All Global News on One Page

Police in Jamaica say they have arrested suspected drugs lord Christopher “Dudus” Coke on the outskirts of the capital, Kingston.
Jamaican media say he surrendered after walking into a police station accompanied by a Church leader.
The Jamaican government wants to extradite Mr Coke to the US to face charges of drug and gun trafficking.
Attempts to capture him in May led to fierce clashes in which more than 70 people were killed.
Mr Coke, 41, is accused of being the leader of the notorious Shower Posse, which US authorities say operates an international drugs and guns network.
The gang has also been blamed for numerous murders in Jamaica and the US.
Police said Mr Coke had been arrested in the Portmore area of St Catherine Parish, Reuters reported.
The Jamaica Observer said Mr Coke had surrendered himself to police accompanied by the Rev Al Miller.
He was being held at Spanish Town police station which was surrounded by soldiers, the newspaper's website reported.
The Rev Miller, an evangelical preacher, reportedly facilitated the surrender of Mr Coke's brother, Leighton “Livity” Coke, earlier this month.
The operation to capture Mr Coke last month centred on his stronghold in Kingston's Tivoli Gardens.
More than 70 people were killed in gun battles between police and armed young men.

Source:BBC

Behind the bland facade of a BP office block in the outskirts of Houston, I step into an oil industry nightmare: the headquarters for a battle being fought on a distant seabed.
Along the corridors, signs point the way to the company's “crisis centre”.
Originally designed to provide back-up space to cope with hurricanes, it is now hosting a desperate effort to tackle the first leak to erupt beneath a mile of ocean.
For a giant of a company, these are tense, threatening times. In fact, one of the first sights to catch my eye inside the centre was a notice offering counselling and massages for stress.
Some 500 people – mostly engineers – work in here in round-the-clock shifts, and they are doing their best to avoid being distracted by the storm of criticism, lawsuits, bills and allegations raging outside.
Of the multiple crises afflicting the company, their attention is focused on the struggle to tame and then kill the “wild well” gushing beyond human reach in the Gulf of Mexico.
In one of the few visits allowed to the media, we are led into a series of rooms where different teams focus on different parts of the fight.
The largest is one running the containment operation – each of the vessels collecting oil from the leak is managed by a team here.
One group is from a rival oil firm, Chevron, because one of their ships is being leased to BP and it is easier not to train new people to direct it.
For a highly competitive industry, this would normally be an unthinkable sight.
A neighbouring room acts as a marine traffic control centre. Having as many as 20 ships and rigs crowded into a small patch of sea above the leak carries risks.
And across a hall lies BP's equivalent of mission control – a darkened room in which one wall carries projected images from the 12 remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) on the ocean floor.
Before we enter, we are asked to be as quiet as possible. The place is wired for instant communications with the ships handling the robots.
The staff, faces cast in the blue-ish light of the screens, are in charge of the only means by which the leak can be contained; only robots can operate at the extreme depths involved.
Will all this succeed? Amid the exhaustion and strain, there is an air of confidence that more oil will gradually be captured and that ultimately the relief wells will block the leak.
But not immediately. A centre intended for the sudden, short-lived threat of a hurricane is likely to be busy for some time to come.

Source:BBC

Peru has overtaken Colombia as the main producer of coca leaf, the raw material for making cocaine, the UN says.
More than 45% of the world's coca crop now comes from Peru, according to a report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC).
A steady fall in production in Colombia showed the government's anti-drug policies were succeeding, it said.
Colombia now accounts for 39% of the world coca crop.
There was little change in the scale of cultivation in Bolivia, the third biggest producer, which accounts for 15% of world production.
Coca cultivation in Colombia fell by 16% in 2009 to 68,000 hectares, a decline of almost 60% since the peak of a decade ago, according to UNDOC estimates.
“The drug control policies adopted by the Colombian government over the past few years – combining security and development – are paying off,” said UNDOC executive director Antonio Maria Costa.
Outgoing Colombian President Alvaro Uribe made the fight against drug production and left-wing rebels who are funded by the drug trade a cornerstone of his government.
The offensive has been supported by the US, which has given billions of dollars in mostly military aid under a programme called Plan Colombia.
The Colombian government has hailed the UN figures as a vindication of its approach.
“This success is thanks to the democratic security policy and its integral approach to the fight against drugs, including manual eradication and aerial spraying of coca crops,” a statement said.
“The sustained efforts of the Colombian authorities have led to a significant reduction in the global supply of cocaine,” it added.
But the UN figures show production has been shifting to Peru, which produced 119,000 tonnes of coca leaf in 2009 compared to 103,000 tonnes in Colombia.
Coca cultivation in Peru has increased by 55% over the past decade, UNDOC says, though this year's total is still half what it was two decades ago.
Peru was the world's biggest coca producer until the mid-1990s, when production shifted to Colombia as the security situation in Peru improved.
Critics of the US-led drugs control policy say the ability of traffickers to transfer their operations from one country to another shows the futility of the war on drugs. Dr Arlene Tickner, of the University of the Andes, in Bogota, told the BBC earlier this month that Plan Colombia had, at best, only served to push the problem beyond Colombia's borders.
“As a drug policy, I think it has been a relative failure”.
“If we look at the Andean region as a whole what we see is not only that coca crops are basically the same size as the year 2000 but also that the potential cocaine production from those crops is the same as well.
UNDOC estimates that overall coca production in the Andean region fell by 5% in 2009.
But the agency recognises that, as long as there is a demand for cocaine, the logic of the market dictates that production will continue.
“There are limits to what the Andean governments can do if people keep snorting cocaine,” Mr Costa said.
“It is therefore up to governments in cocaine consuming countries – mostly in Europe and North America – to take their responsibility and reduce demand for cocaine.”

Source:BBC

Two camels and a tiger stolen last week in Canada as they were being taken on a truck trailer to a zoo have been found.
Camels Shawn and Todd and Jonas the tiger were recovered on Monday night on a rural road near Drummondville, central Quebec.
According to reports by Canadian broadcaster CBC, a resident contacted authorities after spotting an abandoned truck trailer.
Richard Gagne, of the Quebec provincial police, says they are “alive and well”.
They were on their way last Friday from Nova Scotia to the Bowmanville Zoo in Ontario when their driver stopped near Montreal, for a break.
The zoo issued several pleas and a 20,000 (13,473) reward for the animals' safe return.
They appeared to have been cared for during their disappearance, according to the police.

