Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi dies at home in Tripoli, nearly three years after he was controversially freed from a Scottish prison.

A magnitude-6.0 earthquake in northern Italy kills at least seven people, causing "significant damage" to the region's cultural heritage.

Thousands of Chelsea fans cheer on the squad during a parade to celebrate their team's Champions League victory in Munich.

President Obama tells a Nato summit there are "hard days ahead" in Afghanistan as the alliance prepares to withdraw troops at the end of 2014.

A service has taken place to dedicate a new memorial at Britain's National Memorial Arboretum to the Britons who died in the Falklands War.

Labour's Ed Balls warns the world economy faces a "catastrophe" unless Germany abandons pressure on eurozone countries to cut public spending.

RAF Kinloss authorities knew the public could be at risk from chemical weapons buried near the base, according to documents obtained by BBC Scotland.

Shelling by Syrian forces kills 34 people, according to the British-based group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

The designer of the iconic Raleigh Chopper bike dies after a battle with cancer.

Thousands turn out to see rock band Muse carry the Olympic flame in their home town of Teignmouth, on day two of the Olympic torch relay.

Pakistani authorities restore access to the social media website Twitter after a brief ban for what officials called "offensive" content".

An annular eclipse, in which the Moon does not fully block out the light from the Sun, is set to take place across east Asia and the western US on Monday.

A senior cabinet colleague defends David Cameron's work ethic after a book outlined weekend relaxations including tennis, karaoke and drinking wine.

The Surrey town of Staines officially changes its name to Staines-upon-Thames in an attempt to boost its riverside image.

West Indies mount a stirring fightback to raise their hopes of pulling off an unlikely victory over England in the first Test at Lord's.

England boss Roy Hodgson warns his players to behave responsibly at their city-centre base during Euro 2012.

Jorge Lorenzo beats Valentino Rossi in France on a wet Le Mans track to go top of the MotoGP standings ahead of Casey Stoner.

An organisational mistake at the Great CityGames in Manchester costs Jessica Ennis a personal best in the 100m hurdles.

Tom Daley marks his return to the scene of his first European title with a personal best score to seal his second continental crown in Eindhoven.

US President Obama wraps up a G8 summit saying that leaders agree economies must focus on jobs and growth to boost recovery.

The prime minister is this week expected to back a plan to help boost growth by cutting employment red tape.

David Cameron says Lockerbie bomer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi should never have been released from prison, while Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond says the investigation will continue.

Former chancellor Ken Clarke says Europe's banking system is "in tatters" and warns the UK is "heavily exposed" to potential problems.

A cheap drug, which is already prescribed for arthritis, could fight amoebic dysentery, according to researchers in the US.

The prospect of high student debt and increased pension contributions could discourage young people from entering medicine, a senior doctor warns.

Schools should keep detailed records of the languages spoken by ethnic minority pupils urges a report.

A study suggests public sector debt will be pushed up by £100bn over next two decades by higher university fees.

Mobile phone data of suspects in police custody is to be extracted and retained, regardless of whether charges are brought, the BBC has learned.

Researchers reveal details of a promising way to make a fundamentally different kind of computer memory chip.

Scientists identify thousands of sites in the Arctic where methane stored for millennia is bubbling out, potentially accelerating global warming.

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNETO5RFwiXLVnjCZDirDiAc3X1raQamp;url=http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120520/nato-summit-world-leaders-chicago-120520/20120520/?hub%3DEdmontonHomeimg src=//nt1.ggpht.com/news/tbn/BVx3zbBMfyK9fM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=45 /br /font size=-2CTV.ca/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNETO5RFwiXLVnjCZDirDiAc3X1raQamp;url=http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120520/nato-summit-world-leaders-chicago-120520/20120520/?hub%3DEdmontonHomebPM to announce future role in Afghanistan: MacKay/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fCTV.ca/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1Prime Minister Stephen Harper takes part in a business round table during the NATO Summit in Chicago, Ill., on Sunday, May 20, 2012. Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS President Barack Obama, right, shakes hands with with Afghan President Hamid b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGTAtAPCmSTwYwIj_cxD5dgxVrVFgamp;url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/20/nato-summit-protests-idUSL1E8GK2M620120520Protesters begin biggest anti-NATO rally in Chicago/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEzfKTUERrcgQ8GfZvgiliZ_Q-ypAamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gWbyIWuRqt5GxqzivwhsmJgAtgFw?docId%3D9083d2351248436f88e74742db897a56Obama: NATO shifting to help peace in Afghanistan/alink rel=syndication-source href=www.ap.org/9083d2351248436f88e74742db897a56 /font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Associated Press/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHNxygUNz55tBhyAkJxMWrcD0IPAgamp;url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/nato-alliance-agrees-on-post-2014-vision-for-afghanistan-obama-says/article2438513/NATO alliance agrees on post-2014 vision for Afghanistan, Obama says/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrGlobe and Mail/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHu_w4ub5OVCM5I4c463HyV_-8ZGgamp;url=http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1181441--two-more-activists-charged-as-part-of-ongoing-investigation-related-to-chicago-nato-summitnobrToronto Star/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFxfbvQhF60DxgfhYf5anjeCSAgpQamp;url=http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/NATO%2Bsummit%2Bprotests/G3876,A12465nobrUSA TODAY/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEdwC_hnd28paYnwGSPyDQjm4WZWgamp;url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/20/us/us-nato-summit/?hpt%3Dhp_t2nobrCNN/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=wamp;ncl=dkvMUYtZALgt-WMDJ50ZZEQk0R6LMnobrball 6,352 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEZtSCjhFrtyRoMRrrP-M_V1KXI5Qamp;url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/20/nato-head-urges-canada-to-keep-military-trainers-in-afghanistan-past-2014/img src=//nt1.ggpht.com/news/tbn/9U4AYueZvFiubM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=60 /br /font size=-2National Post/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEZtSCjhFrtyRoMRrrP-M_V1KXI5Qamp;url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/20/nato-head-urges-canada-to-keep-military-trainers-in-afghanistan-past-2014/bNATO head urges Canada to keep military trainers in Afghanistan past 2014/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fNational Post/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1CHICAGO — The head of NATO on Sunday reiterated his request for Canada to contribute military trainers to Afghanistan beyond 2014 — but acknowledged the decision is ultimately up to the Canadian people. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen told b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHwh1new1fjs-MtmHCXpmEpZLzFkQamp;url=http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/politics/article/1181434--canada-pressed-to-keep-up-afghanistan-training-role?bn%3D1Canada pressed to keep up Afghanistan training role/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrToronto Star/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF8n6KSjfuLDZ2XgluVbdOKo5V3-gamp;url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/Americas/NATO-chief-vows-no-rush-to-the-exits-in-Afghanistan/Article1-858795.aspxNATO chief vows no rush to the exits in Afghanistan/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrHindustan Times/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHPKFm8Stpy23MmAT2FHCNV4yvw6wamp;url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/struggling-for-respect-afghan-troops-irked-by-vintage-weapons-shoddy-boots-even-trumpets/2012/05/20/gIQAVrDKdU_story.htmlStruggling for respect, Afghan troops irked by vintage weapons, shoddy boots b.../b/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWashington Post/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNETRp7gWYa7XwGCyetUDWgauN-lhAamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hf4a74q1bTO14WQchK8xXc5_gy9A?docId%3D06815a6970f44f0c9262675cc159a2cenobrThe Associated Press/nobr/alink rel=syndication-source href=www.ap.org/06815a6970f44f0c9262675cc159a2ce /nbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGKz5zekwU_pHc2QaAMmQK_nY7bVwamp;url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-05/20/c_123162841.htmnobrXinhua/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=wamp;ncl=dhGJUOvohSwBh-MgtBwIVT2Og2ciMnobrball 1,051 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHw8stYwVdsRDImaEcXL9zUY1LUeAamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9278261/Earthquake-strikes-northern-Italy-killing-six.htmlimg src=//nt3.ggpht.com/news/tbn/o2SRgkUoxjexeM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=50 /br /font size=-2Telegraph.co.uk/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHw8stYwVdsRDImaEcXL9zUY1LUeAamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9278261/Earthquake-strikes-northern-Italy-killing-six.htmlbEarthquake strikes northern Italy killing six/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fTelegraph.co.uk/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1The quake, which struck at 4am local time, led to the partial collapse of several historic stone towers and church steeples. By Nick Squires, Rome The 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit at around 4am local time in the Emilia Romagna region between the b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHvXrD9EEB6FdSA4KmDnm53EepruQamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g5BuzBxM0O4NyZ-s3YL5ssrQfvDA?docId%3DCNG.4d20f42bb4b53903c444d4b7e9de211c.2a1Quake survivors await beds in Italian gym/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAFP/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNH9vfyhYcflUls2GgRzHPGZ6NWQ-Qamp;url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/20/world/europe/italy-earthquake/?hpt%3Dhp_t3At least 7 dead after quake rocks northern Italy/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCNN/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEIAIz_X0heCzyseAU9p5g95otFDgamp;url=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/strong-quake-kills-six-in-italy-20120521-1yzji.htmlStrong quake kills six in Italy/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSydney Morning Herald/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEG4iCfatSbZzA_tQucKtwrxsTK9Qamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i1dTyVhodcMbKJR7KgqTt7IMcPrA?docId%3D4a5938ea98a94bea81b12c67528e1341nobrThe Associated Press/nobr/alink rel=syndication-source href=www.ap.org/4a5938ea98a94bea81b12c67528e1341 /nbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHLXkhWYeGZIRZvh6FiNpeellOaRAamp;url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/italy-earthquake-kills-six-and-injures-841970nobrMirror.co.uk/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=wamp;ncl=dmbeEU8GtSR-V1MQX47V4lx3rAtaMnobrball 1,447 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNElxt4BJeERd5MFV13hmXjXrl1rTQamp;url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/add81944-a296-11e1-826a-00144feabdc0.htmlimg src=//nt3.ggpht.com/news/tbn/D1FXGmZ0XjRgiM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=53 /br /font size=-2Financial Times/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNElxt4BJeERd5MFV13hmXjXrl1rTQamp;url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/add81944-a296-11e1-826a-00144feabdc0.htmlbG8 leaders urge Merkel to boost growth/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fFinancial Times/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1G8 leaders have urged Angela Merkel to stimulate flagging eurozone growth but the formal conclusions to their weekend summit do not commit the German chancellor to a change of course. In a statement issued from their Camp David retreat in Maryland, b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF1Zo3XGMMGWR_WppkDomlxHUJ4PQamp;url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/20/us-g8-summit-merkel-idUSBRE84J08Z20120520Mighty Merkel may be the odd woman out/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF5QXbNx6nYGW54-wxUU73NRZscgwamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/20/angela-merkel-greece-g8-talks?newsfeed%3DtrueAngela Merkel stands firm on Greece at G8 talks/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Guardian/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNG2hCtPSoBfYZMj9ytE0sx7MlQzugamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/9276615/Eurozone-talks-top-agenda-as-G8-summit-gets-under-way.htmlEurozone talks top agenda as G8 summit gets under way/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEsSmCcGN9ALg7NHdmO5gAShhSMmQamp;url=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/20/world/world-leaders-at-us-meeting-urge-growth-not-austerity.htmlnobrNew York Times/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=wamp;ncl=d_o1DbIBtFkIrTMElgOpBfczX7G3Mnobrball 3,624 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFFiEi1qcQGjzEbauaRj549cbPBRAamp;url=http://calgary.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120520/blind-chinese-activist-chen-120520/20120520/?hub%3DCalgaryHomeimg src=//nt3.ggpht.com/news/tbn/yxdFkyUY8wBYHM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=45 /br /font size=-2CTV.ca/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFe0E_uIWW-q3jpd_YBp6aXgU5hxAamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/9278425/Chen-Guangchengs-bittersweet-first-day-of-freedom.htmlbChen Guangcheng#39;s #39;bittersweet#39; first day of freedom/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fTelegraph.co.uk/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1Chen Guangcheng, the blind dissident, spent a quot;bittersweetquot; first day of freedom in New York, beginning a new life in America even as the Chinese government continued to his detain friends and relatives. By Raf Sanchez, Washington The lawyer and his b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF1rUAbESp4yik23jQDDfkvrY6pnAamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/20/chen-guangcheng-family-at-risk-chinaChen Guangcheng#39;s family and friends #39;still at risk#39; in China/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Guardian/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEXiQrZgkLDRyTkjJZf3_cZ_n68zgamp;url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/World/Chen-arrives-in-US-amid-fears/Article1-858804.aspxChen arrives in US amid fears/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrHindustan Times/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFyk3r640HcsmpP0W2LZvRSLOKEYgamp;url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-05-20/chen-s-arrival-in-manhattan-ends-flashpoint-in-u-dot-s-dot-china-tiesChen#39;s Arrival in Manhattan Ends Flashpoint in US-China Ties/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBusinessWeek/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHB2cAQw-x-WRHEHg05Seo_oeSbRAamp;url=http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1181207--blind-chinese-activist-who-escaped-house-arrest-arrives-in-u-snobrToronto Star/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEV3reywTrGAeZ-U8qvH9E8UDRtXgamp;url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/china-quiet-as-chen-starts-new-life/story-fn6s850w-1226361726848nobrHerald Sun/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=wamp;ncl=dYLyuOPHkKfIWEMlRbnMzQ2TVMLwMnobrball 2,754 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEt1apm6MUYPtRkiic3k5HNEovjcwamp;url=http://www.news.com.au/world/pakistan-blocks-access-to-twitter/story-fn6sb9br-1226361729180img src=//nt1.ggpht.com/news/tbn/mQHM1d7AchT5gM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=45 /br /font size=-2NEWS.com.au/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHnTzb0OHKDM-1Ij39dS4b3Z5Rv3wamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gd73hYkGJtA6_Iam-qR_Ns9o4v1A?docId%3D30e6dc68223e4a3bba273eee5305ee9ebPakistan blocks Twitter over contentious tweets/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fThe Associated Press/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1By ZARAR KHAN, AP – 1 minute ago ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan blocked the social networking website Twitter for much of Sunday because it refused to remove tweets considered offensive to Islam, said one of the country#39;s top telecommunications officials./fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF8j7wmjg585AODLWZgest93zMm-Aamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/9278105/Pakistan-blocks-Twitter-over-Prophet-Mohammed-references.htmlPakistan blocks Twitter over Prophet Mohammed references/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHMMzPPsO8vaSGcVe_8pZqqUauq2wamp;url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/technology/SocialMedia-Updates/Pak-blocks-Twitter-but-minister-says-no-restrictions/SP-Article1-858624.aspxPak blocks Twitter, but minister says no restrictions/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrHindustan Times/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHrgmu5QyhyeYisaoI_0yDZgfJAIAamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18138278Pakistan blocks Twitter because of #39;offensive material#39;/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBBC News/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGGel3TyAdvazIYSu_h_MPs7oKLkgamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gGbj-Q142wrtn6AsPFO6xmk7CLWw?docId%3DCNG.2fb50e36a68614c4405d2849d39d09d3.3b1nobrAFP/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHU1ZIPU8eZiBsRZzdNCzKlaKRGiwamp;url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2012/0520/Pakistan-bans-Twitter-citing-blasphemous-contentnobrChristian Science Monitor/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEAzvOIg61Lwdl3uxDSNHWGOS3hRwamp;url=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/world/asia/pakistan-blocks-twitter-over-cartoon-contest.htmlnobrNew York Times/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=wamp;ncl=dI6pQBg0k9A6KBMYMiv1rITpWDY7Mnobrball 516 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGE-qiHcI-LzS10BGfteGHfMB89UQamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9278316/Syria-RPG-explodes-yards-away-from-UN-monitoring-chief.htmlimg src=//nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/hFFZoHNG5HtKTM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=50 /br /font size=-2Telegraph.co.uk/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGE-qiHcI-LzS10BGfteGHfMB89UQamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9278316/Syria-RPG-explodes-yards-away-from-UN-monitoring-chief.htmlbSyria: RPG explodes yards away from UN monitoring chief/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fTelegraph.co.uk/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1A rocket-propelled grenade exploded yards away from a team of UN observers in a Damascus suburb on Sunday as clashes between Syrian troops and armed rebels raged in and around the Syrian capital. The convoy was carrying Maj Gen Robert Mood, b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFLNdTwdwcf-y1eagdR-yb4BrLGHQamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jgL25_H60brejlkrSre9q3000fbA?docId%3D548d6ed2d3a645f982d865517d44497dBomb explodes during UN visit in Syria/alink rel=syndication-source href=www.ap.org/548d6ed2d3a645f982d865517d44497d /font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Associated Press/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFlk_6-yUsHtJSt7hFT_pb9WSWrSwamp;url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/News-Feed/World/Violent-overnight-clashes-rock-Syrian-capital-district/Article1-858806.aspxViolent overnight clashes rock Syrian capital district/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrHindustan Times/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGtv_ijs8qzOnI3JAMeCRuYgjXsVgamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/may/20/syria-damascus-clashes-assassinations?newsfeed%3DtrueSyria: Damascus clashes prompt claims of high-level assassinations/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Guardian/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEyUlsC3OB5ebqQLvi_Q0osyQgr6Aamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18138269nobrBBC News/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGIflFHB0Z6OVeFg807SOVYwWl8uAamp;url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/middle-east/21-killed-in-Syria-including-16-in-Hama-NGO/articleshow/13317583.cmsnobrTimes of India/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=wamp;ncl=dfE_Gbqc2H38C6M8RNVxgT26WRJxMnobrball 1,050 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGsGWe1EOJoPgi_aBEv3cE6eRJ1zwamp;url=http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/World/20120519/italian-school-blast-mafia-120519/img src=//nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/jFAruowlJ9AMnM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=44 /br /font size=-2CTV.ca/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEb7th_7hzTRhlAy7QsnSDquU7Zywamp;url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/italian-bomb-that-killed-teenage-girl-unlikely-to-be-mafia-7769551.htmlbItalian bomb that killed teenage girl #39;unlikely to be mafia#39;/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fThe Independent/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1The bomb attack which killed a teenaged girl and wounded 10 others in the southern Italian town of Brindisi was probably done by an individual with no links to the mafia, a senior official said on Sunday. The attack on the Francesca Morvillo Falcone b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFvwZlPJ89fFaPkQ8ueuIikhv96TQamp;url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1675009e-a287-11e1-826a-00144feabdc0.htmlItalian bomb attack #39;not mafia#39;/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrFinancial Times/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFJmappM36fRXFJEGPR7TzjwxIhMwamp;url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304019404577416222870993372.html?mod%3Dgooglenews_wsjProsecutors Probe Italy Blast/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWall Street Journal/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGeN5Y_Y7KUJc_I2xlk13gvbtsKFAamp;url=http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/20/lone-bomber-not-mafia-sought-in-italian-school-attack-that-killed-teenager/Lone bomber, not mafia, sought in Italian school attack that killed teenager/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrNational Post/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEeseB3h27nz-yPXsdmhywD_b6k3wamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-18138399nobrBBC News/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFoofs6TAuU_MkFzZ8UYTzy_2n9qwamp;url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/ipad/two-arrested-for-fatal-school-bomb/story-fn6s850w-1226361718700nobrHerald Sun/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE4yDCzccjwYDej7nUHwdgjnTRVQgamp;url=http://www.smh.com.au/world/italy-arrests-two-in-school-bomb-attack-20120520-1yzey.htmlnobrSydney Morning Herald/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=wamp;ncl=dY8cGem9YLxIldMCIRAUAEyYPkpnMnobrball 1,383 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFg3yApcIp3xEqp4fQwvAltKs3rnQamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/20/palestinian-protester-tamimi-cleared-incitement?newsfeed%3Dtrueimg src=//nt1.ggpht.com/news/tbn/BbjFQuywmSm14M/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=48 /br /font size=-2The Guardian/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFg3yApcIp3xEqp4fQwvAltKs3rnQamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/20/palestinian-protester-tamimi-cleared-incitement?newsfeed%3DtruebPalestinian protester cleared of incitement charges/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fThe Guardian/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1A Palestinian grassroots activist who was declared a human rights defender by the EU has been cleared of the central charge of incitement at the end of an 11-month military trial that focussed on weekly protests by villagers against a nearby Israeli b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHr-t04myOXQUqGWDSmiK-639o4sAamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hF4ZeSymnccmGqZItCSo5-518bfA?docId%3DCNG.2b50f898e8f7f99cf34f529f75036c96.2c1Israel marks 45 yrs since seizure of E. Jerusalem/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAFP/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGDuuAUw2xY-FIiuX0eXoAvjDpxyAamp;url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4231748,00.htmlNetanyahu: Jerusalem will stay united/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrYnetnews/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGLzvhzof5vL5Q4MM2F4IBSpXUDGwamp;url=http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id%3D270738J#39;lem Day march encounters Palestinian protesters/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrJerusalem Post/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGAJ-x4OoWhOYb5UUbkLiTz-R-jRAamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5guU7OYEQdTMhxY45SFhC41sF-2hA?docId%3D398335e4ee8742c5be71fa9663c4b8f2nobrThe Associated Press/nobr/alink rel=syndication-source href=www.ap.org/398335e4ee8742c5be71fa9663c4b8f2 /nbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHUfabI7Gu4YmZYzHV_AkRzIV6kugamp;url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-army-court-convicts-palestinian-protest-leader-of-urging-youths-to-hurl-rocks/2012/05/20/gIQA3QxEdU_story.htmlnobrWashington Post/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=wamp;ncl=dBlsqpwulnVC6iM8z9b5LRgHm0CVMnobrball 835 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFwF0kUOIOpk9g59si-AwH6ECoNJQamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/9278242/Egypts-Islamist-politicians-move-to-the-Right-ahead-of-presidential-election.htmlimg src=//nt3.ggpht.com/news/tbn/E2d1O2a5W6RbwM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=50 /br /font size=-2Telegraph.co.uk/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFwF0kUOIOpk9g59si-AwH6ECoNJQamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/egypt/9278242/Egypts-Islamist-politicians-move-to-the-Right-ahead-of-presidential-election.htmlbEgypt#39;s Islamist politicians move to the Right ahead of presidential election/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fTelegraph.co.uk/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1In the year since its revolution, Egypt#39;s Islamist politicians have presented themselves as moderates who can be friends with the West and tolerate non-Muslims at home. Muslim Brotherhood#39;s presidential candidate Mohammed Morsi Photo: AP By Richard b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFWAlcS93GMSklMFGhDIarC-eYaFwamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g_mAQnJAA-nujVjOmaBZ8A6vNFyw?docId%3D7ed476f9cfa94d7fbc1c5610c6ab2b75Profiles of Egypt#39;s main presidential candidates/alink rel=syndication-source href=www.ap.org/7ed476f9cfa94d7fbc1c5610c6ab2b75 /font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Associated Press/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEj3x6aWgG0tTMXQ51ZFFafRtLzeQamp;url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/as-egypt-holds-landmark-vote-a-nation-by-nation-look-at-arab-springs-progress/2012/05/20/gIQAt22MdU_story.htmlAs Egypt holds landmark vote, a nation-by-nation look at Arab Spring#39;s progress/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWashington Post/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGZDrD4nSi3cI77uj-j1DN-T8iBrwamp;url=http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId%3D153143802Secular Or Islamist? Egypt Chooses A President/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrNPR/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNG5BvTlkkXtgGOIpFJqJqhsSaxegwamp;url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3439507.ecenobrThe Hindu/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=wamp;ncl=de8-vS9KZtwixlMIN9AiENhwhXhoMnobrball 251 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEzdMhzrB3tDVlARGXytSIWWRzFRwamp;url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/lockerbie-bombing-salmond-defends-compassionate-release-of-megrahi-1-2307424img src=//nt1.ggpht.com/news/tbn/wdNb-N3f9LuzzM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=57 /br /font size=-2Scotsman/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEzdMhzrB3tDVlARGXytSIWWRzFRwamp;url=http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/lockerbie-bombing-salmond-defends-compassionate-release-of-megrahi-1-2307424bLockerbie bombing: Salmond defends compassionate release of Megrahi/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fScotsman/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1FIRST Minister Alex Salmond released a statement this afternoon, in which he defended the decision to release Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds. “Our first thoughts are with the families of the Lockerbie atrocity, whose pain and b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEmag7sNx0ekT-2wTjKlbKDKXVBAQamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jMBEgg-ljsIZtPrTQOB_yiARQ1Cg?docId%3DCNG.bf088f80d1669d18c093a18093e1cbd4.6b1Victim#39;s father regrets death of #39;Lockerbie bomber#39;/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAFP/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFQl0jUFqLGk9P5QrHBPTxxPhoU3wamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/20/abdelbaset-al-megrahi-death-libyaAbdelbaset al-Megrahi#39;s death generates little sadness among Libyans/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Guardian/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNH6K111WUULL4CoxeNxCcQqNxHtowamp;url=http://www.metro.co.uk/news/899619-david-cameron-says-dead-lockerbie-bomber-al-megrahi-should-never-have-been-releasedDavid Cameron says dead Lockerbie bomber al-Megrahi #39;should never have been b.../b/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrMetro/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF-krV429AaVu2IST2q31xl7-5OOwamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18140034nobrBBC News/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFbXem3Ka5gtwfRk2iWQFh8jNbxVwamp;url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/66639c94-a27f-11e1-826a-00144feabdc0.htmlnobrFinancial Times/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHsEFyFbeRZRQ9zGvD9Ew7KrnJU3wamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5ggCeFtzZcPYcqgPBjCpS2vJVH0Vw?docId%3DN0218181337518450013AnobrThe Press Association/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?pz=1amp;ned=ukamp;ncl=de6Y1FS3gp1vEiMFeqvFSB5z4lVjMamp;topic=hnobrball 2,134 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNETO5RFwiXLVnjCZDirDiAc3X1raQamp;url=http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120520/nato-summit-world-leaders-chicago-120520/20120520/?hub%3DEdmontonHomeimg src=//nt1.ggpht.com/news/tbn/BVx3zbBMfyK9fM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=45 /br /font size=-2CTV.ca/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNETO5RFwiXLVnjCZDirDiAc3X1raQamp;url=http://edmonton.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20120520/nato-summit-world-leaders-chicago-120520/20120520/?hub%3DEdmontonHomebPM to announce future role in Afghanistan: MacKay/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fCTV.ca/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1Prime Minister Stephen Harper takes part in a business round table during the NATO Summit in Chicago, Ill., on Sunday, May 20, 2012. Sean Kilpatrick / THE CANADIAN PRESS President Barack Obama, right, shakes hands with with Afghan President Hamid b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGTAtAPCmSTwYwIj_cxD5dgxVrVFgamp;url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/20/nato-summit-protests-idUSL1E8GK2M620120520Protesters begin biggest anti-NATO rally in Chicago/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEzfKTUERrcgQ8GfZvgiliZ_Q-ypAamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gWbyIWuRqt5GxqzivwhsmJgAtgFw?docId%3D9083d2351248436f88e74742db897a56Obama: NATO shifting to help peace in Afghanistan/alink rel=syndication-source href=www.ap.org/9083d2351248436f88e74742db897a56 /font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Associated Press/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHNxygUNz55tBhyAkJxMWrcD0IPAgamp;url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/nato-alliance-agrees-on-post-2014-vision-for-afghanistan-obama-says/article2438513/NATO alliance agrees on post-2014 vision for Afghanistan, Obama says/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrGlobe and Mail/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHu_w4ub5OVCM5I4c463HyV_-8ZGgamp;url=http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1181441--two-more-activists-charged-as-part-of-ongoing-investigation-related-to-chicago-nato-summitnobrToronto Star/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFxfbvQhF60DxgfhYf5anjeCSAgpQamp;url=http://mediagallery.usatoday.com/NATO%2Bsummit%2Bprotests/G3876,A12465nobrUSA TODAY/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEdwC_hnd28paYnwGSPyDQjm4WZWgamp;url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/20/us/us-nato-summit/?hpt%3Dhp_t2nobrCNN/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?pz=1amp;ned=ukamp;ncl=dDJ50ZZEQk0R6LM3QyzRDq5yIqc-Mamp;topic=hnobrball 6,352 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNH_NAnLYTz0UqYKPmNfljEs5PMUbQamp;url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-news/europe-thinks-the-unthinkable-on-greece/article2436739/img src=//nt3.ggpht.com/news/tbn/X-F8zddsOkfOhM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=45 /br /font size=-2Globe and Mail/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNETZlIpmgzPSVpunnnvXFBb75OsVAamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gHUblIaz32HoQD59JuuUr-Q3x-FQ?docId%3DN0217091337514245550AbCameron urges Greek euro exit plans/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fThe Press Association/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1David Cameron has issued a stark warning to eurozone leaders that they must put in place proper contingency plans to protect their economies in case Greece drops out of the single currency. He said Greek voters effectively faced an in-out choice when b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGlWI0c8XXrASz924ymM8ubd8S6WAamp;url=http://www.sharecast.com/cgi-bin/sharecast/story.cgi?story_id%3D20109842Sunday newspaper round-up: Eurozone, Sterling, Euro-bonds/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrShareCast/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEK0ETK0ueFETn2k-bCIZSt5HHy2wamp;url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/20/economy-greece-cameron-idUSL1E8GK29F20120520Greeks must choose on euro-UK#39;s Cameron/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrReuters/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHtTZjfslhOKkc2B0krJ-8aCutjsgamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18074674What happens next if Greece leaves the eurozone?/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBBC News/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF5cZ-ptonnFI-18ehC_l_sDpAdTQamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/9278253/Rising-US-recession-risk-poses-the-real-threat-to-Europe.htmlnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEam41tLmOE7WXqizy_WHwi4ryPcAamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/20/greek-cranky-extremists-ken-clarke?newsfeed%3DtruenobrThe Guardian/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGGhU6w9b-Ny8xRyseXgHL9VY1Cgwamp;url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a8fb20ce-a27d-11e1-a605-00144feabdc0.htmlnobrFinancial Times/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?pz=1amp;ned=ukamp;ncl=dTFVAbmFziwDmyMbr44J8q2Sg3WoMamp;topic=hnobrball 2,879 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHw8stYwVdsRDImaEcXL9zUY1LUeAamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9278261/Earthquake-strikes-northern-Italy-killing-six.htmlimg src=//nt3.ggpht.com/news/tbn/o2SRgkUoxjexeM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=50 /br /font size=-2Telegraph.co.uk/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHw8stYwVdsRDImaEcXL9zUY1LUeAamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9278261/Earthquake-strikes-northern-Italy-killing-six.htmlbEarthquake strikes northern Italy killing six/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fTelegraph.co.uk/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1The quake, which struck at 4am local time, led to the partial collapse of several historic stone towers and church steeples. By Nick Squires, Rome The 6.0 magnitude earthquake hit at around 4am local time in the Emilia Romagna region between the b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHvXrD9EEB6FdSA4KmDnm53EepruQamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5g5BuzBxM0O4NyZ-s3YL5ssrQfvDA?docId%3DCNG.4d20f42bb4b53903c444d4b7e9de211c.2a1Quake survivors await beds in Italian gym/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrAFP/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNH9vfyhYcflUls2GgRzHPGZ6NWQ-Qamp;url=http://www.cnn.com/2012/05/20/world/europe/italy-earthquake/?hpt%3Dhp_t3At least 7 dead after quake rocks northern Italy/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCNN/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEIAIz_X0heCzyseAU9p5g95otFDgamp;url=http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-world/strong-quake-kills-six-in-italy-20120521-1yzji.htmlStrong quake kills six in Italy/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSydney Morning Herald/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEG4iCfatSbZzA_tQucKtwrxsTK9Qamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i1dTyVhodcMbKJR7KgqTt7IMcPrA?docId%3D4a5938ea98a94bea81b12c67528e1341nobrThe Associated Press/nobr/alink rel=syndication-source href=www.ap.org/4a5938ea98a94bea81b12c67528e1341 /nbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHLXkhWYeGZIRZvh6FiNpeellOaRAamp;url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/italy-earthquake-kills-six-and-injures-841970nobrMirror.co.uk/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?pz=1amp;ned=ukamp;ncl=dmbeEU8GtSR-V1MQX47V4lx3rAtaMamp;topic=hnobrball 1,447 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGahb03zr5x1y5-xV8Y6Ky8BUv-kwamp;url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/shooting-victim-family-in-shock-16161120.htmlimg src=//nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/FDXW8wPgV7yWGM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=80 /br /font size=-2Belfast Telegraph/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGahb03zr5x1y5-xV8Y6Ky8BUv-kwamp;url=http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/local-national/northern-ireland/shooting-victim-family-in-shock-16161120.htmlbShooting victim family #39;in shock#39;/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fBelfast Telegraph/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1The family of an 18-year-old girl killed in a shooting in which her older sister was seriously injured is in deep shock, community leaders have said. Lauren O#39;Neill who had only recently celebrated her birthday was killed in a gun attack in the small b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF3VZKrI7OInZgE23rVjRZnhLd75Aamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-1812878018-year-old woman shot dead and sister injured in Derry/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBBC News/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEaMSVqO9lX-eZgRJialsdP_OZSOQamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/northernireland/9276937/Teenage-girl-killed-in-shooting-in-Northern-Ireland.htmlTeenage girl killed in shooting in Northern Ireland/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGz6tVUnJvYrzFWizOA9HiN4_Jiqgamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2012/may/19/three-held-girl-shot-derry?newsfeed%3DtrueThree people held after girl is shot dead in County Derry/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Guardian/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEP8i2vSUmh2IfATJrrX4ew6OD49Aamp;url=http://www.u.tv/news/Teen-shot-dead-in-Bellaghy/0b65710e-9904-40bf-b07c-a0e49ae7a5e5nobrU.TV/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHGiiQldBVMx3ehmvU3ik8zc6FXXAamp;url=http://www.metro.co.uk/news/899598-teenage-girl-shot-dead-and-sister-injured-in-northern-irelandnobrMetro/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?pz=1amp;ned=ukamp;ncl=dEwCclLdkTzx3TMHmr6AEHF4WVESMamp;topic=hnobrball 483 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEt1apm6MUYPtRkiic3k5HNEovjcwamp;url=http://www.news.com.au/world/pakistan-blocks-access-to-twitter/story-fn6sb9br-1226361729180img src=//nt1.ggpht.com/news/tbn/mQHM1d7AchT5gM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=45 /br /font size=-2NEWS.com.au/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHnTzb0OHKDM-1Ij39dS4b3Z5Rv3wamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gd73hYkGJtA6_Iam-qR_Ns9o4v1A?docId%3D30e6dc68223e4a3bba273eee5305ee9ebPakistan blocks Twitter over contentious tweets/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fThe Associated Press/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1By ZARAR KHAN, AP – 1 minute ago ISLAMABAD (AP) — Pakistan blocked the social networking website Twitter for much of Sunday because it refused to remove tweets considered offensive to Islam, said one of the country#39;s top telecommunications officials./fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF8j7wmjg585AODLWZgest93zMm-Aamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/9278105/Pakistan-blocks-Twitter-over-Prophet-Mohammed-references.htmlPakistan blocks Twitter over Prophet Mohammed references/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHExyIGk9JLpb2dmoJeu5GULrl75wamp;url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/pakistan-blocks-twitter-because-of-material-considered-offensive-to-islam/2012/05/20/gIQAFWdlcU_story.html?tid%3Dpm_world_popPakistan blocks Twitter because of tweets considered offensive to Islam/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWashington Post/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHMMzPPsO8vaSGcVe_8pZqqUauq2wamp;url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/technology/SocialMedia-Updates/Pak-blocks-Twitter-but-minister-says-no-restrictions/SP-Article1-858624.aspxPak blocks Twitter, but minister says no restrictions/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrHindustan Times/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHrgmu5QyhyeYisaoI_0yDZgfJAIAamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18138278nobrBBC News/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGGel3TyAdvazIYSu_h_MPs7oKLkgamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gGbj-Q142wrtn6AsPFO6xmk7CLWw?docId%3DCNG.2fb50e36a68614c4405d2849d39d09d3.3b1nobrAFP/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHU1ZIPU8eZiBsRZzdNCzKlaKRGiwamp;url=http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2012/0520/Pakistan-bans-Twitter-citing-blasphemous-contentnobrChristian Science Monitor/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?pz=1amp;ned=ukamp;ncl=dI6pQBg0k9A6KBMYMiv1rITpWDY7Mamp;topic=hnobrball 516 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF2G56we7_P4bHn9ieTYU_cdYUDTwamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18138300img src=//nt2.ggpht.com/news/tbn/KiIDA7vr5E52BM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=45 /br /font size=-2BBC News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF2G56we7_P4bHn9ieTYU_cdYUDTwamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-18138300bClarke: Prime Minister has right to #39;chillax#39;/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fBBC News/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1A senior cabinet colleague has defended David Cameron#39;s work ethic after a book said his weekend relaxations included tennis, karaoke and drinking wine. Justice Secretary Ken Clarke insisted leaders needed to remain quot;part of the human racequot; while b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHmJ0OtZLg9DKVhBzoPutoeG8tIqgamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/9278030/Kenneth-Clarke-David-Cameron-is-right-to-chillax-during-grindstone-of-ministerial-life.htmlKenneth Clarke: David Cameron is right to #39;chillax#39; during grindstone of b.../b/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHQJcBQrkb2MFvbONsps6m7TQeRKQamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5iSE7OCswgJm63ns3rRa3iwzA8MFw?docId%3DN0217301337515254536AClarke defends PM#39;s #39;chillaxing#39;/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Press Association/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEgv4gBWvD5APJVuJnK6sMq062ZJQamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/may/19/david-cameron-chillaxing-hobbies-biography?newsfeed%3DtrueDavid Cameron#39;s #39;chillaxing#39; hobbies revealed in new biography/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Guardian/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNExCTzAoNsnCL3mEdto4f5rK6k2dgamp;url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/pm-chillaxes-by-thrashing-the-clegger-7767124.htmlnobrThe Independent/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGJ_y3B5uyztLo5FK77_nAdR8TNYQamp;url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/2012/05/19/book-reveals-chillaxing-cameron-91466-31002170/nobrWalesOnline/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?pz=1amp;ned=ukamp;ncl=d5d7fNOjjHZPPGMc6ChFTwGCqLkkMamp;topic=hnobrball 363 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

