Parties and #fireworks as the world ushers in #new year #2011

Parties and fireworks as the world ushers in new year

 

 

The new year has been welcomed in with glittering fireworks displays in major world cities

Firework displays, parties and other celebrations are taking place around the world to usher in the new year.

US revellers cheered the traditional ball drop in New York's Times Square to mark the start of 2011.
Earlier festivities ranged from the release of thousands of silver balloons in Tokyo, to the first countdown of a western new year in Hanoi, Vietnam.
In Sydney, crowds watched what is hailed as the world's biggest New Year's Eve fireworks display.
Dubai saw a spectacular laser and fireworks show at the Burj Khalifa, the world's tallest building.
Crushing grapes Party-goers in Europe attended new year's events across the continent.

Revellers crowded Hong Kong's Times Square

In London, crowds gathered on the banks of the Thames to watch fireworks. Some were launched from the London Eye big wheel - which is marking its 10th anniversary.
In Spain, crowds also gathered in Madrid's Puerta del Sol square to take part in "Las Uvas" (The Grapes), a tradition in which people eat a grape for each of the 12 chimes of midnight.
As the new year arrived, Estonia became the 17th country to join the euro currency, with Prime Minister Andrus Ansip marking the event by withdrawing euros from a cash point.
Meanwhile in Greece, troubled by an economic crisis, many people spent Thursday queuing to pay road tax on time or qualify for a tax amnesty.
In the Americas, some two million people gathered on Rio de Janeiro Copacabana beach beach for a fireworks and music show, and the country's logo for the 2016 Olympics was unveiled.
In the US, meanwhile, New York's municipal authorities and warmer weather combined to clear the streets following the snowstorm which blanketed the city this week, allowing hundreds of thousands to gather for the famous Times Square ball drop at midnight.
Dragon display It was the tiny Pacific island nation of Kiribati that was the first to welcome in the new year at 1000 GMT.
Celebrations across Asia and Australasia followed, New Zealand - the first major country to see in 2011.
In Hong Kong, hundreds of thousands of people gathered along Victoria Harbour to watch fireworks explode from the roofs of the city's most prominent buildings.
At the Zojoji temple in central Tokyo, Japan, monks chanted as visitors packed in to count down until midnight. Thousands released a mass of silver balloons carrying notes with their hopes for the future.
And in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, fireworks formed the shape of a dragon spiralling up the tallest skyscraper during the country's biggest-ever display - which cost $2m (£1.3m), and marked the beginning of year 100 on the Taiwan calendar.

Sydney was packed as spectators gathered for a massive display of fireworks

In Sydney, about 1.5 million people came out with blankets and camping equipment ahead of the seven-tonne fireworks display above the Harbour Bridge.
Crowds began arriving more than 12 hours before the main display, with new visitors turned away as early as 1500 (0400 GMT).
This year marked the first time Vietnam's capital, Hanoi, officially celebrated a Western-style countdown. In previous years, the city authorities have focused on Tet, the holiday marking the lunar new year, which begins on 3 February.
In the Philippines, safety officials urged caution after firecrackers injured at least 245 people in recent days. According to tradition, many believe noisy celebrations drive away evil and misfortune.
In Burma, however, the military government has banned all fireworks and said severe action would be taken against anyone using them.
Political activist Aung San Suu Kyi, who was released from house arrest in November, called for the Burmese people "to struggle together with new strengths, new force and new words in the auspicious new year".

 

Australia's Queensland faces 'biblical' flood

 

A senior official has warned of the economic impact of flooding in Queensland, Australia, describing the disaster as one of "biblical proportions".

State Treasurer Andrew Fraser said that on top of recovery costs, the state would receive less income because of damage to the mining sector.
Flood waters are continuing to encroach on Rockhampton, a city of 77,000.
The floods have affected about 200,000, thousands of whom have been evacuated.
An estimated 22 towns have been left isolated or inundated by the rising waters over an area larger than France and Germany.
'Huge cost' There are concerns that damage could cost billions of Australian dollars to repair.

QUEENSLAND

• North-eastern Australian state
• Largely tropical climate
• Area: 1.73 million sq km (668,000 sq mile)
• Coastal regions, including Great Barrier Reef, designated World Heritage Site
• Mining and cattle ranching important inland

Mr Fraser has had to delay a fiscal and economic review in order to account for the costs of the floods.

"In many ways, it is a disaster of biblical proportions," he told journalists in the flood-hit town of Bundaberg.
"The cost to the state will be huge - both in direct costs such as rebuilding roads, and other damaged infrastructure and providing relief payments to families - but also in lost income, while the mining, agriculture and tourism sectors recover," he said.
"Royalty forecasts are likely to be hit with freight lines cut and reports that many mines may not reach full production again for two to three months."
In some areas the waters have been receding, but around Rockhampton they are still rising.
Rockhampton Mayor Brad Carter said about 40% of the city could be affected when the Fitzroy River reaches its expected peak next week.
"We know we have prepared as best we can - most people who are expecting water to inundate their houses have evacuated," he said.
He said others who needed to evacuate would be advised to leave their homes, and those who refused could be forced to leave.
Among the areas already hit by the flooding are Emerald - a town of some 11,000 people - and two smaller towns, Theodore and Condamine, which have been completely evacuated.

 

Egypt car bomb kills seven at Alexandria Coptic church

 

A car bomb explosion outside a church in the north Egyptian city of Alexandria has killed seven people and injured 24, the interior ministry says.

The blast hit people as they left a new year's service at the al-Qidiseen church shortly after midnight.
Sectarian tensions have recently been on the rise in Egypt.
After the explosion, angry Christians clashed with police and local Muslims, reportedly throwing stones and targeting a nearby mosque.
Protesters went into the mosque, throwing books out onto the street, the Associated Press news agency reported.
The mayor of Alexandria, Gen Adel Labib, said on Egyptian TV that there had been recent threats of attacks on churches, though he tried to play down any possible sectarian motive for Saturday's bombing.
Sectarian violence A local priest said the death-toll from the blast would have been much higher had the explosion happened minutes later, after more people had left the service, reports the BBC's Khaled Ezzelarab in Cairo.
After the explosion, Christians were seen chanting beside a burnt-out car in front of the church: "We sacrifice our souls and blood for the Cross."
Christians from the Coptic Orthodox Church make up about 10% of Egypt's predominantly Muslim population.

The rise of political Islam and the failure of the government to address Coptic claims of discrimination have fuelled divisions, analysts say.
Al-Qaeda in Iraq has also been conducting a campaign against Christians following the reported conversion to Islam by two Egyptian Christian women in order to divorce their husbands. The group says the women were being held against their will by the Coptic Church.
Alexandria, Egypt's second-largest city with a population of about four million, has seen sectarian violence in the past.
In 2006, there were days of clashes between Copts and Muslims after a Copt was stabbed to death during a knife attack on three of the city's churches.

