It wasn’t a funny story, but a former Melrose Place actress apparently couldn’t stop laughing after she hit a car and fatally injured a 60-year-old woman in June 2010, the Courier News reports. At least that was the testimony given by New Jersey cop William Wilkes, called to recount the…
Continue reading …“You have a security policy? We never noticed.” So tweeted Anonymous to US military contractor Booz Allen Hamilton after members of the online activist group stole tens of thousands of encrypted military passwords from it and posted them to the Web. Although the passwords had all been encrypted and didn’t…
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Corporation pays 19 stars more than £500,000 but defections of big names to ITV cuts talent costs by £9m The departure of big-earning stars Adrian Chiles , Christine Bleakley and Jonathan Ross to rival ITV helped the BBC cut its talent pay by £9m last year. Chiles and Bleakley’s high-profile defection from The One Show to ITV’s beleaguered new morning programme Daybreak in 2010 and Ross’s move to front a new ITV chatshow contributed to the reduced wage bill. For the first time, and after pressure from politicians, the BBC has published a detailed breakdown of how much it pays its key presenters in its 2010-11 annual report, published on Tuesday. In the year to the end of March, the BBC paid out £213m in talent costs, compared with £222m in the previous 12 months. For confidentiality reasons it does not name individuals but groups them into eight different bands of pay. The annual report reveals that 19 stars earned between £500,000 and £5m in 2010-11 – down from 21 the year before. Ross was previously the BBC’s highest-paid star, but ended his exclusive deal with the corporation last July, while Chiles left in April after losing out to Chris Evans to present The One Show on Fridays. He was followed by Bleakley in June after the BBC refused to become what its creative director Alan Yentob called a “patsy” in her negotiations with ITV . The corporation also admitted that the big fall in talent pay may be difficult to repeat next year, saying: “A resurgent commercial market has … seen the departure of several high-profile individuals to other broadcasters, making further reductions challenging.” The BBC also revealed that 274 presenters earned more than £100,000 during the past financial year, up from 270. It has aggregated the top three pay bands, those covering £500,000 to £749,000, £750,000 to £999,000, and £1m to £4.9m. Those top pay brackets collectively received £4m, £3.3m and £14.6m respectively. Those understood to be among the BBC’s biggest earners include Evans, Gary Lineker and Graham Norton. New BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten said the detail in the talent pay tables was “pretty much a non-issue as long as we can demonstrate that figures overall are under control”. Bal Samra, the BBC rights and business affairs director, added that the main reason more people were earning more than £100,000 was an increase in in-house production, as opposed to commissioning independent companies, so that more stars contracted to the corporation were being used. Emma Boon, campaign director of rightwing pressure group the Taxpayers’ Alliance, said: “The number of people in that six-figure pay bracket has gone up, which is a big disappointment. Licence-fee payers constantly hear the BBC say it wants more money. “The BBC should be congratulated for cutting the overall talent bill, but a large amount of that seems to come from a small amount of departures.” The corporation’s report also showed that overheads rose by £15m in its last financial year, to £421m, because of spending on the controversial relocation of several thousand staff from London to Salford and the redevelopment of Broadcasting House. In addition, the BBC revealed the number of complaints about its programmes grew by 20,000 to 240,000. The bulk were triggered by EastEnders’ controversial cot death baby storyline , a trailer for Graham Norton’s entertainment show Over the Rainbow appearing over the end of Doctor Who , and jokes stereotyping Mexicans on Top Gear . There was also a big fall in the amount of drama shown on BBC channels over the 12 months to March 2011. Drama output was down by 630 hours, mostly due to fewer episodes of US imports Diagnosis Murder and Murder, She Wrote airing during the daytime. Meanwhile, cuts to BBC World Service output resulting from a reduction in its Foreign Office grant are having an impact, with the international broadcaster’s audience down by 14 million, according to the corporation, to 166 million in the year to the end of March. BBC BBC licence fee Television industry Television Tara Conlan guardian.co.uk
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Divisions grow amid calls for release of Shakil Afridi, who ran fake vaccination programme to get al-Qaida leader’s DNA Washington is pressing Islamabad to release a doctor being held for helping the CIA track down Osama bin Laden as the diplomatic falling-out between the countries grows more bitter. Dr Shakil Afridi was arrested by Pakistan’s powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency after it discovered he had been recruited by the CIA to run a fake vaccination programme in Abbottabad to try to get DNA samples from the al-Qaida leader’s suspected hideout. American authorities are trying to rescue the Pakistani doctor, his wife and children, and take them to the United States, according to Pakistani and US officials. The revelation that Bin Laden was living comfortably in northern Pakistan – and the clandestine operation by US special forces to kill him on 2 May – have pushed ties between Washington and Islamabad to breaking point. Over the weekend, the US announced that it would punish Pakistan for its lack of co-operation in the anti-terror fight by cutting $800m (£500m) in military aid. In retaliation, Pakistan’s defence minister on Tuesday threatened to pull out over 100,000 troops posted on its side of the border with Afghanistan, which would