The new tablet will go on sale from 5pm on Friday in the UK and 24 other countries – at lower prices helped by the favourable exchange rate. Meanwhile, Samsung is back in the fray with 9-inch and 10-inch tablets. It’s a day for tablets. First RIM announced US prices and dates , though not UK ones, for its Playbook tablet. Now Apple has announced the price for the UK version of the iPad 2, which will work out cheaper – even after the VAT rise introduced in January – than the first version. Prices are, including VAT: Wi-Fi only: 16GB: £399.00 (£332.50 ex 20% VAT) 32GB: £479.00 (£399.17 ex 20% VAT) 64GB: £559.00 (£465.83 ex 20% VAT) Wi-Fi and 3G: 16GB: £499.00 (£415.83 ex 20% VAT) 32GB: £579.00 (£482.50 ex 20% VAT) 64GB: £659.00 (£549.17 ex 20% VAT) Those compare to prices last year respectively of £429, £499, £599, £529, £599 and £699. Calculating the differences, the retail (with VAT) price has fallen by between 4% and 7%, with the average being 5%; the ex-VAT price (the one you would normally compare against the US price) has fallen by between 5% and 9%, averaging 7.4%. That is Apple unveiling its next weapon – price – in this battle, where everyone is using every trick that they know to get an edge. Or is it? It turns out that what’s happening is that Apple is indeed cutting prices, but doing it with the help of the exchange rate. At the moment $1 = £0.6191 ; back in May 2010 (when the iPad launched in the UK and other countries) it was $1 = £0.682452 (20-day average) , so the dollar has weakened against the pound (you need fewer pounds to buy a dollar now than you did). The dollar, in fact, is about 10% lower now than it was against the pound last May. In turn, that means that $499, the iPad price in 2010 and 2011, equated in 2010 to £340.54, but is now £304.69. (In other words: it takes fewer pounds to get the $499 that Apple wants to get for each iPad sold.) So it might seem like Apple is doing everyone an enormous favour by cutting the price (and it certainly won’t hurt sales), but it is actually benefiting from the movement in exchange rates – in fact, it’s going to make more profit from iPad sales this year than last year, even with a lower price. A couple more interesting wrinkles to the iPad 2 launch internationally: sales won’t start until 5pm in the evening of Friday, or 1am that day if you’re ordering online. Why has it chosen such a time of day to do it? No word on that (we have called Apple but got no response), but there’s the faintest possibility that it’s to discourage the people who made the lives of would-be iPad buyers in the US hell – buying up loads of them in order to ship them off to the Far East. And another clue that that is the motive comes from the fact that sales in Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea won’t start for another two weeks, even while the other 25 countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK) get theirs. (Though that won’t really dissuade them – they’ll just come back at the weekend, surely.) And just to add to the tablet fun, at CTIA Samsung has announced (or possible re-announced) its tablets and pricing. There will be the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (guess the screen size), to be released on 8 June – running Android 3.0 (“Honeycomb”). Prices: $499 (16GB), $599 (32GB). The Galaxy 8.9 will be priced at $469 (16GB), $499 (32GB), and be released in “early summer”. So is this iPad competition? Well, Honeycomb is certainly nice, and that’s price-competitive with the iPad, at least in the US. UK prices haven’t been set (or suggested) and the release date is only “later this year”. Samsung didn’t want to share sales figures either: “those are only for internal use,” we were told. (The press release and details haven’t made it to Samsung’s online press releases .) The list of tablets that have been announced is thus growing ever longer, but the list of those actually seen in the wild in the UK remains extremely short – the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab (and now @Dirkbruere’s Advent Vega) being the principal ones. Anyone else got a tablet not in that list that they’ve bought in the UK this year? And what do you think of it? iPad Apple Tablet computers Charles Arthur guardian.co.uk