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table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFqrDPbCmyV3cc0NJrLxISscoBP4Qamp;url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2147109/Teenager-arrested-body-woman-18-undergrowth-disused-observatory.html?ito%3Dfeeds-newsxmlimg src=//nt1.ggpht.com/news/tbn/Ba2IhciPjzjKHM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=52 /br /font size=-2Daily Mail/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFfyUXFvKJ1scPhLXPkV1e4i295vwamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/9278429/Body-of-teenage-girl-found-near-observatory.htmlbBody of teenage girl found near observatory/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fTelegraph.co.uk/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1Police have launched a murder inquiry after the body of a teenage girl was discovered near an abandoned observatory. By Tom Whitehead, and Nick Collins The body of youngster was found in undergrowth next to Bidston Hill Observatory, near Birkenhead, b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGeSfSph1HFNyJHU2z0u9vG-IlkJQamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hr83YX0QdU-P2cLDYv8EHo3Ar1Iw?docId%3DN0216561337511274903AWoman#39;s body found near observatory/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Press Association/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHBC-HVPKpC2Emni7egasIZKgLcrwamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-18136473Body of teenage girl found by Bidston Hill Observatory/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBBC News/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHUBvLKNl0SSgIV6W6f79jRIWTcXQamp;url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/2012/05/20/murder-investigation-after-teenager-s-body-found-near-wirral-s-bidston-hill-observatory-100252-31006480/Murder investigation after teenager#39;s body found near Wirral#39;s Bidston Hill b.../b/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrLiverpool Echo/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHQwi1Oi9bXmM8SLsO-R7aIE7rrRAamp;url=http://www.itn.co.uk/home/45775/Body%2Bof%2Byoung%2Bwoman%2Bfound%2Bat%2BobservatorynobrITN/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFqvRpo6HKOJZD060FSc8NYJEbqeQamp;url=http://www.clickliverpool.com/news/local-news/1216148-murder-probe-at-liverpool-region-beauty-spot.htmlnobrClick Liverpool/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF8F5TrW4xORRqQKkzWkXY7RDy0vQamp;url=http://www.wirralglobe.co.uk/news/9716503.Murder_inquiry_launched_after_body_of_teenage_girl_discovered_on_Bidston_Hill/?ref%3DntnobrWirral Globe/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?pz=1amp;ned=ukamp;ncl=dMBMTsQwmIUIORMpfzCbervAfmMBMamp;topic=hnobrball 159 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFDRYWEgiJ2wIxV8ttFLQkZqo7OsAamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18128784img src=//nt1.ggpht.com/news/tbn/wdnhwcNIIefCNM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=60 height=80 /br /font size=-2BBC News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHXjQ_ITKqrm2ZCwhPscduojdZKaAamp;url=http://news.stv.tv/scotland/102341-35-year-old-scot-dies-after-crashing-in-northern-ireland-motorcycle-race/b35-year-old Scot dies after crashing in Northern Ireland motorcycle race/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fstv.tv/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1Mark Buckley, from Loch Lomond, died from his injuries in hospital after an incident near York Corner, outside Portstewart, Co Derry, organisers of the North West 200 said. The married man had been taking part in the third race, the Superstock race, b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE_PFpriw_cGrPol-s_mPnvtdZ3aQamp;url=http://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/local/motorcyclist-killed-at-north-west-200-1-3864055Motorcyclist killed at North West 200/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBelfast Newsletter/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEuFVNLnqCy5LAJAYIKLdmCdwEAagamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5irgLM1h8UuIFN2iVE966VextepLA?docId%3DN0209551337451117677ARider killed in NW200 race crash/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Press Association/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFDRYWEgiJ2wIxV8ttFLQkZqo7OsAamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland-18128784Scottish rider dies in North West 200 race/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBBC News/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHYnEHHwY0WoJsMLIBx92BCaxDLRAamp;url=http://www.u.tv/News/Sadness-as-rider-dies-after-NW200-race/795be0af-a093-46bd-8c22-474d37a4332enobrU.TV/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHGKgxkZrVBEpJk4c_81bKYOFqZUAamp;url=http://insideireland.ie/2012/05/19/scottish-rider-killed-on-final-day-of-north-west-200-70865/nobrInsideireland.ie/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHk6C0QJGKBcMIWP-E_kIolA3k8hAamp;url=http://www.manxradio.com/newsread.aspx?id%3D59666nobrManx Radio/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?pz=1amp;ned=ukamp;ncl=dDq2RhmJoW5WmVMa6sbZS90RvcZzMamp;topic=hnobrball 278 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEsSLtCjHx_RFxi6Z8fIX9Lrr6sgAamp;url=http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-501623_162-57437910/chelsea-plans-for-future-as-european-champion/img src=//nt1.ggpht.com/news/tbn/iZTUteLxoUYeFM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=60 /br /font size=-2CBS News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFzzEXPQ-A9iyz-6vMDpp_Ha1nWuwamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/telegraphtv/9278409/Chelsea-fans-line-the-streets-for-victory-parade-to-celebrate-the-clubs-historic-Champions-League-and-FA-Cup-double.htmlbChelsea fans line the streets for victory parade to celebrate the club#39;s b.../b/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fTelegraph.co.uk/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1In front of tens of thousands of Chelsea fans, the new kings of Europe paraded the Champions League trophy through London#39;s New King#39;s Road on Sunday. By Telegraph Sport Chelsea are the capital#39;s first European champions after beating Bayern Munich 4-3 b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE_9g0ZHt6GfaB4gg-bUpON23H7Bgamp;url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/20052012/58/premier-league-torres-wants-clarity-chelsea-nightmare.htmlTorres wants clarity after Chelsea nightmare/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrYahoo! Eurosport UK/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE8O5VLLCEJZ4bEQzPU1bK-z1UrwAamp;url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2147165/Champions-Europe-Chelsea-return-heroes-welcome-open-bus-victory-parade-west-London.html?ito%3Dfeeds-newsxmlChampions of Europe Chelsea return to heroes#39; welcome with open-top bus b.../b/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrDaily Mail/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE3gIS7dAwJ_CNgg23nKUlavUp7Mgamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gHMVs4oni1scFsOvmS9XoD3em3iA?docId%3DN0221401337532823242AChelsea stars saluted at victory parade/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Press Association/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHdIlJ03PD2NIdnBefbLSoD5ENa1Qamp;url=http://www.metro.co.uk/sport/football/899630-fernando-torres-demands-crunch-talks-with-chelsea-over-squad-statusnobrMetro/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGceajvxFFEZyPDElM6ZZeCHJ7kWAamp;url=http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/05/20/3115750/chelseas-bertrand-could-hardly-believe-champions-leaguenobrGoal.com/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHI0ekU4hrAeNEUYu66qkkpGZqE0Aamp;url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/news/fernando-torres-slams-chelsea-and-hints-841821nobrMirror.co.uk/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=samp;ncl=dygJpHEnySROjfMnm5kyfCPmlqQ8Mnobrball 6,502 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHCgSdk89aDL1rCSiXAYnEh2zf51gamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/westindies/9278003/England-v-West-Indies-Kemar-Roach-rocks-England-to-give-Windies-hope.htmlimg src=//nt3.ggpht.com/news/tbn/FxWfDyqTS2DpaM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=50 /br /font size=-2Telegraph.co.uk/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHCgSdk89aDL1rCSiXAYnEh2zf51gamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/cricket/international/westindies/9278003/England-v-West-Indies-Kemar-Roach-rocks-England-to-give-Windies-hope.htmlbEngland v West Indies: Kemar Roach rocks England to give Windies hope/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fTelegraph.co.uk/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1By Telegraph Sport The first test at Lord#39;s is set for a thrilling finale, after West Indies left England rocking at 10-2 at stumps on Sunday, chasing a victory target of 191. Kemar Roach took 2-7 to remove England captain Andrew Strauss and b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHn8o5OpwNzcQV2rCN2Ri4N9Ftkvwamp;url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/20052012/58/windies-leave-england-tottering.htmlWindies leave England tottering/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrYahoo! Eurosport UK/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE_F4TUmWI8jvjf3lO4eihc1S4mgQamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gldAI61KqxUwrBiyNQDX_hIXAnmQ?docId%3DN0221761337534438275ABroad magic leaves England just on top/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Press Association/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHXNmd2KCa90tAhSzPcRVt_NEgIBgamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/18138489England v West Indies: Tourists fight back in style at Lord#39;s/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBBC Sport/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFI8PCWwyDXIe_jYwIXFzO1c1evIgamp;url=http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/cricket/4328505/England-v-West-Indies-day-four-report-Stuart-Broads-10-wicket-haul.htmlnobrThe Sun/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFULqLXhUb3zeCmtIGGbExbX1qE6Qamp;url=http://www.espncricinfo.com/england-v-west-indies-2012/content/current/story/565591.htmlnobrESPNcricinfo.com/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNH80uheOYDxb3wHIW5V7iZb0KLj5gamp;url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/top-stories/England-10-2-against-the-West-Indies-at-stumps/articleshow/13320819.cmsnobrTimes of India/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=samp;ncl=dMNK-QfL0fKQAQMS1lz2jXOqbykcMnobrball 2,039 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFJZ3xrVQ9tw10ydYG7AknmDtUz-Aamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/9278505/Nicolas-Colsaerts-blasts-his-way-into-Ryder-Cup-reckoning-with-World-Match-Play-victory.htmlimg src=//nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/cJuM9Fatg8wpjM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=50 /br /font size=-2Telegraph.co.uk/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFJZ3xrVQ9tw10ydYG7AknmDtUz-Aamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/golf/9278505/Nicolas-Colsaerts-blasts-his-way-into-Ryder-Cup-reckoning-with-World-Match-Play-victory.htmlbNicolas Colsaerts blasts his way into Ryder Cup reckoning with World Match b.../b/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fTelegraph.co.uk/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1If America have big-hitting Bubba for the Ryder Cup, then Europe may well have colossal-hitting Colsaerts. By James Corrigan, Golf Correspondent, in Casares, Andalucia The Belgian outblasted and ultimately outlasted Graeme McDowell here at the Volvo b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE8WeVJDzqr5Ko97bM8kVjdzQUEcAamp;url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/20052012/58/colsaerts-snatches-match-play-triumph.htmlColsaerts snatches Match Play triumph/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrYahoo! Eurosport UK/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHGL4TaiuJ-ll8tgUuSP7dt-pAJPQamp;url=http://www.sportinglife.com/golf/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME%3Dgolf/12/05/20/GOLF_Finca_4th_Lead.html%26BID%3D585Nicolas Colsaerts: Won at the last hole/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSportinglife.com/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGHApRheMQbUdkmyyk91T6SsDlUogamp;url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/golf/article-2147177/World-Match-Play-Nicolas-Colsaerts-beats-Graeme-McDowell.htmlBelgian Colsaerts edges out McDowell to claim Match Play glory in Spain/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrDaily Mail/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE-9i648xDbcSydLx10U4C5I6uRiwamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/golf/18137999nobrBBC Sport/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFvk4G0qTnKPnoxIECQK-Bu9kzJiAamp;url=http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/05/20/golf-european-idUKL4E8GK04H20120520nobrReuters UK/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=samp;ncl=dqBwhrfXrJgBa2M0mUaKu2tGQ88bMnobrball 770 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGJSnBovMomNjQH5cD9c3U0V3fsBQamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/20/leinster-success-pursuit-excellence?newsfeed%3Dtrueimg src=//nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/KE3SjxY-jYRh-M/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=48 /br /font size=-2The Guardian/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGJSnBovMomNjQH5cD9c3U0V3fsBQamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/20/leinster-success-pursuit-excellence?newsfeed%3DtruebLeinster#39;s success finds base in relentless pursuit of excellence/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fThe Guardian/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1Next season#39;s Heineken Cup final is in Dublin, fittingly so as Ireland is the country the trophy has called home for five of the last seven seasons. A competition that in its first few years was regarded as a fight between England and France has turned b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHLB8CQUjZYXmki4Wbvll2-16iCKwamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/club/9278194/Heineken-Cup-final-Brian-ODriscoll-ensures-Leinsters-place-in-history-is-secure-after-classic-all-Ireland-showdown-against-Munster.htmlHeineken Cup final: Brian O#39;Driscoll ensures Leinster#39;s place in history is b.../b/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEvza5Dh3xgcXOK4sQYUGNmx7r1dAamp;url=http://www.clubcall.com/rugby-union/best-motivated-by-defeat-1430984.htmlBest motivated by defeat/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrClubcall/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE5nX8A2XCyD97X4YfYd_YIHWLNZAamp;url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/20052012/58/heineken-cup-o-driscoll-leinster-creating-dynasty.htmlO#39;Driscoll: Leinster creating dynasty/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrYahoo! Eurosport UK/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNG9TJn8vm2nii2qnh9Lhlt0TBOiuQamp;url=http://www.skysports.com/rugbyunion/match_report/0,,11069_53230_1,00.htmlnobrSkySports/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEtWMq2Rd6cVNie4ew1F0t0WGfpSwamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jFHz6tDfDp6R1_wLfWsKXj1UYJ2Q?docId%3DN0218551337519681013AnobrThe Press Association/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHsDO26Yktdux9IOiTEF2bmDIb8SQamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18131455nobrBBC Sport/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=samp;ncl=dMaanl4754xf7XMAlxYLB3l0puVjMnobrball 996 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFD0tAhJJ5osOsmOZI8xX1cZl0VlAamp;url=http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/7940493/david-price-eyes-british-heavyweight-title-klitschkosimg src=//nt3.ggpht.com/news/tbn/S8uTOBc8-FE3HM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=45 /br /font size=-2ESPN/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEukM4ZZA5MOnM7DRd1nfz57sz9WAamp;url=http://www.thesportreview.com/tsr/2012/05/david-price-beats-sam-sexton-at-aintree/bDavid Price beats Sam Sexton to win British amp; Commonwealth titles/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fThe Sport Review/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1By Ciaran Shanks 6:54pm UK, Sunday 20 May, 2012 David Price has targeted world domination after stopping Sam Sexton in the fourth round to become Liverpool#39;s first British and Commonwealth heavyweight champion. The 6ft 8in powerhouse did not skip a b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFTUJd6BV_A2eUIA5GpMmvAITmEFQamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boxing/9278007/David-Price-has-bright-future-after-fourth-round-victory-over-Sam-Sexton-at-Aintree.htmlDavid Price has bright future after fourth round victory over Sam Sexton at b.../b/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNERtDnpOkasKsqXiFKMUA9Yyn5nrQamp;url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/boxing/article-2146980/The-Price-right-Deadly-David-promises-bigger-things-demolishing-Sam-Sexton.htmlThe Price is right! Deadly David promises bigger things after demolishing Sam b.../b/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrDaily Mail/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE4yCxaghcBrLwZOySr2ST5eFhDcgamp;url=http://www.sportinglife.com/boxing/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME%3Dboxing/12/05/20/manual_002257.html%26BID%3D543IMPRESSIVE WIN FOR DAVID PRICE/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSportinglife.com/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHxSUepwc3uqjwuzIExm_PkLVbrkwamp;url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxing/price-v-sexton-the-acceptable-face-837435nobrMirror.co.uk/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEMZnPNMmlfzvHwXKhGwvCuWeMJ_gamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/boxing/18115324nobrBBC News/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=samp;ncl=dUESULIdLFQZWpMEOB-AWENTbtC1Mnobrball 89 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNED6VpmtbFVas8OYIVodt_YD0Ng0Aamp;url=http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/story/2012-05-19/Torch-relay-begins-for-London-Olympics/55080664/1img src=//nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/WMhmK_vh3o0bDM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=60 /br /font size=-2USA TODAY/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHjBVeIjQifR7Al8a02XHtkevbkbAamp;url=http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/olympics/sale-of-olympic-torches-on-ebay-ignites-controversy-7769520.htmlbSale of Olympic torches on eBay ignites controversy/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fThe Independent/font/b/fontbr /font size=-170 police officers to guard one little flame might seem excessive, but the seven and a half thousand Olympic torch bearers still to run will no doubt be glad of the protection, after it has emerged that the torches they will carry have a street value b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFa_MqYHdbX6by9_Q8lB9mhB1WB_wamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/20/olympic-torches-for-sale-ebay?newsfeed%3DtrueOlympic torches listed for sale on eBay/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Guardian/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNH4yWK3d1sxGa07ONYsd9mul4mnJwamp;url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2147060/Olympic-flame-carriers-cash-listing-torches-eBay-150-000.html?ITO%3D1490Olympic flame carriers cash in by listing their torches on eBay for up to £150000/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrDaily Mail/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNH3KrjrMGPvWXonIMEC6wjE8Almkwamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympics/london-2012/9277108/Olympic-Torch-begins-its-winding-path-through-Britain.htmlOlympic Torch begins its winding path through Britain/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGxSnILIZk7vx1wsXtp5COQV_-2rgamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18133072nobrBBC News/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFetGibtzBk3dM8TWmz04jlHteo7wamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5ia5n2BgRzwqAUt6fhHavg9KX4UJA?docId%3DN0204091337424984821AnobrThe Press Association/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHCCaphfHmZGV0Rv6GWP8aMwWmBpAamp;url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/05/19/olympic-fever-hits-britain-as-the-torch-arrives-and-it-hits-wales-on-friday-91466-31005426/nobrWalesOnline/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=samp;ncl=dz1VRrcL2CTpVtMKc86J2swIIZY3Mnobrball 4,592 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFVs-_nC0UrrZO7OkDF9R15LVyB8Aamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18138172img src=//nt3.ggpht.com/news/tbn/D41ij8V0EqW6UM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=45 /br /font size=-2BBC Sport/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHxGj-j28zDaWEyLwTDLLWvh3nHFAamp;url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/20052012/63/hearts-fans-turn-cup-parade.htmlbHearts fans turn out for cup parade/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fYahoo! Eurosport UK/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1Around 100000 fans lined the streets of Edinburgh to celebrate Hearts#39; victory in the first all-Edinburgh Scottish Cup Final in 116 years. An open-top bus paraded through the city following Hearts#39; 5-1 victory over rivals Hibernian at Hampden Park on b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNH0MSglARiiv9S2SYyLrGVWBnHMDgamp;url=http://www.sportinglife.com/football/scottishpremier/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME%3Dsoccer/12/05/20/SOCCER_Scotland_Nightlead.html%26BID%3D425Andy Webster: Part of Scotland squad/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSportinglife.com/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFVs-_nC0UrrZO7OkDF9R15LVyB8Aamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/18138172Paulo Sergio unhappy at silence over Hearts contract/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBBC Sport/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHeZOqHNvkx-241JV3KE83GV7vljgamp;url=http://sport.stv.tv/football/clubs/hearts/102374-hearts-striker-craig-beattie-is-open-to-agreeing-a-new-deal-at-tynecastle/Hearts striker Craig Beattie is open to agreeing a new deal at Tynecastle/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrstv.tv/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNG7TDcyeZmOPV8FJdl2ILfHd3Yb8Aamp;url=http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/scottish/skacel-makes-it-heartbreak-for-hibs-7768799.htmlnobrThe Independent/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEiTxZvU9-BIculXe-SgtHC6bQfvQamp;url=http://www.scotsman.com/sport/football/top-football-stories/scottish-cup-final-hibernian-1-5-hearts-hearts-pounding-has-hapless-hibs-in-hiding-1-2306796nobrScotsman/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=samp;ncl=dPF4OClD_-xSZPMmHiUPrLbjwQxGMnobrball 1,088 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF_gCvlbr1_wZ-4zFMOtvvbMHUEzQamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/9278372/Nothing-can-touch-Frankel-over-a-mile-so-he-must-step-up-to-10-furlongs.htmlimg src=//nt3.ggpht.com/news/tbn/88AI9XGYU4PZrM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=50 /br /font size=-2Telegraph.co.uk/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF_gCvlbr1_wZ-4zFMOtvvbMHUEzQamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/horseracing/9278372/Nothing-can-touch-Frankel-over-a-mile-so-he-must-step-up-to-10-furlongs.htmlbNothing can touch Frankel over a mile so he must step up to 10 furlongs/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fTelegraph.co.uk/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1If Frankel#39;s facile victory in Saturday#39;s JLT Lockinge Stakes was merely the warm-up and he improves as much for the run as Sir Henry Cecil believes then heaven help the other milers. By Marcus Armytage But therein lies the problem for Frankel if he is b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEV75L02imA-yYkc_PDEJCVJaqeYQamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/20/frankel-royal-ascot?newsfeed%3DtrueFrankel likely to start off Royal Ascot meeting #39;with a bang#39;/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Guardian/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFy6AIGaJfcUKOwIQrnsnKYbZ__2gamp;url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/racing/article-2146794/Frankel-demolishes-Lockinge-rivals-Newbury.htmlFrankel on top of the world after after demolishing Lockinge rivals/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrDaily Mail/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFcSMyoHfYs983TgrGmgB86eIuUCgamp;url=http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/racing/fabulous-frankel-has-both-heart-and-mind-7768768.htmlFabulous Frankel has both heart and mind/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Independent/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFnwxogBwn8zwbcYjuLufx9hnGZSgamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/horse-racing/18104179nobrBBC Sport/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEvuwJ5FmO_iMQQFGexHHeLanW6_gamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jfH8T2cdfHKbqc5IjEMCCAeQ2vIA?docId%3DN0216671337512357241AnobrThe Press Association/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEsKDppfE1hCSeg3vkTc8tiBttIRwamp;url=http://www.sportinglife.com/racing/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME%3Dracing/12/05/18/manual_150355.html%26BID%3D465nobrSportinglife.com/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=samp;ncl=ddQLURgDz1RJ0JMNyj6NpV5Ykg6rMnobrball 327 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE3RFsJ-2ZEtWW77DvvNJZj_5I8Bwamp;url=http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3284/euro-2012/2012/05/20/3115435/chelsea-success-good-for-england-hodgsonimg src=//nt1.ggpht.com/news/tbn/weQQoJvjCtdA8M/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=50 /br /font size=-2Goal.com/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE3RFsJ-2ZEtWW77DvvNJZj_5I8Bwamp;url=http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/3284/euro-2012/2012/05/20/3115435/chelsea-success-good-for-england-hodgsonbChelsea success good for England - Hodgson/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fGoal.com/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1By Rhys Turrell Frank Lampard, Gary Cahill and Ashley Cole all featured in the west Londoners#39; penalty shootout win over Bayern Munich on Saturday, whilst suspended captain John Terry watched on from the sidelines. Hodgson praised the performances of b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGG9855ZArGIJEIbjedVlLBhy0dbAamp;url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/euro2012/article-2147136/Euro-2012-Roy-Hodgson-praises-Chelseas-England-players.htmlEuro 2012: Roy Hodgson stands by Rio Ferdinand decision/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrDaily Mail/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFBSXvGJSe1SyVjo5r1wWmD0GdrMAamp;url=http://www.people.co.uk/sport/football/news/2012/05/20/no-headline-102039-23867363/Roy Hodgson warns England stars not to abuse his trust/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrSunday People/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE7cseRRaGzDFP4B9UJRpnaBNtfWwamp;url=http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/international/hodgson-one-strike-and-youre-out-7768795.htmlHodgson: #39;One strike and you#39;re out!#39;/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Independent/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHpZ3iutIvEFmC2opyhmGogBpdqEgamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5jU6KZkz-dTwPh8M9rYsiVkusRAHg?docId%3DN0218141337518142529AnobrThe Press Association/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFTGgUyO7alJvGTaCxAfFNLqMTTdAamp;url=http://www.sundaymercury.net/news/columnists/george-tyndale/2012/05/20/george-tyndale-give-us-half-a-ruddy-chance-hodgson-66331-31009018/nobrSunday Mercury/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEZCDjC01f7Eq6sHjhMDkmLxOim4gamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2012/may/19/roy-hodgson-code-conduct-england?newsfeed%3DtruenobrThe Guardian/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=samp;ncl=dQXiTQpf5mi7fbMo81MPtN2AqA-pMnobrball 95 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFFPoPuGtUR6_krL14u1UfzRngKVgamp;url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/20052012/58/haye-decapitates-chisora-bottle-game.htmlimg src=//nt2.ggpht.com/news/tbn/xp9jxeTATGwNdM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=42 /br /font size=-2Yahoo! Eurosport UK/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFFPoPuGtUR6_krL14u1UfzRngKVgamp;url=http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/20052012/58/haye-decapitates-chisora-bottle-game.htmlbHaye #39;decapitates Chisora with bottle#39; in game/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fYahoo! Eurosport UK/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1David Haye has released an iPhone app where users can play as him and slice off Dereck Chisora#39;s head with a bottle. The controversial game shows Haye taking the bottle out of his glove before using it to decapitate his fellow British heavyweight, b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGmxqrus24UdxyoT-wdV6Ek1g2hFgamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/boxing/9275681/David-Hayes-big-plan-to-challenge-Vitali-Klitschko-in-September-for-the-World-Boxing-Council-title-is-scuppered.htmlDavid Haye#39;s big plan to challenge Vitali Klitschko in September for the World b.../b/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE73uCmqCA-JUbb72KigLF_wvoEWwamp;url=http://www.boxingscene.com/flashback-photos-haye-brawls-with-chisora-his-trainer--53065Flashback Photos: Haye Brawls With Chisora, His Trainer/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBoxingScene.com/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEV0coBcl9Lka1jsdf5V_Apg1Xw4Qamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/may/18/wbc-david-haye-dereck-chisora?newsfeed%3DtrueWBC threatens ban for all involved in David Haye v Dereck Chisora/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Guardian/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNESex7cLHn1EN9MRvIbbwsDHOVyAwamp;url=http://www.worldboxingnews.net/2012/05/haye-chisoras-trainer-wants-to-fight-me.htmlnobrWBN - World Boxing News/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEq7yUifVCFmU79ojgrIMNaf1N7ugamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/boxing/18121682nobrBBC Sport/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFAS8G0hTdmj7NvtudaF31rNbQc9Qamp;url=http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/boxing/haye-v-chisora-wbc-threatens-838895nobrMirror.co.uk/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=samp;ncl=dwZ_QmpL1HmOdEMg9sgwPpHuLzhYMnobrball 55 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF8j7wmjg585AODLWZgest93zMm-Aamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/9278105/Pakistan-blocks-Twitter-over-Prophet-Mohammed-references.htmlimg src=//nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/SKzl-1n0ElbmdM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=50 /br /font size=-2Telegraph.co.uk/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF8j7wmjg585AODLWZgest93zMm-Aamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/pakistan/9278105/Pakistan-blocks-Twitter-over-Prophet-Mohammed-references.htmlbPakistan blocks Twitter over Prophet Mohammed references/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fTelegraph.co.uk/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1Pakistan blocked access to the microblogging site Twitter on Sunday because of its refusal to remove controversial references to the Prophet Mohammed. By Rob Crilly, Islamabad The move brought instant condemnation from thousands of users and even b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHrgmu5QyhyeYisaoI_0yDZgfJAIAamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-18138278Pakistan blocks Twitter because of #39;offensive material#39;/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBBC News/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHExyIGk9JLpb2dmoJeu5GULrl75wamp;url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/pakistan-blocks-twitter-because-of-material-considered-offensive-to-islam/2012/05/20/gIQAFWdlcU_story.html?tid%3Dpm_world_popPakistan blocks Twitter because of tweets considered offensive to Islam/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWashington Post/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEAzvOIg61Lwdl3uxDSNHWGOS3hRwamp;url=http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/world/asia/pakistan-blocks-twitter-over-cartoon-contest.htmlPakistan Blocks Twitter Over Cartoon Contest/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrNew York Times/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGzFhx6hZwmSJLdjzK1cYtorH9PpQamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/20/pakistan-blocks-twitter-blasphemy-fearsnobrThe Guardian/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFDTC8qeC5vj_YGGlfc09fN-Etf0gamp;url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/pakistan-blocks-twitter-for-material-offensive-to-islam-7769408.htmlnobrThe Independent/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHMMzPPsO8vaSGcVe_8pZqqUauq2wamp;url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/technology/SocialMedia-Updates/Pak-blocks-Twitter-but-minister-says-no-restrictions/SP-Article1-858624.aspxnobrHindustan Times/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=tamp;ncl=dI6pQBg0k9A6KBMYMiv1rITpWDY7Mnobrball 516 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFEr7d_crQbDB3nG_VRPoFbcAFJSgamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/9269818/Facebook-is-it-really-worth-100bn.htmlimg src=//nt3.ggpht.com/news/tbn/I23aCPnCvZ69uM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=49 /br /font size=-2Telegraph.co.uk/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFc0bmHdZR8k9GdKBgD4MGJ7zS6mgamp;url=http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/management/the-facebook-ipo-journey_706692.htmlbThe Facebook IPO Journey/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fMoneycontrol.com/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1Our top story today is about a 28-year-old man and his 8-year-old company#39;s journey to a USD 100 billon valuation on Wall Street. I am talking Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg: quot;It is an online directory that connects people through universities and colleges b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFgent0F_zH4cGdF3w4AZi3OrxoqAamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18115914Facebook shares see modest debut/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBBC News/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNH8go01RqkC26v8yDfv4KtO-AqvIgamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/9274573/Facebook-IPO-as-it-happened.htmlFacebook IPO: as it happened/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEd8n5j5i-Zrgit2q4fi2owLPaR6Aamp;url=http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-05/D9URABQG1.htmFacebook stock up slightly in public debut/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBusinessWeek/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNECp9ESEzxZWL--ch7nPVXWotNZEAamp;url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/facebook-hits-105bn-mark--but-only-after-underwriters-step-in-7766998.htmlnobrThe Independent/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFD06ol-QABy8mPD3PfLMWukpmY9Qamp;url=http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20120519/BUSINESS/205190306/Facebook-stock-debut-closes-near-flat?odyssey%3Dnav%257CheadnobrGreat Falls Tribune/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEMhZDKcbWwQ5NxkX2SzGEusxarDgamp;url=http://www.omglobe.com/2012/05/19/business-news/after-flat-debut-facebook-awaits-market-verdict/nobrOutcome Magazine/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=tamp;ncl=dqjeWtadQ8RZqRMDXdKhCMz2pK-0Mnobrball 13,669 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNH85CIMltS2U5HX5Ig3G2f36S1EnQamp;url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2147158/Even-cavemen-used-social-networks-Bronze-age-tribes-used-granite-rocks-prehistoric-version-Facebook.html?ito%3Dfeeds-newsxmlimg src=//nt3.ggpht.com/news/tbn/w1rtepiSNJSCpM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=54 /br /font size=-2Daily Mail/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNH85CIMltS2U5HX5Ig3G2f36S1EnQamp;url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2147158/Even-cavemen-used-social-networks-Bronze-age-tribes-used-granite-rocks-prehistoric-version-Facebook.html?ito%3Dfeeds-newsxmlbEven cavemen used social networks! Bronze age tribes used granite rocks as b.../b/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fDaily Mail/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1By Chris Richards Cambridge boffins are studying a #39;prehistoric version of Facebook#39; to gain a unique insight into the daily lives of our ancestors. Scientists are analysing thousands of images scrawled across two granite rock sites - each the size of b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHD-Pmxkjk9HYgyro-BOiB-ylQihgamp;url=http://www.metro.co.uk/news/899473-prehistoric-facebook-found-in-images-carved-in-rocks-by-caveman#39;Prehistoric Facebook#39; found in images carved in rocks by caveman/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrMetro/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEwaj-nU9R2_vlBua1v_gFsmqHWpwamp;url=http://www.cambridge-news.co.uk/Home/Bronze-Age-Facebook-18052012.htmBronze Age Facebook/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCambridge News/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGiQJFpX-NW4baHD98D_hqjcCls0gamp;url=http://news.discovery.com/history/bronze-age-facebook-120518.htmlBronze-Age #39;Facebook#39; Stone Conveyed #39;Likes#39;/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrDiscovery News/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=p/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=tamp;ncl=dKUbHbohOXQE75MEqhG83Yoc11RrMnobrball 5 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNH5jz3Hw9R_UAWIB5HFpaH4CGdu7Qamp;url=http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/world-news/google-says-it-won-chinas-approval-for-motorola-deal_706871.htmlimg src=//nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/WHh7aAvl5mHOFM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=53 /br /font size=-2Moneycontrol.com/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEfH59C-jZk5NEVz_Fp6xebLHGOSQamp;url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/china-approves-googles-motorola-deal/articleshow/13320595.cmsbChina approves Google#39;s Motorola deal/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fEconomic Times/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1BEIJING: China said on Sunday it had granted conditional approval to Google#39;s plans to acquire Motorola Mobility Holdings, clearing the last regulatory obstacle to a deal that will help the search company#39;s plans to develop its own smart phones./fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGnyBTlJMsMSwh_-9TMTRMfzkjZyQamp;url=http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303360504577414280414923956.html?mod%3Dgooglenews_wsjChina Clears Google#39;s Motorola Mobility Deal/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWall Street Journal/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHKXDSyXgPO65eKBnAL97BPVkCVzwamp;url=http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hYN2wSrLpjlkw315NjrmHTeNEq2Q?docId%3Dadfa482ccdf348208c46b2181a3d5337Google gets China OK for Motorola deal/alink rel=syndication-source href=www.ap.org/adfa482ccdf348208c46b2181a3d5337 /font size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Associated Press/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHDzEGVpeOL0PdKFdSChlVJPNN6_gamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/9277880/Google-wins-final-approval-for-Motorola-Mobility-takeover.htmlGoogle wins final approval for Motorola Mobility takeover/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHXNVoWG7_-IcMk20FXnyA9adtbsgamp;url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/18/us-microsoft-mmi-patent-idUSBRE84H15920120518nobrReuters/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNG-ogllY-a8f3IDN_zWxMKaFMEjCQamp;url=http://www.pcworld.com/article/255865/china_approves_google_acquisition_of_motorola_mobility.htmlnobrPCWorld/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHAKgwSIDbQfCVDT57xbmwkWEldtgamp;url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-32969_3-57437774-300/china-to-google-android-must-remain-open/nobrCNET/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=tamp;ncl=dgFVIdBxStwJj8Mb9PWpwqJMBCDbMnobrball 436 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFu6I5Uc83TdsxS7UAIHwvCterObQamp;url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d48d704e-9e94-11e1-a767-00144feabdc0.htmlimg src=//nt3.ggpht.com/news/tbn/w9gCUQqtPhn1vM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=45 /br /font size=-2Financial Times/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEf8vzdAfjLgjdrjxncP--KJNt2_wamp;url=http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/18/us-samsung-idUSBRE84H00X20120518bSamsung gets 9 million preorders for new Galaxy phone: report/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fReuters/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1| SEOUL (Reuters) - Samsung Electronics Co has received some 9 million pre-orders for its third-generation Galaxy S smartphone from more than 100 global carriers, the Korea Economic Daily reported on Friday. Samsung toppled Apple as the world#39;s biggest b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFu6I5Uc83TdsxS7UAIHwvCterObQamp;url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/d48d704e-9e94-11e1-a767-00144feabdc0.htmlAndroid rivals aim to close the Apple gap/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrFinancial Times/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNESB9SxPD4wHV58_AmlANpgnSpCwgamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/samsung/9274390/Samsung-S3-9-million-pre-order-new-Galaxy-phone.htmlSamsung S3: 9 million pre-order new Galaxy phone/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHsnFwGIwCCNwi1Mjjx6eE5paxhvgamp;url=http://www.t3.com/news/samsung-galaxy-s3-uk-release-date-pushed-forward-exclusive-dealSamsung Galaxy S3: Early UK release date for pre-orders/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrT3/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGL1fLH2PGGTer9p4pYgk_2b4ZfDQamp;url=http://www.itproportal.com/2012/05/17/samsung-galaxy-s3-vs-galaxy-note-specs-comparison/nobrITProPortal/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE15RaylL1EVcZUPhU2tNqFlaD0Pgamp;url=http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/samsung-galaxy-s3-rom-leaks-s-voice-et-al-up-for-download-50008003/nobrCNET UK/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHrq_H_ioQzalqOBalhuv1i_Fb2YAamp;url=http://www.techradar.com/news/phone-and-communications/mobile-phones/samsung-galaxy-s3-could-have-9-million-pre-orders-already-1080928nobrTechRadar UK/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=tamp;ncl=dM4fWMWsjWgHUFMc459xELmJxBrPMnobrball 328 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHmxeD1ysUUQIrxklMrtbCrcEKCTQamp;url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2145277/Google-plus-virtual-ghost-town-One-users-post-NEVER-again.html?ito%3Dfeeds-newsxmlimg src=//nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/EC9elviNFtegYM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=44 height=80 /br /font size=-2Daily Mail/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHmxeD1ysUUQIrxklMrtbCrcEKCTQamp;url=http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2145277/Google-plus-virtual-ghost-town-One-users-post-NEVER-again.html?ito%3Dfeeds-newsxmlbGoogle plus is a #39;virtual ghost town#39;: One-third of users post once and NEVER b.../b/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fDaily Mail/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1By Rob Waugh Google+ is a ¿virtual ghost town¿ with nearly a third of users who make a public post never bothering to do so again, a new report claims Google+ is a #39;virtual ghost town#39; with nearly a third of users who make a public post never bothering b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHUyUaev06SGeMtMXqk89GIY8BvwQamp;url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57437586-93/google-brings-further-tweaks-to-gmail/Google brings further tweaks to Gmail/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrCNET/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFfCeRuMiVU-QRlu-xmsPsXfmBfMwamp;url=http://www.techradar.com/news/internet/gmail-gets-more-google-with-people-friendly-makeover-1080874Gmail gets more Google+ with people-friendly makeover/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTechRadar UK/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFQJZid9GfKW24-hdNv7XSqjeuW8Qamp;url=http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-05-16/is-google-plus-a-ghost-town-and-does-it-matterIs Google+ a Ghost Town, and Does It Matter?/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrBusinessWeek/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNG9Momt0EMCv0MSGGT2tltbArVFMQamp;url=http://www.itproportal.com/2012/05/18/youtube-phases-out-1-button-share-your-feelings-instead-on-google/nobrITProPortal/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGgq501x5Nsuuouz3JCydzVC3iqrwamp;url=http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404541,00.aspnobrPC Magazine/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFdNMs8Bbv66Bm6srfy2pdEB2y1XAamp;url=http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/blog/2012/may/18/google-plus-study-engagementnobrThe Guardian (blog)/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=tamp;ncl=dVeWJ_vwYnQa9hMxSCb85_krxxuqMnobrball 37 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHe1KB5tvItKNKq_HMZF2yHYDNUvwamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18118136img src=//nt3.ggpht.com/news/tbn/v7sTySA5P_azPM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=45 /br /font size=-2BBC News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHe1KB5tvItKNKq_HMZF2yHYDNUvwamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18118136bSpaceX Falcon rocket aborts launch in last second/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fBBC News/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1By Jonathan Amos Science correspondent, BBC News The launch of the American SpaceX company#39;s re-supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS) has been delayed by at least three days. The company was forced to abort the flight just as its b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHtAGq17hmqTfydkQHmUMCc7NYo6Aamp;url=http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/emerging-tech/2012/05/19/spacex-falcon-9-launch-aborted-at-last-second-40155253/SpaceX Falcon 9 launch aborted at last second/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrZDNet UK/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGknDr5eCtm52iDg28G7_3u-TBTjAamp;url=http://wusfnews.wusf.usf.edu/post/let-real-space-age-beginLet The Real Space Age Begin/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWUSF News/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGUeHSbL1W0_jQgnaFIQUpSdYfxggamp;url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/possible-engine-problem-delays-us-rocket-launch-7768472.htmlPossible engine problem delays US rocket launch/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrThe Independent/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNG181o6-lqQpJqFy4IjoXJ8vc4dFQamp;url=http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-05-20/spacex-s-commercial-launch-to-space-station-aborted-at-liftoffnobrBusinessWeek/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE1Oj7wF2EGctIVWXf3b6PIpxLQjgamp;url=http://www.techradar.com/news/world-of-tech/spacex-launch-aborted-after-last-minute-engine-glitch-1081133nobrTechRadar UK/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFiLUePjo3iAQrhmjHhbRkgSxizRQamp;url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-11386_3-57437638-76/spacex-launch-scrapped-in-last-second-drama/nobrCNET/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=tamp;ncl=djgjYin7aNp0eRM1FImDbYb7LiofMnobrball 2,009 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHLud1Cn2Hf6RWXykcZ2S55AZoNnwamp;url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/international/article3438687.eceimg src=//nt1.ggpht.com/news/tbn/iduRNTfmwIHvCM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=64 height=80 /br /font size=-2The Hindu/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHsg0Yt7N5yAAKrdvDS25RFHakUewamp;url=http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-57437885-71/how-zuckerbergs-wedding-reveals-facebooks-problem/bHow Zuckerberg#39;s wedding reveals Facebook#39;s problem/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fCNET/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1On visiting the Facebook announcement of its CEO#39;s wedding, I was served ads for insurance and heart attack prevention. Slightly inappropriate? by Chris Matyszczyk May 20, 2012 10:10 AM PDT Who could not be moved by the fact that Facebook CEO Mark b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHnF-HHwtwoxORAXgSQx8ooqXSPYwamp;url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/media/9277711/Facebook-founder-Mark-Zuckerberg-marries-one-day-after-104bn-IPO.htmlFacebook founder Mark Zuckerberg marries one day after $104bn IPO/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTelegraph.co.uk/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNE9y6hOZQ0ieAvFgRqMv3M_K_4cZAamp;url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/people/FB-founders-relationship-status-Married/articleshow/13315024.cmsFB founder#39;s relationship status: Married/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrTimes of India/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGl9jjOUH9Mp3MyxcUkncO2rez5jwamp;url=http://www.newsday.com/news/world/facebook-s-mark-zuckerberg-marries-priscilla-chan-1.3728422Mark Zuckerberg marries Priscilla Chan/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrNewsday/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGiJh33kHBKDeYqxnnlAz8tn-BLXgamp;url=http://zeenews.india.com/business/news/technology/zuckerberg-marries-long-time-girlfriend-priscilla-chan_47929.htmlnobrZee News/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNG8xWaLbLIIhrptF-01J_grzahn8wamp;url=http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2012/05/20/mark-zuckerberg-masters-the-privacy-settings-on-his-wedding/nobrForbes/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHq1kTZz-EXDCRdNdV8atw1tg-TBgamp;url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-18135564nobrBBC News/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=tamp;ncl=dKeEvAEJ4KcJt2MjP8NR0X1nh9a0Mnobrball 1,340 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHBQDOvpFiyqu6Qz_8N2rj8Ofsuiwamp;url=http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2012/05/twitter-tailored-suggestions-aims-to-help-you-follow-more-relevant-users/img src=//nt1.ggpht.com/news/tbn/iZSfX15lfkk2ZM/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=45 /br /font size=-2ABC News/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGPCLDJ7oLiKtZQN5ZP6wbu7-dm7Aamp;url=http://www.itproportal.com/2012/05/19/unsure-who-to-follow-let-twitter-tailor-suggestions/bUnsure Who To Follow? Let Twitter Help You/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fITProPortal/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1Some find it convenient, others deem it intrusive. Either way, Twitter is determined to increase the personalisation of your social networking and is rolling out new tools and features to further the tailoring of individual accounts./fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHbUaPhNQlRoJH2WpY6Rx59Xxir3gamp;url=http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/2175870/twitter-offer-tailored-following-suggestionsTwitter to offer more tailored following suggestions/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrInquirer/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNF5U6Zahm8dOPJblU8HlP_9xxIbjQamp;url=http://www.latimes.com/business/technology/la-fi-tn-twitter-tailored-suggestions-20120517,0,2201695.storyTwitter offers personalized advice on whom to follow/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrLos Angeles Times/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGq6I9UzM8BzzbMiXIyPWfljZgAQwamp;url=http://www.netmagazine.com/news/twitter-joins-do-not-track-121968Twitter joins Do Not Track/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobr.net magazine/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGFG6bx_j4sikm2n1b9_Y1KzQ35sAamp;url=http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/news/world/536294/twitter-obsessed-britain-hits-10million-users.htmlnobrMarie Claire.co.uk/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEp2HH2DoMl_lvGrY7dA6qsSZh7MQamp;url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tech/news/a382449/twitter-to-offer-tailored-suggestions-based-on-web-history.htmlnobrDigital Spy UK/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHcZSOdC5tGdCIbtl86mSW4NfZV4gamp;url=http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/45707/twitter-suggests-followers-based-on-web-historynobrPocket-lint.com/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=tamp;ncl=dECTUdEhlu0k3_MPKwbwQvQ1KL4nMnobrball 36 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

table border= cellpadding=2 cellspacing=7 style=vertical-align:top;trtd width=80 align=center valign=topfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEeBr_fStPXO0016vAtPXvY8ai30Aamp;url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/594b822a-a0fd-11e1-aac1-00144feabdc0.htmlimg src=//nt0.ggpht.com/news/tbn/7NX5ouhrPHbB6M/0.jpg alt= border=1 width=80 height=56 /br /font size=-2Financial Times/font/a/font/tdtd valign=top class=jfont style=font-size:85%;font-family:arial,sans-serifbr /div style=padding-top:0.8em;img alt= height=1 width=1 //divdiv class=lha href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGcYdmfhZCTzD1AQTciNRhQZ5NUkgamp;url=http://www.independent.co.uk/environment/green-living/cameron-to-view-revived-severn-barrage-plan-7768852.htmlbCameron to view revived Severn barrage plan/b/abr /font size=-1bfont color=#6f6f6fThe Independent/font/b/fontbr /font size=-1The Prime Minister is to be briefed on plans for a £30bn, 10-mile tidal barrage from Somerset to South Wales which could provide 5 per cent of Britain#39;s total electricity. David Cameron signalled his backing, telling MPs: quot;A huge amount of renewable b.../b/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNEeBr_fStPXO0016vAtPXvY8ai30Aamp;url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/594b822a-a0fd-11e1-aac1-00144feabdc0.htmlHain adds momentum to Severn barrage project/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrFinancial Times/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFIjMWcesmtR0QRc8_NlKV8fymj9gamp;url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2012/05/19/prime-minister-agrees-to-meet-severn-barrage-consortium-91466-30999967/Prime Minister agrees to meet Severn barrage consortium/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrWalesOnline/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNFDfxg2jGm7UBys_0i0wpytkzuNGAamp;url=http://www.penarthtimes.co.uk/news/latestnews/9710210.Severn_Barrage_is__single_most_important_low_carbon__renewable_energy_project_in_Europe___says_Hain/Severn Barrage is #39;single most important low carbon, renewable energy project b.../b/afont size=-1 color=#6f6f6fnobrPenarth Times/nobr/font/fontbr /font size=-1 class=pa href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNHyKA2y32pbS08DZnk0W3b0CxvbXwamp;url=http://www.thisissomerset.co.uk/Environment-key-Severn-Barrage-issue-Prime/story-16118403-detail/story.htmlnobrThis is Somerset/nobr/anbsp;-a href=http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=tamp;fd=Ramp;usg=AFQjCNGB2lKuGTDa0H4ssyv1NnnsBhoa1wamp;url=http://www.thisissouthwales.co.uk/Answering-barrage-questions/story-16117947-detail/story.htmlnobrThis is South Wales/nobr/a/fontbr /font class=p size=-1a class=p href=http://news.google.co.uk/news/more?ned=ukamp;topic=tamp;ncl=dgKjTCtEe8ptwpMbTD4ewIXy61ccMnobrball 7 news articlesnbsp;raquo;/b/nobr/a/font/div/font/td/tr/table

