Bletchley Park WWII archive to go online

Pictures of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler will be accessible

Millions of documents stored at the World War II code-breaking centre, Bletchley Park, are set to be digitised and made available online.

Electronics company Hewlett-Packard has donated a number of scanners to the centre in Milton Keynes so volunteers can begin the ground-breaking task.

Many of the records at the once-secret centre have not been touched for years.

During the war, it was home to more than 10,000 men and women who decoded encrypted German messages.

The centre hopes that once the work starts, previously untold stories about the role Bletchley Park played in the war, will be revealed.

'Trail'

The first phase of the project is expected to take at least three years.

Simon Greenish, chief executive officer of the Bletchley Park Trust, said the plan was for the centre's entire archive to be digitised.

He said: "We've been wanting to do this for a while. It was first discussed five years ago, but we have just never had the funds.

"If I ever manage to secure £10,000 then that goes towards buying a new roof as this project just has not had the attention it deserves.

"But for the first time we hope we will be able to put everything into the public domain."

He said since the archive is so big nobody knows exactly what each individual document stored there contains.

Bletchley Park's secret archive

However, the information they expect to dig out will definitely include communication transcripts, communiques, memoranda, photographs, maps and other material relating to key events that took place during the war.

He said: "We have many boxes full of index cards, which have lots of different messages on them. But this will be our chance to follow a trail and put the messages together so we can find out what they really mean.

"We found a card talking about 4,400 tonnes of mercury being transferred from Spain - we will be searching for further messages explaining what happened and why this was done."

He said the archive had tremendous potential and once it was online, people would find it easier to trace documents related to certain subjects within minutes - something that takes days to do now.

Pictures set to go online in the archive include ones of Adolf Hitler shortly after surviving an attempt to assassinate him. They had been taken by his official photographer Heinrich Hoffmann.

It is quite clear there was a lot of correspondence going on between these countries

Simon Greenish Bletchley Park Trust

"I'm looking toward to finding the cards relating to rubber and ball bearings and how the Germans gathered these materials.

"The Germans developed synthetic rubber as they found it hard to get natural rubber. They also needed lots of ball bearings for the war effort, which is why the allied forces attacked a lot of ball bearing factories."

He said there were records in the archive which showed countries such as Spain, Switzerland and Sweden were perhaps not as neutral as they were portrayed.

"It is quite clear there was a lot of correspondence going on between these countries," he said.

He said the volunteers had already unearthed records showing countries including Spain dealing in diamonds with the Japanese and other German allies.

He said more information about the double agent Garbo - a Spaniard whose real name was Juan Pujol Garcia - was likely to come out once the work on the archive began.

Garbo, who has been described as World War II's "greatest double agent", persuaded the Nazis that the allied forces were planning their D-Day operation in Calais rather than Normandy.

He said he was also expecting more information about the fuel the Germans were discovered to be sending to Pennemuende, a small village close to the Baltic Sea.

The hard copies of the documents are stored in a massive room

He said: "We didn't know anything about it initially, but then because of the message that Bletchley Park decoded, the allies sent a reconnaissance aircraft and they found out that rockets - weapons of terror - were being developed there. The RAF then attacked the site."

He said the documents were all important as just one obscure message could have led to thousands of lives being saved.

Laura Seymour, from Hewlett-Packard, said her company contacted Bletchley Park in September 2009 after learning of its plight.

The company donated a number of scanners and people to provide technical expertise to the charity.

Ms Seymour estimated the cost to HP was in the tens of thousands but said it was a project that was worth being involved in.

Mr Greenish believed the archive would be an important research tool and could even attract more people to the site. It would also ensure the preservation of the fragile hard copies.

Currently most of the documents are too difficult to view or handle and few have access to them. But Bletchley Park hopes that its new archive will one day be a different type of gateway to the past.

Bletchley Park WWII archive to go online

Source: BBC.COM By Dhruti Shah BBC News

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Smart clothes offer emotional aid

Smart clothes could soon be helping their wearers cope with the stresses of modern life.

The prototype garments monitor physiological states including temperature and heart rate.

The clothes are connected to a database that analyses the data to work out a person's emotional state.

Media, including songs, words and images, are then piped to the display and speakers in the clothes to calm a wearer or offer support.

Created as part of an artistic project called Wearable Absence the clothes are made from textiles woven with different sorts of wireless sensors. These can track a wide variety of tell-tale biological markers including temperature, heart rate, breathing and galvanic skin response.

Data is gathered passively and used to trigger a response from a web-based database previously created by the wearer. The clothes connect to the web via a smartphone.

When the wearer is detected as being in a particular emotional state, the database will send media to the clothes to help try to change a person's mood

To accomplish this, the clothes are fitted with display made of LEDs and have speakers built in to the hood. The display can show scrolling text or simple images and the speakers can replay music, sounds or pre-recorded messages from friends or family.

Developed by Barbara Layne from Concordia University in Canada and Janis Jefferies from Goldsmiths College's Digital Studios, the prototype garments were shown at the Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences held in Montreal from 28 May - 3 June.

Earlier work by Professor Layne created jackets that knew when their owners were touching and changed the messages being displayed on the LED displays sewn into them.

Smart clothes offer emotional aid

Source: BBC.COM

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Building the Networked World

The idea of the Digital Agenda was fleshed out in Amsterdam

The life of the technology critic is a hard one, I reflected last week as I glided along the canals of Amsterdam on a journey between the Amsterdam RAI conference centre and the restored gasworks that were to host the opening night celebration of the 2010 World Congress on Information Technology.

I was in the company of assorted dignitaries, speakers and hacks, including Dutch minister of Economic Affairs Maria van der Hoeven and WCIT boss Ralph van Hessen, all enjoying the sunshine which had broken through at the end of the day.

On our arrival we were met by Loewijk Asscher, the acting mayor of Amsterdam, and other assorted dignitaries, and ushered into the gasworks, decked out for the evening with enough cool technology to satisfy even the most hardened geek.

It was a good end to a day that had begun in the massive RAI auditorium as we all gathered to hear the opening speeches, including a barnstorming performance from the newly appointed European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda, Neelie Kroes.

Dr Kroes was until recently Competition Commissioner, and Google, Apple. Microsoft and Intel have all felt her hot breath on the back of their respective corporate necks.

She has driven home the point that EU approval matters just as much as US approval and that practices acceptable "back home" may not be agreeable in a European context, no matter how big the company.

She seemed to revel in the fact that she could speak about her new initiative, after six years in which she was forced to be very careful about what she said in public for fear of saying something that revealed a bias or hinted at a decision that had not been formally announced, and her enthusiasm was palpable.

"The effective use of information and communications technologies is going to be vital if we are to come out of the current economic crisis ". Bill Thompson

It also became clear that she does not believe that she has all the answers or that she can find them within the EU bureaucracy that serves her as commissioner.

She is looking for help and advice, and turning especially to younger people who have grown up with digital technologies around them and can grasp their transformative - and disruptive - potential.

