Aston Villa sign Charles N'Zogbia from Wigan Athletic

New Villa signing N'Zogbia scores double (UK users only)

Charles N'Zogbia has completed his move from Wigan to Aston Villa after agreeing personal terms on a five-year deal at Villa Park.

The two clubs settled on a fee, reported to be about £9.5m, for the 25-year-old winger on Monday, after Villa's initial bid was turned down.
"I am really happy and excited to sign for Aston Villa," said N'Zogbia.
"It is a great club and a really big step for me in my career, so I am sure I will enjoy my football here."
N'Zogbia scored 15 goals in 83 Premier League appearances for Wigan after an offer of Ryan Taylor and a reported £6m fee secured his services from Newcastle in January 2009.

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I think its going to be a really good season

Charles N'Zogbia

Five of those goals came in the left-sided attacker's final six Premier League matches for the club as the Latics avoided relegation on the final day of the season.
His goal-scoring run extended to France's friendly against Poland in June in which his first international goal was the difference between the sides.
Wigan manager Roberto Martinez believes that his departure has come at the right time for all parties.

"We're all disappointed to lose a player like Charles N'Zogbia, who has been fantastic for Wigan Athletic over the past two years," he said.
"Now is the time for him to move on to a club who have matched the market valuation for him and allow us to move on reinvest and take our football club onto another level."
Villa's purchase of N'Zogbia's has been funded by the departure of their own big names, with Ashley Young leaving for Manchester United and Stewart Downing sold to Liverpool.
It is new manager Alex McLeish's second foray into the transfer market this summer after the signing of goalkeeper Shay Given, a former Newcastle team-mate of N'Zogbia's, from Manchester City.

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US economy: GDP growth much weaker than thought

US economic growth is much weaker than first thought, government figures show.

The economy grew at an annualised rate of 1.3% in the second quarter, the Commerce Department said. Economists had forecast growth of 1.8%.
And in a surprise move, first-quarter growth was revised down sharply from 1.9% to 0.4%.
This evidence of economic weakness increases the pressure on the government as it attempts to increase its borrowing limit.
Slow growth makes it more difficult for the US to tackle its deficit.
If Congress does not raise the debt limit by 2 August, the US government could face funding shortfalls that it cannot meet by extra borrowing.

President Barack Obama urged Democrats and Republicans in the Senate "to find common ground" on a plan to address the debt crisis.

"There are plenty of ways out of this mess. But we are almost out of time.
"If we don't come to an agreement, we could lose our country's triple A credit rating," he said. "That is inexcusable."
"On a day when we've already been reminded how delicate the economy is, we can end [this crisis] ourselves."
US markets opened lower, with the Dow Jones, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq all falling 1% in early trade.
European markets, which were already in negative territory, saw further falls after the figures were released.
'Shocking' After the revision, the US growth figures now correspond to a quarterly increase of just 0.1% in the first three months of 2011, followed by a 0.3% rise in the second quarter.
Economists had expected steady growth in the second quarter, now that supply constraints from Japan after the earthquake and tsunami are easing.

The main reason for the lower-than-expected second-quarter figure was that consumer spending virtually ground to a halt, growing by just 0.1%, compared with 2.1% growth in the first quarter.

The large downward revision to the first quarter's growth figure was made as a result of lower capital investment and higher imports than first thought, and adjusting how seasonal factors are taken into account.
In addition, growth for the fourth quarter of 2010 was revised down from 3.1% to 2.3%, indicating that the economy had already started slowing before the end of last year.
Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer at Solaris Asset Management, said the figures were "shocking".
"Clearly this is evidence of a mid-cycle slowdown. The only question now is do we see a pick-up in the second half and so far the economic data to date doesn't suggest that.
"You might have some analysts come out and talk recession, talk about a double dip. Right now none of the forecasts even come close to that but this is weak data."
Worse recession The Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis makes annual revisions to its GDP estimates every July, incorporating more complete and detailed data.
It now says that the US recession of 2007-2009 was more severe than previously reported, with the economy shrinking by 5.1% over that period, rather than 4.1%.
But it also says that growth in 2010 was a bit stronger than it had first estimated.

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Dyslexia makes voices hard to discern, study finds" By Jennifer Carpenter

People with dyslexia struggle to recognise familiar voices, scientists suggest.

The finding is the first tentative evidence that small sounds in the human voice that vary between people are difficult for dyslexics to hear.
Writing in the journal Science, the scientists say that many people could have some degree of "voice blindness".
And by studying it, scientists hope to better understand how the human brain has evolved to recognise speech.
Humans rely on small sounds called phonemes to tell one person from another.
As we first try to form the word dog, for example, phonemes are the "duh"-"og"-"guh" sounds that our parents prompt us to make.
But as we master the ability to read, we become less reliant on recognising these sounds to read, and eventually stop noticing them.
Despite ignoring them, however, phonemes remain important for voice recognition.
The tiny inflections in the way people pronounce phonemes gives a listener cues to tell one voice from another.
Because people who suffer from dyslexia are known to struggle with phonemes when reading, a US-based team of scientists wondered whether they might also struggle hearing them in people's voices.
Listen well To investigate, the team grouped 30 people of similar age, education and IQ into two camps: those with and without a history of dyslexia.
The subjects then went through a training period to learn to associate 10 different voices - half speaking English and half speaking Chinese - with 10 computer-generated avatars.
The subjects were then later quizzed on how many of those voices they could match to the avatars.
Non-dyslexics outperformed people with a history of dyslexia by 40% when listening to English.
However, this advantage disappeared when the groups were listening to Chinese.

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Listen to details of the test on Science in Action

Dorothy Bishop from the University of Oxford thinks that this is because "when [they] are listening to Chinese, it is a level playing field, because no one has learned to hear [Chinese] phonemes".

The researchers think that dyslexics don't have as comprehensive a phoneme sound library in their heads, and so they struggle when they hear phonemes spoken by unfamiliar voices because their "reference copy" isn't as well-defined.
"It is a very interests result... the only thing that I would really like to see to convince me... is if they were to repeat the experiment using Jabberwocky."
Using Jabberwocky, the nonsense poem by Lewis Carroll, would allow the researchers to determine whether the listeners identify who's who from the meaning of what they are saying, or whether listeners are purely relying on the phonemes.
Dr Bishop speculated that non-dyslexics may be worse at extracting the meaning of the words, meaning they under perform in this task.
Understanding the mechanics of voice recognition is important, said the study's lead author Tyler Perrachione from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, US, because it allows a listener to pinpoint a familiar voice above the hubbub of a crowded room.
Mr Perrachione explained that very little is known about voice blindness, which is formally called phonagnosia.
"In reality, phonagnosia is probably much more common," he explained, "but people who don't recognize that voices sound different may not even realize they lack the ability to tell voices apart."

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Marvel wins superhero copyright claim

Marvel has won a legal battle to retain copyright of its lucrative comic book characters including Spider-Man and The Incredible Hulk.