 

Boy dies after New Zealand geothermal pool fall

 

 

 An eight-year old boy has died after falling into a geothermal pool in New Zealand.

The boy, who has not been named, fell into a hot water pool at the famous Rotorua site on Sunday.

He was flown to hospital in Auckland and placed in intensive care but died on Thursday.

Geothermal pools can have temperatures higher than 100 degrees Celsius (212 Fahrenheit). An investigation is under way into how the boy fell in.

Vatican sets up watchdog to combat money laundering

 

 

 The Vatican has set up a new financial authority to fight money laundering and make its financial operations more transparent.

The Pope has signed into law new rules to bring the Vatican's banking regulations in line with international efforts to combat money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

Israel ex-President Moshe Katsav found guilty of rape

 

Israel's former President Moshe Katsav has been convicted of rape by a court in Tel Aviv and could go to jail.

He was found guilty of raping an employee in the 1990s when he was tourism minister and of later sexual offences while he was president.
The judges said they believed the evidence of the woman whose testimony had led to two charges of rape.
Moshe Katsav resigned from the largely ceremonial post of head of state in 2007 and was indicted in March 2009.

Continue reading the main story

MOSHE KATSAV

• Convicted of rape and sexual harassment, 2010
• Born in Iran - first Israeli president to come from a Muslim country
• Became Likud MP in 1977 at the age of 30
• Married since 1969, with five children

• Profile: Moshe Katsav

While his resignation caused shock across Israel, it had limited political consequences.

Rape commands a jail term in Israel of at least four years, although Katsav is thought to be likely to contest the conviction in Israel's supreme court.
State prosecutor Ronit Amiel said the verdict carried a message to other victims of abuse of power that they should not remain silent.
'Riddled with lies' The former president, 65, who was in office for seven years from 2000, had denied the charges, the most serious ever levelled against an Israeli head of state.
When he stepped down in 2007, he initially agreed to plead guilty to sexual misconduct and avoid more serious charges, but he withdrew the plea bargain the following year.

 

Katsav, president for seven years until 2007, had rejected a plea bargain

According to the indictment, the rape charges dated back to April 1998 when the former employee described as Woman A alleged he had first raped her at the tourism ministry office and later at a hotel in Jerusalem.
The further charges related to claims of sexual harassment of two women in 2003 and 2005 during his presidency.
Reading the verdict, Judge George Karra who presided over a panel with two other judges, said: "We believe the plaintiff [Woman A] because her testimony is supported by elements of evidence, and she told the truth."
Katsav's evidence, the judges decided, was "riddled with lies".
Although members of his family were with him in court, his wife Gila was not. He appeared to be visibly distraught as the verdict was read out and one of his sons was heard saying repeatedly "it's not true".
Sentencing is expected to take place next month and before the former president left court, he was told to surrender his passport.
His son, Boaz, told reporters the family would fight on to prove his innocence. "We will continue to walk with our heads high, so all the nation throughout its generations, with God's help, will know that father, the eighth president of the State of Israel, is innocent."
'Lynching' Moshe Katsav was born in Iran and immigrated at the age of six to Israel with his family in 1951. He joined the right-wing Likud party and held a number of ministerial posts before becoming president.
The allegations against him first surfaced in 2006 and led to him stepping down the following year, to be replaced by current President Shimon Peres.
After his indictment, he gave a televised news conference claiming he was the "victim of a lynching" organised by then-Attorney General Menahem Mazuz.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said it was a "sad day for the State of Israel and its citizens" but added that the trial was a sign of strength of the country's judicial system.
"Today the court conveyed two clear-cut messages, that all are equal before the law and that every woman has exclusive rights to her body," he said.

Does Bad PR Make For A Good Investing Opportunity? 

 

 There is really no question "if" there will be another public relations scandal that taints a publicly-traded company. The only questions really revolve around "when", "how bad" and whether the next bad PR event will create a buying opportunity for shareholders. Like most other kinds of turnaround investing, though, investing in the face of bad PR can be a high-risk/high-reward situation. Accordingly, it is a good idea for investors to do what they can to tilt the odds in their favor.

Assess the Situation Across Four MetricsWhen approaching a stock that looks cheap because the company has made a very public gaffe, there are a few key constituencies to keep in mind. Ultimately the reactions of these groups will go a long way toward separating the wounded-but-will-recover from the permanently maimed. Impact on Customers

Bank Advisor Blunders And How To Avoid Them 

 

 

Although customer-oriented advice is the undisputed objective, two-thirds of bank customers complain that they still do not get offered the kind of products or services that are really appropriate for them. Even when advisors have their hearts in the right place, concepts fail to be well implemented and goals are not achieved.

What Advisors Typically Do Wrong
The underlying rationale for certain concepts is often not even properly understood by the advisors/sellers themselves. The level of education and skill of advisors is highly variable, and some are simply unable to get a grip on what they sell.

Cheap Stocks Can Be Deceiving 

 

One of the unifying traits of investors is that almost everyone wants to find a "cheap" stock to buy. Sure, there are momentum investors and chartists who never pay attention to valuation or price, but the bulk of the investing public wants to feel like it is buying a bargain. What not all investors realize, though, is that not all kinds of "cheap" are equal. The how and why of a stock's cheapness can have major repercussions on portfolio performance.

The Unknown
Many "cheap" stocks are cheap simply because they are virtually unknown. Oftentimes, these are stocks with no analyst coverage. Without that support, nobody with a broad platform is out there to sing the praises of the company. Likewise (and contrary to what investors may believe and what institutional investors and their ad agencies will say), professionals do not necessarily spend their days looking for undiscovered gems and buried treasure.

Cuba commutes sentence of last death row inmate

 

 

 Cuba's Supreme Tribunal has commuted the sentence of the country's last death row inmate, a rights group has said.

Humberto Eladio Real, a 40-year-old Cuban American, was convicted of killing a man in 1994 during an attempted insurgency raid.
The Cuban Commission on Human Rights and National Reconciliation commuted his sentence to 30 years in prison.
Cuba has had an effective moratorium on carrying out death sentences for years.
Earlier this month, two other death row inmates also had their sentences commuted.
Ernesto Cruz Leon and Otto Rene Rodriguez Llerena, both from El Salvador, had been convicted over a bombing campaign of tourism sites in Cuba in the 1990s which killed one Italian and injured 11 other people.
They were sentenced to death by firing squad but their sentences were commuted to 30 years at a hearing on 7 December.
Cuba's last executions were in 2003, when three people convicted of attempting to hijack a boat to escape to the United States were killed by firing squad.
Two years ago, within a month of taking over the presidency from his brother Fidel, Raul Castro issued a decree lifting the death sentence for 30 prisoners.
In a groundbreaking deal brokered by the Roman Catholic church, Mr Castro has also agreed to free the 52 most prominent political prisoners on the island.
The majority are now with the families in Spain, but 11 are refusing to go into exile and have yet to be released, says the BBC's Michael Voss in Havana.

