Alan Blinkhorn - Urgent News: Leveson Inquiry: Coogan says reporters rifled his bins

Alan Blinkhorn - Urgent News:
Leveson Inquiry: Coogan says reporters rifled his bins

Steve Coogan has told an inquiry into media ethics that reporters have been through his rubbish bins, looking for "lurid" details of his private life.

The comedian also denied a tabloid story from 2007 which claimed he took drugs with the US actor Owen Wilson.

He said some people entered a "Faustian pact" with the press but he had never sought fame and was a private person.

Lord Justice Leveson is hearing from alleged victims of media intrusion at the Royal Courts of Justice in London.
'Closet empty'
The star - best known for his character Alan Partridge - said photographers often sat outside his flat with cameras and he had seen reporters go through his rubbish bins looking for a story.

Read More: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15842034

Alan Blinkhorn - Urgent News: Egypt military 'agrees new government'

Alan Blinkhorn - Urgent News:
Egypt military 'agrees new government'

Egypt's military rulers have agreed to form a "national salvation government" and speed up the process towards presidential elections, reports say.

The move follows days of often violent protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square.

Delegates at a crisis meeting between political groups and the military said parliamentary elections next week would go ahead as scheduled.

They said presidential elections would take place before the end of June next year - a key demand of protesters.

Next week's elections are due to set in train a process of transition to democracy following the toppling of President Hosni Mubarak in February.

But many Egyptians fear the military intends to hold on to power, whatever the outcome of the polls.

The BBC's Kevin Connolly in Cairo says the readiness to bring forward presidential elections appears to be a major concession from the military.

Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, head of the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf), is expected to make a statement later, Egyptian TV reports.

Tens of thousands of people packed Tahrir Square on Tuesday evening following days of protests against the country's military rulers.

Read More:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15843425

Alan Blinkhorn - Urgent News: U.S. to send Hillary Clinton to Myanmar

Alan Blinkhorn - Urgent News: U.S. to send Hillary Clinton to Myanmar

Bali, Indonesia (CNN) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton plans to visit Myanmar next month on a trip that could signal a major change in relations between the two countries.

Clinton will be the first American secretary of state in 50 years to visit Myanmar, a country that the West has long criticized for its hostility toward democracy and its record on human rights.

President Barack Obama made the announcement Friday after after talking with pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released one year ago after spending 15 of the previous 21 years under house arrest for her opposition to authoritarian rule in the southeast Asian nation.

Clinton's trip is an indication that Myanmar, also known as Burma, has made some progress toward democracy and that the time could be right to forge a new relationship between the nations, the White House said.

"That possibility will depend upon the Burmese government taking more concrete action," Obama said. "If Burma fails to move down the path of reform, it will continue to face sanctions and isolation. But if it seizes this moment, then reconciliation can prevail, and millions of people may get the chance to live with a greater measure of freedom, prosperity and dignity. And that possibility is too important to ignore."

Clinton plans to test whether Myanmar is committed to both economic and political reform, she told CNN Friday.

"There certainly does seem to be an opening," she said. "How real it is, how far it goes -- we will have to make sure we have a better understanding than we do right now."

In a possible sign of progress toward democracy, Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy met Friday and announced she will run in the next parliamentary elections, as yet unscheduled. The group also decided to re-enter politics.

"NLD has decided to re-register as a political party and will participate in all elections in the future, as there are many demands from our people to do this," said Kyi Toe, the party's information officer.

Speaking in Yangon on Monday, Suu Kyi told journalists and diplomats that in addition to her yearnings for political freedom for the country, she "deeply believed that the president (of Myanmar) also wants a change."

Suu Kyi was was awarded the 1991 Nobel Peace Prize for her non-violent struggle for democracy and human rights.

Since her release, Suu Kyi has met repeatedly with Myanmar's President Thein Sein and the country's minister for labor and for social welfare, relief and resettlement, Aung Kyi. Obama planned to see Sein at a meeting of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations on Friday; he announced Clinton's visit to Myanmar while traveling from Australia to Indonesia to attend the ASEAN economic summit.

The country's military-controlled government has won limited praise from international human rights groups for making some progress toward political freedoms in the past year. It released dozens of political prisoners last month as part of a mass amnesty that will eventually free 6,300 prisoners, according to the government -- a key demand of Suu Kyi and a priority for the West.


Read More: www.CNN.com

Alan Blinkhorn - Urgent News: Mobile phone companies warned over data tariff advice

Alan Blinkhorn - Urgent News: Mobile phone companies warned over data tariff advice

Mobile phone operators must do more to help people avoid getting unexpectedly large bills after going online, says the Communications Ombudsman.

The complaints watchdog says so-called data download bill shock is a serious and growing problem.

Chief Ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith says that is because it is becoming more common for people to download big files, like videos, onto mobiles.

He says that has led to a rise in the number of customers being affected.

Adam Barclay-Faulkner, who's 27, runs his own small business selling big, inflatable adverts in Staffordshire.

He says he makes the most of his mobile's unlimited data deal.

He said: "Mainly I use my mobile for Facebook to keep in touch with family and friends.

"I also send and receive a lot of work emails and watch the occasional video as well."

