundamentally will be
fundamental to future reform, and we're going to move forward and do
that."
International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn said that governments now had to act.
These Canadian comedians mean to make you laugh but they are also throwing punchlines at a wall of prejudice.
They all have mental health problems, and all want to rise above them through laughter.
David
Granirer, who takes medication for depression himself, has been
teaching them a course called Stand Up For Mental Health since 2004.
He now runs classes in Vancouver, Toronto and Ottawa, as well as performing himself.
Graduates include Alex Winstanley, 23, who mines for jokes the schizophrenia with which he was diagnosed three years ago.
The two men talked to the BBC World Service about passing the microphone to the mentally ill.
A life of material
"The more screwed-up and dysfunctional you are, the better your act is going to be" is what David tells his students.
"Your life is your act."
Alex, who believes he will probably
never stop "hearing voices" but says he has learnt how to deal with it,
feels "more alive on stage than in real life".
"I'd find that
after a show, I'd feel so exhilarated I actually wouldn't hear voices
for a few days or, if I did, they would be positive," he adds.
David tells of one woman with schizophrenia who came into class one day wearing a striped blouse.
"She
said 'The voices haven't let me wear stripes for eight years but now
that I'm doing comedy, I'm not so afraid of the voices, so I'm wearing
stripes'."
Succeed in stand-up "and you feel like you can do anything", says the teacher.
Shedding shame
ALEX'S FAVOURITE JOKE
Having schizophrenia, I spend a lot of time being jealous of so-called normal people my age.
I've always wanted to have a dead-end job and a divorce.
Sometimes I imagine a so-called normal person being jealous of me:
"Alex, you have, like, a natural gift for, like, hallucinating. I have
to drop two hits of acid to get anywhere close. And I'm so, like,
lonely, I wish I had voices to keep me company."
David likes to joke that healthy people are more dangerous because,
undiagnosed, they arouse less suspicion and, free of medication, are
better placed to do damage.
"Being diagnosed with mental illness is like receiving a black mark on your forehead," he says.
"It changes the way the whole world sees you and reacts to you.
"You feel that all of a sudden everyone is watching you, is afraid of you and is wanting to do you harm."
He speaks from personal experience having first suffered depression in his late teens, before being diagnosed in his mid-30s.
"I've been in psych wards, had therapy, the whole nine yards," he says.
Alex likens the stigma to "another illness to deal with at the same time".
"As people with mental illness, we carry a lot of shame and that shame thrives in the darkness, in secrecy," says his teacher.
"Then all of a sudden we take these incidents, these things we are really ashamed of and turn them into comedy.
Alex Winstanley takes the mic
"We tell a roomful of people, they laugh and applaud, and all of a
sudden the shame starts to dissipate, and you think 'I'm not such a bad
person after all'."
Despite the subject matter, the jokes are not all gallows humour, David adds.
"There
is a certain amount, yes, but a lot of it is just really about everyday
life because we people with mental illness have lives, go to school,
have jobs, have families."
His students present an "amazing mix".
"We have every possible diagnosis, age group, socio-economic status," he says.
Comedy plus medication
Having
taught comedy at a Vancouver college for 10 years, David was inspired
to launch the mental health course after occasionally witnessing
students make "amazing therapeutic breakthroughs".
DAVID'S FAVOURITE JOKE
I
went to a primal scream therapist. It was really intense, but halfway
through the session I had to stop and ask, shouldn't the screaming be
coming from me?
While comedy is not for everyone, with or without mental problems,
those who really want to do it, will get something out of it, he
believes.
David says his programme is supported by mental
health organisations and he stresses that it does not conflict with
psychiatrists' work.
"We would never say 'This is a replacement for your medication, don't take your medication'," he says.
He cannot yet offer any empirical evidence of the benefits of stand-up.
However a study due to take place in a few months' time may lend his form of therapy more weight.
Name almost any Californian big time tech company - such as
Google, Yahoo or Sun - and the chances are good that its roots are in
Stanford University in Silicon Valley.
The
cars have no human driver and no remote control system - everything
from sensors to navigation is handled by an on board computer
Every year Stanford admits about 15,000 students - just over half
are post graduate - and some of the brightest minds in the world.
A
few will become household names in a decade or less. And it all comes
down to the professors who challenge, push, question and encourage new
ideas.
For all its cutting edge technology, Stanford University is also steeped in history.
It opened in 1891 and the grounds were designed by Frederick Law Olmsted - the same man who planned New York's Central Park.
But
despite that long history, many of the academics and researchers at the
University have their eyes set firmly on the future.
Driverless cars
For
instance, Professor Sebastian Thrun, director of the Stanford
Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, wants to cut the number of cars on
planet earth by 50%.
Professor Thrun is a leader in the field of driverless cars
He said: "Today we have about 60 million cars worldwide. It turns out almost every car is parked at any point in time.
"It's a huge waste of money and resources to do so - we use cars about 3% of the time.
"Just
imagine in the future you pull up your smart phone and you say, (using
GPS) I need a car now. And around the corner comes your car."
Professor Thrun is a leader in the field of driverless cars and has built two robotic vehicles called Stanley and Junior.
The
cars have no human driver and no remote control system - everything
from sensors to navigation is handled by an onboard computer.
They
were both entered into the DARPA Grand Challenge - a race for
autonomous vehicles. Stanley won in 2004 and Junior took second place
in 2007.
But the ultimate goal is to create a world where
self-aware vehicles can drive passengers around without hitting
pedestrians or bumping into other vehicles.
"To be able to understand the environment as deep as humans do is the holy grail of artificial intelligence.
"It's
a huge amount of work to make computers understand what is the
behaviour of the two people on the right, both waiting at an
intersection - will they walk or not? It is a really hard question." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/click_online/8236921.stm>
Passengers braced for rail chaos
London Midland said it would be putting on replacement buses where possible
Thousands of rail passengers are set
to face disruption after a train firm cancelled all but one of its
Sunday routes because of a lack of drivers.
London Midland
relies on drivers volunteering to staff trains on Sundays but said not
enough had offered to work this week so services could not run.
Rail users' groups called the situation "a shambles" and unions said it could have been avoided.
The government has been urged to look into the firm's voluntary work rules.
London Midland runs about 1,200 services with trains calling at 149 stations between London, the Midlands and the North West.
As of Saturday, the only service expected to still be operating was the one between Birmingham and Liverpool.
It's a shambles. How can they run an essential service on a voluntary basis? It's an astonishing way to operate a train service
Shaun Hope, Northampton Rail Users' Group
Replacement bus services will be provided on some routes and other
rail companies have said they will accept London Midland tickets, but
the firm has warned passengers not to attempt to travel by train unless
necessary.
Shaun Hope, of Northampton Rail Users' Group, based
in one of the largest towns served by London Midland, said: "It's a
shambles. How can they run an essential service on a voluntary basis?
It's an astonishing way to operate a train service."
London Midland said working on Sundays has always been voluntary.
Chavez supporters wore red, the colour of his party, during rallies
Tens of thousands of people have
marched through the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, in rival
demonstrations for and against President Hugo Chavez.
Opponents held a rally against what they called the president's growing authoritarianism.
They were concerned about an education law they fear could lead to socialist indoctrination in schools.
Meanwhile, one government minister told Chavez supporters that 29 more radio stations would be closed, reports said.
The
radio closures are part of a continuing campaign against what the
government considers to be right-wing media, with 34 stations already
closed down. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8240188.stm>
Shildon in County Durham has been
labelled an internet crime hotspot with a higher percentage of
fraudulent purchases than anywhere else in the UK.
Last year,
24% of all goods delivered to the town were made using stolen credit
card details, according to security company The Third Man.
Durham Police say investigations are being hampered because people are told to report fraud to their banks first.
South-east London saw the most money lost to fraud in 2008 - about £16m.
In
total, The Third Man, which represents 20% of UK companies operating
online, estimates that online fraudsters stole half a billion
pounds-worth of goods last year. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8240261.stm>
Hitler watercolours auctioned off
Three watercolours believed to have been painted by Adolf Hitler have sold for 42,000 euros (£37,000) in Germany.
The auction was in the south-eastern city of Nuremberg, where the Nazi war crimes trials were held.
Auctioneer
Herbert Weidler said they were sold to three phone bidders, with the
one of Austrian town Weissenkirchen in der Wachau fetching 24,000
euros.
The signed paintings date from 1910 to 1911 when Germany's World War II leader lived in Vienna as a struggling artist.
'Modest quality'
Mr Weidler said he felt the watercolours' quality was that of "village school art teacher who has learned how to draw".
"Others might think differently but we say they're of rather modest quality," the auctioneer told Reuters news agency.
Weissenkirchen in der Wachau (Austrian town): £21,000
Haus mit Bruecke am Fluss (House with a bridge over a river): £6,000
There have been a number of auctions in recent years of Hitler's artworks.
In April, 13 of what were believed to be his early works were sold in Shropshire for more than £95,000.
The pieces were apparently found by a British soldier in Germany in 1945.
Hitler is thought to have produced about 3,400 paintings between 1909 and 1945.
Correspondents
say such sales are contentious, with some querying their authenticity
and others questioning the morality of making money from the work of
the Nazi leader.
Usually chubby, with a moustache and wearing Andean clothes, the
doll is depicted carrying loads of food, household goods and money.
The doll is usually bought for newly wedded couples or a new home.
Peru's
Culture Minister Cecilia Bakula says the Ekeko is a popular expression
of the whole high plateau region which straddles Peru, Bolivia and a
small area of Chile.
But Bolivia disagrees and has announced it
is applying to Unesco, the United Nations cultural wing, to recognise
the cultural heritage status of La Paz's annual Alacita festival, which
celebrates the Ekeko deity and sells hundreds of dolls. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8240248.stm>
Fashion in Vogue on screen
By Alex Stanger
Entertainment reporter, BBC News
Trailer for The September Issue which goes behind the scenes at Vogue
"She's not the perfect manager or editor or mother or sister or daughter."
Documentary maker RJ Cutler is talking about his latest subject, American Vogue's editor Anna Wintour.
"But she is real. And that is what interested me," he adds.
It is a description that may surprise fashion followers, such is Wintour's impenetrable image.
But according to Cutler, the editor was more than willing to allow a camera crew capture her world in The September Issue.
"When I went to her and said 'I want to make a film about who you are,
what you do and how you do it, that's all I am interested in.' She
embraced it right away from our very first meeting."
Anna Wintour is in charge - there is no other person who runs an industry quite the way Anna Wintour does
RJ Cutler, director of The September Issue
Viewers are left in no doubt just how powerful Wintour is in the world of fashion.
In one snippet the boss of an American department store chain asks her to encourage fashion houses to speed up their deliveries.
In another, a top label designer looks crestfallen when Wintour appears unimpressed by his latest collection.
"Anna Wintour is a heavy-weight, believe me," says Cutler.
"There is a tendency to dismiss fashion as frivolous and light-weight
but this is a big business and an important business… and Anna Wintour
is in charge - there is no other person who runs an industry quite the
way Anna Wintour does." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8238017.stm>
Bangladesh diary: Cyclone aftermath
Repeatedly
struck by cyclones, flooding and even drought, Bangladesh is reckoned
to be one of the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate
change. The BBC's environment correspondent David Shukman travels to a
region still recovering from the most recent storm. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8239712.stm>
Japan vows big climate change cut
Climate change will be the focus of international talks in Copenhagen
Japan's next leader has promised a big
cut in greenhouse gas emissions, saying he will aim for a 25% reduction
by 2020 compared with 1990 levels.
Democratic Party leader
Yukio Hatoyama is due to take over as prime minister on 16 September,
after a resounding election victory in August.
His predecessor, Taro Aso, had pledged cuts of only 8%.
Mr Hatoyama said the plan was dependent on other nations agreeing targets at December's climate talks in Copenhagen.
ANALYSIS
Richard Black, BBC environment correspondent
Mr Hatoyama's target puts Japan alongside the EU in pledging substantial greenhouse gas emissions by 2020.
Japan's plan is conditional on achieving a deal at the UN summit in
December, so it presents an additional "carrot" to negotiators; the new
Japanese leadership has not spelled out what will happen if a deal is
not reached.