 

Cold manatees swim to warm power plant waters

 

 

 Manatees - large aquatic mammals sometimes called sea-cows - are fleeing the unseasonable cold in Gulf of Mexico for the warm waters of power plant discharge canals.

More than 300 manatees swam into the outflow of Tampa Electric's Big Bend Power Station in Florida on Tuesday.
Manatees cope poorly with cold conditions, which can affect their immune systems and lead to death.
'Cold stress' killed large numbers of the gentle sea creatures in 2010.
The waters of the Tampa Electric plant are "like a warm bathtub for them," Wendy Anastasiou, an environmental specialist who has been watching the mammals loll about there, told the Associated Press agency.
"They're not blubbery mammals. They're very lean," Ms Anastasiou said. "They need a warm place to go."
Another 50 of the animals also gathered in the warm waters of a power station in Broward County, Florida.
Manatees will sometimes move to colder temperatures to find sea grass - a staple of their diet - but many will go without food for days in order to stay in the warm canal.
Unusual weather patterns are wreaking havoc on Florida's manatee population, with recorded deaths from cold stress increasing rapidly in recent years.

 

Flood chaos forces mass evacuations in Australia

 

 North-eastern Australia's worst flooding in decades is continuing to cause chaos across the region.

Around 1,000 people in Queensland have been evacuated, including the entire population of the town of Theodore.
The government has declared Theodore and two other towns in the region to be disaster zones, and forecasters say the floods have not yet peaked.
The cost of the damage is expected to top AU$1bn (£650m), including massive losses of sunflower and cotton crops.
Army Black Hawk helicopters are being despatched to help evacuate the 300 residents of Theodore, where every building in the town apart from the police station has been flooded, local media report.
The town's river has risen more than 50cm (20 in) above its previous recorded high, Emergency Management Queensland spokesman Bruce O'Grady told Australia's ABC News.
"We're in unchartered territory in that area," he said. "The [weather] bureau is indicating it could go higher."
'No easing' Inland towns such as Chinchilla and Dalby are all under water; the nearby town of Warra, and the towns of Alpha and Jericho, west of Emerald, have also been declared disaster zones, with hundreds of homes flooded or at risk.
Media reports said Dalby was running low on drinking water supplies after its water treatment plant was damaged by the floods.

A further 200 homes were swamped in Bundaberg on the south-east coast and hundreds of roads in the region have been made impassable.
The state capital, Brisbane, has recorded its wettest December in more than 150 years. Cyclone Tasha, which hit Queensland on Saturday, also brought torrential rain to the state.
Long traffic queues have formed outside isolated towns and police are arresting people who need rescuing after driving into badly hit areas, says the BBC's Steve Marshall in Sydney.
Further south, in New South Wales, about 175 people who had spent the night in evacuation centres have returned home.
But 800 people in the towns of Urbenville and Bonalbo are expected to be cut off for another 24 hours.
While the rain is now easing, water is continuing to flow from sodden land across central and southern Queensland into already swollen rivers, adds our correspondent.
Australia's Emergency Services Minister Neil Roberts told ABC the worst was yet to come.
"Over the next 48 hours rain will be easing but the real impact in some communities won't be felt for a couple of days when floodwaters begin to recede," he said.
"Once the rain finishes there will still be significant flooding impacts over the next few days."

 

Earth project aims to 'simulate everything'

 

 

 

It could be one of the most ambitious computer projects ever conceived.

An international group of scientists are aiming to create a simulator that can replicate everything happening on Earth - from global weather patterns and the spread of diseases to international financial transactions or congestion on Milton Keynes' roads.
Nicknamed the Living Earth Simulator (LES), the project aims to advance the scientific understanding of what is taking place on the planet, encapsulating the human actions that shape societies and the environmental forces that define the physical world.
"Many problems we have today - including social and economic instabilities, wars, disease spreading - are related to human behaviour, but there is apparently a serious lack of understanding regarding how society and the economy work," says Dr Helbing, of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, who chairs the FuturICT project which aims to create the simulator.
Knowledge collider Thanks to projects such as the Large Hadron Collider, the particle accelerator built by Cern, scientists know more about the early universe than they do about our own planet, claims Dr Helbing.
What is needed is a knowledge accelerator, to collide different branches of knowledge, he says.
"Revealing the hidden laws and processes underlying societies constitutes the most pressing scientific grand challenge of our century."
The result would be the LES. It would be able to predict the spread of infectious diseases, such as Swine Flu, identify methods for tackling climate change or even spot the inklings of an impending financial crisis, he says.

Is it possible to build a social science equivalent to the Large Hadron Collider?

But how would such colossal system work?
For a start it would need to be populated by data - lots of it - covering the entire gamut of activity on the planet, says Dr Helbing.
It would also be powered by an assembly of yet-to-be-built supercomputers capable of carrying out number-crunching on a mammoth scale.
Although the hardware has not yet been built, much of the data is already being generated, he says.
For example, the Planetary Skin project, led by US space agency Nasa, will see the creation of a vast sensor network collecting climate data from air, land, sea and space.
In addition, Dr Helbing and his team have already identified more than 70 online data sources they believe can be used including Wikipedia, Google Maps and the UK government's data repository Data.gov.uk.
Drowning in data Integrating such real-time data feeds with millions of other sources of data - from financial markets and medical records to social media - would ultimately power the simulator, says Dr Helbing.
The next step is create a framework to turn that morass of data in to models that accurately replicate what is taken place on Earth today.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

We don't take any action on the information we have”

End Quote Pete Warden OpenHeatMaps

That will only be possible by bringing together social scientists and computer scientists and engineers to establish the rules that will define how the LES operates.

Such work cannot be left to traditional social science researchers, where typically years of work produces limited volumes of data, argues Dr Helbing.
Nor is it something that could have been achieved before - the technology needed to run the LES will only become available in the coming decade, he adds.
Human behaviour For example, while the LES will need to be able to assimilate vast oceans of data it will simultaneously have to understand what that data means.
That becomes possible as so-called semantic web technologies mature, says Dr Helbing.
Today, a database chock-full of air pollution data would look much the same to a computer as a database of global banking transactions - essentially just a lot of numbers.
But semantic web technology will encode a description of data alongside the data itself, enabling computers to understand the data in context.
What's more, our approach to aggregating data stresses the need to strip out any of that information that relates directly to an individual, says Dr Helbing.