The agenda is one of those sensible proposals that many people like to dismiss as utopian dreaming, as it calls for open and interoperable products and services, more investment in ICT-focused R&D, concerted action to reduce the digital divide and effort to focus on how the network can be used to benefit society.

There's a renewed commitment to getting 30Mbps access for everyone by 2020, with over half of having 100Mpbs, which should be usable even in 10 years time. There is a call for a single digital market in Europe, which might even mean that iTunes downloads and iPlayer streams are consistently available.

And it seems that it will move ahead quite quickly - on an EU scale, anyway - as it now has support from the Council of Ministers, made up of relevant ministers from the EU states.

I have always been in favour of the European project, and consider myself as least as much a European citizen as a British one. I even have the billt.eu domain and keep euros in my wallet most of the time.

The Digital Agenda is aiming for high-speed broadband across Europe

When asked if I've travelled much lately I tend to forget trips to Paris and Venice as they don't feel any different from going to York, and no more "foreign" than going to Scotland.

So I am enthusiastic about the Digital Agenda and pleased that it is being led by someone who has learned a lot about how the IT industry works in her previous role and seems to have used the time to think deeply about the wider impact of these technologies on Europe and the rest of the world.

The effective use of information and communications technologies is going to be vital if we are to come out of the current economic crisis, and it also offers the best hope for creating a sustainable world economy rather than one predicated on continuing growth.

But the agenda also offers those of us who are concerned about the shape of the network world a chance to consider a wider perspective, and to ensure that we appreciate where choices have to be made and compromises struck in order to ensure that a networked Europe is effective.

Also that Europe offers a model to rest of the world over issues such as copyright, the balance between freedom and accountability online and the need for the network to be treated as a public good that is not simply left to the open market.

This is the start of a long process, and anyone who has been deeply engaged in policy-making at the European level will know that it is unlikely to go quickly or smoothly.

But at least it's a start.

Bill Thompson is an independent journalist and regular commentator on the BBC World Service programme Digital Planet. He is currently working with the BBC on its archive project.

Building the Networked World

Source: BBC.NET

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Enter the City Of The Daleks in Doctor Who's new adventure games

My kids love CBBC - they play it all the time. Sure, they like the TV channel as well, but it's the website and the games that come first. That's not to say that TV doesn't matter to them any more.

Once a week, the programme we all sit down for, as a family, is Doctor Who. But that's not enough for them - they want to play as well as watch. That's why we've created the Doctor Who Adventure Games.

In our house, given a choice, my kids will always head for the computer first, the games console second before turning on the TV - books sadly come a distant fourth, which is why they rarely do get a choice.

My four-year-old can easily navigate and play on the CBeebies site; the older ones choose the worlds of Little Big Planet, Club Penguin and Moshi Monsters over most the TV has to offer. When they do watch TV, they want to watch programmes which have games they can also play, such as the brilliant Horrible Histories.

Our aim with the Doctor Who Adventure Games is to enable all Doctor Who fans - kids and adults, experienced and uncertain gamers - to enjoy four new episodes where they can play and interact with the action, rather than just watch.

City Of The Daleks, the first interactive episode is available to play now on the Doctor Who website and will be followed a few weeks later by the second and third episodes. You'll get to play the fourth and final game later in the year.

We know that our audiences are demanding and if we do something on this scale, it has to be high quality, it has to be innovative and it has to work as a game.

So we joined forces with experts from the games world. We put Charles Cecil, creator of titles such as the Broken Sword franchise, and Sumo, a Sheffield-based games development company together with the writers and producers of the new series of Doctor Who - Phil Ford and James Moran. They were overseen by Steven Moffat and the producers of the TV series.

The results have been extraordinary - both teams have learned from each other. The TV teams have had to learn about how storytelling works in game environments.

The game developers have had to deal with a hero who breaks many of the rules of traditional game play - he won't use violence, must rely on ingenuity and stealth to achieve tasks and effectively already has a skeleton key to open every door he encounters - his sonic screwdriver.

Matt Smith and Karen Gillan have learned all about rotoscoping, as their real-life movements and actions have been captured for use in the game.

Set designs on TV have been influenced by the game designs and within the Adventure Games we've have been able to take audiences to environments which would be impossible on TV - frozen worlds, underwater worlds, inside the Tardis and in the first episode, to a devastated Trafalgar Square in London and then to the Dalek home planet of Skaro.

You'll be able to download them, for free, from the Doctor Who website (unless you're abroad in which case we're making arrangements for other sites to offer them).

We've tried to make this process as simple and painless as possible and one that will work on as many computers as possible (the Mac version will unfortunately be a week or so late but be assured - it's coming!).

We think we've created stories and an extension of the Doctor Who world and mythology that can proudly sit alongside the best episodes and storylines of the past and present - but this time you control the action, you are the Doctor (except when you're Amy!).

I hope those new to games will take their first steps in an environment which will show that games are a wonderful creative medium in their own right.

And, a place where occasionally they might like to join their kids for some good, old-fashioned playtime.

Enter the City Of The Daleks in Doctor Who's new adventure games

Please do let us know what you think.

Source: BBC.COM Simon Nelson | 10:57 UK time, Friday, 4 June 2010

Simon Nelson is controller, portfolio and multiplatform, BBC Vision

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Breaking the butterfly botnet

The huge network was created using the butterfly botnet kit

The last 12 months have seen significant success in combating one of the main forms of cybercrime - botnets.

These networks of hijacked home computers have become the basic tool for many cyber thieves. Maintaining them, finding new victims and using them has become a significant part of the net's criminal economy.

The vast majority of spam is sent out via the computers on botnets; they are used to stage attacks on websites and the machines forming them are harvested for saleable information such as credit card numbers and game logins.

Jobs for the boys

Shutting down the Mariposa, or butterfly, botnet was one of the bigger successes. It got its name because it was built using the butterfly bot kit.

Mariposa was made up of about 12.7 million computers. It was such a problem that security companies and law enforcement agencies formed a Mariposa Working Group to pool intelligence about it.

Months of co-operation resulted in the arrest in December 2009 of the three people alleged to be running the entire network.

Botnets are the tool of choice for many hi-tech criminals

Luis Corrons, a senior researcher at Panda Security, played a big part investigating Mariposa.

"Our main goal was to shut down the botnet and of course we wanted to take them down and find out who they were," he said. "In most cases it's impossible."

Finding out was only possible when one of Mariposa's controllers accidentally revealed the net address of his home computer.

"In this case we were really lucky," said Mr Corrons. "When I found the IP address imagine my face when I realised it was in Spain."

Not only that but one of the men behind the botnet lived a few kilometers from the Bilbao lab where Mr Corrons worked.

He assumed that the arrest and closure of Mariposa would mark the end of his involvement of the investigation.

In late March Mr Corrons was preparing for a meeting at Panda's Bilbao lab with a journalist and took a moment to dodge downstairs to get a drink. On the way down he passed two young men coming up.

One asked if he was Luis Corrons. He said yes while wondering who they were.