The ambitious target amounts to an emissions cut of
about one-third from current levels in just 11 years, in a country that
already uses energy efficiently.
The new government now has some serious thinking to do about how to turn rhetoric into reality.
Analysts say the targets - announced by Mr Hatoyama at a climate
change symposium in Tokyo on Monday - are more ambitious than those of
many other industrialised nations.
They won praise from the
climate change chief of the UN, which is recommending developed
countries commit to a 25-40% reduction by 2020.
"With such a
target, Japan will take on the leadership role that industrialised
countries have agreed to take in climate change abatement," Yvo de
Boer, head of the UN Climate Change Secretariat, told the conference.
Japan
is the world's second-largest economy and fifth-largest emitter of
greenhouse gases, which are a major contributor to climate change.
Oil accounts for 98% of the budget of southern Sudan
Revenue from Sudan's oil may be being
unfairly shared out threatening a north-south peace deal, a report by
campaign group Global Witness says.
It says discrepancies in
figures given by the north and those of the Chinese firm operating the
oilfields may mean the south is being seriously underpaid.
Following the 2005 agreement to end 22 years of civil war, the north and south are meant to share the revenue.
Southern officials have accused the north of withholding oil money before.
Global
Witness has called for greater transparency in the oil industry, which
is effectively run by the north, and accounts for 98% of the budget of
southern Sudan. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8240996.stm>
Gender pay gap in City 'shocking'
Relatively few women reach the top ranks of financial firms
Men working in the UK's financial
sector receive five times more in bonus payments than women, according
to a survey of 44 leading companies.
On average, women earn £2,875 compared with
£14,554 for men, the Equality and Human Rights Commission
found.
Chairman Trevor Phillips said the sector must take action "to address this shocking disparity of rewards".
Equality Minister Harriet Harman said the government was introducing "tough new measures" to tackle the pay gap.
BBC
business reporter Brian Milligan said the survey, commissioned by Ms
Harman, was believed to provide the most accurate picture yet of pay
differences within banks and insurance companies. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8240474.stm>
Mexican cartels hire US teenage killers
By Matthew Price
BBC News, Laredo, Texas
Rosalio Reta: "I liked the lifestyle... killing people"
Prisoner number 1447523 does not understand the question. And it is not exactly a controversial one.
Why does he believe killing for a living is "glamorous"? Surely most people would find that kind of strange?
"Kind of strange? In what way?"
Prisoner 1447523's name is Rosalio Reta. He was born and raised in Texas.
By the age of 13 he was an assassin for one of Mexico's drug cartels.
"It's a job man. You gotta do something for a living."
'No way out'
Now
20, Rosalio Reta is sitting on the other side of a thick glass window,
speaking into a telephone handset in the visiting area of a Texas
prison.
Convicted of two murders (he says he killed many more), he will probably spend the rest of his life behind bars.
Reta lived in the city of Laredo, on the border with Mexico.
He ran away from home when he was 11, was put into a juvenile correction facility, released, and then left home again.
Hanging
around with his friends in Mexico (in the border areas many people
frequently cross over on business and pleasure), one told him his
brother worked for a cartel.
The reality is there are gangs trying to recruit our kids
Joe Espinoza Anti-gang worker
"I thought it was cool. Got involved. That's how everything started. There's no way out once you get in."
Rosalio
Reta is perhaps the most extreme example of a worrying trend: American
teenagers being recruited to work for the Mexican drug cartels that
control a multi-billion dollar trade.
What concerns law
enforcement officials, and those working to keep teenagers out of the
cartels' grip, is that this is not simply a case of the cartels preying
upon American teens - many actively want to join.
Joe Espinoza's footsteps echo down the school corridor. He can hear children chattering in a classroom.
Inside his office is a display of bandanas, baseball caps, rosaries and red t-shirts. Lots of red T-shirts.
"Gang paraphernalia," he says.
Mr Espinoza's job is to stop Laredo's schoolchildren joining the city's street gangs, or to encourage them to leave.
He tries to catch them early, when they are just eight or nine years old.
"The reality is there are gangs trying to recruit our kids," he says.
Just six months ago it seemed quite possible that we were going to
find that out the hard way. We still might. But by common agreement,
the risk of a global slump on a par with the 1930s has fallen
substantially since the start of the year.
The extraordinary
policy steps taken by governments and central banks since the Great
Panic of September 2008 - the bank bail-outs, the record interest rate
cuts, the trillions of dollars in budget stimulus - all of that seems
to have worked. At least for now.
But today governments have to
work out when - and how - to clean up the mess that those emergency
measures have left behind. That could be even more challenging than the
crisis itself. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8241992.stm>
More than two million people in Europe now have fibre broadband direct to their home, suggests a survey.
The
latest figures on superfast broadband delivered by fibre to the home
(FTTH) shows 18% growth over the last survey compiled in late 2008.
The continued growth suggests that the global economic downturn has not hit plans to build a fibre infrastructure.
Sweden tops the list of nations rolling out the technology, with 10.9% of its broadband customers using fibre.
Karel
Helsen, president of Europe's Fibre-To-The-Home Council, said the
growth matched predictions that were revised when the credit crunch
started to make itself felt.
TOP FIBRE NATIONS
1) Sweden - 10.9%
2) Norway - 10.2%
3) Slovenia - 8.9%
4) Andorra - 6.6%
5) Denmark- 5.7%
6) Iceland - 5.6%
7) Lithuania - 3.3%
8) Netherlands - 2.5%
9) Slovakia - 2.5%
10) Finland - 2.4%
"The numbers in 2009 are in line with the latest forecasts," said Mr Helsen.
By
2012, the FTTH Council expects that 13 million people across 35
European nations will have their broadband delivered by fibre. Such
services would start at speeds of 100 megabits per second (mbps), said
Mr Helsen.
Around Europe more than 233 projects were underway
to lay the fibres that would connect homes or buildings to the net,
said Mr Helsen. Many of those, he said, were being operated by local
governments or smaller net firms.
Local governments were interested in FTTH because of the economic and social benefits it brought in its wake, said Mr Helsen.
The low latency or delay inherent in high-speed fibre networks made possible novel uses of broadband, he said.
"No
delay is very important," he said, "specifically if you talk about
applications that are time dependent such as personal communications,
conference calls or video calls where delays cause a lot of
interference."
While early FTTH services were concentrated in
cities, said Mr Helsen, many more were reaching out to rural areas for
e-health and e-learning projects.
Separate studies show that an FTTH infrastructure can have a direct impact on local economic output, said Mr Helsen.
T-Mobile and Orange plan to merge their UK businesses, creating a mobile phone giant with 28.4 million customers.
The
deal between Orange-owner France Telecom and Deutsche Telekom's
T-Mobile UK will see a business with sales of 9.4bn euros (£8.2bn;
$13.5bn).
Holding about 37% of the mobile market it will be the UK's largest provider, overtaking Telefonica's O2.
It is the second large corporate deal in two days, after Kraft Food's £10.2bn takeover proposal for Cadbury.
Orange
and T-Mobile said their deal - due to be signed by November - would
"bring substantial benefits to UK customers", and promised expanded
network coverage, better network quality and improved customer
services.
The approach could use commercially available lasers
US military researchers are developing a method for communication that uses lasers to make sound underwater.
The approach focuses laser light to produce bubbles of steam that pop and create tiny, 220-decibel explosions.
Controlling the rate of these explosions could provide a means of communication or even acoustic imaging.
Researchers
at the US Naval Research Laboratory say the approach could be used for
air-to-submarine or fully underwater communication.
One
of the peculiar effects of high-intensity laser beams is that they can
actually focus themselves when passing through some materials, like
water.
As the laser focuses, it rips electrons off water molecules, which then become superheated and create a powerful "pop".
Because
different colours of light travel at markedly different speeds
underwater, the precise location where different colours focus together
could be manipulated by the suitable design of a many-coloured input
pulse.
Those same focusing effects are significantly reduced in
air, so that a laser "signal" could be launched from an airborne source
to communicate with submarines, so that they do not need to surface.
The
idea could also be used for underwater acoustic imaging, by using a
moveable mirror to direct the pulses into an array of pops whose echoes
can give a detailed picture of underwater terrain. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8243503.stm>
Chavez walks Venice red carpet
By Emma Jones
BBC News reporter in Venice
President Chavez was in Venice for the world premiere of Oliver Stone's documentary
He's one of the most controversial figures walking the political
stage at the moment - but at the Venice Film Festival, Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez has been walking the red carpet.
He was in Venice for the world premiere of director Oliver Stone's documentary examining his portrayal in the media.
Hundreds
of admirers turned out to greet him, some of them chanting "president,
president" in Spanish. He played up to the part of movie star, meeting
the public and throwing a flower into the crowd. He even took a
photographer's camera to snap himself.
Rumours that the
president might be paying a "surprise" visit leaked out a day or so in
advance - helped by the sudden presence of Venezuelan military
officials in the city.
Although the presence of celebrities
from Tom Cruise to Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie is commonplace during
the festival, security was the tightest it's ever been, with armed
guards checking bags and a tight cordon around the Palazzo Del Cinema.
US 'paranoia'
Seeing
a man frequently described as a "dictator" by parts of the American
media on such close terms with a prolific Hollywood director is one of
the most interesting photo opportunities the festival has ever offered
reporters.
The film tells the story of Venezuela since Chavez came to power in 1998
Hugo Chavez has been seen as a maverick - and much worse - since he
was elected in 1998. He has been outspoken on US foreign policy and
once described former President George Bush as a "donkey".
It's
earned him little favour from the more conservative elements of the
American press. Within the last few days, Mr Chavez has signed an oil
deal with Iran.
Stone's documentary "South of the Border"
started as an attempt to find out the truth behind the newspaper
headlines about the Venezuelan leader.
"The demonisation of Chavez has been intense to the point it's hilarious," Stone told the BBC. "We show that in the movie.
South America has been treated as North America's backyard for too long, and the pendulum has started to swing
Oliver Stone
"America is paranoid about its 'enemies', whether it's Venezuela,
Iran or Iraq. I think there are dangerous consequences and this is an
attempt to lessen that paranoia.
"We wanted to emphasise the
good things that have happened in Venezuela, like the poverty rate
being cut by 50% since he assumed power. Even his enemies would say
that on that front, Chavez has done well."
Stone was granted
unprecedented access and interview time with his subject, and from that
the film grew into a full-scale tour around much of South America,
meeting several heads of states - all of whom claim on camera to be
supporters of Mr Chavez.
Audiences see Stone playing soccer
with Bolivian President Evo Morales, and asking Argentinian President
Cristina Fernandez De Kirchner how many pairs of shoes she owns. But
there are also less light-hearted subjects to document.
"All
the presidents I met confirmed all their countries are undergoing vast
changes, and there is an anti-Washington consensus," he reports.
"South
America has been treated as North America's backyard for too long, and
the pendulum has started to swing. Fidel Castro told me in an interview
back in 2002 that that would happen, but I never believed it at the
time. I believe only Mexico and Colombia could now be described as
pro-USA." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8242756.stm>
ADHD brain chemistry clue found
Levels of ADHD have been rising
US researchers have pinned down new
differences in the brain chemistry of people with attention deficit
hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
They found ADHD patients lack key proteins which allow them to experience a sense of reward and motivation.
The Brookhaven National Laboratory study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
It is hoped it could help in the design of new ways to combat the condition.
For far too long there has been an assumption that children with ADHD are deliberately wilful
Andrea Bilbow ADDISS
Previous research looking at the brains of people with ADHD had
uncovered differences in areas controlling attention and hyperactivity.
But this study suggests ADHD has a profound impact elsewhere in the brain too.
Researcher
Dr Nora Volkow said: "These deficits in the brain's reward system may
help explain clinical symptoms of ADHD, including inattention and
reduced motivation, as well as the propensity for complications such as
drug abuse and obesity among ADHD patients."
The researchers
compared brain scans of 53 adult ADHD patients who had never received
treatment with those from 44 people who did not have the condition.
The cost of the financial meltdown: Deficits and spending
Governments
have been affected differently by the credit crunch. Public borrowing
has been rising in all countries as the crisis has caused the economy
to shrink, cutting tax revenues.