The Living Earth Simulator aims to predict how diseases spread

That will enable the LES to incorporate vast amounts of data relating to human activity, without compromising people's privacy, he argues.
Once an approach to carrying out large-scale social and economic data is agreed upon, it will be necessary to build supercomputer centres needed to crunch that data and produce the simulation of the Earth, says Dr Helbing.
Generating the computational power to deal with the amount of data needed to populate the LES represents a significant challenge, but it's far from being a showstopper.
If you look at the data-processing capacity of Google, it's clear that the LES won't be held back by processing capacity, says Pete Warden, founder of the OpenHeatMap project and a specialist on data analysis.
While Google is somewhat secretive about the amount of data it can process, in May 2010 it was believed to use in the region of 39,000 servers to process an exabyte of data per month - that's enough data to fill 2 billion CDs every month.
Reality mining If you accept that only a fraction of the "several hundred exabytes of data being produced worldwide every year… would be useful for a world simulation, the bottleneck won't be the processing capacity," says Mr Warden.
"Getting access to the data will be much more of a challenge, as will figuring out something useful to do with it," he adds.
Simply having lots of data isn't enough to build a credible simulation of the planet, argues Warden. "Economics and sociology have consistently failed to produce theories with strong predictive powers over the last century, despite lots of data gathering. I'm sceptical that larger data sets will mark a big change," he says.
"It's not that we don't know enough about a lot of the problems the world faces, from climate change to extreme poverty, it's that we don't take any action on the information we do have," he argues.
Regardless of the challenges the project faces, the greater danger is not attempting to use the computer tools we have now - and will have in future - to improve our understanding of global socio-economic trends, says Dr Helbing.
"Over the past years, it has for example become obvious that we need better indicators than the gross national product to judge societal development and well-being," he argues.
At it's heart, the LES is about working towards better methods to measure the state of society, he says, which would account for health, education and environmental issues. "And last but not least, happiness."

 

Gbagbo defiant as African leaders leave Ivory Coast 

 

 

 

West African leaders have ended their mission to Ivory Coast, having failed to persuade incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo to stand down.

They had hoped Mr Gbagbo would agree to cede power to Allasane Ouattara, widely considered to be the true winner of November's elections.
But Mr Gbagbo has refused, despite the leaders' threat of military action.
The dispute has led to widespread unrest in Ivory Coast, with thousands fleeing and scores of people killed.
The presidents of Benin, Sierra Leone and Cape Verde had travelled to the main city, Abidjan, as representatives of the Ecowas West African regional grouping.
The visit was being seen as a final chance to urge Mr Gbagbo to peacefully cede to Mr Ouattara - who is currently holed up in a hotel in the city protected by around 800 UN peacekeepers.
Few details of the separate talks with the two rivals have emerged, but President Boni Yayi of Benin told reporters: "Everything went well."
Cape Verde President Pedro Pires said the mission should not be judged in terms of success or failure.
"What we know is that we have done valid work here, not more than that," he said.
The West African presidents have left Ivory Coast and will now report back to Ecowas chairman Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, who, they said, will negotiate a date for their return to Abidjan.
But instead of being persuaded to step down, Mr Gbagbo appears to be reinforcing his position.
One of his advisers told the BBC Mr Gbagbo was still the democratically elected president and that the Ecowas intervention was part of an "international plot" against him.

 

South Korea calls for new six-party talks with North

 

 

 

South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak has called for new six-party talks with North Korea.

Mr Lee said there was no choice but to try to dismantle North Korea's nuclear programme through diplomacy.
His comments follow a year of high tension, including exchanges of fire between North and South.
The talks format involves the two Koreas, China, Russia, Japan and the US, and had offered rewards to the North for ending its nuclear programme.
South Korea, the United States and Japan had previously said six-party talks could not resume until the North showed serious intent to change.
"(We) have no choice but to resolve the problem of dismantling North Korea's nuclear programme diplomatically through the six-party talks," said Mr Lee.
He was speaking after receiving the annual report from his foreign ministry.
Mr Lee said time was short for the international community to make progress on ending the North's nuclear threat because North Korea has set 2012 as its deadline to become a "great, powerful and prosperous" nation.
Tense times The comments appear to mark a shift away from the hard-line he had taken after North Korea was accused of torpedoing a South Korean warship, the Cheonan, on 26 March.

South Korea has carried out a number of military exercises recently

That incident left 46 South Korean sailors dead.
On 23 November, North Korea shelled the South Korean island of Yeonbyeong, killing four South Koreans, including civilians.
North Korea and its ally China, meanwhile, expressed anger at huge military drills mounted by the South with its main ally the United States.
South Korean reports say that North Korea has also dramatically stepped up its military drills in the past year.
Western allies of South Korea were angered by revelations this year about the existence of another nuclear enrichment plant in North Korea.
The North has again defended this, saying it was for the production of civilian power sources only and would not have been necessary if the US had kept to earlier promises to supply such facilities.
The six-party negotiations led to the closure of a plutonium-producing reactor in 2007, but collapsed in April 2009 amid mutual recriminations, after which the North set off further nuclear tests.
Mr Lee Myung-bak also told his nation earlier this week that it must unite in the face of military aggression from the North.

 

Call of Duty: Black Ops reaches $1billion sales mark #callofduty #blackops #games #ps3 #xbox

Call of Duty: Black Ops reaches $1billion sales mark.

 

Call of Duty: Black Ops has broken the $1 billion (£647 million) sales barrier, figures show.

Sales results released by publisher Activision Blizzard suggest it took just six weeks to do it.
In doing so it joins an elite group of entertainment releases to reach the billion dollar mark.
Others include Michael Jackson's Thriller album and James Cameron's 1997 hit film Titantic.
Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said: "Only Call of Duty and Avatar have ever achieved the billion dollar revenue milestone this quickly".
Fans of 2010's biggest video game have reported connectivity problems in recent weeks though.
Players of the PS3 and PC versions complained about being booted from games, freezing and connection error messages.
Developer Treyarch released two patches to fix the problem.
'Unprecedented' Activision's Eric Hirshberg said: "Even more remarkable than the number of units sold is the number of hours people are playing the game together online."

AIG signs $4.3bn private-sector loan agreements #finance #stock #business #AIG #US #Market # Trends

AIG signs $4.3bn private-sector loan agreements.

 

Troubled US insurance giant American International Group (AIG) has signed $4.3bn private-sector loan agreements.

It is a further step towards weaning itself off US government support.
Markets saw the loans as further evidence AIG can stand on its own two feet again, sending its share price up more than 9% - the day's biggest gainer on the New York Stock Exchange.
The company was one of the largest victims of the 2008 financial crisis, requiring a rescue totalling $182bn.
'Vote of confidence' The US Treasury still owns the majority of the insurer, and its stake is planned to rise to over 92%.

Bombay Stock Exchange launches Islamic index.

 

Backers say that the index would "unlock the potential for Sharia investments in India".

The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) in the Indian city of Mumbai has launched a new index which consists of companies that meet the Islamic legal code. 

Average UK male weight up 16lb in 15 years, study finds

 

 

 

 The average British man was more than a stone heavier in 2000 than he was in 1986, an Oxford University study found.

Scientists put the average weight rise of 7.7kg (16.9lb) down to men eating more calories and taking less physical exercise than 15 years earlier.

The British Heart Foundation research in the British Journal of Nutrition analysed changes in food consumption and body weight between 1986 and 2000.

Women's average weight gain over the period was 5.4kg (11.9lb).