The company sued the family of late co-creator Jack Kirby last year after they laid claim to copyrights for work he created from 1958 to 1963.
However a New York judge ruled Kirby's illustrations of characters like Iron Man had been created "for hire".
A lawyer for Kirby's estate has said they will appeal the ruling.
Other characters at the centre of the dispute included The Fantastic Four, The Mighty Thor, The X-Men, The Avengers, Ant-Man, Nick Fury and The Rawhide Kid.
"This case is not about whether Jack Kirby or Stan Lee is the real 'creator' of Marvel characters,'' US District Judge Colleen McMahon wrote in her 50-page ruling.
"It is about whether Kirby's work qualifies as work-for-hire under the Copyright Act of 1909.''
'Respectfully disagree'
The judge said the contracts she reviewed made it clear that all of Kirby's work for publications owned by Marvel was work for hire.
She noted the artist - who died in 1994 - said in a 1986 sworn statement that he did his work at a time when it was common practice for vested ownership of his creations to belong to the company that paid him to draw.
She added Kirby had also signed a written agreement in the spring of 1972 admitting that he was not entitled to retain ownership of the work.
The judge therefore concluded Marvel was considered the author and owner of Kirby's creations because the characters were made at Marvel's expense.
"We are pleased that in this case, the judge has confirmed Marvel's ownership," a statement from The Walt Disney Co, which purchased Marvel in 2009, said.
Marc Toberoff, a lawyer for the Kirby estate, told Hollywood Reporter: "We respectfully disagree with the court's ruling and intend to appeal this matter."

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Libya taunts UK over rebel leader death

Libya's regime has taunted the UK over the death of rebel military commander Gen Abdel Fattah Younes.

He was killed this week in mysterious circumstances.
A spokesman suggested the incident showed the UK government had made a mistake by recognising the rebel council as the sole authority in Libya.
There have been claims that Gen Younes, a former minister in Col Gaddafi's government, was shot by fellow rebels or by al-Qaeda.
On Wednesday, UK Foreign Secretary William Hague said the UK would recognise the Libyan National Transitional Council as the "sole governmental authority", as it expelled Gaddafi-regime diplomats.
Rebel leader Mustafa Abdul-Jalil said Gen Younes and two aides had been killed by gunmen after being recalled from the front.
He said the ringleader of the attack had been held but he gave no details about his identity or a motive.
Hundreds of mourners carried a coffin containing the general's body into Benghazi's main square on Friday.
Col Gaddafi's government in Tripoli said the killing was proof that the rebels were not capable of ruling Libya.
'Nice slap to face' Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said: "It is a nice slap to the face of the British that the council that they recognised could not protect its own commander of the army."
Mr Ibrahim also said Gen Younes was killed by al-Qaeda, repeating a claim that the group is the strongest force within the rebel movement, which is based in the east of the country.
"By this act, al-Qaeda wanted to mark out its presence and its influence in this region," he said.
"The other members of the (rebel) National Transitional Council knew about it but could not react because they are terrified of al-Qaeda," he added.
The general - a former interior minister who had served at the heart of Col Muammar Gaddafi's regime since the 1969 coup - joined the rebels at the beginning of the Libyan uprising in February.
On Wednesday, the Libyan charge d'affaires in the UK was called to the Foreign Office to be told he and other diplomats must leave.
Instead the UK will ask the National Transitional Council to appoint a new diplomatic envoy.
It follows similar moves by the US and France. The UK previously said it recognised "countries not governments".

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Richard Nixon Watergate testimony ordered released

The secret grand jury testimony given by former US President Richard Nixon over the Watergate scandal is set to be released after more than 36 years, following an order by a federal judge.

Judge Royce Lamberth granted a request by historian Stanley Kutler to release the transcript, citing of its historical significance.
But it will not be unsealed until the government has had a chance to appeal.
The political scandal prompted Nixon to resign in 1974.
Nixon, who died 17 years ago, was the only US president to resign.
He left office amid the fallout after a break-in at the Democratic National Committee headquarters at the Watergate complex in Washington.
Nixon testified for two days in California in June 1975, 10 months after his resignation.
Judge Lamberth ruled that the historical interest in the 297-page transcript far outweighed the need to keep the records secret.
Watergate's "significance in American history cannot be overstated," Judge Lamberth wrote.
"The disclosure of President Nixon's grand jury testimony would likely enhance the existing historical record, foster scholarly discussion and improve the public's understanding of a significant historical event," he said.
Mr Kutler, a professor from the University of Wisconsin, has written several books about Nixon and Watergate and has previously successfully sued to force the release of audio recordings Nixon secretly made in the Oval Office.
"Nixon knew when you testified before a grand jury you exposed yourself to perjury, so I'm betting he told the truth," Mr Kutler said.

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Venezuela President Hugo Chavez in middle class appeal

The Venezuelan President, Hugo Chavez, says he wants to open up his socialist political project to the middle classes and private sector.

Mr Chavez said his government had to convince Venezuela's middle classes they were needed.
Speaking by telephone on state television, he said he was entering a more reflective period of his life.
Mr Chavez recently underwent cancer treatment in Cuba, but plans to stand for re-election next year.
The Venezuelan leader made his comments a day after he celebrated his 57th birthday, when - appearing in yellow rather than his characteristic red shirt - he told a rally of cheering supporters that he was in no mood to leave office in the near future.
In Friday's telephone interview, Mr Chavez said the treatment to remove a tumour had led him to radically change his life towards a "more diverse, more reflective and multi-faceted" period.
He told his supporters to eliminate divisions and dogma, and end what he called the abuse of symbols such as the term "socialist".
"Why do we have to always have to wear a red shirt?" said Mr Chavez. "And the same goes for the word 'socialism'."
The president cited the example of a mayor in the governing party who inaugurated a "Socialist Avenue", which Mr Chavez described as "stupid".
"We need to reflect and introduce changes in our discourse and in our actions."
Cuban lessons Mr Chavez, who came to power in 1999, said the private sector and the middle classes were "vital" to his political project.
He said it was a shame that attempts to be more inclusive of these groups in society had been criticised by some in official circles in Venezuela.
"Raul Castro is leading a process of self-criticism," said Mr Chavez, hinting that Venezuela could learn from the reforms being undertaken by the president of Cuba, who has made some concessions to the private sector since taking over from Fidel Castro in 2006.
Mr Chavez said his government needed to correct the perception that small businesses would be taken over by the state.
"We have to make sure no-one believes that," he said. "We have to convince them about our real project, that we need this sector and that we want to acknowledge their contribution."

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Turkey: Military chiefs resign en masse

The chief of the Turkish armed forces, Isik Kosaner, has resigned along with the army, navy and air force heads.

They were furious about the arrest of senior officers, accused of plotting, shortly before a round of military promotions.
A series of meetings between Gen Kosaner and PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan failed to resolve their differences.
Turkish President Abdullah Gul moved quickly to appoint General Necdet Ozel as the new army chief.
Gen Ozel is widely expected to be swiftly elevated to chief of the general staff in place of General Kosaner. Tradition dictates that only the head of the army can take over the top job.
There has been a history of tension between the secularist military and the governing AK party, with the two sides engaged in a war of words for the past two years over allegations that parts of the military had been plotting a coup.
Investigations into those allegations, known as the "Sledgehammer" conspiracy - appear to be the root cause of today's resignations, says the BBC's correspondent in Istanbul, with the senior military wanting to go ahead with scheduled annual promotions for some of the officers implicated - and the government refusing.

General Isik Kosaner lasted just under one year as Turkey's overall military chief

The Supreme Military Council, which will decide on promotions, is scheduled for next week.
The government says the top brass asked to retire.
But Gen Kosaner portrayed his resignation as a protest at the jailing of military officers in a variety of court cases.
"It has become impossible for me to continue in this high office, because I am unable to fulfil my responsibility to protect the rights of my personnel as the chief of general staff," Gen Kosaner told the Hurriyet news group.
'Sledgehammer' Gen Kosaner and his senior commanders quit just hours after a court charged 22 suspects, including several generals and officers, with carrying out an internet campaign to undermine the government.
This case is the latest element of the protracted 'Sledgehammer' controversy - a coup plan allegedly presented at an army seminar in 2003.
Seventeen generals and admirals currently in line for promotion were among those jailed in the Sledgehammer prosecutions. Altogether nearly 200 officers were charged with conspiracy.
Twenty-eight servicemen will go on trial next month.
Gen Kosaner was appointed overall head of the Turkish armed forces just a year ago.
His appointment followed a period of intense friction between the government and the military over the Sledgehammer controversy.
At that point, the politicians vetoed the army's original choice for joint chief, Gen Hasan Igsiz, because he was implicated in the alleged plot.
Nato no comment It reportedly involved plans to bomb mosques and provoke tensions with Greece, in order to spark political chaos and justify a military takeover.
The defendants have argued that the plot was a just theoretical scenario to help them plan for potential political unrest.
The dramatic mass resignation has particular resonance in Turkey, which endured a series of military coups from 1960 to 1980.
In 1997, an army-led campaign forced the resignation of the country's first Islamist-led government.
The joint resignation of military chiefs is thought to be unprecedented in Turkey, which is a Nato member.
In Brussels, a Nato spokeswoman declined to comment on the resignations.