Source:BBC

US President Barack Obama was angered by a magazine profile in which the top military commander in Afghanistan criticised senior administration officials, the White House says.
Spokesman Robert Gibbs said Gen Stanley McChrystal had made an “enormous mistake in judgement”.
The general has been summoned to Washington over the Rolling Stone article, for which he has apologised.
Administration officials have so far declined to say that his job is safe.
Asked about President Obama's response on seeing the article, Mr Gibbs told reporters: “He was angry – you would know it if you saw it.”
In the article, Gen McChrystal is quoted as sharply criticising the US ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry.
Aides to the general are quoted as saying say he was “disappointed” when meeting President Barack Obama for the first time.
Other targets include Vice-President Joe Biden, National Security Adviser James Jones and the special US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke.
The BBC's Quentin Sommerville, in Afghanistan, says the article highlights the long-suspected divisions between the US military and administration officials.
US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said in a strongly worded statement that said he had read “with concern” the Rolling Stone article.
“I believe that General McChrystal made a significant mistake and exercised poor judgment in this case.
“General McChrystal has apologised to me and is similarly reaching out to others named in this article to apologise to them as well. I have recalled Gen McChrystal to Washington to discuss this in person.”
The Rolling Stone article – a profile of Gen McChrystal entitled The Runaway General, written by a journalist, Michael Hastings, who was given access to the commander and his staff over several weeks – is due to be published on Friday.
In it, Gen McChrystal says he felt “betrayed” by Mr Eikenberry during the long 2009 White House debate on troop requests for Afghanistan.
Gen McChrystal suggests that Mr Eikenberry, ambassador to Kabul, was using a leaked internal memo that questioned the wisdom of troop requests as a way of protecting himself from future criticism over the deployment.
The general says: “I like Karl, I've known him for years, but they'd never said anything like that to us before.
“Here's one that covers his flank for the history books. Now if we fail, they can say, 'I told you so.'”
Gen McChrystal also mocks the vice-president in response to a question. “Are you asking about Vice-President Biden?” McChrystal asks. “Who's that?”
Another aide refers to a key Oval Office meeting with the president a year ago.
The aide says it was “a 10-minute photo-op”, adding: “Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was… he didn't seem very engaged. The boss was pretty disappointed.”
Another aide refers to National Security Adviser Jones as a “clown stuck in 1985″.
Of an e-mail from Mr Holbrooke, Gen McChrystal says: “Oh, not another e-mail from Holbrooke… I don't even want to open it.”
Duncan Boothby, a special assistant to Gen McChrystal who organised the Rolling Stone journalist's access to the commander, has resigned as a result of the article.
As news of the article emerged, Gen McChrystal attempted to limit the damage in advance of Rolling Stone hitting the newsstands.
He said in a statement: “I extend my sincerest apology for this profile. It was a mistake reflecting poor judgement and should never have happened.
“Throughout my career, I have lived by the principles of personal honour and professional integrity. What is reflected in this article falls far short of that standard.
“I have enormous respect and admiration for President Obama and his national security team and for the civilian leaders and troops fighting this war and I remain committed to ensuring its successful outcome.”
Gen McChrystal replaced Gen David McKiernan in 2009 and has sought to reduce the number of Afghan civilians being killed in combat operations.
After his appointment, Gen McChrystal was drawn into a long and detailed strategy review with the president, finally getting an additional 30,000 US troops from Mr Obama.
But analysts say Gen McChrystal disagreed with the president's pledge to start bringing troops home in July 2011.
A spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Waheed Omer, voiced support for Gen McChrystal.
“The president strongly supports General McChrystal and his strategy in Afghanistan and believes he is the best commander the United States has sent to Afghanistan over the last nine years,” he said.
In contrast, a spokesman for the Taliban said Gen McChrystal's recall was another sign of the start of the “political defeat” for US policies in Afghanistan. What is your reaction to Gen McChrystal's article? What impact will this have on the US operation in Afghanistan? Send us your comments using the form below. The BBC may edit your comments and not all emails will be published. Your comments may be published on any BBC media worldwide.

Source:BBC

Sales of previously-owned US homes fell unexpectedly in May despite tax credits designed to encourage homebuyers, figures suggest.
Sales fell 2.2% to 5.66 million after a surge in sales in April, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) said. Analysts had expected sales to rise.
However, the NAR said sales were still strong and 19% higher than a year ago.
The group's chief economist, Lawrence Yun, said tax credits would continue to boost sales next month.
“We are witnessing the ongoing effects of the home buyer tax credit, which we'll also see in June real estate closings,” he said.
But the number of home sales this month may be affected by delays in mortgage deals, he explained.
“Approximately 180,000 home buyers who signed a contract in good faith to receive the tax credit may not be able to finalise by the end of June due to delays in the mortgage process.”
The average price of a house in the US was 179,600 (121,400) in May, up 2.6% on a year ago.
To qualify for the homebuyers tax credit, buyers had to sign a sales contract by the end of April, but have until the end of June to finalise the sale.
As a result, some analysts expect home sales to drop off after this month.