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The new tablet will go on sale from 5pm on Friday in the UK and 24 other countries – at lower prices helped by the favourable exchange rate. Meanwhile, Samsung is back in the fray with 9-inch and 10-inch tablets. It’s a day for tablets. First RIM announced US prices and dates , though not UK ones, for its Playbook tablet. Now Apple has announced the price for the UK version of the iPad 2, which will work out cheaper – even after the VAT rise introduced in January – than the first version. Prices are, including VAT: Wi-Fi only: 16GB: £399.00 (£332.50 ex 20% VAT) 32GB: £479.00 (£399.17 ex 20% VAT) 64GB: £559.00 (£465.83 ex 20% VAT) Wi-Fi and 3G: 16GB: £499.00 (£415.83 ex 20% VAT) 32GB: £579.00 (£482.50 ex 20% VAT) 64GB: £659.00 (£549.17 ex 20% VAT) Those compare to prices last year respectively of £429, £499, £599, £529, £599 and £699. Calculating the differences, the retail (with VAT) price has fallen by between 4% and 7%, with the average being 5%; the ex-VAT price (the one you would normally compare against the US price) has fallen by between 5% and 9%, averaging 7.4%. That is Apple unveiling its next weapon – price – in this battle, where everyone is using every trick that they know to get an edge. Or is it? It turns out that what’s happening is that Apple is indeed cutting prices, but doing it with the help of the exchange rate. At the moment $1 = £0.6191 ; back in May 2010 (when the iPad launched in the UK and other countries) it was $1 = £0.682452 (20-day average) , so the dollar has weakened against the pound (you need fewer pounds to buy a dollar now than you did). The dollar, in fact, is about 10% lower now than it was against the pound last May. In turn, that means that $499, the iPad price in 2010 and 2011, equated in 2010 to £340.54, but is now £304.69. (In other words: it takes fewer pounds to get the $499 that Apple wants to get for each iPad sold.) So it might seem like Apple is doing everyone an enormous favour by cutting the price (and it certainly won’t hurt sales), but it is actually benefiting from the movement in exchange rates – in fact, it’s going to make more profit from iPad sales this year than last year, even with a lower price. A couple more interesting wrinkles to the iPad 2 launch internationally: sales won’t start until 5pm in the evening of Friday, or 1am that day if you’re ordering online. Why has it chosen such a time of day to do it? No word on that (we have called Apple but got no response), but there’s the faintest possibility that it’s to discourage the people who made the lives of would-be iPad buyers in the US hell – buying up loads of them in order to ship them off to the Far East. And another clue that that is the motive comes from the fact that sales in Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea won’t start for another two weeks, even while the other 25 countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK) get theirs. (Though that won’t really dissuade them – they’ll just come back at the weekend, surely.) And just to add to the tablet fun, at CTIA Samsung has announced (or possible re-announced) its tablets and pricing. There will be the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (guess the screen size), to be released on 8 June – running Android 3.0 (“Honeycomb”). Prices: $499 (16GB), $599 (32GB). The Galaxy 8.9 will be priced at $469 (16GB), $499 (32GB), and be released in “early summer”. So is this iPad competition? Well, Honeycomb is certainly nice, and that’s price-competitive with the iPad, at least in the US. UK prices haven’t been set (or suggested) and the release date is only “later this year”. Samsung didn’t want to share sales figures either: “those are only for internal use,” we were told. (The press release and details haven’t made it to Samsung’s online press releases .) The list of tablets that have been announced is thus growing ever longer, but the list of those actually seen in the wild in the UK remains extremely short – the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab (and now @Dirkbruere’s Advent Vega) being the principal ones. Anyone else got a tablet not in that list that they’ve bought in the UK this year? And what do you think of it? iPad Apple Tablet computers Charles Arthur guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The new tablet will go on sale from 5pm on Friday in the UK and 24 other countries – at lower prices helped by the favourable exchange rate. Meanwhile, Samsung is back in the fray with 9-inch and 10-inch tablets. It’s a day for tablets. First RIM announced US prices and dates , though not UK ones, for its Playbook tablet. Now Apple has announced the price for the UK version of the iPad 2, which will work out cheaper – even after the VAT rise introduced in January – than the first version. Prices are, including VAT: Wi-Fi only: 16GB: £399.00 (£332.50 ex 20% VAT) 