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/52036?ns=guardianpageName=New+Lockerbie+inquiry+rejected+by+PM+as+Abdelbaset+al-Megrahi+dies%3AArticle%3A1748143ch=World+newsc3=Guardianc4=Abdelbaset+al-Megrahi+%28Lockerbie+bomber%29%2CLockerbie+plane+bombing%2CTerrorism+-+international%2CTerrorism+-+UK%2CScotland+%28News%29%2CUK+news%2CWorld+news%2CDavid+Cameron%2CPolitics%2CLibya+%28News%29%2CMiddle+East+and+North+Africa+%28News%29+MENA%2CAfrica+%28News%29c5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Severin+Carrell%2CJames+Meikle%2CChris+Stephen%2CPatrick+Wintourc7=12-May-20c8=1748143c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FAbdelbaset+al-Megrahi" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Cameron says bombing case was properly conducted, but MP says there are 'still so many unanswered questions'/ppa href="http://www.number10.gov.uk/" title=""David Cameron/a has dismissed the possibility of a UK inquiry into the conviction of a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/abdelbaset-al-megrahi" title=""Abdelbaset al-Megrahi/a – the only person convicted of involvement in the a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/lockerbie" title=""Lockerbie plane bombing/a – who died in Tripoli on Sunday./ppThe prime minister said the court case which convicted Megrahi was properly conducted and news of his death should "be a time to remember the 270 people who lost their lives in what was an appalling terrorist act"./ppScotland's first minister a href="http://www.scotland.gov.uk/About/14944/Scottish-Cabinet/First-Minister" title=""Alex Salmond/a, whose government took the decision to release the former Libyan intelligence officer from his life sentence in jail in August 2009 on compassionate grounds, said however it was still open to relatives of Megrahi, who always pleaded his innocence, or campaigners to lodge a fresh appeal against his conviction 11 years ago./ppHe added: "The Lockerbie case remains a live investigation, and Scotland's criminal justice authorities have made clear that they will rigorously pursue any new lines of inquiry. Scotland's senior law officer the Lord Advocate recently visited Libya, and we have been offered the co-operation of the new Libyan authorities. It has always been the Crown's position that Mr Megrahi did not act alone but with others./pp"It is open for relatives of Mr Megrahi to apply to the a href="http://www.sccrc.org.uk/home.aspx" title=""Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission/a to seek a further appeal. And the best, indeed the only, place for guilt or innocence to be determined is in a court of law."/ppWhile families of those who died in the atrocity in 1988 gave differing reactions to the news – some welcoming Megrahi's death and others supporting his claims of innocence – Libyans largely expressed relief rather than mourning./ppMegrahi's death from prostate cancer was confirmed by his brother Abdelnasser, who was at the house in Tripoli where his dead brother lay. He told the Guardian: "I don't want to talk right now, I am very upset, I don't really feel like talking. He's dead, that's it, what more do you have to know?"/ppAt the time of his controversial release in 2009, doctors estimated Megrahi had around three months to live. The decision prompted accusations that it had been linked to UK attempts to forge trade deals with Libya, then still led by a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/muammar-gaddafi" title=""Muammar Gaddafi/a, and sparked outrage in the US – home to most of the victims on board the flight – after Megrahi returned to Tripoli to a hero's welcome./ppCameron, in Chicago for a Nato summit, was in opposition when Megrahi was released. "I've always been clear he should never have been released from prison", he told journalists. Questioned about the possibility of an inquiry, he insisted: "This has been thoroughly gone through. There was a proper process, a proper court proceeding and all the rest of it. We have to give people the chance to mourn those that were lost."/ppFor Labour MP Russell Brown, who represents the Dumfries and Galloway constituency, including Lockerbie at Westminster, there were "still so many unanswered questions" about the bombing. Megrahi's death "means that the possibility of getting all the truth about the disaster may have died with him"./ppIn the US, Carole Johnson, 68, from Greensburg, Pennsylvania, mother of Beth Ann Johnson, a 21-year-old American student on the plane, said: "This is three years too late. While I'm happy that he is dead, long ago I left it in the hands of God. I know exactly where he is, and I know it is quite hot. I'm sure he and Gaddafi are reunited again." Frank Duggan, president of a href="http://www.victimsofpanamflight103.org/" title=""Victims of Pan Am Flight 103/a, said: "He was an unrepentant murderer and now I hope he will finally see justice."/ppHowever Briton Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing, said Megrahi's death was a "very sad event". Swire, a member of the a href="http://justiceformegrahi.com/" title=""Justice for Megrahi/a group, said: "I met him face-to-face in Tripoli in December last year, when he was very sick and in a lot of pain./pp"But he still wanted to talk to me about how information which he and his defence team have accumulated could be passed to me after his death." Swire added: "Right up to the end he was determined – for his family's sake, he knew it was too late for him – how the verdict against him should be overturned"./ppA joint statement from Justice for Megrahi – signed by 42 public figures and journalists including Archbishop Desmond Tutu, former BBC chief news correspondent Kate Adie, Private Eye editor Ian Hislop, Cardinal Keith O'Brien, Scotland's most senior Catholic, and Professor Noam Chomsky – demanded an independent inquiry into Megrahi's conviction. His prosecution was based on "a fantastical tale" with no direct or forensic evidence to support a tenuous circumstantial case, they said./ppThree judges who tried the case without a jury at Camp Zeist in the Netherlands were under "tremendous pressure" to return their guilty verdict of January 2001. "The prosecution case against [Megrahi] held water like a sieve … We have accusations of the key witness having been bribed for testimony; a multitude of serious question marks over material evidence, including the very real possibility of the crucial fragment of printed circuit board [from the bomb] having been fabricated; discredited forensic scientists testifying for the prosecution; crown witness testimony being retracted after the trial and, most worryingly, allegations of the crown's non-disclosure of evidence which could have been key to the defence."/ppIn the streets around Megrahi's luxurious home, a villa set behind high walls in Tripoli's upmarket Hai Damascu neighbourhood, many said his death was a reminder of an era they preferred to forget. "All Libyans know his face, and we know that he put us back maybe 10 years," said Arfa Mohamed, a 25-year-old cashier at a nearby fast-food shop. "Thanks to him it gave the outside world a view of Libyans as terrorists."/ppFor ordinary Libyans his position as a security official with the Gaddafi administration, and the expensive villa he was given, marked him out as part of the former regime./pp"Was he innocent or guilty, only God can know," said Mohammed Ferake, in a hardware store close to Megrahi's villa. "I never saw him, his family never shopped here. The [Lockerbie] case did not help Libya ... After that, Libya was given a bad name around the world. Because of that, all that Libyans were known for was Gaddafi and his oppression."/ppMegrahi's death also touches on the increasingly controversial subject of the prevalence of former regime officials in Libya's transitional authorities. While the Gaddafi-era security apparatus was destroyed in last year's war, much of the administration remains intact, albeit under new masters./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/abdelbaset-al-megrahi"Abdelbaset al-Megrahi/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/lockerbie"Lockerbie plane bombing/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/terrorism"Global terrorism/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/uksecurity"UK security and terrorism/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/scotland"Scotland/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davidcameron"David Cameron/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/libya"Libya/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middleeast"Middle East and North Africa/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/africa"Africa/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/severincarrell"Severin Carrell/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jamesmeikle"James Meikle/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/chris-stephen"Chris Stephen/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/patrickwintour"Patrick Wintour/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/x866w2IvORvVQ3Iew2fAoTN6vQ0/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/x866w2IvORvVQ3Iew2fAoTN6vQ0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/x866w2IvORvVQ3Iew2fAoTN6vQ0/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/x866w2IvORvVQ3Iew2fAoTN6vQ0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/8589?ns=guardianpageName=Eurozone+crisis%3A+high-stakes+gamble+as+David+Cameron+warns+Greek+voters%3AArticle%3A1748149ch=Businessc3=Guardianc4=Eurozone+crisis%2CGreece+%28News%29%2CDavid+Cameron%2CG8+%28News%29%2CEuropean+Union+EU+%28News%29%2CEuropean+monetary+union+EMU%2CEconomics+%28Business%29%2CBanking+%28Business+sector%29%2CEuropean+banks+%28business%29%2CFinancial+crisis+%28Business%29%2CFinancial+sector+%28business%29%2CBusiness%2CEuro+%28Business%29%2CWorld+news%2CEurope+%28News%29%2CPolitics%2CEuro+%28News%29%2CGermany%2CSpain+%28News%29c5=Unclassified%2CCredit+Crunch%2CBusiness+Markets%2CPolicy+Society%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CProperty+Mortgages+and+Interest+Rates%2CInvestments+%26+Savingsc6=Patrick+Wintour%2CGiles+Tremlettc7=12-May-20c8=1748149c9=Articlec10=c11=Businessc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Businessh2=GU%2FBusiness%2FBusiness%2FEurozone+crisis" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"PM says Greeks have choice in June election between voting to stay in euro and 'effectively voting to leave'/ppA second Greek vote next month backing parties opposed to the European Union's bailout package would be a decisive vote to leave the euro for which contingency plans have to be made now, David Cameron warned on Sunday in a dramatic raising of the stakes./ppSpeaking in Chicago after two days of talks with world leaders on the euro crisis, he said: "We now have to send a very clear message to people in Greece: there is a choice – you can either vote to stay in the euro, with all the commitments you've made, or if you vote another way you're effectively voting to leave." His remarks are in effect an attempt to make next month's vote a referendum on continued membership of the euro./ppCameron indicated that he wanted to make the threat of ejection from the euro credible by showing the Greeks that preparations are being made for their departure, a change of tactics after weeks of mixed messages from the European commission on whether such plans are being laid./ppIt is a piece of high-stakes diplomacy since his threat may either anger Greek voters, driving them into the arms of the radical parties, or act as a sobering warning that the end game is truly imminent and renegotiation of the EU-imposed austerity package is not an option./ppSpeaking in Chicago after a meeting of G8 world leaders, he said of the Greeks: "They can vote to stay in the eurozone and meet their commitments or they can vote to give up on their commitments and in effect give up on the eurozone./pp"I think the point that was very clear from the G8 was that the eurozone has to put in place the most robust contingency plans for both eventualities."/ppThe thinking of eurozone leaders had been crystallised by the two days of talks, he said. "The world is suffering from the continued uncertainty in the eurozone. So this decision point, the Greek election, has got to become the moment where all of the right plans are put in place to secure the future of the eurozone currency, the eurozone economy, and therefore help stabilise the global economy./pp"It's not for me to say what Greek parties should and shouldn't stand on and how the Greek elections should work. But it's very important that everyone is clear that the choice Greece faces is maintaining its commitments and maintaining itself in the eurozone, or deciding that is not the path it wants to take. What would be bad for Greece, bad for Europe and bad for the world is if we just allowed the can to be kicked further down the road with an inconclusive outcome. What's required is decisiveness, strong action by all governments. This is a moment of clarity./pp"There needs to be a resolution because it's the lack of resolution that's leading to a lack of confidence."/ppCameron said he did not want to go into details about the contingency plans already put in place, but the European monetary authorities had a big role. One idea proposed by the Italian prime minister, Mario Monti, is for a European system of guarantees for bank deposits, a move that would require a degree of Europe-wide bank co-ordination never before seen./ppGreece has about €400bn (£322bn) in external debts, which its government, banks and companies would probably pay only in part or in drachmas. The fear is that a Greek ejection would lead to bank runs across Europe./ppGermany also ratcheted up the pressure when the Bundesbank president, Jens Weidmann, warned Europe's central banks not to increase their exposure to Greece because of political uncertainty there before the elections./ppThe crisis has been exacerbated by the revelation that the Spanish deficit is larger than previously feared, putting extra pressure on its struggling banking sector. Angela Merkel demanded that her Spanish counterpart, Mariano Rajoy, meet her in Chicago on Sunday amid worries that financial markets will turn on Spain after its belated recognition on Friday night that regional governments had blown an extra €4bn hole in last year's budget./ppThe French president, François Hollande, became the first European leader to suggest the Spanish banks clearly needed fresh capital. "It would surely be necessary that this recapitalisation be done with the European solidarity mechanisms," he said. Rajoy's conservative People's party (PP) government, however, is resisting what it sees as a humiliating move towards European intervention in Spanish banks./pp"I can't believe that Mr Hollande said that, because Mr Hollande does not know what is the state of Spanish banks," Rajoy said before his meeting with Merkel on a riverboat in Chicago, where they were attending a Nato leaders' conference. Doubts about Spanish banks, increased by the recent nationalisation of Bankia, will see Rajoy's government name two independent auditors to value their assets on Monday./ppEU leaders will meet at an informal dinner on Wednesday to discuss a growth agenda for Europe after Barack Obama said over the weekend that the continent needed something more than a universal austerity package to survive, including a willingness by Germany to do more, either by reflating its demand or by accepting the mutualisation of EU sovereign debt. Obama's own re-election hopes rest on the state of the US economy, and the prospect of months more uncertainty in Europe will do little to boost jobs in the US./ppCameron said: "I have great respect for Angela Merkel. She wants to make sure countries in the eurozone who have signed up to commitments meet those commitments. She's absolutely right to say deficit reduction is an absolutely vital part of getting the European economy back to growth and health./pp"I think she did show some flexibility on what more can be done on the growth agenda and what more can be done to handle the risks inside the eurozone. As I say, I think the fact that we got countries like Japan, Canada, America round the table as well as Britain who are outside the eurozone but are affected by what happens inside the eurozone was helpful in bringing that important pressure to bear."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/debt-crisis"Eurozone crisis/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/greece"Greece/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davidcameron"David Cameron/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/g8"G8/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/eu"European Union/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/emu"European monetary union/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics"Economics/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/banking"Banking/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/europeanbanks"European banks/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/financial-crisis"Financial crisis/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/financial-sector"Financial sector/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/euro"Euro/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/europe-news"Europe/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/euro"Euro/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/germany"Germany/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/spain"Spain/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/patrickwintour"Patrick Wintour/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/gilestremlett"Giles Tremlett/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/mT0kg8xIo0xFewfuz6zXywBzllE/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/mT0kg8xIo0xFewfuz6zXywBzllE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/mT0kg8xIo0xFewfuz6zXywBzllE/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/mT0kg8xIo0xFewfuz6zXywBzllE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/86631?ns=guardianpageName=Obama+and+Karzai+outline+post-2014+Afghanistan+vision+at+Nato+summit%3AArticle%3A1748107ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Nato+%28News%29%2CAfghanistan+%28News%29%2CBarack+Obama+%28News%29%2CHamid+Karzai+%28News%29%2CUS+foreign+policy%2CUS+military+%28News%29%2CUS+news%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CUS+Electionsc6=Ewen+MacAskillc7=12-May-20c8=1748107c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FNato" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"US president urges Afghan counterpart to implement electoral reform, cut out corruption and press Taliban for settlement/ppBarack Obama pressed the Afghanistan leader Hamid Karzai at the Nato summit in Chicago on Sunday to engage with greater urgency in secret talks with the Taliban about a political settlement./ppObama also urged Karzai to implement electoral reforms to cut down in the 2014 presidential election the kind of corruption that tarnished Karzai's re-election in 2009./ppThe pair were speaking at the opening of a two-day Nato summit in Chicago aimed at drawing up detailed plans for the withdrawal of the US-led, 130,000-strong international force by the end of 2014, and for a more modest presence beyond that date./ppAfter their meeting, Karzai reaffirmed his support for a timetable, which requires the Afghan army to take over the lead in combat by the middle of next year./ppKarzai added that he was "very much looking forward to an end to the war" and the day when Afghanistan would "no longer be a burden on the world"./ppObama said the Nato summit was about "painting a vision, post-2014, in which we have ended our combat role, the Afghan war as we understand it is over, but our commitment to friendship and partnership with Afghanistan continues."/ppHe added: "Both of us recognise that we still have a lot of work to do. The loss of life continues in Afghanistan. There will be hard days ahead, but we're confident that we're on the right track."/ppPublic weariness with the war has grown in the US and in other countries among the 50-strong international coalition./ppAlmost all international forces are scheduled to be out by the end of 2014 after helping to maintain security for the presidential elections that year. Karzai has said he will not be standing again./ppThe Obama administration had hoped Chicago would be the venue for a major announcement of a political settlement with the Taliban. But these hopes crumbled when the Taliban walked away from reconciliation talks in March./ppSecret talks have since been resumed, according to US officials. But Karzai, facing internal political opposition to the idea of reconciliation, has been reluctant to reach a deal./ppObama flew to Chicago on Saturday night after 24 hours of negotiation with the leaders of the G8 at the presidential retreat Camp David which was dominated by the euro-zone crisis but also addressed issues such as Afghanistan./ppAs well as pressing Karzai on a political settlement, Obama is having to focus on keeping the international force together, with some countries already preparing to leave early./ppThe new French president, François Hollande, is standing by a pledge to end French involvement in combat operations at the end of this year. But he has offered a compromise that would see many of the troops remain in Afghanistan beyond that date in other roles./ppThe head of Nato, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, promised on Sunday that the French decision would not precipitate a sudden exodus by other countries./pp"There will be no rush for the exits," Rasmussen said. "Our goal, our strategy, our timetable remain unchanged."/ppRasmussen predicted a compromise would be reached that will see France move into a non-combat role in support of the international mission./ppAfter the 2014 pullout, a Nato force will be left behind, in part to help with training. No figure has yet been announced but US commanders in Kabul have spoken of around 15,000-20,000 personnel./ppAnnouncements about contributions from Nato countries towards the $4.1bn needed to finance that force for ten years are to be made at the Nato summit./ppAmong the contributions, Britain is promising to provide $110m a year, Germany $200m and Australia $100m. The US is to take up the bulk of the costs, anything from between 50% and 75%. Obama is also planning to speak on the sidelines of the Nato summit with the Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari./ppThe US and Pakistan are engaged in negotiations about re-opening a supply route to Afghanistan through Pakistan closed in protest over the killing of Pakistan troops in a US air strike./ppThe White House national security spokesman Ben Rhodes, briefing reporters on a flight to Chicago, predicted the issue of the border closure would be resolved soon. Although the US-led forces are able to transport supplies though alternative routes from the north of Afghanistan, it is more expensive./pp"On the supply lines, we believe that this is going to be resolved. There have been positive steps, statements made by the Pakistanis, and we're currently negotiating the opening of the supply lines with them; we expect that to take some time. So there is still work to be done through those negotiations," Rhodes said./pp"We're not anticipating necessarily closing out those negotiations this weekend."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/nato"Nato/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/afghanistan"Afghanistan/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/barack-obama"Barack Obama/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/hamid-karzai"Hamid Karzai/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usforeignpolicy"US foreign policy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-military"US military/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/ewenmacaskill"Ewen MacAskill/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/1JBVZ3YMUHGkLudzzEZXi5vR4TI/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/1JBVZ3YMUHGkLudzzEZXi5vR4TI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/1JBVZ3YMUHGkLudzzEZXi5vR4TI/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/1JBVZ3YMUHGkLudzzEZXi5vR4TI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/27496?ns=guardianpageName=Tanni+Grey-Thompson+warns+that+Paralympic+legacy+threatened+by+cuts%3AArticle%3A1748115ch=Sportc3=Guardianc4=Paralympics+2012%2CTanni+Grey-Thompson+%28sport%29%2CDisability+%28Society%29%2CBenefits+%28Society%29%2CPublic+sector+cuts+%28Society%29%2CPublic+services+policy+%28Society%29%2COlympic+Games+2012+olympics+olys%2CSport%2CWelfare+%28Politics%29%2CPolitics%2CUK+news%2CSocietyc5=Society+Weekly%2CUnclassified%2CPolicy+Society%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CSocial+Care+Society%2CHealth+Society%2COlympic+Gamesc6=Patrick+Butlerc7=12-May-20c8=1748115c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=Sportc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Sporth2=GU%2FSport%2FSport%2FParalympics+2012" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Former athlete, who won 11 gold medals, says welfare reforms are putting wider access to sport for disabled people at risk/ppBritain's greatest Paralympian, Lady Tanni Grey-Thompson, has warned that disability benefit cuts will affect the development of top athletes and undermine the Games' key legacy aim of widening access to sport for disabled people./ppHundreds of thousands of working age people will lose disability benefits over the next four years as a result of the government's controversial welfare reforms./ppGrey-Thompson, who won 11 Paralympic gold medals as a wheelchair athlete, said disability living allowance (DLA) had been crucial in enabling her and many other disabled athletes to participate and compete. "It's important to recognise that the cuts will affect Paralympians, who have higher living costs as a result of their impairment."/ppHer comments come as the starting gun is fired on the 100-day countdown to the Paralympics, which take place at the end of August./ppShe said that although the very top disabled athletes might get financial help from sponsors, many others would find it difficult to compete if they lost the benefit. "I know someone who is on the edge of qualification who has had her DLA removed. It impacts on her ability to get involved in society, not just sport."/ppDLA is a non-means tested benefit, worth between £20 and £131.50 a week, paid to disabled people to help with the extra costs of transport, equipment, care and other specialist needs./ppThe government plans to replace DLA, which goes to about 3.2 million people at an annual cost of £12.6bn, with personal independence payments (PIP) from 2013. It a href="http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/dla-reform-wr2011-ia.pdf" title=""estimates that up to 500,000 people/a will lose entitlement to the benefit over the next four years as eligibility criteria are tightened and claims reassessed./ppDisability benefit cuts are proving increasingly controversial for ministers. The Royal British Legion has called for disabled ex-service personnel to be given special treatment after it emerged that many limbless war veterans with mobility impairments would not qualify for disability benefit under the a href="http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/pip-assessment-thresholds-and-consultation.pdf" title=""proposed new PIP rules./a/ppGrey-Thompson added that it was not just an issue for elite athletes but would affect the health and wellbeing of thousands of disabled people whose ability to participate in sport would be curtailed if they lost financial support. This would drive up social care and NHS costs in the long term. Ministers hope an increase in sporting activity among disabled people, and improved wider public perceptions of disability, will be key long-term legacies of the Games./ppGrey-Thompson is spearheading an £8m Sport England programme, launched on Monday, that is aimed at increasing participation in sport by disabled people. At present only about 18% of disabled adults undertake physical activity for more than 30 minutes a week, compared with 38% of non-disabled adults./ppHer comments were backed by other Paralympians. Ben Rushgrove, a sprinter and silver medallist at the Beijing Games, said that while he had no problem with the principle of welfare reform, the loss of disability benefit would be an obstacle to sporting participation for many people. "Because of cuts people are going to go back into themselves a little. They won't have the funds to get out and about./ppHe added: "We have to ask what type of society people want. In the UK years ago we made a decision to support those people who are the most vulnerable in society and we would not let them fall by the wayside. I feel that idea is being eroded away./pp"There will always be people who game the system. But most disabled people are living hand to mouth. It's about getting the change right and the pace of change right."/ppAde Adepitan, the Paralympian wheelchair basketball medallist, who grew up in the East End of London, said disability benefit had been vital to enable him to travel to training and competitions. "Without DLA I would not have been able to do what I did or be a top athlete."/ppAdepitan, who is co-presenting TV coverage of the games for Channel 4, said that people "need to get their facts straight" on disability benefits. Politicians' rhetoric about benefit cuts was in danger of "turning people against each other" and leading people to think incorrectly that "everyone on benefits is a scrounger"./ppThe rower Alan Crowther, who won four world championship gold medals and has competed in able-bodied teams, said DLA had been crucial to his development as a top disabled athlete: "If you took disability benefit away from me I'd be sat in the house unable to go anywhere."/ppCrowther, who is blind, warned that disability benefit cuts, along with cuts to council social care budgets, would prevent many younger disabled people from participating in grassroots sport. "The government has played DLA totally wrong," he said./pp/ppSport England said challenges facing disabled people wanting to take part in sport included a lack of specialist equipment, transport issues, difficulty accessing sport facilities, poor information about sporting opportunities, and a lack of self-confidence among disabled people./ppA spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said DLA was outdated and the new PIP support would be focused on those disabled people "who need it most"./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/paralympics-2012"Paralympics 2012/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/tanni-grey-thompson"Tanni Grey-Thompson/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/disability"Disability/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/benefits"Benefits/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/public-sector-cuts"Public sector cuts/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/policy"Public services policy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/olympics-2012"Olympic Games 2012/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/welfare"Welfare/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/patrickbutler"Patrick Butler/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/K0bAU01XuKZE2NGDDJXk8pPYM-w/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/K0bAU01XuKZE2NGDDJXk8pPYM-w/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/K0bAU01XuKZE2NGDDJXk8pPYM-w/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/K0bAU01XuKZE2NGDDJXk8pPYM-w/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/69423?ns=guardianpageName=Extend+austerity+measures+to+allow+for+major+tax+cuts%2C+chancellor+told%3AArticle%3A1748090ch=Politicsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Thinktanks%2CTax+and+spending%2CTax+%28Money+-+UK+consumer%29%2CGeorge+Osborne%2CMoney%2CPolitics%2CBusiness%2CUK+newsc5=Personal+Finance%2CBusiness+Markets%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CPolicy+Society%2CBudgetc6=Nicholas+Wattc7=12-May-20c8=1748090c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=Politicsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FPolitics%2FThinktanks" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"TaxPayers' Alliance urges George Osborne to maintain spending cuts until 2020 then usher in 30% single-rate income tax/ppGeorge Osborne should prolong the coalition's spending cuts by an extra five years to allow for dramatic tax reductions, with a single rate of income tax set at 30%, according to a report by one of Downing Street's favourite thinktanks./ppThe TaxPayers' Alliance, whose director Matthew Elliott was recently sounded out for a job in No 10, says in its 2020 Tax Commission that tax cuts are vital to promote growth and help hard-pressed families./ppThe most eye-catching proposal in the 417-page report, which is jointly published by the Taxpayers' Alliance and the Institute of Directors, is a call for a "single proportionate income tax rate" of 30%./ppThis would be achieved by cutting the ratio of spending and taxation to 33% of national income, forcing Osborne to maintain the current level of spending cuts until 2020./ppIn his original fiscal mandate, outlined in his emergency budget in June 2010, Osborne had expected the austerity plan to continue until 2015. But in his autumn statement last year Osborne announced that the cuts would be extended for a further two years./ppThe report by the Taxpayers' Alliance says that a single income tax could be introduced in six steps:/pp• Cut taxes to 33% of national income. Taxes currently account for 37.5% of national income./pp• Ensure that marginal tax rates do not exceed 30% and the personal tax allowance should rise to £10,000./pp• Taxes on capital and labour income "disguised" as business taxes should be abolished and replaced with a tax on distributed income./pp• Transaction, wealth and inheritance tax should be abolished./pp• Consumption taxes should remain for the moment but transport taxes should be cut./pp• Local authorities should raise half of their spending power from local taxes./ppMatthew Elliott, chief executive of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said: "Right now the government's first priority has to be strong economic growth to create jobs and ease the pressure on families struggling to make ends meet. Tax reform is essential to make that possible. At the same time, the tax system has to be fair, and seen to be fair./pp"Our current, complicated tax code where income is too often either taxed repeatedly or not at all doesn't pass that test. The single income tax is a serious plan for a tax system that can restore Britain's economic fortunes and leave more of their money in taxpayers' pockets."/ppAllister Heath, editor of City AM and chairman of the 2020 Tax Commission, said: "It is time for Britain to make a vital choice between tweaking the status quo and letting our economy continue to be crippled by complex and punitive taxes, and drastically changing course with a radical but realistic plan for a tax system fit for the 21st century./pp"The 2020 Tax Commission has set out that plan and would ensure that income is taxed once at a single, much more reasonable, rate. It could create the conditions to establish the UK as a global trading hub, generating renewed prosperity for all those who live and work here. Politicians who are serious about Britain's future need to take it up."/ppThe introduction of a single income tax would have echoes of Osborne's flirtation with a flatter rates of tax. In an interview with Radio 4's Today programme in September 2005, two months after his appointment as shadow chancellor, Osborne said: "I am fully conscious that we may not be able to introduce a pure flat tax, but we may be able to move towards simpler and flatter taxes./pp"What I am really talking about is removing a lot of the complexity from the tax system – a lot of the reliefs and exemptions – in return for either a lower rate or a bigger tax allowance. The rest of the world, including many countries in Europe, are reducing taxes."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/thinktanks"Thinktanks/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/taxandspending"Tax and spending/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/tax"Tax/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/georgeosborne"George Osborne/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/nicholaswatt"Nicholas Watt/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ICqqq_jnYdTWLCJHr6Okr3jqdgI/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ICqqq_jnYdTWLCJHr6Okr3jqdgI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ICqqq_jnYdTWLCJHr6Okr3jqdgI/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ICqqq_jnYdTWLCJHr6Okr3jqdgI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/51565?ns=guardianpageName=Boris+Johnson%27s+former+aide+takes+PR+job+with+News+International%3AArticle%3A1748141ch=Mediac3=Guardianc4=News+International%2CBoris+Johnson%2CPress+and+publishing%2CMedia%2CPolitics%2CLondon+%28News%29%2CUK+news%2CLocal+politics+%28Politics%29c5=Press+Media%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CMedia+Weekly%2CLocal+Government+Societyc6=Helene+Mulhollandc7=12-May-20c8=1748141c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=Mediac13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FMedia%2FNews+International" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Guto Harri intends to use the post to 'combat hysteria', but move may reignite claims of Murdoch-Tory links/ppA key former aide to Boris Johnson, the London mayor, has been appointed as head of News International's communications team to help the beleaguered media company restore its reputation in the wake of the phone-hacking scandal./ppThe decision to appoint Guto Harri, a former BBC political correspondent who had served as Johnson's director of external affairs for four years until less than two weeks ago and was widely seen as the Tory mayor's most trusted adviser, will surprise many at a time when evidence of links between senior Conservatives and News International revealed during the Leveson inquiry has raised eyebrows./ppHarri confirmed that he had turned down offers from a "luxury manufacturing company and a large public affairs firm" in favour of working for News International, a company he praised as delivering "first class journalism" and whose staff, he believes, have been unfairly tarnished because of a "few rotten apples"./ppHarri, a Welsh speaker born in Cardiff, said he was "totally reconciled" that his move to News International, after four years with Johnson, would be seen in the media as "part of an irresistible geometrical pattern" between the Conservatives and News International./ppHarri's appointment at News International comes five years after he narrowly missed out on becoming David Cameron's director of communications when the then Tory opposition leader opted to give the job to Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World. Coulson quit the Downing Street post last year amid pressure about phone hacking at the newspaper on his watch./ppHarri joined Johnson at city hall in May 2008 after being one of the Conservative mayor's first appointments on winning office.He said he had never been a card carrying member of the Conservatives or any other political party. "So I'm not a senior Tory who is suddenly jumping ship choosing, you know, 'one evil man over another'."/ppIn his new job, which starts on Monday, Harri said he intended to "combat some of the hysteria that is rife in British public life". "Not every politician is corrupt, not every banker gets an enormous bonus and doesn't think they give a monkey's for anything, and not everyone who works at News International was involved in phone hacking," he said./ppHe added: "I know very good people who write for the Times and for the Sun and they are first class journalists and they are very decent people and again one of the reasons why I am more than happy, I'm delighted to take the job, is that those people cannot be tarred with the same soggy brush as just a few people who were either involved in criminal activity, which is a matter for the courts, or you know, were seemingly out of control."/ppHarri was head of Johnson's media operation when the mayor dismissed allegations of widespread phone hacking at News International as politically motivated "codswallop" in September 2010. He insists this was just Johnson's own colourful way of repeating the "cold blooded advice" he received at the time from the former assistant commissioner of the Metropolitan police John Yates./ppHarri, who spent 18 years as a journalist and did a brief stint in public relations before joining Johnson in city hall, said he was first approached for the NI job by a headhunting firm over Christmas but made it clear he had no intention of leaving Johnson until he was re-elected this month./ppHe said no one in Conservative circles had sought to dissuade him from taking up his role at News International in the light of the continuing revelations about the party's close links to the media firm, saying he had confided in only a handful of friends./pp"Boris was more preoccupied with preventing me leaving city hall than trying to dictate to me where I should choose to ... the only issue for him was whether I was at city hall or not, it's my professional choice for better or worse to choose one company over another."/ppHarri, a married father of three, replaces Andrew Honnor, who held the position in an interim capacity, and will answer directly to NI's chief executive, Tom Mockridge, to whom Harri paid tribute on the eve of joining the company for his handling of the phone-hacking scandal./pp"I would not be joining this company myself if I thought that they condoned, and were actively involved in, any of the practices that they have rightly been condemned for and I cannot think that the people I have met and the man I will be reporting to is I think without doubt the person most determined to clean up any lingering odour of bad practices./pp"I cannot think of any company in history – and this does go to the very top from the man himself in New York – that spends millions of pounds employing people to trawl the bowels of their own servers in order to find evidence to hand over to the police to actually convict their own staff./pp"They are being extremely robust and arguably brutal about cleansing up the past, and they are not only disciplining people internally, they are handing over evidence to the police."/ppSpeaking just before flying to New York on Sunday evening for a two-day visit to company headquarters, Harri dismissed the findings of the Commons culture and media select committee, which concluded this month that Rupert Murdoch was "not fit to run an international company", as a "political point-scoring exercise" by the Labour members on the committee./ppHarri, who is expected to meet Murdoch during his trip, said: "If he's not fit to run a company than I'm sure the board or the shareholders would have something to say about that, and they didn't. Share prices went up that week and the board gave its unanimous support for him."/ppIn a swipe at Tom Watson, a Labour member of the culture and media committee and a vocal critic of News International and its parent company, Harri said: "Let's call it exactly what it was, is a political point-scoring exercise that was not endorsed by the Conservatives on the committee so it was not the view. Select committees rightly carry weight when they give all-party consensus on the basis of a near-judicial or near-professional judgment call. This was not that. This was a very effective Labour politician harnessing the committee and the opposition majority upon it to make a statement that was disowned by the Conservatives on the committee."/ppHarri was speaking at his west London home in a room where a crate of Châteauneuf du Pape was stored, sent as a private joke by Johnson together with a lengthy thank you note for his four years of service./ppHarri said he never doubted that Johnson would win a second term as mayor, but in a veiled swipe at election strategist Lynton Crosby, who spearheaded Johnson's re-election campaign, he said he believed Johnson's majority of fewer than 63,000 votes could have been a more comfortable win if the campaign had not chosen to take the "bubbles out of the champagne"./pp"It's fair to say that Boris came across in the campaign as a little less charismatic, a little less broadminded and a little less attractive even than the Boris most of London has seen over the past four years."/ppHarri hinted at a difference of opinion over strategy which saw the mayor appeal to the core Tory vote during the seven weeks of the election period after four years of work to make him attractive to people "who generally would not vote Conservative". This had involved authentically "pitching out in all directions", from supporting an amnesty for illegal immigrants to engaging with Muslim communities, black churches and the gay community, while at the same time also batting for core Tory issues such as calling for the top rate of tax to be reduced to help the business community in the capital./pp"That was almost the danger of the campaign, that he became more Tory at a time when being Tory seemed to be more of a liability than an asset."/ppWhile the campaign was "quite right" to focus on Johnson's priorities of creating jobs and growth in the capital "maybe they didn't quite have the confidence in Boris that I have that the more people see the real Boris, the more they like him, not the other way around."/ppHarri paid tribute to the campaign for its "enormous energy and commitment" and to Crosby personally for being a "strategic and logistical genius", but goes on to say that while he has "huge respect for the core Tory vote, it's not enough to win an election"./pp"In the end Lynton Crosby is extremely experienced and capable and has fought elections all over the world and you can't deny that he has been campaign manager twice now and Boris has been re-elected so I pay tribute to his enormous skills, but I still think that Boris was undersold. It's not that the core things they focused on are not important, it's just not there are other things that are important to."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/newsinternational"News International/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/boris"Boris Johnson/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pressandpublishing"Newspapers magazines/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/london"London/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/localgovernment"Local politics/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/helenemulholland"Hélène Mulholland/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/-YQfp45dPI71wjmKia7z9CgV7YQ/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/-YQfp45dPI71wjmKia7z9CgV7YQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/-YQfp45dPI71wjmKia7z9CgV7YQ/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/-YQfp45dPI71wjmKia7z9CgV7YQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/78376?ns=guardianpageName=Syrian+army+shells+town+in+Hama+region%3AArticle%3A1748100ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Syria+%28News%29%2CMiddle+East+and+North+Africa+%28News%29+MENA%2CWorld+news%2CArab+and+Middle+East+unrest+%28News%29%2CLebanon+%28News%29c5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Agenciesc7=12-May-20c8=1748100c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FSyria" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"At least 16 people killed in attack, while UN observers narrowly escape roadside car bomb in Damascus/ppThe Syrian army has killed 16 people, including children, during shelling in the town of Souran in the central province of Hama, the British-based rights group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says./pp"The army shelled the town and then stormed it," the head of the group, Rami Abdelrahman, told Reuters, citing residents./ppHama has been a focal point of Syria's 14-month uprising against the country's president, Bashar al-Assad./ppIn a separate incident, a roadside bomb exploded in a restive suburb of Damascus as senior UN officials toured the area, blowing off the front of a parked vehicle but causing no casualties./ppVisiting UN peacekeeping chief Hervé Ladsous and Robert Mood, the chief of UN observers in Syria, were 150 metres away, along with accompanying journalists, when the blast went off in the Douma suburb, engulfing a Toyota pickup car in flames and smoke. It was not immediately clear what the target of the explosion was, but the car was parked near a security checkpoint./ppA security official at the checkpoint told the observers that gunmen had targeted two military buses in Douma earlier in the day, wounding more than 30 security agents./ppIn Damascus, opposition groups reported fighting overnight between government forces and army defectors in the district of Kfar Souseh, a hotbed of dissent against Assad's regime. The district is a high security area, housing the foreign ministry and several security and intelligence agencies. It has also been the scene of frequent anti-Assad demonstrations since the uprising began./pp"Violent clashes broke out between rebel fighters and regime troops at a checkpoint," the Observatory said in a statement./ppSyrian rebels claimed in an internet statement that they carried out a sophisticated attack that killed top political and security officials meeting in the capital. The posting claimed those killed included Assef Shawkat, deputy chief of staff for security affairs; defence minister Dawoud Rajha; interior minister Mohammad al-Shaar; and former defence minister Hasan Turkmani./ppAl-Shaar denied the rebel claims at a press conference. Turkmani was interviewed by state-run Syrian TV in his office, saying the claims were "blatant lies"./ppSyrian officials rarely respond to claims and statements issued by the opposition and their quick denials were unusual./ppThe revolt against Assad's regime started in March 2011 with mostly peaceful protests calling for political change. The deadly government crackdown led many opposition supporters to take up arms. Now, the regime is facing an armed insurgency targeting government installations, soldiers and security forces./ppIn March, the UN said that 9,000 people had been killed. Hundreds more have died since./ppClashes in the heart of the Syrian capital have become more common recently but are still rare compared to other opposition strongholds in Syria that witness deadly violence almost daily./ppA ceasefire that was supposed to start last month has never really taken hold, undermining the rest of international envoy Kofi Annan's plan, which is supposed to lead to talks to end the 15-month crisis./ppWorld powers remain divided on how to end Syria's crisis. The US and other Western and Arab nations have called for Assad to leave power, and the US and EU have placed increasingly stiff sanctions on Damascus. But with Russia and China blocking significant new UN punishments, US officials are trying to get consensus among other allies about ways to promote Assad's ouster./ppOn Sunday, an anti-Syrian cleric and his bodyguard were shot dead in neighbouring Lebanon, where a spillover of Syria's conflict has inflamed tensions and triggered sectarian fighting in recent days./ppThe two were on their way to a rally in a remote northern Sunni region when they were shot. The circumstances surrounding their deaths remain unclear but the state-run National News Agency said the sheikh and his guard appeared to have been killed by soldiers after their convoy failed to stop at an army checkpoint./ppThe deaths could add to the tensions between pro- and anti-Syrian groups in the region, and there were fears of clashes breaking out as the cleric's supporters blocked roads with burning tyres in protest./ppThe Lebanese army issued a statement, saying it deeply regretted the incident and that a committee will investigate./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/syria"Syria/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middleeast"Middle East and North Africa/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/arab-and-middle-east-protests"Arab and Middle East unrest/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/lebanon"Lebanon/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. 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div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/36951?ns=guardianpageName=Italy+earthquake+kills+five+and+razes+centuries+of+history%3AArticle%3A1748125ch=World+newsc3=Guardianc4=Italy+%28News%29%2CEarthquakes+%28News%29%2CNatural+disasters+and+extreme+weather+%28News%29%2CEurope+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CCharitiesc6=Tom+Kington%2CAndrea+Vogtc7=12-May-20c8=1748125c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FItaly" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"3,000 bed down in makeshift accommodation after 6.0 magnitude quake destroys buildings across Emilia-Romagna/ppThree thousand people in northern Italy bedded down in tents or temporary accommodation on Sunday night after a strong earthquake in the early hours killed five people, injured scores more and toppled centuries-old churches and clock towers./ppAftershocks in the Emilia-Romagna region continued to bring down damaged buildings during the day, injuring a firefighter, as emergency services scrambled to find temporary shelter for residents afraid to return home./pp"Right now our absolute priority is for people to spend the night in acceptable conditions," said civil protection chief Franco Gabrielli. With storms forecast for the area, the Italian government was due to meet on Tuesday to consider declaring a state of emergency./ppThe 6.0 magnitude earthquake, which struck the Emilia-Romagna region 3.2 miles below ground at 4.04am, was felt across northern Italy, from Liguria to the Veneto, and was described by one official as the worst in the area since the 1300s. The last serious earthquake to strike Italy was the a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/07/italy-earthquake-cultural-damage" title=""6.3 scale shock in L'Aquila in 2009/a which killed nearly 300./pp"There's nothing to be done," said Valeria Balboni, standing amid shattered glass in her family's bathroom fittings factory near Sant'Agostino. "We're going to have to close, like so many of the others."/ppThe earthquake left major towns such as Bologna unscathed but wrought havoc in small towns and villages dotting the countryside between Bologna, Ferrara and Modena./ppIn San Felice sul Panaro, the tops of several towers of a 14th-century castle collapsed while fresco-filled churches in the town were seriously damaged./pp"We have practically lost all our artistic patrimony," said mayor Alberto Silvestri./ppIn Finale Emilia, the historic Palazzo dei Veneziani partly collapsed and 11 residents survived after knocking down a wall to escape./ppThe Castello delle Rocche in the town was also damaged while a clock tower was split down the middle, with one side disintegrating into rubble before the remaining side collapsed during an aftershock./pp"A thousand years of history disappears just like that," said mayor Fernando Ferioli./ppIn the tiny hamlet of Buoncompra, 700 residents were evacuated to a makeshift emergency centre on the outskirts of town, overlooking the destroyed church of San Martino./ppItaly's cultural ministry said: "After an initial survey, damage to cultural patrimony appears significant."/ppAs a precaution, 500 prisoners were evacuated from a prison in Ferrara./ppFour night shift workers were killed at three different factories which collapsed, including Gerardo Cesaro, 57, one of 10 employees working at Tecopress, an aluminium car parts maker in Sant'Agostino. "We think everyone else got out of the factory, but he didn't make it out in time," the firm's human resource director, Adriano Orlandini, said after rescuers located Cesaro's body amid the rubble of the 45-year-old factory./ppTwo of the other fatalities were workers at a nearby ceramics factory where staff drove up to the gates with their families on Sunday to peer at the mountain of twisted blue steel where the factory had stood. "He wasn't supposed to be there," the mother of one of the victims told Reuters. "He changed shifts with a friend who wanted to go to the beach."/ppA fourth man, a Moroccan, died when he was hit by a falling beam at a plastics factory in Ponte Rodoni di Bondeno./ppA woman aged 106 was also killed in her bed at her rural house by a falling beam./ppCheese producers said 300,000 wheels of grana and parmesan cheese had been lost as warehouses collapsed, while farmers were fighting to save livestock trapped in collapsed barns./ppIn Finale Emilia, a five-year-old girl was pulled out of a collapsed building two hours after the quake when rescuers were telephoned by a doctor in New York./ppThe girl's mother, who had been unable to get through to emergency services, had managed to call the doctor for help./ppOn Sunday, stunned and tired residents in Finale Emilia who had been outside their homes since 4am walked up and down the rubble-strewn city centre, many running and crying in the streets as aftershocks struck, including one shortly after 3pm which measured 5.1./pp"In the middle, get in the middle," one woman yelled to people on the pavements as a deep rumble shook the ground, sending bricks and cornices tumbling off a number of unstable old buildings./ppDescribing the earthquake, resident Franca Zucchi said she was thrown out of bed and saw her chandelier swinging from wall to wall. "We all ran out into the streets in our pyjamas and underwear," Zucchi said. "I've never felt anything like it."/ppPope Benedict prayed for victims in his Sunday address and prime minister Mario Monti decided to cut short his trip to Chicago for the Nato summit in order to oversee the earthquake relief operation and follow the investigation into a bombing in Brindisi on Saturday which killed a schoolgirl./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/italy"Italy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/earthquakes"Earthquakes/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/natural-disasters"Natural disasters and extreme weather/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/europe-news"Europe/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/tomkington"Tom Kington/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/andrea-vogt"Andrea Vogt/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RmC1lpYNqsg52bD5XiLC3TmAPMY/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RmC1lpYNqsg52bD5XiLC3TmAPMY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RmC1lpYNqsg52bD5XiLC3TmAPMY/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RmC1lpYNqsg52bD5XiLC3TmAPMY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/18699?ns=guardianpageName=Israel+PM%3A+illegal+African+immigrants+threaten+identity+of+Jewish+state%3AArticle%3A1748051ch=World+newsc3=Guardianc4=Israel+%28News%29%2CBinyamin+Netanyahu+%28World+news%29%2CMigration+and+development+%28Global+development%29%2CMiddle+East+and+North+Africa+%28News%29+MENA%2CWorld+news%2CAfrica+%28News%29c5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Harriet+Sherwoodc7=12-May-20c8=1748051c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FIsrael" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Binyamin Netanyahu reignites row over fate of thousands of African migrants in Israel/ppThe Israeli prime minister has stoked a volatile debate about refugees and migrant workers from Africa, warning that "illegal infiltrators flooding the country" were threatening the security and identity of the Jewish state./pp"If we don't stop their entry, the problem that currently stands at 60,000 could grow to 600,000, and that threatens our existence as a Jewish and democratic state," Binyamin Netanyahu said at Sunday's cabinet meeting. "This phenomenon is very grave and threatens the social fabric of society, our national security and our national identity." Israel's population is 7.8 million./ppHis comments follow media reports of rising crime, including two gang rapes, in southern Tel Aviv, where many African migrants are concentrated. However, Micky Rosenfeld, spokesman for the Israeli police, said the overall crime rate in Israel had fallen. There had been one alleged rape of a teenage girl connected to the migrant community, for which three suspects were in custody, he added./ppYohanan Danino, the Israeli police chief, said migrants should be permitted to work to discourage petty crime. Nearly all are unable to work legally, and live in overcrowded and impoverished conditions. "The community needs to be supported in order to prevent economic and social problems," said Rosenfeld./ppBut the interior minister, Eli Yishai, rejected such a move, saying: "Why should we provide them with jobs? I'm sick of the bleeding hearts, including politicians. Jobs would settle them here, they'll make babies, and that offer will only result in hundreds of thousands more coming over here."/ppYishai repeated an earlier call for all migrants to be jailed pending deportation. "I want everyone to be able to walk the streets without fear or trepidation ... The migrants are giving birth to hundreds of thousands, and the Zionist dream is dying," he told Army Radio. Last week he said most migrants were involved in criminal activity./ppAccording to police data quoted by the Hotline for Migrant Workers, the crime rate among foreigners in Israel was 2.04% in 2010, compared with 4.99% among Israelis./ppMore than 13,500 people entered Israel illegally in 2010, of whom almost two-thirds were Eritrean and one-third were Sudanese. Three were granted refugee status by Israel, rising to six last year. Human rights organisations say more than 50,000 asylum seekers and migrants have entered Israel illegally since 2005./ppMost are smuggled across the Israel-Egypt border by Bedouin tribesmen. Israel is constructing a vast steel fence through 150 miles of the Sinai desert as a deterrent to people-trafficking and the smuggling of drugs and weapons. The barrier would be completed, bar one small section, by October, Netanyahu said./ppa href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/17/detention-centre-israel-migration" title=""Israel is also constructing the world's largest detention centre for asylum seekers and illegal migrants/a, capable of holding 11,000 people. The £58m building, close to the border, will receive its first detainees by the end of the year./ppNetanyahu said the state would embark on "the physical withdrawal" of migrants, despite fears among human rights organisations about the dangers they could face in their home countries. Yishai said: "I'm not responsible for what happens in Eritrea and Sudan, the UN is."/ppAs tensions rise in cities with relatively high African populations, the past month has seen a spate of attacks on buildings in south Tel Aviv that house asylum seekers and migrant workers. In one incident, a Molotov cocktail was thrown into the courtyard of a kindergarten. NGOs working with migrants have also received abusive and threatening calls./ppAmid the anti-immigration clamour, some Israelis have argued that, in the light of Jewish history, their state should be sympathetic and welcoming to those fleeing persecution./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/israel"Israel/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/binyamin-netanyahu"Binyamin Netanyahu/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/migration"Migration/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middleeast"Middle East and North Africa/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/africa"Africa/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/harrietsherwood"Harriet Sherwood/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/kwM2S9llLPZjUg9a4oojwKPPWyE/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/kwM2S9llLPZjUg9a4oojwKPPWyE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/kwM2S9llLPZjUg9a4oojwKPPWyE/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/kwM2S9llLPZjUg9a4oojwKPPWyE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/15464?ns=guardianpageName=Unions+strengthen+ties+ahead+of+massive+protest+march+in+London%3AArticle%3A1748014ch=Politicsc3=Guardianc4=Unions+%28UK%29%2CUnite+union+%28Politics%29%2CPublic+sector+cuts+%28Society%29%2CPublic+services+policy+%28Society%29%2CPublic+finance+%28Society%29%2CPolitics%2CSociety%2CUK+newsc5=Society+Weekly%2CPolicy+Society%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Dan+Milmoc7=12-May-20c8=1748014c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=Politicsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FPolitics%2FTrade+unions" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Public and Commercial Services union and Unite to deepen alliance amid growing concern over austerity measures/ppTrade union opposition to the government's austerity programme will be stepped up this week as two of Britain's most powerful private and public sector unions prepare to deepen their alliance, while the TUC will confirm a huge protest march will be held in London on 20 October./ppThe Public and Commercial Services union, the largest civil service union in Britain, has been the subject of merger speculation with its much bigger counterpart, Unite, which has a predominantly private sector membership base and is the largest union in Britain with 1.5 million members. PCS delegates will vote on a motion at the union's annual conference this week to "explore" how to develop a co-operation agreement with Unite, although a merger will not be on the agenda./ppMark Serwotka, the PCS general secretary, said: "We want to get closer and closer to Unite, with the test being does it make for more effective trade unionism. And if it does, that's when the question of a formal merger will arise."/ppSerwotka said the trade union movement had to combat government spending cuts by combining public and private sector members. The majority of Unite's members are private sector employees, including branches at major companies from British Airways to Unilever, Vauxhall and Rolls-Royce. PCS has members at a range of government departments including the DVLA and UK Border Agency./pp"We have got to look at the future of the labour movement and being more effective in fighting against government cuts. Closer co-operation with public and private sector unions will create the ability to fight back more effectively," Serwotka said./ppNoting that a co-operation agreement with Unite has produced "excellent results so far", the PCS motion states that "the further development of relations between the two unions should be explored". If delegates back the motion, PCS and Unite members will co-operate more closely at companies such as Fujitsu and Cap Gemini, firms which carry out public sector work and have PCS and Unite representation./ppThe two unions are also working on a fourth national walkout in the protest against public sector pension reforms. A date of 28 June has been mooted but it is now thought that a one-day strike earlier in June or in early July is more likely./ppThe government claimed 150,000 state employees took part in the latest one-day strike, on 10 May though it was augmented by a police protest featuring more than 30,000 officers and surprise action by prison officers./ppThe TUC – which represents 58 unions with a total of more than 6 million members – is to confirm a successor to the "March for the Alternative" that was attended by up to 500,000 people on 26 March last year./ppThe protest will end with a rally in Hyde Park, London. The TUC said the march would reflect a "clear shift" against austerity in public opinion across Europe, after the French election result, Greece's political struggles and confirmation that Britain has entered a double-dip recession. "There is a sense in the trade union movement that the argument is turning quite strongly against the government's economic strategy," it said. "The march last year was about cuts to services and the impact of government policies. This will be a much broader critique of government and the fact that their policies are holding back growth, increasing unemployment and going against the grain of where things are moving internationally."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/tradeunions"Trade unions/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/unite"Unite/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/public-sector-cuts"Public sector cuts/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/policy"Public services policy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/public-finance"Public finance/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/danmilmo"Dan Milmo/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/PkEQJnaQjv8lRjZifgOyDxRe9I0/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/PkEQJnaQjv8lRjZifgOyDxRe9I0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/PkEQJnaQjv8lRjZifgOyDxRe9I0/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/PkEQJnaQjv8lRjZifgOyDxRe9I0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/4967?ns=guardianpageName=IAEA+chief+to+visit+Iran+for+nuclear+talks%3AArticle%3A1748003ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Iran+%28News%29%2CIAEA+%28International+Atomic+Energy+Agency%29%2CNuclear+weapons+%28News%29%2CMiddle+East+and+North+Africa+%28News%29+MENA%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CEnergyc6=Julian+Borgerc7=12-May-20c8=1748003c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FIran" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Yukiya Amano will hold talks with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator in attempt to reach breakthrough on inspections/ppThe head of the UN nuclear watchdog will arrive in Tehran on Monday morning for a day of negotiations with the Iranian government on its co-operation with the agency, at the start of a week that is likely to be critical to an international effort to defuse tensions in the Gulf./ppYukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), will hold talks with Iran's chief nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, and senior officials from the country's nuclear programme, with the aim of reaching a breakthrough agreement on inspections of sites and access to scientists suspected of having been involved in work on nuclear weapons./ppTwo days later, Jalili will meet the EU foreign policy chief, Lady Ashton, and senior diplomats from six world powers – the US, UK, France, Russia, China and Germany – in Baghdad to discuss other confidence-building measures, including limits on Iranian uranium enrichment./ppThe degree of progress at both meetings is likely to have an important bearing on the level of tension surrounding Iran's nuclear programme, the likelihood of an Israeli military strike against Iranian nuclear sites, and global oil prices./ppAmano's trip to Tehran is the first by an IAEA director general since his predecessor, Mohamed ElBaradei, visited in 2009. If the Japanese diplomat succeeds in securing an agreement on the IAEA investigation into alleged Iranian work on nuclear weapons, it would vindicate his tough approach to Tehran in the face of criticism that he is too closely aligned with the west./pp"The focus of the visit will be on the issue of a framework. We hope the two sides can reach an agreement and draw up a new framework to answer [IAEA] questions and clear up ambiguities," the Iranian foreign minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, told local media at the weekend./ppThe Iranian government has insisted on establishing such a framework before allowing IAEA inspectors to visit sensitive sites such as the Parchin military base, where the agency wants to investigate intelligence reports that Iranian technicians tested high-explosive components of a nuclear warhead./ppIran has denied ever having conducted development work on nuclear weapons./ppThe independent Institute for Science and International Security in Washington a href="http://isis-online.org/isis-reports/detail/new-satellite-image-shows-activity-at-parchin-site-in-iran" title=""published satellite photos this month/a showing recent activity that could be an attempt to clean up the Parchin site./ppThe IAEA chief inspector, Herman Nackaerts, who will be accompanying Amano to Tehran, has been reluctant to enter into any agreement with Iran that would tie the hands of his inspectors in conducting their investigation. Amano's decision to fly to Tehran to try to seal an agreement suggests he believes a compromise can be found./ppDiplomats who have followed the long history of negotiations with Tehran since its uranium enrichment and heavy water programmes were first revealed in 2002 point out that a previous agreement on a IAEA "work plan" to investigate allegations of weapons work a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/27/iran-iaea-nuclear-talks" title=""fell apart in 2008/a before inspectors could interview key nuclear scientists./ppAn IAEA agreement in Tehran could have a positive impact on the Baghdad talks on Wednesday. The negotiations between Jalili, Ashton and the six-nation group will seek to build on a similar meeting in Istanbul last month, where Jalili agreed in principle to negotiate over Iran's nuclear programme./ppWestern diplomats hope the Baghdad talks will make progress towards a confidence-building deal by which Iran would stop making 20% enriched uranium, a more concentrated material than the fuel used in modern power stations, which is closer to the level of purity needed for making weapons./ppIn return, the west would provide fuel for a medical research reactor in Tehran and provide advice and equipment to improve safety standards at that reactor and at a nuclear power station at Bushehr, on the Gulf coast./ppWestern officials said Tehran appeared to be keen to strike a bargain as it was faced with broad and damaging sanctions, including an EU oil embargo, the threat of Israeli military action and the substantial weakening of its only significant ally in the region, the Assad regime in Damascus./pp"These negotiations could, if the parties have a real and serious will [for them to succeed], and on condition that realism reigns, open the road to a compromise which would permit on one hand the alleviation of the concerns of the west, while on the other hand bring Iran the assurances it needs on the pursuit of nuclear activities and uranium enrichment on its soil for completely civil purposes," the Iranian ambassador to Paris, Ali Ahani, wrote in Le Monde on Friday, in what appeared part of a public relations offensive before the Baghdad talks./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/iran"Iran/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/iaea"International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/nuclear-weapons"Nuclear weapons/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middleeast"Middle East and North Africa/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/julianborger"Julian Borger/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/f7-JfMvm3wBgyvjsCw0y3n7v1h8/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/f7-JfMvm3wBgyvjsCw0y3n7v1h8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/f7-JfMvm3wBgyvjsCw0y3n7v1h8/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/f7-JfMvm3wBgyvjsCw0y3n7v1h8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/20346?ns=guardianpageName=Chen+Guangcheng%27s+family+and+friends+%27still+at+risk%27+in+China%3AArticle%3A1748075ch=World+newsc3=Guardianc4=Chen+Guangcheng%2CChina+%28News%29%2CAsia+Pacific+%28News%29%2CUS+politics%2CUS+foreign+policy%2CUS+news%2CCommunism+%28News%29%2CLaw%2CHuman+rights%2CWorld+newsc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CUS+Electionsc6=Jonathan+Wattsc7=12-May-20c8=1748075c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FChen+Guangcheng" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Blind activist begins exile in US with call for greater rule of law at home as supporters fear for those left behind/ppSupporters of Chen Guangcheng have warned that his family and friends in China are still at risk after the blind activist arrived in New York to begin a new life in the United States./ppChen — whose daring escape from house arrest last month prompted a diplomatic crisis — arrived on Saturday night to cheering crowds, and used his first speech to press for greater rule of law in the country he left behind./pp"I hope everybody works for me to promote justice and fairness in China," Chen said through an interpreter, ahead of his enrolment for a fellowship in the US-Asia Law Institute at New York University School of Law./ppHe was also careful to thank the Chinese government, knowing the wellbeing of relatives and associates could be influenced by an upcoming shift in the Communist party leadership. Instead, he criticised the provincial authorities in Shandong for years of persecution, including 18 months of house arrest, beatings and harassment of his relatives./ppChen said "acts of retribution may not have abated" in his village of Dongshigu, which was still under lockdown. "We hope to see a thorough investigation into these events," he said./ppThe figurehead of the rights movement suggested his own role will temporarily diminish. "I am requesting leave of absence and I hope they will understand," he said. "For the past seven years, I have never had a day's rest so I have come here for a bit of recuperation for body and spirit."/ppHe Peirong – a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/27/arrest-fears-china-activist-helped-escape" title=""who played a key role in the escape by driving Chen from Shandong to Beijing/a – said she sympathised, even though the reverberations of Chen's flight remain unclear. "I support any decision made by Chen, but it's too early to say whether his departure is a good thing for China's rights movement. Things are not settled. Problems are not solved. His family is still in China. The people who helped him escape are still in China."/ppHe – who was detained for several days after Chen's escape and remains under surveillance – spoke of her admiration for Chen./pp"He has done more than you could expect from any individual … Although he has experienced so much injustice and so many threats, he sticks to his beliefs. He is like a piece of jade: always smooth and warm."/ppOthers supporters, relatives and lawyers, including Guo Yushan and Liu Weiguo, were not answering their phones. Several have been told not to speak to the foreign media. Zeng Jinyan, who met Chen before he took refuge at the US embassy, said her computer had been hacked and infected with a virus that made it difficult to communicate./ppa href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/11/chen-guangcheng-nephew-charged-manslaughter?newsfeed=true" title=""Chen's nephew has been arrested and charged with attempted murder/a after using a kitchen knife to fight off local officials who intruded into his home./ppThe activist's brother has described how he was a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/18/chen-guangcheng-brother-beating-officials" title=""chained to a chair and beaten for three days./a His lawyer and friend, Jiang Tianyong, was punched so powerfully by state security officials that a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/11/chen-guangcheng-nephew-charged-manslaughter?newsfeed=true" title=""he lost his hearing/a. He said police continued to impose tight restrictions on rights activists and he expected the pressure to intensify ahead of a key party congress this autumn./pp"There won't be any big changes for us now that Chen Guangcheng has left. There are still many reasons to keep up control and stability preservation," Jiang told Reuters./ppA supporter in Shandong told the news agency the authorities were unlikely to ease pressure any time soon. "The Communist party doesn't want to set a precedent over this case by easing up after a dissident has escaped detention," said Sun Wenguang, a retired professor, who is monitored 24 hours a day by security officers./ppAlthough supporters in the US say Chen is now free to "speak truth to power'" it is far from clear that his voice will be any easier to hear in his homeland. In the past, a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/04/chen-guangchen-dilemma-stay-leave-china" title=""Chinese dissidents who sought exile in the US have found their influence muted by distance/a and Beijing's "Great Firewall" – which filters internet content from overseas./ppFew are allowed to return. Last week, Wu'er Kaixi – the student leader during the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests – was refused permission to return to China to see his ailing parents./ppNonetheless, Chen's escape could make a difference in China because of the timing. The ability of a blind man to evade dozens of guards raises awkward questions for party hardman Zhou Yongkang, who has a bigger budget for internal security than the People's Liberation Army has to protect China's borders. Zhou is due to step down this autumn./ppChen's arrival in New York could also play in US politics and diplomatic strategy. Presidential candidate Mitt Romney had criticised the Obama administration's handling of the case when it was unclear whether Chen would leave China./ppBut the Democrat former House speaker Nancy Pelosi described Chen's flight to the US as "a milestone in the cause for human rights in China"./pp"The courage of Chen Guangcheng to risk his life and livelihood to advocate for disadvantaged people in China is an inspiration to freedom-seeking people around the world," she said./pp/ppHuman rights campaigners warned against complacency./pp"Chen's departure for the US does not and should not in any way mark a 'mission accomplished' moment for the US government or any other government which values human rights and rule of law in China. The fact is that getting Chen Guangcheng and his family on a plane is the easiest part of this saga. The harder, longer term part is ensuring his right under international law to return to China when he sees fit," said Phelim Kine, senior Asia researcher at Human Rights Watch in New York./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/chen-guangcheng"Chen Guangcheng/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/china"China/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/asia-pacific"Asia Pacific/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-politics"US politics/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usforeignpolicy"US foreign policy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/communism"Communism/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/human-rights"Human rights/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jonathanwatts"Jonathan Watts/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/cchTi3BlRErqZXSMMcnqHn_t9Xg/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/cchTi3BlRErqZXSMMcnqHn_t9Xg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/cchTi3BlRErqZXSMMcnqHn_t9Xg/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/cchTi3BlRErqZXSMMcnqHn_t9Xg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/24185?ns=guardianpageName=Sue+Akers%2C+phone-hacking+inquiry+head%2C+to+retire+from+Met%3AArticle%3A1747969ch=UK+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Sue+Akers%2CPhone+hacking+scandal+%28Media%29%2CMetropolitan+police%2CMedia%2CUK+news%2COperation+Elveden%2COperation+Tuleta%2COperation+Weetingc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CMedia+Weeklyc6=Press+Associationc7=12-May-20c8=1747969c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=UK+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FUK+news%2FSue+Akers" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Senior police officer will leave after London 2012 Olympics, Scotland Yard has announced/ppSue Akers, who has been leading Scotland's Yard investigation into phone hacking, is to retire after the Olympics, the Metropolitan police has confirmed./ppThe Met deputy assistant commissioner has been on the force for 36 years. She is in charge of the three linked inquiries into phone hacking, illicit payments and computer hacking, and has been leading inquiries into the potential involvement of intelligence services in relation to detainees held abroad.br / br /Deputy commissioner Craig Mackey said Akers's extensive detective experience would be missed but her decision to step down would not be allowed to affect the progress of the investigations.br / br /Akers, who joined the Met in 1976, took control of Operation Weeting – the force's second inquiry into the phone-hacking scandal – in January 2011. Operations Elveden, which is focusing on inappropriate payments to police, and Tuleta, which is looking at allegations of computer hacking, run alongside. /ppThe fresh investigation came after detectives were handed a new dossier of evidence hinting that suspicious activities at the News of the World went beyond "rogue reporter" Clive Goodman.br / br /The now-defunct tabloid's royal editor was jailed along with private investigator Glenn Mulcaire in 2007 after they admitted intercepting messages. /ppMackey said: "Considerable resources have been dedicated to investigating phone-hacking and related offences, and the officers on these operations will continue to follow all evidence of suspected criminality.br / br /"The importance of the continuity of leadership will of course be taken into account when the future command structure for Operations Weeting, Elveden and Tuleta is considered."br / br /Akers told the former Met commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson she had planned to retire after the Olympics even before the new phone-hacking investigation was launched, according to the Independent on Sunday. She is believed to be the longest-serving woman in the Met./ppA Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Deputy Assistant Commissioner [DAC] Sue Akers is due to retire later this year after 36 years' service with the MPS.br / br /"The DAC signalled her intention to retire this autumn when she took charge of investigations into phone-hacking and related corruption and computer crime."br / br /Akers, the former borough commander of Barnet, was awarded the Queen's Police Medal in 2007./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/sue-akers"Sue Akers/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/phone-hacking"Phone hacking/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/metropolitan-police"Metropolitan police/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/operation-elveden"Operation Elveden/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/operation-tuleta"Operation Tuleta/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/operation-weeting"Operation Weeting/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/H7NhN_xjNAXA7AmB8kLHkP9MLMg/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/H7NhN_xjNAXA7AmB8kLHkP9MLMg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/H7NhN_xjNAXA7AmB8kLHkP9MLMg/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/H7NhN_xjNAXA7AmB8kLHkP9MLMg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/13524?ns=guardianpageName=Italy+school+bombing+%27not+linked+to+mafia%27%3AArticle%3A1747982ch=World+newsc3=Guardianc4=Italy+%28News%29%2CEurope+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Reuters+in+Brindisic7=12-May-20c8=1747982c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FItaly" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Brindisi chief prosecutor says device, which exploded as pupils were arriving for lessons, seems to be the work of one person/ppThe bomb attack that a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/20/italy-school-bomb-kills-girl" title=""killed a teenage girl/a and wounded 10 other people in the southern Italian town of Brindisi was probably carried out by an individual with no links to the mafia, a senior official said./ppThousands of people have taken to the streets in demonstrations of sympathy for the Francesca Morvillo Falcone school and the family of the dead teenager, Melissa Bassi./ppMarco Dinapoli, the Brindisi chief prosecutor who is leading the investigation, said police already had an identikit of the suspect. "It seems to be the work of a single person," he said. "The most probable hypothesis is that it was an isolated act."/ppHe refused to give details about the suspect. "At the moment, we don't understand what the motivation for this massacre might be," Dinapoli said. No claim of responsibility had been received./ppEarly suspicions pointed at organised crime largely because the school was named after the wife of an anti-mafia judge, Giovanni Falcone, and the attack took place days before the 20th anniversary of the couple's death in a bomb attack in Sicily./ppHowever, Dinapoli said: "It seems improbable, not entirely to be excluded but improbable, that it is connected with mafia networks." He said repeat attacks on other schools appeared unlikely./ppDinapoli said investigators had acquired "significant" video evidence that suggested one man set off the device, which exploded as pupils at the school were arriving by bus for the start of lessons on Saturday morning./ppHe declined to describe the video evidence but said it showed a single individual activating a remote control to detonate a rudimentary bomb made up of three gas canisters hidden in a container outside the school gates./ppOne of the injured, Veronica Capodieci, has been transferred to a hospital in Lecce. She was still in a serious condition, but the hospital reported that she was stable, had regained consciousness and was alert./ppThe pope added his commiserations to messages of sympathy from leaders including the French president, François Hollande, saying he was praying for "Melissa, the innocent victim of brutal violence, and her family"./ppItaly was already on edge after a series of attacks on public institutions including the main tax and debt collection agency, which prompted the interior minister, Anna Maria Cancellieri, to step up security at key sites./ppAs the economic crisis has hit hard, most visibly through a series of high-profile suicides of struggling small businessmen, there have been fears of a return to the kind of violence seen during the 1970s. As well as the attacks on the tax agency Equitalia, an anarchist group claimed responsibility for shooting the chief executive of the nuclear engineering group Ansaldo Nucleare this month./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/italy"Italy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/europe-news"Europe/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/qbpXNlkzzss_mYK_dPwwmf5VUgM/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/qbpXNlkzzss_mYK_dPwwmf5VUgM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/qbpXNlkzzss_mYK_dPwwmf5VUgM/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/qbpXNlkzzss_mYK_dPwwmf5VUgM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/23686?ns=guardianpageName=Pakistan+blocks+Twitter+amid+blasphemy+fears%3AArticle%3A1748040ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Pakistan+%28News%29%2CTwitter+%28Technology%29%2CFreedom+of+speech+%28News%29%2CMedia%2CBlogging+%28Media%29%2CSocial+networking%2CInternet%2CFacebook%2CTechnology%2CWorld+newsc5=Digital+Media%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CMedia+Weekly%2CTechnology+Gadgets%2CCorporate+IT%2CFamily+and+Relationshipsc6=Jon+Boonec7=12-May-20c8=1748040c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FPakistan" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Twitter closed after it refused to remove tweets promoting a page urging people to post images of prophet Muhammad/ppPakistan's rambunctious Twitter users have been briefly silenced after the government closed the site amid fears blasphemous pictures might be circulated./ppMuhammad Yaseen, chairman of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, said the micro-blogging site had been shut down on Sunday after it refused to remove tweets promoting a Facebook page encouraging people to post images of the prophet Muhammad./ppHe said Facebook agreed to address Pakistan's concerns but officials had failed to persuade Twitter to do the same. "We have been negotiating with them until last night, but they did not agree to remove the stuff, so we had to block it," Yaseen said./ppOfficials from Facebook and Twitter were not immediately available for comment./ppThe ban was made largely irrelevant by tech-savvy users. Twitter members, many aided by online articles in the Pakistani media explaining how to circumvent the curbs, installed proxy servers to shield their web browsing. Once back online, many posted angry tweets about the shutdown./ppOne poster wondered how a known terrorist "can roam and operate freely in Pakistan whilst social media is banned!"/ppFarieha Aziz, of the Bolo Bhi advocacy group, said the government was repeating the mistake of 2010, when a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/may/31/pakistan-lifts-facebook-ban" title=""Facebook was blocked for two weeks because of a group page called Everybody Draw Mohammed/a. Although there had been protests in the runup to the event last year, Aziz said the ban gave the group more publicity, particularly in Islamic countries outside Pakistan./pp"This year, however, everyone had been completely oblivious to this," she added. "Shutting down Twitter will just drive more traffic to them."/ppAccording to the government, about 20% of Pakistan's 180 million people have access to the internet, while 64% have connections through their mobile phone./ppThe web is increasingly important among the country's fast-growing urban middle class. A campaign run by Imran Khan, the former cricketer turned politician, who has more than 270,000 followers on Twitter, has been particularly popular./ppIn addition to blocking Facebook and Twitter, the government has in the past tried to control derogatory text messages insulting government figures and has considered a national firewall to potentially screen all web traffic./ppEmrys Schoemaker, director of iMedia, a research organisation that studies social media in Pakistan, said attempts to control the internet reflected a shift from the media freedoms introduced by the former president Pervez Musharraf./pp"This is a very defensive, dated response to politics in the digital era," Schoemaker said. "Closing down debate simply makes the voices louder."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/pakistan"Pakistan/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/twitter"Twitter/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/freedom-of-speech"Freedom of speech/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blogging"Blogging/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/socialnetworking"Social networking/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/internet"Internet/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/facebook"Facebook/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jon-boone"Jon Boone/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ZLj1k8w3IgoKh3db3dgbA0fCsGg/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ZLj1k8w3IgoKh3db3dgbA0fCsGg/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ZLj1k8w3IgoKh3db3dgbA0fCsGg/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/ZLj1k8w3IgoKh3db3dgbA0fCsGg/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/92778?ns=guardianpageName=Tony+Blair+heckled+during+graduation+address+at+Maine+college%3AArticle%3A1748142ch=Politicsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Tony+Blair%2CEducation%2CUS+news%2CUK+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CEducation+Weekly+Educationc6=Matt+Williamsc7=12-May-20c8=1748142c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=Politicsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FPolitics%2FTony+Blair" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Man charged with disorderly conduct after Blair's speech interrupted by small group of demonstrators at Corby College/ppFormer British prime minister Tony Blair was heckled by protesters as he tried to issue a plea for world unity during a college commencement speech./ppBlair was interrupted by a small group of demonstrators as he attempted to deliver a speech in front of 400 graduates at Corby College in Maine./ppPolice say the activists shouted "warmonger" and "war criminal" during the address. One person was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct./ppWaterville police said the trouble began after Blair took to the podium./pp"As Mr Blair was introduced for his address, three protesters began screaming and were removed and escorted from campus./pp"A short time later, another protester began screaming and was escorted away from the crowd," a police statement read./ppThe man arrested was named as Lawrence Reichard, 53./ppHe was taken to a nearby police station and bailed on a $250 bond. Other protesters were allowed to sit through the rest of Blair's speech after agreeing not to disrupt it./ppBlair's address took the form of an appeal for international cooperation and for people to try to understand other cultures./ppa href="http://bangordailynews.com/2012/05/20/education/one-protester-arrested-as-tony-blair-addresses-colby-graduates/"According the Bangor Daily News/a, Blair told gathered graduates to be leaders, not followers./ppThe newspaper added that the 59-year-old former PM told the students: "Above all else, be a do-er and not a critic. Human experience has never been shaped by commentators, critics or cynics."/ppBlair stepped down as UK prime minister in 2007./ppSince then, he has served as the envoy of the Quartet on the Middle East, representing the United States, Russia, the European Union and the United Nations in working with Palestinians to prepare for statehood./ppBut his role in supporting President George Bush in the Iraq war has meant that he remains a controversial figure amongst some, and an occasional focus of protest at home and overseas./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/tonyblair"Tony Blair/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/matt-williams"Matt Williams/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/NPAOKn3z8gHyvmX-AyjYv_oaXvA/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/NPAOKn3z8gHyvmX-AyjYv_oaXvA/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/NPAOKn3z8gHyvmX-AyjYv_oaXvA/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/NPAOKn3z8gHyvmX-AyjYv_oaXvA/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/51355?ns=guardianpageName=Sudan+frees+four+detained+foreigners%3AArticle%3A1748029ch=World+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=Sudan+%28News%29%2CSouth+Sudan%2CMiddle+East+and+North+Africa+%28News%29+MENA%2CThabo+Mbeki%2CAfrica+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Reuters+in+Khartoumc7=12-May-20c8=1748029c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FSudan" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Four, including a Briton, had been accused of illegally entering disputed border area last month to spy for South Sudan/ppSudan has released four foreigners detained near the border with South Sudan after weeks of heavy clashes, according to officials./ppSudan said it had arrested the four – a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/apr/29/briton-arrested-sudan-military-activity" title=""a Briton, a Norwegian, a South African and a South Sudanese/a – last month after accusing them of illegally entering an oil-producing border area to spy for South Sudan./ppSouth Sudanese officials denied the allegations, saying the men were working with the UN and aid groups clearing mines and had got lost in the remote territory./pp"We thank the president for their release," the former South African president Thabo Mbeki, who has been mediating between the two sides, told reporters at a press conference with the four in Khartoum. Sudan's defence minister confirmed the release./ppThe arrests in April came after weeks of fighting along the 1,100-mile contested border that brought the two Sudans closer to all-out war than at any time since the South seceded./ppThe southern nation, which became independent in July under a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of civil unrest, had seized the disputed Heglig oil area earlier in April but then withdrew under heavy international pressure./ppThe neighbours are at loggerheads over a series of issues including the exact position of the border, the status of citizens in one another's territory and how much the landlocked South should pay to export its oil through Sudan./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/sudan"Sudan/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/south-sudan"South Sudan/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middleeast"Middle East and North Africa/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/mbeki"Thabo Mbeki/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/africa"Africa/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q7stVl_ykLY87MgJdGozbGrVtVY/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q7stVl_ykLY87MgJdGozbGrVtVY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q7stVl_ykLY87MgJdGozbGrVtVY/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/q7stVl_ykLY87MgJdGozbGrVtVY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/90021?ns=guardianpageName=Status%3A+married.+Surprise+update+as+Mark+Zuckerberg+weds+Priscilla+Chan%3AArticle%3A1747968ch=Technologyc3=GU.co.ukc4=Mark+Zuckerberg+%28Technology%29%2CFacebook%2CTechnology%2CUS+newsc5=Digital+Media%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CCorporate+ITc6=Staff+and+agenciesc7=12-May-20c8=1747968c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=Technologyc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FTechnology%2FMark+Zuckerberg" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Surprise update as Facebook founder weds university sweetheart Priscilla Chan after social network's share market listing/ppMark Zuckerberg, the newly enriched Facebook founder, has updated his status to "married". /ppZuckerberg and 27-year-old Priscilla Chan wed at a small ceremony at his home in Palo Alto, California, on Saturday, capping a week during which the social network he founded listed on the share market for more than $100bn./ppMulti-billionaire Zuckerberg took his company public on the Nasdaq stock exchange in one of the most anticipated moves in Wall Street history on Friday. Chan graduated from medical school at the University of California, San Francisco, on Monday, the same day Zuckerberg turned 28./ppThe couple met at Harvard and have been together for more than nine years./ppA company spokeswoman said Zuckerberg designed the ring – featuring "a very simple ruby" – himself./ppThe ceremony took place in Zuckerberg's backyard before fewer than 100 guests, who all thought they were there to celebrate Chan's graduation./ppTens of thousands of people "liked" his status change, which was accompanied by a photo of the couple in wedding attire./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/mark-zuckerberg"Mark Zuckerberg/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/facebook"Facebook/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Po8B5_CagMfziE5-ELNoDDqv1GE/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Po8B5_CagMfziE5-ELNoDDqv1GE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Po8B5_CagMfziE5-ELNoDDqv1GE/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/Po8B5_CagMfziE5-ELNoDDqv1GE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/25350?ns=guardianpageName=Taliban+destroy+poppy+fields+in+surprise+clampdown+on+Afghan+opium+growe%3AArticle%3A1748122ch=World+newsc3=Guardianc4=Afghanistan+%28News%29%2CDrugs+trade+%28News%29%2CTaliban%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Emma+Graham-Harrisonc7=12-May-20c8=1748122c9=Articlec10=Featurec11=World+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FWorld+news%2FAfghanistan" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Action by Taliban welcomed by government and clerics but insurgent says destruction was for religious reasons/ppTaliban fighters have destroyed fields of opium poppies in eastern Afghanistan this spring, the first time since 2001 the hardline Islamist group is known to have clamped down on the cultivation of a drug that provides a big part of its funding./ppWhile the insurgents appear to have dug up a relatively small area of poppies in a remote area near the border with Pakistan, the move was so unusual it won a chorus of praise from the Afghan government and international organisations, whom the Taliban consider their enemy, as well as senior clerics./pp"They just did what the constitution ordered," said Wasifullah Wasifi, a spokesman for the provincial governor in Kunar, where the eradication took place./pp"The provincial governor really appreciates what the insurgents did. From the perspective of Islam it is forbidden and a crime to grow drugs," Wasifi said, adding that nearly a hectare had been destroyed by the Taliban in the province's Manawara district, in addition to a far larger amount eradicated by the government./ppThe country representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime in Afghanistan, Jean-Luc Lemahieu, confirmed that the Taliban had uprooted poppy fields in Kunar, and said he hoped the "rare event" might presage a stronger approach to controlling drug production./pp"We welcome this new approach and would hope that this is not a one-time exception but that the Taliban, and others alike, would take a principled stance against the narcotics business," he said./ppAfghanistan has for years produced the vast majority of the world's opium, with only a brief break in 2001 when the Taliban government, which had previously relied on the crop to bolster its coffers, a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2001/apr/01/internationalcrime.drugstrade" title=""unexpectedly dug up most of the country's poppy fields/a./ppBut opium production has flourished since the group was toppled by US-backed forces in 2001, even though it has been widely condemned by clerics as un-Islamic./ppVillagers in the Manawara district were warned at the start of the sowing season not to plant poppies, said district governor Habib Rahman Mohmand./pp"The Taliban leadership in Kunar sent down an order to the ordinary people that they should not grow drugs, or the crop would be destroyed," Mohmand said. "Around 20 days ago the Taliban groups came and destroyed it."/ppMohmand said he believed it had been done on the order of a powerful regional commander, Zia al-Rahman. The order, however, was the result of pressure from tribal elders and religious scholars in Kunar who considered the production of drugs un-Islamic, he told the Guardian./ppA local Taliban fighter who said he was involved in the eradication confirmed that the decision had come from the top commander, for religious reasons./pp"It was an order from Zia al-Rahman. We went to the site to destroy the drug fields, and there were two widows who were growing drugs to feed their families because they had no husbands, so I didn't destroy their land," said the militant./pp"But when Zia al-Rahman heard, he got upset, and said: 'We don't care who the owners are, this is a religious order.' So I went to the site again and destroyed the land of the widows."/ppIn 2011, the farm-gate value of opium production in Afghanistan more than doubled from the previous year to $1.4bn (£885m) according to Reuters./ppFunds flow to insurgents and corrupt members of the government. The crop can also be a key source of income for poor farmers, who insurgents sometimes rely on for food, shelter, recruits or other support./pp"Over the past 10 years the Taliban have generally been pragmatic about poppy. They have not been involved in eradication," said Michael Semple, a Harvard academic and expert on the Taliban./pp"In the poppy heartland of the south, where the opium trade is important in the rural economy, Taliban commanders deliberately delay the start of the spring fighting so as to allow farmers a chance to complete the opium harvest."/ppIn eastern Kunar, opium production is just a fraction of levels in the Taliban's southern heartland, and the local commanders may have seen a chance to match government eradication programmes with their own claim to moral leadership on drugs production, Semple added./pp"In Kunar the acreage planted is much smaller and opium is peripheral to the economy. In eradicating some poppies, local Taliban probably saw an opportunity to pose as a legitimate force."/ppKunar residents also said there had been some eradication by the Taliban in two neighbouring districts, although authorities in both areas denied any militant role in clearing poppy fields./pp"In Shaygal district in some areas, the government was doing the eradication, and in other areas the insurgents were doing the eradication," said an English teacher, who asked not to be named./pp"As an eyewitness I can say the Taliban destroyed a emjerib /em[a fifth of a hectare] of drugs between four and five days ago," said Haji Padshah Jan, an elder from a third district, Sarkani./pp/ppemRahmatullah Qaryab in Kunar and Mokhtar Amiri in Kabul contributed reporting for this story/em/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/afghanistan"Afghanistan/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/drugs-trade"Drugs trade/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/taliban"Taliban/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/emma-graham-harrison"Emma Graham-Harrison/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" / pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/aMyyI68-ciozK5Mu_k2H_tTr66I/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/aMyyI68-ciozK5Mu_k2H_tTr66I/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/aMyyI68-ciozK5Mu_k2H_tTr66I/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/aMyyI68-ciozK5Mu_k2H_tTr66I/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