Source:BBC

Defending champion Serena Williams produced a ruthless display to crush Michelle Larcher de Brito 6-0 6-4 and march into round two of Wimbledon.Top seed Williams made a blistering start on a sun-drenched Centre Court, breaking her Portuguese opponent three times in a 21-minute opening set. Larcher de Brito, 17, battled admirably in the second but an early break and Williams’s extra power proved decisive. Next up for the American is Anna Chakvetadze, who beat Andrea Petkovic. The emphatic nature of Williams’s victory will fill the three-time champion with confidence ahead of what is sure to be a testing fortnight. “I’m relieved to get through because she (Larcher de Brito) is a really good player,” Williams told BBC Sport. “It’s great to be here, fit and healthy. “Hopefully I’ll play in front of the Queen (on Thursday) but also hopefully not because I might get a little bit nervous.”Williams is seeking a 13th Grand Slam singles title, which would see her move one clear of Billie Jean King in the all-time list, and on this evidence she has every chance of capturing it at SW19 on 3 July. She returned to the scene of her 2009 triumph to a rapturous ovation and quickly set about dismantling Larcher de Brito’s game. Decked in a strawberries and cream-inspired outfit, Williams reeled off a couple of stunning winners en route to a break of serve in the opening game. An unreturnable serve saw her hold to 15 against a player she beat 4-6 6-3 6-2 in their only previous meeting – on the Stanford hard courts in 2008 – and she gained the double-break when Larcher de Brito put a forehand long. The Florida-based Portuguese was struggling to get close to Williams’s serve and three aces in game four took the reigning Australian Open champion to within touching distance of the set. Larcher de Brito failed to serve much quicker than 85mph and, with a crosscourt backhand into the tramlines, she was broken to 15 in game five before Williams served out with another thumping ace. 606: DEBATE
Statistics showed that Larcher de Brito was getting 0.5 seconds to react to Williams’ serve but the real problems were on her own delivery and she netted a backhand to concede an early break in the second set. Two more aces helped Serena move into a 2-0 lead and, while clearly in awe of the world number one, Larcher de Brito was bouyed by good support from the Centre Court crowd. The talented right-hander from Lisbon, well known for her on-court decibel levels, began to rally and a succession of well-placed passing shots made for three successive service holds. Faced with some extremely aggressive strokemaking, Williams’s level seemed to drop a touch. But she remained consistent on serve and started to move far better as the set wore on. A match point came and went on the Larcher de Brito serve in game nine but Williams made no mistake in game 10, closing out a 63-minute win with two aces down the middle.

Source:BBC

The Deepwater Horizon rig disaster caused the deaths of 11 crew and a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Since the 20 April catastrophe there has been much discussion in US Congressional hearings and the media about the sequence of events that led up to it.
Here is a summary of what we know so far about the BP oil spill, and the primary questions that are still being investigated.
The Deepwater Horizon rig was digging an oil well in the Macondo prospect that was intended to be plugged with cement and then completed later to become a production well.
The top of the well was about 5,000ft (1,524m) beneath the surface of the Gulf of Mexico.
The Deepwater Horizon was owned and mostly staffed by employees of exploration firm Transocean, under contract to BP.

Northern Ireland’s Graeme McDowell says his career has finally taken off after securing his first major with victory at the US Open at Pebble Beach.The 30-year-old, who ended Europe’s 40-year US Open drought, held off France’s Gregory Havret to win by one shot. “Careers are defined by majors and my career’s off and running,” he said. “To join Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tom Kite and Tiger Woods as Pebble Beach winners; I’m not quite sure if I belong in that list, but, hey, I’m there now.” McDowell, who had led at halfway, started the final round three shots behind Dustin Johnson and managed to keep his nerve, carding a final round 74 for a level-par total, while his American playing partner imploded with an 11-over par of 82 to slip down to eighth.Johnson’s problems started on the second with a triple bogey seven and he dropped two more shots on the third. McDowell, by contrast, did not drop a shot until the ninth. “I really stuck to my plan, which was to stay patient, stay calm, and really put some nice calm swings on it and not get sucked in by what the rest of the guys were doing,” stated McDowell. “I did that for about 10 holes. I bogeyed nine and 10, didn’t hit a good drive on 11, looked up at the leaderboard and really sort of knuckled down at that point. I was actually really proud of myself. “I was surprised that Gregory Havret was the guy closest to me. No disrespect to Gregory, he’s a great player, but when you have Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and Ernie Els obviously there, you’re not expecting Gregory Havret to be the guy you’ve got to fend off.”
Nowhere more was McDowell’s level-headed approach in evidence than on the last. He teed off on the par-five 18th with a one-shot lead over Havret and after watching the Frenchman miss his birdie putt, he elected to play short of the green with his second shot. A punched eight-iron left McDowell a 100-yard pitch into the green and he two-putted from 20-feet to seal his par and win his first major at his 19th attempt. “I had an opportunity to go for 18 in two but made the decision not to do that when he [Havret] didn’t make four,” he said. “It was a nice, easy five in the end which was thankfully no drama.” McDowell, from Portrush, won the Welsh Open at Celtic Manor two weeks ago, added: “It’s a surreal feeling for me but I feel ready to go. I’m playing the golf of my life. “I’m not sure how much partying I’m going to do over the next three months. “I might catch my friends up with beer next weekend. The Harbor Bar, Portrush, a pint of Guinness. I think there will be a few of those in my future.”Probably I should sober up pre-Ryder Cup at some point, but I’m looking forward to celebrating this one and it’s a cool feeling.” Havret, ranked 391st in the world going into the tournament, kept his nerve while playing alongside Woods and his one-over par round of 72 was the best of the leading contenders. “I holed a 50-footer to win a playoff [at Walton Heath] and qualify for here,” said Havret. “All of a sudden I’m playing a Sunday with Tiger. It was very exciting. I knew I had some chances and I did everything thinking I was able to win it. It’s a shame I came up short.”I’m very happy for Graeme, it breaks 40 years of [dashed] hopes for Europeans,” he said. “I came second, I’m quite happy to, so it’s very exciting.” The challenge of world number one Woods failed to materialise as he bogeyed five of his first 10 holes on his way to a four-over par 75 and a tie for fourth with Mickelson. “I made three mental mistakes,” he stated. “The only thing it cost me was a chance to win the US Open.” Mickelson, who could have taken over at the top of the rankings had he won, also failed to capitalise, ending with a 73 and a three-over par total, after getting himself into a decent position. “I thought when I made that [birdie] putt on the first hole, it was going to be a great day,” said Mickelson. “And when Dustin made a triple it was a wide open tournament. BBC Sport’s Peter Scrivener”At the turn, I was still under par for my round and even par for the tournament, which was ultimately the winning score. All I had to do was shoot even par in the back, and I’m in a play-off.” And in reference to his five second-place finishes in the US Open, Mickelson added: “I’m glad that it wasn’t a second, but obviously I wanted to win.” South Africa’s Ernie Els also had a shot at the title and briefly shared the lead with McDowell at three-under par, but he left his approach to the par-four ninth short and went on to bogey five of the last 10 holes to finish third on two-over par. McDowell’s victory lifts him from 37th to 13th in the world rankings. He is the first European to win the US Open since Tony Jacklin won at Hazeltine in 1970 and only the second Northern Irishman to win a major, following Fred Daly’s victory at the Open in 1947.