32GB: £479.00 (£399.17 ex 20% VAT) 64GB: £559.00 (£465.83 ex 20% VAT) Wi-Fi and 3G: 16GB: £499.00 (£415.83 ex 20% VAT) 32GB: £579.00 (£482.50 ex 20% VAT) 64GB: £659.00 (£549.17 ex 20% VAT) Those compare to prices last year respectively of £429, £499, £599, £529, £599 and £699. Calculating the differences, the retail (with VAT) price has fallen by between 4% and 7%, with the average being 5%; the ex-VAT price (the one you would normally compare against the US price) has fallen by between 5% and 9%, averaging 7.4%. That is Apple unveiling its next weapon – price – in this battle, where everyone is using every trick that they know to get an edge. Or is it? It turns out that what’s happening is that Apple is indeed cutting prices, but doing it with the help of the exchange rate. At the moment $1 = £0.6191 ; back in May 2010 (when the iPad launched in the UK and other countries) it was $1 = £0.682452 (20-day average) , so the dollar has weakened against the pound (you need fewer pounds to buy a dollar now than you did). The dollar, in fact, is about 10% lower now than it was against the pound last May. In turn, that means that $499, the iPad price in 2010 and 2011, equated in 2010 to £340.54, but is now £304.69. (In other words: it takes fewer pounds to get the $499 that Apple wants to get for each iPad sold.) So it might seem like Apple is doing everyone an enormous favour by cutting the price (and it certainly won’t hurt sales), but it is actually benefiting from the movement in exchange rates – in fact, it’s going to make more profit from iPad sales this year than last year, even with a lower price. A couple more interesting wrinkles to the iPad 2 launch internationally: sales won’t start until 5pm in the evening of Friday, or 1am that day if you’re ordering online. Why has it chosen such a time of day to do it? No word on that (we have called Apple but got no response), but there’s the faintest possibility that it’s to discourage the people who made the lives of would-be iPad buyers in the US hell – buying up loads of them in order to ship them off to the Far East. And another clue that that is the motive comes from the fact that sales in Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea won’t start for another two weeks, even while the other 25 countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK) get theirs. (Though that won’t really dissuade them – they’ll just come back at the weekend, surely.) And just to add to the tablet fun, at CTIA Samsung has announced (or possible re-announced) its tablets and pricing. There will be the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (guess the screen size), to be released on 8 June – running Android 3.0 (“Honeycomb”). Prices: $499 (16GB), $599 (32GB). The Galaxy 8.9 will be priced at $469 (16GB), $499 (32GB), and be released in “early summer”. So is this iPad competition? Well, Honeycomb is certainly nice, and that’s price-competitive with the iPad, at least in the US. UK prices haven’t been set (or suggested) and the release date is only “later this year”. Samsung didn’t want to share sales figures either: “those are only for internal use,” we were told. (The press release and details haven’t made it to Samsung’s online press releases .) The list of tablets that have been announced is thus growing ever longer, but the list of those actually seen in the wild in the UK remains extremely short – the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab (and now @Dirkbruere’s Advent Vega) being the principal ones. Anyone else got a tablet not in that list that they’ve bought in the UK this year? And what do you think of it? iPad Apple Tablet computers Charles Arthur guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The new tablet will go on sale from 5pm on Friday in the UK and 24 other countries – at lower prices helped by the favourable exchange rate. Meanwhile, Samsung is back in the fray with 9-inch and 10-inch tablets. It’s a day for tablets. First RIM announced US prices and dates , though not UK ones, for its Playbook tablet. Now Apple has announced the price for the UK version of the iPad 2, which will work out cheaper – even after the VAT rise introduced in January – than the first version. Prices are, including VAT: Wi-Fi only: 16GB: £399.00 (£332.50 ex 20% VAT) 32GB: £479.00 (£399.17 ex 20% VAT) 64GB: £559.00 (£465.83 ex 20% VAT) Wi-Fi and 3G: 16GB: £499.00 (£415.83 ex 20% VAT) 32GB: £579.00 (£482.50 ex 20% VAT) 64GB: £659.00 (£549.17 ex 20% VAT) Those compare to prices last year respectively of £429, £499, £599, £529, £599 and £699. Calculating