Pakistani authorities restore access to the social media website Twitter after a brief ban for what officials called "offensive" content".

Mobile phone data of suspects in police custody is to be extracted and retained, regardless of whether charges are brought, the BBC has learned.

Researchers reveal details of a promising way to make a fundamentally different kind of computer memory chip.

Facebook shares end a volatile first day of trading at $38.23, barely above the company's initial pricing, having initially jumped more than 10%.

Micro-blogging service Twitter will support an initiative that lets people browse the web without being monitored.

Hacker group Anonymous has carried out a series of attacks against government and political websites in India.

Newcastle University helps to develop a computer game to help those who have suffered strokes.

Most government websites will miss the UK's deadline for complying with EU regulations over cookies, the Cabinet Office tells the BBC.

China Mobile, the main mobile service provider in China and the largest in the world by users, could soon offer its customers Apple's iPhone.

The Government may miss its cloud computing targets because of a lack of enthusiasm from public sector IT staff, a report suggests.

Japan completes its first successful commercial launch of a foreign-made satellite early on Friday, marking its entry into the launch business.

The French privacy watchdog, acting on behalf of the EU, is to meet Google to scrutinise its controversial privacy policy changes.

Google revamps its search engine in an attempt to offer instant answers to search questions with a new function, the Knowledge Graph.

File-sharing website The Pirate Bay appears to have been hit by a coordinated hack attack.

Passengers flying Virgin Atlantic from London to New York will soon be able to make in-flight phone calls using personal devices.

Search giant Google patents the design of its augmented reality glasses, known as Project Glass.

A jury has retired to consider claims that Google wilfully infringed patents belonging to Java developer Oracle.

A look at a selection of internet companies that previously floated on the US stock exchange

Scottish scientists are working on a device to restore sight in people with a form of age related blindness.

An investigation into why devices stop working without anything seeming to be wrong with them

Stopping websites from using tracking software could have serious consequences on the users themselves

Pakistan's government has imposed a countrywide ban on the social media website Twitter.

The founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, updates his status on his own Facebook page to announce he has married long-time girlfriend Priscilla Chan.

Facebook shares ended their first day of trading at $38.23, barely above the company's initial pricing of $38.

LJ Rich takes a look at the low-cost tablets battling Apple's dominance in India.

HMRC is targetting people who use sites such as eBay and Amazon to sell items online at a profit.

MPs have had their fingers burned by texting and technology, and may have regretted the odd text or tweet.

Honda Motors unveils a new auto-balancing unicycle that can be controlled hands free - and other technology news stories.

The creative brains studying at the Interactive Telecommunications Program in New York are showcasing their ideas for a smarter tomorrow.

Will Facebook keep innovating post-IPO?

