Friday, April 29, 2011

Royal Wedding: Household Cavalry Guard proposes to girlfriend while on horse

prince william

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royal wedding

Household Cavalry (Pic:AP)

Household Cavalry

A corporal of the British armed forces' cavalry regiment proposed to his girlfriend today while mounted on his horse for the royal wedding procession.

Staff Corporal Darren Daniels, of the Life Guards Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment, popped the question to girlfriend Keryl Jones, in full ceremonial uniform as he rode out of Hyde Park Barracks.

The 36-year-old from Preston said he had been planning to ask for Ms Jones's hand in marriage since the royal wedding was announced last year and had a ring ready for the occasion.

Ms Jones, 35, from Watford, delighted Staff Cpl Daniels and onlookers gathered this morning by accepting.

Relieved at her answer, the husband-to-be said: "I was nervous as hell but just delighted she said yes."

The Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment is a ceremonial cavalry regiment of the British Army. It is classed as a regiment of guards, and carries out mounted ceremonial duties on state and royal occasions.

Both William, who has taken on the new title of Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, served in the household's other regiment, the Blues and Royals, as cornets after graduating from Sandhurst military academy.

Prince Harry wore an officer's uniform of the Blues and Royals for the service.

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Aurora from Saturn moon 'circuit'

Saturn's northern aurorae (NASA/JPL/University of Colorado/Central Arizona College)

The aurora vary widely in intensity, and are generally weaker those on Jupiter

Saturn enjoys a flickering "Northern Lights" phenomenon thanks to a flow of electrons to and from its moon Enceladus, researchers say.

A report in Nature suggests these aurora would be faint, and in the ultraviolet part of the light spectrum.

The find by the Cassini spacecraft is similar to the electrical "circuit" between Jupiter and three of its moons.

Electrons flow to and from Enceladus' poles in a vast loop, and aurora result where they hit Saturn's magnetic field.

The aurora creation process is similar to that which happens at high latitudes on Earth; here, the paths of fast-moving charged particles from the solar wind are curved by the Earth's magnetic field and emit the displays we know as the Northern and Southern lights.

In contrast, the fields created by Jupiter and Saturn envelop the planets' moons, and what is known as electrodynamic coupling brings particles directly from the moons, completing what is actually an electrical circuit.

The mechanism behind Jupiter's aurora is presumed to be sulphur from its moon Io's volcanic activity, split by sunlight into electrons and ions.

On Saturn's moon Enceladus, however, the suspected source of electrons is "cryovolcanism" - volcanic activity that shoots up liquids or, in Enceladus' case, salty ice.

'Rare opportunity'

Last year, the Cassini mission was extended to 2017

The Cassini spacecraft has been studying Saturn and its moons since it arrived in 2004, having made 12 close passes of Enceladus.

On the close encounter that occurred on 11 August 2008, scientists detected a great stream of ions (molecules with electrons removed) coming from the moon, and then confirmed the electron loops.

"I think it's a very exciting, very interesting discovery," said Andrew Coates, a co-author of the paper from University College London.

"Five or six years ago we didn't know that Enceladus was putting any material into the Solar System - now we get exciting effects like these magnetic and electric current links into the ionosphere of Saturn, producing this (aurora) spot," he told BBC News.

The team says that the aurora are about a tenth the intensity of those seen on Jupiter, and that they vary widely in intensity - by as much as a factor of three.

That, they assume, is down to variations in the output of the geysers that are feeding the process - a process that Professor Coates says seems likely to be happening elsewhere.

"It's probably a universal process; it could be something that's happening in other places like [Neptune's moon] Triton, or extrasolar planets where there are 'hot Jupiters'."

Amazon fault takes down websites

Visitors to Foursquare's homepage were greeted by an error message and apology

Scores of well-known websites have been unavailable for large parts of Thursday because of problems with Amazon's web hosting service.

Foursquare, Reddit and Quora were among the sites taken offline by the glitch.

Amazon EC2 is the retailer's cloud computing business. It provides processing power and storage to companies that do not have their own data centres.

No reason has so far been given for the outage.

Visitors to the website of location-based social network Foursquare were greeted by an apology.

"Our usually amazing datacentre hosts, Amazon EC2, are having a few hiccups this morning, which affected us and a bunch of other services that use them.

"Everything looks to be getting back to normal now," read the statement.

Information-sharing website Quora was also hit by the outage.

Amazon's cloud service last hit the headlines when it decided to stop hosting a mirrored version of the Wikileaks website.

Like a number of American-owned web hosts, it had come under pressure from the US government over the leaking of confidential State Department files.

Several of the web services that took action against Wikileaks suffered reprisal attacks by hackers.

However, at this stage, there is nothing to suggest that the most recent outage was related to the Wikileaks controversy.

Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier in hospital

Houllier took over at Aston Villa from Martin O'Neill in September

Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier has been admitted to hospital, the club has confirmed.

The 63-year-old was taken to hospital in Birmingham overnight.

He has spoken to the club's chief executive Paul Faulkner and his condition is said to be comfortable.

Assistant Manager Gary McAllister will take Thursday's training session. Houllier has thanked supporters for their concern.

He is expected to remain in hospital for several days and is undergoing tests.

McAllister will take charge of the team on Saturday for their game against Stoke at Villa Park.

Villa striker Darren Bent said: "Obviously everyone in the squad wishes that Gerrard has a speedy recovery and that he is back soon, but yeah it was a big shock to all the players.

"But the main thing is his health and that he gets that right and hopefully he will be back soon."

The 26-year-old said McAllister was usually extremely vocal in the dressing rooms so there would be an element of continuity when the team met Stoke, even without Houllier.

Bewitched creator Sol Saks dies aged 100

Elizabeth Montgomery and Marion Lorne on the set of Bewitched

Bewitched starred Elizabeth Montgomery (l) as witch Samantha Stephens

Comedy writer Sol Saks, who created the 1960s US sitcom Bewitched, has died aged 100.

He died on Saturday of respiratory failure as a result of pneumonia at a Los Angeles hospital, his wife told the Los Angeles Times.

Starring Elizabeth Montgomery as a witch who marries a mortal man, Bewitched ran from 1964 to 1972.

Yet while he wrote the original pilot script, Saks never wrote another episode.

"He just sat back and took in the royalties," said Paul Wayne, a longtime friend and writer who worked on the show.

Saks said his inspiration came from two films: 1942's I Married a Witch, starring Fredric March and Veronica Lake, and 1958's Bell Book and Candle, starring James Stewart and Kim Novak.

"He was pretty honest about the fact it wasn't a particularly original idea," Wayne told the Los Angeles Times.

Before Bewitched, Saks wrote for such US radio comedies and TV series as My Favorite Husband, Mr Adams and Eve and I Married Joan.

He also wrote the screenplay for Cary Grant's last film, the 1966 comedy Walk Don't Run.

Rare Sex Pistols disc is 'most valuable vinyl'

Rare records in mint condition can be worth a small fortune

A rare recording of God Save the Queen by the Sex Pistols has been named the most valuable vinyl disc of all time, with experts saying it is worth £8,000.