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National Museum of Scotland to reopen after £47m refit

BBC Scotland has a look around the refurbished National Museum of Scotland before its opening to the public

Crowds are expected to flock to the newly-refurbished Victorian part of the National Museum of Scotland as it reopens following a £47.4m refit.

Sixteen new galleries take visitors on a journey through the wonders of nature, the cultures of the world and through to science and discovery.
More than 8,000 objects will be on display in the new area, 80% for the first time in generations.
The newly refurbished museum opens its doors in Edinburgh on Friday.
The three-year programme has seen the original interior restored and storage areas turned into public space, making it one of the UK's largest museums.
It means the whole museum, situated in Chambers Street in the Old Town, will have 20,000 objects across 36 galleries.
Exhibits range from a life-sized skeleton cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex to specimens collected by Charles Darwin and 3,000-year-old mummies.

Staff at the National Museum of Scotland rebuild Tyrannosaurus rex following a three year refurbishment

The project has been jointly funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Scottish government and private donations.
Sir Angus Grossart, chairman of the National Museums Scotland's board of trustees, said: "The reopening of the National Museum of Scotland, on time and within budget is a tremendous achievement as importantly it allows us to liberate the strengths of our great collections and mobilise their great potential for dynamic development.
"Our collections tell great stories about the world, how Scots saw that world, and the disproportionate impact they had upon it.
"The intellectual and collecting impact of the Scottish diaspora has been profound.
"It is an inspiring story which has captured the imagination of our many supporters who have helped us achieve our aspirations and to whom we are profoundly grateful."

 

Thousands of objects on display have not been seen by the public for generations

Working with Scottish architect Gareth Hoskins and exhibition designer Ralph Appelbaum, National Museums Scotland has also restored Victorian architecture, created new galleries, a major gallery to host international exhibitions, a three-storey learning centre and a new street-level stone-vaulted entrance hall.
Glass elevators carry visitors from the entrance hall to the Grand Gallery, housing the UK's single largest museum installation, the Window on the World: a four-storey, 18-metre (59ft) high display of more than 800 objects.
Dr Gordon Rintoul, National Museums Scotland director, said: "This is a proud moment in the history of a great museum, the climax of a once-in-a-lifetime transformation through which we have rediscovered our exceptional collections, and breathed new life into a beautiful building.
"The result is a new National Museum of Scotland, a place where the cultures of Scotland and the world meet, and the arts and sciences connect."

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Baseball pitcher Hideki Irabu dies, aged 42

Baseball pitcher Hideki Irabu, who played on two World Series championship teams and was one of the first Japanese players in US baseball, has died at 42.

Irabu's death at his home near Los Angeles was being investigated as a suicide, police said.
Beginning in 1997 he pitched six seasons in the Major Leagues, including three with the New York Yankees.
He had a career record of 34 wins and 35 losses in 80 starts, and retired from Major League baseball in 2002
Born in Hyogo, Japan, Irabu was a hard-throwing right hander for the Chiba Lotte Marines in the Japanese Pacific league, when his contract was purchased by the San Diego Padres baseball team in 1997.
He said he would only play for the New York Yankees, and the San Diego club traded him. The Yankees signed him to a four-year, $12.8m (£7.83m) deal.
After a brief stint on a Yankees minor league team, he joined the Yankee's starting pitching rotation in the 1997 team. He was a starting pitcher on the Yankees' 1998 and 1999 World Series championship teams.
In 1999, Irabu angered the famously irascible Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, who disparaged him about his weight and called him a fat toad.

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Australia probes self-harm by asylum seekers

Australian officials have announced an investigation into rising rates of self-harm and suicide attempts by asylum seekers in detention centres.

Allan Asher, who heads a government watchdog body, said official data indicated there was a problem.
There were more than 1,100 actual or threatened self-harm incidents in the past year, government figures show.
The UN has criticised Australia's policy of detaining all asylum seekers while their applications are processed.
Mr Asher said he had spent a week at the Christmas Island detention centre in June, and there had been 30 incidents of self-harm during that time.
"We then heard that in the first week in July there were 50 in all the places of detention and it just tells us there is something wrong and it needs to be looked at," he told ABC television.
Mr Asher said the inquiry would examine the root causes, and consider practical steps that can be taken to identify and manage those at risk of suicide and self-harm.

The immigration spokeswoman from the Australian Greens, Sarah Hanson-Young, said it would add weight to earlier assessments by the UN Human Rights High Commissioner and the Australian Human Rights Commission.
"We know the policy of mandatory detention, in place since 1992, has ruined many people, some of whom have taken their lives, harmed themselves and are still recovering from trauma years after being accepted as refugees," she said.
Earlier this week, Australian and Malaysian officials signed a controversial deal intended to stem the flow of asylum seekers travelling to Australia by boat.
The deal allows Australia to send 800 asylum seekers to Malaysia. In return, Australia will take 4,000 refugees from Malaysia over the next four years.

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North Korea nuclear talks business-like, says US

The US says a first day of talks on North Korea's nuclear programme had been "serious and business-like".

The talks between US North Korea envoy Stephen Bosworth and North Korean Deputy Foreign Minister Kim Kye-gwan are to continue on Friday in New York.
US officials stress that the talks are "exploratory", aimed at gauging whether North Korea is serious about resuming negotiations that ended in 2008.
North Korea conducted nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
"Today's discussions have been serious and business-like," a US statement said after Thursday's talks. "We look forward to continuing our meetings tomorrow."
Mr Kim said: "The atmosphere was good, the meeting was constructive and interesting. We exchanged views on general issues."
The US wants North Korea to fulfil commitments it signed up to in a 2005 document, which provided for North Korea to end its nuclear programme in return for energy and economic aid.
"We're quite clear, broadly, on what we're looking for, which is for North Korea to live up to its commitments," said state department spokesman Mark Toner.
"It needs to take concrete steps toward denuclearisation."
Six party talks involving North and South Korea, the US, Russia, China and Japan were last held at the end of 2008.
In a surprise move, North Korean officials met their counterparts from the South last week on the sidelines of a security conference in Indonesia.
Tensions between the Koreas increased last year after two attacks that left 50 South Koreans dead.

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Somali famine: Fighting in Mogadishu after 'aid threat'

Africa Union peacekeepers say they have seized key territory from Islamist insurgents in Somalia's capital after they allegedly threatened aid camps.