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/n7PxV60pemgpgDxHtnw9ulaxy54/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/n7PxV60pemgpgDxHtnw9ulaxy54/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/n7PxV60pemgpgDxHtnw9ulaxy54/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/n7PxV60pemgpgDxHtnw9ulaxy54/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pAn anonymous reader writes "3 graduate students from University of Tokyo, Carnegie Mellon University, and the University of Tsukuba have developed a colloidal display mdash; a clear projector screen that can control its transparency. Normally soap film will allow light to pass through, but the colloidal display does not. It mixes colloid into the solution and uses ultra sonic speakers to vibrate the surface of the soap film to achieve this. They have created several prototypes, such as 3D planar screen, to show how this technology can be useful."pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Turning+Soap+Film+Into+a+Projector+Screen%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FLrsiik"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fhardware.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F20%2F2013231%2Fturning-soap-film-into-a-projector-screen%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/2013231/turning-soap-film-into-a-projector-screen?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/2013231/turning-soap-film-into-a-projector-screen?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2862837amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/uYF29Ex7V5U" height="1" width="1"/

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/clh2gdwxahMtj71tnxCm1QNQvrI/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/clh2gdwxahMtj71tnxCm1QNQvrI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/clh2gdwxahMtj71tnxCm1QNQvrI/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/clh2gdwxahMtj71tnxCm1QNQvrI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pthe agent man writes "The idea of getting kids interested in programming in spite of their common perception of programming to be 'hard and boring' is an ongoing Slashdot discussion. With support of the National Science Foundation, the Scalable Game Design project has explored how to bring computer science education into the curriculum of middle and high schools for some time. The results are overwhelmingly positive, suggesting that game design is highly motivational across gender and ethnicity lines. The project is also finding new ways of tracking programming skills transferring from game design to STEM simulation building. This NPR story highlights an early and unplanned foray into bringing game-design based computer science education even to elementary schools."pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Programming+%26mdash%3B+Now+Starting+In+Elementary+School%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FL9lFeR"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F20%2F1852217%2Fprogramming-now-starting-in-elementary-school%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://news.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/1852217/programming-now-starting-in-elementary-school?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://news.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/1852217/programming-now-starting-in-elementary-school?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2862771amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/xw_zus4D27Y" height="1" width="1"/

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3NNpMSka74LJoV63B_d77qGQm3o/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3NNpMSka74LJoV63B_d77qGQm3o/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3NNpMSka74LJoV63B_d77qGQm3o/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/3NNpMSka74LJoV63B_d77qGQm3o/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pOkian Warrior writes "Various new sources are reporting the results of a recent Labor Party poll, indicating that Julian Assange would be elected to the Australian senate, should he choose to run. From the Sun Daily article: 'Controversial WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange stands a real chance of winning an upper house seat in his native Australia if he presses ahead with plans to stand for election, a poll showed Saturday. A survey conducted by the ruling Labor party's internal pollsters UMR Research and published in the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper showed 25 percent of those polled would vote for the whistleblowing website chief.'"pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Assange+Stands+'Real+Chance'+of+Election+In+Australia%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FJIl3lu"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fpolitics.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F20%2F1744205%2Fassange-stands-real-chance-of-election-in-australia%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://politics.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/1744205/assange-stands-real-chance-of-election-in-australia?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://politics.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/1744205/assange-stands-real-chance-of-election-in-australia?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2862703amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/WC_gsNfedzw" height="1" width="1"/

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/9Bt-ONFzjW-UFqxcSfJlPHJoex8/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/9Bt-ONFzjW-UFqxcSfJlPHJoex8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/9Bt-ONFzjW-UFqxcSfJlPHJoex8/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/9Bt-ONFzjW-UFqxcSfJlPHJoex8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pGunkerty Jeb writes "After banning the word 'jailbreak' from its app store and music library, Apple [Friday] reversed course and again permits the term mdash; slang for hacking into a device to download unauthorized content mdash; to appear on iTunes and its App Store. On Thursday bloggers noticed Apple had censored the word, using the Thin Lizzy album 'Jailbreak' as an example. For awhile, the title was listed as 'J******k' in Apple's music library, at least its U.S. version. In other instances, digital content continued to bear the full name Jailbreak."pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Apple+Lifts+Ban+On+the+Word+%22Jailbreak%22%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FKoa38A"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fapple.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F20%2F1632234%2Fapple-lifts-ban-on-the-word-jailbreak%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://apple.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/1632234/apple-lifts-ban-on-the-word-jailbreak?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://apple.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/1632234/apple-lifts-ban-on-the-word-jailbreak?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2862657amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/0NGSZHO_UN0" height="1" width="1"/

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2GPp1HHzLHo-Zn3-9H7DfwXlIQ4/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2GPp1HHzLHo-Zn3-9H7DfwXlIQ4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2GPp1HHzLHo-Zn3-9H7DfwXlIQ4/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2GPp1HHzLHo-Zn3-9H7DfwXlIQ4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pDiggester writes with this news from the Times of India: "Pakistani authorities on Friday further widened the crackdown on websites with blasphemous contents by restricting access to popular social networking website Twitter. Pakistani users were unable to log into Twitter after internet service providers blocked access to the site." The block was prompted by Twitter's refusal to take down messages promoting a cartoon contest to which the Pakistani government objects for its depictions of Muhammad. This end-run falls right in line with the pessimistic reaction from Reporters Without Borders to the Pakistani court decision calling Internet censorship unconstitutional.pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Pakistan+Blocks+Twitter+Over+'Blasphemous'+Images%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FJI4dmP"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyro.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F20%2F1512221%2Fpakistan-blocks-twitter-over-blasphemous-images%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/1512221/pakistan-blocks-twitter-over-blasphemous-images?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/1512221/pakistan-blocks-twitter-over-blasphemous-images?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2862599amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/FVguOoVjdD0" height="1" width="1"/

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/v4QDC1i62cm966YfjMS0-k5Q_yY/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/v4QDC1i62cm966YfjMS0-k5Q_yY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/v4QDC1i62cm966YfjMS0-k5Q_yY/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/v4QDC1i62cm966YfjMS0-k5Q_yY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pAn anonymous reader writes "Low-power processor maker ARM Holdings is stepping up rhetoric against chip rival Intel, saying it expects to take more of Intel's market share than Intel can take from them. With Intel being the No. 1 supplier of notebook PC processors, and ARM technology almost ubiquitously powering smartphones, the two companies are facing off as they both push into the other's market space. 'It's going to be quite hard for Intel to be much more than just one of several players,' ARMs CEO said of Intel."pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=ARM%2C+Intel+Battle+Heats+Up%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FLjaEXO"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fhardware.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F20%2F1425251%2Farm-intel-battle-heats-up%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/1425251/arm-intel-battle-heats-up?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/1425251/arm-intel-battle-heats-up?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2862547amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/i4uR5JXoa-c" height="1" width="1"/

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RTFd5F1Q907AVu497C3xYhU9Ge4/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RTFd5F1Q907AVu497C3xYhU9Ge4/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RTFd5F1Q907AVu497C3xYhU9Ge4/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/RTFd5F1Q907AVu497C3xYhU9Ge4/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pAn anonymous reader writes "The United States has pursued Bradley Manning with full force for his role in supplying classified documents to WikiLeaks, in part because of the substantial difficulty in going after the organization directly. Criminal statutes generally deployed against those who leak classified government documents--such as the Espionage Act of 1917--are ill-equipped to prosecute third-party international distribution organizations like WikiLeaks. One potential tool that could be used to prosecute WikiLeaks is copyright law. The use of copyright law in this context has rarely been mentioned, and when it has, the approach has been largely derided by experts, who decry it as contrary to the purposes of copyright. But a paper just published in the Stanford Journal of International Law describes one novel way the U.S. could use copyright to go after WikiLeaks and similar leaking organizations directly--by bringing suit in foreign jurisdictions."pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Protecting+State+Secrets+Through+Copyright%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FJc9zCc"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyro.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F20%2F121217%2Fprotecting-state-secrets-through-copyright%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/121217/protecting-state-secrets-through-copyright?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/121217/protecting-state-secrets-through-copyright?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2862397amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/AVfky3GKNTI" height="1" width="1"/

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/e16dOnGnKcMto37-OD8Iz5PuvgE/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/e16dOnGnKcMto37-OD8Iz5PuvgE/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/e16dOnGnKcMto37-OD8Iz5PuvgE/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/e16dOnGnKcMto37-OD8Iz5PuvgE/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/ptheodp writes "A day after taking Facebook public, CEO Mark Zuckerberg changed his Facebook status to 'married' after wedding longtime girlfriend and recent med school grad Priscilla Chan on Saturday. No word if Zuckerberg heeded Donald Trump's prenup advice."pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Zuckerberg+Updates+Relationship+Status+To+%22Married%22%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FJpf3yh"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Ftech.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F20%2F0450259%2Fzuckerberg-updates-relationship-status-to-married%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/0450259/zuckerberg-updates-relationship-status-to-married?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://tech.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/0450259/zuckerberg-updates-relationship-status-to-married?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2862113amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/__SwZU5Ll_o" height="1" width="1"/

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/4ryYdLhOBRnJzh9p3gEKzd7ltsk/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/4ryYdLhOBRnJzh9p3gEKzd7ltsk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/4ryYdLhOBRnJzh9p3gEKzd7ltsk/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/4ryYdLhOBRnJzh9p3gEKzd7ltsk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pAn anonymous reader writes "More than 5000 people die each year as a result of being distracted while driving, and a new study indicates that teens and cell phones make for the most volatile combination. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that of all drivers under 20 involved in fatal crashes, 16 percent were distracted mdash; the highest proportion of any age group. 'Shockingly, texting drivers took their eyes off the road for each text an average of 4.6 seconds mdash; which at 55 mph, means they were driving the length of a football field without looking,' said David Hosansky."pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Quantifying+the+Risk+of+Texting+Drivers%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FKnb1C4"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fscience.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F19%2F2319221%2Fquantifying-the-risk-of-texting-drivers%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/05/19/2319221/quantifying-the-risk-of-texting-drivers?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/05/19/2319221/quantifying-the-risk-of-texting-drivers?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2861887amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/iXIRmaigoJc" height="1" width="1"/

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/01bDDSFWizlmonH3adFjybXrEPo/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/01bDDSFWizlmonH3adFjybXrEPo/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/01bDDSFWizlmonH3adFjybXrEPo/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/01bDDSFWizlmonH3adFjybXrEPo/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/parisvega writes "At a first level (the lowest court level in the Greek judiciary system) an order has been issued (article in Greek, Google translation is fair enough) for a 'plan on behalf of Internet Service Providers regarding he implementation of technological measures to deny access to internet users for webpages through which illegal copies of copyrighted work are being distributed.' The order seems to be general and descriptive, and is a manifestation of the implementation process for an even more general and vague larger-scale EU directive, which is the common source that caused the rulings recently posted on slashdot regarding the UK, the Netherlands and Finland. This appears to be one of the reasons that prompted Anonymous to launch defacing attacks on Greek government websites some three months back."pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status='First+Base'+In+Greek+Courts+For+ISP-Level+Blocking%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FLiInRc"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyro.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F19%2F2225248%2Ffirst-base-in-greek-courts-for-isp-level-blocking%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/05/19/2225248/first-base-in-greek-courts-for-isp-level-blocking?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/05/19/2225248/first-base-in-greek-courts-for-isp-level-blocking?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2861839amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/ZY976gkf6FU" height="1" width="1"/

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/uHqOPEg4l9W-cb37VuYfvDAtf4c/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/uHqOPEg4l9W-cb37VuYfvDAtf4c/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/uHqOPEg4l9W-cb37VuYfvDAtf4c/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/uHqOPEg4l9W-cb37VuYfvDAtf4c/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/psymbolset writes "CNET is reporting that China has approved Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility. Previously approved by regulatory authorities in the U.S. and Europe, China was the last holdout. The deal will now reportedly close 'within days.'" I wonder what conditions Google may have faced from the regulators, and whether they include any exceptions to the "don't be evil" guideline.pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=China+Approves+Google+Motorola+Mobility+Merger%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FKoXRlX"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fmobile.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F20%2F0415200%2Fchina-approves-google-motorola-mobility-merger%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/0415200/china-approves-google-motorola-mobility-merger?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://mobile.slashdot.org/story/12/05/20/0415200/china-approves-google-motorola-mobility-merger?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2862087amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/b9VgWv_voZs" height="1" width="1"/

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/a2NV7E-dabZ-CD8hDM6zWx57zwQ/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/a2NV7E-dabZ-CD8hDM6zWx57zwQ/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/a2NV7E-dabZ-CD8hDM6zWx57zwQ/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/a2NV7E-dabZ-CD8hDM6zWx57zwQ/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pananyo writes "California lawmakers are weighing a bill aimed at protecting their state's citizens from surreptitious genetic testing but scientists are voicing their growing concerns that, if passed, such a law would have a costly and damaging effect on research. The bill, dubbed the Genetic Information Privacy Act, would require an individual's written consent for the collection, analysis, retention, and sharing of his or her genetic informationmdash;including DNA, genetic test results, and even family disease history. The University of California has submitted a formal letter objecting to the bill, estimating that the measure could increase administrative costs by up to $594,000 annually mdash; money which would come out of the cash-strapped state's General Fund. The university has also expressed concern that its researchers would suffer competitive losses in obtaining research grants."pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=California+Considers+DNA+Privacy+Law%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FK1cfW1"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyro.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F19%2F2232221%2Fcalifornia-considers-dna-privacy-law%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/05/19/2232221/california-considers-dna-privacy-law?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/05/19/2232221/california-considers-dna-privacy-law?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2861847amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/0o5A_p4bF-s" height="1" width="1"/

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/OQBeSj1fORaQs_1ShgND_pfXx4s/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/OQBeSj1fORaQs_1ShgND_pfXx4s/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/OQBeSj1fORaQs_1ShgND_pfXx4s/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/OQBeSj1fORaQs_1ShgND_pfXx4s/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pThis morning's nixed launch of SpaceX's Dragon capsule to the ISS with the company's Falcon booster was an exciting thing to be on hand for, despite the (literally) last-second halt. Shuttle launches used to cause miles of traffic backups extending well outside the gates of NASA's Cape Canaveral launch facilities; for all the buzz around the first private launch to the ISS, today's launch attempt was much more sparsely attended. In a small set of bleachers set up near the massive countdown clock, there were a few dozen enthusiasts and reporters aiming their cameras and binoculars at the launch site on the horizon. They counted down in time with the clock, and mdash; just like NASA's own announcer mdash; reached all the way to "liftoff." There was a brief flash as the engines ignited, but it died as fast as it appeared. It took only a few seconds for the crowd to realize that it was all over for today's shot. While the company's representatives remain upbeat, pointing out that the software worked as intended to stop a launch before anomalies turn into catastrophes, most of those on hand to see what they'd hoped to be a historic launch were a bit glum as they walked back to the parking lot and the press area mdash; especially the ones who can't stay until the next try. I'm sticking around the area until the next scheduled launch window; hopefully next time the fates (and engines) will align.pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=On+Hand+for+the+SpaceX+Launch+That+Almost+Was+(Video)%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FJsYNpo"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fscience.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F19%2F2356257%2Fon-hand-for-the-spacex-launch-that-almost-was-video%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/05/19/2356257/on-hand-for-the-spacex-launch-that-almost-was-video?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://science.slashdot.org/story/12/05/19/2356257/on-hand-for-the-spacex-launch-that-almost-was-video?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2861905amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/2hPNeZ2ybYA" height="1" width="1"/

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/aIrR8tLV7zX1pj_zUm3wWvk0gJ0/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/aIrR8tLV7zX1pj_zUm3wWvk0gJ0/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/aIrR8tLV7zX1pj_zUm3wWvk0gJ0/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/aIrR8tLV7zX1pj_zUm3wWvk0gJ0/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/poyenamit writes "In a significant boost to online privacy, Twitter has announced that they will officially support the Do Not Track feature in browsers. While this is a good news for privacy advocates and users in general, it leaves Twitter to use only the information that is handed over to them by the users for advertising purposes."pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Twitter+Confirms+Support+For+Do+Not+Track%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FJ5nfO1"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fyro.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F19%2F216230%2Ftwitter-confirms-support-for-do-not-track%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/05/19/216230/twitter-confirms-support-for-do-not-track?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/05/19/216230/twitter-confirms-support-for-do-not-track?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2861799amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/moMvE1STcuI" height="1" width="1"/

pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2OtML1hsQ45hdU1aYaT4pWcg5GU/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2OtML1hsQ45hdU1aYaT4pWcg5GU/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2OtML1hsQ45hdU1aYaT4pWcg5GU/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~at/2OtML1hsQ45hdU1aYaT4pWcg5GU/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pschliz writes "The Australian software patent system could be used by open source developers to ensure their inventions remain available to the community, a conference organized by intellectual property authority IP Australia heard this week According to Australian inventor Ric Richardson, whose company came out on top of a multi-million dollar settlement with Microsoft in March, a world without software patents would be 'open slather for anybody who can just go faster than the next person.' Software developer Ben Sturmfels, whose 2010 anti-software-patent petition won the support of open source community members such as Jonathan Oxer, Andrew Tridgell, and software freedom activist Richard Stallman, disagreed."pdiv class="share_submission" style="position:relative;" a class="slashpop" href="http://twitter.com/home?status=Software+Patents+Good+For+Open+Source%3F%3A+http%3A%2F%2Fbit.ly%2FJo6HqP"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/twitter_icon_large.png"/a a class="slashpop" href="http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fnews.slashdot.org%2Fstory%2F12%2F05%2F19%2F1518200%2Fsoftware-patents-good-for-open-source%3Futm_source%3Dslashdot%26utm_medium%3Dfacebook"img src="http://a.fsdn.com/sd/facebook_icon_large.png"/a a class="nobg" href="http://plus.google.com/share?url=http://news.slashdot.org/story/12/05/19/1518200/software-patents-good-for-open-source?utm_source=slashdotamp;utm_medium=googleplus" onclick="javascript:window.open(this.href,'', 'menubar=no,toolbar=no,resizable=yes,scrollbars=yes,height=600,width=600');return false;"img src="http://www.gstatic.com/images/icons/gplus-16.png" alt="Share on Google+"//a /div/ppa href="http://news.slashdot.org/story/12/05/19/1518200/software-patents-good-for-open-source?utm_source=rss1.0moreanonamp;utm_medium=feed"Read more of this story/a at Slashdot./piframe src="http://slashdot.org/slashdot-it.pl?op=discussamp;id=2861507amp;smallembed=1" style="height: 300px; width: 100%; border: none;"/iframeimg src="http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/Slashdot/slashdot/~4/jkdcv-iQZ08" height="1" width="1"/

"The above article has generated enough concern that I feel compelled to put it to rest before it gets out of hand".

Read about Frank's week ahead

3 Majors down and 1 more to go, whos it going to be this time? Will Stewart Cink avenge his missed opportunity from the 2001 U.S. Open at Southern Hills? Maybe it will be back to back Europeans from the talent pool of Donald, Casey, Garcia or Dougherty.

Frank says: Dear Ronald: Sadly Trash talk is starting to make headlines in Golf. It has always been around but never the main story...

This is such a rare and unique opportunity to communicate with a seasoned PGA Tour Professional such as yourself. My question is about Professional Golfers general knowledge of clubs. I was a professional soccer (football) goalkeeper for years, but had career ending knee surgery last year. I picked up golf, and instantly loved the sport. I have a degree in engineering, so I am constantly experimenting with club specifications and technologies as my game develops under a PGA Teaching Pro's direction in the area ....

Anytime something happens at Augusta National it sends shock ways through the Golfing Community and Hootie Johnson stepping down is no exception. Scott Rude gives you an in depth look to Hooties impact on Golf.

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/49682?ns=guardianpageName=Cannes+welcomes+back+Thomas+Vinterberg%3AArticle%3A1748058ch=Filmc3=Guardianc4=Cannes+2012%2CFilm%2CCannes+film+festival%2CFestivals+%28Culture%29%2CCulturec5=Film+Awards%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Charlotte+Higginsc7=12-May-20c8=1748058c9=Articlec10=Featurec11=Filmc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FCannes+2012" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Danish director of Festen returns to form with controversial new look at sex abuse co-authored with Borgen writer/ppIn 1998, an unknown 28-year-old Danish director called Thomas Vinterberg came to Cannes with his film Festen, and – amid mingled controversy and plaudits – was swept to international fame, carrying off the festival's special jury prize./ppFesten marked the sensational debut of the a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/1999/mar/02/features" title="Guardian: New movement?"Danish Dogme 95/a movement, co-founded by Vinterberg and Lars von Trier. The pair were hailed as the new saviours of European film. But, while von Trier's career blossomed after he won the Palme D'Or in 2000 for a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/83862/dancer.in.the.dark" title="Dancer in the Dark"Dancer in the Dark/a, Vinterberg's foundered. Amid a string of flops, he talked of struggling to find focus amid the "explosion" of his initial success./ppNow, after 14 years, Cannes has welcomed back its lost son with Jagten (The Hunt) a film that, like Festen, explores the territory of child sexual abuse. And, with its story of an innocent man almost destroyed when he is falsely accused by a small child, it is no less challenging and controversial than the earlier film./ppThe central role, kindergarten teacher Lucas, is played by Mads Mikkelsen, best known to international audiences through his role as Le Chiffre in the James Bond film Casino Royale. Lucas's best friend Theo is played by Thomas Bo Larsen, who also starred in Festen./ppThe idea for Jagten came from a Danish psychiatrist who, not long after Festen, sent Vinterberg a file on cases of false child-abuse allegations, urging him to make a film. Festen had culminated in the revelation that a respected family man had abused his children. The psychiatrist urged Vinterberg to explore the other side of abuse issues./ppEight years later, Vinterberg finally read the file. He and his co-writer Tobias Lindholm, who also co-scripted the hit TV drama Borgen, started to research the issue. "Frighteningly enough," said Vinterberg, "there are a lot of these cases. But the film is fully fictional: our own sick fantasy."/ppVinterberg denied that the film's content could undermine or draw attention away from real child-abuse cases: "It is very important to say that in a case like this it is the kids who are the victims," he said. "In Denmark we have a saying that children and drunk people always tell the truth. Yes, we are claiming that this is not always true, that kids sometimes lie. But what we are also saying is that they are lying to satisfy grownups around them./pp"What happens is that a huge fantasy happens in front of her. This huge illusion that something bad has happened becomes part of the child's memory. People suffer from this for the rest of their lives, as do the children who have really been abused. I felt it important to address these matters."/ppOf his time in the wilderness, Vinterberg said: "I didn't go anywhere: you guys were gone for a while but I was here and I am proud of what I did meanwhile. Back then I had a little trouble in that Festen was a completion of something; I felt I had made the ultimate film in a certain direction … So I had to abandon this way of working completely and search for other stuff./pp"After the smoke settled after a period, I have returned to a kind of film-making that seems to me to be like the filming I did back at film school, before Dogme – a kind of pure film-making that I am glad to be back in now."/ppJagten is the latest in a long line of bleak tales to come out of Scandinavia – the most recent manifestation to hit British screens being the Swedish-Danish TV crime series The Bridge. Vinterberg joked that Denmark was a "dark and sinister country" adding, "I belong to a tradition of dark tales. I guess Denmark and Scandinavia have always been telling these dark tales. But this is not an entire image of our country – it is really a Shire of happy little Hobbits. Sometimes very stern Hobbits, but quite happy people in general."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannes-2012"Cannes 2012/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannesfilmfestival"Cannes film festival/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/festivals"Festivals/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charlottehiggins"Charlotte Higgins/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

pRock'n'roll invades the Croisette, courtesy of Pete Doherty and Nick Cave. Plus one or two films/pbr/p style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/59995?ns=guardianpageName=Cannes+2012%3A+The+Hunt+%28Jagten%29+*+review%3AArticle%3A1748059ch=Filmc3=GU.co.ukc4=Cannes+2012%2CCannes+film+festival%2CDrama+%28Film+genre%29%2CWorld+cinema+%28Film+genre%29c5=Film+Awards%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CFilm+Reviewsc6=Peter+Bradshawc7=12-May-20c8=1748059c9=Articlec10=Reviewc11=Filmc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FCannes+2012" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Festen director Thomas Vinterberg makes a storming comeback with this superbly thrilling drama about a kindergarten teacher accused of wrongdoing/ppIt is 14 years since Thomas Vinterberg burst into view with his excoriating family drama Festen, which launched the minimalist Dogme movement and became a much-talked-about cultural phenomenon on its own account. After that, he appeared to lose his touch, and his admirers wondered if he could recover that early mastery (although I was a fan of his 2010 film Submarino)./pp/pp/pp/ppWell, Vinterberg really has come storming back with this new movie, easily his best since Festen, and a reminder of his superb gift for unsettling collective drama: it is forthright, powerful, composed and directed with clarity and overwhelming force, yet capable of great subtlety and nuance. The theme is admittedly familiar, and so is the implied analysis of what is going on, and yet Vinterberg endows it with such urgency and his superbly constructed script, co-written with Tobias Lindholm, is a screenplay masterclass, completely upending your expectations as how the climactic scene is going to play out./pp/pp/pp/ppThe lead performance from Mads Mikkelsen is outstanding: he is Lucas, a teacher who's having to work temporarily as a kindergarten assistant due to a school closure, recently divorced, but with many good friends in a close-knit community, and a cheerful participant in all the local traditions, chiefly an annual deer hunt. But things go horribly wrong for Lucas when an accusation is made against him by a child, and the situation escalates out of control./pp/pp/pp/ppThe Hunt has hints of Peckinpah's Straw Dogs and Von Trier's Dogville in its portrayal of group hysteria, with its remorseless anti-logic. But of course it returns to the themes of Festen: how family and community, supposedly the bulwarks against chaos and unhappiness, can turn in on themselves. Mikkelsen's performance is entirely convincing and all too plausible; and with him at its centre, The Hunt becomes an unbearably tense drama-thriller. A scene in a supermarket is gripping, and so is Lucas's appearance at the Christmas Eve church service, which can really only be watched through your fingers./pp/pp/pp/ppThat hunt, and the weaponry used, call to mind Chekhov's dictum about what must happen to a gun which is produced in the first act: but actually, what happens is much more interesting and complex; Lucas's final encounter with his accuser, and the final moments of the film, really are gripping. The film is perhaps open to some plausibility niggles: would not Lucas have engaged a lawyer, or been advised to do so, at some stage? Well perhaps not. Someone in his situation might simply be too stunned to defend his interests, or he could suspect that any such action would be an admission of guilt./pp/ppThere really isn't ounce of fat on this picture, and the cinematography by Charlotte Bruus Cristensen is ravishingly good. Mikkelsen, an actor still perhaps best known as the Bond villain in Casino Royale, shows just how excellent a performer he is./pp class="rating"Rating: 4/5/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannes-2012"Cannes 2012/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannesfilmfestival"Cannes film festival/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/drama"Drama/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/world-cinema"World cinema/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/peterbradshaw"Peter Bradshaw/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/46954?ns=guardianpageName=Cannes+2012%3A+Beyond+the+Hills+*+review%3AArticle%3A1748052ch=Filmc3=GU.co.ukc4=World+cinema+%28Film+genre%29%2CDrama+%28Film+genre%29%2CCannes+2012%2CCannes+film+festivalc5=Film+Awards%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CFilm+Reviewsc6=Peter+Bradshawc7=12-May-20c8=1748052c9=Articlec10=Reviewc11=Filmc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FWorld+cinema" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Romanian director Cristian Mungiu has delivered a brilliant, scary portrayal of irrationality and fear in Europe's dark heart/ppWe are way beyond the hills. For his new film in this year's Competition, the Romanian Palme D'Or winner Cristian Mungiu has given us a captivating tragi-comedy of sexual hysteria and material want. This long movie is played out in a kind of real time, a mysterious secular passion play; Mungiu apparently based the action on the reportage of the BBC World Service's Bucharest bureau chief Tatiana Niculescu Bran who wrote about a case in 2005, where a novice died after being subjected to an exorcism in Romania's Tanacu monastery: an irrational horror at the heart of 21st-century Europe./pp/ppFictionalising this real case, Mungiu brings his distinctive dramatic language, his flair for creating group-tableaux photographed from a single, static camera position, his skill in portraying intimate, embattled female relationships, and his shrewd connoisseurship of officialdom's bland, harassed pomposities. In the final act, as the screw of fear is turned, the film seems to bear a weird resemblance to Lars Von Trier. Maybe this bizarre topic is such that the resemblance is inevitable./pp/ppDespite the exotic horror of its subject-matter, Beyond the Hills delivers a disturbing message about how we all construct our identities and sense of self to justify life-choices in which we may have had little choice. The action revolves around two young women, who knew each other in the grim orphanage where they brought up: pretty, moon-faced Voichita (Cosmina Stratan) and fierce, sharp-featured Alina (Cristina Flutur). Both forced to leave at 18, Alina went to Germany for work which is vaguely described as waitressing and Voichita was taken in at a stern monastery with no electricity and compelled to be a nun. Perhaps inevitably, Voichita is now conditioned to be a pious, submissive believer and Alina a tough, self-reliant non-believer. But they are still in love, and when Alina returns to Romania so that Voichita can help her with her documents, and maybe return to Germany with her, their relationship comes to a crisis./pp/ppMungiu shows that Voichita could quite easily have taken the decision to abandon the way of faith and leave the country with Alina: and we discover that the German connection appears to have arisen from a certain sleazy individual from Germany who was permitted to take "photos" of the orphanage girls in return for gifts. Maybe the work in Germany that awaits the two women isn't exactly waitressing. But the papers were not in order, so their destinies are arbitrarily shifted another way: Alina comes to live in the orphanage, where Voichita infuriates her by talking about God all the time. Alina's disruptive, sexually threatening presence causes mayhem from almost the very beginning; she acts out her own frustration and self-sacrificially intuits Voichita's./pp/ppIn the throes of violence and self-harm, Alina is taken to a hospital where a doctor appears to diagnose paranoid schizophrenia; but Alina is patently the only rational person in the monastery – a delusional madhouse presided over by an authoritarian priest (Valeriu Andriuta), a former power plant worker who turned to God after seeing an angel; he wants to deliver Alina from the evil that is inside her. And yet Mingiu's film shows that the secular agencies of the state are at least as culpable: no one wants to look after Alina, and this leaves only the priest and his exorcism./pp/ppBeyond the Hills is an agonising, mysterious movie — it is the first event at this year's festival which has come close to providing any controversy: there were whistles and jeers at the final blackout. But I found it enthralling, mysterious and intimately upsetting – a terrible demonstration of how poverty creates a space which irrational fear must fill./pp class="rating"Rating: 4/5/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/world-cinema"World cinema/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/drama"Drama/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannes-2012"Cannes 2012/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannesfilmfestival"Cannes film festival/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/peterbradshaw"Peter Bradshaw/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/2168?ns=guardianpageName=Cannes+2012%3A+live+blog+-+day+five%3AArticle%3A1748039ch=Filmc3=GU.co.ukc4=Cannes+2012%2CCannes+film+festival%2CMichael+Haneke+%28film%29%2CIsabelle+Huppertc5=Film+Awards%2CUnclassifed+Contributorsc6=Andrew+Pulverc7=12-May-20c8=1748039c9=Articlec10=Minute+by+minute%2CBlogpostc11=Filmc13=Cannes+2012+live+%28film+blog+series%29c25=Film+blogc30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FCannes+2012" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"All the news, reviews, comment and buzz from the Croisette on day five of the Cannes film festival/p!-- Block 1 --pspan class="timestamp"3.52pm:/span Hello everyone. Today's live blog is back with me after Catherine and Henry's sterling work - and again, it'll be on the truncated side unfortunately. Weekend working hours, sad to say./ppBe that as it may, Cannes 2012 has been going off like a rocket all day, and in Peter's eyes at least, we have the first solid Palm d'Or contender, in Michael Haneke's Amour, which screened this morning./ppHere's Peter's a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may/20/amour-haneke-film-review"five star review/a./ppAnd here's some more reactions on the thing called Twitter:/pblockquote class="twitter-tweet"pHaneke's AMOUR is as tender, beautiful and uncompromising as you've heard. Here's @a href="https://twitter.com/AskDebruge"AskDebruge/a's a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523Cannes"#Cannes/a review: a href="http://t.co/wS6qeqyG" title="http://bit.ly/KnPol7"bit.ly/KnPol7/a/pp— Justin Chang (@JustinCChang) a href="https://twitter.com/JustinCChang/status/204218538280493056" data-datetime="2012-05-20T14:34:28+00:00"May 20, 2012/a/p/blockquoteblockquote class="twitter-tweet"pMichael Haneke's AMOUR has been the best film in competition so far. Tender, compassionate and desperately sad. Chapeaux a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523cannes"#cannes/a/pp— Charlotte Higgins (@chiggi) a href="https://twitter.com/chiggi/status/204177202688962561" data-datetime="2012-05-20T11:50:13+00:00"May 20, 2012/a/p/blockquoteblockquote class="twitter-tweet"pThe five stars are out for Michael Haneke's AMOUR. Also my waterproof mascara./pp— Kate Muir (@muirkate) a href="https://twitter.com/muirkate/status/204140704455340032" data-datetime="2012-05-20T09:25:11+00:00"May 20, 2012/a/p/blockquoteblockquote class="twitter-tweet"pMichael Haneke's Amour the best film at Cannes so far; a Cries Whispers for the Dignitas generation. Rigorous, unsparing, superbly played/pp— Xan Brooks (@XanBrooks) a href="https://twitter.com/XanBrooks/status/204129503197396992" data-datetime="2012-05-20T08:40:40+00:00"May 20, 2012/a/p/blockquote!-- Block 2 --pspan class="timestamp"4.07pm:/span Just to catch up, here's some of the goodies that have come your way over the last 12 hours, but you might have missed./ppThe a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2012/may/20/cannes-2012-lawless-reality-beyond-hills-video"latest edition of the Guardian Film Show/a, direct from the Croisette. Lawless, it seems, gets bit of a kicking (except for its nice cardigans)./ppa href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/gallery/2012/may/20/cannes-2012-day-four-red-carpet"Last night's red carpet gallery/a: Lawless and The Sapphires were the big films with scarlet underfoot./ppJason Solomons has turned in the Cannes edition of his regular a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may/20/trash-cannes-2012-weerasethakul-desplat-yentob"Trailer Trash column for the Observer/a./ppPlus here's Jason's thoughts on the a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may/20/cannes-2012-festival-round-up-solomons"line-up so far/a./ppVanessa Thorpe has a look at the a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may/20/cannes-women-andrea-arnold-row"no-women-directors-in-Cannes issue/a, again for the Observer./p!-- Block 3 --pspan class="timestamp"4.57pm:/span Couple more reviews now online: the competition is heating up, that's for sure. Both a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may/20/beyond-the-hills-film-review"Beyond the Hills/a and a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may/20/the-hunt-jagten-film-review"The Hunt (Jagten)/a get four stars from Peter; both directors – Cristian Mungiu and Thomas Vinterberg – have been a bit absent for different reasons, so it's good to see them back on such good form./p!-- Block 4 --pspan class="timestamp"5.12pm:/span This afternoon also saw the press screening of the Pete Doherty film Confession of a Child of the Century. Not looking too good, if we're being honest. (I mean the film, not Doherty.)/pblockquote class="twitter-tweet"ppouring with rain a href="https://twitter.com/search/%2523cannes2012"#cannes2012/a and the clunker of the festival is Confession a Child of this Century/pp— CineVue (@CineVue) a href="https://twitter.com/CineVue/status/204228554345549824" data-datetime="2012-05-20T15:14:16+00:00"May 20, 2012/a/p/blockquoteblockquote class="twitter-tweet"pWonder if CONFESSION OF A CHILD OF THE CENTURY w. Pete Doherty will get boos in Cannes?Someone let me know - was so bad, I had to walk out./pp— Georgie (@GeorgieMHobbs) a href="https://twitter.com/GeorgieMHobbs/status/204195026866143232" data-datetime="2012-05-20T13:01:02+00:00"May 20, 2012/a/p/blockquotepbr /Oh dear./p!-- Block 5 --pspan class="timestamp"5.15pm:/span Tonight, the press are getting the first look at Abbas Kiarostami's new film, Like Someone in Love. (The official premiere isn't till tomorrow.)/ppSo to get everyone in the mood, here's the ra href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y3tbi_EjAQk"ather lovely trailer/a./p!-- Block 6 --pspan class="timestamp"5.21pm:/span Have a look a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may/20/former-mafia-killer-hit-cannes"at this/a./ppBlimey./p!-- Block 7 --pspan class="timestamp"6.04pm:/span More of that vision of male loveliness, Pete Doherty, in the a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/gallery/2012/may/20/cannes-2012-petedoherty"day five picture gallery,/a just posted./ppPlus Charlotte Higgin's report on the a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may/20/cannes-thomas-winterberg-jagten-the-hunt"enthusiastic reception for Thomas Vinterberg's new film/a, and a return to the fold for the prodigal son./p!-- Block 8 --pspan class="timestamp"6.15pm:/span That's about it from me for today; tomorrow we'll be back to business as usual, with a look at You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet by nouvelle vague veteran Alain Resnais. See you then./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannes-2012"Cannes 2012/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannesfilmfestival"Cannes film festival/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/michael-haneke"Michael Haneke/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/isabelle-huppert"Isabelle Huppert/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/andrewpulver"Andrew Pulver/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/2023?ns=guardianpageName=Cannes+2012%3A+Amour+*+review%3AArticle%3A1748028ch=Filmc3=GU.co.ukc4=Cannes+2012%2CMichael+Haneke+%28film%29%2CIsabelle+Huppert%2CCannes+film+festival%2CFestivals+%28Culture%29%2CWorld+cinema+%28Film+genre%29%2CDrama+%28Film+genre%29c5=Film+Awards%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CFilm+Reviews%2CUnclassifed+Contributorsc6=Peter+Bradshawc7=12-May-20c8=1748028c9=Articlec10=Reviewc11=Filmc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FCannes+2012" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Michael Haneke's new film, a study of the effects of ageing and dementia on a blissful married couple, is intelligent film-making of the highest order/ppMichael Haneke's new film in the Cannes competition is everything that could have been expected from him and more: a moving, terrifying and uncompromising drama of extraordinary intimacy and intelligence. Amour asks the question of what will, in Larkin's words, survive of us – and what the word means as we approach the end of our lives. Haneke begins the movie with a flash-forward sequence which impresses on our minds and retinas a devastating memento mori motif, governing how we react to everything that succeeds it./pp/ppJean-Louis Trintignant and Emmanuelle Riva give breathtaking performances as Georges and Anne, retired music teachers in their 80s, living in a handsomely furnished, book-lined Paris apartment with a baby grand piano. They are happy, affectionate, loving; active and content. We see them attending the performance by one of Anne's former pupils, and are delighted with his success. But one day, Anne suffers the first of a series of strokes which paralyse one arm, making playing the piano impossible, accompanied by progressive dementia. Trintignant's face is etched not merely with the cares of age but dismay and fear: the person whom he loved and loves is beginning to vanish before his eyes. As Anne's life ebbs away, so does her identity: is their love itself beginning to be dismantled? The movie reminded me of Proust's remark about the end of life being a mystery akin to actors laying down a role played for so long that it had become part of who they are./pp/ppHaving promised the terrified Anne that he would never put her in a home or hospital, Georges is placed under the increasing, insupportable strain caring for her at home. And this in turn colours his difficult relationship with his grown-up musician daughter Eva (Isabelle Huppert) and her new husband Geoff (William Shimell) for whose British mannerisms Anne has never greatly cared./pp/ppPerhaps the most horrifying parts of the film are the first, tiny indications that something is wrong. Anne awakens in the middle of the night and stares into space — and then assures the baffled Georges that nothing is wrong. The next morning at breakfast, she becomes as still as a statue, her beautiful, mild face as serene as a death mask. When Anne awakens a minute later, with no clue as to why Georges is suddenly so agitated, Riva superbly conveys her sudden, unmentionable thought: is my husband losing his mind? (Watching this sequence, I was reminded of the awful moment in Haneke's early film The Seventh Continent, in which a small child suddenly and mystifyingly declares that she is blind.)/pp/ppHaneke shows how in this situation, the family home becomes a barricaded, besieged place and the lives and cares of the outsiders – friends, even close family – are unwelcome and almost meaningless. Their star pupil Alexandre (played by musician Alexandre Tharaud) pays them a well-intentioned but misjudged visit which succeeds only in underlining for Anne the loss of her health, status and music. With courage and good humour, Georges tackles the demanding new choreography of getting his Anne in and out of her wheelchair, on and off the lavatory. While Anne is still lucid, there is deeply moving gentleness and humour in their relationship. He recounts to Anne the grim absurdity of attending the funeral of one of their friends, in which the Beatles' Yesterday was played. (Perhaps he should have been grateful it wasn't All You Need Is Love.) But Anne's light begins to fade./pp/ppIn Haneke's The Piano Teacher, the discipline of the piano and music were questioned as something cruel, a submission to power. Now music is seen as a token of something different, less bizarre and confrontational, but perhaps no less disquieting. Georges and Anne have no religious beliefs, and their music and refined cultural life might have been expected to provide secular consolation. But do they? Perhaps they are simply something else to be taken away, the ability to play and appreciate music simply erode with the physical faculties. Georges and Anne are thrown back, almost primevally, on each other./pp/ppThis is film-making at the highest pitch of intelligence and insight. Haneke's mastery and supremacy have resounded here in Cannes like an orchestral chord./pp class="rating"Rating: 5/5/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannes-2012"Cannes 2012/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/michael-haneke"Michael Haneke/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/isabelle-huppert"Isabelle Huppert/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannesfilmfestival"Cannes film festival/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/festivals"Festivals/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/world-cinema"World cinema/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/drama"Drama/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/peterbradshaw"Peter Bradshaw/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