But some countries, like the
US and the UK, have been more severely affected as they already had
large deficits and have had to spend heavily to bail out their banking
sector. Other G20 countries have fared better.
Mark Mardell| 09:00 UK time, Wednesday, 9 September 2009
Charleston, West Virginia:
Johanna Ridenour is a part of the president's fight-back. Democrats
want people to tell their own stories about the shortcomings of
America's healthcare system. She has answered the call of public radio
in West Virginia and wants people to know what she has been through.
She's a bright and bubbly student, who looks much younger than her 24
years. Except for her hands, which are twisted like an old woman's by
arthritis, a condition she has had since she was 16.
When
I meet her, it is a good day. She has no trouble walking and getting
up, and is enthusiastic about her new apartment, but she has had days
of terrible despair. When she had a job and health insurance, it was
nearly worthless to her. It covered $500 worth of prescription drugs.
That would buy her enough of her main medicine for two weeks but she
needs lots of other pills as well.
She managed to get onto a programme run by a drug company which gave
her a free supply. But the corporate road to hell is paved with good
intentions: their programme was designed for those without cover, and
when they found out she had insurance, the free drugs stopped. For more
than a year she was in agony, her mother had to carry her to the
bathroom and she could only walk on crutches.
Finally, she got out of her insurance - apparently not easy - and is
back on the free scheme. But not having any insurance isn't
comfortable. Not long ago she was in a bad car accident. She drove off
the road, it turned over and a pole smashed through the windscreen.
"Me and the passenger both had to get cut out of the car.
It was terrible. It was horrible and my whole thought process was 'I
can't get in this ambulance because I am not going to be able to afford
it. I am not going to be able to go to the emergency room. I mean, I am
in a wreck where I almost died and I am worried about getting treatment
because I am not going to be able to afford it. Like I am not going to
set foot in that ambulance because it is, I think around $11,000 a
ride."
"That is the unquenchable capability of human beings when confronted
with long periods of prosperity to presume that it will continue."
Speaking
a year after the collapse of US investment bank Lehman Brothers, which
was followed by a worldwide financial crisis and global recession, Mr
Greenspan described the behaviour as "human nature".
He said
the current crisis was triggered by the trade in US sub-prime mortgages
- home loans given to people with bad credit histories - but he added
that any factor could have been the catalyst.
More than half of websites selling
electronic goods were breaking European laws aimed at protecting
consumers, according to an EU investigation.
The analysis of
369 websites selling mobiles, DVD players and games consoles in 28
European countries found that 203 of them held misleading information.
The biggest failure surrounded the right to return a product bought on the internet within seven days.
Any websites which continue to break the law face fines.
"We
know from the level of complaints coming into European Consumer Centres
that this is a real problem area for consumers," said EU consumer
commissioner Meglena Kuneva.
Couples should consider sleeping apart for the good of their health and relationship, say experts.
Sleep
specialist Dr Neil Stanley told the British Science Festival how bed
sharing can cause rows over snoring and duvet-hogging and robs precious
sleep.
One study found that, on average, couples suffered 50% more sleep disturbances if they shared a bed.
Dr Stanley, who sleeps separately from his wife, points out that historically we were never meant to share our beds.
He
said the modern tradition of the marital bed only began with the
industrial revolution, when people moving to overcrowded towns and
cities found themselves short of living space.
If
you've been sleeping together and you both sleep perfectly well, then
don't change, but don't be afraid to do something different
Dr Neil Stanley
Before the Victorian era it was not uncommon for married couples to
sleep apart. In ancient Rome, the marital bed was a place for sexual
congress but not for sleeping.
Dr Stanley, who set up one of
Britain's leading sleep laboratories at the University of Surrey, said
the people of today should consider doing the same.
"It's about
what makes you happy. If you've been sleeping together and you both
sleep perfectly well, then don't change, but don't be afraid to do
something different.
"We all know what it's like to have a
cuddle and then say 'I'm going to sleep now' and go to the opposite
side of the bed. So why not just toddle off down the landing?" <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8245578.stm>
Monopoly game launches on Google
The property game was made popular by its more traditional form
A massive multi-player version of the popular property game Monopoly has been launched online.
Monopoly City Streets, developed by toymaker Hasbro, will go live on 9 September for four months.
The free game uses Google Maps or the open source Open Street Map as the playing board.
The
toymaker claims it will be "the biggest game of monopoly of all time"
and will allow players to purchase almost "any street in the world".
"The intent of the speech is to make sure that the American people
are clear exactly what it is that we are proposing," Mr Obama said.
"And
B, to make sure that Democrats and Republicans understand that I'm open
to new ideas, that we're not being rigid and ideological about this
thing, but we do intend to get something done this year."
In the Senate, Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus has drawn up a new compromise proposal.
And
in the House of Representatives, a prominent Democrat has signalled he
will not support any bill that includes a publicly run insurance
scheme.
Passing a healthcare bill is Mr Obama's top political priority for 2009.
Earlier in the year he called on both chambers of Congress to pass
healthcare bills before the summer recess, so that they could spend the
autumn reconciling their different versions.
See the latest medical robots - Sarah Pearson, curator of the Hunterian Museum, takes a tour
Within ten years some doctors and scientists are predicting that all surgery could be scarless.
They
say by using the natural orifices of the body and the body's own
natural scar the belly-button (or umbilicus), it will be possible to
insert robots into the body which can help perform every surgical
procedure.
It sounds fantastical, but prototypes are already in
existence that can crawl and swim inside the body taking pictures of
difficult to access areas.
There are particularly big hopes for
Ares (Assembling Reconfigurable Endoluminal Surgical System), developed
by Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna, Italy, with the support of the European
Commission.
This is a robot that will self assemble inside the
body, after the patient has swallowed up to 15 separate parts, and then
aid the surgeon to carry out procedures.
It is almost inconceivable as surgeons that in 10 years time we will be putting our hands in patients
Mr Justin Vale Urological surgeon
By operating from inside the body, surgeons could avoid external
incisions, minimising pain and shortening recovery time for the
patient.
Nasa had been hoping its Orion ship would take it back to the Moon
Nasa needs its annual $18bn budget
boosted by $3bn if astronauts are to conduct meaningful missions like
trips to the Moon and beyond, a panel warns.
The panel, convened by the White House to review human spaceflight plans, has delivered its summary findings.
It says the spaceship and rocket programmes being developed to replace the shuttle are not presently viable.
The group has given President Barack Obama a series of options to help him shape the US space agency's future.
But
the panel, led by retired aerospace executive Norm Augustine, says only
a funding increase can truly get Nasa back on track.
"The
committee finds that no plan compatible with the [Financial Year] 2010
budget profile permits human exploration to continue in any meaningful
way," it said.
"The committee further finds that it is possible to conduct a viable
exploration program with a budget rising to about $3bn annually above
the FY 2010 budget profile." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8245409.stm>
Planes 'threaten climate targets'
By Roger Harrabin
BBC Environment Analyst
The rest of the economy may have to make space for aviation emissions
The UK may have to cut emissions of greenhouse gases by 90% by 2050 so the aviation sector can continue to grow.
That is the warning from the government's official climate advisers, the Climate Change Committee (CCC).
It would mean even bigger cuts than the 80% drop on 1990 levels already planned for households and industry in Britain.
But the committee also says global aviation emissions should be capped during the forthcoming Copenhagen climate talks.
The committee was asked by government to advise on what should be done about emissions from aviation.
It is vital that an agreement capping global aviation emissions is part of a Copenhagen deal
David Kennedy, CCC chief executive
In a letter to the Transport Secretary Lord Adonis and the Climate
Secretary Ed Miliband, the committee says the aviation industry will
have to cut emissions from planes back to their 2005 level by 2050.
That is much more permissive than the overall UK target of cutting emissions 80% on 1990 levels by 2050.
The
failure of aviation to play its full part could mean that the rest of
the economy has to reduce its emissions by 90% instead of 80%.
This
90% target is so ambitious that it might be easier for some sectors to
make the leap to zero carbon emissions rather than trying to whittle
down pollution decade by decade.
By Jason Palmer
Science and technology reporter, BBC News
The UK must develop the world's leading ultra-low carbon vehicle (LCV) industry, according to Science Minister Lord Drayson.
At the LCV 2009 event, he officially launched the Office for Low-emission Vehicles (OLEV) announced in July.
Rather
than a "mere talking shop", Lord Drayson stressed that the office will
address both supply and demand concerns that presently limit the
industry.
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website
Mr Barroso sees the proposal as "ambitious and fair"
The European Commission says the EU
should provide $2-15bn each year to help poor countries protect
themselves against impacts of climate change.
The UN
estimates that poor nations will need about $100bn (£60bn) per year for
climate adaptation, with much of that coming from levies on carbon
trading.
The commission hopes its proposal will stimulate negotiations leading up to December's UN summit in Copenhagen.
Campaign groups say the sums are less than the EU ought to be spending.
"With
less than 90 days before Copenhagen, we need to make serious progress
in these negotiations," said commission president Jose Manuel Barroso.
"I
am determined that Europe will continue to provide a lead, but
developed and economically advanced developing countries must also make
a contribution."
The EU is trying to get away with leaving a tip, rather than paying its share of the bill
Joris den Blanken, Greenpeace
The commission sees about 40% of the $100bn coming from the global
carbon market that is supposed to emerge from the Copenhagen treaty.
The remainder would come from domestic spending by the countries affected, and from international public financing.
The
commission believes that "industrialised nations and economically more
advanced developing countries" will have to provide $22-50bn per year.
It
believes $2-15bn is an appropriate share for the EU. The bloc already
sees itself as a leader on climate change, having pledged to cut its
greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2020, or by 30% if a global deal is
agreed in Copenhagen that involves other developed countries pledging
significant cuts. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8248474.stm>
France set to impose carbon tax
Mr Sarkozy says the French must cut their energy consumption
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has announced plans for a new carbon tax aimed at combating global warming.
The tax will be introduced next year and will cover the use of oil, gas and coal, he said.
The new tax will be 17 euros (£15) per tonne of emitted carbon dioxide (CO2). It will be phased in gradually.
It
will apply to households as well as enterprises, but not to the heavy
industries and power firms included in the EU's emissions trading
scheme.
Most electricity in France - excluded from the new carbon tax - is nuclear generated.
Mr
Sarkozy said revenues from the new tax would be ploughed back into
taxpayers' pockets through cuts in other taxes and "green cheques".
The carbon tax plans have already encountered stiff opposition across the political spectrum.
France's
Le Monde newspaper says the tax will cover 70% of the country's carbon
emissions and bring in about 4.3bn euros (£3.8bn) of revenue annually.
Mr
Sarkozy insists the new tax is all about persuading the French to
change their habits and cut energy consumption, the BBC's Emma Jane
Kirby reports from Paris.
Critics say it is just a ploy to boost ailing state finances.
Two-thirds of French voters say they are opposed to the new levy, fearing they will struggle to pay higher bills.
They included "no cats allowed" and "birdseed must not have any performance-enhancing seeds within".
The
firm said Winston took one hour and eight minutes to fly between the
offices, and the data took another hour to upload on to their system.
Mr Rolfe said the ADSL transmission of the same data size was about 4% complete in the same time.
Hundreds of South Africans followed the race on social networking sites Facebook and Twitter.
"Winston is over the moon," Mr Rolfe said.
"He is happy to be back at the office and is now just chilling with his friends."
Meanwhile Telkom said it could not be blamed for slow broadband services at the Durban-based company.
"Several
recommendations have, in the past, been made to the customer but none
of these have, to date, been accepted," Telkom's Troy Hector told South
Africa's Sapa news agency in an e-mail.
South Africa is one of
the countries hoping to benefit from three new fibre optic cables being
laid around the African continent to improve internet connections. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8248056.stm>
Afghan fraud ballots invalidated
The election has been dogged by allegations of irregularities and fraud
The Afghan Electoral Complaints
Commission (ECC) has for the first time invalidated some ballots from
the presidential election because of fraud.
There was "clear
and convincing evidence of fraud" in Paktika, Kandahar and Ghazni,
areas that largely backed President Hamid Karzai, it said.