Source:BBC

Top executives from BP, Transocean and other oil firms have warned against over-regulating deep sea oil drilling.
Oil found in deep waters is needed because the world will need 45% more energy by the year 2030, BP's chief of staff, Steve Westwell, told the World National Oil Companies Congress.
Consequently, the world would need new reserves from “new frontiers”, he said.
Steven Newman, chief executive of Transocean, which owned and operated the destroyed Deepwater Horizon rig that blew up on 20 April, attacked the US ban on deep water drilling.
“There are things the [US] administration could implement today that would allow the industry to go back to work tomorrow without an arbitrary six-month time limit,” Mr Newman said on the sidelines of the meeting.
His comment was a reference to a moratorium on deep water drilling introduced in the wake of the rig explosion that killed 11 workers and set off worst oil spill in US history.
A prolonged ban on deep water drilling would also “be a step back for energy security”, added Chevron executive Jay Pryor , suggesting it would “constrain supplies for world energy”.
A legal challenge of the moratorium has been mounted and a decision is due by Wednesday.
Mr Westwell said BP would re-assess how it balanced risks, but he also insisted that the leak in the Gulf of Mexico would not lead to deep water production being halted.
It would be a mistake, he insisted, to create an environment in which investment in deep water would become impossible.
“The world does need the oil and the energy that is going to have to come from deep water production going forward,” he said.
“Therefore, the regulatory framework must still enable that to be a viable commercial position.”
And he said “BP will come through”, suggesting that most of the flow from the well in the Gulf should be staunched by August.

Source:BBC

How does being young, gifted and black square with being a Republican in today's deep south?
The obvious answer might be that it's an awkward fit.
But tell that to Tim Scott.
Voters go the polls in South Carolina on Tuesday in a run-off to decide between two Republicans vying for a seat in Congress in November's mid-term elections.
One of the two, Paul Thurmond, is the son of the state's legendary congressman, senator, presidential candidate and one-time segregationist Strom Thurmond.
The other, Tim Scott, is a charismatic black state legislator from Charleston who, if elected, would be the first black Republican in Congress for almost a decade and the first from his state in more than a century.
Mr Scott, who won most support in the first round of primary voting earlier this month, is one of more than 30 African-American candidates running for the Republican Party as it tries to shake off its image as an almost exclusively white party.
But this is the Deep South and Charleston is the cradle of the civil war. In South Carolina, politics and the colour of your skin are inextricably linked.
“Unfortunately, race is still everything in South Carolina politics,” says Dwayne Green, a Charleston lawyer and commentator.
A recent comment by one of the state's senior Republicans about a woman of Indian descent running for governor, Nikki Haley, provided an uncomfortable reminder of the deep divisions that lurk below South Carolina's genteel exterior.
“We already got one raghead in the White House,” state Senator Jake Knotts told an online political talk show. “We don't need a raghead in the governor's mansion.”
For all the clumsy setbacks, Dwayne Green believes the Republican Party is trying to move on, and that Tim Scott is proof.
“It's very hard to say that you're a party that embraces all races when you have no African-American candidates,” he says. “If you have at least one, that's a start.”
But it's not just the Republican establishment that seems to have singled out Tim Scott. He also enjoys the backing of committed, conservative Tea Party activists. And if that sounds surprising for a movement whose members are overwhelmingly white, then members say it is all about the quality of the candidate, not the colour of his skin.
“Tim Scott did a good job. Tim Scott got out and beat the bushes and voted,” says Mike Murphree, building contractor and chairman of the Charleston Tea Party, referring to Mr Scott's record as a successful local politician.
“He could have (said) 'I'm the black man and I want you to vote for me because you've never voted for a black man, you bunch of yay-hoos from South Carolina,'” Murphree says. “He sold you on the idea that he has the experience to bring to Washington DC.”
Ask the candidate himself how he deals with the issue of race and you get a patient response.
“There seems to be a lot of attention focused on the fact that I'm an African-American and a Republican,” Mr Scott tells me. “I get that. Don't get me wrong.”
Just like a certain presidential candidate, two years ago, Mr Scott knows that to win, he has to project a broader appeal.
“I can only run on, and I can only win on the fact that our issues are important to America,” he insists. “If we build our party on stronger values, we will have the diversity we seek. If we try to create a party based on diversity, I actually think that we lose.”
This year's bid for more diversity has yet to bear fruit. Several candidates have already been knocked out.
A similar attempt two years ago yielded little.
“We need more like Tim Scott, who has taken years to build that credibility and rapport with the voting population,” says Glenn McCall, himself an African-American who represents South Carolina on the Republican Party's National Committee.
“When we recruit African-Americans who really don't have much history with the party and with that constituency, it is a more uphill task.”
Mr McCall seems to accept that the pace of political change is slow. But not everyone is so patient.
“The writing on the wall is that the Republican Party will not survive into the future as a lily-white party,” says Marvin Rogers, a black author and Republican activist.
“Conservative Republicans need to go into these communities and show that conservatism has many faces. It's not optional. It's a matter of survival.”
As he enters the run-off vote, Tim Scott now faces a sterner test in the shape of Paul Thurmond. If Mr Scott wins, he's almost guaranteed a seat in Congress for the heavily Republican 1st District.
And with the seat will come a great deal of attention.