By studying official figures on body weight from 1986 and 2000 and calculating the food energy available during that time, researchers were able to work out the expected extra food eaten by men and women during that period.

Jonathan #Trott stretches #England lead in #Melbourne #ashes

Jonathan Trott stretches England lead in Melbourne 

 

 

 

 

Fourth Ashes Test: Australia 98 v England 444-5 (stumps, day two)
Venue: Melbourne Dates: 26-30 December Start time: 2330 GMT each day

Jonathan Trott scored his fifth Test hundred as England took total control of the fourth Ashes Test in Melbourne.

Trott remained unbeaten on 141 as the tourists finished on 444-5, a lead of 346 as Australia endured another frustrating day in the field.
After resuming on 157-0, England were restricted to 286-5 before Trott and Matt Prior (75 not out) took control.
The day was marred by controversy when Ricky Ponting remonstrated with the umpires following a review decision.
The Australia captain is almost certain to face disciplinary repercussions from International Cricket Council match referee Ranjan Madugalle following the incident just after lunch when Kevin Pietersen was given not out by umpire Aleem Dar following a vociferous caught behind appeal off Ryan Harris.
Urged on by wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, Ponting asked for a referral - only for third umpire Marais Erasmus to uphold Dar's original decision when replays and Hotspot indicated there had been no contact with the inside edge of Pietersen's bat on the way through to Haddin's gloves.
But Ponting refused to accept the decision, continuing his protestations to umpire Dar and his square leg colleague Tony Hill, much to the chagrin of the 67,149 people in the crowd at the MCG.

Ponting's protestations are likely to be punished by the ICC

The incident compounded yet another frustrating day for the Australia, desperate to erase their feeble display on day one after being comprehensively outplayed by the tourists.
The day began optimistically for the hosts as Peter Siddle, bowling with real pace and purpose, found the perfect line outside off stump to snare an edge off Alastair Cook to first slip in the fifth over of the morning.
The Essex opener fell 18 runs short of what would have been his third hundred of the series and he was soon followed by captain Andrew Strauss.
The left-hander was surprised by a delivery which spit sharply off the surface from a length, gleaning a thick leading edge towards gully, where Mike Hussey took an excellent one-handed catch at full stretch to leave England at 170-2.
Alongside Trott, new-man Pietersen played with circumspect as Australia tested the third-wicket pair in a testing spell of fast bowling, while the latter greeted spinner Steven Smith's arrival into the attack with two boundaries in his first over before guiding England to 226-2 at lunch.
Pietersen in particular looked in excellent touch, unfurling a number of consummate straight drives down the ground as Australia counted down the overs until the new ball was available.
But, soon after Ponting's referral histrionics, Pietersen perished after notching his 21st Test half century when he was adjudged lbw shuffling across his crease to Siddle, who collected his third wicket with his third delivery of the afternoon session with England at 262-3.
And momentum shifted in Australia's favour when Mitchell Johnson utilised the short ball to effect as he snared Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell for single-figure scores with almost identical dismissals.
Both batsmen fell for the bouncer sucker-punch, top-edging miscontrolled pulls to fine leg where Siddle took two good catches to leave England at 286-5.

Prior was given a reprieve on five after a Johnson no-ball

The dismissal heaped yet more pressure on the under-fire Collingwood, who fell for his 10th single-figure Test score in 12 innings, a statistic which England's selectors may find too overwhelming to ignore with the Sydney Test this time next week.
Despite losing two partners in quick succession, Trott remained defiant although a full-length dive just about saved him from a run-out just before accumulating his sixth Test half century from 118 deliveries.
However, the afternoon session was engulfed in yet more drama 10 minutes before tea when Prior was recalled after edging Johnson to Brad Haddin on five.
Prior was told to remain where he was by umpire Dar, who asked for the assistance of his television colleague to check whether Johnson had overstepped the popping crease.
And television replays revealed the left-arm seamer's front foot was on the line - a part of the front foot must be behind the popping crease at the point of delivery to be legal - and therefore a no-ball, earning Prior an unlikely reprieve.
While Prior constantly flirted with fortune, Trott remained indefatigable in defence, working the ball to leg with quiet efficiency off his middle stump while showing excellent judgement to leave anything potentially hazardous outside off.
He was momentarily floored when a nasty inside edge cannoned into his knee, requiring attention from England's physio Kirk Russell. But Trott eschewed the offer of a runner and brought up his third Ashes century in only five matches.
The 29-year-old is second only to Sachin Tendulkar in the leading Test run scorers of 2010.
And he showed no signs of weakness as Australia's bowlers wilted in the late-evening sunshine as the sixth-wicket pair put on 158 runs.
After riding his luck early on in his innings, Prior moved to within 25 runs of his half century with a series of scything drives and lusty blows off leg-spinner Smith as England put themselves in the ideal position to retain the Ashes for the first time in 24 years.

 

Travel chaos as blizzards hit eastern United States

Blizzards have swept north along the eastern coast of the US, forcing the cancellation of more than 2,000 flights and disrupting rail and road traffic.
The winter storm closed New York airports, stranding thousands of people in a busy post-Christmas travel period.
The New York area was in bull's eye of the storm, receiving up to 46cm (18in) of snow on Sunday.
Massachusetts, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina and Virginia declared emergencies.
The southern states of Georgia and South Carolina had their first white Christmas in more than a century

Venezuela's ex-President Carlos Andres Perez dies at 88

 

 

 

 Venezuela's former President Carlos Andres Perez has died in Florida at the age of 88.

He died of a heart attack, Mr Perez's daughter was quoted by Venezuela's Globovision as saying.

Mr Perez served as president from 1974 to 1979 and again from 1989 to 1993.

His first term was marked by a transformation of Venezuela's economy because of a sudden increase in oil revenues. His second was marred by allegations of corruption.

'Caracazo' riots

S Korea and China defence chiefs to meet amid tension

 

 

 South Korean and Chinese defence ministers are to meet in Beijing in February amid rising tension on the Korean peninsula, Seoul has said.

It provided no details of the talks, but the two sides are expected to discus what Seoul describes as North Korea's hostile acts in recent months.

These include the deadly shelling of a South Korean border island.

China, the North's only major ally, is facing mounting pressure to encourage Pyongyang to show more restraint.

Thousands flee Ivory Coast for Liberia amid poll crisis

 

 About 14,000 people have fled Ivory Coast to neighbouring Liberia following last month's disputed Ivorian presidential election, the UN says.

It says it is prepared for a total of 30,000 refugees in the region.

Most of those fleeing are supporters of Alassane Ouattara, who is recognised internationally as the new president.

Three West African presidents will go to Ivory Coast on Tuesday to personally urge incumbent leader Laurent Gbagbo to quit, Benin's foreign minister says.

Mr Gbagbo has rejected widespread calls to step down, citing vote rigging in northern areas.