The single was originally produced by A&M Records. But the group were dropped before it was released and most of the copies were destroyed.

Record Collector magazine have compiled a list of the 51 most collectible vinyl records.

The Rolling Stones and the Beatles both feature in the top five.

"There is something of an investment market in mint-condition copies of iconic albums," said Record Collector editor Ian McCann.

"The problem is people love them and play them to death, making it increasingly rare to find them in mint condition."

The Beatles' Please Please Me on the Black and Gold label is ranked in second place with an estimated value of £3,500, while the Rolling Stones self-titled debut record from 1964 - valued at £1,000 - is fifth.

Between them on the countdown are jazz saxophonist Hank Mobley's self-titled album from 1957 and rocker Wil Malone's own self-titled release from 1970.

The prices are based on an assessment by the magazine but there are examples of individual records fetching higher values at auctions in the past.

In 2009, a rare copy of unreleased 1965 single Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) by Frank Wilson was sold for £25,742.

BBC News - British tourist Helen Beard catches balcony fall baby

British tourist Helen Beard catches balcony fall baby

A British woman on holiday in Florida caught a baby who fell from a third-floor hotel balcony on Thursday night.

Jah-Nea Myles, 16 months, was uninjured after apparently slipping through the balcony railing and falling into the arms of Helen Beard, from Worksop.

Ms Beard, 44, told police she had been at the pool at the Econo Lodge hotel in Orlando when she saw the baby hanging from the railing and ran underneath.

She held the child until emergency medical workers arrived.

Screaming heard

The baby was taken to hospital, where medical staff said they saw no bruises or scratches and deemed her in good health.

An investigator with the Orange County sheriff's office described her as "playful" and said she was not crying.

Helena Myles, Jah-Nea's 20-year-old mother, told police her friend Dominique Holt had been watching the baby in the adjacent hotel room.

Ms Holt, 21, said she went to the bathroom about 2100 local time (0100 GMT), then heard screaming and saw the balcony door ajar.

She ran out onto the balcony and saw the baby in the arms of Ms Beard, from Nottinghamshire.

Police said no criminal charges were pending.

Orlando is a popular destination for holidaymakers, with Walt Disney World and other tourist attractions.

Nazi-looted Klimt 'to be returned to owner's grandson'

Salzburg's government will now decide whether to proceed with the restitution

An Austrian museum is set to return a Gustav Klimt painting to the grandson of its original owner, a victim of the Nazis during World War II.

Litzlberg on the Attersee is thought to be worth up to 30m euros (£26m), experts from the Museum of Modern Arts in Saltburg said.

It is believed the 1915 work was seized from Amalie Redlich after she was deported in 1941 and killed.

Georges Jorisch, an 83-year-old living in Montreal, is Redlich's only heir.

Under a 1998 restitution law, Austria has returned some 10,000 paintings confiscated by the Nazis to the descendants of their former owners.

The local assembly of Salzburg province has still to approve the restitution yet the handover is expected to go ahead.

"The conditions for a return of the painting to Amalie Redlich's rightful heirs have been fulfilled," said Salzburg deputy governor Wilfried Haslauer.

"Therefore I will recommend that the Salzburg government return the artwork to Georges Jorisch."

BBC News - Russian software tycoon Kaspersky's son 'missing'

Russian software tycoon Kaspersky's son 'missing'

Russian software entrepreneur Yevgeny Kaspersky (March 2011)

Yevgeny Kaspersky is one of Russia's leading internet entrepreneurs

The son of Russian software entrepreneur Yevgeny Kaspersky has gone missing in Moscow and may have been kidnapped, Russian media report.

Secret service and regular police have been searching for Ivan Kaspersky, 20, for at least two days, a police source told Interfax news agency.

His father's firm, Kaspersky Lab, told a newspaper it could not confirm news he had been abducted.

Yevgeny Kaspersky made his fortune developing anti-virus software.

News of his son's abduction was reported by Russian news website Life News, quoting its own sources.

The kidnappers are demanding 3m euros (£2.6m; $4.3m) for Ivan's safe return, the website says.

According to the unconfirmed report, he was snatched while on his way to work in Moscow on Tuesday.

When contacted by Russian newspaper Gazeta, Kaspersky Lab said it could neither confirm nor deny the report.

There has been no official comment on the story.

Kaspersky Lab is regarded outside Russia as one of the country's few business success stories not related to the energy sector.

The US business magazine Fast Company recently ranked Kaspersky Lab among the Top 50 Most Innovative Companies worldwide

BP frees up $1bn to clean up Gulf oil spill damage

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon explosion last year is still in the water one year on

US Oil Spill

Counting the cost
Eco-impact still unclear
Timeline: BP oil spill
Who did BP blame?

BP has agreed to provide $1bn (£600m) to repair damage to the US Gulf Coast resulting from last year's oil spill.

The US Justice Department, which helped form the agreement, said the funds would go to Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

It will be used to clean up affected areas, including beaches.

Other recipients of the $1bn include the Department of the Interior and the National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration.

Hundreds of miles of coastal wetlands and beaches were contaminated, a third of the Gulf's US waters were closed to fishing, and the economic costs have reached into the tens of billions.

The Justice Department said the release of the money was the largest restoration agreement of its kind ever reached and was "a first step towards fulfilling BP's obligations to fund the complete restoration of injured public resources".

The department said the agreement does not affect the ultimate liability of BP or any other company for environmental damages or other liabilities, but lets restoration projects get started sooner.

The Secretary of the Interior, Ken Salazar, said in a statement: "This milestone agreement will allow us to jump-start restoration projects that will bring Gulf Coast marshes, wetlands and wildlife habitat back to health after the damage they suffered as a result of the Deepwater Horizon spill."

Damaged seabirds and other wildlife including dolphins continue to wash up on beaches in the affected region. The agreement was announced the day after the first anniversary of the worst offshore oil spill in US history.

BP said on Wednesday it was suing Transocean, the owner of the oil rig that exploded in the Gulf of Mexico last year, for $40bn (£24.37bn) in damages.

BBC News - Syria protests: Bashar al-Assad lifts emergency law

Syria protests: Bashar al-Assad lifts emergency law

Boys hold a banner during a demonstration in the Syrian port city of Baniyas on 17 April 2011

The Syrian authorities are trying to quell an unprecedented wave of demonstrations

Syria Crisis

Protests gather pace
Assad's change of tack
Witness: 'Shooting in Homs'
Getting nasty

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has signed decrees ending 48 years of emergency rule.

The move was a formality after the government passed a law lifting emergency rule two days ago.

The repeal of the emergency law was a key demand of protesters. It abolishes state security courts and allows citizens to protest peacefully.

But prominent opposition figure Haitham al-Maleh said the move was "useless", reported Reuters news agency.

He said an independent judiciary and accountability for security apparatuses was needed to make the move a meaningful one.

Thousands of Syrians have taken to the streets to demand new political freedoms over recent weeks, inspired by uprisings around the Arab world.

Rights groups say more than 200 people have been killed.