Source:BBC

LATEST ACTION (all times BST) * denotes next server1305: Hold on – Serena’s wearing red knick-knacks. That must be the strawberry element. I could see a bigwig kicking off about those – not very Wimbledon. It’s no Anne White catsuit, don’t get me wrong, but you contravene rules round here at your peril.1302: Venus, of course, is wearing a dress inspired by Tina Turner. You think I’m joking. If she moves like Turner she could be in big trouble. Maybe Rafa Nadal will come out afterwards in an outfit inspired by Ike Turner – checkerboard flares, satin shirt open to the waist, thunderous look on his face.1300: Here come the players – Serena is wearing a dress apparently inspired by strawberries and cream. Not obvious visual clues (say, strawberries or, erm, cream) – maybe it just costs eight times as much as you’d pay elsewhere.1258: One more thing – if you’re looking at the video above these words, it’s switch from Anne Keothavong to ‘Reenie shortly.1255: Quick heads-up for you – should you want to watch this particular match on the television box, you’ll have to red button it between 1300 and 1340 – something about a Budget something or other. I’ll be here regardless of what the Chancellor says, unless he’s got plans to implement instant swingeing cuts to text commentators.1252: All well? Scorching out there on Centre, and who’s up first? Defending ladies champion vs rank outsider, aka Serena vs Squeaker.

Source:BBC

Argentina coach Diego Maradona has said that Brazil are his favourites to win the World Cup while downplaying his side’s hopes of winning a third title.Impressive wins against Nigeria and South Korea mean Argentina need only one point from their final group game against Greece on Tuesday to reach the last 16 but Maradona is refusing to get carried away.”I don’t want to be favourites, not before coming to South Africa and not now,” he said. “We’re here to keep our fans happy, to play the way we want to play, and I think things so far are going well.”Brazil can play badly but still win games, that’s why they are still the great favourites.”North Korea television was quick to gloss over their side’s humiliating 7-0 defeat by Portugal on Monday that eliminated them from the World Cup. Billed as a revenge match against the side that knocked them out of the 1966 World Cup at the quarter-final stage, it was the first game to be aired live in a communist country that exerts strict control over media coverage. However, hopes of avenging the 5-3 defeat from 44 years ago, in North Korea’s only other trip to the World Cup, were extinguished by six second-half Portuguese goals. “The Portuguese won the game and now have four points. We are ending our live broadcast now,” a Korean Central Broadcasting commentator said, quickly cutting to footage of factory workers and engineers praising North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. West Ham midfielder Valon Behrami is hoping his Switzerland team-mates can keep his World Cup dream alive following his sending off in Tuesday’s 1-0 defeat by Chile.The 25-year-old will miss Friday’s final Group H game against Honduras as the Swiss attempt to make the most of their opening 1-0 win over Spain to book their place in the last 16.The group is extremely tight but if Switzerland beat Honduras by more than one clear goal it will guarantee their progress.Italy striker Alberto Gilardino has told his team-mates to improve against Slovakia or they will “deserve to go home” from the World Cup. The Azzurri head into their final Group F match at Ellis Park on Thursday searching for their first win of the tournament after being held to draws by Paraguay and New Zealand. “I didn’t expect it to turn out like it did,” said Gilardino, who has yet to score in the tournament. “But if we want to progress to the next round, we have to do much more, otherwise it is right that we go home.” Spain striker Fernando Torres is the latest player to complain about the World Cup ball.The Liverpool player, who is returning to match sharpness following knee surgery, missed a host of chances in his country’s 2-0 victory over Honduras in Group H on Monday.”Personally speaking, I am very happy to have played but we need to practice a bit more with this Jabulani because we are having a bit of bother with it,” said Torres.Spain’s win got their World Cup campaign back on track after their opening 1-0 defeat to Switzerland, and victory over Chile in their final group game will ensure them a place in the last 16.Fifa has confirmed that South Africa’s appeal against goalkeeper Itumeleng Khune’s red card against Uruguay had been rejected, meaning he will be suspended for Tuesday’s final Group A match against France. A Chinese factory making vuvuzelas is having to increase production to keep up with huge demand during the World Cup.Chinese manufacturers say almost 90% of the vuvuzelas used in South Africa are made in China.”With regards to the production volume, from January to April this year, we were producing 250,000 vuvuzelas every day to fill containers that are exported from Ningbo port,” said Yijun Wu from the Ninghai Jiying plastics factory.”We were making 10,000 vuvuzelas a day for the past few days and I estimate we will make 25,000 per day in the next few days.”The demand from the Chinese market alone is surpassing our production capability.”Updated throughout the day

Source:BBC

Michael Jackson's estate has made more than 1bn (677,592m) since his death a year ago, according to estimates by trade paper Billboard.
The magazine says Jackson's album sales have generated about 383m (259m), while revenue from the film This Is It has hit nearly 400m (271m).
Profits from publishing rights, licensing and touring are also included in the total.
A new recording contract is estimated to have made 31m (21m) so far.
The Sony Music Entertainment deal will see 10 albums of the late singer's music released over the next seven years, including one of previously unreleased material.
The estate is guaranteed between 200m (135m) and 250m (169.5m) for the deal but Billboard believes approximately 31m (21m) of this will have been paid in the last 12 months.
Despite the This Is It tour never getting off the ground, revenue from tickets retained by fans as souvenirs and not refunded brought in about 6.5m (4.4m), with merchandise raking in 5m (3.4m), although concert promoter AEG has a cut of these profits.
Jackson's music publishing company, Mijac, currently has a value of around 150m (102m), according to Billboard.
The magazine said Mijac could have generated as much as 50m (33.9m) in the last year.
Jackson's estate also owns half of music publishing company, Sony/ATV.
Barry Massarsky of Massarsky Consulting estimated that Jackson's share of Sony/ATV's revenue is 80m (54.3m) a year.
Other profits have come from DVD sales and rentals, downloads, royalties and ringtones.
Jackson died on 25 June last year at the age of 50.