'Ivorian blood'

The spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency (UNHCR), Fatoumata Lejeune-Kaba, told the BBC that most of those who had left Ivory Coast since the 28 November election had come from villages in the west of the country.

She said they had been walking for days to escape tensions they feared could explode into violence, and the flow was continuing.

A UNHCR statement added: "With their numbers growing, the humanitarian needs are increasing for the mostly women and children refugees as well as for the villagers hosting them."

Benin's Foreign Minister Jean Marie Ehouzou has said the presidents of Benin, Sierra Leone and Cape Verde will visit Ivory Coast to tell Mr Gbagbo on behalf of regional bloc Ecowas "that he must step down as quickly as possible or face legitimate military force".

Mr Gbagbo says the presidential poll was rigged in rebel areas that backed Mr Ouattara

He was echoing a warning on Friday from West African leaders of possible military action.

Mr Gbagbo's government said the threat was unjust. It also condemned a decision by the West African central bank to give control of Ivory Coast's account to Mr Ouattara.

Earlier Mr Ouattara urged the armed forces to protect civilians against attack from "the militias and foreign mercenaries that are spilling Ivorian blood".

He said perpetrators of recent violence would be prosecuted and invited investigators from the International Criminal Court to the country.

Mr Ouattara and his cabinet are based at a hotel in the main city, Abidjan, under the protection of UN troops.

Mr Gbagbo has demanded that UN and French troops leave the country. A close ally even warned that they could be treated as rebels if they did not obey the instruction.

The UN, which has 10,000 peacekeepers in the country, rejected the call.

UN officials say at least 170 people have been killed in recent attacks linked to the Ivorian armed forces, who remain publicly loyal to Mr Gbagbo.

There have been suggestions that member nations send in troops to strengthen the presence of the UN peacekeeping force.

The election was meant to unite the country after a civil war in 2002 split the world's largest cocoa producer in two, with the predominantly Muslim North supporting Mr Ouattara and the mainly Christian south backing Mr Gbagbo.

 

The joy of train travel: From New Zealand to London

 

 

 International train travel has always had a romantic appeal, whether it's nostalgia for the age of steam, the thrill of a scenic mountain railway, or just the pleasure of watching the world go by and making friends with fellow travellers.

For longer journeys, most travellers nowadays shun rail in favour of air - few want to spend 36 hours on a journey that can be done in four.
But there are still plenty of good reasons to go by train. The joy of "slow travel" is that you see how the landscape changes - plus, you avoid the enormous carbon emissions that flying entails.
This year, I spent more than two months on a trip from Wellington, New Zealand to London, UK. I took only two short flights over water, and almost all of my overland journeys were by rail.
From my railway carriage, I saw the Australian outback, the slums of Bangkok, the stunning coastline of central Vietnam, the mountains of China's Gansu province (sandwiched between Mongolia and the Tibetan plateau) the Kara-Kum desert of Central Asia, Georgia's decaying rural towns and the hills of eastern Turkey.
What was most striking was how varied these experiences were - a million miles from the uniformity of air travel.
Steam on Sunday In Australia and New Zealand, a journey by long-distance train is something like a tour bus, with quirky announcements along the way and even stops for sightseeing.

Australia's outback is beautiful - but there's a lot of it

"Great Southern Railway can boast some of the finest staff in the business. Unfortunately none of them are on this train," quipped the guard on the Overland from Melbourne to Adelaide.
Just as well they have a sense of humour - this day's travel across endless flat agricultural land is probably one of the most boring railway journeys on earth.
The twice-weekly Ghan, between Adelaide and Darwin, is not quite so mind-numbing. It has two four-hour stops for sightseeing in Alice Springs and the Katherine Gorge, to break up the hours of semi-desert in between.
New Zealand's long-distance trains are also infrequent, and often slow. There are just three trains per week in winter between the two main cities, Wellington and Auckland.
Sometimes part of the Sunday service is replaced by a steam train - great for enthusiasts, but not helpful for time-challenged business travellers.

Chinese trains are often overcrowded, even at night

That said, it's one of the world's great scenic journeys, with views on a good day over the North Island Volcanic Plateau, one of the dramatic locations used in the Lord of the Rings films.
Chinese rail journeys could not be more different. They usually involve huge numbers of people being moved around over huge distances as often and in as short a time as possible. Queuing for tickets can be a nightmare, and there's always a danger of overcrowding.
I tried to book sleeper tickets from Beijing to the western city of Urumqi 10 days before departure, but they had already sold out, so I was forced to sit in a non-reclining seat for the whole 40-hour journey.
For the first 24 hours, the carriage was so packed that people were sleeping in the aisles and even on the wash-basins at the end.
On the second night, I managed to grab a couple of hours' kip by lying under the table next to my seat.
Border misery I had another largely sleepless night in Vietnam. My seat would not recline because I was at the back of the carriage, but the passenger in front was able to recline until the headrest was within inches of my face.
Into this small space a guard kept leaning, in order to hold different-coloured lanterns up to the window - like a smuggler in days gone by sending signals to his accomplices.
In the former Soviet Union the sleeping conditions may be slightly better, but it's definitely the poor man's mode of transport, with painfully slow trains. One journey I took in Turkmenistan took 22 hours, while the same trip by road would take only six.

Continue reading the main story

Borders crossed by train

• Singapore-Malaysia
• Malaysia-Thailand
• Vietnam-China
• China-Kazakhstan
• Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan
• Azerbaijan-Georgia
• Turkey-Bulgaria

It would be unfair to say that Asian trains are always crowded or uncomfortable, though. Thailand has got perhaps some of the best sleeper bunks in the world - lengthwise down the carriage and so much less cramped than other trains - and an attendant to bring you meals and sort out your bedding arrangements for you.

On most of my first train journey in China, from the Vietnamese border to Beijing, I had a luxury four-berth compartment to myself. The train was busy, but maybe people didn't want to share with a foreigner?
Of course, travelling internationally by train throws up obstacles the air passenger doesn't have to think about.
Between Singapore and the European Union I crossed 12 borders, most by train. Most of the countries I entered require you to get a visa in advance, but you're still guaranteed a certain level of hassle when you arrive.
This usually means getting out of the train, whatever the time of day or night, with all your luggage, just to have your passport stamped.

Outside Europe, trains usually arrived late

In China and the former Soviet Union, though, expect the border guards and customs officers to come to you. They rarely bother Westerners, but don't be surprised if they open up the ceiling of your compartment looking for contraband or confiscate your neighbour's suitcase full of Barbie dolls.
The prize for the most arduous border on my route was won by the crossing from China to Kazakhstan. Between them they managed to hold the train for six hours - for two hours of border formalities on the Chinese side and two on the Kazakh side.
The Kazakhs were particularly thorough (though unfailingly polite), sending legions of troops and officials down the train. Their particular obsession was fruit or vegetables, which they were determined to prevent entering the country.
For another two hours I sampled the anaemic delights of the desolate border settlement of Dostyk while they changed the wheels on the train to fit the broader gauge of the former Soviet Union (1.52m compared to the 1.435m used in China and most of Europe).
Another problem with all these stops is that they often make the trains late. I can only remember two trains outside Europe that actually arrived on time, or even within an hour of their scheduled arrival.
Human factor But for many ardent travellers there are rewards to train travel which outweigh any inconveniences.
Trains have to be the best means of travel for meeting people, whether it's other long-distance travellers or locals.