The heavy fighting came a day after the UN World Food Programme airlifted in its first famine emergency aid.
An AU spokesman told the BBC the action would increase security and enable aid agencies to get food to people displaced by the severe drought.
Thousands have arrived in government-controlled suburbs in search of food.
The WFP delivery is the first airlift of food aid since the UN declared a famine in two southern areas of Somalia last week.
Al-Shabab, the al-Qaeda linked group which controls much of central and southern Somalia, has banned the WFP from its areas.
Tens of thousands of Somalis have fled these regions to Mogadishu and neighbouring Kenya and Ethiopia in search of assistance.
The UN refugee agency said on Tuesday that some 100,000 people had arrived in Mogadishu and settlements around the city in search of food and water in the past two months.
Dawn fighting The weak interim government - backed by the 9,000-strong AU force (Amisom) - controls about 60% of the capital, Mogadishu, including the airport, the port, the presidential palace and areas around the city's largest market.
The BBC's Mohamed Dhore in Mogadishu says the fighting started just after dawn when government forces and African peacekeeping troops launched an offensive on an al-Shabab strongholds in the north of the city.
"The al-Shabab have sworn to attack the IDP [internally displaced people] camps if they don't move back to their areas - and therefore this operation was mean to ensure that this does not happen," Lt Col Paddy Ankunda, a spokesman for the AU force in Mogadishu, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme.

"We've been able to capture three key junctions pushing the al-Shabab far behind where they can attack the IDP camps," he said.

He said Amisom now controlled eight out of Mogadishu's 16 districts, with five still contested and the insurgents in charge of three of them.
"The fact we control eight districts has enabled 80% of the population of Mogadishu to come to the areas we control," the spokesman said.
Al-Shabab has so far not responded to the claims made by Amisom.
Earlier, Col Ankunda said 41 al-Shabab fighters had surrendered.
However, he then retracted the statement, saying the 41 were civilians who had escaped to government-controlled areas after being held "hostage" by al-Shabab.
In recent weeks there had been a relative lull in the violence in Mogadishu.
But correspondents say there are fears that al-Shabab may once again carry out attacks, including suicide bombings, during the holy month of Ramadan, which starts at the weekend.
Earlier this week, Somali Foreign Minister Mohamed Ibrahim warned that more than 3.5 million people "may starve to death" in his country.
The WFP aid delivery came in by plane on Wednesday because sending it by boat would have taken months.
Challiss McDonough, a spokeswoman for the WFP, said the 10 tonnes of Plumpy'nut, a peanut-based paste high in protein and energy, would be enough to treat 3,500 malnourished children for a month.
Given the demand for food aid in Somalia, the delivery is just a drop in the ocean, says the BBC's East Africa correspondent Will Ross, in Nairobi, Kenya.
Somalia is thought to be worst-hit by the crisis, but Ethiopia, Kenya and Djibouti have also been affected.
More than 10 million people in the region are thought to be at risk from the worst drought in 60 years.

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MPs set to debate public's petition demands

Campaigners who gather more than 100,000 petition signatures could have their ideas debated in Parliament, via a newly launched government website.

The e-petitions site, which will ask the public for proposals, is aimed at "building confidence" in MPs' work.
House of Commons leader Sir George Young said politicians could not afford to be complacent and had to give a "megaphone" to people's concerns.
But Labour has said the petitions could lead to debates on "crazy ideas".
The system, launched on Friday, replaces the existing e-petitions pages on the Downing Street website, set up under Tony Blair.
It allows popular petitions to be discussed by the backbench business committee of MPs, which has the power to propose debates on non-government matters.
'Transparent' But some proposals, including those judged to be "libellous or offensive" or "related to honours and appointments" will be barred from the website.
Posting more than one petition on a single subject is also banned.
Sir George, a Conservative, said: "Today's launch represents another step towards a more accessible and transparent Parliament."
He added: "In recent weeks, Parliament has been at the centre of public interest, by leading the debate on phone-hacking allegations.
"But this shouldn't mean that Parliament becomes complacent. There's much more that we can do to build confidence in the work of the House of Commons and we should continue to find new ways of encouraging people to engage.
"The public already have many opportunities to make their voices heard in Parliament, and this new system of e-petitions could give them a megaphone."
However, Sir George said: "Of course, parliamentary time is not unlimited and we want the best e-petitions to be given airtime - so we will monitor the site closely over the coming months to assess whether the 100,000 figure is an appropriate target."
'Greater engagement' Deputy Leader of the House, Lib Dem MP David Heath, said: "The e-petitions website is the latest example of how the coalition is continuing to take forward its programme for government.
"It underscores our commitment to reform of the parliamentary process, and will help to reinforce the aim of greater engagement by people in the politics of this country."
Petitions will be moderated by government departments, with oversight from the Office of the Leader of the Commons.
The plans were first set out in the Conservatives' 2010 election manifesto.
Petitions were introduced to the Downing Street website by Tony Blair.
The most popular, with more than 1.8 million people in support, opposed road pricing.
More than 70,000 backed the one-word suggestion that Gordon Brown should "resign".
And almost 50,000 signed up to the idea that TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson should become prime minister.

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House prices are stabilising, says Nationwide

House prices are stabilising, according to the latest monthly report from the Nationwide building society.

Prices across the UK rose by 0.2% in July, to £168,731, leaving them just 0.4% lower than a year ago.
The society said demand for homes was still sluggish, with completed sales still running at roughly half the level recorded before the banking crisis.
On Thursday, the Land Registry for England and Wales said average prices were unchanged, at £161,479.
The Nationwide's chief economist Robert Gardner said this stability reflected the "uncertain" state of the economy.
"House prices remain relatively high compared to incomes and, together with more demanding deposit requirements, this is dissuading, or at least delaying, some first-time buyers from entering the market," he said.
Down and up Although prices are almost the same as they were a year ago, since July 2010 they have fallen and then recovered, according to the Nationwide's measurement.
Since December 2010, the average house price, not seasonally adjusted, has now gone up by 4%.
Economists often argue that the best guide to short-term trends is to compare the average price over the last three months with that of the previous three.

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MoD to cut further 7,000 civilian jobs

Thousands of civil servants are to lose their jobs at the Ministry of Defence, in addition to some 25,000 posts that were already set to be cut.

The Guardian has seen a letter, being sent out by the department's top civil servant, which says a further 7,000 civilian jobs are to be cut in a bid to bring its budget under control.
The letter says the MoD needs to "bear down further on non-front line costs".
Union leaders and defence officials have expressed concern at the decision.
The cuts were not mentioned in Defence Secretary Liam Fox's last statement to Parliament, which revealed significant extra cuts to Army numbers.
The MOD is already trying to cut some 25,000 civilian posts over the next few years, as announced last October in the defence review.
Questions remain That review outlined the future shape and size of Britain's armed forces, with defence spending set to fall by eight per cent over four years.
The decision taken to close more jobs will bring numbers at the MoD down by around a third over a period of nine years - to about 53,000 civilian posts by 2020.
The letter outlining the further job losses is signed by the permanent secretary, Ursula Brennan, and is being sent to all civilian staff.
It argues that the cuts are necessary and concedes that the move will raise questions which cannot "be answered immediately".
It expresses a hope that many of the job losses will be achieved by "natural wastage", with "compulsory redundancy" only being used as a last resort.

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Phone hacking: Murdoch may be recalled by MPs

 Tom Watson MP questions James Murdoch about whether he was aware of the "for Neville" email

A committee of MPs will be asked to recall News International chairman James Murdoch to give more evidence on phone hacking.