Source:BBC

Whistleblower website Wikileaks has made contact with the US government over claims that an American serviceman is one of its sources.
Soldier Bradley Manning has been held for three weeks without formal charge.
The US is investigating claims that he passed confidential information to Wikileaks.
Site editor Julian Assange told BBC News that, so far the US authorities had not yet been in touch with him.
He said that lawyers representing Wikileaks have been in touch with the US administration but that neither the State Department nor the Department of Defense had made any attempt to approach the site.
In spite of the silence from the US, Mr Assange said he felt it was “important to have a channel open in these matters”.
No conversations could take place which might reveal the identity of any source, he added.
Mr Manning was identified as an alleged Wikileaks source after former hacker Adrian Lamo, in whom he had confided, contacted the authorities.
During a series of conversations conducted online, Mr Lamo claims that Mr Manning revealed he had passed 260,000 US diplomatic cables and two confidential military videos to Wikileaks.
US state department spokesperson P.J. Crowley has said that the Bureau of Diplomatic Security was examining one or more hard drives used by Mr Manning in Iraq.
Wikileaks said it did not know whether Mr Manning, who had served in Iraq as an army intelligence analyst, was the source of the leak as the website does not keep personal records of the people who approach it.
One of the videos he allegedly leaked was released by Wikileaks in April.
It contained gun camera footage from a 2007 attack by US forces in Baghdad in which 12 people died including two Reuters employees.
In the immediate aftermath of Mr Manning's exposure as the alleged source, reports appeared online claiming that the Pentagon was actively seeking Julian Assange.
On Monday he appeared as a panelist at a seminar on free speech held in the European Parliament and organised by the Alliance of Liberals And Democrats for Europe.
At a press conference ahead of the seminar Mr Assange spoke about the risk of action against Wikileaks by the US.
“The signals from the US authorities initially were mixed, however, they seem to clarifying now and I think the United States understands that it must obey the rule of law,” he told reporters.
When asked by the BBC whether he was concerned that other people involved with Wikileaks might be vulnerable he said, “we are concerned to make sure that our volunteers in particular are protected.” He added that Wikileaks would “always try and represent alleged sources”.
Mr Assange said that he site had contacted three lawyers to help defend Mr Manning.
Bradley Manning has to date not been formally charged, and the Pentagon has declined to comment on the case while the investigation continues.
In an e-mail sent to press and supporters last week Julian Assange said Wikileaks planned to release another US military video showing a 2009 attack on a village in Afghanistan in which numerous civilians died.
Given the current debate over whether Mr Manning is the source of the US military videos possessed by Wikileaks, Mr Assange said he was “a little more concerned” about this release.
He added that Wikileaks would “always try and represent alleged sources”.
However he was confident that Wikileaks could protect itself from any action by the US government.
Mr Assange had been heartened by a groundswell of support for Wikileaks from the online community as well as prominent journalists and politicians, he said.
“I'm sure, through their support and the integrity and correctness of what we're doing we'll be fine.”

Source:BBC

One year on from Michael Jackson's death, US musician Sheryl Crow pays tribute to the late performer as she prepares to release a new record inspired by soul and R&B.
“Like so many other people, I didn't really weigh the importance of his presence until he was gone,” says the 48-year-old, who toured with Jackson in the 1980s.
“The Jackson 5's ABC record was the first album I ever owned, and Michael ended up giving me my first gig as a back-up singer.”
Crow's latest album, 100 Miles from Memphis, features a cover version of the Jackson 5 song I Want You Back, which the singer describes as “a sort of homage”.
“It was a bitter-sweet moment for me to sing that song with the experience that I'd had with him,” she reveals.
Crow's last album, 2008 release Detours, followed a eventful period in her life in which she split from fiance Lance Armstrong, adopted a baby son and was diagnosed with breast cancer.
All the above inevitably influenced the finished record, an emotionally charged collection of songs with a pronounced political edge.
Having since adopted a second son, however, Crow has produced a more upbeat disc that harks back to the music she listened to while growing up in Kennett, Missouri.
“For years I wanted to make a record that was directly linked to my earliest influences,” she says.
“After Detours, it seemed a great time to make something that was a more light-hearted, a little more sexy and not quite as heavy.”
As the title suggests, Crow grew up near to Memphis, Tennessee – an important force in the genesis of country, rock & roll and the blues.
“I grew up listening to a lot of Stax music, a lot of Memphis artists like Al Green, and a lot of Motown,” the singer recalls.
“This record is really a throwback to old soul, with a lot of lyrics based in sensuality and emotion,” she continues.
Rolling Stone Keith Richards appears on one of the tracks, while Memphis-born Justin Timberlake sings on Crow's version of the Terence Trent D'Arby hit Sign Your Name.
“It's a great song,” she says of the track, which reached number two in the UK singles chart in 1988.
“It was really fun to out a sort of Al Green twist on it.”
The year has been one of transition and change for the Grammy award-winning artist, typified by the adoption of baby Levi she announced on her website last month.
“It's always an enriching experience having a new little member in your life,” she continues, saying her other adopted son – Wyatt, now three – is “very excited” about having a little brother.
Not only that, but 2010 has also seen Crow try her hand at acting with a three-episode stint in US TV show Cougar Town.
The singer played a wine expert in the sitcom, which stars Courtney Cox as a recently divorced woman who begins dating again.
“It was a complete departure from what I'm used to doing, and it was good for me to get outside of my comfort level,” Crow says.
“I don't know if I'll pursue it but it was certainly fun to do, especially as I was around people I'm very close to.”100 Miles from Memphis is released on 19 July.