They introduced themselves which left him no wiser. Then, one of them said; "I'm Ostiator and this is Netkairo."

"It was then I realised these guys were the ones that were arrested in the Mariposa case," he told the BBC. "I thought they wanted to teach me a lesson."

Not so, though the truth turned out to be even stranger.

Mr Corrons took the pair to a meeting room and asked them what they wanted.

"I still could not believe it," he said. "I thought it was kind of a joke."

The two men complained that the shutdown of Mariposa had robbed them of their livelihood. They had no income or job.

So, they said, they would like to come to work at Panda Security.

"I did not want, at that moment, to say no," said Mr Corrons.

He told them that being behind the mariposa botnet is not something that would work in their favour. Despite this advice they insisted on handing over their very brief CVs and left.

"I thought that was going to be all of it," he said.

Skill set

It wasn't. The pair began following Mr Corrons on Twitter and Netkairo started adding comments to his blog.

Soon after, Netkairo got in touch again requesting a meeting to find out about whether Panda would be employing them.

Mr Corrons agreed and took a colleague along when Netkairo turned up.

They told him that neither Panda, nor any other security company, would hire anyone that had been involved with criminal activity.

"But," said Netkairo, "we've still not been charged and nobody knows we were involved with it."

Spanish police are still weighing the evidence against the Mariposa controllers as running a botnet is not a crime in Spain.

Mr Corrons then pointed out that the two men had negligible technical skills that would not recommend them to any computer company.

Victims' machines were plundered for saleable data

"He got really annoyed at that moment, when we told him he was not good enough," said Mr Corrons. Subsequent discussion revealed just how poor their skills were.

"They were given the botnet with all the stuff they needed," said Mr Corrons. "Using it was like using any other program.

"In the same way, I don't know how to program Word, but I can write documents with it," he said.

Netkairo left disappointed and Mr Corrons wondered if that would be the end of it.

"No-one has ever visited me like that before, not me or anyone else in the lab," he said.

The whole episode, said Mr Corrons, served to underline how cyber crime was changing in that people with almost no technical skill could end up making a good living running one of the biggest botnets ever.

"The ones that are skilled develop the trojans and bots," said Mr Corrons. "But they are not the ones that run the networks.

"There are other criminals that do that," he said. "In some cases, like this, they are stupid and in some not."

Breaking the butterfly botnet

Source: Bbc.net

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Easyjet to trial volcanic ash detection system

Easyjet has unveiled a system that it says will allow airlines to safely fly around ash clouds.

It involves infra-red technology that allows pilots to see the damaging particles up to 62 miles ahead.

The theory is that a pilot can then change course and continue to fly safely.

It has the support of the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA), the body that decides whether it is safe to fly through ash in UK airspace.

The CAA said it was happy an airline appeared to have found a technical solution, and, although it was not endorsing the product, it would do what it could to help certification.

'Silver bullet'

Earlier this year, many air passengers had their travel plans wrecked when airlines had to scrap thousands of flights due to the Icelandic volcanic ash problem.

The CAA faced criticism from some airlines, who argued that the body had been overly cautious.

Easyjet chief executive, Andy Harrison, said: "This pioneering technology is the silver bullet that will make large-scale ash disruption history."

The new system, called Airborne Volcanic Object Identifier and Detector (Avoid), will be tested by Airbus on behalf of Easyjet within the next two months.

Easyjet, which is spending £1m ($1.47m) on the system, says it is happy for rivals to share its knowledge.

Mr Harrison, said: "What we don't want to do is to gain a commercial advantage over other airlines so we can fly and they can't. We are not going to exclude people from this technology."

He said the hardest part would be to get approval from European authorities.

Ash damage

Easyjet said the volcanic ash disruption had cost it up to £75m,

Its passenger figures for last month, showed 215,000 of its own passengers had their travel plans disrupted because of volcanic ash and 1,600 flights were cancelled.

Despite the impact of the ash cloud, the expansion of the no-frills airline meant that it still flew 7.9% more people in May than a year ago.

The average load factor of the plane, an important measure of airline efficiency, was 85.8% compared with 83.5% in May 2009.

A total of 4.25 million people took a flight with Easyjet in May, up from 3.95 million last year.

Easyjet to trial volcanic ash detection system

Source: Bbc.com

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Google is 'close' to handing over German wi-fi data

Pressure is mounting over Google's wi-fi data capture

Search giant Google has said it is "close" to resolving issues that have prevented it from passing a hard disk of data to German authorities.

The disk contains wi-fi data Google Street View cars gathered by mistake.

Pressure to make the data available has been increased by the German regional Information Commissioner that started the inquiry.

In a statement, Dr Johannes Caspar said he expected Google to "continue on the path of co-operation and transparency".

Google had until the early hours of 27 May to hand over the data to Dr Caspar from the Hamburg Information Commissioner's office.

Dr Caspar had requested answers to a range of technical questions about how Google had managed to gather details of internet traffic from wi-fi networks belonging to individuals and businesses all over the world.

He had also asked to see the data that Google gathered.

Google answered many of the Information Commissioner's questions in time for the 27 May deadline and made a Street View car available for tests. However, it refused to hand over the hard disk of data, amid concerns that it may be breaching German telecommunication law by doing so.

But Dr Caspar told the BBC last week: "I have asked the General Prosecutor in Hamburg whether Google would face problems in giving us the material, and he told us that this would not be a problem."

Google said previously it had been trying to improve location-based services by collecting wi-fi data, but claimed that a "failure of communication between and within teams" led to the capture of data transmitted across unencrypted wireless networks.

Hidden networks

The statement from the Hamburg Information Commissioner's office indicated that it had performed tests on a Google Street View car, in a controlled environment, with simulated wireless networks.

"For the wi-fi coverage in the Street View cars, both the free software Kismet, and a Google-specific program were used.

"The Google-specific program components are available only in machine-readable binary code, which makes it impossible to analyse the internal processing," it said.

Kismet's website says it is a "wireless network detector, sniffer, and intrusion detection system".

An article on Wi-Fi Planet about Kismet said that the software is capable of even detecting wireless networks where the so-called SSID wi-fi network identifier was hidden.

Dr Caspar said: "Because of the importance of the matter, we think a full investigation is essential.

"For this purpose, additional information will be required about the software's source code, and ultimately, a hard disk with original data.

"I expect Google to continue on the path of co-operation and transparency," he said.

No deadline for handing over of the data was given, but Google also issued a statement:

"We are working hard to get the Hamburg DPA access to the data and information he needs - indeed we have already given him access to a car to review.

"We recognize how important this issue is and believe that we are close to resolving the legal issues we have faced in order to make available the payload data we mistakenly ended up collecting."

Mounting pressure

Pressure continues to mount on Google over the wi-fi data capture from a number of fronts.

Earlier this week, the US Federal Trade Commission confirmed that it has launched a probe into Google's actions, in response to a request from the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog.

And the office of Canada's Privacy Commissioner has also launched an investigation into the collection of the wi-fi data.