Labour MP Tom Watson said he would also call for ex-News of the World editor Colin Myler and the paper's ex-legal manager Tom Crone to answer questions.
Mr Murdoch told MPs he had not been "aware" of an email suggesting hacking went wider than a "rogue" NoW reporter.
Mr Myler and Mr Crone have both disputed this.
The News International chairman told the Commons culture, media and sport committee earlier this month that he was not aware of a key document - known as the "for Neville" email - when he approved an out-of-court settlement with Gordon Taylor, the Professional Footballers' Association chief executive.
But the two former NoW executives later released a statement saying they did inform him of the email.
Mr Murdoch later said he "stands by his testimony" to the committee.
Mr Watson told BBC Two's Newsnight programme he would make the recall requests to the committee on Friday "so that we can get to the bottom of this, find the facts and Parliament can then move on and let the police do their inquiry".
The committee is due to hold an internal meeting, which will be closed to the public, on Friday morning.
Regarding the emails, in April 2008, Mr Murdoch authorised the payment of an out-of-court settlement of more than £600,000 to Mr Taylor over the hacking of his phone.
Mr Murdoch has said that, at the time, he did not know the full extent of hacking that may have been going on at the NoW.
That paper's royal editor Clive Goodman and private investigator Glenn Mulcaire were both jailed for hacking into phones of the royal household in 2007.

 

Ms Payne started campaigning after her daughter Sarah was killed in 2000

 

But the email in question was marked "for Neville" and is said to have implied the NoW's chief reporter Neville Thurlbeck was also implicated in malpractices.
The latest development comes after the mother of murder victim Sarah Payne learned she may have been a phone hacking victim.
Police told Sara Payne her details were in notes compiled by Mulcaire, who was used by the NoW, which championed her Sarah's Law child protection campaign.
According to a report in the Guardian, the evidence uncovered by police in Mulcaire's notes is believed to relate to a phone given to Ms Payne by the NoW's then-editor Rebekah Brooks "as a gift to help her stay in touch with her supporters".
The BBC has not been able to confirm whether the evidence relates to this particular mobile.
But Mrs Brooks, who left her role as NI chief executive because of the hacking scandal but denies having had any knowledge of the practice while at the paper, says the phone "was not a personal gift".
She said the allegations were "abhorrent and particularly upsetting as Sara Payne is a dear friend".
'Absolutely devastated' A source close to Mrs Brooks says she believes the voicemail system on the phone provided by the NoW was not activated until 18 months ago.
In such circumstances, it would be difficult for prosecutors to prove that any voicemail interception took place.
In a statement, Ms Payne's charity, Phoenix Chief Advocates charity, said she was "absolutely devastated" by the claims.
News International said it would co-operate fully with any potential criminal inquiries or civil proceedings which may arise.
The Metropolitan Police's Operation Weeting is investigating claims of phone hacking at the paper, which was shut down earlier this month after it emerged that the phone of murder victim Milly Dowler had been hacked

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BT ordered to block links to Newzbin 2 website

A High Court judge has ruled that BT must block access to a website which provides links to pirated movies.

Newzbin 2 is a members-only site which aggregates a large amount of the illegally copied material found on Usenet discussion forums.
The landmark case is the first time that an ISP has been ordered to block access to such a site.
It paves the way for other sites to be blocked as part of a major crackdown on piracy.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Arnold stated: "In my judgment it follows that BT has actual knowledge of other persons using its service to infringe copyright: it knows that the users and operators of Newzbin 2 infringe copyright on a large scale, and in particular infringe the copyrights of the studios in large numbers of their films and television programmes."
He continued: "It knows that the users of Newzbin 2 include BT subscribers, and it knows those users use its service to receive infringing copies of copyright works made available to them by Newzbin 2."
BT and the Motion Picture Association (MPA), which brought the case, will be back in court in October to work out how the blocking will work. BT said it will not appeal the ruling.

The MPA which represents a number of movie studios including Warner, Disney and Fox, launched the legal action as a last-ditch attempt to close down Newzbin 2.

Chris Marcich, president and managing director of MPA Europe said: "This ruling from Justice Arnold is a victory for millions of people working in the UK creative industries and demonstrates that the law of the land must apply online.
"This court action was never an attack on ISPs but we do need their co-operation to deal with the Newzbin site which continually tries to evade the law and judicial sanction. Newzbin is a notorious pirate website which makes hundreds of thousands of copyrighted products available without permission and with no regard for the law."
The MPA signalled its intention to pursue other ISPs.
BT describes the judgement as "helpful".
"It clearly shows that rights holders need to prove their claims and convince a judge to make a court order. BT has consistently said that rights holders need to take this route. We will return to court after the summer to explain what kind of order we believe is appropriate," the firm said in a statement.
Link sites such as Newzbin 2 are gaining popularity as those determined to get their hands on free content move away from traditional peer-to-peer downloading methods.
A previous court case had ruled that Newzbin 2's predecessor must stop linking to free content but a new version of the site was set up outside of the UK's jurisdiction.
Revenge attacks Justice Arnold ruled that BT must use its blocking technology CleanFeed - which is currently used to prevent access to websites featuring child sexual abuse - to block Newzbin 2.
In an email interview before the verdict, Newzbin 2 threatened to break BT's filters.
"We would be appalled if any group were to try to sabotage this technology as it helps to protect the innocent from highly offensive and illegal content," said a spokesman for BT.
The Internet Service Providers' Association has been a fierce critic of web blocking.
It said that using blocking technology designed to protect the public from images of child abuse, was inappropriate.
"Currently CleanFeed is dealing with a small, rural road in Scotland," ISPA council member James Blessing told BBC Radio 4's PM programme.
"Trying to put Newzbin and other sites into the same blocking technology would be a bit like shutting down the M1. It is not designed to do that."
Digital rights organisation the Open Rights Group said the result could set a "dangerous" precedent.
"Website blocking is pointless and dangerous. These judgements won't work to stop infringement or boost creative industries.
"And there are serious risks of legitimate content being blocked and service slowdown. If the goal is boosting creators' ability to make money from their work then we need to abandon these technologically naive measures, focus on genuine market reforms, and satisfy unmet consumer demand," said ORG campaigner Peter Bradwell.
He said more scrutiny needed to be paid to the content of such sites.
"What will qualify a site to be worthy of blocking? Who makes the decisions about what people people are allowed to see online?" he asked.
Disconnection The crackdown on piracy has gained new urgency in recent months.
Pressure from rightsholders forced new legislation on the issue.
The UK's controversial Digital Economy Act makes provisions for tough action against those who downloading pirated music and films - initially sanctioning a letter-writing campaign asking them to desist.
BT and TalkTalk called for a judicial review of the DEA, saying the legislation was rushed through Parliament and was unenforceable but a judge ruled that it could go ahead.
Court action could be taken against individuals who ignore written warnings and 'technical measures' including disconnecting someone from the web could also follow.
The government is also considering the feasibility of more widespread site blocking, including looking at the possibility of a voluntary scheme between ISPs and rightsholders.
The Newzbin case was brought under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act.

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Trojan asteroid seen in Earth's orbit by Wise telescope

2010 TK7 traces a complex path at its orbital point, moving above and below the plane of the Earth's orbit

Continue reading the main story

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Astronomers have detected an asteroid not far from Earth, moving in the same orbit around the Sun.

The 200-300m-wide rock sits in front of our planet at a gravitational "sweet spot", and poses no danger.
Its position in the sky makes it a so-called Trojan asteroid - a type previously detected only at Jupiter, Neptune and Mars.
2010 TK7, as it is known, was found by Nasa's Wise telescope. The discovery is reported in this week's Nature journal.
It is a fascinating observation because the relative stability and proximity of Trojans would make possible targets for astronaut missions when we eventually go beyond the space station.
2010 TK7 is probably not the rock of choice, simply because it travels too far above and below the plane of Earth's orbit, which would require a lot of fuel to reach it.
Nonetheless, its detection means it is highly likely there are other, more suitable Trojans out there waiting to be found.
The difficulty is the viewing geometry that puts any Trojan, from the perspective of an Earth-based telescope, in bright skies.