Earlier this week results from 600 stations where there were suspected irregularities were "quarantined".
Correspondents say that there could now be months of arguments about the vote.
Afghanistan's
second direct presidential election on 20 August was marred by low
turnout and widespread allegations of vote-rigging, intimidation and
other fraud.
According to partial results, Mr Karzai has passed the 50% mark, which means he does not have to face a second round run-off.
However, the complaints commission does have the authority to order a recount or even to remove a candidate from the election.
If
it throws out enough votes "cast" for Mr Karzai it could also
effectively order a presidential run-off by reducing his share of the
vote to under 50%. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8248543.stm>
MoD withdraws £114m comms system
By Daniel Emery
Technology reporter
Cormorant became operational in December 2004
A £114m communications system has been withdrawn by the Ministry of Defence from front-line service after failings.
Cormorant
provides a digital communications backbone, but only parts were
deployed to Afghanistan and they have now been superseded.
Replacing it is Radwin, a £300,000 system from Israel designed to work in "severe conditions".
However, the MoD denied Cormorant was "obsolete", saying it would "continue to be on standby for use when needed".
The
MoD says it bought Radwin as a quick solution to the current
communications problems in Afghanistan and also because it offered
advances in technology.
The ministry says it is looking at
options for network improvement in Afghanistan, including the proposed
Falcon system, a new voice over internet protocol (VoIP) system,
designed by BAE Systems.
The MoD said comparing Cormorant to Radwin was wrong.
"Cormorant
is a tactical system providing a flexible communications network
solution; Radwin is a point-to-point bearer for communications
traffic," an MOD spokeswoman said.
Cormorant first came into
service at the end of 2004 in an attempt to standardise the various
communication systems that were in service.
However, it was not
universally well received, with a number of posts on the unofficial
armed forces website, Army Rumour Service, saying it has been "cursed
with some of the worst procurement decisions, shoddy workmanship [and]
non-existent quality control". <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8247143.stm>
Samoans stranded in road switch
Bus owners are angry they will have to convert their vehicles
Samoans reliant on bus travel have
been stranded by the country's switch earlier this week to driving on
the left of the road instead of the right.
All but about 18
of the Pacific island nation's buses are banned from driving because
their doors now open onto the middle of the road.
Bus operators want state aid to modify their vehicles, but talks with the prime minister have so far failed.
Samoa is the first country to make such a change since the 1970s.
Reports
from Samoa said there had been no accidents since the switch on Monday,
despite widespread predictions of road mayhem from opponents.
Before the switchover, bus drivers had been reluctant to go to the expense of converting their vehicles.
"A few of the bus owners did not believe that we would proceed [with
the change]," Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said after
meeting a group of them on Wednesday.
He said was considering a
request to grant them an extension of three to six months, so they
could continue driving while completing the necessary modifications.
He said he would give an answer to their request on Thursday.
The Samoan government introduced the change to end its reliance on expensive, left-hand-drive imports from America.
It
hopes that the large Samoan expatriate communities in Australia and New
Zealand will now ship used, more affordable vehicles back to their
homeland.
Japan has successfully launched its new space freighter from the Tanegashima base in the south of the country.
The 16.5-tonne unmanned H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) is on a mission to re-supply the space station.
Its
role is vitally important to the station project, which is set to lose
the servicing capability of the US shuttle fleet next year.
The freighter left Earth atop an H-IIB rocket at 0201 local time on Friday (1701 GMT, Thursday).
Separation from the rocket's upper-stage was confirmed some 15 minutes later.
The
HTV mission is being directed by engineers in Tsukuba, Japan, and at
the US space agency's (Nasa) mission control in Houston.
The
vehicle must conduct a number of tests of its navigation and rendezvous
systems before making a close approach to the International Space
Station (ISS).
Docking is not expected to take place until at least day eight of the mission.
The freighter is carrying about 4.5 tonnes of cargo.
"This
HTV-1 vehicle is a demonstration flight to verify its functionality and
performance," said Masazumi Miyake, one of the Japanese space agency's
(Jaxa) senior officials in the US.
The women had been made to sign a contract before entering the villa
Nine women in Turkey have been freed
from a villa they entered two months ago thinking they were taking part
in a Big Brother-style reality TV show.
Police stormed the
building in Riva, reportedly after family members became concerned they
were being prevented from contacting the women.
According to local media, naked images of the women were sold on the internet.
They were also told to fight each other, wear bikinis and dance by the pool, HaberTurk newspaper reports.
The mother of one of women told the newspaper they were not abused or sexually harassed.
Cries for help
The duped contestants are said to be aged between 16 and 24.
The
women had responded to an advert seeking contestants for a reality show
that would be aired on a major Turkish television station, Dogan news
agency reports.
They were reportedly made to sign a contract
that banned them from any outside contact and ordered them to pay a
50,000 Lira ($33,000, £20,000) fine if they left the show before two
months.
The women are said to have realised they were being
duped soon after moving into the villa, in the summer resort of Riva on
Istanbul's outskirts.
But they were told they would have to pay the fine if they wanted to leave, Dogan reports.
When the police arrived at the villa to free the women, they reportedly heard cries for help from inside the building.
HaberTurk newspaper says four people who lived at the villa with the women were detained.
Logging and burning have left large areas of Para denuded
Looking at the rolling fields and jungles of the Amazon, it is tempting to think that such a vast area has endless resources.
That is still the mindset for many who farm here.
But the average productivity of the land used for cattle farming in the Amazon is less than one head per hectare (2.5 acres).
Using
already deforested land more efficiently and creating a sustainable
forest economy are seen as key for the region, which faces the
challenge of combining development and conservation.
"Have no
doubt that the environment is a major concern of the farmers in the
Amazon today," says Diogo Naves, vice-president of the farming
federation in the Brazilian state of Para.
"But to produce
sustainably we need to be partners of the government and of society and
not to be only the ones accused of destroying the jungle." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8212841.stm>
What now for Opel and Vauxhall?
By Jorn Madslien
Business reporter, BBC News, Wolfsburg, Germany
Slowly rotating wind turbines litter the North German landscape to the west of Berlin.
The
way the wind is blowing in Germany these days, the country's political
capital has become central to the future of its car industry.
To many Germans the car is like another member of the family
Hans-Joachim Stuck, racing driver
This was where Chancellor Angela Merkel announced that US carmaker
General Motors (GM) will sell a majority 55% stake in its Opel and
Vauxhall subsidiary to Canadian parts maker Magna and the Russian
state-owned bank Sberbank, a decision clearly swayed by her
government's offer of substantial financial backing.
Germany
has already lent 1.5bn euros ($2.18bn; £1.31bn) to Opel, and will now
put up an additional 3bn euros in loan guarantees for Magna, thus
safeguarding thousands of German jobs while also potentially securing
some votes for Chancellor Merkel in the run-up to the election later
this month.
"My analysis is that it helps Merkel," says Gerd Langguth, political scientist at Bonn University.
How much are you prepared to pay to combat climate change?
It's a question that's being asked in government offices from Berlin
to Brasilia - and nowhere more so, this week, than in Europe.
The European Commission reckons that the EU should contribute between $2bn and $15bn per year to poorer countries from 2020 onwards, to help them adapt to impacts of climate change.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy, meanwhile, is preparing to spend some valuable political capital introducing a carbon tax for domestic consumers and some businesses.
But there's a surprise awaiting across the big Atlantic pond, where
a rather different question is being asked: how much of a financial benefit will accrue from combating climate change?
Since the Waxman-Markey bill
- capping emissions of industry, establishing a carbon trading scheme -
came into existence, all sorts of institutions have sounded warnings
about the economic calamities it might bring.
Now, though, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy
(ACEEE) calculates that Waxman-Markey could create more than half a
million new jobs and save the average household nearly $300 per year -
a boon to individuals, families and the nation itself.
You might contend, of course, that this is exactly the sort of
conclusion you would expect from an organisation that supports
energy-efficiency legislation.
You might also contend that warnings of economic doom are exactly what you'd expect from organisations such as the American Petroleum Institute that are none too keen on anything that might upset the current status quo of high fossil fuel use.
Muslims
have lived in South Africa for hundreds of years - but Islamic
marriages remain unrecognised in law, making divorce potentially
disastrous for women. As the BBC's Mohammed Allie reports from Cape
Town, that situation could be about to change.
For
300 years one of the major issues for Muslims has been that their
marriages aren't recognised and their children are illegitimate
Rashied Omar Imam
Nashita Davids was married for more than 12 years, but like many South African women she is now divorced.
Unlike most other women, however, this means she has been left in poverty.
"Financially
we are messed up, I only actually want what is rightfully mine, what
I've worked for, what I've sweated for," she says.
"Not just for me, but for my kids, that's all that I want."
She
says she lived in a home to which she and her husband both contributed
- but following her divorce she was left with nothing and was forced to
move back to her parents' house.
South African couples who
marry legally do so in community of property, which allows both parties
an equal share of material possessions in the event of a divorce.
Of course, most of this bail-out money was in the form of guarantees
to the banking system, and as that system pulls out of the crisis,
governments stand to recover most but not all of that money.
However,
there are several other ways to measure the severity of the crisis
which has led to the world falling into recession for the first time in
60 years.
They all show the extent of the damage and illustrate
the point that the damage has been most severe for the rich countries -
especially the US and the UK with their large financial sectors - who
were at the heart of the crisis. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8248434.stm>
Facebook strips down to Lite site
Facebook is working on other translations of its Lite site
The world's biggest social networking
site has launched a slimmed down version for people with slow or poor
internet connections.
Facebook has said the Lite site will be faster and simpler because it offers fewer services than the main site.
Initially
it is meant to support users in developing countries and where
bandwidth constraints make the current version too slow to use.
At the moment it is only available in India and the US.
The
company said around 70% of its more than 250 million users are from
outside America. Countries in Southeast Asia and Europe are seeing a
massive increase in growth where fast internet connections are more
common.
Hilary Clinton said they were 'entering a new era in China US relations'
China and the US will open a dialogue on counter-terrorism issues this year, the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said.
She said the two powers must cooperate closely on a wide range of topics.
The
head of China's Congress, Wu Bangguo is visiting Washington, where he
has met US President Barack Obama and called for closer economic ties.
Mrs Clinton has previously stressed her desire for close ties and talks with China despite US concerns about rights.
Speaking
at a dinner hosted to welcome Mr Wu, Mrs Clinton said that building a
strong relationship with China was a central goal of the Obama
government. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8249824.stm>
Welcome awaits Iraq shoe thrower
Dargham al-Zaidi is helping to prepare the family home for his brother's party
The Iraqi journalist jailed for
hurling his shoes at former US President George W Bush is to be freed
on Monday - to an uncertain future.
Muntadar al-Zaidi's
release after nine months in prison will be celebrated by many across
the Arab world to whom he has become a hero.
He is reported to have been offered money, lucrative jobs, marriages and even a career in politics.
His brother says an official boycott may stop Zaidi's return to journalism.
Zaidi,
a reporter for al-Baghdadiya TV, shot to fame on 14 December 2008 when
he hurled his footwear at Mr Bush during a televised news conference
with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
He called Mr Bush "a
dog" and threw his shoes as a "farewell kiss" from Iraqis killed,
orphaned or widowed since the US-led invasion.
Lord Mandelson: "We've not seen an ounce of humility from them"
Bosses running carmaker MG Rover -
which collapsed with the loss of 6,500 jobs - gave themselves
"unreasonably large" payouts, a report has found.
Pay and pensions worth £42m was shared by five executives, which inspectors said was "out of all proportion".
The men face a ban from running other companies, says the government.
The
so-called Phoenix Four, plus chief executive Kevin Howe, described the
report as a "witchhunt" and a "whitewash for the government".
"Our
remuneration was not the reason for the collapse. The real reason is
the government bungled the last chance to save MG Rover," said Mr Howe,
chairman John Towers, ex-vice-chairman Nick Stephenson, Peter Beale and
John Edwards.
FINANCIAL REWARD
Mr Beale £8.981m
Mr Edwards £9.024m
Mr Stephenson £8.976m
Mr Towers £8.958m
Mr Howe £5.708m
Source: MG Rover report
But Business Secretary Lord Mandelson criticised the men for not
showing "an ounce of humility" and called on them to apologise.