The social network giant Facebook was forced to implement substantial changes to its website last summer, following a major privacy investigation by the Canadian authorities.

"We have a number of questions about how this collection could have happened," said Jennifer Stoddart, Canada's Privacy Commissioner.

"We've determined that an investigation is the best way to find the answers."

Under instruction from the relevant data protection commissioners though, Google has already destroyed data it gathered in some jurisdictions, including those of Denmark and Ireland.

Google is 'close' to handing over German wi-fi data

Source: Bbc.com

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Fifa video game comes to Facebook

The game is Playfish's first release since it was bought by Fifa makers EA

The latest video game in the Fifa football series has launched on Facebook rather than on games consoles.

The popularity of social media games has risen in recent years with up to 250 million global players logging on to various games each month.

Previous console Fifa games have retailed at around £30 but FIFA Superstars is free to play online.

The footballers making up each player's team are purchased in packs at a cost of £1 - £2 per pack.

Players pit their teams against those belonging to their Facebook friends.

As the tournament progresses, each player earns points which can also be used to purchase team members.

Unlike console-based versions of Fifa games in which the player can decide to play as a manager, a player or both, on Facebook players can only be managers of virtual teams made up of real players from around the world.

They can also opt to participate in league games outside of their "friends" network.

"The Facebook version is a strategy game," said Playfish chief executive Kristian Segerstrale.

"It extends the Fifa franchise by enabling you to play with friends."

It will also reflect events as they unfold in the World Cup said Mr Segerstrale, although the details are yet to be announced.

There will be a new edition of the console version of Fifa at a later date.

Social media games developer Playfish was bought by Fifa makers Electronic Arts (EA) for $300m (£170m) in 2009.

Fifa video game comes to Facebook

Source: Bbc.com

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Barack Obama greets new Japanese leader Naoto Kan

The Futenma base has angered Okinawans for years

US President Barack Obama has telephoned Japan's new leader Naoto Kan to congratulate him and to pledge co-operation, amid tensions over a US military base on the island of Okinawa.

Tokyo officials said Mr Kan had promised to make "strenuous efforts" to resolve the issue.

Japan's previous government resigned after failing to deliver an election pledge to move the US base off Okinawa.

Many residents on the island resent the military presence.

Incidents including the rape of a 12-year-old Japanese girl in 1995 by three US servicemen have inflamed public opinion.

Compromise plan?

The White House said in a statement that the two leaders had agreed to work closely together on a number of issues.

"They emphasised the importance they each place on the US-Japan alliance," the statement said.

Barack Obama and Naoko Kan spoke for about 15 minutes

Washington did not mention the Futenma military base, which has been in place since World War II ended and has become crucial to US efforts to maintain a balance of power in East Asia.

The administration of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama - who resigned last week - had tried to organise moving the base away from Okinawa.

But he failed to find an agreeable site and so proposed a compromise - to relocate it elsewhere on Okinawa.

Japan's Kyodo news agency reported that Defence Minister Toshimi Kitazawa had confirmed that Tokyo wanted to press ahead with the compromise plan.

The agency said Mr Kitazawa had told US Defense Secretary Robert Gates about the new government's intentions during talks on the sidelines of a security conference in Singapore.

Tokyo has not commented on the report.

Barack Obama greets new Japanese leader Naoto Kan

Source: Bbc.com

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G20 nations stress economic recovery challenges

The meeting set the agenda for a summit later this month

G20 finance ministers have said the recovery from the global economic crisis has been faster than expected, but significant challenges remain.

Meeting in South Korea, the ministers and central bankers from the world's leading economies said excessive budget deficits should be tackled immediately.

They did not come to any agreement on a global bank tax.

The meeting sets the agenda for a summit of G20 leaders in Toronto on 26-27 June.

"The recent volatility in financial markets reminds us that significant challenges remain and underscores the importance of international co-operation," the final statement from finance ministers said.

Recent events "highlight the importance of sustainable public finances", it added.

The statement also said the financial sector should make a "fair and substantial contribution" to future rescue deals - but did not refer to any bank tax.

A global bank tax is supported by the US and Europe, but opposed by some developing nations, as well as Canada and Australia.

The final statement did signal tougher guidelines for banks on how much capital they should hold in reserve.

The ministers also called for more transparency, regulation and supervision for hedge funds, credit rating agencies, compensation practices and over-the-counter derivatives.

G20 nations stress economic recovery challenges

Source: Bbc.com

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US mulls new North Korea measures

The US is considering further steps to hold North Korea to account for the sinking of a South Korea warship, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says.

He told an Asian security conference in Singapore that inaction would set a "bad precedent", but did not say if the US was considering more sanctions.

Seoul has asked the UN Security Council to take action against the North.

South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has described Pyongyang's denial of sinking the ship as "laughable".

During the conference, Mr Gates also urged China to restore military ties with the US, saying their suspension was damaging security in Asia.

Tensions between the two Koreas have increased since the sinking of the Cheonan near the inter-Korean maritime border on 26 March, in which 46 sailors were killed.

'Belligerent behaviour'

North Korea has consistently denied involvement, but an international inquiry found evidence that a North Korean torpedo had destroyed the warship.

South Korea has asked the UN to take action over the Cheonan

Mr Gates said the act was "part of a larger pattern of provocative and reckless behaviour" by the North.

"North Korea must cease its belligerent behaviour and demonstrate clearly and decisively that it wants to pursue a different path," Mr Gates said.

South Korea has not specified what action it wants the security council to take, but diplomatic efforts are focused on China, the North's closest ally.

Without Beijing's backing, analysts say any international effort to tackle Pyongyang is doomed to failure.

On China's suspension of military ties, Mr Gates said the policy made "little sense".

"There is a real cost to any absence of military-to-military relations," he said.

He added that China's suspension of ties "will not change United States policy toward Taiwan".

The head of the Chinese general staff, who was also present at the conference, responded by saying the arms sales went against China's "core" interests.

US mulls new North Korea measures

Source: Bbc.com

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Burma 'trying to build nuclear weapon

Burma has started on a nuclear-weapons programme, according to a documentary based on evidence from a soldier who defected.

Major Sai Thein Win provided Norway-based broadcaster Democratic Voice of Burma (DVB) with files and photographs describing experiments with uranium.

A former UN inspector said the evidence suggested Burma was seeking to build weapons rather than power plants.

But experts said the ruling junta was a long way from succeeding.

The revelations come a day after a US senator cancelled a visit to Burma because of concern over its alleged nuclear ambitions.

'Expending huge resources'

In the documentary, entitled Burma's Nuclear Ambitions, Maj Sai shows documents and pictures he says came from a factory which was building prototypes for nuclear components.

The documentary showed tools allegedly used for converting uranium

Maj Sai is a mechanical engineer who worked on machining parts and visited the Burmese nuclear battalion in Thabeikkyin, says the documentary.

He provided photos purportedly of machines that can be used to convert uranium compounds for use in nuclear fuel or a nuclear weapon.