 

Trojan asteroids are considered possible targets for astronaut missions

It took an orbiting telescope sensitive to infrared light to pick up 2010 TK7.
Wise, the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer launched in 2009, examined more than 500 Near-Earth Objects (NEOs), 123 of which were new to science.
The authors of the Nature paper sifted through data on these rocks, looking for the candidates that might be Trojans.
Follow-up work on the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope confirmed the status of 2010 TK7.
It traces quite a complex path at its orbital point. Currently, it is about 80 million km from Earth, and should come no closer than about 25 million km.
The team says its orbit appears stable at least for the next 10,000 years.
2010 TK7's existence should not really be a surprise. Jupiter, Neptune and Mars all have collections of rocks sitting in the so-called Lagrange points 60 degrees ahead of or behind the planets in their orbits.
In the case of Jupiter, the number of Trojans now tops 1,000 rocks.
"These objects are difficult to find from Earth, simply because they're not very big and they're pretty faint, and they're close to the Sun as seen from Earth," explained Christian Veillet from the Canada-France-Hawaii Telescope and a co-author on the Nature study.
"But we can find them from space, and future satellites will likely find some more. We think that there are others which will be very close to the Earth and have motions that make them relatively easy to reach. So, they could be potential targets to go to with spacecraft," he told BBC News.

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Huge Arctic fire hints at new climate cue" By Richard Black

In the summer of 2007, more than 1,000 sq km of Alaskan tundra burned near Anaktuvuk River

An exceptional wildfire in northern Alaska in 2007 put as much carbon into the air as the entire Arctic tundra absorbs in a year, scientists say.

The Anaktuvuk River fire burned across more than 1,000 sq km (400 sq miles), doubling the extent of Alaskan tundra visited by fire since 1950.
With the Arctic warming fast, the team suggests in the journal Nature that fires could become more common.
If that happens, it could create a new climate feedback, they say.
Fires in the tundra are uncommon because the ground is covered in snow and ice for large periods of the year.

Temperatures are low even in summer, and the ground can also remain wet after the ice has melted.

But 2007 saw unusually warm and dry conditions across much of the Arctic - resulting, among other things, in spectacularly fast melting of Arctic sea ice.
This created conditions more conducive to fire, and when lightning struck the tundra in July, the Anaktuvuk River fire ignited.
"Most tundra fires have been very small - this was an order of magnitude larger than the historical size," said Michelle Mack from the University of Florida in Gainesville, who led the research team on the Nature paper and is currently conducting further field studies in Alaska.
"In 2007, we had a hot, dry summer, there was no rain for a long period of time.
"So the tundra must have been highly flammable, with just the right conditions for fire to spread until the snow in October finally stopped it."

Nasa satellites image Arctic ice, water, land - and the Anaktuvuk fire, the black portion at bottom-right

According to the team's calculations, the statistics of the fire are remarkable.
It is the largest on record, doubling the cumulative area burned since 1950.
It put carbon into the atmosphere about 100 times faster than it usually escapes from the ground in the Arctic summer, and released more than 2 million tonnes.
Although a small contribution to global emissions, this is about the same amount as the entire swathe of tundra around the Arctic absorbs in a single year.

The melting of Arctic sea ice suggests 2007's record may be broken this year

There is some vegetation on the summer lands, which did burn; but the main fuel is carbon in the ground itself.
The Anaktuvuk fire burned down to a maximum depth of 15cm (6in), and was burning carbon sequestered away over the last 50 years.
What this implies for the future is uncertain.
Climate models generally predict warmer temperatures across the Arctic, which could increase the frequency of fires and so a net loss of carbon into the atmosphere - reinforcing global warming.
On the other hand, plant life could flourish under these conditions, potentially increasing absorption and sequestering of carbon from the atmosphere.
In a news story published well before the Nature paper came out, another of the US research team, Gaius Shaver from the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, said the northern region of Alaska could become "vastly different from the frozen, treeless tundra of today.
"And it's one that may feed back positively to global climate change."
On reflection Another impact of the fire that has yet to be fully assessed is that the blackened soil absorbs more solar energy than normally vegetated tundra.
This abets melting of the permafrost layer below.
"Once permafrost melts beyond a certain depth on a slope, then all of the organic layer slides down the slope like a landslide," Dr Mack told BBC News.
"This whole issue of melting can lead to other huge changes in drainage, in areas of wetlands - releasing carbon that's been frozen since the Pleistocene [Epoch, which ended more than 10,000 years ago]."
The latest data on Arctic sea ice, meanwhile, reveals that 2011 could well see a melting season that will beat the 2007 record.
Currently, about the same area of sea is covered in ice as at the same point in 2007, which the US National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) ascribes to "persistent above-average temperatures and an early start to [the] melt".

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Man arrested over computer hacking claims

An 18-year-old man has been arrested in the Shetland Islands as part of an investigation into hacking groups, Anonymous and LulzSec.

The man is suspected of using the online nickname Topiary and presenting himself as a spokesman for the groups.
Both high-profile hacker groups are known for stealing and releasing private information from websites.
Police are also searching a house in Lincolnshire and interviewing a 17-year-old boy under caution.
Officers from the police's Central e-Crime Unit arrested the teenager in what they describe as a "pre-planned intelligence-led operation".
Earlier arrests A statement from the Metropolitan Police says they believe he is linked to an ongoing international investigation into a number of cyber-attacks on international businesses and intelligence agencies.
The man was arrested on Wednesday and is being taken to London while his home is searched.
LulzSec has previously claimed responsibility for attempted hacks made on the UK's Serious Organised Crime Agency (Soca), the US Senate, the CIA and the Sun newspaper.
On Monday, Anonymous released secret documents stolen from an Italian cybercrime unit.
Last month, LulzSec announced it was disbanding.
Ryan Cleary, 19, of Wickford, Essex, was charged last month with five offences under the Criminal Law and Computer Misuse Acts, including an alleged hacking attack against Soca's website.
A 16-year-old boy from south London was arrested and bailed last week, while the international investigation has already led to sixteen arrests in the United States and four in the Netherlands.

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"Doctors begin major stem cell trial for MS patients" By Pallab Ghosh

A major clinical trial will investigate whether stem cells can be safely used to treat multiple sclerosis (MS).

It is hoped eventually to slow, stop or even reverse the damage MS causes to the brain and spinal cord.
The trial, involving up to 150 patients across Europe, is due to start later this year.
Dr Paolo Muraro from Imperial College London said: "There is very strong pre-clinical evidence that stem cells might be an effective treatment."
Researchers will collect stem cells from the bone marrow of patients, grow them in the laboratory and then re-inject them into their blood.
The stem cells will make their way to the brain where it is hoped that they will repair the damage caused by MS.

The research has been part-funded by the UK's MS Society, which is concerned about the availability of unproven stem cell treatments.

In recent years many people living with MS have been attracted to overseas stem cell clinics which claim to cure long-term conditions in exchange for large amounts of money.
But there is no proven stem cell therapy available for MS anywhere in the world.
The MS Society hopes these new trials will eventually lead to a proven treatment - and a reduction in the draw of overseas treatments.
Common condition
MS is the most common neurological condition to affect young people in the UK.
Three million people are thought to be affected worldwide and up to 100,000 in the UK.
The condition is caused by the body's own immune system attacking and damaging a substance called myelin in the brain and nerve cells.
The myelin damage disrupts messages from the brain to the body which leads to a number of symptoms such as sight loss, bladder and bowel problems, muscle stiffness and eventually physical disability.