Panther's Claw saw UK troops' highest monthly death toll since 2001
Polling centres in part of Afghanistan
where UK troops died trying to create a secure election environment
face audits and recounts after alleged fraud.
Three of the four centres in Babaji, Helmand province, are being examined.
Ten UK soldiers were killed in Babaji district as Operation Panther's Claw fought the Taliban ahead of elections.
Afghanistan's
election complaints commission is excluding votes from more than 70
polling stations where it has found evidence of fraud.
Thousand of votes were recorded from the Babaji stations under suspicion.
But
one election observer has told the BBC that no more than 15 people
voted throughout the day at the centre where he was based.
Millions
did vote and we need to make sure that the courage they showed and the
courage that our forces have shown is matched by a determination to get
the real result
Reports that about 150 people voted in Babaji district, out of an
eligible population of 55,000, have not been disputed by officials in
Afghanistan.
Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said the UK "will not be party to any whitewash" over the presidential election.
He
has made a point of not categorising the election as "free and fair",
but said he still believed "the new government can be a legitimate and
credible expression of the will of the Afghan people".
He told
BBC Breakfast: "Significant numbers of people didn't come out because
they were frightened but equally millions did vote and we need to make
sure that the courage they showed and the courage that our forces have
shown is actually matched by a determination to get the real result.
"If
President [Hamid] Karzai won then he should be the president; there's
then big responsibilities on him to reach out right across the Afghan
political spectrum.
"But obviously if he didn't get the 50% in the first round then there has to be a second round."
Mr
Miliband added: "For us in Britain, the absolute key is that the new
government is, first, credible, and also has a clear programme in the
three areas that will decide the future of Afghanistan: its security
forces, its ability to achieve political reconciliation and its ability
to build the economy, above all in agriculture." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8249983.stm>
Most ancient coloured twine found
By Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC News
The microscopic samples were found in the Dzudzuana Cave in Georgia
A Georgian cave has yielded what scientists say are the earliest examples of humans making cords.
The
microscopic fibres, discovered accidentally while scientists were
searching for pollen samples, are around 30,000 years old.
A
team reports in the journal Science that ancient humans probably used
the plant fibres to carry tools, weave baskets or make garments.
Some of the fibres are coloured and appear to have been dyed.
The fibres were discovered preserved within layers of mud in Dzudzuana Cave in Georgia.
"It's
impossible to know exactly how they were used, but some of them are
twisted," said Ofer Bar-Yosef, a researcher from Harvard University in
the US who took part in the study.
"This is a very old principle of making rope and cord."
Sugar canes are half the size they should be due to lack of rain
India, the world's largest consumer of sugar, is facing a crisis
because of a massive fall in domestic production and a sharp increase
in the price of raw sugar worldwide.
The timing could not have been worse - at the onset of the festival season which is a time when the demand for sugar peaks.
It's
led to concern all round - for farmers struggling with a weak output,
for ordinary Indians who are having to fork out more for their
purchases to the owners of traditional sweet shops.
Nathu's is
one of Delhi's oldest and most renowned confectioners. At their oldest
branch located in a busy neighbourhood market in the heart of the
capital, there is initially little evidence of a downturn.
Queues
of people snake around the glass cases displaying a formidable array of
sweets - from brown, round gulab jamuns to squares and triangles of
milk-based sweets in a myriad of colours. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8245839.stm>
Afghanistan's 'weekend jihadis'
By Kate Clark
Radio 4, The World Tonight
Civil servant Gul Mohammad has fought for the Taliban for two years
In the villages of Afghanistan, many young men are working for
the government during the week, but fighting for the Taliban at
weekends.
"We don't get paid," says Gul Mohammad.
"It's voluntary - all for the sake of God. We even buy fuel for the operations ourselves. And our own ammunition and bullets."
Gul Mohammad (his name changed to protect his identity) is not what you might think of as a typical Taliban fighter.
He is educated, in his 20s, married with children and, during the week, he works in a government office.
"I'm a civil servant - that's how I support my family, with my salary and by growing wheat, here in the village.
"At
the same time, I work for the Islamic Emirate (the name the Taliban use
for their regime in Afghanistan). I've been fighting for the Taliban
for about two years."
As people saw the government becoming more inefficient, corrupt and indifferent, they started tending towards the Taliban
Moshin, Taliban fighter
Gul Mohammad is one of an unknown number of Afghans who work in a
government office during the week and commute home to their village at
weekends to see their children and fight for the Taliban.
He
lives in Wardak Province, which lies just to the west of Kabul. Its
capital, Maidan Shah, is a 20-minute drive from Kabul. He says he has
no trouble combining office work and Taliban duties.
Split loyalties
The
phenomenon of weekend jihadis raises many questions - not just about
how to maintain the security of Kabul and provincial capitals, but also
how the insurgency will reach an end.
Most Taliban fighters in
his area are young men, says Mohsin (name changed to protect identity),
who is also from the district of Wardak. He says many are civil
servants.
"People working in Kabul or the provincial capital,
who have land and families in the villages, need to show they support
the Taliban.
"They provide manpower or contribute in other ways
like giving top-up cards for mobile phones or financial assistance.
They need to be able to keep commuting from village to work."
According to Mohsin, it is not just individuals who split their loyalties in order to survive what feels like a civil war.
"It's
a secret in the village - there are people who are seniors in the
Taliban and their brothers are seniors in the Afghan administration -
they are aware of each others' activities and their involvement, and
this is accepted as a matter of fact."
Motives for joining the
insurgency vary, he says, from religious fervour to national honour to
an eye for making money from kidnapping, or looting from the enemy. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/8248101.stm>
World's only flying eye hospital
By Michelle Roberts
Health reporter, BBC News
On board the world's only flying eye hospital
On approaching the flying eye hospital, it looks like any of the
other passenger jets on the runway waiting to take holidaymakers to
exotic destinations.
But this DC-10 jet is exceptional - it houses the only airborne operating theatre for eye treatment in the world.
Its
mission is to tackle avoidable sight loss and its charter reaches
developing countries where 90% of the world's 45 million blind people
live.
Next stop is India, a country that has one of the highest
rates of blindness among children - one in five of the world's blind
children is Indian.
Hospital with wings
The flying
eye hospital was the vision of one man, Dr David Paton, an eminent eye
surgeon at the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas, US.
TREATABLE CONDITIONS
Cataract
Childhood blindness
Corneal blindness
Diabetic retinopathy
Glaucoma
Retinoblastoma
Retinopathy of prematurity
Strabismus
Trachoma
In the 1970s, while touring throughout the developing world, he was
shocked by the state of eye care services he found in these countries.
Although
the doctors he met there wanted to learn the necessary skills to cure
blinding diseases like cataracts, glaucoma and retinoblastoma, the
costs and practicalities involved prevented it.
Dr Paton's solution was a mobile teaching hospital.
With
a fully equipped plane, donated by United Airlines, doctors trained in
the latest ophthalmic techniques could bring their surgical knowledge
and skills to the doctors and patients in developing countries.
The local doctors can then use their newly learned skills in their homeland.
The first hospital with wings was launched in 1982, its maiden voyage being to Panama.
The two prime ministers have agreed to separate talks on the border
Slovenia says it is ready to lift its block on Croatia's bid to join the European Union.
The announcement came after talks between Prime Minister Borut Pahor and his Croat counterpart Jadranka Kosor.
They
also said they had agreed that a continuing 18-year-old border dispute
would not prejudice Croatia's accession talks with the EU.
Slovenia had blocked Croatia's EU negotiations since December because of the border dispute.
Prime
Minister Pahor said the government would immediately propose to
parliament that "Slovenia removes restraints for Croatia's EU
negotiating process".
For her part, Croatia's prime minister
said she had faxed a letter to the Swedish EU presidency saying they
had "reached an agreement on the continuation of talks with the EU and
continuation of the border talks".
"No document can be prejudicial to the final border solution," Ms Kosor added.
Croatia had hoped to complete accession talks with the EU this year, and become the 28th member of the bloc by 2010 or 2011.
International mediation
The border row dates back to 1991, when the two countries declared independence from the former Yugoslavia.
The dispute centres mainly on the small bay of Piran in the Adriatic Sea.
Croatia has wanted the border to be drawn down the middle of the bay.
But
Slovenia, which has a much shorter coastline than its neighbour, fears
this would deny its ships direct passage to the high seas.
Last
December, Slovenia vetoed a large chunk of the talks, saying Croatia
had provided maps and documents in the EU negotiations that would have
prejudged a solution to the border dispute.
The two prime
ministers said on Friday talks on the border issue would continue with
international mediation, Reuters news agency reports. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8250441.stm>
Mugabe hails landmark EU meeting
Mr Mugabe blames sanctions for the country's crisis
President Robert Mugabe says Zimbabwe's first high-level talks with top EU officials in seven years went well.
After
the talks, in Harare, he again called for international sanctions
imposed after the disputed presidential election in 2002 to be lifted.
The
EU team also praised the meeting but indicated it was not appropriate
yet for sanctions to end and complained about the slow pace of reforms.
The EU team is also due to meet PM Morgan Tsvangirai on its visit.
'West to blame'
Before
going into the talks with the EU team, Mr Mugabe said: "We welcome you
with open arms. We hope our talks will be fruitful with a positive
outcome."
When he reappeared after they ended, he told the BBC the talks had gone well.
ZIMBABWE SANCTIONS
EU: 2002 to present Assets freeze and travel ban on some Mugabe allies, arms-sale ban
US: 2003 to present Trade ban against 250 Zimbabwean individuals and 17 companies
Other countries Canada, Australia and UK among nations to have imposed their own targeted sanctions
Sources: EU, Reuters, US treasury, UK Foreign Office
But Mr Mugabe also said he bore no sense of responsibility for
anything that had gone wrong in Zimbabwe - blaming Western governments
and international sanctions, which he said should be lifted soon.
Mr Mugabe, 85, added that he had no plans to step down.
The EU team, led by Development Commissioner Karel De Gucht, expressed satisfaction with the talks.
But the BBC's Andrew Harding, in Harare, says the delegation stressed these were not negotiations but discussions.
Our
correspondent says the EU team pointed out that it had outlined the
problems with the current situation, including the arrest of members of
parliament and humanitarian matters.
The team, which has
described the visit as an attempt to reopen political dialogue with
Zimbabwe, said it was not appropriate to lift sanctions at the moment
or for major aid to start.
Our correspondent says the EU visit
is regarded as an exploratory one and no breakthroughs or major
announcements had been expected.
He says that one year on from
the announcement of a key power-sharing deal in Zimbabwe, there remain
serious doubts about human rights, the stalling of political reform and
the good faith of President Mugabe and his supporters. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8251978.stm>
Nevada's battle of the presidents
By Stephen Evans
BBC News, Las Vegas
Barack Obama faces considerable opposition to his plans for
healthcare reform, not least from a man in Las Vegas, who is recruiting
Thomas Jefferson in his opposition to the US president's plans.
Mr Parshall fears the US is becoming socialist under President Obama
Glen Parshall is a great bear of a man who could make a pretty good living as a Santa Claus in any Christmas grotto.
Except, that is, for the armoury of hundreds of guns with which he is surrounded and which he fondles with gentle care.
Glen
Parshall, you see, is a pawn-broker in Las Vegas who specialises in
guns. He takes them in return for a loan, and sells those he keeps when
the loans are not repaid.
Business, he tells me, is very good
at the moment because high unemployment means more crime and so more
people wanting to protect themselves by carrying a gun.
RBS Chief Executive Stephen Hester talks to Robert Peston
A slow, smooth recovery from recession
would be far better than a rapid bounce, Stephen Hester, chief
executive of Royal Bank of Scotland, has said.
He told BBC
business editor Robert Peston that "a rather gradual emergence from
recession" where the economy could "rebalance" was the best way
forward.
He warned a "spend-not-save" culture could mean further economic downturn.
Mr Hester was made RBS boss in November 2008, at the same time as the bank had to be rescued by the government.
Father Henri de Roziers has worked to help the poor and landless in the Amazon for more than 30 years.