Robert Kelley, a former inspector with the International Atomic Energy Agency, a UN watchdog, said he believed Burma was probably mining uranium and exploring nuclear technology "useful only for weapons".

In an online article for DVB, he writes: "The information provided by [Major] Sai and other reporters from Burma clearly indicates that the regime has the intent to go nuclear and it is... expending huge resources along the way."

Mr Kelley said the quality of the machine parts and the mechanical drawings was "poor".

"Nothing we have seen suggests Burma will be successful with [these] materials and components," he writes.

He said if Burma was found to be developing nuclear weapons it should face sanctions.

'No Pyongyang link'

DVB also said it did not believe Burma was capable of producing a nuclear weapon at this time.

"The intention is there," says Ali Fowle, a spokesperson for DVB, "but the reality is very different."

A UN panel has accused North Korea of exporting nuclear and missile technology in defiance of a UN ban, to countries including Burma, Iran and Syria.

On Thursday, the US Senator who chairs a Senate committee on East Asia, Jim Webb, cancelled a visit to Burma because of concern it was working with North Korea to develop a nuclear programme.

But DVB says that while North Korea may be involved in missile proliferation, there is no new evidence to suggest it is helping Burma to develop nuclear weapons.

DVB adds, however, that the Burmese government is modelling itself on North Korea, reckoning that if Pyongyang has nuclear weapons, the US or other countries would find it more difficult to attack.

Burma 'trying to build nuclear weapon

Source: Bbc.com

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Tiananmen leader's 'diary' revealed

Many blame Li Peng for the Tiananmen massacre

A diary which publishers claim is that of the man many blame for the Tiananmen massacre is to be published in Hong Kong.

It gives details on events immediately before and after the killing of workers and students in Beijing in June 1989.

Publishers say the author is Li Peng, the man who announced martial law in Beijing shortly before troops moved in.

In the diary Mr Li declared that he was willing to die to stop the pro-democracy protests.

The news of the diary comes on the 21st anniversary of the massacre.

Political turmoil

The book, entitled Li Peng's June 4 Diary, will be published by New Century Press at the end of this month.

The man behind the project is Bao Pu, the son of Bao Tong, a senior advisor to the head of the Chinese Communist Party at the time of the Tiananmen protests.

"It provides amazing details of how decisions were made and how the order was carried out, and how the leaders reached internal consensus," said Bao Pu, talking about the diary.

"These are the kind of things that are not in official records."

It reveals such things as how many troops were involved in the suppression, and where they were deployed.

Who said what in the higher echelons of the party is also detailed in the publication, which will initially appear only in Chinese.

So is the declaration by Li Peng - who was China's premier at the time of the protests - that he was willing to lay down his life.

"From the beginning of the turmoil, I have prepared for the worst," he is quoted as saying in the diaries by Hong Kong's South China Morning Post.

"I would rather sacrifice my own life and that of my family to prevent China from going through a tragedy like the Cultural Revolution," he added, referring to a period of political instability in China from 1966-76.

'Authentic'

The manuscript was handed to Mr Bao by an intermediary - he does not want to say who or how it was given to him.

He admits that there are questions about the diary's authenticity, which the publishers say they have worked hard to resolve.

They say they checked facts in the manuscript against material that had already been published. It was also given to various experts to look at.

The diary chronicles the lead-up to the bloody 4 June crackdown

There are still some doubts, admitted Mr Bao, but they will be published in the book.

He added: "Even with those remaining doubts, I still believe this is authentic, given the details and how consistent they are with other known records."

Mr Bao last year published the memoirs of China's former communist party chief, Zhao Ziyang.

These also covered the 1989 protests, which led to at least hundreds of deaths.

Mr Zhao and Mr Li were great party rivals who had different views on how China should develop.

Mr Zhao was sacked during the pro-democracy protests and remained under house arrest until his death in 2005.

Mr Li, who was never the most popular leader in China, is now 81 and believed to be very ill.

If the diary is authentic, it could be his attempt to justify the actions he and his colleagues took 21 years ago.

There is already a published account of the discussions among China's leaders during the time of the 1989 protests.

The Tiananmen Papers is based on previously secret documents that were leaked by someone whose name has never been revealed.

The Chinese government has not acknowledged their authenticity.

Tiananmen leader's 'diary' revealed

Source: Bbc.com

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Conductor Seiji Ozawa cancels European tour

Ozawa is the founder of Japan's annual Saito Kinen Festival

Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa has cancelled a series of European concerts on the advice of his doctor.

The 74-year-old Vienna State Opera musical director had planned performances in Prague, Vienna, Berlin and Paris between 3 and 10 December.

Ozawa, who spent three decades with the Boston Symphony Orchestra before joining Vienna in 2002, revealed in January that he had oesophageal cancer.

A 14 December concert at New York's Carnegie Hall is scheduled to go ahead.

At a press conference in January, Ozawa announced the cancellation of about 30 concerts at home and abroad planned for the first six months of the year.

He is also the founder and artistic director of Japan's annual Saito Kinen Festival.

Conductor Seiji Ozawa cancels European tour

Source: Bbc.com

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G20 finance ministers to endorse euro rescue deal

Mr Geithner said a "moderate but pretty solid" recovery was in place

Finance ministers and central bankers from the G20 nations are expected to endorse European plans to stem the eurozone debt crisis as they meet in Busan, South Korea this weekend.

They will also discuss the need for common standards across financial markets, including a global bank tax.

Such a levy is supported by the US and Europe, but opposed by some developing nations plus Canada and Australia.

The meeting comes ahead of a summit of G20 leaders in Toronto on 26-27 June.

'Vigilant'

World markets have been rocked in recent months by concerns over Europe's debt crisis.

The crisis led to the EU approving a 750bn euro ($938bn; £651bn) emergency package to stabilise the troubled euro.

Speaking ahead of the meeting, Sakong Il, chairman of the presidential committee for the G20, told reporters that the G20 supported the rescue deal.

"Regarding the current crisis, the G20 is very vigilant on developments and supports the initiatives made by the EU and the IMF to remedy the problem," he said.

US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also expressed confidence that the global economy was strong enough to ride out Europe's troubles.

"We have a moderate but pretty solid recovery in place," he told CNBC television.

This summit will be the first G20 meeting for the new UK Chancellor, George Osborne.

Earlier on Friday, Mr Osborne said that eurozone countries, especially those in southern Europe, needed to cut their budget deficits to show that they can live within their means.

G20 finance ministers to endorse euro rescue deal

Source: Bbc.com

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Iqbal ton in vain as Bangladesh collapse against England bowlers

Seam bowler Ajmal Shahzad took three wickets on his Test debut for England as Bangladesh collpased at Old Trafford.

(CNN) -- England's cricketers are heading for a second successive victory over Bangladesh after the Test minnows collapsed late on the second day in Manchester.

In reply to the hosts' first innings of 419, Bangladesh lost all 10 wickets in the final session to waste an opening partnership of 126 between Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes.