In Thursday's historic decrees, according to state TV and the Syrian Arab News Agency (Sana), President Assad:

Lifted the 1962 emergency law
Enacted a new law legalising peaceful demonstration
Abolished the state security courts

The BBC's Owen Bennett-Jones, who is watching events from neighbouring Lebanon, says people will have to wait and see what the government intentions are.

Sana reports that protests will still have to be approved by the interior ministry.

“Start Quote

It is not the state of emergency that fires on people”

End Quote Abdel Halim Khaddam Exiled former Syrian vice president

Opposition activists have called for mass protests across the country after Friday prayers. If people do turn out, our correspondent says, it will be an early test of the government's intentions.

Our correspondent says Syrians are also watching to see whether the government falls back on other laws, such as anti-terrorism legislation.

Move dismissed

Rights activist Ammar Qurabi welcomed the move, but told Reuters other measures must follow, such as the release of prisoners detained during the unrest.

But the move was dismissed by Mr Maleh.

"The problem is that the ruling elite and the security have put their hands on the judiciary, and that other legislation they had introduced exempted the security forces from being held accountable to law," he told Reuters.

Abdel Halim Khaddam, a former Syrian vice president based in Paris who became one of the most trenchant critics of Mr Assad's regime, told BBC Arabic: "The crisis in Syria has nothing to do with the presence or absence of the state of emergency.

"It is not the state of emergency that arrests people and takes them to jail and it is not the state of emergency that fires on people," Mr Khaddam said.

Ivory Coast: Pro-Ouattara forces clash in Abidjan

Soldiers from the Invisible Commandos loyal to Ibrahim Coulibaly man a roadblock in the PK-18 area of Abobo neighborhood, in Abidjan, Ivory Coast Monday 18 April 2011

Soldiers from the Invisible Commandos still man roadblocks in the north of Abidjan

Ivory Coast crisis

Lesson in democracy?
Rough start to Ouattara era
Eyewitness: Bombs cost our baby
Q&A: Ivorian crisis

Forces loyal to Ivory Coast's President Alassane Ouattara have exchanged fire in the main city of Abidjan.

The incident took place between the Invisible Commandos group, which controls areas of Abidjan, and troops brought from the north of the country.

The BBC's John James says the firing in the north of the city lasted less than 30 minutes but caused panic.

It the most public sign yet of splits in the coalition of forces that brought Mr Ouattara to power last week.

His predecessor, Laurent Gbagbo, was captured last week by pro-Ouattara forces after refusing to step down when he lost elections in November.

Our correspondent says pockets of pro-Gbagbo militia continue to hold out in Abidjan's western district of Yopougon, but stability is slowly returning to the city which has experienced several weeks of fierce battles.

Looting

The backbone of the Pro-Ouattara forces swept down through the country last month from their northern bases, three months into the stalemate over the election result.

They came from a group of former rebels called the New Forces, who for nearly a decade have controlled the northern half of the country.

In Abidjan, they were joined by a former rebel commander Ibrahim Coulibaly, who led the Invisible Commandos to gain control of northern parts of the city in the weeks before the main offensive against Mr Gbagbo began.

Mr Coulibaly, a former bodyguard of President Ouattara, now says he wants recognition for the role he played in overthrowing Mr Gbagbo.

But his forces are accused of being responsible for much of the widespread looting of businesses and vehicles over the past week and also of charging motorists using the road north of Abidjan, our reporter says.

In an apparently unrelated incident, there was also shooting on Wednesday in the south-western port of San Pedro in another internal dispute between pro-Ouattara forces.

The commander in San Pedro said the matter was now settled but gave no further details.

Ivory Coast is trying to restart its economy and the government says schools and banks should reopen next week.

But these incidents will add to the fear that insecurity may persist, our correspondent says.

Meanwhile, the African Union has said it is lifting its suspension of Ivory Coast and has dropped sanctions against the country.

The European Union has also eased some of its restrictions on Ivory Coast, paving the way for cocoa exports to resume.

France police 'find bodies' at missing family's home

A French police handout showing the missing family

Police have released a handout showing the family

Police in the western French city of Nantes have found three bodies at the house of a family who went missing earlier this month, reports say.

Investigators now suspect kidnap and murder, city prosecutor Xavier Ronsin said, as a search continued at the property.

He said the family of six had not been heard from since early April.

Parents Xavier and Agnes Dupont de Ligonnes had recently announced they were all moving to Australia.

Records show no internet or phone communications with the house in the centre of Nantes since 3 or 4 April, AFP news agency reports.

The family were named in an appeal for information as business manager Mr Dupont, his wife Agnes and their children Tomas, 21, Arthur, 18, Anne, 16, and 13-year-old Benoit.

'Secret agent' father

Mr Ronsin initially told reporters on Thursday a severed leg had been found beneath a terrace at the house and the investigation was "leaning towards kidnapping and murder".

Police stand outside the house in Nantes where the family were living, 21 April

A police forensic search was under way at the house on Thursday

He later announced that a body had also been found, without specifying if it was missing a limb.

Shortly afterwards, a police source told AFP three bodies had been found "beneath the terrace, in the garden".

Before the disappearance, the family left "rambling and contradictory" messages, said Mr Ronsin, saying they were taking their two younger children out of school because they were emigrating to Australia.

"The father explained he was a secret agent and was leaving as part of a witness protection programme," he said, quoting people close to the missing man.

No trace of a struggle or violence has been found at the house, where the wardrobes have been emptied, he said.

A note was taped to the letter box at the house reading: "Return all mail to sender."

'Respectable family'

Local people described the family as quiet and respectable middle-class Catholics with no history of odd or criminal behaviour.

The couple were originally from the wealthy Paris suburb of Versailles but were living in a townhouse on a central boulevard in Nantes.

He sold advertising space while she volunteered for church activities and taught the Catholic catechism to schoolchildren.

"She was a very good woman, very involved," said neighbour Florent Chotard.

The younger children were attending a private high school.

Headmaster Olivier Bouissou said that when he had received word the family were leaving for Australia he had thought they were "moving not disappearing".

"When we got the letter it was with a cheque that covered the entire rest of the school year," he told AFP.

BBC News - Ozone hole has dried Australia, scientists find

By Richard Black
Environment correspondent,

Clouds in the polar stratosphere are where ozone is broken down

The Antarctic ozone hole is about one-third to blame for Australia's recent series of droughts, scientists say.

Writing in the journal Science, they conclude that the hole has shifted wind and rainfall patterns right across the Southern Hemisphere, even the tropics.

Their climate models suggest the effect has been notably strong over Australia.

Many parts of the country have seen drought in recent years, with cities forced to invest in technologies such as desalination, and farms closing.

The scientists behind the new study - led from Columbia University in New York - added the ozone hole into standard climate models to investigate how it might have affected winds and rains.

"The ozone hole results in a southward shift of the high-latitude circulation - and the whole tropical circulation shifts southwards too," explained Columbia's Sarah Kang.

Of particular interest was the southward migration of the Southern Hemisphere jet stream.