the differences, the retail (with VAT) price has fallen by between 4% and 7%, with the average being 5%; the ex-VAT price (the one you would normally compare against the US price) has fallen by between 5% and 9%, averaging 7.4%. That is Apple unveiling its next weapon – price – in this battle, where everyone is using every trick that they know to get an edge. Or is it? It turns out that what’s happening is that Apple is indeed cutting prices, but doing it with the help of the exchange rate. At the moment $1 = £0.6191 ; back in May 2010 (when the iPad launched in the UK and other countries) it was $1 = £0.682452 (20-day average) , so the dollar has weakened against the pound (you need fewer pounds to buy a dollar now than you did). The dollar, in fact, is about 10% lower now than it was against the pound last May. In turn, that means that $499, the iPad price in 2010 and 2011, equated in 2010 to £340.54, but is now £304.69. (In other words: it takes fewer pounds to get the $499 that Apple wants to get for each iPad sold.) So it might seem like Apple is doing everyone an enormous favour by cutting the price (and it certainly won’t hurt sales), but it is actually benefiting from the movement in exchange rates – in fact, it’s going to make more profit from iPad sales this year than last year, even with a lower price. A couple more interesting wrinkles to the iPad 2 launch internationally: sales won’t start until 5pm in the evening of Friday, or 1am that day if you’re ordering online. Why has it chosen such a time of day to do it? No word on that (we have called Apple but got no response), but there’s the faintest possibility that it’s to discourage the people who made the lives of would-be iPad buyers in the US hell – buying up loads of them in order to ship them off to the Far East. And another clue that that is the motive comes from the fact that sales in Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea won’t start for another two weeks, even while the other 25 countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK) get theirs. (Though that won’t really dissuade them – they’ll just come back at the weekend, surely.) And just to add to the tablet fun, at CTIA Samsung has announced (or possible re-announced) its tablets and pricing. There will be the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (guess the screen size), to be released on 8 June – running Android 3.0 (“Honeycomb”). Prices: $499 (16GB), $599 (32GB). The Galaxy 8.9 will be priced at $469 (16GB), $499 (32GB), and be released in “early summer”. So is this iPad competition? Well, Honeycomb is certainly nice, and that’s price-competitive with the iPad, at least in the US. UK prices haven’t been set (or suggested) and the release date is only “later this year”. Samsung didn’t want to share sales figures either: “those are only for internal use,” we were told. (The press release and details haven’t made it to Samsung’s online press releases .) The list of tablets that have been announced is thus growing ever longer, but the list of those actually seen in the wild in the UK remains extremely short – the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab (and now @Dirkbruere’s Advent Vega) being the principal ones. Anyone else got a tablet not in that list that they’ve bought in the UK this year? And what do you think of it? iPad Apple Tablet computers Charles Arthur guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …The new tablet will go on sale from 5pm on Friday in the UK and 24 other countries – at lower prices helped by the favourable exchange rate. Meanwhile, Samsung is back in the fray with 9-inch and 10-inch tablets. It’s a day for tablets. First RIM announced US prices and dates , though not UK ones, for its Playbook tablet. Now Apple has announced the price for the UK version of the iPad 2, which will work out cheaper – even after the VAT rise introduced in January – than the first version. Prices are, including VAT: Wi-Fi only: 16GB: £399.00 (£332.50 ex 20% VAT) 32GB: £479.00 (£399.17 ex 20% VAT) 64GB: £559.00 (£465.83 ex 20% VAT) Wi-Fi and 3G: 16GB: £499.00 (£415.83 ex 20% VAT) 32GB: £579.00 (£482.50 ex 20% VAT) 64GB: £659.00 (£549.17 ex 20% VAT) Those compare to prices last year respectively of £429, £499, £599, £529, £599 and £699. Calculating the differences, the retail (with VAT) price has fallen by between 4% and 7%, with the average being 5%; the ex-VAT price (the one you would normally compare against the US price) has fallen by between 5% and 9%, averaging 7.4%. That is Apple unveiling its next weapon – price – in