Source:BBC

Nintendo has said that ongoing currency gyrations could have a significant effect on its profits.
The creator of the popular Wii gaming console has a market value in excess of 85bn (57.2bn) and is now Japan's third most valuable listed company.
Talking to BBC News, company president Satoru Iwata said instability in the global economy was having an impact.
This meant, he said, that there was uncertainty about how Nintendo could estimate its profits.
He also said that government needed to do more to bring ongoing currency fluctuations under control.
Nintendo, like rival Japanese games firm Sony, exports the majority of its hardware and video games to Europe and the US.
With fixed prices at the tills, along with distribution, retail and transport costs, any devaluation of the local currency can have a direct impact on how much money console manufacturers will make.
“If the Yen, or any currency, changes over one, two or three years, then that is something that we corporations have to deal with,” said Mr Iwata.
“However, if over a week a currency fluctuates by five or ten percent, there has to be something seriously wrong with the economy.
“From that perspective, we cannot say our [global] economy as a whole has been stabilised and there is uncertainty on how to estimate our profits,” he said.
“The Euro is just one of the most recent examples of the issues we have been observing in the currency market since the shock of Lehman Brothers,” he added.
Figures released by Gfk Chart-Track suggest that overall console sales in the UK fell by almost a third in the first six months of 2010, mostly due to declining interest among shoppers in Nintendo Wii and DS handheld devices. By contrast, both Sony and Microsoft have reported an uplift in sales. Sony Computer Entertainment's chairman, Kaz Hirai, said it had seen increases in year-on-year sales for its PlayStation 3 console system, for the past 10 consecutive months.
But while Microsoft and Sony are updating their existing TV gaming systems with new motion controllers, Nintendo has, at present, no public plans to replace its Wii gaming system, although Mr Iwata said one was being worked on.
“Whenever we launch any new hardware, we start working on the development of the next hardware, and the Wii is no exception,” he said.
“When we run out of ideas with the current hardware and cannot give users any more meaningful surprises with the technology we have, that's when we will launch the new hardware.
“But do we need to launch a successor to Wii right now? I don't think so.”
Nintendo's share price has risen since the start of the year, with a sharp leap in March 2010 when the firm announced it was to launch an updated version to its DS handheld system that would display 3D images without the need to wear glasses.
Despite some correction in the market, Nintendo shares have risen from 21,590 (159) in January this year to a high of 28,740 (212) in June.
Nintendo unveiled its new 3D handheld gaming system at a briefing in Los Angeles at the E3 games show.
Called 3DS, the system has two screens and can display 3D images that can be seen without using special glasses.
Nintendo said the novel handheld is designed to replace the existing DS and is scheduled to be on shop shelves in late 2010.
The gaming giant said it had overhauled the graphics system on the DS to bring it into the 21st Century.

Source:BBC

Long before the world was digital and we realised that it was made of bytes and pixels, there was instant still photography.
Polaroids were the creation of an American engineer called Edwin Land, who is said to have invented the process after his daughter asked him why she couldn't see the holiday snapshots they took together as soon as they took them.
Plenty of fathers of course would like to make that kind of wish come true, but Land's daughter was lucky.
Her dad wasn't just an indulgent parent, he was an engineer and inventor of genius – a 20th-Century Edison.
Land was said to wrap himself so intently in his work that his staff erected a barrier outside the front door of his office to prevent him from walking straight out into the traffic.
The world still lives with his inventions – polarising lenses that eliminate glare and the high-flying cameras in U2 planes and satellites that gave the United States the edge in the Cold War.
His first instant camera had to be manufactured with extraordinary precision so that a system of tiny rollers squeezed the developing chemicals out of the thick padded film at just the right rate.
The science and the manufacturing processes were complex, but the vision behind them was simple: Land wanted to give families photographs that developed in their hands.
He had an artistic vision too, based on giant studio cameras he designed – behemoths the size of bedroom closets that produced large format (20 x 24 inch) prints.
Land gave photographers free access to these cameras and in return kept some of the prints they produced.
The result was the Polaroid Collection, which is being sold by auction at Sotheby's in New York this week.
David Levinthal is one of the artists in the collection. His quirky, compelling pictures catch the eye.
He tells American stories through elaborately-staged pictures of toy figurines which trick the viewer's sense of scale and challenge our sense of what is real.
His most immediately recognisable slices of Americana are his iconic shots of cowboys, but there are darker and more challenging aspects to his work too.
He has made studies of America's modern wars using model soldiers. His famous shots of scantily clad dancers have a disturbingly erotic aspect to them.
Levinthal jokingly compares being given access to Polaroid's extraordinary studio camera with being given a sample of crack by a drug dealer.
“I was hooked,” he told me.
“One of the wonderful things about the camera is that you completely lose any sense of scale. It could be life-sized, it could be eighteen inches.”
The ordinary Polaroid camera did something equally remarkable for families all over the world.
Until it came along in 1948, photography was a tiresome business.
Unless you had your own darkroom, rolls of film had to be sent away to developers or left at pharmacies, then collected days or even weeks later.
Land's invention transformed an industrial process into something that happened in your hand.
The sheets of shiny card on which the instant photographs materialised were each in their own way tiny laboratories where 35 different components and chemicals combined to produce a minor miracle.
Consumers loved them and they sold in millions all over the world – bringing competitors like Fuji into the market too.
On the face of it, that should be that. The Polaroid camera ought to be remembered as a powerful tool for photographic artists and an iconic consumer product of the past – as outdated as the hand-mangle or the hula hoop.
In theory, digital photography has superseded the Polaroid camera as comprehensively as the CD eclipsed the wax cylinder.
Except that Polaroid photography just refuses to die.
Florian Kaps runs a business selling recovered and reconditioned Polaroid cameras. He even manufactures new film stock for them.
He is not in other ways a Luddite. As far as I know he doesn't have a valve radio or a black and white TV; he does use an iPhone and a laptop.
But he sees in Polaroid photography an almost mystical point where science and art overlap. His customers are people who find the digital age just a little too digital.
The Polaroid process has a hint of uncertainty about it – the temperature at which the film develops can change the appearance of the finished shot for example.
And unlike digital pictures which can endlessly be reproduced, every Polaroid is unique and unrepeatable.
Or, as Mr Kaps more artistically puts it: “Sometimes the imperfections and the uncertainties can be fascinating.”
Mr Kaps points out that Polaroid, in its heyday, was a fascinating commercial company whose new product launches created the same kind of buzz which you would associate with a business like Apple in the modern world.
Mr Kaps's thoughts on the artistic imperfection and uniqueness of every Polaroid photograph strike a chord with Grant Worth, a young American artist who works in Polaroid.
He, too, sees the playfulness of a type of film which reacts to different lights and temperatures like a living, breathing medium.
He loves the integrity of Polaroid. In a world where digital processing can paint us into pictures of meetings we never attended or airbrush us out of the snapshots of friends we fall out with, Grant has gravitated towards the authenticity of the old Polaroid process.
“In 2010,” he explains, “we have to question every image we see. Does that woman really have that body? Is that building really there? For my work it's important to me to know that what took place really took place.”
That point is a reminder of another difference between digital technology and the old world it replaced. You can like digital cameras, appreciate their convenience and use them every day.
But they will never be something to love in the way that Polaroids became – and 50 years from now when they too have been superseded it is hard to see anyone sitting down to write this kind of romantic re-appraisal of their worth.