That overcrowded Chinese rail journey was also, paradoxically, my favourite.
I was lucky enough to find an English speaker (rare in China) sitting opposite me, who helped me converse with the rest of the carriage.
I became Loberto for a few hours, and even managed to win a game of cards, without having the faintest idea what I was doing.
A man sitting opposite coyly expressed the desire to drink a bottle of whisky with me. I declined as politely as I could, but we shared a beer.
It was the kind of communal event that must be almost an everyday occurrence for most Chinese, when strangers are in close proximity for a prolonged period and get to see each other warts and all. But for me it was fascinating to see this good-humoured familiarity.
On a journey in Turkmenistan, news soon got around that there was a Westerner in the carriage and people just came along to have a look. I was plied with a whole variety of local dishes and gallons of green tea. One man said he would always remember that moment.
Train restaurants in this part of the world are poor to non-existent, and most people take food with them to share with their travelling companions. Another way to break the ice.

 

Snow paralyses transport in parts of Western Europe

 

 

Thousands of travellers have had their Christmas plans disrupted by further snowfalls across Western Europe.

Hundreds of flights have been cancelled at Charles de Gaulle airport near Paris where 2,000 passengers were moved from a terminal because of snow on the roof.
Brussels airport was also badly hit and Belgians were warned not to drive.
Hundreds of road accidents have been reported across Germany, and in northern Italy heavy rain has caused flooding in parts of Venice.
Unusually high water levels were reported in the Venice lagoon. In the town of Vicenza, west of Venice, people were moved from their homes because of high river levels.
Roof fears
Airport authorities at Charles de Gaulle ordered part of Terminal 2E to be cleared of passengers because of fears that the roof might collapse under the weight of 60cm (2ft) of snow.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

The airport should be prepared for this - it's not the Second Coming”

End Quote George Gegechkori Georgian student at Brussels airport

• UK rail services reduced

In 2004, the same roof collapsed shortly after the terminal opened, killing four people.

The disruption at Charles de Gaulle was also blamed on a shortage of de-icing fluid, and the cancellation of flights led to 2,000 people being stranded at the airport overnight.
The French authorities, struggling to cope with the country's third major snowfall of the winter, said fresh supplies were on their way but would not arrive before Monday.
Air France's head of operations Michel Emeyriat said he was extremely sorry for the delays, adding: "I haven't seen this [situation] in the past 10 years."
Later, AFP news agency quoted the French civil aviation authority as saying that conditions at the airport would return to "normal" by Saturday.
Treacherous conditions The Danish authorities on the Baltic island of Bornholm say they have given up trying to clear roads blocked by snowdrifts. Three people have been reported missing and police have reiterated pleas to people to stay indoors because of the treacherous conditions.
Hundreds of tourists spent the night on ferries, in army barracks and a sports hall. It is thought many of them may be unable to return to the mainland before Christmas.

More snow is continuing to paralyse transport in parts of Western Europe

Heavy snow also caused major disruption to roads and rail services in Sweden.
Dublin airport in the Irish Republic was forced to suspend flights several times.
Some passengers were forced to spend the night at Brussels airport.
Georgian student George Gegechkori, 22, said he had two flights cancelled and that his flight out on Christmas morning was not guaranteed.
"My flight to Atlanta, USA, on the 21 December was cancelled because of ice," he told the BBC.
"Today I got all the way through passport control and security and was sitting by the gate only to have my flight cancelled 10 minutes before departure.
"Professionally speaking, the airport should be prepared for this. It's not the Second Coming."
In western Germany, traffic was paralysed in parts of North Rhine Westphalia. Further east, the railway line between Berlin and Hanover was blocked because of frozen overhead power-lines.
In Britain, heavy snow has been forecast for parts of Scotland and north-eastern England, and passengers are facing reduced services on several railway lines.
Dutch police said the wintry weather had helped them identify and arrest cannabis-growers because their attic lights had melted snow from the rooftops.

 

US pilot 'probed over YouTube videos of airport lapses'

 

 

 

 US officials are investigating a pilot who released videos allegedly revealing security lapses at San Francisco's airport, the pilot's lawyer says.

Lawyer Don Werno said the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was checking whether his client had revealed sensitive information.

Pope prays for peace at Christmas Eve Mass in Vatican

 

 

Pope Benedict has prayed for peace as he delivered his traditional Christmas Eve homily in Rome.

At a Mass at St Peter's Basilica, the Pope prayed for God to "implant his peace in our hearts" but also to "break the rods of the oppressors".
Security was tight. Last year at the same Mass a woman jumped the barriers and lunged at the Pope.
Meanwhile at a Mass in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, a senior cleric called for peace in the Middle East.
'Garments rolled in blood' The BBC's David Willey in Rome says plain-clothed security men followed the Pope as he walked in procession up the central nave of the basilica watching for any sign of trouble.
The 83-year-old pontiff stopped twice to bless babies held up to him.
About 10,000 people attended the Mass.
The Vatican had reviewed its security procedures after last year's incident. The same woman had also attempted to throw herself at the Pope at the Mass a year earlier.

The Pope lit a nativity candle from his window

Security concerns had also been heightened by parcel bomb attacks on Thursday at two embassies in the Italian capital which injured two people.
In his Christmas homily, Pope Benedict said: "We are grateful that God gives himself into our hands as a child, begging as it were for our love, implanting his peace in our hearts.
But this joy is also a prayer: Lord, make your promise come fully true. Break the rods of the oppressors. Burn the tramping boots. Let the time of the garments rolled in blood come to an end."
He added: "Help us to live together with you as brothers and sisters, so as to become one family, your family."
Earlier in heavy rain the Pope had lit a candle in his window, which overlooks St Peter's Square, to open officially the Vatican's nativity scene.
One American tourist, Gayle Savino, told Reuters: "It's just a blessing to be here on such a wonderful night on Christ's birthday."
Later on Saturday, the Pope will deliver his Christmas message to the city of Rome and the world.
Then he will host a Christmas lunch in the Vatican's audience hall for 350 homeless people.
'Model for the world' Thousands of people also converged on the West Bank town of Bethlehem ahead of the midnight Mass at the Church of the Nativity - built at the site where Christians believe Jesus was born.