Tamim smashed 108 off only 114 balls for his second consecutive century, but when he fell at 169-3 it signaled the start of the end as the tourists were cleaned up for 216 and now face the prospect of having to bat again on Sunday at Old Trafford.

Spinner Graeme Swann claimed 5-76 and debutant Ajmal Shahzad returned figures of 3-45.

"Obviously going up to tea things weren't going great for us," said Swann, who picked up his first five-wicket bag in a home Test after taking none at Lord's.

"But we regrouped and had a discussion with our bowling coach David Saker and came up with a plan that worked perfectly as we took 10 wickets in the final session.

"You never expect to take 10 wickets in a session, that is outstanding and I can't remember that happening in my career."

England had resumed on 275-5, with Ian Bell unbeaten on 87 and wicketkeeper Matt Prior on 21.

They added another 101 runs to take their partnership to 153 before Bell was bowled for 128 by Shakib Al Hasan, scoring his 11th Test ton.

The left-arm spinner ended with figures of 5-121 as he also dismissed Prior for 93, with England losing their last four wickets for 21 runs.

Iqbal ton in vain as Bangladesh collapse against England bowlers

Source: CNN.COM

June 5, 2010 -- Updated 2122 GMT (0522 HKT)

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'Perfect game' pitcher handles call with grace

"We're human, we make mistakes," Armando Galarraga says of the blown call.

(CNN) -- Perhaps the only thing more remarkable than an umpire robbing Armando Galarraga of a perfect game is the Detroit Tigers pitcher's gracious attitude over the whole heartbreaking moment.

"We're human, we make mistakes," Galarraga told CNN Saturday just hours before the Tigers took on the Kansas City Royals. "In that moment, I was so happy about a really good game. For some reason, I don't get (angry)."

Galarraga lost his perfect game Wednesday night when umpire Jim Joyce mistakenly called what would have been the last batter safe at first base; replays showed that he was clearly out.

Galarraga showed grace after the bad call, Joyce apologized, and they shared a moment Thursday, when Galarraga brought the Tigers' lineup card out to an emotional Joyce, who was umpiring at home plate.

"He apologized to me, I gave him a hug. I'm sure the guy feels 100 times worse than me," Galarraga said. "The next day we turned the page. He's a professional, I'm a professional."

Still, when the 28-year-old recalls the game to his young son one day, he will define it as a perfect game.

"I believe in my heart I had the perfect game," he said.

The incident added to what's been an unprecedented year of pitching in Major League Baseball.

If Joyce had made the right call, Galarraga would have been the third pitcher to throw a perfect game this season. However, before this season, only 18 perfect games had been thrown in the 100-year-plus history of baseball -- less than one every six years.

In order to get one, a pitcher must retire every batter he faces over nine innings, no hits, no walks, no errors behind him in the field -- 27 batters up, 27 outs. (There are also no-hitters, in which a pitcher can walk and hit batters but not give up base hits. Those are special but less rare; more than 200 have been thrown).

'Perfect game' pitcher handles call with grace

Source: CNN.COM

By the CNN Wire Staff

June 5, 2010 -- Updated 2120 GMT (0520 HKT)

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Legendary basketball coach Wooden dies

John Wooden coached UCLA's basketball team for 27 years.

(CNN) -- He was known as the Wizard of Westwood, the architect of a dynasty at UCLA that will never be equaled. But John Wooden leaves behind a legacy much larger than victories on a basketball court.

Wooden died Friday of natural causes at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center. He was 99. His 100th birthday would have been October 14.

Wooden's children, Nan and Jim Wooden, issued a statement asking that donations be made in his name to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation or another charity of choice.

"He has been, and always will be, the guiding light for our family. The love, guidance and support he has given us will never be forgotten," the said. "Our peace of mind at this time is knowing that he has gone to be with our mother, whom he has continued to love and cherish."

Wooden had been admitted to the hosptial on May 26. Funeral services will be private, but the family said there would be a public memorial at a later date, with a reception for former players and coaches.

"There will never be another John Wooden," said UCLA Director of Athletics Dan Guerrero. "While this is a huge loss for the Bruin family, Coach Wooden's influence reaches far beyond Westwood. Coach was a tremendously significant figure.

"This loss will be felt by individuals from all parts of society. He was not only the greatest coach in the history of any sport but he was an exceptional individual that transcended the sporting world. His enduring legacy as a role model is one we should all strive to emulate."

"This is a sad day at UCLA," said UCLA Chancellor Gene Block. "Coach Wooden's legacy transcends athletics; what he did was produce leaders."

Wooden was born on a farm in Martinsville, Indiana, in 1910 and learned to play basketball on an iron hoop that his father had forged and attached to the barn.

He went to college at Purdue, winning All-America honors three times and leading the Boilermakers to the 1932 national collegiate championship.

After marrying his high school sweetheart and life-long love Nell following his graduation, Wooden coached at the high school level and at Indiana State before being hired by UCLA in 1948. His coaching methods, like his upbringing, seemed like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting: Simple, yet elegant.

"If there's anything you could point out where I was a little different, it was the fact that i never mentioned winning," he once said.

In 27 years at UCLA, his Bruins won an unprecedented 10 national championships in 12 years, including seven straight from 1967 to 1973. UCLA also captured 19 conference titles and set an NCAA record with 88 consecutive wins over four seasons, but Wooden was more proud of his players accomplishments off the court.

"I think that's the factor from which i have received the greatest satisfaction and pleasure. The fact that practically all of my players did get their degrees and practically all of them have done well in whatever their chosen profession might be," he said.

Wooden retired from UCLA in 1975, following his 10th national championship but would occasionally take in a Bruins game from the stands.

Former Cal coach Pete Newell once said, "John was a better coach at 55 than he was at 50. He was a better coach at 60 than at 55. He's a true example of a man who learned from day one to day last."

Wooden is a member of the Basketball Hall of Fame both as a coach and as a player -- one of only two men to attain that honor -- and many of the men he coached went on to stellar careers as well. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (then Lew Alcindor), Gail Goodrich and Bill Walton all landed in the Basketball Hall of Fame beside their college coach, while others played in the NBA or even returned to UCLA later in Wooden's footsteps.

But Wooden's legacy extended beyond his basketball expertise -- he coached leadership. He frequently recited what he termed his father's "two sets of three" -- "never lie, never cheat, never steal" and "don't whine, don't complain, don't make excuses." And his well-known "Pyramid of Success," begun in the 1930s, has been the system behind the success of many.

"His 'Pyramid of Success' hangs in my office to remind me every day of what it takes to be an effective leader," Block said. "He was truly a legend in his own time, and he will be a legend for generations to come."

Wooden himself called the pyramid "the only truly original thing I have ever done." The base of his five-level pyramid is made up of industriousness, friendship, loyalty, cooperation and enthusiasm. The next levels up are self-control, alertness, initiative and intentness, then condition, skill and team spirit followed by and poise and confidence. At the pinnacle is competitive greatness, which he defined as performing at top ability when that is required -- "each day."

"Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which you are capable," Wooden once said in explaining the pyramid.