be a security disaster for the coalition’s ongoing military campaign. The recruitment of Afridi has added to the tensions. The doctor, in his late 40s, is thought to have been detained in late May or early June, and is not thought to have been charged. He is being held for working for a foreign intelligence agency, which can be punishable by the death penalty. Friends say they last saw him attend the funeral of a distant family member in Peshawar, the provincial capital of the north-west, on 18 May. Afridi worked as the doctor in charge of Khyber, part of the tribal area, on the edge of Peshawar. It is believed that he was snatched by the ISI at Karkhano bazaar, a market for smuggled goods, on his way back home to Peshawar from work in Khyber, that lies between Peshawar and Khyber. He was initially held in custody in Peshawar, but may have been transferred to custody in Islamabad. From a humble family, Afridi graduated in 1990 from Khyber Medical College, the top medical academy in the north-west of the country. He had been accused of corruption in the past but was cleared of misdoings, according to one person who knows him. The CIA was never sure that Bin Laden was hiding inside the house in Abbottabad, northern Pakistan. It recruited Afridi, who set up a fake vaccination programme in Abbottabad. It was hoped that this would produce a DNA sample from one of the Bin Laden children. A nurse working for the doctor managed to get inside the compound, though it is not thought that the right DNA was obtained. The Guardian revelations about the fake CIA vaccine programme made headline news in Pakistan on Tuesday, but government officials offered no comment. Already chilly US-Pakistan relations grew colder in recent days with the news that Washington is to withhold $800m of military aid. Much of that money would have gone toward reimbursing Pakistan for the costs of keeping over 100,000 troops in the tribal area, guarding the border with Afghanistan, under a scheme known as Coalition Support Funds. “This is money we have already spent on this war,” Ahmad Mukhtar, Pakistan’s defence minister, said in an interview with Express 24/7, a Pakistani news channel. “The next step is that the government or armed forces will remove these soldiers from the border.” According to figures released by the US Congress, Washington has paid Pakistan $8.9bn in Coalition Support Funds since 2001. The money is meant to pay for the costs of maintaining the Pakistani troops in the tribal area. Pakistan’s armed forces are accused of allowing militants to sneak across the border from safe havens in the tribal area to carry out attacks in Afghanistan. However, Pakistan says it maintains 1,100 border check posts and does its best to stop the flow. If those posts were removed, the Taliban would be able to pour across unhindered. But Mukhtar’s comments are likely to be a warning shot, as pulling out those troops from the tribal area would create a huge security threat for Pakistan too. United States Osama bin Laden Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Pakistan Saeed Shah guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Say it with us now: Awwww . After receiving an invitation from Sgt. Scott Moore, via YouTube, to attend the Marine Corps Ball with him, actress Mila Kunis has agreed to go. Kunis apparently didn’t know about the invitation until she was ambushed by Fox News and her Friends With Benefits…
Continue reading …As the Dec. 31 US troop withdrawal deadline looms, Iraq is looking to purchase as many as 36 US fighter jets and other air-defense systems. The purchase, which will cost billions, could help cement ties between Iraq and the US and, Washington hopes, keep Iran at bay. The move comes…
Continue reading …Two Brooklyn performance artists were arrested last night after staging a dangerous stunt 300 feet above traffic on the Williamsburg Bridge. Aerialist Seanna Sharpe, aided by Savage Skinner, scaled a bridge tower and performed acrobatic flips and stunts for 15 minutes, suspended from the bridge with 90 feet of silk…
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Analysts said the deep discounts on offer in the high street last month reflected the squeeze on real incomes The City was last night ruling out an increase in interest rates until next year after latest cost of living figures showed Britain’s struggling retailers were forced to cut prices aggressively last month. Speculation that borrowing costs will need to be raised to tackle price pressures was dampened after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the government’s preferred measure of inflation dropped unexpectedly from 4.5% to 4.2% in a month. On a day of widespread financial market unease, triggered by the deepening crisis in the eurozone, the prospect of the Bank of England pegging interest rates at 0.5% well into 2012 left sterling under pressure on the foreign exchanges. Analysts said the deep discounts on offer in the high street last month reflected the squeeze on real incomes caused by a combination of rising inflation and modest pay awards. Prices of clothes, shoes, computer games and toys saw particularly large cuts as retailers sought to woo cautious consumers. Although retailers have been buffeted by higher energy prices and the rising cost of imports, Graham Turner of GFC economics said they were unable to pass on the higher prices to their customers. “Once again, there was clear evidence of consumer resistance to cost increases, a product of the biggest decline in real employee compensation since 1977,” Turner said. Recently announced increases in domestic energy tariffs are likely to send inflation as measured by the consumer prices index (CPI) higher over the next few months, but yesterday’s data strengthened the hand of those members of the Bank of England’s monetary policy committee who have been arguing against a rise in borrowing costs. Led by the Bank’s governor, Mervyn King, a majority on the MPC believes that the surge in inflation to more than double the government’s 2% target will prove temporary