But
as the Dominican priest goes about his business in the Brazilian state
of Para, he is guarded around the clock by three police officers.
"Discussing
land issues is extremely dangerous in Para. There is a mafia of farmers
and loggers who still solve all their problems by shooting," says
French-born Father Henri.
Violence in the Amazon was brought to
the world's attention in February 2005 when American nun and land
rights activist Dorothy Stang was killed in the city of Anapu in Para.
Police investigating her murder discovered that Father Henri was next on the killers' list.
By Maggie Shiels
Technology reporter, BBC News, San Francisco
The Ford Taurus was originally introduced in 1986
The Ford motor company has harnessed
technology from the F22 fighter jet as part of its bid to make its new
Taurus "America's smartest full-sized sedan".
Radar devices
are aimed at helping avoid crashes by sounding an alarm and flashing
red lights when the driver gets too close to another car.
This hi-tech gadget is just one of a host being used by Ford to revive what was once the company's top seller.
"This is game changing for safety," said Ford's safety head Steve Kozak.
"The
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety in the US put out a report last
year saying if every vehicle in the US were equipped with this forward
collision warning system, we'd save about 7,000 lives a year," Mr Kozak
told BBC News.
Ford came to San Francisco as part of a 100-city
tour to let journalists dive under the hood of the $30,000 (£18,000)
car and give them access to a host of lead engineers. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8249530.stm>
Flaws overshadow Afghan outcome
President Karzai's power has been weakened by the corruption allegations
By David Loyn
BBC News, Kabul, Afghanistan
With more than 90% of the votes counted in the Afghan election,
President Hamid Karzai has secured more than 50% of the poll, and can
expect to remain in power without facing a second round of voting.
But
thousands of allegations of fraud are still being investigated amid
growing international concern, particularly among those nations whose
troops are currently fighting the Taliban in Afghanistan.
And questions are being asked about how the such a flawed result was able to happen.
The
system had an inbuilt potential for fraud as the Independent Election
Commission was responsible for all three of the processes in the
election - registering voters, running the poll and carrying out the
count. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8252294.stm>
French unease at telecom suicides
Unions blame France Telecom's drive for efficiency
French Labour Minister Xavier Darcos
is to meet the head of the country's main telecommunications company to
discuss a number of suicides among its staff.
Twenty-three employees of France Telecom have killed themselves since the beginning of 2008.
Unions blame tough management methods at the multinational, which was privatised in 1998.
But France Telecom says the rate of suicides is statistically not unusual for a company with a 100,000 workforce.
According
to the World Health Organization, France had an annual suicide rate of
26.4 for 100,000 men in 2008. The rate for women was 9.2 suicides per
100,000.
The latest suicide occurred on Friday, when a 32-year-old woman leapt to her death at a France Telecom office in Paris.
On
Wednesday, a 49-year-old man in Troyes, east of Paris, plunged a knife
into his own stomach during a meeting in which he had been told he was
being transferred.
It is hoped product placement will boost struggling broadcasters
Product placement is to be allowed on British TV shows, in a move due to be announced next week.
Independent broadcasters will be allowed to take payments for displaying commercial products during shows.
The change is intended to bring in extra funds for commercial
broadcasters. Experts believe it could raise up to £100m a year.
There are currently strict rules against product placement and this ban would remain in place on BBC shows.
Culture
Secretary Ben Bradshaw is expected to announce a three-month
consultation on the changes in a speech to the Royal Television Society
next week.
An ITV spokesman welcomed the move, which he described as "reforming UK prohibition".
You have to trust the consumer. If it's overdone or tasteless, viewers will switch off.
Peter Bazalgette, Big Brother creator
He said: "If the government does decide to permit product placement,
it will be warmly welcomed by the commercial broadcasting industry and
advertisers alike.
"Reforming the UK prohibition would also be
a welcome acknowledgement of the pressures currently faced by an
industry in transition. New sources of revenue means better-funded
content - which can only be good news for viewers."
The
spokesman added that ITV had led the campaign for product placement in
the UK, and said it could be an important new revenue stream, as it
already is in Europe.
The culture secretary's predecessor, Andy
Burnham, had said in March that "serious concerns" remained about
product placement because it could harm editorial independence. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/8252901.stm>
Israel mourns the dying Dead Sea
The
Middle East is famously a place of paradoxes, and perhaps the oddest
paradox of all is this: the Dead Sea is dying. Edward Stourton, who has
been to Israel to investigate, has found the Dead Sea is now shrinking
at a terrifying speed with the sea level dropping by more than three
feet a year.
There can be few sights sadder than a seaside restaurant that has been abandoned by the sea.
Dropping south on Route 90, the Israeli highway that stretches the
length of the Jordan River, we turned left at the service station
selling Dead Sea mud for skin-toning and salt crystals for your bath.
A
few hundred metres on is a wrecked concrete building baking in the sun,
one of those melancholy Middle East ruins that look as if they became
redundant almost as soon as they were built.
Except this one is different. Walk into what is left of the lobby and you notice the remains of a once stylish bar.
Look
ahead and you see two crescent arms enclosing a dining terrace, adorned
with an outsized crusader map of the River Jordan. It is of course
recognisable, despite the large hole in the concrete just up from
Jericho.
Eli Raz spent 14 hours underground when a hole collapsed
The restaurant was sited so that guests could drop off the terrace
straight into the sea. You do not really swim in the Dead Sea, you
bounce about, and it is easy to imagine flopping into the salty waters
after a hearty lunch.
Except that the sea has now gone, you can see it glittering in the sunshine just less than a mile away.
'Man overboard!': Alison Harper is thrown into the sea
By Alison Harper
BBC News
Waves as high as hills, sea sickness, hot sun, snow and ice, a
68ft ocean-racing yacht crammed with an amateur crew - the 35,000-mile
Clipper Round the World yacht race is not about luxury travel.
But perhaps that's part of its appeal and why about 450 complete novices are taking part in this adventure of a lifetime.
There
is a frisson of energy, excitement and anticipation as the 10 yachts
line up in Hull ahead of the race's start from the Humber.
The novice sailors undergo at least three weeks of training
Each 68ft (20m) boat, with a crew of 18 and one professional skipper, is ready for weeks at sea.
Packed
into the tiny storage areas are spares of all essential equipment; food
is bagged up and labelled for specific days; there are literally
thousands of tea bags.
Leave anything behind and the crews will regret it for a long time.
The race was the dream of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first man to sail solo non-stop around the world.
Forty years ago when he set that record he pledged to make sailing more accessible.
"For a mountaineer, the highest thing you can do is climb Mount Everest.
"There
must be thousands of people who would like to circumnavigate who don't
have the money, the confidence or a boat," Sir Robin said.
The first time we go sliding down the front of a 40ft wave, I'll be screaming
Jane McDonald
Since 1995, Sir Robin's Clipper Ventures company has helped more than 1,750 sailing novices complete a round-the-world voyage.
From Sunday, dozens more will set out to try to join that group.
"I
think some of the legs will be terrifying, especially some of the waves
in the Southern Ocean," says 41-year-old Londoner Jane McDonald.
The world's longest piece of music is
being performed live for the first time on a unique 20-metre-wide
instrument at a concert at The Roundhouse in London.
The
Longplayer is a 1,000-year-long composition by Jem Finer and is played
out by computer at several public listening posts around the world.
It began playing on 31 December 1999 and will continue - without repetition - until the last moment of 2999.
The live performance will play a 1,000 minute section of the music.
The performance began on Saturday morning and continue until the early hours of Sunday morning.
It was in 2002 that Finer - who was also one of the founding members of pop group The Pogues - developed a score for the music.
It allows the piece to be played as an orchestral installation comprising of six concentric rings of Tibetan singing bowls.
It is this arrangement that is being performed at the Roundhouse concert.
MRSA highlights the problem of antibiotic resistance
US scientists have uncovered a defence mechanism in bacteria that allows them to fend off the threat of antibiotics.
It is hoped the findings could help researchers boost the effectiveness of existing treatments.
The
study published in Science found that nitric oxide produced by the
bacteria eliminates some key effects of a wide range of antibiotics.
One UK expert said inhibiting nitric oxide synthesis could be an important advance for tackling tricky infections.
Antibiotic
resistance, for example with MRSA, is a growing problem and experts
have long warned of the need to develop new treatments.
Here, we have a short cut, where we don't have to invent new antibiotics
Dr Evgeny Nudler, study leader
The latest research, done by a team at New York University, showed
that in bacteria the production of nitric oxide - a small molecule made
up of one nitrogen and one oxygen atom - increased their resistance to
antibiotics.
They found the enzymes responsible for producing
nitric oxide were activated specifically in response to the presence of
the antibiotics.
They also showed that nitric oxide alleviates
damage caused by the drugs as well as helping to neutralise many of the
toxic compounds within the antibiotic.
The researchers then
showed that eliminating nitric oxide production in the bacteria allowed
the antibiotics to work at lower, less toxic doses. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8248020.stm>
Obama to urge financial overhaul
Mr Obama has spent billions of dollars to stimulate economic growth
US President Barack Obama is poised to call on Congress to approve an overhaul of the US regulatory regime.
In
a speech to mark one year since the collapse of Lehman Brothers bank,
he will also mount a vigorous defence of his administration's economic
policies.
The US president will focus on "the need to take the
next series of steps" in regulatory reform, White House spokesman
Robert Gibbs said.
Mr Obama's team have argued that they staved off a second Great Depression.
Mr
Obama will give his speech at 1210 local time (1610 GMT) in New York,
at Federal Hall on Wall Street, where George Washington was inaugurated
as the first US president. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8253941.stm>
'Next generation' wi-fi approved
manufacturers have been selling 802.11n products for many years
The next-generation of wi-fi
technology has finally been approved for use, despite being on sale in
laptops and other equipment for several years.
The 802.11n technology, as it is known, was ratified by the IEEE, a body that oversees all wi-fi standards.
It was conceived seven years ago and offers speeds at least six times faster than current approved technology.
Electronics firms have sold PCs and routers using the standard for many years, labelled "802.11n draft".
But
without the IEEE's approval, there were no guarantees that future
networking equipment would be compatible with the devices.
The IEEE's rubber stamp has changed that.
All
existing draft 802.11n wi-fi products will work with the final
standard, according to the Wi-Fi Alliance, a group that tests wireless
products to ensure compliance.
"This was an extraordinarily wide-ranging technical challenge," said Bruce Kraemer of the IEEE.
"When
we started in 2002, many of the technologies addressed in 802.11n were
university research topics and had not been implemented."
The
802.11n technology offers speeds of at least 300 megabits per second
(Mbps), many times higher than the previous 802.11g, which operates at
speeds of up to 54 Mbps.
Supermarket chain Asda is to introduce a range of traditional Asian clothing in 21 of its stores.
The clothes are a response to demand from customers for affordable authentic Asian clothes.
The range has been designed in conjunction with a team in India and is made with authentic Indian material.
The 13-piece range includes sequinned embellished Salwaar Kameez
(traditional suits), Khurtas (tunics), Dapata (scarves) and Churidar
(slim trousers).
However, Asda says the range has
been not designed solely with the store's Asian customers in mind "and
it is anticipated the line will appeal to Western shoppers too". <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8253257.stm>
Key gene 'controls disease fight'
Natural killer cells are key part of our immune system defence
A master gene that helps mobilise the immune system to fight disease has been discovered by UK scientists.
It causes stem cells in the blood to become disease-fighting "Natural Killer" (NK) immune cells.
It
is hoped the discovery will lead to new ways to boost the body's
production of these frontline cells - potentially creating a new way to
kill cancer.
The Nature Immunology study may also help development of new treatments for type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
These
conditions are caused by a malfunctioning immune system turning against
the body's own tissues, and it is suspected that faulty NK cells play a
key role in this process.
The researchers, from Imperial
College London, University College London and the Medical Research
Council's National Institute for Medical Research have created mice
that lack the key gene - E4bp4.
If we understand how these cells function, we can hope to exploit this knowledge to improve treatments for cancer patients
Ken Campbell Leukaemia Research
These animals are normal in every way except they have no NK cells at all.