Legendary basketball coach Wooden dies

Source: CNN.COM

By the CNN Wire Staff

June 5, 2010 -- Updated 0307 GMT (1107 HKT)

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MLB may expand instant replay use after blown call

Michigan's governor has proclaimed that Detroit's Armando Galarraga did pitch a perfect game.

(CNN) -- There's no crying in baseball, but Detroit pitcher Armando Galarraga may have felt like shedding a tear at the end of Wednesday night's game between the Tigers and the Cleveland Indians.

Galarraga was one out away from a rare perfect game -- nine innings pitched without allowing anyone to reach base -- when veteran umpire Jim Joyce incorrectly ruled the Indians' Jason Donald safe at first on an infield single. A despondent Joyce later admitted he had blown the call. The Tigers still won the game, but Galarraga lost his chance for a unique place in baseball history.

End of story? Maybe not.

Major League Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig said Thursday that, as a consequence of Joyce's call, he is going to consider expanding the use of instant replay. Right now, the big leagues only use the instant replay if there's a boundary dispute on a home run.

"There is no dispute that last night's game should have ended differently," Selig said in a written statement. "While the human element has always been an integral part of baseball, it is vital that mistakes on the field be addressed. Given last night's call and other recent events, I will examine our umpiring system, the expanded use of instant replay and all other related features."

Selig said that before he announces any decisions, he will consult with "all appropriate parties," including the baseball unions, general managers, and club owners.

As for peeved Tigers fans, they're taking matters into their own hands. Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm issued a proclamation Thursday declaring Galarraga to have pitched a perfect game.

"I join Tigers fans all across the globe in saluting his unassailable accomplishment -- the first perfect game in Tigers history," the proclamation said.

The official record books, however, still show only 20 perfect games in Major League Baseball history. Galarraga's would have been the 21st.

MLB may expand instant replay use after blown call

Source: CNN.COM

By the CNN Wire Staff

June 4, 2010 -- Updated 1215 GMT (2015 HKT)

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Lakers beat Celtics in NBA finals opener

Kobe Bryant led the Lakers to victory over the Celtics in the first match of the NBA finals in Los Angeles

(CNN) -- The L.A. Lakers beat the Boston Celtics 102-89 in the first match of the NBA finals in Los Angeles on Thursday night, as they attempt to defend the title they won last year.

L.A.'s star guard Kobe Bryant -- who is aiming to win the NBA title for the fifth time in his career -- scored 30 points to take his side to victory over their east-coast rivals.

The Lakers led from the start and had a five point lead after the first quarter, which they increased to 20 points with just 10 minutes left to play.

The match marked their 12th consecutive win at home in the post-season and they will now host the second game of the best-of seven match series on Sunday 6 June, before play moves to Boston.

Spanish center Pau Gasol played a key role in the first-match for the west-coast team, scoring 23 points.

"Pau played a big game tonight. His movement and his activity was important," Lakers head coach Phil Jackson told the team's official Web site.

Andrew Bynum -- who despite suffering with a right knee injury prior to the match which threatened his place in the team -- also contributed to the Lakers win, finishing with 10 points.

We didn't come out with that fire that we've been showing these playoffs
--Celtics forward Tony Allen

"It was great to have Andrew," team-mate Gasol told the official Lakers Web site. "Obviously he was a big factor tonight. Really contributed in different ways, and we want to see him as much as possible out there."

And after crashing with the Celtics Paul Pierce in the opening 27 seconds of the game and receiving a double technical foul, Ron Arrest went on to score 15 for his team.

The Celtics did fight back in the closing stages but even an impressive run of 12 points in 27 minutes from Ray Allen came too late to halt their L.A. rivals.

Veteran Celtics player Kevin Garret -- a previous winner of the NBA title -- could also not help his team, missing an open lay-up in the last few minutes of play and only scoring seven.

"We didn't come out with that fire that we've been showing these playoffs," Celtics forward Tony Allen -- who scored a team-high 24 points for his team in the match -- told the official NBA Web site. "They out hustled us I don't think we took that first punch like we should have."

It is the 12th time that the Lakers and the Celtics have come face to the face in the NBA finals - the last meeting in 2008 when the Celtics claimed victory four games to two. However, the Lakers are the defending champions having beat Orlando last year.

Lakers beat Celtics in NBA finals opener

Source: CNN.COM

June 4, 2010 -- Updated 1255 GMT (2055 HKT)

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G20 drops support for fiscal stimulus

G20 finance ministers pose before their meeting on June 4 in Busan, South Korea.

(FT) -- Finance ministers from the world's leading economies ripped up their support for fiscal stimulus on Saturday, recognising that financial market concerns over sovereign debt had forced a much greater focus on deficit reduction.

The meeting of the Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors in Busan, South Korea, also dropped proposals for a global banking levy, instead giving countries leeway to do what they thought best for their domestic circumstances.

The communiqué of the meeting made it clear that the G20 no longer thought that expansionary fiscal policy was sustainable or effective in fostering an economic recovery because investors were no longer confident about some countries' public finances. "The recent events highlight the importance of sustainable public finances and the need for our countries to put in place credible, growth-friendly measures, to deliver fiscal sustainability," the communiqué stated.

"Those countries with serious fiscal challenges need to accelerate the pace of consolidation," it added. "We welcome the recent announcements by some countries to reduce their deficits in 2010 and strengthen their fiscal frameworks and institutions".

These words were in marked contrast to the G20's previous communiqué from late April, which called for fiscal support to "be maintained until the recovery is firmly driven by the private sector and becomes more entrenched".

After the meeting, finance ministers acknowledged that the landscape had changed. George Osborne, British chancellor, claimed credit for the change. The new words were a "significant success in getting endorsement from the G20 for ... a significant change in tone in the language on fiscal sustainability".

Many other finance ministers accepted market realities had changed the G20's policy, Christine Lagarde, French finance minister, said: "There's a large majority for whom redressing the public finances is priority number one. For a minority, it's supporting growth".

Even Dominique Strauss Kahn, managing director of the International Monetary Fund who championed fiscal stimulus since January 2008, recognised the world was suddenly different. Asked whether he felt comfortable with the change in tone from the G20, he replied: "Totally comfortable. I am not the champion of fiscal stimulus, but the champion of right fiscal policy".

But there were concerns around the G20 that the rush to reduce budget deficits, necessary though officials now thought it was, would undermine the recovery in the near term.

In a letter to the rest of the G20, Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, argued: "Concerns about growth as Europe makes needed policy adjustments threaten to undercut the momentum of the recovery".

Ministers from many countries stressed the need for structural reforms to boost the potential for private sector growth

In private, G20 officials said that the US had been the country most concerned about the new austerity drive and feared for the momentum for global growth. In the meetings it had been frank in the meeting in calling for China to revalue the renminbi and for Germany to boost domestic demand, officials said.

Mr Geithner, himself, was open about his fears in his letter to the G20. "Concerns about growth as Europe makes needed policy adjustments threaten to undercut the momentum of the recovery," he wrote, adding that fiscal tightening won't "succeed unless we are able to strengthen confidence in the global recovery."