and that tightening policy would risk damaging an already weak economy. Separate ONS figures for UK trade showed a widening gap between imports and exports in May, the latest month for which data is available. News that the trade deficit widened from £7.6bn to £8.5bn dented ministerial hopes that the squeeze on consumer and public spending will be offset by stronger export performance. The City is now nervously awaiting the release of growth figures for the second quarter of 2011, due at the end of this month, and has started to mull the possibility that the Bank will inject a fresh dose of electronic money into the economy by buying bonds from banks. The Bank boosted the money supply by £200bn during the recession in an attempt to boost growth but has not added to its quantitative easing programme since early 2010. Jonathan Loynes, chief European economist at Capital Economics said yesterday’s figures added “support to the growing view that UK monetary policy is more likely to be loosened than tightened over the next year or so”. The ONS said prices fell by 0.1% last month, the first drop in June for eight years. Games, toys and hobbies were 5.7% cheaper than in June 2010 while audio-visual equipment showed an 11.5% annual drop. The ONS said rising supermarket bills limited the fall in headline inflation last month, but so-called core inflation – which excludes food and energy prices – dropped from 3.3% to 2.8%. Other measures of inflation also fell last month. The retail prices index – used in the bulk of pay negotiations – dipped from 5.2% to 5%, while the CPI excluding the impact of indirect taxes such as VAT came down from 3% to 2.7%. Angela Eagle MP, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, said: “It is worrying that inflation is still more than double the government’s target rate. “Rising world commodity prices are partly to blame. But things have been made much worse in Britain by George Osborne’s big rise in VAT, which is due to his decision last year to cut the deficit too far and too fast. “Families and pensioners who are already being squeezed hard by the Tory VAT rise and cuts to tax credits now face the prospect of huge rises in their gas and electricity bills too.” Simon Rose at Save our Savers said: “The slight improvement in this month’s inflation figures will bring little comfort to savers. It is scandalous that the Interest rates Economics Retail industry Bank of England Economic policy Larry Elliott guardian.co.uk
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Trouble erupts after Orange Order parade passes Ardoyne shops, then spreads across city There has been a serious outbreak of violence in north Belfast with police firing dozens of baton rounds and using water cannon in clashes with nationalist youths. The trouble erupted within minutes of an Orange Order parade passing by the Ardoyne shops shortly after 7pm. The disorder has now spread across the city, with a hijacking in the nationalist Market area of the inner city and crowds gathering on the Oldpark Road. Although the police were able to pin back rioters and keep them away from loyalists in the contentious parade, disorder broke out shortly afterwards on the Crumlin Road. Two different sets of protesters attacked riot police at two entry points into the republican Ardoyne district. Police officers were pelted with bricks, rocks, bottles and petrol bombs as well as fireworks. One group of rioters have set a hijacked car on fire at the junction of Crumlin Road and Woodvale Road, not far from where a smaller group of loyalists are still standing in Twaddell Avenue. Part of the road is now covered in black acrid smoke while the PSNI continue to fire water cannon at those engaged in the riot. The streets around the district are studded with shattered glass and smashed up bits of masonry. Earlier, 24 police officers were injured as Northern Ireland reaches the climax of the Ulster loyalist marching season. The majority of those hurt were caught up in riots in Greater Belfast that lasted into the early hours of Tuesday morning. Nationalist youths threw missiles, petrol bombs and at one stage drove a hijacked bus at police lines. The Greater Ardoyne Residents’ Collective were denied the right to gather on Crumlin Road – the return route of the Orange parade – on Tuesday night. The PSNI feared the residents would mount a sit down protest on the road to block the Orangemen’s path home. As loyalists marched through Belfast city centre the republican residents began to protest along Berwick Road against the Orange parade passing by their district. When the Orangemen and two loyalist bands passed by, a number of nationalist women sang the Soldier’s Song (the Irish national anthem) and hurled abuse at the marchers. Speaking from the platform, Dee Fennell – a spokesman for the residents group – initially called on the crowd to disperse peacefully. When a large number of those gathered at the protest started laughing Fennell said they would “show the Orange Order, the Parades Commission and the PSNI what they thought of their parade”. Gerry Kelly, the Sinn Féin assembly member for the area and former IRA Old Bailey bomber, said he was concerned at the rising tension in this corner of north Belfast. “We have a situation where we have two parades at one time,” he said. While Kelly and Sinn Féin oppose the loyalist march they have appealed for peaceful protests against the parade. He condemned those nationalist youths behind the violence of the last 24 hours but also blamed the Orange Order for failing to reach a compromise with Catholic residents along contentious parade routes. Northern Ireland Henry McDonald guardian.co.uk
Continue reading …Moammar Gadhafi indeed wants out of Libya—so say his emissaries, so says France. “Emissaries are telling us Gadhafi is ready to go, let’s talk about it,” said French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, according to Reuters . “The question is no longer about whether Gadhafi goes, but when and how.” He…
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