 

The dark ovals show areas of brain destroyed by MS

Drugs are available to alleviate the symptoms - but they do not prevent the progression of the condition.
Experiments in test tubes and laboratory animals suggest stem cells extracted from bone marrow may be able to offer a more effective treatment.
Their role in the bone marrow is to protect the cells that make blood. But they also seem to protect myelin from attack by the immune system.
There is also some evidence that these cells might also be able to repair damaged tissue.
Hold potential
Dr Doug Brown, of the MS Society, said: "These experiments have confirmed that these stem cells hold that potential - but these need to be confirmed in large scale clinical trials."
There is some way to go, however, before laboratory promise can be translated into a treatment that can be offered to patients.
The international team will begin so-called phase two clinical trials in six months' time designed to determine whether the treatment is safe and effective.
It will take five years to carry out and assess the results of the trials after which large phase three trials may be required.
But Dr Muraro believes that the stem cell approach has real potential.
He said: "The great hope is the fact that we are exploiting a biological system that has evolved over millions of years and harnessing it for treatment that takes advantage of the stem cells' flexibility."

Sir Richard Sykes, chair of the UK Stem Cell Foundation, said Dr Muraro's research was the first of its kind to take place in the UK.

"Given the high incidence of MS in the UK in comparison to other countries, I am delighted that we have at last progressed stem cell research to this stage, which will bring much-needed hope to so many people affected by this devastating condition."
The MS Society is also funding two other stem cell studies.
One, based at Queen Mary Hospital, London will examine how stem cells made from the brains of aborted foetuses can be used to repair nerve damage in people with MS.
The other, based at the University of Nottingham, will compare stem cells from people with a progressive form of MS to those without the condition to aid the discovery of effective treatments.

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Millions hit in South Korean hack

South Korea has blamed Chinese hackers for stealing data from 35 million accounts on a popular social network.

The attacks were directed at the Cyworld website as well as the Nate web portal, both run by SK Telecom.
Hackers are believed to have stolen phone numbers, email addresses, names and encrypted information about the sites' many millions of members.
It follows a series of recent cyber attacks directed at South Korea's government and financial firms.
Details of the breach were revealed by the Korean Communications Commission.
It claimed to have traced the source of the incursion back to computer IP addresses based in China.
Wave of attacks The Nate portal gives people access to web services such as email while the Cyworld social site lets people share images and updates with friends and allows them to create an avatar that inhabits a small virtual apartment.
Like many other nations, South Korea has suffered a spate of hacking attacks in recent months. One incident in April targeted a government-backed bank.
A month later, data on more than 1.8 million customers was stolen from Hyundai Capital.
Government ministries, the National Assembly, the country's military HQ and networks of US Forces based in Korea were also hit.
Earlier this year, the South Korean government drew up a cyber security plan in an attempt to thwart the attackers.

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Virtual people to get ID checks

The faces and behaviour of online avatars could help identify the people controlling them, scientists believe.

Using both characteristics, researchers hope to develop techniques for checking whether the digital characters are who they claim to be.
Such information could be used in situations where login details are not visible or for law enforcement.
Impersonation of avatars is expected to become a growing problem as real life and cyberspace increasingly merge.
Signature moves Avatars are typically used to represent players in online games such as World of Warcraft and in virtual communities like Second Life.
As their numbers grow, it will become important to find ways to identify those we meet regularly, according to Dr Roman Yampolskiy from the University of Louisville.
Working out if their controller is male or female has an obvious commercial benefit, he said. But discovering that the same person controlled different avatars in separate spaces would be even more useful.

 

As robots proliferate we will need ways of telling one from the other, said Dr Yampolskiy.

"It's useful for profiling of avatars for marketing purposes by businesses in virtual worlds," explained Dr Yampolskiy.
"It also has some applications in forensic tracking of avatars across multiple virtual communities."
The technology may also have implications for security if a game account is hacked and stolen.
Behavioural analysis could help prove whether an avatar is under the control of its usual owner by watching to see if it acts out of character.
The research looked at monitoring for signature gestures, movements and other distinguishing characteristics.
Limited expressions Researchers discovered that the lack of possible variations on a avatar's digital face, when compared to a real human, made identification tricky.
However, those limited options are relatively simple to measure, because of the straightforward geometries involved in computer-generated images.
Dr Yampolskiy's team generated large data sets made up of many possible faces in Second Life and Entropia Universe and then studied them to spot key characteristics.
"It's very preliminary work as we are still collecting data," he said. "So far we have been very successful."
Dr Yampolskiy pointed out that another factor driving the need for avatar identification was the increasing use of telepresence and augmented reality.
Especially for businesses, it will be important to ensure that on-screen facsimiles represent the people they purport to.
Further work by the group will extend the identifying work and behaviour monitoring to robots.
As more and more machines start to work alongside people access to controlled areas would rely on being able to tell one from another.

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WHO: Hepatitis toll 'in millions'

Medical experts are calling for global action to tackle the viruses that cause the liver disease hepatitis.

The first worldwide estimates in drug users show 10 million have hepatitis C while 1.3 million have hepatitis B.
Writing in the Lancet, experts say only a fraction of those who could benefit are receiving antiviral drugs.
Only one in five infants around the world are vaccinated against hepatitis B at birth, they say.
The figures, published in the Lancet, show about 67% of injecting drug users in the world have been exposed to hepatitis C, while around 10% have come into contact with hepatitis B.
In the UK, around half of injecting drug users have been infected with the hepatitis C virus, while the rate for exposure to hepatitis B is 9% - the highest in western Europe.

The research was led by Prof Louisa Degenhardt of the Centre for Population Health, Burnet Institute, Melbourne, Australia, and Paul Nelson from the National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre at the University of New South Wales.

They say: "The public-health response to blood-borne virus transmission in injecting drug users has mainly centred on HIV.
"Maintenance and strengthening of the response to HIV in injecting drug users remains crucial, but the significance of viral hepatitis needs to receive greater attention than it does at present."
Commenting on the study in the Lancet, Dr Joseph Amon, of Human Rights Watch, New York City, US, said: "This study provides us with a first step and powerful data to draw attention to the problem of viral hepatitis in people who use drugs.
"The next step is to challenge governments to act, and hold them accountable for implementation of rights-respecting and evidence-based programmes."
Health risks Hepatitis is caused by five main viruses - A, B and C, and, more rarely D and E.
Hepatitis B is the most common, and can be passed from mother to baby at birth or in early childhood as well as through contaminated injections or injected drug use.
Hepatitis C is also spread through using unsterile needles and less commonly through unsafe sex or sharing razors or toothbrushes.

The E virus, caught from infected water or food, is a common cause of outbreaks of the disease in developing countries, said the World Health Organization.
Many of those carrying hepatitis are not aware they have it and can unknowingly transmit it to others.

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India lose Zaheer to injury for second Test, England wait on Tremlett

England and India face injury concerns

India bowler Zaheer Khan has been ruled out of Friday's second Test against England because of a hamstring injury.

The 32-year-old left-arm pace bowler picked up the injury during the first Test at Lord's last week.
England have concerns over Chris Tremlett, who pulled up with back and hamstring trouble on Thursday, for the match at Trent Bridge in Nottingham.
"We expect him to be fit but obviously we'll see in the morning," said England captain Andrew Strauss.