pNick Cave-scripted prohibition era drama gets dunked in the drink by our critics at Cannes/pdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/xanbrooks"Xan Brooks/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/catherineshoard"Catherine Shoard/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/peterbradshaw"Peter Bradshaw/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/elliotsmith"Elliot Smith/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/henrybarnes"Henry Barnes/a/divbr/p style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/37949?ns=guardianpageName=Michael+Fassbender%3A+the+man+to+take+on+Brando%27s+mantle+%7C+Elizabeth+Day%3AArticle%3A1747490ch=From+the+Observerc3=Obsc4=Michael+Fassbender%2CSteve+McQueen+%28artist+and+film+director%29%2CRidley+Scott+%28Film%29%2CUK+news%2CFilm%2CCulturec5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CFilm+Reviewsc6=Elizabeth+Dayc7=12-May-20c8=1747490c9=Articlec10=Feature%2CResource%2CProfilec11=From+the+Observerc13=The+Observer+profile+%28series%29c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FFrom+the+Observer%2FMichael+Fassbender" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"The actor is noted for his huge range of work, from Shame to Jane Eyre and his new role as a robot in the prequel to Alien is likely to add to his plaudits/ppWhen Michael Fassbender was a teenager growing up in Killarney, Co Kerry, he wanted more than anything to be a heavy metal rock star. He grew his hair long, wore cut-off combat shorts and 10-hole Doc Martens and spent much of his spare time listening to thrash metal bands Metallica and Slayer at ear-splitting volume./ppAs it was, he performed a single concert in a pub with his friend Mike. It was the middle of the day and the regulars kept asking them to turn the volume down. "Nobody wants to hear Metallica at lunchtime," Fassbender recalled in a recent interview with emGQ/em magazine./ppBut heavy metal's loss turned out to be acting's gain. At the age of 35, Fassbender has become part of the Hollywood A-list, an actor with a gift for teasing out the complex nuances of character. The sheer range of his work alone is impressive: in the last year, he has tackled gothic romance (Mr Rochester in emJane Eyre/em), comic-book heroism (Magneto in emX-Men: First Class/em) and psychotherapy (Carl Jung in David Cronenberg's emA Dangerous Method/em). Next month, Fassbender will star as an android in emPrometheus/em, Ridley Scott's hotly awaited prequel to his seminal 1979 film, emAlien/em. Although details of the plot are closely guarded, Fassbender has described his character as "incredibly human… he cries robot tears – and creeps everyone out"./ppScott has called his new star: "One of the best three or four actors out there. He holds the screen." And according to the director Steve McQueen, who has worked with Fassbender several times: "There is no one like Michael out there right now. And there hasn't been, for me, since Marlon Brando. There's a fragility and a femininity to him, but also a masculinity that can translate. You're not in awe of him. You're part of him. He pulls you in. And that's what you want from an actor. You want people to look at him and see themselves."/ppOn screen, Fassbender is able to convey both intensity and vulnerability in equal measure: his haunting portrayal of a sex addict in emShame/em won him critical plaudits and a clutch of awards, including the Volpi Cup for best actor at the 2011 Venice film festival. To the astonishment of many, he was overlooked for an Oscars nomination./ppOff screen, he is renowned for his dedication. He will read a script up to 300 times before filming and has attributed this perfectionism to his Teutonic ancestry – his father, Josef, is from Germany. "If I came home with 85% in a test," Fassbender has said, "he'd always ask what happened to the other 15%."/ppWhen he played IRA hunger striker Bobby Sands in McQueen's 2008 film, emHunger/em, Fassbender survived on 900 calories a day – a diet consisting mainly of nuts, berries and sardines – and lost 40lbs, taking him down to nine stone. emHunger/em went on to win the Caméra d'Or at Cannes. For emJane Eyre/em, Fassbender learned to ride, although filming was repeatedly delayed because every time the actor mounted his horse, the animal got an erection – much to the amusement of onlookers./ppa href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/feb/03/vincent-cassel-ballet" title=""Vincent Cassel/a, who spoke to the emObserver/em earlier this year and was Fassbender's co-star in emA Dangerous Method/em, said simply that he was "an amazing actor… he and I really got along. It was one of the reasons I was attracted to doing the film – getting to work with him". His fellow actors use similar phrases to describe him. Although he brings a fierce, almost obsessive passion to each role, when Fassbender is off-duty, he is "very sane", "good company" and "a laugh"; one acquaintance recalls the hilarity of seeing Fassbender solo Cossack-dancing at a friend's wedding a few years ago./ppDavid Cronenberg has described him as "so perky, it drives you crazy. One day [while filming emA Dangerous Method/em], I found him out in the sun in his costume and make-up, with this big smile. I said, 'Michael, why are you smiling like that?' He said, 'I don't know... life.' I said, 'It's so irritating that you're happy all the time.'"/ppAll of this points to the fact that fame has not gone to his head. Despite his Hollywood success, Fassbender still lives in the same modest flat in Hackney, east London, that he has owned since his late 20s, when he was struggling to get enough work to make ends meet. When a magazine journalist visited the flat recently, he noted it was covered with boxes and clothes and had bubbling paint on the ceiling where there had been serious water leakage./pp"My mother wouldn't be happy," Fassbender admitted./ppThe first thing everyone notices is the name. The actor was born in Heidelberg in west Germany, and "Fassbender" is the German term for someone who repairs casks or barrels. Michael was almost born on April Fool's Day but, according to family lore, his father told his mother to hang on a bit longer and he appeared at half-past midnight the next day./ppHis mother, Adele, comes from County Antrim in Northern Ireland and when Fassbender was two, his parents moved to Killarney, where they ran the West End House restaurant, with his father working there as chef./ppFassbender and his older sister, Catherine (who is now a neuropsychologist), spent summer holidays in Germany and he speaks the language fluently./ppIn County Kerry, he went to the local Catholic school and was head altar boy at the age of 12 – an onerous responsibility that required him to attend all weddings and funerals and to look after the keys to the church. "A couple of times I slept in," he admitted in an interview with the emGuardian/em. "And the whole congregation was waiting outside the church… but that was my first experience in a way of being on stage, before an audience, of sorts."/ppAt the age of 16, his parents allowed him to move into rooms over the restaurant in town and to live a relatively independent life in return for his working shifts at the weekend. Someone who knows him from that period remembers the young Fassbender as "a very hard worker. He was a great character, great fun. He had great interaction with the customers – he made lots of tips./pp"I wasn't surprised that he became an actor. It was all in him. He always had that ability, that roguishness./pp"He's still great fun and very down to earth. We're all very proud of him here. When he comes home at Christmas, everyone respects him greatly but he just wants to be plain old Michael and we respect that too."/ppAfter failing to make it as a heavy metal star, Fassbender decided to become an actor. At first, his father tried to put him off the idea. "It sounds funny now but I tried to talk him out of it because it is such an unstable profession," Josef Fassbender told a fan site in 2009. "It depends so much on luck, who you meet, how you are received."/ppNevertheless, his son went on to study at the Drama Centre in north London, dropping out before graduating after being cast in Steven Spielberg's epic Second World War television mini-series, emBand of Brothers/em. Although it was meant to have been Fassbender's big break, he spent several months in Los Angeles being rejected for parts before eventually retreating to London and carving out a living on British television; through the years, he has appeared on emPoirot/em, emHolby City/em and emMurphy's Law/em./ppHis breakthrough came when he turned 30 in 2007 and met the artist Steve McQueen, who was then planning to make his debut feature film. Although the pair's first encounter was inauspicious – McQueen thought Fassbender was cocky – they were persuaded to meet again by the casting director. This time, things went more smoothly. McQueen has since compared the experience to "falling in love. You want to keep it. And I think myself and Michael are very pleased that we've found each other in that way"./ppFassbender's performance as Bobby Sands gave him his breakthrough into the big time. A year later, Quentin Tarantino cast him as the English officer Lt Archie Hicox in emInglourious Basterds/em alongside Brad Pitt and there was no turning back./ppHis appearance in Ridley Scott's science fiction bonanza is likely to earn him yet more plaudits and box-office success. In his personal life, too, he seems more settled of late, having recently confirmed he is dating his emShame /emco-star, Nicole Beharie. No wonder David Cronenberg remarked on Fassbender's remarkable perkiness – he's got every reason to smile./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/michael-fassbender"Michael Fassbender/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/steve-mcqueen"Steve McQueen/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/ridley-scott"Ridley Scott/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/elizabethday"Elizabeth Day/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/59877?ns=guardianpageName=This+week%27s+cultural+highlights%3A+The+Raid+and+Bath+festival+jazz+weekend%3AArticle%3A1748137ch=Culturec3=G2c4=Culture%2CFilm%2CPop+and+rock+%28Music+genre%29%2CMusic%2CClassical+music+%28Music+genre%29%2CDance%2CStage%2CArt+%28visual+arts+only%29%2CArt+and+design%2CJazz+%28Music+genre%29%2CTheatrec5=Art%2CClassical+Music%2CJazz%2CPop+Music%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CTheatrec6=c7=12-May-20c8=1748137c9=Articlec10=Feature%2CBlogpostc11=Culturec13=c25=Culture+blog+2012c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FCulture%2Fblog%2FCulture+2012" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Our critics' picks of this week's openings, plus your last chance to see and what to book nowbr /br /• Which cultural events are in your diary this week? Tell us in the comments below/ph2strongOpening this week/strong/h2h2strongTheatre/strong/h2pstrongWah! Wah! Girls/strongbr /British musical meets Bollywood in new love-against-the-odds show set in the East End of London with a cast of 14, almost all British Asians and a Polish handyman. a href="http://www.sadlerswells.com/show/Wah-Wah-Girls" title=""Peacock/a,emLondon, Thursday to 23 June/em./ppstrongPosh/strongbr /Laura Wade has updated her Royal Court hit to point the spotlight once again on the Oxbridge dining clubs that spawned the posh boys currently in power. a href="http://www.royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/posh-west-end" title=""Duke of Yorks/aem theatre, London, until 4 August./em/ppstrongBetrayal/strongbr /John Simm stars in Harold Pinter's semi-autobiographical play about an adulterous love affair. The power of the piece is that it works backwards from its bitter end to the moment the affair first sparked. a href="http://www.sheffieldtheatres.co.uk/event/betrayal-12/" title=""Crucible/aem, Sheffield, until 9 June./em/ph2strongFilm/strong/h2pstrongThe Raid (dir. Gareth Evans)/strongbr /Brilliant martial arts bulletfest from Indonesia that puts western action movies to shame. Welsh director Evans orchestrates nail-biting sequences. emOut now./em/ph2strongDance/strong/h2pstrongThe Royal Ballet Ballo Della Regina and La Sylphide/strongbr /Romantic illusion and virtuosity combine in this double bill of works by George Balanchine and August Bournonville. a href="http://www.roh.org.uk/" title=""emRoyal Opera House/em/aem, London, in rep from Monday until 15 June./em/ppstrongEmio Greco/PC: Rocco/strongbr /Dance is reconfigured as a boxing match in this new work from Emio Greco and Pieter C Scholten, inspired by Visconti's film Rocco and His Brothers, about a prostitute who brings trouble to the siblings. a href="http://ticketing.southbankcentre.co.uk/find/dance-performance/tickets/emio-greco-rocco-64863" title=""emQueen Elizabeth Hall/em/aem, Southbank Centre, London , Tuesday and Wednesday./em/ph2strongClassical/strong/h2pstrongCaligula/strongbr /The British premiere of Detlev Glanert's 2005 opera based upon the play by Albert Camus. Peter Coleman-Wright is the crazed Roman emperor in Benedict Andrews's production for ENO, with Ryan Wigglesworth conducting. a href="http://www.eno.org/see-whats-on/productions/production-page.php?itemid=1883" title=""emColiseum/em/aem, London, Friday until 14 June./em/ppstrongPhilip Glass at 75/strongbr /The latest instalment of Glasgow survey of minimalism pays a birthday tribute to one of its founding fathers, including the British premiere of his Sixth Symphony, the Kronos Quartet playing his film score to Bela Lugosi's Dracula, and the man himself giving a solo piano recital.em /ema href="http://www.glasgowconcerthalls.com" title=""emRoyal Concert Hall and City Halls/em/aem, Glasgow (0141-353 8000), Thursday to Saturday./em/ph2strongJazz/strong/h2pstrongArve Henriksen/Trio Mediaeval/strongbr /Norwegian trumpeter Henriksen has taken the ambiguous, muted sound of Miles Davis as adapted by his fellow-countryman Nils Petter Molvaer, and given it a unique contemporary spin with the help of ingenious electronics, and a world-music perspective that includes study of the ethereal Japanese shakuhachi flute. He lends his inimitable variations to the early-music vocals and plainsong of Trio Mediaeval. a href="http://thesagegateshead.org/event/trio-mediaeval/" title=""emSage/em/aem, Gateshead, Monday. Then /ema href="http://arvehenriksen.wordpress.com/" title=""emtouring/em/aem./em/ph2strongVisual art/strong/h2pstrongThe Historical Box/strongbr /Dissident American art created in the aftermath of Vietnam, 1960s performance and the feminist revolution – mangled things and angry things, from a time when art thought it could make a difference. a href="http://www.hauserwirth.com/exhibitions/1361/the-historical-box-curated-by-mara-mccarthy/view/" title=""emHauser Wirth Piccadilly/em/aem, London, Wednesday to 28 July./em/ph2strongPop/strong/h2pstrongJapandroids/strongbr /The a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGDy3CeRa1w" title=""euphoric rock duo/a preview forthcoming album Celebration Rock up and down the UK. a href="http://www.clubcooler.com/" title=""emCooler/em/aem, Bristol, tonight. Then touring until 29 May./em/ppstrongJay-Z and Kanye West/strongbr /a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ex75iLDXHI" title=""Superstar rappers/a bring their Watch the Throne collaboration to London as a forerunner for gigs in Manchester, Birmingham and Sheffield next month. a href="http://www.theo2.co.uk/event/kanye-west-and-jay-z-confirm-date-at-the-o2-as-part-of-european-watch-the-throne-tour-20120520.html" title=""em02/em/aem, London, tonight and tomorrow. /em/ph2strongLast chance to see/strong/h2h2strongTheatre/strong/h2pstrongMaking Noise Quietly/strongbr /Robert Holman's exquisite triptych of mini-dramas that explores what it means to be human in a violent world. Just beautiful. a href="http://www.donmarwarehouse.com/" title=""emDonmar/em/aem, London, until Saturday./em/ph2strongFilm/strong/h2pstrongBreathing /strong(dir. Karl Markovics)br /A tremendous social-realist drama from Austria directed by actor-turned-director Markovics. An orphaned teenage criminal tries to discover his mother's identity./ph2strongClassical/strong/h2pstrongThe Flying Dutchman/strongbr /The end of the first run of ENO's new production, much praised for Edward Gardner's conducting, and for performances by James Cresswell, Orla Boylan and Stuart Skelton. a href="http://www.eno.org/home.php" title=""emColiseum/em/aem, London , until Wednesday./em/ph2strongJazz/strong/h2pstrongLynne Arriale/Benny Golson/strongbr /Arriale, a quietly forceful Bill Evans-influenced American pianist with a knack for unusual interpretation and evocative composing invites legendary saxist/composer Golson (the bluesy acid-jazz favourite Killer Joe is his) into her regular Convergence Quartet. a href="http://www.ronniescotts.co.uk/" title=""emRonnie Scott's/em/aem, London, Tuesday and Wednesday./em/ph2strongArt/strong/h2pstrongElizabeth Price/strongbr /Fetishised objects, great music, scenes in galleries – and in a drowned container ship. These are digital video installations with a hardcore hi-tech sheen from the 2012 Turner prize contender. a href="http://www.balticmill.com/whats-on/exhibitions/detail/elizabeth-price" title=""emBaltic/em/aem, Gateshead, until Sunday./em/ph2strongPop/strong/h2pstrongThe Horrors/strongbr /a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFnj-Tto-J4feature=related" title=""Southend-on-Sea's post-punkers/a conclude the UK leg of their seemingly endless world tour. a href="http://www.o2academybrixton.co.uk/" title=""emBrixton Academy/em/aem, Friday./em/ph2strongBook now/strong/h2h2strongTheatre/strong/h2pstrongFuerza Bruta/strongbr /Return of the rave show from the people who brought us the legendary De La Guarda. This isn't in the same league, but if you're looking for excitement and sensation, this shouldn't disappoint.a href="http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/" title=""emRoundhouse/em/aem, London, 27 December to 26 January./em/ppstrongBen Hur/strongbr /An impossible feat: a stage version of the epic novel featuring sea battles, Roman orgies and chariot-racing, all on a stage the size of a postage stamp. A cast of four play 12,059 characters! Should be fun. a href="http://www.watermill.org.uk/ben_hur.html" title=""emWatermill/em/aem, Newbury (01635 46044), 22 June to 28 July/em/ph2strongDance/strong/h2pstrongFlawless and English National Ballet: Time Is of the Essence/strongbr /Ballet, street dance and acrobatics test out their mutual chemistry in this new collaboration choreographed by Marlon Wallen and Jenna Lee. a href="http://venues.meanfiddler.com/apollo/full-listings/?tickets_search_value=tickets_view_type=listtickets_search_date=2012-6" title=""emHMV Hammersmith Apollo/em/aem, London, , 1-2 June/ema href="http://www.ballet.org.uk/details.php?id=17" title=""emThen touring/em/aem./em/ph2strongClassical/strong/h2pstrongSpitalfields summer festival/strongbr /This year's associate artists are the Gabrieli Consort and Players, cellist Matthew Barley and composer Talvin Singh; plus there's a wide range of choral music, from the renaissance to the present day, with new works from Alec Roth, Huw Watkins and Nicola LeFanu. a href="http://www.spitalfieldsmusic.org.uk/index.php?pfid=21" title=""Various venues, London/a, 8-23 June./ph2strongJazz/strong/h2pstrongBath festival jazz weekend/strongbr /This festival always features a wide-ranging jazz weekend: this year's includes saxophonist Jason Yarde's subtle duo with pianist Andrew McCormack, Courtney Pine's genre-bending Europa, pianists Stan Tracey, Tord Gustavsen, Gwilym Simcock and Zoe Rahman, along with Manchester's acclaimed young Beats Pieces big band. a href="http://www.bathmusicfest.org.uk/" title=""emVarious venues/em/aem, Bath, 2-4 June./em/ph2strongArt/strong/h2pstrongWide Open School/strongbr /A hundred artists lead courses, lectures and demonstrations open to the public. Get down and dirty with the Gelitin group, take a course in queer home economics, cook offal with Yto Barrada, learn about energy not quality with Thomas Hirschhorn. a href="http://www.wideopenschool.com/" title=""emHayward/em/aem, London , 11 June-11 July./em/ph2strongPop/strong/h2pstrongRichard Hawley/strongbr /The bequiffed son of Sheffield takes his latest album, Standing at the Sky's Edge, out for an autumn jaunt. emTour begins at /ema href="http://www.picturedrome.net/" title=""emHolmfirth Picture House/em/aem, West Yorkshire, 16 September./em/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/popandrock"Pop and rock/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/classicalmusicandopera"Classical music/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/dance"Dance/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/art"Art/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/jazz"Jazz/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatre"Theatre/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/58154?ns=guardianpageName=A+family+therapist+on+Jeff%2C+Who+Lives+at+Home%3AArticle%3A1748119ch=Culturec3=G2c4=Comedy+%28culture%29%2CFilm%2CCulturec5=Not+commercially+useful%2CComedyc6=Laura+Barnettc7=12-May-20c8=1748119c9=Articlec10=Commentc11=Culturec13=Another+view+%28series%29c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FCulture%2FComedy" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"There needs to be more attention paid to young people moving back home – but this slightly preposterous movie doesn't count/ppI've spent eight years researching the relationships parents have with their children once they're adults. That's the topic considered a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may/03/jay-mark-duplass-movies-lose-money?intcmp=239" title=""in this film/a: 30-year-old Jeff (a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/may/01/why-jason-segel-lose-weight" title=""Jason Segel/a) is still living at home with his mother Sharon (a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jan/17/susan-sarandon-the-lovely-bones" title=""Susan Sarandon/a), who worries about the fact that he smokes a lot of dope and won't get a job./ppIt's incredible, really, that so little academic research has been conducted into the growing phenomenon of young people moving back home. I call it "second-phase parenting" and, in my job, I see many such families who are looking for guidance. In one case, a son living at home had been sacked from his job after testing positive for drugs. His parents didn't even know he was a user./ppThe media paints an endlessly negative picture, calling them the "boomerang generation" and implying that the parents should really just throw them out. That's very much the view taken by Sharon. "Get your ass off that couch," she says to Jeff, "or find somewhere else to live."/ppIf Jeff and his mother came to see me, I would say that what they really need to work on is not making Jeff get a job or move out, but on Sharon's under-negotiated relationship with her sons: she has to learn to accept them as adults. I don't subscribe to the blame culture that implies such children are somehow failures. If your relationship with your family is good, why shouldn't you live with them? The key thing, however, is for parents to move into second-phase parenting, to enjoy their adult children, rather than treat them as if they're in an extended adolescence – which is exactly what's happening here./ppI would have liked to see a fuller depiction of the family's relationships: the script was quite thin, and elements of the plot verged on the preposterous. Inbsp;won't give away the ending, but let's just say that Jeff gets to prove that he's loving and protective. Perhaps he and Sharon will learn to live together as adults after all./pp• Dr Myrna Gower is a research fellow at Royal Holloway, University of London/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/comedy"Comedy/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/laurabarnett"Laura Barnett/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/33923?ns=guardianpageName=Tim+Roth%3A+who%27s+the+daddy%3F%3AArticle%3A1748111ch=Filmc3=G2c4=Cannes+2012%2CDrama+%28Film+genre%29%2CCannes+film+festival%2CFilm%2CFestivals+%28Culture%29%2CCulturec5=Film+Awards%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CFilm+Reviewsc6=Catherine+Shoardc7=12-May-20c8=1748111c9=Articlec10=Feature%2CInterviewc11=Filmc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FCannes+2012" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"He made his name playing criminals and low-lifes – now Tim Roth is back as the nicest father in town. Catherine Shoard meets him in Cannes to talk films, politics and bringing up his own teenagers/ppWhen Clarice Starling isnbsp;first assigned a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMVqIISyp60feature=related" title=""to interview Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs/a, we arenbsp;told, in Thomas Harris's novel, thatnbsp;"a brief silence follows the name, always, in any civilised gathering". Something similar happens when you say you're off to interview Tim Roth. Anbsp;light gasp, a small step back. Roth – who was set to play the younger Lecternbsp;in 2002's a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289765/" title=""Red Dragon/a, until Anthony Hopkins dyed his hair and reprised the role – has a reputation fornbsp;being slippery. He just doesn't give, I'm told.nbsp;Meet him in California, people caution, and he clams up. Get an audience in London and he is prickly,nbsp;defensive./ppSo why is it that in Cannes, at least, he couldn't be sweeter? Roth is warm and friendly; he has the guttural chuckle of an ageing rocker. Cannes makes him happy. Here there are no particular national- or class-based expectations. He doesn't have to be a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePPRHgnTHXw" title=""thenbsp;scrappy skinhead of Alan Clarke's Made in Britain (1982)/a or Stephen Frears's The Hit (1984) – although he will admit to hamming it up off-screen at the start of his career, in order to fit such parts. It doesn't matter that he is, in fact, the relatively affluent son of a journalist; his father changed the family name from Smith to Roth in 1944, an act of anti-Nazi solidarity ("Inbsp;get invited to an awful lot of Jewish functions," Roth says)./ppIn Cannes, he is simply a cineaste, and a Croisette staple of 20 years standing. Roth has made a splash herenbsp;as an actor, with Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulpnbsp;Fiction, and as a director, withnbsp;a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjSvRNbWJsA" title=""The War Zone/a, in 1999. This yearnbsp;he is president of the judging panel for the festival's a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2011/may/23/i-was-judge-at-cannes" title=""Un Certain Regard competition/a. His new film, a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may/18/broken-review?newsfeed=true" title=""Broken/a, by first-time director Rufus Norris, was weepily received at its premiere the night before we meet./ppThere is another reason: for nearly anbsp;week, France has been officially socialist. "I think before the bubble bursts we should enjoy the notion," Roth says. "I think that just the word – socialism – is good for a while. It's thenbsp;thing Obama is always being accused of by Fox News. If only! So, just for a second, it's nice to feel that Hollande might deliver on a couple ofnbsp;his promises."/ppHe is disenchanted with British politics. "I'm sick of voting for the lesser arsehole." Roth lives between California and London, and the last time he voted, "I just looked around tonbsp;see who wanted to do a proper job,nbsp;rather than someone who wanted to bang the secretary. And also, I havenbsp;to say, the whole God thing is starting to really piss me off. Blair's Christianity made me angry, and Newnbsp;Labour was a joke. I'm not sure ifnbsp;I'll vote for the new child who has taken over, because I wouldn't know how I'd be able to figure out if he was Cameron or not. They're all starting to look the same, these boardroom guys. They don't represent us, the country. They represent business and corporate wealth and greed and guns. They don't deserve our vote, any of them."/ppThose who might, Roth thinks, include the Green party (which he supported in the recent local elections), Tony Benn and, more surprisingly, George Galloway. "Maybe he will be something. He's definitely a smooth talker. Sometimes I like what he says." I'm quizzical. He pauses, then goes for a semi non-sequitur. "My dad was a Communist Party member who fought for his country. And I just don't think we lived up to his expectations."/ppRoth's new film, Broken, is about having the courage to seize one's personal and social responsibilities. It'snbsp;the story of 11-year-old Skunk, a tomboyish schoolgirl who witnesses the assault of a man with learning difficulties by a widowed father; she is under the mistaken impression that this father has raped one of his three daughters. Skunk has an absent mother, too, who left her, her brother and her solicitor father Archie (Roth) shortly after Skunk's birth./ppSeen alongside the other British films screening at Cannes this year (Ben Wheatley's homicidal caravan yarn a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/may/17/director-ben-wheatley-english-cannes?newsfeed=true" title=""Sightseers/a; Ken Loach's whisky heist a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/video/2012/apr/03/the-angels-share-ken-loach-trailer-exclusive-video" title=""The Angels' Share/a), you could draw some fairly bleak conclusions about thenbsp;state of the nation. But Roth is eager to focus instead on what Brokennbsp;has to say about more universalnbsp;family concerns. As Archie,nbsp;he is the film's moral centre: irreproachably well-intentioned, verging on the weak. It is Roth's most mild-mannered role in years; did he think Archie was too passive? "I prefer gentle. He's just a good man; I really rather love him."/ppBroken's plot turns on a broken mobile phone, but otherwise presents a world where technology is curiously absent. New media has exacerbated age-old parenting problems, Roth thinks. "Because it's not new anymore, and that's a gateway to potentially horrendous aspects of the world. You can give your experience only up to a point. And now it's just sweeping across the planet."/ppWhat'snbsp;the effect? "A different kind of innocence. I think that happened with the advent of TV and that was only a few years ago, really. Cellphones have changed the world. I'm not saying it's necessarily a bad thing, [but] it's scary." He brightens, and gives one ofnbsp;those half-maniacal laughs. "But then we won't be around for too long, anyway. And the next generation will be scared about something else."/pp/ppRoth has three sons – two teenagers with his wife, fashion designer Nikki Butler, and 28-year-old Jack from a previous relationship. On and off-screen, he has an easy rapport with Eloise Laurence, who plays Skunk ("She calls me her other dad. So does her dad"). Alongside Norris and Damon Albarn, who composed the film's soundtrack, and who both have children of a similar age, Roth formed a "creatively concerned parents' collective … it was like being a family on set, a ridiculously close experience. You hear that so many times about working on a film, and mostly it's not true."/ppHe is now struggling with the factnbsp;his own children are growing up. "They don't need me the way I want them to. They're breaking all those bonds, and it's quite disturbing and saddening. This trying to handle theirnbsp;next part of the journey. And they're doing a bloody good job of it, all of them. It's magnificent, but it's difficult. It's so hard not to be loved innbsp;the way that they loved you when they were little."/ppFor Roth, family relations and hownbsp;well you handle them seem to benbsp;key. He returns to the subject of politics, putting it within the context of family. The think he likes most about Obama, for instance, is that he'snbsp;married to Michelle. "I think he's anbsp;bit of a Republican. We're still in two wars, and he's only just come round to the notion of gay marriage. I don't quite understand what the fuss is about. I think he's very good on telly. But I think the fact he has a woman who seems to be as strong and as goodnbsp;as that is possibly a reason to vote nbsp;for him. I do sense there's a good heart there."/ppYou sense there's a good heart in Roth, too. "Good luck, darlin'!" is his chipper farewell –and Hannibal Lecter never said goodbye to Clarice like that./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannes-2012"Cannes 2012/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/drama"Drama/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannesfilmfestival"Cannes film festival/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/festivals"Festivals/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/catherineshoard"Catherine Shoard/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/54076?ns=guardianpageName=Behold%3A+the+Marvel+Avengers+Assemble+3D+experience%3AArticle%3A1748030ch=Comment+is+freec3=G2c4=Film%2CAction+and+adventure+%28Film+genre%29%2CCulture%2CScience+fiction+and+fantasy+%28Film+genre%29c5=Not+commercially+useful%2CFilm+Reviewsc6=Charlie+Brookerc7=12-May-20c8=1748030c9=Articlec10=Commentc11=Comment+is+freec13=c25=Comment+is+freec30=contentc42=Comment+is+freeh2=GU%2FComment+is+free%2FComment+is+free%2Fblog%2FComment+is+free" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"It's as good as superhero films are ever likely to get, which is excellent news because they can stop making them now/ppLast Monday, because I've been feeling out of the loop, I resolved to catch the new Avengers movie. I call it "the Avengers movie" – in fact, the word "Assemble" was added to the UK release so it wouldn't be confused with the 1960s TV series of the same name. Thus the film I saw was called a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPoHPNeU9fc" title="Marvel Avengers Assemble 3D"Marvel Avengers Assemble 3D/a, which sounds like a badly translated Japanese videogame from the mid-90s. Or something you might oil and push up your arse while wearing a confused look on your face, a bit like civilisation has failed./ppNo visit to a contemporarymultiplex is complete without a bit of shit being rubbed in your eye right from the start, which happened in my case when the automatic ticket-printing machine spewed a rectangle of air at me instead of a ticket. Pathetically, I looked around for human assistance, only to find a big queue at the box office, where a solitary staff member was gradually processing incoming fleshbags with the joyous gusto of a woman forced to slowly count dust motes in a jail cell forever./ppA nearby sign claimed I could purchase tickets from the popcorn counter instead, so I rode the escalator to the brighty-coloured ripoff desk, where another lone staff member had been sentenced to life imprisonment. He called a manager, who spent five minutes trying to retrieve my ticket from an uncaring and uncooperative operating systembefore giving up and commanding the usher to wave me through before the computer found out and had me destroyed./pp"Where do I get the 3D glasses?", I asked the usher, who looked at me as though I'd asked whether the film would have colours and shapes in it, before explaining that I'd have to go to a different counter and buy a pair separately for 80p./ppWhen I arrived there, a customer was trying to buy pick-n-mix with a credit card, thus hopelessly crippling the cinema's IT system. I asked the cashier if I could simply put cash in his hand for the glasses, but no. Apologetically, he explained that everything had to go through the computer. So I stood there and waited. Cameron's Britain./ppFinally, I entered the auditorium just in time to enjoy an anti-piracy commercial depicting an abandoned cinema wreathed in cobwebs, accompanied by a doomy John Hurt voiceover saying what a shame it would be if all the cinemas closed. Yeah, imagine that. I'd have to approximate the experience by punching myself in the kidneys and eating a £50 note each time I put on a DVD./ppThen Marvel Avengers Assemble 3D began. Some scientists were worried about a glowing blue cube they kept underground, so Samuel L Jackson had turned up to make things easier by shouting at them. Then the cube went bonkers and spat out a bad guy called Loki, who looks like a cross between Withnail and the sort of grinning pervert who'd have sex with a fistful of Mattesson's liver pate in the window of an apartment overlooking a hospice bus stop. Then some vehicles raced around and everything blew up./ppThen Samuel L Jackson gathered some superheroes together on a sort of impossible flying aircraft carrier, and they spent some time mocking each other's costumes in a post-modern fashion before Loki's henchmen arrived and everything blew up again. Then they all went to New York and some aliens in hovering chariots flew through a hole in the sky and everything blew up for the third and final time. And then, because the Avengers had won, the film decided to end./ppDespite being almost completely incoherent, it's enjoyable bibble, and as good as superhero films are ever likely to get, which is excellent news because it means they can stop making them now. Seriously, they needn't bother releasing Batman Bum Attack or whatever the next one's called, because it won't be as good as Marvel Avengers Assemble 3D. Finally we can move on, as a species./ppStill, entertained though I was, I did find myself occasionally checking emails: a first for me in a cinema, and surprising when you consider the amount of spectacle on display. It's like watching buildings and cars and girders and fighter jets endlessly smashing around inside a gigantic washing machine for two hours, interspersed with wisecracks. That's what mesmerises humans, just as surely as cats are fascinated by bits of string being pulled across the carpet. Up to a point, anyway. Once you've seen 10,000 cars exploding, you've seen them all. I rapidly succumbed to spectacle fatigue./ppMarvel Avengers Assemble 3D cost $220m to make and is 143 minutes long, so whenever I glanced at my phone for one second, I missed $25,641 worth of entertainment. As an aside, I bet you could find someone prepared to shoot a stranger dead on camera for $25,641. What if you paid that person $220m to shoot 8,580 strangers dead on camera – that's one per second – and then while you were watching the footage afterwards, in your lair, your phone beeped and you glanced at it for five seconds and didn't notice all five members of a href="http://www.onedirectionmusic.com/gb/home/" title="One Direction"One Direction/a taking a bullet? You'd miss out on a real cultural talking point./ppFinally – and this is an odd accusation to level at a superhero film – it didn't feel very real. I reckon only about 8% of what was on screen was actually there. The rest was imagined by computers. And please, leery tragi-men, don't dribble on about "Scarlett Johansson's arse in 3D" being "worth the price of admission". The film was shot in 2D and converted to 3D using software, which means you're actually drooling over a 2D image of Scarlett Johansson's arse wrapped around a wireframe model of an arse that isn't there. You're sitting in front of HAL 9000, jerking off like a monkey. Somewhere, the machines are laughing at you./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/actionandadventure"Action and adventure/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/sciencefictionandfantasy"Science fiction and fantasy/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/charliebrooker"Charlie Brooker/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/29079?ns=guardianpageName=The+village+that+made+its+own+movie%3AArticle%3A1747706ch=Filmc3=G2c4=Film%2CCulture%2CFilm+industryc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Guy+Browningc7=12-May-20c8=1747706c9=Articlec10=Feature%2CBlogpostc11=Filmc13=c25=Shortcutsc30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FFilm+industry" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"When Guy Browning wanted to make a film, he got the whole of the Oxfordshire village of Kingston Bagpuize to help – as financiers, extras and even stars/ppSnow lay thick over the littlenbsp;village of a href="http://www.kbsonline.org.uk/" title=""Kingston Bagpuize/a in Oxfordshire when the fateful decision was made to produce a feature-length romantic comedy and take it all the way to Leicester Square. Three years later, 800 villagers are about to walk up the red carpet tonbsp;see a href="http://www.tortoiseinlove.co.uk/" title=""Tortoise in Love/a have its premiere this Thursday./ppWhen I finished the last of a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/jan/02/compatibility-test-facebook-guy-browning" title=""my regular columns/a in the Guardian, I set myself the challenge of making a movie. The script was written. Anbsp;gardener in thenbsp;big house falls in love but is agonisingly slow tonbsp;make a move. So thenbsp;whole village gets together to speed things up./ppThat's the plot, but it's also how the film was made. It was too late to work mynbsp;way up from the bottom of the film industry, so Inbsp;decided to get my entire village involved instead. Safety in numbers. We live in a picturesque setting with a a href="http://www.kingstonbagpuizehouse.com/" title=""beautiful stately home/a and, most importantly, there is a hardcore group of inhabitants who will saynbsp;yes to foolish ideas before they have any notion of the consequences./ppMany roles in the film were based on villagers who then auditioned. There were a few tricky moments when some werenbsp;told that they weren't good enough to play themselves, but it didn't stop everyone coughing up anything from £10 to £1,000 to pay for a professional crew, who Inbsp;then directed./ppThe local WI did the catering for 60 people during a six-week period, with one lady baking more than 1,000 fairy cakes. There was an early wobble when the film crew said they wouldn't start their days without bacon butties; a pig was chosen, crisis averted. To keep the budget down, those who weren't locals stayed with families in the village. It wasn't quite what they were used to, but two marriages andnbsp;one pregnancy later, it all seemsnbsp;to have worked out fine. Eventually we got the film in thenbsp;can and everyone is still speaking. It's the kind of happynbsp;ending Hollywood wouldnbsp;be proud of./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/film-industry"Film industry/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/guybrowning"Guy Browning/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/73111?ns=guardianpageName=Pass+notes+No+3%2C178%3A+Jack+Kerouac%3AArticle%3A1747630ch=From+the+Guardianc3=G2c4=Jack+Kerouac+%28Author%29%2CFiction+%28Books+genre%29%2CBooks%2CFilm%2CCulture%2CKristen+Stewartc5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=c7=12-May-20c8=1747630c9=Articlec10=Featurec11=From+the+Guardianc13=Pass+notes+%28series%29c25=Shortcutsc30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FFrom+the+Guardian%2FJack+Kerouac" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"The Beat writer's masterpiece On the Road has been made into a film. But why has it taken 55 years to get it on to the screen?/ppstrongAge:/strong Died in 1969, aged 47./ppstrongAppearance:/strong Dead Beat./ppstrongWho was he?/strong A a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/booksblog/2009/oct/21/jack-kerouac" title=""leading novelist and poet of thenbsp;Beat Generation/a./ppstrongOh right. That explains "Dead Beat"./strong Yep./ppstrongVery funny./strong Thanks./ppstrongAnd why are we talking about him now?/strong His novel a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2007/aug/05/fiction.jackkerouac?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487" title=""On the Road/a has finally made it to the bignbsp;screen./ppstrongThe one about all the road trips?/strong The semi-autobiographical one in which Kerouac – under the pseudonym Sal Paradise – drives across America and later Mexico with his new friend Dean Moriarty – a pseudonym for fellow Beat figure a href="http://www.nealcassadyestate.com/" title=""Neal Cassady/a – on a hedonistic quest for identity, freedom and some form of lasting happiness./ppstrongDidn't he write it all in just three weeks on a single long roll of paper?/strong He did, in 1951, or so thenbsp;story goes, although he then spent six years rejigging it before it was published in 1957./ppstrongThat's a long wait./strong Not compared to the wait for the film, which began with a letter from Kerouac to Marlon Brando in 1957 begging the film star to buy up the rights, and is only just coming to an end this week, with the premiere at Cannes on Wednesday./ppstrongWhat's taken so long?/strong Well, for one thing, Brando didn't reply. For another, the novel's free-wheeling narrative has taken decades to condense into a nice, neat film story. For a third, an unknown called Kristen Stewart was cast as Marylou five years ago, and her career has sort of gone a bit stratospheric in the interim./ppstrongOoh, Kristen Stewart's in it?/strong Yep. As well as a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0337692/" title=""Amy Adams, Viggo Mortensen, Elizabeth Moss, Kirsten Dunst and Sam Riley/a./ppstrongWell, why didn't you just say that earlier, instead of going on about this Caramac guy?/strong It's Kerouac./ppstrongWhatevs. I'm booking tickets to the UK premiere at Somerset House as we speak./strong Too late. They went on sale on Friday at 10am and people snapped up every one in just five minutes./ppstrongAww! They "beat" me to it!/strong Hilarious. You could always go read the original. The first nine metres of it are on display in Paris for the next three months./ppstrongAs a rule I don't read books that are measured innbsp;metres./strong Probably wise./ppstrongDo say:/strong "You wait 55 years for a film of Onnbsp;thenbsp;Road..."/ppstrongDon't say:/strong "... and then they go and cast the girl from Twilight."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/jackkerouac"Jack Kerouac/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/fiction"Fiction/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/kristen-stewart"Kristen Stewart/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/14068?ns=guardianpageName=Cannes+2012%3A+fomer+mafia+killer+is+a+hit%3AArticle%3A1748063ch=Filmc3=Guardianc4=Cannes+2012%2CMafia+%28News%29%2CItaly+%28News%29%2CFilm%2CFestivals+%28Culture%29%2CCulture%2CWorld+news%2CEurope+%28News%29c5=Unclassified%2CFilm+Awards%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Tom+Kingtonc7=12-May-20c8=1748063c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=Filmc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FCannes+2012" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Aniello Arena is attracting best actor buzz for his role in Reality, but would be unable to claim the prize as he is in prison/ppAniello Arena has been touted as the next De Niro and tipped for the best actor prize at this year's Cannes film festival. But if he does win the award, he will be unable to claim his prize in person as he is a former mafia hitman serving a life sentence for his role in a triple homicide, it was revealed on Sunday./ppArena was cast by Matteo Garrone, the director of comedy Reality after delivering strong performances with his prison theatre company and was allowed out to the film's set on day release./ppDescribed by Garrone as a "great actor" blessed with the onscreen charisma of Robert De Niro, Arena was part of a five-man mafia hit squad in 1991 who shot dead three members of a rival drug-dealing clan and accidentally wounded an eight-year-old girl on the outskirts of Naples, Corriere della Sera reports./ppCaptured by police that year, Arena then discovered acting in prison in Volterra in Tuscany and told Corriere his hitman days were far behind him./pp"I turned over that black page in my life a long time ago and I am no longer that man," he said, adding that acting had saved him. "I would never have imagined that I would open a book, let alone recite Brecht or Shakespeare."/ppArena is winning rave reviews for his performance in Reality as a Naples fishmonger and small-time scam artist who is bedazzled by the glamour of television and dreams of being selected for the cast of Big Brother./ppGarrone said Arena's role as a wide-eyed, "modern Pinocchio" who is taken in by the promise of fame came naturally to a man who has spent 20 years behind bars./pp"His weeks on the set were not just a holiday out of jail but the discovery of a world," he said./ppArena,44, said one thing he had not missed while in jail was Big Brother. "Unfortunately I have my own Big Brother here in prison, where we are watched 24 hours a day," he said./ppReality caps a golden cinematic moment for Italian criminals behind bars. In February, a film starring inmates at Rome's Rebibbia jail won the top prize at the Berlin film festival. Caesar Must Die, a docudrama directed by brothers Paolo and Vittorio Taviani, follows prisoners – some of whom are serving time for murder and mafia crimes – as they rehearse for a performance of Shakespeare's Julius Caesar./ppGarrone has hired suspected mobsters before. In 2008 he won the grand prix at Cannes with his film Gomorrah, based on Roberto Saviano's book detailing the ascent of the Casalesi clan, one of the most feared groups within Naples' Camorra mafia. Following the film's release, a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/oct/13/gomorrah-mafia-italy-arrests" title=""a number of the actors playing mobsters in the film were arrested on suspicion of being real-life criminals/a./ppGarrone was recently questioned by magistrates over suspicions he paid the Camorra protection money while filming Gomorrah. He denied the charge but admitted he had met bosses to research the film./ppGarrone said he had wanted to cast Arena in Gomorrah but a judge decided it was not the right kind of film for a former hitman to be acting in./ppThe celluloid success of Italian convicts comes as Italy's law abiding thespians struggle to set the world on fire. "Should they continue going straight," asked La Stampa, "or commit crimes in order to get on the red carpet at the world's most important film festivals?"/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannes-2012"Cannes 2012/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/mafia"Mafia/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/italy"Italy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/festivals"Festivals/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/europe-news"Europe/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/tomkington"Tom Kington/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/68931?ns=guardianpageName=Staines+rebrands+to+escape+stain+of+Ali+G%3AArticle%3A1748043ch=UK+newsc3=GU.co.ukc4=UK+news%2CSacha+Baron+Cohenc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=James+Meiklec7=12-May-20c8=1748043c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=UK+newsc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Newsh2=GU%2FNews%2FUK+news%2FSacha+Baron+Cohen" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Town officially changes name to Staines-upon-Thames, but not all residents are convinced/ppAfter suffering years of ridicule since Sacha Baron Cohen decided to make it the home of his creation Ali G, a href="http://www.spelthorne.gov.uk/your_council/stainesuponthames.htm" title=""Staines/a has officially changed its name in an attempt to distance itself from the joke, to the more upmarket Staines-upon-Thames./ppThe long-debated revamp of the Surrey town prompted a day of celebrations on Sunday – from maypole dancing to a regatta – as the town set out to prove it was more glamorous than its M25 commuter-belt image, association with a href="http://www.channel4.com/programmes/da-ali-g-show" title=""Ali G/a or a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-surrey-14615664" title=""its "ghost town" depiction by indie band Hard-Fi/a might suggest./ppSpelthorne borough council, which pushed through the change after it was first suggested by a business forum, hopes it will bring more business to the town./ppColin Davis, one of its councillors, told the BBC: "Ali G may have had a role, but I think it goes back further than that." The new name would help people from outside the town understand its riverside links. "I regard Ali G as someone who put Staines on the map, we're just telling people where it is."/ppBut Steve Parsons, the club secretary of Staines Town Football Club, who campaigned against the change, said: "The council have decided they don't want to be linked with the Ali G show. But the one they need to worry about is Keeping Up Appearances, where Mrs Bucket changed her name to Bouquet./pp"I think it is as pretentious as that."/ppBaron Cohen's character first appeared on the Channel 4 series The 11 O'Clock Show, before getting his own programme, Da Ali G Show, in 2000. In the feature film, Ali G Indahouse, a series of unlikely events in the town saw the character, leader of the gang "Da West Staines Massiv", become a member of parliament./ppThe Staines Town Society has also opposed the change, particularly complaining of the costs at a time when there is a "shortage of money"./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/sachabaroncohen"Sacha Baron Cohen/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jamesmeikle"James Meikle/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

pMen in Black III star gave a backhanded slap to a male Ukrainian television reporter who tried to kiss him on the mouth at the film's premiere in Moscow/pbr/p style="clear:both" /