“Start Quote

There is also the rising trend in carbon dioxide, and that is acting in the same direction as the ozone hole”

End Quote
Dr Sarah Kang
Columbia University

These high-altitude winds are key to determining weather patterns, in both hemispheres. Much of the cold weather felt in the UK over the last couple of winters, for example, was caused by blocking of the Northern Hemisphere stream.

The Columbia team found that overall, the ozone hole has resulted in rainfall moving south along with the winds.

But there are regional differences, particularly concerning Australia.

"In terms of the average for that zone, [the ozone hole drives] about a 10% change - but for Australia, it's about 35%," Dr Kang told BBC News.

Their modelling indicated that global warming due to greenhouse gas emissions was also a factor - although natural climate cycles are also thought to be important, as Australia suffered severe droughts in the era before ozone depletion and before the warming seen in the late 20th Century.

"This study does illustrate the important point that different mechanisms of global change are contributing to the climate impacts we're seeing around the world," observed Professor Myles Allen of Oxford University, a leading UK climate modeller.

"It's very important to unpack them all rather than assuming that any impact we see is down simply to greenhouse gas-mediated warming."

No reverse

Ozone depletion is caused by chemical reactions in the stratosphere, the upper atmosphere.

The chemicals involved derive from substances such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and their relatives, which used to be staples in air-conditioning, refrigeration and aerosol cans.

Desalination is one of the approaches being used to combat Australia's dwindling supply of water

Although the UN Montreal Protocol has significantly curbed emissions of these substances, they endure for decades in the atmosphere, and so their effects are still being felt.

The ozone layer blocks the Sun's harmful ultraviolet rays, which can cause skin cancer and other medical conditions.

Earlier this month, the World Meteorological Organization revealed that the Arctic was experiencing the worst ozone depletion on record - a consequence of unusual weather conditions.

But the forecast is that even the Antarctic ozone hole - which is more severe than its Arctic equivalent - should be repaired by 2045-60.

Sarah Kang cautions that this alone will not restore prior climate conditions to Australia or anywhere else in the Southern Hemisphere.

"As the ozone hole repairs, it is going to work to reverse this trend; but there is also the rising trend in carbon dioxide, and that is acting in the same direction as the ozone hole," she said.

Australia's persistently dry weather has caused major impacts on communities, farms and nature.

In recent years, the volume of water flowing into the reservoirs of Perth, the Western Australian capital, has been just one third of what it was during most of the 20th Century.

The Murray-Darling basin, which lies in the highly populated southeast, is the subject of a somewhat controversial plan aiming to distribute water fairly against a backdrop of over-extraction, prolonged drought, natural climate variability and greenhouse gas-mediated global warming.

Pakistan: Karachi bomb blast kills 16 people

Police officials examine the site of the Karachi blast

Police said that the high number of people in the rooms meant the death toll was particularly high

At least 16 people have been killed in a blast in one of the largest gambling dens in the volatile Pakistani city of Karachi, officials say.

Some 30 people are reported to have been wounded in the explosion.

Police say the blast was caused by a bomb which rocked an illegal gambling den run by a local crime gang.

Officials have told the BBC that the nature of the bomb suggests it was planted by Islamist militants.

One report said the den was known as the Rummy Club, and is located in a poorer part of the south of the city, where gambling is an illegal but popular activity.

Shrapnel

The attack took place in the Lyari neighbourhood, where a number of warring drug and arms gangs operate.

Locator map showing city of Karachi, Pakistan

Police officials told the BBC the bomb was planted inside a room within the den and detonated by remote control.

Officials say the high number of casualties was due to such a large number of people being packed into the den's chambers.

Eyewitnesses described how shrapnel from the bomb ripped through victims, killing many instantly.

The city, Pakistan's commercial capital, has seen a series of political and ethnic attacks which claimed 775 lives last year.

Some are believed to be the responsibility of criminal gangs but the BBC's Shoaib Hasan, in Karachi, says that the level of sophistication used by the bombers suggest that it was not planted by rival criminal gangs but was rather the work of Islamist militants.

Misrata: Libya's city under siege

By Aidan Lewis

A mirror set up by rebels to see round a corner on Tripoli St, Misrata, 18 April 2011

A broken mirror is used on a corner to alert rebels to pro-Gaddafi snipers

Libya Crisis

Bowen: No easy exit for Nato
Analysis: A new phase?
Fearing massacre in Misrata
Leaders' letter

While parts of Libya's northern coast have been changing hands from day to day, the conflict in Misrata has turned into a lethal stand-off.

Weeks of heavy bombardments by forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi have failed to break the deadlock.

This is explained partly by the size of Misrata, Libya's third-largest city.

It is the only significant western rebel holdout, and is strategically important because of its deep-sea port, so rebels have fought hard to defend it.

They have a large pool of potential manpower. Many among the 300,000 population have hardened in their opposition to Col Gaddafi during what Western leaders have compared to a "medieval siege", residents say.

The rebels have a lifeline through the port, which has been fired on but has continued to receive supplies of food, medicine and reportedly arms, while serving as an evacuation point for the injured and for trapped migrant workers.

And they have local knowledge - one reason Col Gaddafi's forces may have been unwilling or unable to engage in decisive open battles.

"The rebels know the entrances and exits to the city very well, they know how to take cover," a medic who lives in Misrata told the BBC.

"[Col Gaddafi's forces] know that if they got stuck inside the city, they would be surrounded and totally eliminated. So they just have some snipers who are protected by tanks."

Gaddafi's brigades

The medic, a supporter of the rebels whose account of recent developments in the city matched other reports, said that about 10 days ago, one sniper surrendered and told the rebels that he was one of up to 60 gunmen operating from within the Tameen (Insurance) building, the tallest building in the area.

Misrata under siege

See the whole interactive map of Misrata

That number is now thought to have dropped, and rebels have cut off the snipers' resupply routes by forming a roadblock made of lorries loaded with sand.

Rebels say snipers have evacuated a vegetable market down the road that had also been used by pro-Gaddafi forces as a garage and a prison.

A BBC journalist who visited Misrata last week was told that Col Gaddafi's forces were dug in on either side of the city centre, no more than a kilometre away.

Those forces are better equipped than their opponents, with access to heavy weapons, some basic military training, and none of the supply-line problems they face further east.

MISRATA - REASONS FOR DEADLOCK

Size of city and rebels' local knowledge
Ability of both sides to get resupply
Lack of coherent military strategies

Yet the professionalism of the troops has been widely questioned and their numbers are limited.

The Libyan leader has kept his army weak, and his campaign has been led by a handful of brigades commanded by his sons, perhaps 10,000-15,000 men in total.

These are split between Tripoli, Misrata and the east. But Col Gaddafi is said to be reluctant to let even these supposedly "crack troops" operate in numbers greater than a few hundred, in case they desert.

'Terrorising people'

Their approach has centred on a combination of long-distance bombardment and deploying snipers along Tripoli Street, Misrata's front line.

The attacks have not resulted in any military breakthrough, but they have shut the city's normal life down and caused shortages and mounting casualties.

Hospital records show that more than 300 people have been killed, with many more injured. Rebel accounts that more than 1,000 people have been killed cannot be verified.