this battle, where everyone is using every trick that they know to get an edge. Or is it? It turns out that what’s happening is that Apple is indeed cutting prices, but doing it with the help of the exchange rate. At the moment $1 = £0.6191 ; back in May 2010 (when the iPad launched in the UK and other countries) it was $1 = £0.682452 (20-day average) , so the dollar has weakened against the pound (you need fewer pounds to buy a dollar now than you did). The dollar, in fact, is about 10% lower now than it was against the pound last May. In turn, that means that $499, the iPad price in 2010 and 2011, equated in 2010 to £340.54, but is now £304.69. (In other words: it takes fewer pounds to get the $499 that Apple wants to get for each iPad sold.) So it might seem like Apple is doing everyone an enormous favour by cutting the price (and it certainly won’t hurt sales), but it is actually benefiting from the movement in exchange rates – in fact, it’s going to make more profit from iPad sales this year than last year, even with a lower price. A couple more interesting wrinkles to the iPad 2 launch internationally: sales won’t start until 5pm in the evening of Friday, or 1am that day if you’re ordering online. Why has it chosen such a time of day to do it? No word on that (we have called Apple but got no response), but there’s the faintest possibility that it’s to discourage the people who made the lives of would-be iPad buyers in the US hell – buying up loads of them in order to ship them off to the Far East. And another clue that that is the motive comes from the fact that sales in Hong Kong, Singapore and South Korea won’t start for another two weeks, even while the other 25 countries (Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK) get theirs. (Though that won’t really dissuade them – they’ll just come back at the weekend, surely.) And just to add to the tablet fun, at CTIA Samsung has announced (or possible re-announced) its tablets and pricing. There will be the Galaxy Tab 10.1 (guess the screen size), to be released on 8 June – running Android 3.0 (“Honeycomb”). Prices: $499 (16GB), $599 (32GB). The Galaxy 8.9 will be priced at $469 (16GB), $499 (32GB), and be released in “early summer”. So is this iPad competition? Well, Honeycomb is certainly nice, and that’s price-competitive with the iPad, at least in the US. UK prices haven’t been set (or suggested) and the release date is only “later this year”. Samsung didn’t want to share sales figures either: “those are only for internal use,” we were told. (The press release and details haven’t made it to Samsung’s online press releases .) The list of tablets that have been announced is thus growing ever longer, but the list of those actually seen in the wild in the UK remains extremely short – the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab (and now @Dirkbruere’s Advent Vega) being the principal ones. Anyone else got a tablet not in that list that they’ve bought in the UK this year? And what do you think of it? iPad Apple Tablet computers Charles Arthur guardian.co.uk
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Now that the mission over Libya has begun, the debate about how to conduct the war – rather than the reasons for it – must begin. The last couple of years have provided a treasure chest of lessons for warfare. But some of those that look particularly attractive are not 18 carat, but fool’s gold. It will be crucial for European governments to learn the right ones. The first is the need to establish a workable C2 – command and control system – for the mission, which allows political direction and military coordination. So far the mission is being commanded by U.S. Africa Command under General Carter Ham with the Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn run commanded by U.S. Navy Admiral Samuel J….
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Now that the mission over Libya has begun, the debate about how to conduct the war – rather than the reasons for it – must begin. The last couple of years have provided a treasure chest of lessons for warfare. But some of those that look particularly attractive are not 18 carat, but fool’s gold. It will be crucial for European governments to learn the right ones. The first is the need to establish a workable C2 – command and control system – for the mission, which allows political direction and military coordination. So far the mission is being commanded by U.S. Africa Command under General Carter Ham with the Joint Task Force Odyssey Dawn run commanded by U.S. Navy Admiral Samuel J….