pDavid Cronenberg, Mia Wasikowska and Nick Cave among the guests as Antiviral, Lawless and The Sapphires receive their premieres/pbr/p style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/42738?ns=guardianpageName=The+Dictator+*+review%3AArticle%3A1746467ch=Filmc3=Obsc4=Sacha+Baron+Cohen%2CComedy+%28Film+genre%29%2CFilm%2CCulturec5=Not+commercially+useful%2CComedyc6=Philip+Frenchc7=12-May-20c8=1746467c9=Articlec10=Reviewc11=Filmc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FSacha+Baron+Cohen" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"The jokes come thick and fast and occasionally hit home as Sacha Baron Cohen unveils his latest grotesque creation/ppMost comedians create a screen persona that lasts a lifetime or they use a version of themselves. A few steadily assemble a formidable gallery of notable figures while retaining a personal identity known only to a circle of friends. The two most notable actors in the second category are Alec Guinness and Peter Sellers, and it is in their company that Sacha Baron Cohen belongs, though he has yet to make his emKind Hearts and Coronets/em or emDr Strangelove/em. Cohen has turned in some creditable performances, each sporting an outrageous foreign accent, in what are essentially other people's films: the Italian pedlar of phoney elixirs in Tim Burton's emSweeney Todd;/em the gay French grand prix driver in the Will Ferrell vehicle emTalladega Nights;/em and the Parisian cop reminiscent of Sellers in Scorsese's emHugo/em./ppIt is, however, for the central performances in works centring on characters of his own creation that he is most celebrated, in which he also speaks a wild, fractured English – Ali G, the British homeboy of dubious background; Borat, the TV reporter from Kazakhstan; Brüno, the Austrian fashion writer; and now Admiral General Aladeen, the Middle Eastern tyrant ruling the oil-rich desert state of Wadiya in emThe Dictator/em./ppThese last four figures are intended to shock and outrage by their defiance of conventional propriety and current standards of decency and political correctness. One way and another, and for a variety of purposes, part of the joke is that they act out of naivety and ignorance rather than calculated malevolence. In the case of Ali G, Borat and Brüno, they engage spontaneously with non-actors who believe them to be real people, usually as a way of exposing prejudice and concealed feelings, though in some cases what is actually revealed is kindness, tolerance or an honest bewilderment. In this form of guerrilla cinema, the performer courts real danger that, in its extreme form, might stop just short of actual lynching. Aladeen, on the other hand, is a truly dangerous person, a combination of Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein, but the film he appears in is a conventional comedy, entirely scripted. Playing him poses no real danger for Baron Cohen other than his possible rejection by audiences, who might refrain from laughing, or by moralists who believe his bad taste goes beyond acceptable limits./ppThe first thing to be said, therefore, is that the movie is full of jokes and they're scattered like a fistful of seeds sown by a frantic farm labourer. Some inevitably fall on stony ground. But as with Mel Brooks, it's the good scenes and lines that stick in the mind rather than the misfires. The first joke that comes to mind is the last one in the movie and it occurs during the credits as most of the audience is heading for the exits. Aladeen's latest addition to his harem informs him that she's pregnant and he casually asks: "Are you having a boy or an abortion?"/ppThe second thing is that the movie is curiously inoffensive. This in itself is oddly offensive as the character we're dealing with is a genocidal monster, indifferent to the sufferings of his people and in the process of manufacturing a weapon of mass destruction that he intends to drop on a neighbouring state, though he stops halfway through naming Israel as the recipient and suppresses a chuckle. One of the reasons for the benign response it elicits is that Baron Cohen presents himself as a good sport. We've seen him on TV walking along the red carpet at the Oscar ceremonies dressed as the bemedalled Aladeen and making fun of the solemn proceedings. Instead of having the customary press screening, the distributors compelled critics in London to attend the premiere at the Royal Festival Hall where Aladeen arrived surrounded by uniformed girls in minidresses described as his Virgin Guard and proceeded to address the audience from a VIP box. More significantly perhaps, after the film has shown Aladeen order the deaths of numerous people who've annoyed him, it's revealed as an additional joke that they've all managed to escape execution. This is the precise opposite of wiping the smile off your face./ppThe ramshackle plot is principally a hat stand for the jokes, which take in everything from masturbation to a misunderstanding over the role of a rape centre and has Aladeen visiting New York to win international favour by addressing the United Nations. A would-be usurper in the Wadiya government (played by an ill-at-ease Ben Kingsley) arranges an assassination attempt. This ends with a dim-witted double replacing the dictator, and the temporarily deposed Aladeen having his trademark beard shaved off. Presumed dead, he's protected by the feminist owner of an organic food shop (Anna Faris), a major butt for his misogyny. It's essentially a version of Mark Twain's emThe Prince and the Pauper/em (which wasnbsp;more adroitly reworked as emTrading Places/em). But it also appears to draw on Chaplin's emThe Great Dictator/em, where the Hitlerian tyrant Hynkel is replaced by his double, Chaplin's Tramp. Indeed at one point a self-pitying Aladeen refers to himself as the last of the great dictators./ppThe film's most successful shot at true satire is the precise equivalent of Chaplin's deadly serious a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kbn-GjL6WLA" title="""Look up, Hannah" speech in emThe Great Dictator/em/a. In Baron Cohen's film, Aladeen makes a double-edged speech to a gathering of politicians and diplomats urging America to abandon democracy, listing a succession of things they would thus avoid, all of them familiar American shortcomings and inequities. This got by far the biggest laugh of the evening from the audience I saw it with, and I laughed along with them./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/sachabaroncohen"Sacha Baron Cohen/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/comedy"Comedy/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/philipfrench"Philip French/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/28047?ns=guardianpageName=Cannes+2012%3A+Why+have+no+female+film+directors+been+nominated+for+the+Pa%3AArticle%3A1747876ch=Filmc3=Obsc4=Cannes+film+festival%2CFestivals+%28Culture%29%2CFilm%2CAndrea+Arnold%2CJane+Campion%2CUK+news%2CFeminism+%28World+news%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Film+Awards%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Vanessa+Thorpec7=12-May-20c8=1747876c9=Articlec10=Newsc11=Filmc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FCannes+film+festival" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Of the 22 films in contention for the prestigious Palme d'Or, not one has a female director. And while women's lives are getting more attention on screen, the struggle to break in to the rough and tough old boys' club of directing appears as hard as ever/ppCannes' fabled Croisette promenade was dotted with the customary festival starlets in high heels and glamorous dresses yesterday afternoon./ppBut just behind them, a feminist uprising of sorts was in full swing. Inside a landmark hotel on the seafront strip in the South of France, loud calls for positive discrimination in favour of women's films were being voiced. The impact of British director Andrea Arnold's public anger about the failure to include a female director in the prestigious Palme D'Or line-up continues to stir controversy at the annual celebration of world cinema./ppSpeakers at a Beyond Borders diversity symposium echoed Arnold's complaint that while films from around the globe may have made the shortlist for the annual prize, directors drawn from half of the population have been ignored./ppAt the opening of the festival on Wednesday the acclaimed director of emFish Tank/em and emWuthering Heights/em, who this year sits on the Palme D'Or jury alongside Ewan McGregor, said that the lack of women in the selection was "a great pity and a great disappointment", adding that it reflected badly on the film industry. On the beach this weekend after the premiere of the British film, Broken, Arnold was unrepentant, although still limited by the Cannes convention of jury "purdah"./pp"I wanted to put it out there," she said. "I don't want to see positive discrimination at Cannes though. I don't think any director should be included because of who they are."/ppThe allegation that unworthy films made by directors from the developing world, or from conflict zones, are included in the Cannes jury's selection in spite of their low quality was dismissed by Arnold./pp"That is only one reading of what happens. I would say instead that the jury includes films that are political and have something to say," she said./ppThe lack of a film directed by a woman on the list of 22 in contention this year has provoked fiery debate across France. As the festival opened the newspaper emLe Monde/em carried a protest letter from the feminist collective emLa Barbe,/em which was signed by notable French female film-makers, including Virginie Despentes, Coline Serreau and Fanny Cottençon. "Men love their women to have depth, but only when it comes to their cleavage," the letter argued./ppThe row comes at a time when the commercial success of films aimed at women is evident. The box office appeal of Kristen Wiig in the comedy emBridesmaids/em and of the Thatcher biopic emThe Iron Lady/em, described on Friday by its British producer Damian Jones as a "mother and daughter film that brought in the whole family", have reached huge neglected audiences./ppBut while there are few women directors, there is an increasing female presence behind the scenes in Britain. BBC Films and Film4 are both run by women and at least three of the producers who have managed to bring British productions to premiere in Cannes this summer are female./ppNira Park, the producer of hits such as emShaun of The Dead/em, has brought out the Ben Wheatley film emSightseers/em, while Rebecca O'Brien has brought Ken Loach's Palme D'Or contender emThe Angels' Share/em and Dixie Linder has brought emBroken/em, the first film from British theatre director Rufus Norris./pp"Gender is not part of how I see things when I look for a director," said Linder this weekend after the film opened the festival's Critic's Week programme. "In fact I feel that positive discrimination could actually be detrimental. Certainly if they had chosen my film for Cannes simply because I was a woman producer, I would not like it."/ppLinder, whose film stars Tim Roth alongside 12-year-old newcomer Eloise Laurence, added that in her experience finding finance for a film directed by a newcomer such as Norris, despite his theatrical record, was more difficult than for a more established woman director, such as Sam Taylor Wood./ppChristine Langan, the creative head of BBC Films, said that Britain was lucky to have several strong female directors but that it is unfair to expect them to deliver Palme D'Or prospects every year./pp"While people like Andrea Arnold and Lynne Ramsay are fantastic role models, their rate of film-making would have to increase considerably to create a steady flow of competitors to Cannes," she said./pp"I would love to feel that no girl growing up today should think that it is something she could not do, but I don't approach it from a gender point of view. You get very embroiled in each film project and while BBC Films likes to encourage female talent, I am really focused on the quality of the production and so become fairly blind to gender." Until this year it had looked as if everything was moving towards greater balance, both at Cannes and in the wider the film industry. Not only did Kathryn Bigelow win the first directing Oscar for a woman with The Hurt Locker in 2010, but there were four women directors in the line-up of 18 films competing for the top prize at Cannes last summer: the Australian Julia Leigh, Japanese director Naomi Kawase, the French actress and writer Maïwenn Le Besco and Ramsay, the Scottish director selected for emWe Need To Talk About Kevin/em. And yet the only woman to win the award in 65 years remains Jane Campion, who received the Palme D'Or in 1993 for emThe Piano/em. Three years ago Campion's first new film for nine years, emBright Star/em, about the poet John Keats, was included in the main competition and the director used the platform to criticise the continued dearth of female directors. "The studio system is kind of an old boys' system and it's difficult for them to trust women to be capable," she said at the time./ppBut Campion also suggested that there were reasons linked more closely to gender, saying: "I think women don't grow up with the harsh world of criticism that men grow up with – we are more sensitively treated – and when you first experience the world of film-making you have to develop a very tough skin."/ppFor fellow New Zealand-born director Regan Hall his own gender has not hindered his approach to his first feature, emFast Girls/em, a female-centred story about British relay athletes to be released next month before the London olympics. "I have never felt that I wasn't qualified," he said. "I have done a lot of filming with women because I have worked in fashion and it never crossed my mind that a woman should be making this film." He added that historically women had developed expertise in other areas of film-making, such as editing, continuity and styling./pp"There is something about being a director that means I can understand why more men do it," he said. "There are different personality types involved. But I do think that the best way to encourage women is probably to look at a role model and in New Zealand we certainly have a good one with Jane Campion."/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannesfilmfestival"Cannes film festival/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/festivals"Festivals/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/andrea-arnold"Andrea Arnold/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/jane-campion"Jane Campion/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feminism"Feminism/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/vanessathorpe"Vanessa Thorpe/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/7229?ns=guardianpageName=The+Sunshine+Boys%3B+AirHotel%3B+Detroit+*+review%3AArticle%3A1747585ch=Stagec3=Obsc4=Theatre%2CStage%2CDanny+DeVito%2CFilm%2CCulturec5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CTheatrec6=Susannah+Clappc7=12-May-20c8=1747585c9=Articlec10=Reviewc11=Stagec13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FStage%2FTheatre" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Savoy, London; Holt hotel, Norfolk; Cottesloe, London/ppOn the screen in 1975 it was Walter Matthau and George Burns. In a 1996 television adaptation it was Woody Allen and Peter ("Columbo") Falk. Now it's Danny DeVito and a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2005/oct/09/theatre2" title=""Richard Griffiths/a. It will always be the casting that draws audiences to a href="http://www.sunshineboystheplay.com/" title=""strongThe Sunshine Boys/strong/a. That's just as well: Neil Simon's play is a wheezy old thing./ppGriffiths and DeVito look right – which is to say mismatched – as a resurrected (just) vaudeville comedy duo who were once dependent though bickering, and are, in old age, estranged. It's not just the sheer difference in size – the Mountain and the Molehill – but the gait, the gestures, the speed across the stage, that makes the two men appear to have crash-landed from different planets./ppGriffiths presides over his huge bulk like a kindly ruler quelling a potential revolution: even when flustered he moves with a light-footed grace. For much of the time he seems simply to loll, beaming out big expressions – no one shoots up an eyebrow to more quizzical effect – and making a chicly small twist of the wrist look like a major proclamation./ppDeVito, a ball of compressed energy, is pugnacious, restless, quick as a whippet with the gag and the business: the opening scene is an extended sequence of his tripping over wires, mistaking a whistling kettle for a ringing phone. They are opposites – Griffiths's jaw drops and DeVito's juts – who occasionally chime, and the best parts of Thea Sharrock's production involve actors collaborating in elaborate exhibitions of ritual hostility. Has any stage ever seen such an extravagant display of spitting: an accidental hazard for both actors and audience is here turned into a feat of aqueous acrobatics. In a ballet of malice, DeVito and Griffiths tweak the furniture in a rehearsal to upstage each other./ppWhat a waste, though, to have these actors in such a tired drama. The first half limps, desperately over-extended; the second (which is enlivened by a crisp and snapping appearance by a href="http://www.sunshineboystheplay.com/cast/johnnie-fiori/" title=""Johnnie Fiori/a) has more bite, but its real high points are triumphs of acting over content. You have to be very keen on a nostalgic notion of vaudeville to find the rehearsal of big-boob jokes truly hilarious, and very devoted to the idea that the primary relationship in life is that of a buddy to find emThe Sunshine Boys/em other than thin./ppa href="http://www.nnfestival.org.uk/festival/theatre/air-hotel1" title=""strongAirHotel/strong/a, an eco-camp installation perched in the woods of Holt Hall by the Belgian theatre collective a href="http://www.timecircus.org/" title=""TimeCircus/a, gets high billing at the Norfolk and Norwich festival. Yet it's hard to make the case for this as site-specific theatre: it is really just a site./ppShellsuited, spaced-out, tree-and-people-hugging hosts embrace the audience/visitors and guide them around highly ingenious and often beautiful temporary structures strewn up and under the trees. There's a skimpy narrative involving a cod-scientific experiment that claims to demonstrate that "sap streams" from trees lead to "nocturnal revelations". There is a weeny performance element: at midnight the shellsuits hum outside your bedroom and go on humming as they bring cinnamonnbsp;tea to your bedside. Still, this is really performance as experience: the actorsnbsp;are you./ppYou can sleep in the Drop, a blue wooden structure tiered like a fairy's cap which is snug to the ground, and drink in the tiny wooden bar which has a stuffed parrot and backs on to a mini-sized but maxi-hot sauna. The lavatory is its own all-too-special drama, a hut perched on the top of steps, open to the fields at the front, with facetious comments scrawled near the pan and a red light to warn those stumbling through the woods behind that someone is enthroned./ppIf you're a theatre critic you are guided to the Lotus pod, hung about five metres high in the trees. It looks like a paper lampshade until, at the command of one of the shellsuits, it obligingly, charmingly opens out, unfurling four red petals: these are the critical bedspaces. You climb up to your bed in the wet and the dark by two (very slippery) ladders, at the top of which you turn to go down another, popping yourself down a hatch into a mildly bouncing sack made of parachute material, wood and aluminium. You slither around with fleece and sleeping bag and sheetbag and pillows. You look at the book in which you are supposed to record yournbsp;dreams and find that those already inscribed are all in Flemish. You lie down squinting at the porthole in the roof with its view of wet trees (there are no windows). You feel your feet turning to ice. You hear a hornet which has somehow elbowed its way in. And then you realise you are bursting for a pee./ppPerhaps if it had been warm. Or at least dry. Comfort breeds indulgence. As it was, after the first intoxicating sight of the woods bearing their unaccustomed fruit, and the admiration of the engineering, emAirHotel/em combined the worst aspects of camping and the theatre: uncomfortable and inescapable./ppHere we are again: the American suburbs revealed as a snakepit of sad sex, drunkenness and seething. Lisa D'Amour's new play, first produced at Chicago's Steppenwolf theatre, is brisk, yelping and sometimes very funny, but it does not have much new to plant in well-tilled territory. A very skinny, very febrile couple move in next door to an apparently more established, solid pair. No one is quite what they seem and, after much high-pitched keening from the women and some barbecuing swagger from the men, mayhem breaks out./ppa href="http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=69369" title=""strongDetroit/strong/a begins with domestic mishap – the parasol that won't stay up, the sliding door that is perpetually stuck, the verruca that causes agony. It ends with disaster and a scene change (Kevin Depinet isnbsp;the designer) so cleverly drastic that describing it would be to obliterate one of those memorable moments ofnbsp;the evening./ppThe actors in Austin Pendleton's production are really sharp: jittery, sly Will Adamsdale; dolefully gangling Clare Dunne; apparently blunt but actually secret-filled Stuart McQuarrie, who has the best joke of the evening, and Justine Mitchell, who disintegrates with finesse. Nevertheless, this is not penetrating enough to earn a place alongside a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/2010/sep/05/clybourne-park-maddening-rain-into-woods-oikos" title=""emClybourne Park/em/a nor wild enough to disrupt the suburban-play genre. Not so much Detroit as De Trop./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatre"Theatre/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/danny-devito"Danny DeVito/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/susannahclapp"Susannah Clapp/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/26069?ns=guardianpageName=She+Monkeys+*+review%3AArticle%3A1746849ch=Filmc3=Obsc4=Drama+%28Film+genre%29%2CFilm%2CWorld+cinema+%28Film+genre%29%2CCulturec5=Not+commercially+useful%2CFilm+Reviewsc6=Philip+Frenchc7=12-May-20c8=1746849c9=Articlec10=Reviewc11=Filmc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FDrama" width="1" height="1" //divpSet in Sweden, this extremely accomplished directorial debut of a young Dane examines with subtlety and wit the dangerously mischievous, highly competitive friendship between two good-looking teenage girls at an equestrian school in Gothenburg. While still at school Aschan made a black comedy called emFuck the Rapist/em. Her new film inevitably recalls a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2003/apr/13/features.review" title=""Lukas Moodysson/a's acclaimed picture about a lesbian affair in the Swedish provinces called (in its Swedish version) emFucking Åmål/em./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/drama"Drama/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/world-cinema"World cinema/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/philipfrench"Philip French/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/90197?ns=guardianpageName=2+Days+in+New+York+*+review%3AArticle%3A1746799ch=Filmc3=Obsc4=Comedy+%28Film+genre%29%2CFilm%2CRomance+%28Film+genre%29%2CJulie+Delpy%2CChris+Rock%2CCulturec5=Unclassified%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CComedyc6=Philip+Frenchc7=12-May-20c8=1746799c9=Articlec10=Reviewc11=Filmc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FComedy" width="1" height="1" //divpHaving acted in and contributed to the scripts of Richard Linklater's emBefore Sunrise/em and its sequel, emBefore Sunset/em, the French actress Julie Delpy has followed up her directorial debut a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/119564/two.days.in.paris" title=""em2 Days in Paris/em/a with em2 Days in New York/em. In the amusing, mildly raunchy Paris film her heroine Marion takes her American Jewish boyfriend to meet her eccentric French family. In the equally entertaining sequel, her French family come to stay over Halloween with the 38-year-old Marion, now a single mother and about to exhibit her latest photo essay, and her black lover. Played by Chris Rock, he's a New York DJ and writer called Mingus, his name considered hilarious by the visitors because it rhymes with cunnilingus. Delpy and Rock are naturally funny and the stuff good, lightweight sitcoms are made of. Intriguing surprises arise from Marion's selling her soul as a piece of conceptual art and her spur-of-the-moment lie about suffering from an inoperable brain tumour./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/comedy"Comedy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/romance"Romance/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/julie-delpy"Julie Delpy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/chris-rock"Chris Rock/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/philipfrench"Philip French/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/37557?ns=guardianpageName=Bafta+TV+special%3A+Jo+Brand%2C+Charlie+Higson+and+Rebecca+Front%3AArticle%3A1745821ch=Filmc3=Obsc4=Baftas+2012%2CBaftas+%28Television%29%2CTelevision+%28Culture%29%2CJo+Brand%2CCulture%2CCharlie+Higson+%28Author%29%2CBooksc5=Unclassified%2CFilm+Awards%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CTelevision+Mediac6=Alice+Fisherc7=12-May-20c8=1745821c9=Articlec10=Feature%2CInterviewc11=Filmc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FBaftas+2012" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Stars of the small screen reveal their TV secrets/ph2The stand up: Jo Brandbr //h2pJo Brand bats away the suggestion that she's a national treasure. "To me that's someone who has a global reach, like Helen Mirren, or someone who's extremely good, like Stephen Fry. Inbsp;don't have that. I've just calmed down anbsp;bit, and that's only because once I had children Inbsp;was so bloody knackered I could be nothing but calm." Though her audience has widened as she's written novels, appeared on panel shows and acted in the superlative comedy emGetting On/em, Brand says she's planning to go back to stand-up. "The world has become a horrible place for women again and I want to be gobby about it." Before then, though, she's very happy to talk about TV. "I had aspirational working-class parents who thought you shouldn't let your kids watch crap on telly. If my parents read this – it's your fault I'm a complete telly addict now."/ppstrongFavourite TV?/strong I like news programmes, especially emNewsnight/em. It's opinionated, like a naughty adolescent trying to get away with provoking people. br /strongFavourite reality show?/strong I love it all. I like emBig Brother, I'm a Celebrity/em. They're all interesting psychologically. br /strongNew TV discovery?/strong I love Sarah Solemani on emHim Her/em. It's so nice to see a woman given a part where she doesn't have to cook her boyfriend's tea./ph2The writer: Charlie Higsonbr //h2pCharlie Higson says that emThe Fast Show/em fans are very kind. "There was never a backlash against the show, everyone remembers it fondly." Swiss Tony, Competitive Dad and Ted and Ralph have also found new fans with its recent online revival. "It was a laugh working with everyone again, and lovely to see Caroline Aherne. I hadn't seen her in over 10 years." Higson now has a new set of fans – avid followers of his series of zombie books for young adults. "The age group I write for speak their minds. I did an event recently where a kid stuck his hand up and said: 'I don't mean to be rude, but don't you think you could have done more with your life than writing about zombies?' It stopped me in my tracks. Maybe he's right."/ppstrongFavourite TV?/strong I've really enjoyed that whole raft of Scandinavians killing each other – emThe Killing, The Bridge/em. I thought Borgen was brilliant, too. I watched emHomeland/em like everyone else and got furious at the ending. br /strongNew TV discovery? /strongemBreaking Bad/em. It's just brilliant. I love the way Bryan Cranston allows himself to look so awful. It's very unAmerican. br /strongGuilty pleasure?/strong I always have one reality show. At the moment it's emThe Apprentice/em. Inbsp;love emThe X Factor/em. It was a disaster without Simon Cowell, he's my TV God./ph2The serious actor: Rebecca Frontbr //h2pI'm not a comedian," says Rebecca Front, casually confounding all your expectations. She may be loved for her roles in Grandma's House, emThe Thick of It /emand emNighty Night /em("People still come up to me in the street to talk about Alan Partridge," she says), but she sees herself purely as an actor. "I'm always surprised I'm not doing more drama." She does confess to getting the giggles during emThe Thick of It/em, though – "I've close to disgraced myself" – but not too often as it's "genuinely scary being shouted at by Peter Capaldi" [as spin doctor Malcolm Tucker]. Serious actor she may be, but Front's also had to get used to being herself on TV as she notches up the panel-show appearances on the likes of emHave I Got News For You/em and emWould I Lie to You? /em"I have a character who's Rebecca Front for all that. I make the jokes I normally make, but as a heightened version of me."/ppstrongFavourite TV?/strong I feel real warmth towards shows I watch with my family – emThe Apprentice/em and emOutnumbered/em. br /strongFavourite newsreaders? /strongI love Sian Williams – she's good at being serious and chatty; and Jeremy Paxman sets the heart aflutter.br /strongFavourite TV Detective?/strong Obviously I'm in Lewis, but I used to love emMorse/em, so it was a thrill doing an episode of emKavanagh QC/em years ago with John Thaw./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/baftas-2012"Baftas 2012/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/television-baftas"Television Baftas/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/television"Television/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/jo-brand"Jo Brand/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/charlie-higson"Charlie Higson/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/alicefisher"Alice Fisher/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/34087?ns=guardianpageName=Bafta+TV+special%3A+Zawe+Ashton%2C+Alfie+Allen%2C+Vic+and+Bob%3AArticle%3A1745788ch=Filmc3=Obsc4=Baftas+2012%2CBaftas+%28Television%29%2CTelevision+%28Culture%29%2CAlfie+Allen%2CVic+Reevesc5=Unclassified%2CFilm+Awards%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CTelevision+Mediac6=Eva+Wiseman%2CShahesta+Shaitlyc7=12-May-20c8=1745788c9=Articlec10=Feature%2CInterviewc11=Filmc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FBaftas+2012" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Stars of the small screen talk TV/ph2The total package: Zawe Ashton/h2pI'm a massive disappointment," says Zawe Ashton, star of C4's emFresh Meat/em. Ashton's wayward, partying character Violet, better known as Vod, won the hearts of viewers in the first series – so much so that when Ashton meets people at parties they expect her to be the last one standing. "It's a compliment that people think I'm going to be like her – it means I'm doing my job properly. But I can see the disappointment in people's eyes when I switch to fizzy water before heading for the door at a decent hour!"/ppAshton's star has been on the ascent for anbsp;couple of years now. She's appeared on stage as well as screen, and she's also honing her skills as a writer, including a stint as writer-in-residence for production company Clean Break. Having just finished her run in emHere/em by Michael Frayn at the Kingston Theatre, she says she "loves theatre" although it's "never, ever glamorous, but it is fun", and writing full time would never be an option either. "I'd start seeing things if I were on my own that much. Inbsp;need to act."/ppSo what does the future hold? She's just come back from Los Angeles, having had "promising" meetings with agents and managers. "It's nice to be stoking LA coals." But the most important thing, Ashton says, is that she's in work. "The actor's life is [one of] constantly treading a line between complete self-belief and complete self-doubt. To say that I'm working until August is the best thing – you just never know when your next job will be."/ppstrongFavourite TV?/strong emLuther/em season two was groundbreaking, thrilling TV. br /strongFavourite childhood show?/strong emThe Fresh Prince of Bel Air /emand I still love it now. br /strongGuilty pleasure?/strong E! – anything on that channel is hilarious.br /strongFavourite newsreader?/strong Moira Stewart because she broke down boundaries for women, and black women, in her industry.br /strongTV icon?/strong I will always adore Del Boy. And Hyacinth Bucket. strongemSS/em/strong/ph2The heir apparent: Alfie Allen br //h2pAlfie Allen swans into the photo-shoot grinning from ear to ear. "I've just found out that I've been put forward by my producers for a best supporting actor Emmy – it's like a pat on the back to say I'm doing well." Allen's potentially award-wining role is that of Theon Greyjoy in HBO's hit fantasy drama emGame of Thrones/em, now in its second season on Sky Atlantic./ppFilming is in Belfast and the crew, he says, feels like a family. "It's off the scale – there are so many people involved in making it, but we work together brilliantly. And it feels special to be a part of something right from the start."/ppHe's just come back from LA, where he had "interesting meetings about interesting roles". But, he admits, "I'm a real homebody. I'm not a big fan of living out of a suitcase."/ppstrongFavourite childhood TV? /strongI was forced to watch emHome Away/em because my family were into it. I'm a sportsman so I've always watched a lot of football and cricket.br /strongFavourite television show of the past year? /strong emBlack Mirror/em, but don't watch it with your partner – it exposes paranoia in relationships.br /strongBest documentary? /strongWerner Herzog's emInto the Abyss/em about a man on death row; my dad's [Keith Allen] doc on Nick Griffin.br /strongFavourite newsreader?/strong Riz Lateef – her name sounds like she's stealing Rizlas! strongemSS/em/strong/ph2The double act: Vic and Bobbr //h2pDid you know," asks Vic, as Bob rests his little round head on Vic's chest, "Did you know that emDownton Abbey /emis filmed in Nairobi?" Bob snuggles in deeper under Vic's arm. They belong together these two, even now, 22 years after they first appeared side-by-side on TV on emVic Reeves Big Night Out/em. "What do you eat while you're watching telly, Bob?" asks Vic. "There's nowhere I'd rather be than in front of the telly, me," Bob replies. "I sit there from the start of emThe One Show/em and eat. Last night I had a bar of butterscotch chocolate, some monkey nuts, prawn crisps and stilton on crackers. And some lager." "I had celery, hummus, goat's cheese, Snack a Jacks and a pint of orange squash. I feel naked without snacks," adds Vic. They love TV. "Except for the freak-show stuff – you know, emEmbarrassing Bodies/em, 16-Year-Old Fat Bastard." "If there was a hanging," muses Vic, "we'd all tune in."/ppstrongWhat's your TV routine? /strongbr /strongVic/strong Every night we put the kids to bed and I'm obliged to watch emEastEnders/em and emCorrie/em. Then I watch emCriminal Minds /emand I'm knocked out by the first break.br /strongFavourite dramas?/strongbr /strongBob/strong emBreaking Bad, 24, Alcatraz, Fringe, Touch, The Killing, Spiral /em– I love them all… br /strongVic/strong emMud Men/em with Johnny Vaughan. strongemEW/em/strong/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/baftas-2012"Baftas 2012/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/television-baftas"Television Baftas/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/television"Television/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/alfie-allen"Alfie Allen/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/vic-reeves"Vic Reeves/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/evawiseman"Eva Wiseman/a/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/shahesta-shaitly"Shahesta Shaitly/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/77358?ns=guardianpageName=Bafta+TV+special%3A+Ant+and+Dec%2C+Anna+Maxwell+Martin%2C+Kayvan+Novak%2C+Andrew%3AArticle%3A1745716ch=Filmc3=GU.co.ukc4=Baftas+2012%2CBaftas+%28Television%29%2CTelevision+%28Culture%29%2CAnthony+McPartlin+%28Media%29%2CMedia%2CDeclan+Donnelly+%28Media%29%2CTelevision+and+radio+TV%2CDrama+%28TV+genre%29%2CEntertainment+%28TV+genre%29c5=Film+Awards%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CMedia+Weekly%2CTelevision+Mediac6=Alice+Fisherc7=12-May-16c8=1745716c9=Articlec10=c11=Filmc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FBaftas+2012" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"Stars of the small screen reveal their TV secrets/ph2The entertainers: Ant and Decbr //h2pThis feels like real life," says Declan Donnelly, settling back into the sofa next to Anthony McPartlin. "We've done this before." You would have thought that after all those hours on telly performing – often live – for millions, Ant and Dec would want to do anything but watch it when they got home. "It's my number-one way to relax," says Dec. "We watch everything and anything and we constantly text each other to check what we're watching." Dec's last text to Ant was about the best ham sandwich in the world, as featured on emCountrywise Kitchen/em. Ant's alerted Dec to the emHairy Bikers'/em pork terrine. Both food related, "but we text through sport, documentaries and dramas, too," says Dec. As hosts of emBritain's Got Talent/em, the pair have been baffled by the competition revved up between emBGT/em and emThe Voice/em. "It's just about the time slot," says Ant. "The shows are completely different. emBGT/em is fun, a laugh." Adds Dec: "But have any of their contestants sung, 'Where's Me Keys? Where's Me Phone?' Hopefully they will on season two"…/ppstrongWould you be a good gameshow contestant?/strongbr /strongDec/strong We would. We've hosted so many that we've got loads of knowledge about crap stuff. You accumulate it. br /strongAnt/strong I wouldn't mind being on emThe Chase/em and beating that woman. I don't like her. br /strongFavourite childhood TV? /strongbr /strongDec/strong emGame for a Laugh/em, emNoel's House Party/em, emTiswas /emand emGoing Live/em. br /strongAnt/strong Anything but emDad's Army/em./ph2The leading lady: Anna Maxwell Martin/h2pI wish I got offered more comedy," says Anna Maxwell Martin. "People must think I just cry and have a sad face all the time." It's hard to feel sorry for her when, over the years, she's cried her way so brilliantly through such great TV shows as emBleak House/em, emSouth Riding /emand emWhite Girl/em. She gets to look sad in two new dramas this year. "I'm in a 50s thriller called emThe Bletchley Circle/em, which has a grisly murder and nice cossies." Then there's Jimmy McGovern's emAccused/em. "The part wasn't like anything I've done before – I was cast as someone who works in a juvenile detention centre alongside Ewen Bremner. We were the scrawniest people in there." Anna says she's missing out on all the "groovy hot dramas" at the moment. "I've just had a baby so I'm in bed at 8pm. I'm watching emCorrie/em though. It's my dream to be in it when I'm 70. If I could end my days on emCorrie/em, I'd be happy."/ppstrongWho's your favourite newsreader? /strongThere's my friend Romilly Weeks – I get really excited when I see her on telly – and Kate Simms on emNorth West Tonight/em. She's my best friend and my daughter's godmother. br /strongFavourite childhood show? /strongI watched emThe A Team /emand the wrestling. br /strongNew TV discovery?/strong Monica Dolan who was in emAppropriate Adult/em. She's the most extraordinary actress./ph2The trickster: Kayvan Novakbr //h2pAfter the phenomenal success of prank-call extravaganza emFonejacker/em, Kayvan Novak is relishing his new role on hidden-camera show emFacejacker/em, when he acts out his surreal characters instead. "It tickles my acting ability. It's total immersion – no action, no cut – you're with people who think you're real." The show was mainly filmed in the States, which Novak enjoyed. "If you're winding up Americans, their buttons are in different places. I was trying to process how the British compare to the Americans, so I read Quentin Crisp. He says that the difference is that the British want you to fail because they're afraid you'll leave them behind. The Americans want you to succeed in case you take them with you. I want to be as articulate as that, instead of just regurgitating it."/ppstrongWould you be a good gameshow contestant?/strong I love cooking shows – like emMasterChef: The Professionals/em. I'll be editing until 10pm then get home, make dinner, and sit and eat while watching other people make dinner. So anything to do with cooking would be good. br /strongFavourite TV?/strong emShameless /emhas a good vibe and I love emBreaking Bad/em. br /strongFavourite childhood show?/strong I loved emHarry Enfield /emand emBlackadder/em. emSpitting Image /emwas the first show that I started mimicking off the telly./ph2The super villain: Andrew Scott/h2pAndrew Scott declares his role in BBC's emSherlock/em as arch-nemesis Jim Moriarty to be an absolute blast. "Every time he appears he gets great stuff to do. You get real bang for your buck." Though Scott first made his mark in theatre – appearing in such award-winning productions as emCock/em and emA Girl in a Car with a Man /emin Londonem /emand in David Hare's emThe Vertical Hour/em in New York – he has two more TV dramas coming soon. First, there's psychological drama emThe Fuse/em, starring alongside Christopher Eccleston, for the BBC – "It's a very human story about obsession," he says – then an adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier's emThe Scapegoat/em for ITV./ppAfter that there's the third series of emSherlock/em to consider – well, possibly. Any hints about the resolution of season 2's cliffhanger, which seemed to end with the deaths of Moriarty and Holmes? "I have to remain schtum. Even my mother doesn't know what happens."/ppstrongFavourite sitcoms? /strongemGrandma's House/em and emTwenty Twelve/em. Olivia Colman and Jessica Hynes are brilliant.br /strongFavourite childhood show?/strong emThe Muppet Show/em: the theme music makes me excited even now. I used to watch the drama emChocky/em, too. There's something about sophisticated drama for kids – it's just great.br /strongGuilty pleasure?/strong Judge Judy. It appeals to some weird side of me, I like the way she deals with idiots. I got into it when I was doing emEmperor and Galilean /emat the NT last year. You can't go home and watch BBC4's emThe History of Desks /emafter Ibsen. br /strongFavourite US show?/strong I've just started emMad Men/em. I want to be that person who watches it until 4am, but I don't think I am./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/baftas-2012"Baftas 2012/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/television-baftas"Television Baftas/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/television"Television/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/anthonymcpartlin"Anthony McPartlin/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/declandonnelly"Declan Donnelly/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/drama"Drama/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/entertainment"Entertainment/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/alicefisher"Alice Fisher/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/57249?ns=guardianpageName=Cannes+rolls+out+the+carpet+for+a+bumper+65th+year%3AArticle%3A1747716ch=Filmc3=Obsc4=Cannes+2012%2CCannes+film+festival%2CFilm%2CFestivals+%28Culture%29%2CCulture%2CWes+Anderson%2CJacques+Audiard%2CWoody+Allen+%28Film%29%2CRoman+Polanski+%28Film%29c5=Film+Awards%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CFilm+Reviewsc6=Jason+Solomonsc7=12-May-20c8=1747716c9=Articlec10=Featurec11=Filmc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FCannes+2012" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"A vintage Cannes offers a whale of a drama, a Chinese mystery, and a dainty slice of dysfunctional family life from Wes Anderson. Meanwhile, Woody Allen and Roman Polanski have some explaining to do/ppLike the Godfather of film festivals that it is, Cannes keeps its friends close and its enemies closer. Over the 65th edition's early days, Cannes clawed back any deserters or doubters with a storming selection, confirming it as the best showcase for challenging cinema from around the world./ppAndrea Arnold, the British director whose career Cannes nurtured by promoting her films emRed Road/em and emFish Tank/em, showed her version of emWuthering Heights/em at Venice last year. Cannes immediately installed her as a member of this year's jury./ppRegulars such as Woody Allen and Roman Polanski, neither of whom have a film showing here, have instead been rewarded with warmly respectful documentaries, made and populated by high-profile friends and fans./ppThe festival president, Gilles Jacob, whose written memoir was entitled emCitizen Cannes/em, showed a charming documentary called strongA Special Day/strong, chronicling the festival's 60th anniversary when all extant previous winners of the Palme d'Or reassembled on the Cannes stage./ppWhile celebrating its own rich history, it was also confirming the flourishing careers of Cannes "graduates", such as Matteo Garrone, Jacques Audiard and Apichatpong Weerasetakul (the Thai film maker who won for emUncle Boonmee/em in 2010). Cannes is facing the future by firmly restating its brand; one of the best films here, strongRust and Bone/strong, is even partly set in Cannes./ppOpening with strongMoonrise Kingdom/strong was a sweet move. A singularly distinctive film-maker such as Wes Anderson invites the viewer into his little worlds, like a lonely boy asking you to come over and play with his dolls. It's a tender tale at heart, one of young love between our two 12-year-old leads, Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward, with the boy splitting scout camp on a New England island to be with the girl of his dreams – with whom he fell in love after spying her playing a raven in a church production of Benjamin Britten's emNoah's Flood/em./ppWe're talking rarefied society strata here, but Anderson likes to show the dysfunction in families at every level, from the emRoyal Tenenbaums/em, to the brothers aboard emThe Darjeeling Limited/em and even in the den of emFantastic Mr Fox/em./ppWhen it stays on subject, emMoonrise Kingdom/em is a charming evocation of youth, festooned with bravura sequences, such as the opening tracking shots around a home, in the manner of a doll's house set to a children's record of Henry Purcell, and a wonderful, lyrical passage evoking Terrence Malick's emBadlands/em, picturing the young couple at home in their camp on a shingle beach./ppWhile emMoonrise/em put a smile on my face for a few hours, the return of director Jacques Audiard to Cannes, after winning the Grand Prix for his searing prison movie emA Prophet/em in 2009, soon meant that it gave way to tears./ppAudiard more than matches up to expectations in emRust and Bone/em, delivering the first real contender for awards here, a thumping drama that sort of rendered Wes Anderson's daintiness irrelevant, a down-and-dirty film that gets into the blood. Delicate Wes would probably get a nosebleed from just reading its script./ppemRust and Bone/em is the story of Stephanie (Marion Cotillard), a whale trainer, who loses her legs in an accident at Marineland; and it's the story of Ali (Matthias Schoenaerts), a brute of a man on the run from his past, with his young son in tow, and prepared to go through all manner of pain to get by. Ali and Stephanie are rust and bone, chalk and cheese, and it's their unlikely yet inevitable coming together that gives this film such an emotional wallop./ppIn any hands other than Audiard's this storyline could have been preposterous, or even disastrous – but he is so sure of the genres he is constantly referencing and then subverting that the overall effect is visually and thematically thrilling./ppCotillard is so committed to her character, too, that any sensory overload quickly becomes part of the film's point, as music, image and tragedy pour off the screen. It's a movie of shocks, twists and melodrama chronicling visceral, outrageous fortune. I loved it. Cotillard was simply tremendous – her crying, "mais qu'est-ce que vous avez fait de mes jambes? (but what have you done to my legs?)" will be an Oscar reel clip for months to come./ppAudiard's is a bruising masterpiece, about the world's cruelty to its inhabitants, but it's only on the side of those who pick themselves up and make the most of their situation, like the imprisoned Tahar Rahim in emA Prophet/em or the deaf-mute played by Emmanuelle Devos in emRead My Lips/em. It's brutal but Audiard has no time for wallowing in victimhood./ppemLove and Bruises/em might have been a working title for emRust and Bone/em but it was actually the name of Chinese director Lou Ye's last film and which starred Audiard's discovery, Tahar Rahim. Ye's newest film, strongMystery/strong, opened the Un Certain Regard section, a brilliant whirl that marked the director's return to China after a five-year ban from filming there, incurred as a result of showing his emSummer Palace/em at Cannes in 2006 without the Chinese censors' permission./ppAbsence has resulted in an acerbic take on modern China. Set in Wuhan, it encompasses many themes including new money, poverty, infidelity, homosexuality, cop corruption, bigamy, big business and murder, as several storylines sprawl out around the central scene of a woman being run over in a traffic accident./ppAlso back, and in fine form, was Matteo Garrone, the Italian director whose emGomorrah/em was such a success in 2008. His terrific film strongReality/strong is again set among the poor of Naples but tells a heartbreaking story of Luciano, a fishmonger who dreams of appearing on emGrande Fratello/em (emBig Brother/em) and loses his grip on reality while dreaming of fame./ppThe film is both funny and bitterly satirical and, although thoroughly modern, is infused with the best, humane spirit of Italian neo-realism. It might look like My Big Fat Italian Gypsy Wedding, but it exhibits a crucial generosity toward its characters and their spirit. It features a remarkable performance from a first-timer, Aniello Arena, as Luciano. Arena began acting during a 20-year prison sentence and had to shoot the film on day release./ppWorking with cinematographer Marco Onorato, some of Garrone's shot-making and composition is breathtaking, creating a teeming portrait of a world Italy's TV mogul former president has totally abandoned. The attention to detail is amazing – there's always something going on in the corner of the screen, a fat man rolling over on a sunbed, or an old woman making meatballs and tutting. Wonderful./ppThe portrait painted in strongRoman Polanski: A Film Memoir/strong is a saintly one, in which the director is interviewed in his Gstaad home (while under house arrest) by his friend and producer on emMacbeth/em and emThe Tenant/em, Andrew Braunsberg. Polanski proves a compelling raconteur and his memories of the Warsaw ghetto and the Holocaust are incredibly moving. These stories are skilfully woven into footage and shots from emThe Pianist/em, which won the Palme d'Or in 2002. Perhaps surprisingly, Polanski reveals it is the work he would like to be remembered by./ppThe documentary's real agenda eventually emerges, when Polanski is drawn to discuss his arrest in 1977 on charges of raping a minor, and his subsequent flight from America. The events of the night itself are not discussed but he is clearly contrite and, so heavily is the documentary skewed in his emotional favour (the Nazis, the Mansons, emPirates/em) that many viewers will be gently led to conclude it is probably time to let this crime lie. I'm not so sure, but emChinatown/em and emRosemary's Baby/em were jolly good, weren't they?/ppRobert Weide's strongWoody Allen: A Documentary/strong also delves into the director's private life, raking over the scandal caused when Woody took up with Soon-Yi Previn, his then wife Mia Farrow's adopted daughter. While Woody does appear in the film – rather sweetly taking us back to the Brooklyn neighbourhood where he grew up – he is not questioned about this. He is though very sweet about his love for Diane Keaton, recalling how she made him laugh until he couldn't work while filming the Friday night dinner scene in emSleeper/em. It is perhaps the most open and emotional I've ever seen him be./ppThe panoply of clips, however, makes you laugh constantly and then want to sit down with emRadio Days/em, emBroadway Danny Rose/em, emAnnie Hall/em, emManhattan/em, etc, all over again. The overriding emotion to emerge is that the films speak for themselves – exactly the point Cannes as a whole is trying to make./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannes-2012"Cannes 2012/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannesfilmfestival"Cannes film festival/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/festivals"Festivals/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/wes-anderson"Wes Anderson/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/jacques-audiard"Jacques Audiard/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/woodyallen"Woody Allen/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/romanpolanski"Roman Polanski/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jasonsolomons"Jason Solomons/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/99718?ns=guardianpageName=Trailer+trash+at+Cannes+2012%3AArticle%3A1747626ch=Filmc3=Obsc4=Cannes+2012%2CCannes+film+festival%2CApichatpong+Weerasethakul%2CRoman+Polanski+%28Film%29%2CFilm%2CAlan+Yentob%2CMedia%2CCulturec5=Film+Awards%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CMedia+Weekly%2CTelevision+Mediac6=Jason+Solomonsc7=12-May-20c8=1747626c9=Articlec10=Featurec11=Filmc13=Trailer+trash+%28series%29c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FFilm%2FCannes+2012" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"An experimental offering proved just too relaxing while Alan Yentob nearly got bounced from opening night for wearing trainers/ph2strongLazy days/strong/h2pThailand's a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/apichatpong-weerasethakul" title=""Apichatpong Weerasethakul/a showed his experimental, hour-long film emMekong Hotel/em. It's set by a long quiet river and features a man chatting about emPob/em ghosts and Bangkok floods with a young woman and her mother on a hotel terrace overlooking the water. Occasionally, it cuts to one of them eating entrails, or hearts, like vampires or wild dogs. Throughout, a man plays a gentle blues on an acoustic guitar. It contains the literally immortal line: "I will be reborn as a horse and then several kinds of insect." It was screened after lunch in the hot Salle Bazin. On screen, the flies buzzed, the river flowed, the music played and the sun shone – I looked around and counted nine people blissfully asleep in my vicinity. Only for this Zen master director could one say that this reaction should be taken as some kind of compliment./pp/pp/ph2strongThey shoot, he scores/strong/h2pIf one theme dominates this Cannes it is a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/audio/2011/jan/05/film-weekly-alexandre-desplat" title=""Alexandre Desplat/a. The prolific composer's name – he's done scores for a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/137858/king-s-speech" title=""emThe King's Speech/em/a, a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/139929/tree-of-life" title=""emThe Tree of Life/em/a, a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/harrypotter?INTCMP=SRCH" title=""emHarry Potter/em/a, a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/114297/queen" title=""emThe Queen/em/a - flashes up on the credits of a record-breaking five films in the a href="http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/archives/2012/inCompetition.html" title=""selection/a: a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/jacques-audiard" title=""Audiard/a's emRust and Bone/em, Garrone's emReality/em, the a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/romanpolanski" title=""Polanski/a documentary, emMoonrise Kingdom/em and Gilles Bourdos's emRenoir/em which will close a href="http://www.festival-cannes.fr/en/archives/2012/unCertainRegard.html" title=""Un Certain Regard/a next week. You'd think they'd get his name right by now, at least, then? "I've been nominated for four Oscars and they alway read my name out wrong," he tells me. "It's emDay-plah/em, I say, no emS/em, no emT/em, and yet every time they read the nominations: Alexander Dessplatt." Maybe they're waiting till he actually wins one to get it right, I venture? "In that case, I will be very forgiving."/pp/pp/ph2strongYes to Yentob/strong/h2pBBC creative director Alan Yentob was nearly ejected from the opening night ceremony, for incorrect attire. The a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007ght1" title=""emImagine/em/a presenter wore a silver-striped tie and trainers to the strictly black tie (noeud papillon) event and was promptly blocked by bouncers. Only the glamorous head of BBC Films a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfilms/" title=""Christine Langan/a saved him, with a last ditch appeal to Cannes boss Thierry Frémaux who was standing at the top of the red carpet steps. Just as well – Yentob gets a little name check in the opening night film, emMoonrise Kingdom/em, when a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/bill-murray" title=""Bill Murray/a and Frances McDormand lie awake discussing their legal cases. "Did you get the approval on Yentob versus Crawford?" asks Murray. Didnbsp;Alan know about this? "No, I didn't, but it's definitely me," he told me at the film's after-party, still smarting from the bouncers' clench. "And had I not got in, there might well have been another lawsuit with my name on it." A glass of bubbly and a couple of canape skewers later, though, he was all smiles./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannes-2012"Cannes 2012/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/cannesfilmfestival"Cannes film festival/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/apichatpong-weerasethakul"Apichatpong Weerasethakul/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/romanpolanski"Roman Polanski/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/alan-yentob"Alan Yentob/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/jasonsolomons"Jason Solomons/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/53623?ns=guardianpageName=Bafta+TV+special%2FJulie+Walters%3A+Queen+of+the+screen%3AArticle%3A1745588ch=Television+%26amp%3B+radioc3=Obsc4=Baftas+%28Television%29%2CJulie+Walters%2CCulture%2CFilm%2CTheatre%2CStage%2CMo+Mowlam%2CPolitics%2CHarry+Potter+%28Film%29%2CScience+fiction+and+fantasy+%28Film+genre%29%2CDrama+%28TV+genre%29%2CTelevision+%28Culture%29%2CTelevision+and+radio+TVc5=Film+Awards%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CTelevision+Media%2CFilm+Reviews%2CTheatrec6=Euan+Fergusonc7=12-May-20c8=1745588c9=Articlec10=Feature%2CInterviewc11=Television+%26amp%3B+radioc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FTelevision+%26amp%3B+radio%2FTelevision+Baftas" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"She's won more Baftas than any other actress. Here, Julie Walters tells Euan Ferguson about her hippy years, life in the country and why it's never been a better time to be a woman on TV/ppOther multiple Bafta- and Emmy-winning actresses might have flung toys from the pram, or at least raised anbsp;manicured eyebrow. The restaurant at the photo studio had courteously but undeniably told her they'd run out of basically everything she might have wanted. Julie Walters smiled and forgave, and smiled again, and pretended to enjoy choosing the remaining dreadful rabbit-food option. Then, out of the waiter's sight, laughed like a drain when I suggested she'd have had better luck choosing from the other (blank) side of the menu; then turned down my offer of a cup of coffee instead because, "No, I'd talk you to death if I had a cup of coffee."/ppemWithout/em caffeine, she still talks nineteen to the dozen. And laughs a lot. And stops to think, often, just to be sure that it's going to be an honest answer, even if it's rattled off at a speed to synaptically fuse whatever shorthand skills I retain. In short, she's garrulous if she trusts; courteous if she doesn't; bright with laughter and thought, and sorry if I'm being too gushing but she really is one of the most authentically emenjoyable/em actresses I've ever interviewed./ppAnd fairly happy in her own skin at the moment: mainly living and working on anbsp;farm in Surrey with her husband Grant, and they have a daughter who's gone into horticulture. And yet Julie Walters has an absurdly large slew, a clutch, of worldwide red-carpet awards for her acting – Baftas and Emmys and a random Olivier or two simply piled up from 1980 (a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/movie/78978/educating-rita" title=""emEducating Rita/em/a) onwards – and is 61, and not blonde, nor particularly leggy nor predicated to flashing her chest. What's gone right?/pp"It's because, I think, it's getting better generally, daily, especially in TV, for women in acting; and age and looks count less. As more women come into the business. Change of any sort takes a emlong/em time to happen. And there were all us baby boomers who had a grammar school education, started to learn, then went on the pill, the whole thing, and so there are today a lot more women writers, editors, producers, and so a lot more women's stories. God, the BBC's practically emrun/em by women."/ppWhen 90% of the TV business was run by men, did they just see older women as… mothers? Good or evil mothers? "Absolutely, but they also saw older women as essentially non-sexual. And those dull parts are still there – Inbsp;still get offered parts where I feel: yes, hmm, but there's no emjourney/em. And if it's not interesting enough for me to want to do, then frankly Inbsp;won't even remember the lines."/ppThe most interesting TV ones have, of course, included Mo Mowlam, Dr Anne Turn-er in emAnbsp;Short Stay in Switzerland/em and, about as far as you can get from solving Northern Ireland and dignity in death, Mrs Overall in emAcorn Antiques/em and such memorable one-offs as the feisty defence barrister in last year's emThe Jury/em, which Inbsp;loved but has prompted a question which nags me. Does she ever feel there's anbsp;danger of her popping up on our screens only for everyone to say: oh, there's Julie Walters?/pp"Yes. It's anbsp;worry. And the classic one was Mo. And she'd only died about five or six years before. She had this squeaky voice, which is not mine, and I look emnothing/em like her. In fact, I tried to pull out of it. But Paul, my agent, said: 'Bollocks. Just put the wig and glasses on and get on with it.' And Grant was good, he said, but it's emyour/em Mo, your version of her, you're not trying to embe/em her. But Inbsp;still worry, because people associate you with certain parts, and they'll say: oh, she's just doing emthat/em again. All I can do is be true to the part and hope people will be carried along with it."/ppShe has been helped along the way, she's the first to admit, by some rather special television writing. "I think you could say I've been fairly lucky with writers down the years. Willy [Russell] and Alan Bleasdale and Alan Bennett and Victoria [Wood], of course. Time and time again they've given me gems. And along the way Inbsp;have been able to choose some themes which ask questions – not necessarily force anbsp;message on anyone, but at least invite the audience to emquestion/em things: jury service, dignity in dying, Ireland – and not least because they force emme/em to ask myself questions. Where do I stand? What do I honestly feel about this? Debate is so much better than denial./pp"That's partly why I'm so fed up with the current attitude to general arts funding. Bafta-wise, we are in very productive times. Great writing and acting. But this government just don't support it enough. They talk this crap about: we'll support it as long as you make blockbusters. Yet in order to be creative you have to be allowed to fail. And some of the most interesting questions needing to be asked today can best be asked on television, or stage, and they can be wonderful, great dramas, but they emwon't/em necessarily be blockbusters. Today much of the more interesting stuff is being done on TV because it's not governed bynbsp;Hollywood, is it?"/ppJulie Walters gets offered many scripts, but one of the few she's recently grabbed with both hands is emThe Last of the Haussmans/em: a href="http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/?lid=69914" title=""a new play/a by the actor/writer Stephen Beresford, which opens at the National Theatre's Lyttleton in the summer. It'll be her first time on that stage for 12 years, since emAll My Sons/em, first time on any stage sinceem Acorn Antiques: the Musical/em in 2005. Why this one, of all the offerings?/pp"It's hard work, theatre, and you've got to want to be there on emevery/em level. This one… Inbsp;loved the play, loved the character; it's touching and funny and fascinating and… uncomfortable, so it – I hate the phrase, but it ticked all the boxes. And it's being directed by Howard Davies, who I worked with before, who is wonderful; I feel very emsafe/em with him. And it's got Helen McCrory, who's got to be probably my favourite actress, and Rory Kinnear, playing my children, and so it's just… heaven."/ppWalters, in this play set in the current day, plays an estranged mother for whom the rebellious 60s haven't quite ended. "She's one of those women I just emknew/em. Oh, I went through bits of the 60s and thought myself a bit of anbsp;hippy – but still I'm nothing like this character, anbsp;emtrue/em child of the 60s. I think she was probably anbsp;heroin addict as well. Her very difficult father and rather distant mother brought up her two children instead. She couldn't deal with it. She was out there trying to find herself, get herself out of the ashes of her own upbringing and, of course, desperately anti-establishment. It's anbsp;great character – I just hope I can get it right."/ppDid she think those in their 20s now are being hindered or freed by the general diminution in political interest? "Why emaren't/em people interested? I suppose the polarisation, the difference between Labour and Conservative, has gone – well, that was Tony Blair, wasn't it?" Which was presumably why Mo Mowlam intrigued you so much? "Yes! She was one of the good kind, couldn't be spun. She wasn't perfect; far from it. But she emwas/em interesting. And her relative honesty in politics reminded you that politics could be, had been, both fashionable emand/emnbsp;important."/ppDid she still get angry about aspects of politics? "Not angry so much, but I keep up with absolutely everything. I am still, however, furious about the Iraq war and Blair lying to us. Yes, Inbsp;went on the march. I remember I got on the train with my daughter at Guildford – God it was full, and absurdly mixed. Frightfully posh people, and grannies from the Isle of Wight, all against it. And yet, nothing happened. It still looks to me that Blair had misled parliament, and I can't believe he believed that that was the right thing to do."/ppWalters is not that averse to all of Hollywood – jumped, she says, at the chance for a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/harrypotter" title=""emHarry Potter/em/a, because "you just would, wouldn't you, and look at that lovely cast!" Butnbsp;she is, now, in a position to sample, pick, taste, smile or wince at every job offered./pp"I have been taking it easy a little bit. After I did emMo/em, and the emPotters/em were coming to an end, 60 was coming up, and 60 felt like a big landmark. Not in a dreadful sense, but none of the other birthdays have bothered me. It's got labels on it – OAP, retirement – and I just wanted to take stock. Inbsp;wanted to be in my greenhouse at home and at least emgive/em myself the opportunity of not working again. Inbsp;talked it through with Grant, who was fine, and of course I'm very fortunate in even having that choice."/ppShe hardly drinks now, after anbsp;few 80s years as something of anbsp;hellraiser – "I miss the emidea/em sometimes, the idea of a glass of wine while cooking, but hey ho. And the menopause kind of put a stop to it for me. Just one glass and Inbsp;don't sleep."/ppThe idea itself can be tempting, Inbsp;offer, while relaxing on a Tuscan holiday? "But that probably won't happen. Not because Inbsp;wouldn't want it, but it's almost impossible to get Grant off the farm – it's such constant hard work. I've been on a couple of walking holidays with my friend Karen. It's all worth it because Grant is so… grounding. He'll come to the red carpets; very supportive. But he reminds me that, while I'm worrying about the tiniest variances on one of my lines, most people are going to be putting the kettle on and, frankly, not caring at all. He takes the drama out of things, and my job is to put the drama in, and I come from anbsp;family which always did that. It's so welcome at this stage."/ppThe coffee and rabbit food have exhausted themselves, and I wonder whether there is one perfect role still awaiting her. "Not a role but anbsp;script. If the script is right, yes. But it's who's around during it that's so important. Who's the director? And am Inbsp;going to get emon/em with people? You hear of some people, and… I'm sorry, but why would I want to spend six weeks on a film with somebody who's going to be incredibly difficult and we're all going to be tense? I have been, generally, privileged, fortunate. But just a couple of times down the years I have had to work with people – too protected, too anxious about their ego – and I don't think I ever want to do so again. Which makes me, yes, insanely lucky."/ppThe Last of the Haussmansem opens on 12 June at the National Theatre (/ema href="http://www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/" title=""emnationaltheatre.org.uk/em/aem)/em/pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/television-baftas"Television Baftas/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/julie-walters"Julie Walters/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/theatre"Theatre/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/mo-mowlam"Mo Mowlam/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/harrypotter"Harry Potter/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/sciencefictionandfantasy"Science fiction and fantasy/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/drama"Drama/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/television"Television/a/li/ul/divdiv class="author"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/euanferguson"Euan Ferguson/a/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