A baby being treated for shrapnel wounds in Misrata, 18 April 2010

Clinics in Misrata have been struggling to cope with civilian injuries

Among the armoury used by pro-Gaddafi forces in civilian areas are Russian-made Grad rockets and Spanish-made cluster bombs, according to Human Rights Watch and other reports.

The Grad rockets are fired in a dense and inaccurate pattern, while the cluster munitions - now banned by most countries - release high-velocity fragments and molten metal.

"I think that they are bombing at random and I think this is terrorising the people," said Paolo Grosso, an anaesthetist working at a clinic in Misrata for the Italian branch of the aid agency Emergency.

"They have no military target - they bomb anywhere to scare the population."

One woman who fled Misrata said Tripoli Street was a "war zone" and accused Col Gaddafi's troops of abuses.

"There were corpses in the gutter and in the vegetable market where I buy produce," she told the UN humanitarian news service Irin. "The militia raped women, slaughtered men and killed children."

'Bad image'

That is a picture the Libyan government challenges.

Moussa Ibrahim, a government spokesman, told BBC's Hardtalk that the government was trying to protect civilians from rebels, and that doctors in the city were "trying to give a bad image of Misrata" to encourage Nato intervention.

“Start Quote

The weapons [the rebels] have are just enough to defend the city”

End Quote
Misrata medic

Without more direct help from Nato, the Misrata rebels - said to be better organised than those further east - seem unlikely to seize the momentum themselves.

Rubbishing government claims that al-Qaeda inspired militants have been sent to help them, they describe the resistance as an improvised movement of civilians motivated by their anger at Col Gaddafi.

"Since the first days of this conflict, we [the rebels] are taking the defensive position and they are taking the attacking position - the weapons we have are just enough to defend the city," the Misrata medic said.

Coalition air strikes have been reported around the edges of Misrata, but Western officials say they are not willing to risk civilian casualties by directing these within the city, despite loud rebel calls for more muscular Nato action.

"This is a government and a regime that's opted to use the tops of hospitals, of mosques, parking their tanks beside schools and hiding themselves behind men and women to makes sure that we do not attack them," Lt Gen Charles Bouchard, the head of Nato operations in Libya, told the BBC World Service.

"So when we talk about action, one has to be mindful of all of these factors."

But even the possibility of further Western intervention may be a deterrent, with the Misrata medic saying on Monday that government forces had withdrawn some tanks and heavy artillery.

"Right now it looks like they are afraid," he said.

Tripoli witness: Tales of defiance and a mystery man

Selling fish to residents in Tripoli on 16/4/11

Life may appear to be normal on the surface in Tripoli, but it is anything but

Libya Crisis

Bowen: No easy exit for Nato
Misrata: City under siege
Analysis: A new phase?
Fearing massacre in Misrata

Tales of fleeting acts of defiance and a mysterious hooded rebel momentarily lift the spirits in a city of fear, as one resident in the Libyan capital, Tripoli - who does not want his name to be used for security reasons - explains.

I have come across some interesting and amusing analogies for this conflict in the past week.

"The opposition is singing along to the tune of 'Hit the road, Jack', while the regime's ruling family rocks on to the tune of 'Should I stay or should I go'," one musical analogy goes.

Another is: "It's like a bad round of poker. The winning hand is bluffing until the last minute when he reveals his true cards, but his opponents around the table are well aware of the ruse throughout the game."

Realities are not as light-hearted, however.

Last Thursday afternoon, a friend of mine stopped by to tell me what he had seen and heard.

"There was a small anti-government demonstration by students just outside Nasr University. I heard the shooting because I was in the area, I walked over and got as near as I could and I saw a crowd and a scuffle," he explained.

"Then security forces moved in, sealed the area and pushed out onlookers. We all left quickly. Other people I know later told me they saw some blood being covered with sand. No one died, but someone was definitely injured in the shooting."

Dark threats

To a visitor - not that there are many these days - and to some looking from the outside, things may appear normal here. But the reality is far from it.

For example, every TV screen in cafes, clothing stores and mini-markets is tuned into the same state-run station that no-one really watched two months ago. In normal circumstances, they would be beaming out al-Jazeera Arabic or a music channel.

"We can't change the channel," a shop-owner tells me. "The security people randomly check all our shops to make sure we don't put the 'enemy' channel on."

That is not the only tale from private businesses. Many tell me they were forced to open their stores and cafes, having shut down for two weeks following anti-government protests in Tripoli on 20 and 25 February.

"Remaining closed was our way of protesting, but they [government entities] told us we have to open or they would give our shops to someone else and they will continue our business," one said.

Others tell me of a darker threat by various security apparatuses. "They said: 'You open or we will destroy you and your family and your shop.' So what can we do?" another said.

All these measures are arguably adding pressure on many here who are already reeling from the state of limbo they find themselves in.

'Gone mad'

Most grown men and women are pestered by their families to return home before sundown - the unspoken civil curfew.

It is perhaps understandable, given the unwanted trouble that can be caused by the sporadic gunfire (not against Nato aircraft) that often envelops some parts of the city at night, as well as the countless checkpoints that emerge on every street.

“Start Quote

A stolen moment of 'freedom' here comes in different forms, in an attempt to let off steam from a city that has been likened to a sleeping volcano”

End Quote
Tripoli resident

But daylight is not necessarily a pleasant experience either.

A friend told me about his cousin who - last Monday - said she would go mad if she stayed at home for another day.

"She went out and took her mother with her. It was around one in the afternoon. As they drove up the main road in Gergaresh they were forced to slow down as three cars sped past them.

"There were two white Chevrolet cars chasing another car with a young man driving. They quickly cut him off and forced his car to pull over.

"The men in civilian clothes who jumped out of the two white cars were armed with Kalashnikovs. The two women saw the men dragging the young man out of his car by force; they beat him, tied his hands together and threw him into the back of one of their cars and drove away.

"My cousin made a quick U-turn and came back home terrified of what she saw."

My friend is visibly uncomfortable as he recounts the incident: "That was in broad daylight! They don't care who sees what any more, it's like they've gone mad and are constantly out for blood," he adds.

Hooded man

In the Souk-el-Joumha district, one of three large areas in the capital that are home to many of the uprising attempts, there is a "talking wall".

Merchandise featuring Colonel Gaddafi is on sale in Tripoli on 20/4/11

Merchandise featuring Colonel Gaddafi can be found on sale in Tripoli

In a fit of laughter my friend recounts a story his friend witnessed in four consecutive days because he lives close to the infamous wall.

"At first we saw an anti-government message painted on the wall: 'May the regime the toppled.' Then we saw it white-washed - [presumably by local neighbourhood government agents] - and written over in black: 'Allah, Muammar [Gaddafi] and Libya.' Then we saw that message white-washed and written over with an anti-regime slur. It went on back and forth like a conversation for three days until the last message we saw said: 'NO! We told you, No! - Muammar only!'"

Then we have a mysterious figure that has emerged on the streets recently.

There is a hooded man, I'm told, who runs around in public in Salaheddine district.