Big bills

Like many people Adam thought he was on an unlimited data deal with his mobile operator.

As can often be the case though, there was a limit which was in the small print of the contract.

Read More: www.bbc.co.uk

Alan Blinkhorn - Urgent News: Neutrino experiment repeat at Cern finds same result

Alan Blinkhorn - Urgent News: Neutrino experiment repeat at Cern finds same result

The team which found that neutrinos may travel faster than light has carried out an improved version of their experiment - and confirmed the result.

If confirmed by other experiments, the find could undermine one of the basic principles of modern physics.

Critics of the first report in September had said that the long bunches of neutrinos (tiny particles) used could introduce an error into the test.

The new work used much shorter bunches.

It has been posted to the Arxiv repositoryand submitted to the Journal of High Energy Physics, but has not yet been reviewed by the scientific community.

The experiments have been carried out by the Opera collaboration - short for Oscillation Project with Emulsion (T)racking Apparatus.

It hinges on sending bunches of neutrinos created at the Cern facility (actually produced as decays within a long bunch of protons produced at Cern) through 730km (454 miles) of rock to a giant detector at the Gran Sasso laboratory in Italy.

The initial series of experiments, comprising 15,000 separate measurements spread out over three years, found that the neutrinos arrived 60 billionths of a second faster than light would have, travelling unimpeded over the same distance.

The idea that nothing can exceed the speed of light in a vacuum forms a cornerstone in physics - first laid out by James Clerk Maxwell and later incorporated into Albert Einstein's theory of special relativity.

Timing is everything

Initial analysis of the work by the wider scientific community argued that the relatively long-lasting bunches of neutrinos could introduce a significant error into the measurement.

Those bunches lasted 10 millionths of a second - 160 times longer than the discrepancy the team initially reported in the neutrinos' travel time.

To address that, scientists at Cern adjusted the way in which the proton beams were produced, resulting in bunches just three billionths of a second long.

When the Opera team ran the improved experiment 20 times, they found almost exactly the same result.

"We didn't think they were, and now we have the proof," he told BBC News. "This is reassuring that it's not the end of the story.""This is reinforcing the previous finding and ruling out some possible systematic errors which could have in principle been affecting it," said Antonio Ereditato of the Opera collaboration.

Read More:  www.bbc.co.uk

Alan Blinkhorn - Urgent News: Sepp Blatter says sorry for comments on racism

Alan Blinkhorn - Urgent News: Sepp Blatter says sorry for comments on racism

Blatter: "It is part of my core values to respect all nations, all cultures"

Sepp Blatter has told the BBC he is sorry for causing offence with his controversial statements on racism.

The Fifa president appeared to suggest on Wednesday that racial discrimination could be settled with a handshake.

"It hurts and I am still hurting because I couldn't envisage such a reaction," said the 75-year-old Swiss.

"When you have done something which was not totally correct, I can only say I am sorry for all those people affected by my declarations."

Blatter insisted his "fight against racism and discrimination will go on" and said he would not resign, despite calls for him to quit by numerous British players, managers, administrators and politicians.



"I cannot resign," he told BBC sports editor David Bond in an exclusive interview. "Why should I?

"When you are faced with a problem you have to face the problem. To leave would be totally unfair and not compatible with my fighting spirit, my character, my energy."

Blatter admitted his comments had caused a "serious incident" and that he had used "unfortunate words" which he "deeply regretted".

He also said any players found guilty of racism on the pitch should be thrown out of the game.

"Zero tolerance," he said. "This was a good lesson for me as well."

Blatter's comments about racism, made earlier in the week, caused consternation in England.

Manchester United defender and former England captain Rio Ferdinandaccused the Fifa president of "ignorance", while David Beckham described Blatter's remarks as "appalling".

Beckham added: "I don't think the comments were very good for this game. [Racism] can't be swept under the carpet and it can't be sorted out with just a handshake."

Blatter tried to clarify his stance when speaking to Fox Soccer on Thursday but his interview with the BBC is the clearest acknowledgement yet that his comments caused offence.

Tokyo Sexwale, the South African minister included in a photo with Blatter when Fifa put out a statement on Wednesday night saying the Swiss's comments had been misunderstood, commented: "It is important that such conduct [racism on the pitch] is rooted out from the field of play without any equivocation.


Read More: www.bbc.co.uk

Alan Blinkhorn - Urgent News: Why is unity so important to Europe?

Alan Blinkhorn - Urgent News:

Why is unity so important to Europe?

London (CNN) -- Europe's leaders are battling to keep the eurozone and the wider European Union together in the face of a financial crisis that threatens to split partnerships forged over more than half a century.

So why are they putting so much effort into preserving unity? And can they prevent today's debts and differences from dividing the continent for decades to come?


Why is unity so important to Europe?

The answer lies in Europe's history: The continent has historically been split by long-running conflicts that pitted neighboring countries against each other.

But despite this, the nations of Europe also share much in common, as Professor John Loughlin, of the University of Cambridge's department of politics and international studies explained.

"In the 19th century there was an idea that Europe had a natural unity, that its constituent parts shared an identity, a culture, a history," he told CNN.

Read More: www.CNN.com