In
theory, they should provide scientists with a golden opportunity to pin
down the role of NK cells in auto-immune diseases - and possibly in
other conditions such as female infertility.
Properly
functioning NK cells are a type of white blood cell central to the
body's first line of defence, rapidly killing off tumour cells, viruses
and bacterial infections.
The latest work shows that the E4bp4 gene controls production of the cells from blood stem cells in the bone marrow.
The aim now is to develop a drug treatment ramping up production of NK cells.
Currently,
NK cells isolated from donated blood are sometimes used to treat cancer
patients - but the effectiveness of donated cells is limited because NK
cells can be slightly different from person to person. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8250330.stm>
Africa's internet journey: Day One
Rory Cellan-Jones | 08:49 UK time, Monday, 14 September 2009
The first stop on our journey in East Africa was a nondescript building
in an idyllic location looking out over the Indian Ocean. In fact, the
Seacom Landing Station is worse than nondescript - it's the kind of
building which Prince Charles might describe as a monstrous carbuncle,
located right next to Mombasa's most imposing sight, Fort Jesus, built
by Vasco da Gama in the 16th century.
But maybe the identikit shed above the beach where the Seacom cable
comes ashore may one day be seen as a historic site in its own right -
the place where East Africa finally got a decent connection to the
internet.
Mahmoud NoorMahmoud Noor, an impressive young Kenyan telecoms engineer
who runs the station, was immensely proud of it. "It's a privilege to
be part of history, to be giving the first real broadband connection to
the East African region" he told me. "As Obama says, we are on the
right side of history."<http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/technology/2009/09/africas_internet_journey_day_o.html>
Chavez in $2bn Russian arms deal
Hugo Chavez visited Moscow last week
Russia has agreed to lend Venezuela over $2bn (£1.2bn) to buy weapons, President Hugo Chavez has said.
The credit will be used to purchase nearly 100 tanks and a series of anti-aircraft rocket systems from Russia.
In his weekly TV address, Mr Chavez said the weapons were intended to boost Venezuela's defensive capacity.
The
deal comes as tensions grow between Venezuela and Colombia over
Bogota's plan to allow the US access to several military bases there.
Barack Obama: "We intend to pass regulatory reform through Congress"
US President Barack Obama has warned
bankers against complacency, saying that some in the industry are
ignoring the lessons of the financial crisis.
"We will not go back to the days of reckless behaviour and unchecked excess at the heart of this crisis," he said.
He called on Wall Street to support "the most ambitious overhaul of the financial system since the Great Depression".
The financial system was returning to normal but had not recovered, he added.
"There
are some in the financial industry who are misreading this moment,"
said President Obama in a speech to mark one year since the collapse of
Lehman Brothers bank.
"Instead of learning the lessons of
Lehman and the crisis from which we are still recovering, they are
choosing to ignore them. They do so not just at their own peril, but at
our nation's."
OBAMA'S AUTUMN CHALLENGE
Financial regulation:
Mr Obama wants to tighten the rules governing the banking system, but
his reforms could face opposition on Wall Street, and when bankers
complain, lawmakers listen.
Healthcare: Will enough senators vote through Mr Obama's ambitious health bill - and will it include a publicly-run insurance scheme?
Climate change: A bill establishing a
"cap-and-trade" scheme for carbon emissions has passed through the
House of Representatives, but senators from coal-producing states
threaten to derail its passage through the upper chamber.
He told Wall Street that it could not resume taking risks without
regard for consequences and said they should not expect US taxpayers to
bail them out again.
The speech came as UK Prime Minister
Gordon Brown said that he was "appalled" that some financial firms had
been continuing or even extending their bonus culture.
In a BBC
interview, Mr Brown said he was determined that world leaders meeting
in Pittsburgh next week would "complete the unfinished business" of
cleaning up banks - including establishing rules on bonuses. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8255603.stm>
Bank crisis lessons 'not learned'
Lehman declared bankruptcy in the early hours of 15 September 2008
A year after Lehman Brothers collapsed, a think-tank has warned the lessons of the crisis have not been learned.
The
Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) says the rapid return to
the City's bonus culture shows real reform has been "very limited".
The warnings echoed a speech by US President Barack Obama, who warned of complacency in the banking sector.
Also, UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that there was "unfinished business" with banks.
"Alarm
bells should be ringing with the early signs of a 'back to business'
attitude in the City and little evidence that policymakers are taking
measures to ensure the next economic recovery is better balanced than
the last one," said Tony Dolphin, senior economist at the IPPR.
By Maggie Shiels
Technology reporter, BBC News, San Francisco
Microsoft said "images play a large part in the decision making process"
Software giant Microsoft has
introduced "visual search" to its Bing search engine to try to further
set itself apart from market-leader Google.
The new feature will allow users to browse results using pictures instead of text.
Visual search will initially concentrate on four main areas: travel, health, leisure and shopping.
"The whole concept is that the world of search is going to change," said Microsoft's Yusuf Mehdi.
"There
will be a more graphic way people will search, and it will pivot how
people search," said Mr Mehdi, the firm's senior vice president of
online services. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8256046.stm>
Google turns page on news content
By Maggie Shiels
Technology reporter, BBC News, San Francisco
The BBC is the only UK media outlet that has signed up to Fast Flip
Google has unveiled a service called
Fast Flip to let users consume news more quickly and to boost the
flagging fortunes of the news industry.
The product is designed to mirror the way readers flick through magazines and newspapers.
Google has teamed up with more than 30 providers such as the BBC to provide what it calls a new reading experience.
The search giant was recently called a parasite for making money aggregating content it did not create.
"I
don't believe we are part of the problem. I believe we are part of the
solution," Google's vice-president of search, Marissa Mayer, told BBC
News.
"We have tried to build platforms and tools that build a
healthy, rich eco-system online that is supportive of content. This is
a new way of looking at content."
Earlier this year, Wall
Street Journal chief Robert Thomson called the search company and other
aggregators such as Yahoo "parasites or tech tapeworms in the
intestines of the internet".
The news industry has been
struggling with how to broaden the size of its online audience and how
to make money from content it has long given away free.
Last
month, media mogul Rupert Murdoch said he hoped all of his major
newspapers would be charging for online content by the end of June next
year. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8256054.stm>
'Pretty' prison officer wins case
A hearing will be held to see how much compensation Ms Kajla should receive
A former prison officer who said she
was forced out of her job after being bullied because she was pretty
has won her case for unfair dismissal.
Amitjo Kajla, 22, said she suffered the abuse at Brinsford Young Offenders' Institution near Wolverhampton.
Her
tribunal heard how former colleagues questioned her behaviour with male
inmates and suggested she rejected advice about the dress code.
The tribunal has now issued a written judgement backing her claims.
Ms Kajla, who lives in Wolverhampton, also won claims for age and sex discrimination against HM Prison Service (HMPS).
A genetic breakthrough raises hope of
easing suffering for people with chronic lung disease - and maybe those
just fighting a common cold.
The biological reason why the
lungs of people with conditions such as asthma and cystic fibrosis
often clog up with thick mucus has been unclear.
But Cincinnati Children's Hospital researchers have identified the main genetic switch behind the build-up.
The Journal of Clinical Investigation study raises hopes of new treatments.
Lead
researcher Dr Jeffrey Whitsett said a way to combat excessive mucus
production would potentially be a significant step forward, as there
was currently no effective treatment to remove build-up once it had
taken place.
WHAT IS MUCUS?
A
sugar-coated collection of large proteins that, in healthy conditions,
help the body defend itself by collecting and then clearing out
contaminants
It was thought that after airways were attacked by an allergic
response or inflammation mucus cells, known as goblet cells, divided
and proliferated at a very fast rate - a process known as hyperplasia.
But
instead the Cincinnati team discovered that a type of lung cell, called
Clara cells, instead morph into goblet cells - a process called
metaplasia.
They also showed that the process was reversible -
goblet cells can change back to Clara cells if the initial problem is
dealt with.
Hotel Lambert occupies an enviable position on a bend in the River Seine
By David Chazan
BBC News, Paris
It is a mansion fit for a prince - one of the grandest houses in one of the world's most beautiful cities.
But the 17th-Century Hotel Lambert in the heart of Paris is now the focus of a bitter dispute.
French conservationists are taking its new owner, a Qatari prince, to court to try to block his plan to renovate it.
They
say it would cause "irreversible damage" to a listed historic monument
where Chopin composed some of his music and the writer Voltaire lived
with his mistress.
Decades of neglect have left Hotel Lambert in a state of disrepair
But the prince, Sheikh Hamad bin Abdullah al-Thania, brother of the
Emir of Qatar, insists that his works will restore the stunning but
decaying riverside mansion to its former splendour.
From the outside, the Hotel Lambert on the Ile Saint-Louis is a palatial and stately building.
But go inside, and you soon see that the years have taken their toll. Much of the interior is quite dilapidated.
Its former owners, the Rothschild family, sub-divided the building into apartments.
Parts of the timber structure are rotting. The prince's architect has had wooden supports installed to prop it up.
One
of the staircases is sagging. Paintings on the ceiling by Charles Le
Brun, whose work also graces the Hall of Mirrors in the Palace of
Versailles, are cracked and discoloured.
The prince plans to have them restored by French experts.
And
he wants to convert the building back into a single residence,
scrapping partitions put up when it was divided some 50 years ago.
Past glories
But
members of the Historic Paris association are mounting a legal
challenge to the prince's plan because they say it will change the
character of the mansion.
"What we object to very strongly is
the plan to build an underground car park, install air conditioning and
make the external wall about 50cm higher, as well as changes to the
facades to return them, supposedly, to the state they were in in the
17th Century," says Pierre Housieaux, head of the association.
But
the prince's lawyer, Thierry Tomasi, says the purpose of air
conditioning is to preserve the paintings and stop them cracking again.
And he says the underground car park will make it unnecessary to
continue parking cars in the courtyard, spoiling the look of the
entrance. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/8244828.stm>
The book that influenced all others
By Bob Chaundy
Samuel Johnson, born 300 years ago
this week, wrote one of the most important books in the English
language. So what made his dictionary so special?
"Dictionaries",
said Samuel Johnson, "are like watches: the worst is better than none,
and the best cannot be expected to go quite true."
Johnson was buried in Westminster Abbey
It may not have achieved perfection, but Samuel Johnson's A
Dictionary of the English Language, published in 1755, is generally
regarded as one of the most important works of scholarship in the
English language.
Such was its authority that it remained the
most pre-eminent of its kind for more than 170 years, until the advent
of the Oxford English Dictionary in 1928. Johnson introduced a literary
quality to lexicography that remains an influence to this day.
Remarkably,
during the nine years it took him to complete his work, his wife
Elizabeth, known as Tetty, died and he suffered increasing bouts of
depression that had afflicted him throughout his life.
JOHNSON'S DEFINITIONS
Spider: "the animal that spins webs for flies"
Wheel: "a circular body that turns round upon an axis"
Oats: "a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people"
It wasn't just the wealth of poems, essays, novels, and literary
criticism that inspired a group of publishers to commission the
dictionary from Dr Johnson, but also his reputation for tackling the
most daunting of literary tasks such as compiling comprehensive reports
of parliamentary debates.
Books were in his blood. He was born
the son of a bookseller and from an early age devoured the wide range
of literature at his disposal.
"He had an amazing memory," says
Joanne Wilson, curator of the Samuel Johnson Museum situated at his
birthplace in Lichfield, Staffordshire.
"He was a walking
encyclopaedia and there's a story that when he was three, his mother
handed him a large section of the Book of Common Prayer, and he had
memorised it within minutes." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/8255720.stm>
Bank urges climate 'action now'
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website
Extreme weather is straining poorer countries' finances, the bank says
Climate change will be a serious barrier to growth in poorer nations and must be curbed, says the World Bank.
The
bank's World Development Report (WDR) urges a rapid scaling-up of
spending on clean energy research and protection for poorer countries.
Even a warming of 2C (3.6F) - the G8's target - could reduce GDP in poor nations, the report concludes.
The bank urges governments to conclude an "equitable deal" at December's UN climate summit in Copenhagen.
That
"equitable deal" should involve industrialised countries paying for the
damage that their historical emissions have caused and will cause in
poorer parts of the world, it suggests.