"Every time there's a Nato air strike in the capital, he runs around a street shouting: 'May the butcher [Colonel Gaddafi] fall! May the regime be toppled!' And then he flees. I don't think he's been caught by anyone yet. We still hear about him," a friend tells me with a thoughtful grin.

Meanwhile, there have been several sightings of the "opposition flag" in Tripoli, albeit for a fleeting moment.

A friend of mine who lives in Salaheddine district saw one flapping about in the wind early one morning last week. "It was on the roof of a small clinic next to the mosque," he amusingly recalls.

Another flag - quite surprisingly - was briefly raised on top of the Taqadom School in Ben Ashour district, some residents there tell me.

A stolen moment of "freedom" here comes in different forms, in an attempt to let off steam from a city that has been likened by many here to a sleeping volcano.

Libyan government 'sad' about photographer deaths

Tim Hetherington and a colleague, US photographer Chris Hondros, were killed in a grenade attack

Libya Crisis

Bowen: No easy exit for Nato
Misrata: City under siege
Analysis: A new phase?
Fearing massacre in Misrata

The Libyan government has expressed "sadness" over the deaths of two award-winning photographers killed while covering the conflict in Misrata.

But spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said there were always casualties in war, saying: "People die from our side, from their side, people get caught in the middle."

Briton Tim Hetherington and US photographer Chris Hondros were killed in a grenade attack on Wednesday.

Tributes have poured in for the widely respected photo-journalists.

Two other jounalists were injured in the attack, including Briton Guy Martin, a Cornish photographer who was working with Panos Pictures agency. He was hit by shrapnel and is being treated at a hospital in the city.

A survivor told the BBC that a group of journalists had been pulling back from near the front line during a lull in the fighting in Misrata when they were attacked.

The BBC's Orla Guerin, in Misrata, said there appeared to have been "a direct hit on the group".

Mr Ibrahim said the Libyan government did not want people to die and called for an end to the fighting.

“Start Quote

Tim was a very cautious war reporter. He knew the risks but he decided to take them in order to cover the story”

End Quote
James Brabazon
Friend of Tim Hetherington

Obituary: Tim Hetherington
In pictures: Tim Hetherington
The making of Restrepo
Two photographers killed in Libya

"We are sorry for the loss of any human life, of course. We have said this before, we are sorry for the loss of the rebels' lives, and we said we want people to stop fighting, so no one dies," he said.

He also said: "We do not kill anyone that does not fight us. We need to check the circumstances in which [these] journalists died.

"And it's war of course. People die from our side, from their side, people get caught in the middle. We need to check the circumstances. But of course we are very sad that someone died."

Mr Hetherington, 40, co-directed the Oscar-nominated war documentary Restrepo. Mr Hondros, 41, won the Robert Capa Gold Medal for war photography.

Mr Hetherington's friend James Brabazon, who worked with him on Restrepo, said: "He was extremely talented, experienced and dedicated."

He explained why Mr Hetherington was working for Vanity Fair magazine in Libya: "He went there for humanitarian reasons. He went there to shed light on a very confusing situation."

In a statement on the magazine's website, his family said he would be "forever missed".

Vanity Fair magazine said Mr Hetherington - who was killed outright by a rocket-propelled grenade - was "widely respected by his peers for his bravery and camaraderie" .

In a recent entry on Twitter, Mr Hetherington described "indiscriminate shelling" by pro-Gaddafi forces, who have been battling rebels trying to end the rule of long-time leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.

Mr Brabazon said: "Although it's an oxymoron to say it, Tim was a very cautious war reporter. He knew the risks but he decided to take them in order to cover the story."

Mr Hondros was based in New York for Getty Images.

The company's director of photography, Pancho Bernasconi, said Mr Hondros had covered conflict zones since the late 1990s, including Kosovo, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The White House issued a statement expressing its "deep sadness" at Mr Hondros's death and said it underscored "the need to protect journalists as they cover conflicts".

Chris Hondros pictured in Misrata on 18 April 2011

The White House said it was deeply saddened about the death of US photographer Chris Hondros

New York-based photographer Michael Christopher Brown was also treated for shrapnel injuries.

Our correspondent added that Misrata's hospital had received more than 100 casualties on Wednesday, the vast majority of them civilians. The hospital said five civilians had been killed.

Libyan government forces have been battling rebels in Misrata, which is in western Libya, since late February. An estimated 300 civilians have died.

Mr Hetherington, who had dual UK and US nationality, studied Literature at Oxford University.

The New York-based journalist was best known for his work in Afghanistan, and the film Restrepo followed US troops on an outpost in the country. He won the World Press Photo of the Year Award in 2007.

Another of Mr Hetherington's friends, Peter Bouckaert from the campaign group Human Rights Watch, said the journalist had been planning to "slow down" and start a family with his partner.

The New York-based Committee for the Protection of Journalists (CPJ) said two other journalists had been killed this year in the Libyan conflict.

Cameraman Ali Hassan al-Jaber was shot when his Al-Jazeera crew was ambushed near Benghazi on March 13. Mohammed al-Nabbous, founder of the online Libya Al-Hurra TV, was killed as he was streaming live audio from a battle in Benghazi on March 19.

Libya: US drones to carry out missions

Predator drones have been used to target militants on the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan

Libya Crisis

Bowen: No easy exit for Nato
Misrata: City under siege
Analysis: A new phase?
Fearing massacre in Misrata

Armed US Predator drones are set to carry out missions in Libya, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates has said.

Mr Gates said their use had been authorised by President Barack Obama and would give "precision capability" to the military operation.

US drones are already used to target militants along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border.

Libyan rebels have been battling Col Gaddafi's troops since February but have recently made little headway.

"President Obama has said that where we have some unique capabilities, he is willing to use those," Mr Gates told a news conference.

He said two armed, unmanned Predators were being made available to Nato as needed.

Mr Gates denied that the drone deployment was evidence of "mission creep" in Libya and that there was no plan to put US "boots on the ground" in Libya.

He said they marked a "modest contribution" to the military operations.

Gen James Cartwright, vice-chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the first mission had taken place on Thursday but turned back due to bad weather.

He said the drones - which can fly at a lower altitude than conventional fighter jets - were "uniquely suited for urban areas", providing improved visibility of tanks and other potential targets.

Post captured

Earlier on Thursday, Libyan rebels seized control of a border post on the Tunisian border after government soldiers fled, say reports.

The move marks a rare advance against government troops in the west of the country and followed intense fighting in the western mountain region.

Fierce fighting is also continuing in the western city of Misrata, where medics say more than 1,000 people have died.

Rebels in Misrata claim to have found remnants of cluster bombs but the Libyan government has so far denied the charge.

The BBC's Orla Guerin in Misrata says she has seen the bombs herself and that doctors have told her they are causing increasingly horrific injuries, with some civilians losing limbs.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on the Libyan authorities to "stop fighting and stop killing people".

He said the UN's priority was to bring about "a verifiable and effective ceasefire" to enable humanitarian work and political dialogue to take place.

Are you in Libya? Have you been affected by the unrest? You can tell us your experiences using the form below.

