TODAY WORLD NEWS: 5/30/10

Saturday, June 5, 2010

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...

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....

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...

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...

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. ...

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. ...

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,...

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...

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...

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. ...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

'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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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