Development will get harder, not easier, with climate change
World Development Report 2010: Development and Climate Change
"Developing countries are disproportionately affected by climate
change - a crisis that is not of their making and for which they are
the least prepared," said World Bank president Robert Zoellick.
"For that reason, an equitable deal in Copenhagen is vitally important."
Part
of that deal, the report says, involves industrialised countries making
rapid cuts in their greenhouse gas output, creating "emissions space"
to allow for rising fossil fuel use in poorer societies. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8256961.stm>
Iran 'must discuss' nuclear issue
Iran insists its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
has said Iran must answer "head on" concerns about its nuclear
programme at talks with world powers on 1 October.
Mrs Clinton said the issue "cannot be ignored" and was the key reason why the US agreed to take part in the talks.
Tehran last week offered "comprehensive" talks, but did not mention its nuclear programme.
The West fears that Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons - a claim denied by Tehran.
Underwater footage of the sunken ship that could contain nuclear waste
By Duncan Kennedy
BBC News, Italy
A shipwreck that could contain nuclear
waste is being investigated by authorities in Italy amid claims that it
was deliberately sunk by the mafia.
An informant told a judge
the ship was one of a number he blew up as part of an illegal operation
to bypass rules on the disposal of toxic waste.
The sunken vessel has been found 30km (18 miles) off the south-west of Italy.
Murky pictures taken by a robot camera show the vessel intact and alongside it are a number of yellow barrels.
Labels on them say the contents are toxic.
The informant said the mafia had muscled in on the lucrative business of nuclear waste disposal.
But he said that instead of getting rid of the material safely, he blew up the vessel out at sea, off the Calabrian coast.
He also says he was responsible for sinking two other ships containing toxic waste.
Experts are now examining samples taken from the wreck.
Other vessels
An
official said that if the samples proved to be radioactive then a
search for up to 30 other sunken vessels believed scuttled by the mafia
would begin immediately.
For years there have been rumours that
the mafia was sinking ships with nuclear and other waste on board, as
part of a money-making racket.
The environmental campaign group
Greenpeace and others have compiled lists over the past few decades of
ships that have disappeared off the coast of Italy and Greece.
Processing waste is highly specialised and is supposed to be an industry where security is the top priority.
Thousands of displaced people are still living in makeshift camps
A senior United Nations official, Lynn Pascoe, is due to arrive in Sri Lanka for two days of talks on urgent matters.
The world body has been expressing concern at the slow pace of release of Tamil refugees.
Many are still detained in government-run camps four months after the end of the war.
The UN is sounding a note of urgency on Sri Lanka and these meetings may be well be tense.
Mr Pascoe, the UN's head of political affairs, will hold talks on "critical issues", the UN said.
"We're very concerned about the pace of progress," Mr Pascoe said in New York before leaving.
In
the same breath he referred to agreements made by the government when
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon visited in May, including ones on
accountability for possible violation of human rights laws, and on the
movement of Tamil refugees out of their camps.
The government is now letting more people return home but still detains many others.
It
has also just rejected the idea of a European Union investigation into
its rights record, saying: "We do not have human rights issues."
Mr
Pascoe says he will also discuss Sri Lanka's decision to expel the
spokesman for the UN Children's Fund for allegedly parroting Tamil
Tiger propaganda, and will raise the continued detention of two Sri
Lankan UN staff.
Last week a UN spokeswoman said they had
initially been "disappeared" by the government in June and there were
allegations that the authorities had mistreated them. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8258076.stm>
Military robot 'hops' over walls
By Paul Rincon
Science and environment reporter, BBC News
The robot is able to leap over fences and walls
Video footage has been released of a robot that can leap over obstacles more than 7.5m (25ft) high.
Most of the time, the shoebox-sized robot - which is being developed for the US military - uses its four wheels to get around.
But the Precision Urban Hopper can use a piston-actuated "leg" to launch it over obstacles such as walls or fences.
The robot could boost the capabilities of troops and special forces engaged in urban warfare, say researchers.
The robot is shoebox sized and guided by GPS
The programme is being funded by Darpa, the US military's research arm.
Earlier
this year, Sandia National Laboratories awarded the contract to build
the next generation of the hopper to Massachusetts-based robotics firm
Boston Dynamics.
Researchers at Sandia have tried out the robot on a variety of different surfaces.
The semi-autonomous, GPS-guided gadget could be used for surveillance in urban environments.
Its developers say this could potentially reduce troop casualties.
The authorities in Nepal have ordered
officials to find more goats for ritual slaughter ahead of the
country's biggest religious festival of the year.
Officials say that there is a severe shortage of goats to offer as sacrifice in the capital Kathmandu.
The reason for the shortage is unclear, but experts say it is mostly due to demand outstripping supply.
They say that it may be because China has this year exported fewer goats to Nepal, resulting in far higher prices.
The
Nepal Food Corporation has now ordered officials to travel to the
countryside and buy goats to be brought to Kathmandu ahead of the
festival of Dashain on 19 September.
Goats are traditionally slaughtered during the 15-day event to appease Durga, an important Hindu goddess.
A
radio campaign has been launched to persuade farmers to sell their
animals as part of a campaign to meet the high demand for goat meat and
to control price rises. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8256723.stm>
Will Japan's global ties change?
By Philippa Fogarty
BBC News
Mr Hatoyama is expected to meet Mr Obama at the G20 summit this month
Days before his landslide election win, Yukio Hatoyama ruffled feathers in Washington with an essay in the New York Times.
Hitting
out at US-led globalisation, he said many Asian nations wanted to see
America's "political and economic excesses" restrained.
US
military might was key to regional stability, he said, but stronger
ties with regional neighbours were also needed to safeguard Japan's
interests.
Japanese media said the publication of the piece was
a mix-up; Mr Hatoyama said its anti-American tone was the product of
unsympathetic editing.
And he has certainly worked hard since then to reassure US leaders that the bilateral relationship is his top priority.
Nonetheless, questions are being asked about what Japan's historic change of government might mean for its global ties.
Mr
Hatoyama's win ended 50 years of almost unbroken rule by the Liberal
Democratic Party, and when he is sworn into office on Wednesday the
international community will be eagerly following his next moves. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8257176.stm>
Bradshaw to back licence fee plan
Ben Bradshaw will deliver his speech to broadcasting leaders
The culture secretary is to make a
speech in which he is expected to defend plans to use part of the
licence fee to fund regional ITV news.
Ben Bradshaw's department has published research suggesting more than half of the public supported the plan.
This contrasts with a survey for the BBC Trust which suggested most licence-payers would prefer lower licence fees.
Mr Bradshaw will deliver his speech at the Royal Television Society's Cambridge convention.
The
culture secretary criticised the BBC's leadership in the summer for
opposing proposals to split the licence fee, so-called top slicing.
The
government wants to use a small part of the money after 2012 to
maintain regional news on ITV1, which can no longer afford to provide
it.
The BBC says that would break the historic funding link between it and its audiences, reducing accountability.
In
his speech Mr Bradshaw will say that a culture department survey
suggests 65% of those people questioned supported the idea of funding
regional ITV news.
But the shadow culture secretary, Jeremy
Hunt, said other research suggested that if there was spare money at
the BBC, the public wanted it back. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8258120.stm>
Facebook grows and makes money
By Maggie Shiels
Technology reporter, BBC News, San Francisco
Facebook's audience has doubled since the start of the year
The world's largest social networking
site just got bigger with the announcement it has 300 million active
monthly users from around the globe.
Facebook also revealed that it has started making money ahead of schedule.
The company had not expected to start turning a profit until sometime in 2010.
"This
is important to us because it sets Facebook up to be a strong
independent service for the long term," said Facebook founder Mark
Zuckerberg.
"We are succeeding at building Facebook in a sustainable way. We are just getting started on our goal of connecting everyone.
"We
face a lot of fun and important challenges that require rethinking the
current systems for enabling information flow across the web," Mr
Zuckerberg said in a blog post. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8258117.stm>
Doctors warn on climate failure
By Richard Black
Environment correspondent, BBC News website
The authors believe climate change will increase rates of malnutrition
Failure to agree a new UN climate deal
in December will bring a "global health catastrophe", say 18 of the
world's professional medical organisations.
Writing in The Lancet and the British Medical Journal, they urge doctors to "take a lead" on the climate issue.
In a separate editorial, the journals say that people in poor tropical nations will suffer the worst impacts.
They argue that curbing climate change would have other benefits such as more healthy diets and cleaner air.
December's UN summit, to be held in Copenhagen, is due to agree a new global climate treaty to supplant the Kyoto Protocol.
But
preparatory talks have been plagued by lack of agreement on how much to
cut greenhouse gas emissions and how to finance climate protection for
the poorest countries.
Effects of climate change on health will... put the lives and wellbeing of billions of people at increased risk
Lancet/UCL report
"There is a real danger that politicians will be indecisive,
especially in such turbulent economic times as these," according to the
letter signed by leaders of 18 colleges of medicine and other medical
disciplines across the world.
Brazil is buying four Scorpene attack submarines from France
Is Latin America gearing up for conflict? Some regional
commentators certainly fear that a handful of countries are teetering
on the edge of a full-blown arms race they can ill afford - either
financially or diplomatically.
That fear has been stoked in the past week by the coincidental announcement of two major procurement programmes.
Firstly,
Brazil confirmed on 7 September that it will buy four Scorpene attack
submarines from France, and will build 50 EC-725 transport helicopters
under licence.
It has also opened negotiations with French company Dassault for a large order of Rafale fighter aircraft.
Then
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned last week from a successful
shopping trip to Moscow, with T-72 main battle tanks and an unknown
quantity of air defence systems in the bag.
Both countries are ramping up military expenditure to levels not seen in decades.
Venezuela has signed a $2bn arms deal with Russia
For Brazil, re-armament is ostensibly necessary to update much of
its obsolete equipment and to improve the protection of its vast
territory and recently-discovered offshore oil fields.
But
Brasilia also harbours a desire to cement its status as the regional
political and economic heavyweight through increasing military clout.
Hence
the accords with France, which will also see the two countries
co-operate on the construction of a hull for a nuclear-powered
submarine that Brazil wants in service by 2020.
Full technology transfer was a key Brazilian demand during all its contract negotiations.
Conscious of regional sensitivities, Brazil has consistently stressed that its re-armament is non-offensive.
In August 2008, the US signed a deal with Poland to site
interceptors at a base near the Baltic Sea, and with the Czech Republic
to build a radar station on its territory.
A Czech government
spokesman said Mr Obama spoke to Czech Prime Minister Jan Fischer on
Wednesday, but declined to release further details.
In Poland,
deputy Foreign Minister Andrzej Kremer told Reuters news agency: "From
different sources we hear there are serious chances the shield won't be
deployed here."
The missile shield was expected to be fully operational by 2012.
Washington said the European sites were needed to protect European allies and US forces in Europe from Iran or another country.
However,
the Wall Street Journal reported: "The US will base its decision on a
determination that Iran's long-range missile program has not progressed
as rapidly as previously estimated, reducing the threat to the
continental US and major European capitals, according to current and
former US officials." <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8260230.stm>
Can Hollywood transform its fortunes?
By David Willis
BBC News, Los Angeles
Since taking over the running of his father's three drive-in
movie theatres in the mid-1950s, Sumner Redstone has transformed the
business into one of the biggest media conglomerates in the world -
Viacom.
Transformers is marching towards ticket sales of $1bn
Now aged 86, he oversees the running of his empire, which also
includes Paramount Pictures, US TV network CBS and a number of cable
channels such as MTV, from a cosy Mediterranean-style villa high in the
Hollywood Hills.
Having cheated death twice - cancer and a
hotel fire - he says retiring is simply not on the agenda. And when it
comes to dying, well, that's just for wimps.
This zest for
immortality may have something to do with the fact that both he and
Paramount have a great deal to be pleased about.
Amid a record
summer at the US box office, with $4.3bn-worth of movie tickets sold,
three Paramount films managed to take audiences by storm. <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8258424.stm>
When the building stopped, the lifestyle went very fast. It's a lifestyle I don't see coming back
After my
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