Friday, April 1, 2011

Nuclear waste called nation's 'biggest security threat' - Apr. 1, 2011

Nuclear waste: America's 'biggest security threat'

Nuclear waste is called the nation's 'biggest security threat'. Spent fuel is currently sitting in pools around the country, like at this plant in southeast Texas. Many are close to major population centers, and a fire could be catastrophic.

Nuclear waste called nation's 'biggest security threat' - Apr. 1, 2011

If the waste catches fire, a situation Japanese officials are racing to prevent at Japan's Fukushima Daiichi plant, critics say it could effectively render an area the size of half of New Jersey permanently uninhabitable.

"It's probably the single greatest security vulnerability in the United States," said Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste specialist at Beyond Nuclear, a watchdog group.

How close is your home to a nuclear power plant?

Kamps and many other industry critics want lawmakers to mandate that most of the waste, known as spent fuel, be stored away from the main reactors in certified steel and concrete casks, then have those casks placed in fortified buildings or earthen bunkers.

"But it's fallen on deaf ears in Congress," Kamps said.

Currently most of the waste sits close to the reactors in large pools that resemble swimming pools. A smaller amount is kept outside in casks that critics say are poorly guarded.

The reason so much waste is being stored at the nuclear power plants themselves is that the government hasn't figured out what to do with it permanently.

Storing the waste in this manner was supposed to be a temporary measure until it was permanently buried deep inside Nevada's Yucca mountain. But thanks to a mix of geology and politics, that site was recently deemed unsuitable.

The hunt is on for a new long term repository, but finding and building one will likely take decades.

The industry and the government say storing the waste at the power plants for decades isn't a problem.

"The fuel is safe, in a cask or in a pool," said David McIntyre, a spokesman for the government's Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

McIntyre said the government will take a look at waste storage as part of its comprehensive review following the events in Japan, but added that, at this time, "there's no safety reason to move it."

Industry critics couldn't disagree more.

They say the radioactive spent fuel rods, which rely on circulating water to remain cool, are vulnerable to both natural disaster or terrorist attack.

In a natural disaster, a power outage from an earthquake, hurricane, tornado or other event would cause the water pumps to fail. Yes, there are back up generators, but sometimes those fail too, as is the case in Japan. If that happens, it's only a mater of days until the fuel heats up to the point where it boils off the water and then catches fire.

They note that the pools themselves are located outside the reactor's main containment dome. An explosion, like what occurred in Japan, would expose the pools to the open air.

It's also possible for terrorists to specifically target the pools. Reactors like the ones in Japan, of which there are 23 in the United States, are particularly vulnerable. The pools in that design are located several stories above ground, making them easy targets for shoulder-fired missiles or airplane attacks.

Critics say the concrete and steel around the pools are designed to prevent radiation leaks, not to stop a missile.

"It's hard to understand why the Nuclear Regulatory Commission has not mandated a more rapid transfer of spent fuel to dry casks," California's Democrat senator, Dianne Feinstein, said at an appropriations subcommittee hearing Wednesday.

Kamps said the reason is cost -- that it would cost up to $100 million per reactor to move the fuel from the pools to reinforced dry cask storage, a cost the companies that run the plants do not want to bear.

The industry said cost has nothing to do with it.

Royal wedding: Prince William will not wear a ring

The Queen and Prince William at RAF Valley in Anglesey

Prince William showed the Queen around RAF Valley in Anglesey

Prince William has chosen not wear a wedding ring, St James's Palace says.

But his bride Kate Middleton, 29, will wear a band made from gold from the Clogau St David's mine at Bontddu, in north Wales.

The announcement about the rings came as the Queen visited Prince William, 28, at the RAF base in Anglesey where he works as a search and rescue pilot.

More details have also been revealed about the involvement of the armed forces in the wedding on 29 April.

Gold from the Clogau St David's mine has been used for a number of royal wedding bands, including those for the Queen, the Queen Mother and Diana, Princess of Wales.

The Queen was presented with a fresh supply of gold by the mine in 1986 and it is from this that Miss Middleton's ring will be made.

A St James's Palace spokeswoman said: "After the engagement Her Majesty the Queen gave Prince William some gold to make a wedding ring.

"In accordance with the couple's wishes Miss Middleton will wear a ring. The ring will be from Prince William."

William's father, the Prince of Wales, does wear a wedding band, but his grandfather, the Duke of Edinburgh, does not.

Trumpeters and Tornados

With just four weeks to go until the wedding at Westminster Abbey, the Ministry of Defence has revealed how military personnel will play a role:

more than 1,000 members of the Army, Navy and RAF will line the route from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace
they will be joined by a series of military bands, including those from the Royal Marines, the Grenadier Guards and the Scots Guards
inside Westminster Abbey, eight Household Cavalry state trumpeters and eight RAF fanfare trumpeters will play
after the service, a select few personnel - chosen because of their personal relationship with Prince William or their outstanding contributions to their service - will line the path along which the newlyweds will walk as they leave the abbey
a guard of honour, made up of members of the Welsh Guards, will await them outside Buckingham Palace
at 1330 BST, a fly-past involving the Battle of Britain memorial flight will take place over Buckingham Palace. Two Typhoons and two Tornados will also be involved

Gen Sir David Richards, Chief of the Defence Staff, said: "It is a huge honour for those servicemen and women taking part and one that they and their families will remember with great pride.

"They reflect the sentiments of the whole of the armed forces who share their pride in supporting this national celebration.

The Queen had to hold on to her hat in high winds at RAF Valley

"For those in the path-lining party it will be a particular and poignant honour as many will have served alongside Prince William, and I am sure they will take great delight in being among the first to see His Royal Highness alongside his new bride."

The details emerged as the Queen and the duke were taken on a personal tour of RAF Valley by their grandson.

He showed them the equipment used by the helicopter crews to winch people to safety and told them about some of the rescues he had taken part in.

They also visited the Moran Building, a new training facility for Hawk pilots.

The Queen had been due to officially open the building in December, but was forced to cancel because of snow.

This time she was faced with winds of up to 50mph, prompting William to joke to her: "I was worried your hat would blow off."

Small firms calling for clarity on exemptions

Fathers will will be able to share leave with their partners following a baby's birth

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A trade body has called for clarity over the extent of exemptions from new regulations for very small businesses.

Micro-businesses, of fewer than 10 employees, and some start-ups will be exempt from new domestic regulation, it was announced in the Budget.

But the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said there was "some confusion" over the plans.

The government confirmed the exemption would not include new paternity rights.

New rules on paternity leave had already been put in place before the moratorium came in, so small businesses must offer the new rights to their employees.

Burden

There are 4.6 million micro-businesses in the UK, and the government believes they are unfairly burdened with red tape.

So Chancellor George Osborne said that firms with fewer than 10 staff members would be free from new domestic regulation for three years from 1 April.

But the FSB said firms were still unaware of exactly how this would affect them.

"At the moment, there is some confusion as to what regulations are included in the moratorium," a spokeswoman said.

"There needs to be clarification as soon as possible so micro-firms know where they stand."

A spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said an explanation on the details of which legislation was covered was imminent.