Source:BBC

American Idol producers have lowered the age limit for contestants to audition from 16 to 15, it has been announced.
“A lot of young, talented people are now seeking careers and representation before they turn 16,” said Cecile Frot-Coutaz, executive producer of the show.
Meanwhile, a replacement for judge Simon Cowell, who left in May, has still not been announced.
Auditions for the tenth series begin on 17 July and will visit six US cities.
However, hopefuls are not expected to perform in front of the famous judges until September.
“Lowering the age limit allows us to tap into this talent pool,” Ms Frot-Coutaz said.
Last year, guest judges – including Victoria Beckham and Shania Twain, were drafted in to replace Paula Abdul.
Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres eventually took up the post on a regular basis, when participants were taken to Hollywood, California to begin the televised elimination process.
Cowell, 50, left to launch a US version of The X-Factor, which is scheduled to start in 2011.

Source:BBC

The top US commander in Afghanistan has apologised for a magazine article that mocks senior Obama administration officials and diplomats.
Gen Stanley McChrystal said the article in Rolling Stone showed “poor judgement” and a lack of integrity.
In the article Gen McChrystal said he felt betrayed by US ambassador to Kabul, Karl Eikenberry.
The general's aides mock Vice-President Joe Biden and say Gen McChrystal was “disappointed” in President Obama.
The Rolling Stone article – The Runaway General – is due out on Friday but Gen McChrystal has quickly sought to limit the damage.
He said in a statement on Tuesday: “I extend my sincerest apology for this profile. “It was a mistake reflecting poor judgment and should never happened.”
He adds: “Throughout my career, I have lived by the principles of personal honour and professional integrity. What is reflected in this article falls far short of that standard.
“I have enormous respect and admiration for President Obama and his national security team and for the civilian leaders and troops fighting this war and I remain committed to ensuring its successful outcome.”
One of the main targets of the article appears to be Mr Eikenberry.
Gen McChrystal says he felt “betrayed” by the ambassador during the White House debate on troop requests for Afghanistan.
Gen McChrystal suggests Mr Eikenberry was using a leaked internal memo that questioned the troop requests as a way to protect himself from future criticism over the deployment.
The general says: “I like Karl, I've known him for years, but they'd never said anything like that to us before.
“Here's one that covers his flank for the history books. Now if we fail, they can say, 'I told you so'.”
Gen McChrystal also appears to joke in response to a question about the vice-president.
“Are you asking about Vice-President Biden?” McChrystal asks. 'Who's that?”
An aide then says: “Biden? Did you say: Bite Me?”
Another aide refers to a key Oval Office meeting with the president a year ago.
The aide says it was “a 10-minute photo op”, adding: “Obama clearly didn't know anything about him, who he was… he didn't seem very engaged. The boss was pretty disappointed.”
Gen McChrystal himself says: “I found that time painful. I was selling an unsellable position.”
Another aide refers to national security adviser, James Jones, as a “clown stuck in 1985″.
Of an e-mail from US special envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke, Gen McChrystal says: “Oh, not another e-mail from Holbrooke… I don't even want to open it.”
Last year's Afghan strategy review by the new president was detailed and drawn out, with Gen McChrystal finally getting an additional 30,000 US troops from Mr Obama.
Analysts say Gen McChrystal disagreed with the pledge to start bringing troops home in July 2011.

Source:BBC

Investigators say the US military has been giving tens of millions of dollars to Afghan security firms who are channelling the money to warlords.
Trucks carrying supplies to US troops allegedly pay the firms to ensure their safe passage in dangerous areas of Afghanistan.
The convoys are attacked if payments are not made, according to allegations on a US military document.
The congressional report follows a six-month investigation.
The document states that trucks carrying food, water, fuel, and ammunition may be supplying up to 4 million (2.7m) per week to the firms.
A US congressional committee is expected to hear the evidence on the investigation from senior officials at the US Department of Defense later on Tuesday.
The congressional subcommittee that carried out the investigation says that bribes are paid to the Taliban and virtually every governor, police chief and local military commander whose territory the convoys pass through.
One of the security companies in question is alleged to be owned by two cousins of the Afghan President Hamid Karzai.
The report released late on Monday says the security agreements violate laws on the use of private contractors, as well as US Department of Defense regulations.
The report states that “although the warlords do provide guards and coordinate security, the contractors have little choice but to use them in what amounts to a vast protection racket”.
The document states that security companies hired under the Afghan Host Nation Trucking are the ones funneling the money.
Watan Risk management is one of the largest security providers in Afghanistan and one of the companies currently under investigation.
The military report states that representatives of the company allegedly negotiate or dictate the price of safe passage in a given area. The company then issues warnings to trucking companies who are late in paying or refuse to pay the sum.
A spokesman for the Army Criminal Investigation Command at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, confirmed to the AP news agency that the inquiry is taking place.
The report comes as the number of US casualties is rising in Afghanistan, and suggests not only that money from the US tax payer is being used to finance the enemy, but also to undermine international efforts towards stability in the country.

Source:BBC

More then 600 people are missing after days of heavy rain in north-eastern Brazil triggered deadly floods, officials say.
At least 31 people are known to have died so far and tens of thousands have had to flee their homes.
Correspondents say the floods have washed away entire villages in the states of Alagoas and Pernambuco.
The governor of Alagoas, Teotonio Vilela Filho, said bodies were being washed up on beaches and riverbanks.
“We are praying for the missing to be found alive,” he said, before holding talks with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
More than 1,000 miles of roads have been washed away by the rains, hindering the delivery of aid to affected areas.
Rescue teams are airlifting people out of the worst-affected areas by helicopter.
The town of Quebrangulo in Alagoas is reportedly 80% submerged, forcing thousands of residents to flee to higher ground.
The army and navy are helping with the rescue efforts.
In 2009, flooding killed at least 44 people and displaced hundreds of thousands in the same region.

Source:BBC