Continue reading …Contour launches Viewfinder App, lets your iPhone talk to your ContourGPS (video)
March 22, 2011 No Comment
Helmet cam aficionado? Contour’s ContourGPS currently has the greatest range of connectivity options, and one of those options, Bluetooth, is finally good for something. The company has just flipped the switch and deployed its Viewfinder app that we last saw at CES , which allows iOS devices to pull live video from the camera, even if it’s still stuck to the side of your head and covered in mud. Users can also tweak camera settings in real-time, which is a huge step forward over the previous process that required tethering the cam and booting up some software. However, there is a catch: to use the device you have to install a little card, called a ConnectView, into your camera. This sucker will set you back $29.99, though we’re told the upcoming Android release of the app will be able to do without. Unfortunately, that version won’t be along until an unfortunately vague “Spring,” but the iOS flavor is a free download right now in the App Store. Continue reading Contour launches Viewfinder App, lets your iPhone talk to your ContourGPS (video) Contour launches Viewfinder App, lets your iPhone talk to your ContourGPS (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 14:57:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds . Permalink
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Met keen to avoid repeat of battles at student protest as 4,500 assigned officers to be monitored by human rights group Frontline police awaiting deployment to Saturday’s demonstration against government cuts have appealed for clear instructions about what to do in the event of disorder. Peter Smyth, chair of the Metropolitan Police Federation, told the Guardian that operations – which have degenerated into pitched battles between demonstrators and the police – have been hampered by ambiguity as orders are relayed down the chain of command. About 4,500 police officers are being assigned to the demonstration, which is expected to be the biggest mass protest the UK has seen since the march against the war in Iraq in 2003. Off-duty officers are also expected to join the march to protest about planned cuts of 20% to police budgets. “If you are the officer and the order comes down to clear the streets, that can mean going up to people and saying: ‘Excuse me, it is time to go, and can you move along please’. Or it can mean a baton charge. Sometimes that is not clear,” Smyth said. “Officers need to be given clear instructions about what is expected of them. That is a problem, and senior officers have been a bit guilty of issuing ambiguous orders.” On the Guardian Focus podcast , Smyth said that officers are hoping for better this time. The Met was particularly stung by criticism after rioters at last November’s student march were permitted to cause damage and invade Conservative party headquarters at Millbank. “The Met says it has listened. Clearly Millbank was a complete disaster for the Met. They underestimated the protest and weren’t ready when violence broke out. I think this time they will be ready, and I’m really hoping it will be a peaceful protest,” he said. Smyth said some members will attend the demonstration while off duty. “There will be a number of police officers joining the march so we have a bit of a common cause with the TUC on this one,” he said. The federation has previously voiced concern for its members when violence breaks out. In January, an editorial in its magazine, Metline, demanded immediate answers to “some pretty fundamental” questions. “Does the requirement to facilitate peaceful protest override the police’s duty to prevent disorder? How many police officers are allowed to be injured before those who are left are deployed with the correct protective equipment? How much criminal damage is acceptable before the police are allowed to act?” The editorial called for those in charge to set an example. “It is time for the leadership of the police service to shove their heads above the parapet and start leading; telling those officers who will be policing these protests whether to stand back and keep their fingers crossed or come forward and ensure that the law is upheld.” Assistant commissioner Lynne Owens, responsible for public order policing at Scotland Yard, said officers from the Met and those seconded from forces in the home counties will have a full day’s briefing. “Our expectation is that they come expecting to police a peaceful protest, but if we have to intervene against violence I am confident that officers will do that. There is an expectation that they will use force if they have to, and it will be the minimum force required to meet our lawful aims.” She said officers will be fully aware of what is expected. “I am very confident that because of the planning and conversations we have had, [all], down to the constable on the ground, will