Click to play

Strauss discusses Tremlett fitness battle

To add to their options, England called up Middlesex pace bowler Steven Finn on Thursday evening, and the 22-year-old will be in competition with Tim Bresnan for the final place in the side should Tremlett be ruled out.
And Finn's added pace and bounce - like Tremlett he is 6ft 7in and seven inches taller than Bresnan - could see him selected if a change is required and the selectors want more of a like-for-like replacement.
Tremlett, who took four wickets in England's 196-run win over India in the first Test and took Test best figures of 6-48 against Sri Lanka earlier in the summer, appeared to be carrying a hamstring injury as he bowled during the tourists' second innings at Lord's.
He had already missed training on Wednesday with a tight hamstring and only netted briefly at Trent Bridge on Thursday.
But Strauss, speaking earlier in the day, added: "I think he's fine, obviously he's had a bit of a niggle with his hamstring.
"At the moment we expect him to be fit but obviously like all these things we'll see in the morning - we're confident he should be OK.
"You've always got to weigh these things in, it's a short turn-around between Test matches but we're not going to pick someone in the side unless we're sure he is 100% fit and able to get through the full five days."
While England wait on Tremlett, India will definitely be without Zaheer. The left-armer Zaheer impressed initially at Lord's with an excellent new-ball spell which saw him dismiss both England openers, Strauss and Alastair Cook, before pulling up clutching his hamstring in his 14th over.

India captain Mahendra Dhoni said: "It's always good to have Zaheer in the side because he is our most experienced bowler, especially when it comes to England, but I think he is ruled out of this game.
"It's a bit disappointing not to have him for selection but it is something that is beyond our control and it gives a chance to the other bowlers to prove their mettle when it comes to international cricket."
Despite missing out at Trent Bridge, Dhoni is confident that Zaheer will be fit enough to play in the third Test, starting at Edgbaston on 10 August.
"We are expecting that. It is something we can't be 100% sure about, but most likely it seems he will," Dhoni added.
With Zaheer out, India are likely to choose between back-up bowlers Sreesanth and Munaf Patel.
New India coach Duncan Fletcher showed a clear preference for pace during his time in charge of England, suggesting the brisker - but more unpredictable - Sreesanth could get the nod.
India also have injury problems among their batting line-up, with Dhoni telling reporters that opener Gautam Gambhir is "doubtful at this stage" as he recovers from a badly bruised elbow.
England (from): Andrew Strauss (capt), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Eoin Morgan, Matt Prior (wk), Tim Bresnan, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Chris Tremlett, James Anderson, Steven Finn.
India (from): Mahendra Dhoni (capt, wk), Abhinav Mukund, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Ishant Sharma, Sreesanth, Munaf Patel.
Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pkn) and Marais Erasmus (SA)
Third umpire: Billy Bowden (NZ)
Match Referee: Ranjan Madugalle (SL)

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United States fire coach Bob Bradley

Bradley took over from Bruce Arena in January 2007

Bob Bradley has been sacked as United States coach after four and a half years in charge.

The 53-year-old took the team to the last 16 of the 2010 World Cup after drawing 1-1 with England in Group C.
Bradley was subsequently linked with the Aston Villa manager's job, before opting to sign a four-year deal extension with US Soccer.
"We felt now was the right time for us to make a change," said US Soccer president Sunil Gulati.
Bradley's departure follows a 4-2 defeat by Mexico in the Gold Cup final on 25 June.
But his reign also included a shock win over European champions Spain en route to a runners-up finish at the 2009 Confederations Cup and last summer's creditable World Cup campaign that ended in extra-time defeat by Ghana.
"It is always hard to make these decisions, especially when it involves someone we respect as much as Bob," added Gulati.
"We wish him the best in his future endeavours."
US Soccer added that it would make a further announcement on Friday, raising expectations that it may name a replacement.

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"Japan's industrial output and household spending rise"

Japan's economy has continued to recover from the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami, latest government data showed.

Factory output rose 3.9% in June from the previous month as supply chain concerns eased, while household spending increased by 0.8%.
Analysts said it showed the economy was recovering faster than expected.
The data comes a day after Japan reported a rise in retail sales for the first time since the 11 March quake.
"I thought we had to wait until the middle of next year for production to come back up to levels seen before the earthquake," said Seiji Adachi, of Deutsche Securities.
"But it now looks like manufacturing activities might go back to where they were as early as January-March next year," he added.
Strong forecast

Japanese manufacturers were hit hard by the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami.

Disruption to the country's supply chain saw some of the biggest manufacturers curb or suspend production.
However, as the infrastructure is restored, manufacturers are becoming increasingly optimistic.
According to a survey done by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, manufacturers expect output to rise 2.2% in July and 2% in August.
"Manufacturers' strong forecasts for July and August suggest the recovery in output remains on track," said Tatsushi Shikano, of Mitsubishi UFJ Morgan Stanley Securities.
Overcoming challenges The recovery in the supply chain and factory output has come despite the manufacturers facing various challenges, not least a shortage of electricity.
Japan has been facing a power shortage after the twin natural disasters damaged the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant and forced the closure of various other nuclear plants in the country.
There were concerns that the electricity shortage would hit production, especially during summer months, when demand for power is at its peak.
However, analysts said manufacturers were able to overcome this shortage by implementing changes to their working hours.
"Power problems are having less of an impact than previously thought, thanks to companies' efforts to avoid operating during peak power demand hours," said Mr Shikano.
Currency woes While the manufacturers have been able to overcome these challenges to get their production back on track, other factors continue to remain a threat.
The biggest amongst them has been a strengthening Japanese currency.
The yen, a traditional haven, has been rising against the US dollar in wake of the ongoing debt issues in the US and Europe.
A strong currency does not bode well for Japanese manufacturers as it not only make their goods more expensive to foreign buyers, but also hurts the companies' profits when they repatriate their foreign earnings.
"The yen's strength, if sustained for a long time, could dampen production in the longer term by hurting corporate earnings and thus their capital expenditure," said Mr Shikano

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Madonna royal drama to screen at Venice Film Festival

Madonna's film about King Edward VIII's romance with American divorcee Wallis Simpson will have its world premiere at this year's Venice Film Festival.

W.E, which the singer directed, screens out of competition at the event, which runs from 31 August to 10 September.
British actress Andrea Riseborough plays Mrs Simpson in the film, which contrasts her scandalous relationship with a contemporary romance.
In all, 21 titles will compete for the prestigious Golden Lion award.
The new film version of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - starring Gary Oldman as John le Carre's legendary spy George Smiley - features in the competition line-up.
It is joined by Andrea Arnold's new adaptation of Wuthering Heights, Roman Polanski's new film Carnage, and Shame, the latest film from Turner Prize winner-turned-director Steve McQueen.
Other titles in contention include A Dangerous Method, David Cronenberg's new film about the conflict between the psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung.
Viggo Mortensen and Michael Fassbender play Freud and Jung, while Keira Knightley plays a troubled patient who comes between them.
Fassbender also appears in Shame, a family drama about a wayward brother and sister in which he stars opposite Carey Mulligan.
Polanski's and Cronenberg's films are both based on plays, by Yasmina Reza (God of Carnage) and Christopher Hampton (The Talking Cure) respectively.

 

Newcomer James Howson plays Heathcliff in Wuthering Heights

Kate Winslet and Jodie Foster appear in Carnage, about two sets of parents who come together after their children fight at school.
New works from Abel Ferrara, Exorcist director William Friedkin and 'indie' film-maker Todd Solondz further swell the diverse line-up.
As previously announced, this year's festival will open with The Ides of March, a political drama which Venice regular George Clooney directs, produces, co-writes and appears in - also in contention.
Actor Al Pacino will be honoured at the event, while Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky will chair the competition jury.
Pacino's film Wilde Salome - an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's notorious 1891 play - will receive an out of competition screening, as will Steven Soderbergh's virus-based thriller Contagion.
The festival will close with Damsels in Distress, the latest feature from US film-maker Whit Stillman - his first film as writer-director since 1998's The Last Days of Disco.
The festival in Venice, together with the Toronto Film Festival - which runs concurrently - are often used as launch-pads for films hoping to triumph during the forthcoming awards season.
Last year's festivities saw Sofia Coppola - daughter of US film-maker Francis - receive the Golden Lion for her semi-autobiographical drama Somewhere.

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