div class="track"img alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.24.1.1/58257?ns=guardianpageName=Bafta+TV+special%2FAbi+Morgan%3A+A+golden+year+for+television%3AArticle%3A1745476ch=Television+%26amp%3B+radioc3=Obsc4=Baftas+%28Television%29%2CTelevision+%28Culture%29%2CTelevision+and+radio+TV%2CThe+Hour+%28TV+series%29%2CRoald+Dahl%2CBooks%2CShane+Meadows+%28Film%29%2CAbi+Morgan+%28Playwright%29%2CCulturec5=Unclassified%2CFilm+Awards%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CTelevision+Media%2CTheatrec6=Abi+Morganc7=12-May-20c8=1745476c9=Articlec10=Featurec11=Television+%26amp%3B+radioc13=c25=c30=contentc42=Cultureh2=GU%2FCulture%2FTelevision+%26amp%3B+radio%2FTelevision+Baftas" width="1" height="1" //divp class="standfirst"As the countdown to next week's British Academy Television Awards begins, Abi Morgan, screenwriter of The Hour, Shame and The Iron Lady, reveals why it's been a golden year for television/ppMabel is unimpressed. "What are you doing?" "Writing a piece about television." "Hm." She considers me with the bored disdain that only an eight-year-old can deliver, when they're tired and hungry and just home from school. "Television. It rots the senses in the head. It kills imagination dead." I stare blankly, my fingers hovering over my laptop keys. "'Who told you that?" "Everyone knows that, Mum." She sighs, already halfway out of my office./ppRoald Dahl's got a lot to answer for. It's not that I am advocating the ditching of the classics. I have oompa loompa-ed my kids with the best of them, sending my son Jesse off to school with his face orange and his hair green for National Book Day. My daughter has skipped her way along the yellow brick road in Dorothy garb. There is nothing I like better than to see my children curled in a corner with a warm book… sorry, Kindle. But please – can we give television a break?/ppWhere do I begin? Television has been my friend. Television has been my portal in the storm. Television has been the place I have laid my weary head when nothing else seemed to make sense. It has in the past year alone sucked me into the heart of 80s England, catapulted me to pox-ridden Victorian back streets and ambushed my dreams with ghostly fades caught in a hellish limbo between heaven and earth. And did I say made me laugh – a lot?/ppI love television because it comes to you. Unlike film or theatre, it sits in the corner of the room. Or in these technological times lurks in the recesses of your computer. And if it's not immediately watched, it's there to be found. If it's good, someone will say, "Have you seen it? Watch it!" with an urgency that can compete with the best West End runs or Oscar-winning hits. You won't pay for it with a ticket and you might wait until the box set is out or catch it on some mad-hour re-run. But in your own time – 3am or 3pm – it might just travel into your world and it might just matter to you./ppSo why do I find myself turning it off and ushering my children towards more valid pursuits – kicking a ball repeatedly against anbsp;wall or to homework or friends or conversation or that book – just anything, anything so that they are not "stuck in front of the television"? This is the mantra, I know, of other parents, too. Is it so wrong to be stuck? Is it so dangerous to while away the hours gorging on series, serial or comedy? True, it may not demand the imaginative leap of emWar and Peace/em or your average Roald Dahl, but if it's good it demands that you feel. That you connect. That you laugh. That you cry. Often you learn something new. For anbsp;few minutes however many days anbsp;week you see the world differently. It may not make anbsp;more imaginative audience, but it can encourage a more empathic one./ppIt's the metronome for people's lives. The 10nbsp;o'clock news timekeeper, the messenger that can tell you things you don't want to know and perhaps some things you do. It is the stomping ground for some of our finest directors, producers, writers and actors. It's democratic. It can be that quietly political, boldly entertaining, searingly honest hour in your day that took you by surprise. And you didn't even have to get out of bed. For all the reasons that it can be detested, it can for those same reasons be loved. And it can be brave./ppThis year I have watched some brave television. Not always successful, not always the most-watched programmes, but TV that is out there, doing something, affirming that the imaginative mind is still alive and well. These are programmes upon which blogs are built, Twitter buzzes with renewed frenzy and people are still talking about them long after the shows are gone. In Debbie Tucker Green's emRandom/em, anbsp;playwright has turned screenwriter and even more admirably director, using the bold tactics of theatre and bringing them to life on the small screen. It is heartbreaking and brutal and difficult and essential television. Then there was emThe Fades/em – a Beckettian apocalyptic vision riddled with teen existentialism and bold, vivid storytelling created and written by Jack Thorne./ppThorne is also responsible for the enthralling emThis is England '88,/em helmed by the masterful Shane Meadows, a filmmaker who grabs you by the throat and wrestles you into painful, brilliant emotional submission on both small and big screen. Lucinda Coxon deftly adapted emThe Crimson Petal and The White/em, elevated into something magical, poetical and captivating in director Marc Munden's hands. emBoardwalk Empire/em was epic and Greek in its themes, delivering one of the best final episodes of anbsp;series that I have ever seen. Steve Buscemi and Michael Pitt, film stars directed by a renowned film director [Martin Scorsese] all drawn, like Meadows, to the small screen./ppI am biased. It is my bread and butter, an industry that has been kind to me. But that is what I love about it: its industry. What starts with a blank page or often a wing and prayer ends with you standing on a set marvelling at how many people it takes to make an hour of drama – infinite, brilliant people taping down wires and adjusting wigs and murmuring lines in the quiet of a canteen and staring at continuity photos; all doing what they are doing because while it's not brain surgery, it matters./pp/ppWriting emThe Hour/em, a series where everyone is chasing a deadline while you're chasing one too, is a terrifying experience. In the heart of London, in a former town hall, time has stood still. Or rather, the brilliant creative team led by Eve Stewart has knocked the building back into the 1950s. I live in a Charlie Kaufmanesque, emSynecdoche /emNew York world, where the lines between reality and fiction blur./ppFrom my office, I can hear the lines I've just tweaked being filmed. I pass an extra, a showgirl or earnest studio guest and I double take. Lix Storm, former war correspondent and hard-drinking newswoman, played by the brilliant Anna Chancellor, pauses for a chat. Line tweaks are discussed, motivation dissected and then she's gone. The scene is shot and in the can by the time I've come back from my leisurely trip to pick up another coffee and cake. I have put on two stone. emThe Hour/em has literally piled on the pounds. I am struck how like the old Hollywood studio system it is. Directors, actors, script editors and security guards all queuing up for their lunch./ppA serial is a different beast. Characters boomerang back. They tell you when they're not working, when you've taken a wrong turn. And when they don't, the actor playing them will let you know, because they own them more than you. It is a machine that eats up story and yet the potential of its wheels to keep turning, taking you to completely unknown places, is thrilling and irresistible./ppIt has been a good year. I know it's been anbsp;good year, not just because of the shows that I have mentioned, but because like all neurotic writers I suss out the competition, I probe, Inbsp;test the water of those I can trust, I read the reviews. The good stuff is brilliant, and the bad stuff, the rotting-the- mind stuff, the killing imagination blind… Well it's like anything, anbsp;little bit of it can't do you too much harm. emMob Wives/em… That's all I'm saying./ppSo here goes, moments that have mattered to me beyond those already mentioned: emTop Boy/em, thank you for raising everyone's game. emHoly Flying Circus/em, emHomeland/em, emCall the Midwife/em, emBorgen/em, emPage Eight/em: sorry, haven't got to you yet but too many people have told me to watch so I will. emThe Killing/em of course, Danish not American. emModern Family/em, em30 Rock/em, emFresh Meat/em, emRev/em, emTwenty Twelve/em – comedy gems from both sides of the Atlantic. em24 Hours in AE/em, emOne Born Every Minute/em, emThe Choir: Military Wives/em, Inbsp;have shed a tear with all three. I could go on./ppAs the industry tears the dry-cleaning wrappers off its suits and spangles for next Sunday's Baftas , and production companies juggle table plans to ensure all are made to feel good on the night, I look forward to writing less and watching more, becoming a punter again. When I can I will lure my children away from endless runs of emSimpsons/em. How could I forget emThe Simpsons/em? They are the memories that my children will have of their childhood watching TV. But I will lure them away in the hope that they will have those moments that still stay with me. I still remember the haunting music of emTales of the Unexpected/em, watching emLamb to the Slaughter/em, the murderous tale of an enraged detective's wife who kills her husband with the Sunday joint. I must have been 11, maybe a bit older, but I think it was the moment when TV got me hooked and led me back to the brilliance of Roald Dahl's books. Like I said, Dahl's got a lot to answer for. I will sit with my children, and share with them one of my greatest pleasures, stored in my heart like a wonderful book or anbsp;great play or film. Just sit with them and hope they will feel as I so often feel. That there is nowhere else I would rather be./pdiv class="related" style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/television-baftas"Television Baftas/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/television"Television/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/the-hour"The Hour/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/roalddahl"Roald Dahl/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/shane-meadows"Shane Meadows/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/stage/abimorgan"Abi Morgan/a/li/ul/divbr/div class="terms"a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies. All rights reserved. | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/help/feeds"More Feeds/a/divp style="clear:both" /

Fury after Libyan intelligence officer's early release over health battle

ONE curry served to patients had SIX times more fat than KFC Zinger burger fries

SEVENTEEN lads had NHS breast reductions in past 3 years but more went private

FACEBOOK founder announced nuptials on Facebook a day after stock market flotation

FEARSOME Navy super sub HMS Talent on way to the Falklands in show of power

TERRIFIED residents flood the streets of Bologna after 6.0-magnitude tremor strikes leaving six dead and 50 injured

MOD plans for 200 Special Forces troops to stay in country to pursue al-Qaeda

HUSBAND pulled into Asda and got phone advice while tot urged mum to breathe

TORY chairman Baroness Warsi reveals new plans to outlaw child weddings

A 'MAFIA' bomb attack at a school in southern Italy has left a girl dead and injured seven others

VIDEO: PAIR'S prank goes sickeningly wrong when they are unable to open door

NHS chiefs are to end the 8am rush for GP appointments with a new online booking service

RELATIONS of man cleared of killing Brit soldiers are clapped — as they go on trial for string of IRA terror offences

WORKERS who make extra NI payments to get at least £520 a year less when they retire

LOCALS fear the plans could turn exclusive neighbourhood into another Dale Farm

AS car costs rocket teens are spending around £2,499 for annual comprehensive cover

SENT his West Brom manager’s tracksuit after receiving good luck note

MONARCH and Duke of Edinburgh enjoy 78-aircraft flypast from all three services and parade featuring thousands of troops

OUR aid spending is going up 50% — while most other countries SLASHED theirs

BUNGLING officials have sent caged hate preacher Abu Hamza a NEW British passport

With the German army pulling out of Afghanistan in 2014, hundreds of Afghan workers fear they will become victims of revenge by the Taliban, who have already condemned them as traitors. German authorities are already preparing for a wave of visa applications.With the German army pulling out of Afghanistan in 2014, hundreds of Afghan workers fear they will become victims of revenge by the Taliban, who have already condemned them as traitors. German authorities are already preparing for a wave of visa applications.

Following the downgrade of 16 Spanish banks by Moody's, the focus in the euro crisis is back on the banking sector. Greeks are withdrawing hundreds of millions from their accounts, with reports that the same is happening in Spain. Experts are calling on the European Central Bank to step in and prevent full-scale bank runs.Following the downgrade of 16 Spanish banks by Moody's, the focus in the euro crisis is back on the banking sector. Greeks are withdrawing hundreds of millions from their accounts, with reports that the same is happening in Spain. Experts are calling on the European Central Bank to step in and prevent full-scale bank runs.

In recent months, China has begun to invest more heavily in Central and Eastern Europe. The new initiative reflects both Beijing's desire to develop beyond the production of cheap goods and its goal of establishing a presence in the European market for those products. The investments could also deepen political ties with countries like Poland and its neighbors.In recent months, China has begun to invest more heavily in Central and Eastern Europe. The new initiative reflects both Beijing's desire to develop beyond the production of cheap goods and its goal of establishing a presence in the European market for those products. The investments could also deepen political ties with countries like Poland and its neighbors.

Angela Merkel isn't known for her brutality. But her firing of her environment minister has German editorialists taking a new look at the chancellor. They see a leader desperately trying to keep her party, and all of Europe, from falling apart at the seams.Angela Merkel isn't known for her brutality. But her firing of her environment minister has German editorialists taking a new look at the chancellor. They see a leader desperately trying to keep her party, and all of Europe, from falling apart at the seams.

The Samwer brothers are among the most successful businessmen on the web -- and the most unpopular. Oliver, the leader of the trio, has only one goal: to capture an even greater share of the world's online marketplace.The Samwer brothers are among the most successful businessmen on the web -- and the most unpopular. Oliver, the leader of the trio, has only one goal: to capture an even greater share of the world's online marketplace.

Germany may be Europe's driving force in the euro crisis, but a prominent US think tank has accused the country of shirking its defense duties. In a report released ahead of the NATO summit in Chicago, a group of experts criticizes Germany for threatening the future of the whole alliance through its weakness.Germany may be Europe's driving force in the euro crisis, but a prominent US think tank has accused the country of shirking its defense duties. In a report released ahead of the NATO summit in Chicago, a group of experts criticizes Germany for threatening the future of the whole alliance through its weakness.

During the election campaign, French President François Hollande threatened to slap an income tax rate of 75 percent on high earners. Since then, wealthy French have been looking for ways to get themselves and their money out of the country. And nowhere looks more attractive than millionaire-friendly London.During the election campaign, French President François Hollande threatened to slap an income tax rate of 75 percent on high earners. Since then, wealthy French have been looking for ways to get themselves and their money out of the country. And nowhere looks more attractive than millionaire-friendly London.

Most people consider Oktoberfest to be the biggest drinking celebration in Germany. Often overlooked are the country's Father's Day celebrations, which involve oddly dressed men pulling wagons filled with beer into parks and drinking until they pass out.Most people consider Oktoberfest to be the biggest drinking celebration in Germany. Often overlooked are the country's Father's Day celebrations, which involve oddly dressed men pulling wagons filled with beer into parks and drinking until they pass out.

With the planned Nabucco natural gas pipeline in southern Europe hitting snag after snag, Russian natural gas giant Gazprom is considering the construction of a second Baltic Sea pipeline to go with the just-finished Nord Stream. With unconventional natural gas from the US flooding the market, however, the strategy is not without risk.With the planned Nabucco natural gas pipeline in southern Europe hitting snag after snag, Russian natural gas giant Gazprom is considering the construction of a second Baltic Sea pipeline to go with the just-finished Nord Stream. With unconventional natural gas from the US flooding the market, however, the strategy is not without risk.

Headhunters in Lisbon are currently lining up highly skilled Portuguese workers for good paying jobs in Angola, an African country currently experiencing enviable growth. There is no economic crisis in the former Portuguese colony and it offers something that is currently scarce in Portugal: jobs. Headhunters in Lisbon are currently lining up highly skilled Portuguese workers for good paying jobs in Angola, an African country currently experiencing enviable growth. There is no economic crisis in the former Portuguese colony and it offers something that is currently scarce in Portugal: jobs.

The mayor of Berlin has confirmed that the city's new international airport will not open until March 17, 2013, nine months after its planned June opening. The operators need additional time to complete a fire safety system.The mayor of Berlin has confirmed that the city's new international airport will not open until March 17, 2013, nine months after its planned June opening. The operators need additional time to complete a fire safety system.

Ahead of the NATO summit in Chicago, Germany's standing in the alliance has reached a low point. The country's abstention in the UN vote on military action in Libya has done lasting damage to its reputation. The Germans are now seen as unreliable partners who don't know what they want. Ahead of the NATO summit in Chicago, Germany's standing in the alliance has reached a low point. The country's abstention in the UN vote on military action in Libya has done lasting damage to its reputation. The Germans are now seen as unreliable partners who don't know what they want.

Responding to her party's massive defeat in elections in Germany's most populous state last weekend, Angela Merkel has fired Norbert Röttgen, the federal environment minister who was also the CDU's leading candidate in North Rhine-Westphalia. The move was an extraordinarily rare one in Germany and showed a cold side of Merkel that is seldom visible. Responding to her party's massive defeat in elections in Germany's most populous state last weekend, Angela Merkel has fired Norbert Röttgen, the federal environment minister who was also the CDU's leading candidate in North Rhine-Westphalia. The move was an extraordinarily rare one in Germany and showed a cold side of Merkel that is seldom visible.

According to German calculations, the new French president's call for an even lower retirement age and more public workers should not add up to economic growth. But despite violating established economic principles, the French economy works surprisingly well. According to German calculations, the new French president's call for an even lower retirement age and more public workers should not add up to economic growth. But despite violating established economic principles, the French economy works surprisingly well.

Chancellor Angela Merkel has shown her tough side by firing Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen after he lost a key state election for her conservative party. The demise of the former political star is yet another sign of the ongoing disintegration of Merkel's government. Röttgen is the latest in a long line of senior conservatives who has met with a sticky end.Chancellor Angela Merkel has shown her tough side by firing Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen after he lost a key state election for her conservative party. The demise of the former political star is yet another sign of the ongoing disintegration of Merkel's government. Röttgen is the latest in a long line of senior conservatives who has met with a sticky end.

Greece is on the verge of economic collapse and yet the country's left wants to jettison austerity measures. Would this leave any alternative other than exiting the euro? SPIEGEL ONLINE invited the leader of Greece's pro-business Drasi party and an anti-austerity Syriza parliamentarian to debate the issues. Greece is on the verge of economic collapse and yet the country's left wants to jettison austerity measures. Would this leave any alternative other than exiting the euro? SPIEGEL ONLINE invited the leader of Greece's pro-business Drasi party and an anti-austerity Syriza parliamentarian to debate the issues.

Chancellor Angela Merkel sacked Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen on Wednesday, replacing him with her close aide Peter Altmaier. Röttgen, a former protege of the chancellor, lost a major election for Merkel's conservative party on Sunday. Chancellor Angela Merkel sacked Environment Minister Norbert Röttgen on Wednesday, replacing him with her close aide Peter Altmaier. Röttgen, a former protege of the chancellor, lost a major election for Merkel's conservative party on Sunday.

The cost of modernizing US nuclear weapons, including those stationed in Germany, has risen sharply, according to estimates. Several independent experts told SPIEGEL ONLINE that the bill for renewing the B61 atomic bomb will rise to $6 billion. The project will also upset Russia, they say. The cost of modernizing US nuclear weapons, including those stationed in Germany, has risen sharply, according to estimates. Several independent experts told SPIEGEL ONLINE that the bill for renewing the B61 atomic bomb will rise to $6 billion. The project will also upset Russia, they say.

All across crisis-hit Europe, voters are disillusioned with mainstream politicians and are turning to populist and radical parties. In Italy, the new rising force is comedian Beppe Grillo's grassroots Five Star Movement. But can the charismatic agitator supply real solutions to the country's problems?All across crisis-hit Europe, voters are disillusioned with mainstream politicians and are turning to populist and radical parties. In Italy, the new rising force is comedian Beppe Grillo's grassroots Five Star Movement. But can the charismatic agitator supply real solutions to the country's problems?

West Indies mount a stirring fightback to raise their hopes of pulling off an unlikely victory over England in the first Test at Lord's.

Daley seals personal best dive.

An organisational mistake at the Great CityGames in Manchester costs Jessica Ennis a personal best in the 100m hurdles.

Northern Ireland's Graeme McDowell is narrowly beaten by Nicolas Colsaerts in the final of the World Match Play in Andalucia.

Champions League winners Chelsea parade the trophy through West London on an open-top bus.

England boss outlines expectations.

Graeme Swann is optimistic about England's chances against the West Indies despite losing two late wickets on day four.

Phil Neville believes is feeling positive about the "new era" England manager Roy Hodgson is ushering in at Euro 2012.

World number two Maria Sharapova recovers from a set and 4-0 down to beat Li Na and defend her Italian Open crown in Rome.

Chelsea chairman Bruce Buck says Roberto Di Matteo is "under serious consideration" for the manager's job after winning the Champions League.

Rain in Rome means the final of the Italian Open between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal will now be played on Monday.

York secure their return to the Football League after an eight-year absence as they come from behind to beat Luton at Wembley.

Spaniard Joaquim Rodriguez reclaims the lead in the Giro d'Italia despite being edged out by Matteo Rabottini in Sunday's 15th stage.

Thousands of Chelsea fans cheer on the squad during a parade to celebrate their team's Champions League victory in Munich.

World champion Nick Matthew beats Ramy Ashour to become the first Englishman to win the British Open three times in the professional era.

Haile Gebrselassie clocks the fastest 10,000m time in the world this year to win his fifth Great Manchester Run.

Stefan Ratchford scores two tries on his comeback as Warrington beat Wakefield 42-12 and move to within a point of leaders Wigan.

Arsenal's 100% Women's Super League record comes to an end as they are held to a 3-3 draw at Lincoln.

All the best action from the Champions League final in Munich.

Pictures from the Scottish Cup final between Hibernian and Hearts.

Listen to BBC Radio 5 live's coverage as Chelsea beat Bayern Munich on penalties to win the Champions League for the first time in their history.

West Ham beat Blackpool 2-1 in the Championship play-off final at Wembley to gain promotion to the Premier League.

Phil Neville is excited by the "new England era" ahead of Euro 2012, especially after his brother Gary's appointment as assistant coach.

Chelsea chief executive Ron Gourlay hails the club's "phenomenal" players following their Champions League victory over Bayern Munich in a penalty shoot-out.

Gianfranco Zola says his former Chelsea team-mate Roberto Di Matteo "deserves" to be made permanent manager following the club's first Champions League trophy.

Interim manager Roberto Di Matteo praises Chelsea's "incredible achievement" after they beat Bayern Munich to win the Champions League, but the Italian refuses to be drawn on his long-term future at the club.

Chelsea striker Didier Drogba says his match-winning penalty against Bayern Munich to clinch the Champions League trophy was his "best-ever goal".

West Ham celebrate promotion to the Premier League after a 2-1 play-off win over Blackpool, secured by Ricardo Vaz Te's dramatic late winner.

Heart of Midlothian players and manager Paulo Sergio give their reaction to their 5-1 defeat of Hibernian in the Scottish Cup final at Hampden.

"Music is the only language in which you cannot say a mean or sarcastic thing." pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iKSVkUOFi2yRoFKyXyIkWCd-JmI/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iKSVkUOFi2yRoFKyXyIkWCd-JmI/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iKSVkUOFi2yRoFKyXyIkWCd-JmI/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iKSVkUOFi2yRoFKyXyIkWCd-JmI/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

"The will to be stupid is a very powerful force, but there are always alternatives." pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Q2A5DecFMARjARMvg8ku3B7Y_Fw/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Q2A5DecFMARjARMvg8ku3B7Y_Fw/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Q2A5DecFMARjARMvg8ku3B7Y_Fw/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/Q2A5DecFMARjARMvg8ku3B7Y_Fw/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

"Education is a state-controlled manufactory of echoes." pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/c0W2n6rA_ymAv_gIum6grSsA-zM/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/c0W2n6rA_ymAv_gIum6grSsA-zM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/c0W2n6rA_ymAv_gIum6grSsA-zM/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/c0W2n6rA_ymAv_gIum6grSsA-zM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

"There's a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot." pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pAGtIS2rkvgXgqtQAy1-GNVsdZ8/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pAGtIS2rkvgXgqtQAy1-GNVsdZ8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pAGtIS2rkvgXgqtQAy1-GNVsdZ8/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/pAGtIS2rkvgXgqtQAy1-GNVsdZ8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

"Idealism is what precedes experience; cynicism is what follows." pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EOzv-etWl3BDNOdycNSQqDs4lX8/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EOzv-etWl3BDNOdycNSQqDs4lX8/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EOzv-etWl3BDNOdycNSQqDs4lX8/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/EOzv-etWl3BDNOdycNSQqDs4lX8/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

"Life is a fatal complaint, and an eminently contagious one." pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qRPPxdHbIkw_lT6HniNua-yQ-0w/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qRPPxdHbIkw_lT6HniNua-yQ-0w/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qRPPxdHbIkw_lT6HniNua-yQ-0w/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/qRPPxdHbIkw_lT6HniNua-yQ-0w/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

"Gratitude is merely the secret hope of further favors." pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0HdUFuJTyx5B0wFPySfxL0k1p10/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0HdUFuJTyx5B0wFPySfxL0k1p10/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0HdUFuJTyx5B0wFPySfxL0k1p10/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/0HdUFuJTyx5B0wFPySfxL0k1p10/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

"I don't know anything about music. In my line you don't have to." pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rdiXin1j9dtR7l6sBmfrBJeZnhM/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rdiXin1j9dtR7l6sBmfrBJeZnhM/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rdiXin1j9dtR7l6sBmfrBJeZnhM/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/rdiXin1j9dtR7l6sBmfrBJeZnhM/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

"I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions." pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/digKxu9GBlcw1DP2BQQC2CAEC6o/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/digKxu9GBlcw1DP2BQQC2CAEC6o/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/digKxu9GBlcw1DP2BQQC2CAEC6o/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/digKxu9GBlcw1DP2BQQC2CAEC6o/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

"Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way." pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9FUHBCC0xAsgI3eUGQJF2ZM5Zpk/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9FUHBCC0xAsgI3eUGQJF2ZM5Zpk/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9FUHBCC0xAsgI3eUGQJF2ZM5Zpk/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/9FUHBCC0xAsgI3eUGQJF2ZM5Zpk/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

"Everyone is as God has made him, and oftentimes a great deal worse." pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nFq6kGB-h6BlFePnsl93yYUHnyY/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nFq6kGB-h6BlFePnsl93yYUHnyY/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nFq6kGB-h6BlFePnsl93yYUHnyY/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/nFq6kGB-h6BlFePnsl93yYUHnyY/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

"The advantage of a classical education is that it enables you to despise the wealth that it prevents you from achieving." pa href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iBNv1zaaROHshllpm9ML4S1XyFc/0/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iBNv1zaaROHshllpm9ML4S1XyFc/0/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/abr/ a href="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iBNv1zaaROHshllpm9ML4S1XyFc/1/da"img src="http://feedads.g.doubleclick.net/~a/iBNv1zaaROHshllpm9ML4S1XyFc/1/di" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

Brian O'Driscoll insists Leinster will chase more glory after crushing Ulster 42-14 in the Heineken Cup final at Twickenham.

Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin says the first-half turnovers which led to tries were crucial to Leinster's win.

Leinster beat a spirited Ulster by a record Heineken Cup final-winning margin of 42-14 for their third titles in four years.

Leinster beat fellow Irish side Ulster to win the Heineken Cup for the third time in four years.

Jonny Wilkinson's Toulon taste defeat for the second time in three years as Dimitri Yachvili kicks Biarritz to victory.

French Top 14 club Toulon confirm Gethin Jenkins has joined them from Cardiff Blues ahead of the 2012-13 season.

Newcastle Falcons sign Scotland international scrum-half Rory Lawson on a two-year contract.

Sam Warburton says Martyn Williams deserves a better farewell from Wales than Cardiff Blues' fans gave him.

Leeds Carnegie will follow the example of Yorkshire Cricket Club and take some home fixtures to different grounds.

Rhys Priestland says there is "added pressure" on Wales to take a southern hemisphere scalp by beating Australia.

Northampton Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder signs a new contract to extend his stay at Franklin's Gardens until 2015.

Ospreys coach Jonathan Humphreys says the in-form region can get even better in the RaboDirect Pro12 final.

South African wing Hanno Dirksen signs a new two-year deal to stay in Wales with Pro12 finalists, the Ospreys.

The Rugby Football Union are to abolish the promotion and relegation pool stages in the Championship from next season.

London Irish's Steven Shingler is ruled ineligible for Scotland after losing his IRB appeal and is tied to Wales.

Dutch winger Tim Visser is "honoured" to be named in the 28-man Scotland squad for the tour of Australasia.

Wales's Grand Slam-winning wing Alex Cuthbert agrees a new contract to stay with the Cardiff Blues.

Northampton Saints chief executive Allan Robson tells BBC Radio Northampton that Jim Mallinder's contract extension is "great news" for the club.

Brian O'Driscoll says Leinster must not hand penalty chances to Ulster kicker Ruan Pienaar in Saturday's Heineken Cup final.

Northampton Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder tells BBC Look East the club needs more strength in depth if they are to compete with Leicester Tigers.

Ulster look ahead to their clash against holders Leinster in the Heineken Cup final.

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall tells BBC Three Counties Radio "there are lots of good things happening at the club".

London Welsh chairman Bleddyn Phillips tells BBC London 94.9 he is confident their application to play in the Premiership will be accepted.

Wales assistant coach Robin McBryde says the recalls of players such as Ospreys Dan Biggar and Andrew Bishop to the national squad have been dictated by current form.

Northampton Saints forward Roger Wilson tells BBC Northampton the manner of their Aviva Premiership semi-final defeat to Harlequins was "not a good way to leave" the club ahead of his move to Ulster.

Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill tells BBC Radio Leicester he is delighted to have reached the Premiership final after a rocky start to the season.

Ospreys players Paul James, who is Bath-bound at the end of the season, joins skipper Alun Wyn Jones, soon-to-quit wing Shane Williams and coach Steve Tandy in celebrating reaching the Pro12 final with a 45-10 win over Munster.

Northampton Saints director of rugby Jim Mallinder tells BBC Northampton that the squad were "despondent" in the immediate aftermath of their 25-23 defeat to Harlequins.

England coach Stuart Lancaster says winning all three of their Tests on their tour to South Africa will be "challenging" after naming his 42-man squad.

Jim Mason examines Andy Robinson's choices for Scotland's tour of Australasia - and their chances of recording a win