Childcare

The new paternity leave rules mean that parents will be legally entitled to share the childcare during their baby's first year, and could take six months off work each.

If a man's partner is due to give birth on or after 3 April, he will gain the right to additional paternity leave and pay. The rules also cover adoption.

Additional paternity leave (APL) will allow an employee to take up to 26 weeks' leave to care for the child, on top of two weeks of ordinary paternity leave.

This can only be taken 20 or more weeks after the child's birth or placement for adoption, and once the mother has returned to work from statutory maternity or adoption leave or ended her entitlement.

The rate is £128.73 a week, or 90% of average weekly earnings.

To qualify, the father must have been on a continuous contract with his employer for at least 26 weeks by the end of the 15th week before the baby is due.

Are you experienced? Business and the web user experience

By Bobbie Johnson
Technology reporter, BBC News

Short attention span: User experience designers want you to stick with one choice for longer

It is a bright Thursday morning and, like millions of people all over the world, I am sitting in front of a computer. Unlike them, however, it is not to work.

Instead, I am a test subject sitting inside a research lab at the London offices of internet giant Google.

A researcher explains that the computer will record everything I do, while a camera pointing at me will track my facial expressions.

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With clipboard in hand, she tells me to imagine that I am looking to buy something and want to find out more online.

So I start the PC and head to the web.

Then the questions start: What am I looking for? How do I decide what looks interesting? Why click on one link rather than another?

The new architects

The experiment may seem odd, but it is precisely what thousands of businesses now do each day as part of what is known as user experience design.

In the past, companies would simply slap information on a website — but today, with so much competition online, top destinations put a great deal of thought into making their products better.

As a result, designing online user experiences is now an important process for any company that is serious about the web, from huge names such as Google and Facebook all the way down to small businesses.

"User experience designers are the digital equivalent of architects," says Andy Budd, the managing director of web agency Clearleft, based in Brighton, England.

"Just as architects are crafting the physical world around you, user experience designers are doing the same with the digital landscape you use every single day."

Google takes the user experience seriously, despite its famously spartan homepage

Practitioners, who refer to what they do simply as "UX", try to understand people's desires and motivations in order to make sure that online services are satisfying, pleasurable and a joy to use.

By observing people's behaviour online, asking them careful questions and testing different options, researchers can sometimes be the difference between a visitor sticking with a site or getting frustrated and going somewhere else.

Many online businesses are still dominated by usability decisions made by engineers or graphics designers, who tend to prioritise efficiency or beauty over the needs of users.

But over the last few years, user experience design has emerged as a distinct concept.

Primarily championed by scientist and researcher Donald Norman in the 1990s, it developed more rapidly as the web became more prevalent in people's lives.

In recent years it has evolved into a fast-growing field that many see as integral to building great products.

Google, for example, now has hundreds of UX experts working all over the world, each of them operating in labs similar to the one I am sitting in.

“Start Quote

User experience designers are the digital equivalent of architects”

End Quote
Andy Budd
MD, Clearleft

Pattern recognition

The researcher who has been grilling me about the way I use the web is Lidia Oshlyansky.

She joined the Californian company last year, having previously done a similar job for the world's biggest mobile phone manufacturer, Nokia.

"When you're doing user experience testing, you're looking for patterns," she says.

"If one person says something about the way they use the product, that's interesting — but if lots of people are saying similar things, then you might have found something important."

The fact that a company such as Google spends so much time perfecting its web design may surprise some.

It is, after all, famous for its spartan homepage and dedication to speed above everything else.

In fact, to many people it seems that Google is almost anti-design, especially compared with a rival such as Apple, known for its focus on luxurious products.

"We have this reputation, and it's been touted quite a bit," admits Ms Oshlyansky.

"But there is actually an emphasis on the user experience."

Still, she points out, making things fast can be an important part of a user's experience of an online service: "Speed is part of what we do, though."

Google's Lidia Oshlyansky says user experience testing is all about spotting patterns

Since the world of user experience design is still young, many professionals began their careers doing something very different.

Ms Oshlyansky, for example, spent several years as a social worker in Chicago before deciding to change track.

Today her job involves travelling around the world to study ordinary web surfers and find out how they think and use Google's products.

Once she has collected the raw information and understood what it means, she works with the company's engineers and web designers to improve what a product does.

This can be as simple as using different words to describe things to users, or changing the size, shape or prominence of buttons.

Sometimes it becomes more complicated, with new features being added to help people do what they need to do or getting rid of aspects of a service that can impede its purpose.

Even though the benefits of this research can be clear — more engaged customers, and more of them — Ms Oshlyansky says it can be a battle to explain the difference a good UX practitioner can make to a product, especially since many people believe they have an innate sense for design.

Still, says Mr Budd, demand for smart designers is outstripping supply as more businesses realise that how a user feels about their service can often be as important as what it does for them.

"I wouldn't say that good user experience design was vital to the success of every online business any more than I would say that good customer service was vital to every offline business," he says.

"But it can be a strong competitive advantage, and will continue to grow in importance over time."

Daily Sport and Sunday Sport owner in administration

Daily Sport Collector's edition front page

The Daily Sport was launched in 1991, after the Sunday Sport in 1986

The Daily Sport and Sunday Sport have suspended publication and will go into administration, their owner has said.

Sport Media Group, which was saved from going out of business by former owner David Sullivan in 2009, said it had ceased trading with immediate effect.

The announcement came after the group warned it had experienced "an insufficient recovery" since December.

The Daily Sport was launched by Mr Sullivan in 1991, following on from the Sunday Sport, first published in 1986.

If no buyer is found, the Sport will be the first UK national newspaper to close since the demise of News International's Today in November 1995.

'Bomber on moon'

The Daily Sport was relaunched in April 2008 under the editorship of Barry McIlheney and James Brown - the latter being the founder of Loaded magazine - with the stated aim of going from "sleazy" to "sexy".

"If it is not about sport, if it is not about girls and does not make you laugh, then don't bother," Mr McIlheney said at the time, explaining his editorial policy.

The Sunday Sport became known for its off-the-wall headlines

As part of the relaunch, former Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik began a weekly political column for the paper.

Further back, both papers were edited by Tony Livesey, who now presents a programme on BBC Radio 5 live.

Under his tutelage, the Sunday edition in particular became known for its untrue but outlandish stories - such as "World War Two Bomber Found on the Moon".

Sport Media Group (SMG) said on its website that it had ceased trading because of its "inability to meet certain creditors as they fall due" and was in the process of appointing administrators.

The group suspended trading in its shares on Friday morning "pending clarification of its financial position".

An "insufficient recovery" in trading had occurred since the adverse weather in December 2010, it said.

The Daily Sport's circulation peaked in 2005 at 189,473, while the Sunday edition reached a high in the same year of 167,473.

But SMG withdrew its titles from the official newspaper industry monthly circulation audit in 2009 after sales plummeted.

The National Union of Journalists' assistant organiser for the North of England, Lawrence Shaw, said the company had called an all-staff meeting for Monday lunchtime.

In its most recent annual report - in 2009 - SMG said it had 131 employees.