be very clear about expectations on the day.” The police operation is to be scrutinised at close quarters by the human rights group Liberty, whose officials have been allowed to sit in with police and TUC representatives during the weeks of planning. Liberty will also line the route with 100 legal observers and will have access to the police control room. During the march itself Liberty says the agreement will allow it to better fulfil the monitoring function, but the move has attracted criticism. Activists within the Network for Police Monitoring accuse Liberty of undermining its own independence. The network plans to deploy its own group of trained legal advisers to monitor events and provide advice to demonstrators on the day. Police Protest Tax and spending Anti-war movement Cuts and closures Budget Hugh Muir guardian.co.uk
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• Six injured on ground after US fighter jet crashes • US military denies shooting Libyan civilians in rescue • Fighting continues on the ground Read the Guardian’s latest news story Follow live updates here 6.35pm: France’s foreign minister, Alain Juppé, has announced that a meeting of foreign ministers from countries taking part in the military action on Libya would be held in the next few days and mentioned Paris, Brussels and London as possible venues. Kim Willsher in Paris reports for the Guardian: He spoke to the French parliament as it emerged the coalition of countries involved in the operation was riven with disagreements over who should lead it and the role of Nato. France has opposed Nato taking charge of the military operation. “At the president’s behest and with the agreement of our British colleagues that we set up a political structure to oversee the operations involving foreign ministers from the countries taking part and the Arab League,” Juppé said. Laurent Tessiere, spokesman for the French ministry of defence, said France had opposed Nato running the operation because it did not want to “send the message that this was a western only led operation” and said this was a “key political dimension to be understood by the Arab world”. He admitted discussions over the role of Nato had been a “very vivid debate” that was still going on but that the views of countries involved was “converging towards a solution”. And he denied reports that France had not consulted with its allies over the timing of air strikes against Libya. He said the French chief of military staff had negotiated for days “and sometimes whole nights” with his opposite numbers in the UK and the US. 6.31pm: It’s clear that Western forces want to assassinate Muammar Gaddafi, Libya’s deputy foreign minister has said in an interview with Reuters. “That’s the problem now we are seeing, the coalition forces they are part of the war against the legitimate government,” Khaled Kaim claimed, adding that coalition forces were also striking soldiers in their barracks. Kaim said it was clear from a strike that damaged a building in Gaddafi’s Tripoli headquarters that Western forces want to assassinate the Libyan leader. All sides should declare a ceasefire with the aim of stabilising Libya, he said, adding that the regime was was looking to Libya’s tribes to help it open a dialogue with rebels. 6.20pm: Good evening and welcome to our continuing coverage of events in Libya. You can catch up with earlier coverage here . • There are conflicting accounts of events following the crash of a US F-15E Strike Eagle in Libya after which six civilians were injured. A US spokesman has “100%” denied reports that the civilians were injured by shooting from a US helicopter rescue mission for the two pilots. A US admiral earlier refused to deny that a crew sent to rescue downed airmen opened fire on Libyan villagers. A witness reportedly said the rescue team fired shots to keep the Libyans away, then swooped in and rescued one of the crew. Six Libyans are said to be wounded. The F-15E Strike Eagle jet was conducting a mission Monday night when it crashed outside Benghazi, apparently from a malfunction. • Residents in Misrata, western Libya, say the town has come under heavy tank and sniper fire. Doctors reportedly are operating on people with bullet and shrapnel wounds in hospital corridors. Ajdabiya and Zintan have also reportedly been under attack in a continuing onslaught from Muammar Gaddafi’s forces. • The US insists it will hand control of military operations to its allies within days amid rows over Nato’s leadership role in the air campaign. France has proposed that a new political steering committee outside Nato be responsible for overseeing military operations as some Nato countries oppose military intervention in Libya. Here is the latest story on events today . Full live coverage continues here. Libya Arab and Middle East unrest Middle East Defence policy Ben Quinn guardian.co.uk
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