When discussing reforms to the financial system, the G20 found there was no consensus for a global levy on banks. The decision to allow countries to pursue their own domestic agendas on new taxes on banks was particularly pleasing for Canada, which has long opposed the idea.

Jim Flaherty, Canadian finance minister, said: "The debate on ... bank levies has been a distraction form the core issues and it has been apparent again from out meetings that most of the G20 members do not support the concept of a universal levy".

Instead, the G20 "recognis[ed] there is a range of policy approaches" and that countries could develop their own thinking, "taking into account individual country's circumstances and options".

For countries such as the US and UK still wanting to go ahead with unilateral banking levies, the G20 agreed that they should be devised within a set of principles to minimise the opportunities for banks to pick and choose between different jurisdictions depending on the levies introduced.

G20 drops support for fiscal stimulus

Source: CNN.COM

By Chris Giles and Christian Oliver in Busan

June 5, 2010 -- Updated 1535 GMT (2335 HKT)

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Worries over Hungary drive forint to one-year low

(FT) -- Hungary's currency fell to a one-year low against the euro on Friday after a senior official warned for the second time in two days about the weakness of its economy and public finances.

The forint fell about 2 per cent after Peter Szijjarto, a spokesman for prime minister Viktor Orban, was quoted by news agencies as saying Hungary's economy was in a grave situation and that a default was a possibility.

The currency extended its falls on Thursday following comments from Lajos Kosa, a vice-president of the ruling Fidesz party, that Hungary was in danger of suffering a Greek-style crisis.

Hungarian shares fell and spreads on five-year credit default swaps widened sharply after the new comments on Friday.

Investors were mystified by the signals coming from the Fidesz government, which is expected to unveil findings from a fact-finding committee on the state of the economy this weekend, followed by an economic action plan.

According to existing official figures, Hungary's debt totalled 78 per cent of gross domestic product last year. That was little above the European Union average of 74 per cent and well below Greece's three-digit total.

The Fidesz government, however, has called into question the previous administration's fiscal figures and accused it of lying about the true state of the economy.

Mr Kosa's remarks on Thursday, though they unsettled markets, were viewed by many as a verbal slip. But the refusal by the prime minister's spokesman to distance himself from the earlier comments caused widespread consternation.

They came as investors were already anxious about the health of European banks and a weaker-than-expected US jobs report.

"The new [Hungarian] government needs to think a bit more clearly about communication with the market," said Tim Ash, global head of emerging market research at Royal Bank of Scotland. "You simply cannot talk like this in these markets."

The prime minister's spokesman warned that Hungary's budget deficit might be deeper than previously assumed, saying this year's target of a budget deficit of 3.8 per cent of GDP was not credible.

Worries over Hungary drive forint to one-year low

Source: CNN.COM

By Neil Buckley, East Europe editor, FT.com

June 5, 2010 -- Updated 0107 GMT (0907 HKT)

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BP to set up new division to handle spill response

New York (CNN) -- BP will establish a separate division to manage the ongoing response to the Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill, chief executive officer Tony Hayward told investors Friday.

BP board member and managing director Bob Dudley will lead the group, tasked with managing the oil giant's financial obligations and effort to restore trust and confidence in BP, Hayward said during a conference call.

"I don't believe we could have better person to lead the organization," Hayward said.

The CEO, though, said he would remain focused on the crisis as his top priority, adding that he feels it's appropriate that he be the lightening rod for criticism of BP.

"I've got a pretty heavy Kevlar jacket and so far I'm unscathed," said Hayward. "You know I'm a Brit so sticks and stones can hurt your bones but words will never break them."

Hayward received a boost from board Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg, who said the CEO has the board's "full support."

BP executives told investors they have spent $1 billion so far dealing with the Gulf accident but said it is far too early to predict the ultimate financial impact.

"We've got considerable firepower to deal with the costs," said Chief Financial Officer Byron Grote, referring to $5 billion of cash, $5 billion of bank credit lines and an additional $5 billion of standby credit facilities.

The company, Hayward maintained, is performing well aside from the Gulf accident. "Our asset base and balance sheet remain among the best," he said.

Asked about the possibility of a dividend cut, Hayward responded, "It's not something we're contemplating using broadly at the moment. That of course could change." BP currently pays stockholders an annual dividend of 56-cents-a-share.

BP to set up new division to handle spill response

Source: CNN.COM

From Allan Chernoff, CNN

June 5, 2010 -- Updated 0059 GMT (0859 HKT)

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Pru backs top team over failed Asian bid

The board of UK insurer Prudential gave its support to current management despite its failed bid to takeover AIG's Asian operations, AIA.

(FT) -- Prudential's top team has the full support of the board and the majority of big shareholders and there will be no resignations over the collapse of its $35.5bn (£24.3bn) bid for AIA, Harvey McGrath, the UK insurer's chairman, has told the Financial Times.

In a defiant first interview since the board of AIG rejected a renegotiation of the deal early on Tuesday, Mr McGrath described those shareholders calling for change at the top as "outliers" and said that neither he nor Tidjane Thiam, chief executive, had been at all worried about their positions.

"The board is completely behind the management team. No one has offered to resign and no one has been asked to resign," Mr McGrath said.

"There are a couple of shareholders calling for change, but they are outliers. The vast majority of our biggest investors are saying they don't want to see change at the top. They are supportive of management and of Tidjane, who they have seen as [chief financial officer] help to drive the performance of the group."

There have been calls for heads to roll at the Pru over the attempt to take over AIA, the Asian businesses of AIG.

Mr Thiam, who also spoke to the FT on Thursday, said: "It is a clever thing to try and connect my inability to seal a $35bn deal with my broad ability to run a company, but it is a fallacy.

"To say I'm inexperienced in running a $35bn transaction, that's true. Not many have experience of running a $35bn transaction."

A significant proportion of investors was set to vote against the deal and forced the Pru to renegotiate the price, which it did over the weekend, cutting it to $30.4bn.

However, AIG's board went against the advice of Robert Benmosche, its chief executive, and said it would only consider the deal on its original terms. AIG is now likely to seek to list the unit in Hong Kong this year.

Some analysts have warned against any knee-jerk changes at the top of the Pru, while many investors simply want to see a period of calm and stability at the company, which is not necessarily the same as unalloyed, long-term support for the senior management.

Mr McGrath said the team was "quite devastated" when it found out AIG had rejected the renegotiated price. "But we were not worried at all about our positions," he added.

The chairman went on: "This was an 'in-strategy' transaction and was an acceleration of the focus on growing the business in Asia.

"Just because this transaction ... did not work -- or failed if you want to say that -- it doesn't mean that the underlying strategy has a problem. The board understand that and are behind the strategy and were behind the transaction."

Pru backs top team over failed Asian bid

Source: CNN.COM

By Paul J Davies, FT.com

June 4, 2010 -- Updated 0503 GMT (1303 HKT)

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