Some 90,000 people are expected to visit Bethlehem for celebrations there

It was addressed by the Catholic Church's top representative in the Middle East - Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Fouad Twal - who made his traditional call for peace.
"During this Christmas season, may the sound of the bells of our churches drown the noise of weapons in our wounded Middle East," he said.
"Our hope for Christmas is that Jerusalem not only becomes the capital of two nations, but also a model for the world, of harmony and coexistence of the three monotheistic religions."
The patriarch also recalled October's bloody attack on Christians in a Baghdad church.
"Such fanatic actions are universally condemned by Christians and Muslims," he said.
More than 50 people were killed when security forces stormed the church to free dozens of hostages.
The number of tourists visiting Bethlehem has been rising in recent years as violence has decreased.

 

Dozens die in Pakistan suicide bombing

 

 

At least 40 people have died after a suicide bomb attack on a large crowd receiving aid in north-west Pakistan.

The blast took place in the town of Khar in the Bajaur region, in tribal areas close to the Afghan border - a Taliban and al-Qaeda stronghold.

About 1,000 people displaced by fighting had been receiving food at a distribution centre.

Reports say at least another 50 people have been injured and the death toll could rise.

Civilians

Saturday's bombing was the latest in a string of recent attacks in Pakistan's unruly north-west.

No group has so far said it carried out the attack on the centre, used by the World Food Programme and other aid agencies to distribute food to conflict-affected people in the region.

"I myself have counted 40 bodies but the death toll could rise as several wounded people are in critical condition," Dosti Rehman, an official at the main government hospital in the region, told Reuters news agency.

Dozens of injured people are being taken to hospital by helicopter.

Most of the victims are believed to be civilians who had fled the fighting between Taliban militants and the Pakistani army, the BBC's Aleem Maqbool in Islamabad reports.

The tribal district of Bajaur, where the attack took place, has seen several military operations to clear it of insurgents - the army had previously declared the operations a success, and the area safe for the displaced to return to, our correspondent adds.

Among recent other attacks, at least 11 Pakistani soldiers and 24 militants were killed on Friday after some 150 Taliban fighters attacked five Frontier Corps checkpoints in the neighbouring Mohmand tribal region.

Earlier this month, a suicide bomb attack in Mohmand left at least 40 people dead.

A double suicide bombing in Mohmand in July killed more than 100.

 

Top 10 lies that men tell women

 

 

 

Well ladies, it's official - men really do tell more lies than us women. A recent survey commissioned by the Science Museum found that the average male tells around 1,092 lies a year - that's roughly three a day!

So just what are these porkies that we're being told? We reveal the top 10 lies that men tell women...

1. 'I didn't have that much to drink'

According to the Science Museum's survey, this is the most popular lie that men tell women. Us ladies also use it on the lads, but not as frequently.

10 lies women tell men

 

Much was made of a recent study for the Science Museum suggesting men tell more lies than women. According to excited newspaper columnists, men had been 'rumbled'. Apparently, we lie to impress, we lie to deceive, and we lie because we are men and that is what men do.

But the findings were a bit less black and white than that. Men do lie more than women, according to the study. But while men average over a thousand lies a year, women still weighed in with a hefty 728.

And the most common subject men lie about? Our drinking habits. Which begs the obvious question, so what? I always knock a pint off the previous night's tally when my better half is within hearing range. It saves her from worrying - and is thus not so much a fib as an act of kindness.

So what fibs do women tell men? Well, by combining the results of the Science Museum study and a straw poll of 'men we know', MSN Him has come up with the definitive list. Have you heard one of these recently...?

What Is the Quantity Theory of Money? 

 

The concept of the quantity theory of money (QTM) began in the 16th century. As gold and silver inflows from the Americas into Europe were being minted into coins, there was a resulting rise in inflation. This led economist Henry Thornton in 1802 to assume that more money equals more inflation and that an increase in money supply does not necessarily mean an increase in economic output. Here we look at the assumptions and calculations underlying the QTM, as well as its relationship to monetarism and ways the theory has been challenged. 

QTM in a Nutshell
The quantity theory of money states that there is a direct relationship between the quantity of money in an economy and the level of prices of goods and services sold. According to QTM, if the amount of money in an economy doubles, price levels also double, causing inflation (the percentage rate at which the level of prices is rising in an economy). The consumer therefore pays twice as much for the same amount of the good or service.

Another way to understand this theory is to recognize that money is like any other commodity: increases in its supply decrease marginal value (the buying capacity of one unit of currency). So an increase in money supply causes prices to rise (inflation) as they compensate for the decrease in money’s marginal value.  

The Theory’s CalculationsIn its simplest form, the theory is expressed as:

MV = PT (the Fisher Equation)

Each variable denotes the following:
M = Money Supply
V = Velocity of Circulation (the number of times money changes hands)
P = Average Price Level
T = Volume of Transactions of Goods and Services  

The original theory was considered orthodox among 17th century classical economists and was overhauled by 20th-century economists Irving Fisher, who formulated the above equation, and Milton Friedman. (For more on this important economist, see Free Market Maven: Milton Friedman.)

It is built on the principle of "equation of exchange": 

Amount of Money x Velocity of Circulation = Total Spending

Thus if an economy has US$3, and those $3 were spent five times in a month, total spending for the month would be $15.    

QTM Assumptions
QTM adds assumptions to the logic of the equation of exchange. In its most basic form, the theory assumes that V (velocity of circulation) and T (volume of transactions) are constant in the short term. These assumptions, however, have been criticized, particularly the assumption that V is constant. The arguments point out that the velocity of circulation depends on consumer and business spending impulses, which cannot be constant.  

The theory also assumes that the quantity of money, which is determined by outside forces, is the main influence of economic activity in a society. A change in money supply results in changes in price levels and/or a change in supply of goods and services. It is primarily these changes in money stock that cause a change in spending. And the velocity of circulation depends not on the amount of money available or on the current price level but on changes in price levels.  

Finally, the number of transactions (T) is determined by labor, capital, natural resources (i.e. the factors of production), knowledge and organization. The theory assumes an economy in equilibrium and at full employment.  

Essentially, the theory’s assumptions imply that the value of money is determined by the amount of money available in an economy. An increase in money supply results in a decrease in the value of money because an increase in money supply causes a rise in inflation. As inflation rises, the purchasing power, or the value of money, decreases. It therefore will cost more to buy the same quantity of goods or services.  

Money Supply, Inflation and Monetarism
As QTM says that quantity of money determines the value of money, it forms the cornerstone of monetarism. (For more insight, see Monetarism: Printing Mone To Control Inflation.)

Monetarists say that a rapid increase in money supply leads to a rapid increase in inflation. Money growth that surpasses the growth of economic output results in inflation as there is too much money behind too little production of goods and services. In order to curb inflation, money growth must fall below growth in economic output.  

This premise leads to how monetary policy is administered. Monetarists believe that money supply should be kept within an acceptable bandwidth so that levels of inflation can be controlled. Thus, for the near term, most monetarists agree that an increase in money supply can offer a quick-fix boost to a staggering economy in need of increased production. In the long term, however, the effects of monetary policy are still blurry. 

Less orthodox monetarists, on the other hand, hold that an expanded money supply will not have any effect on real economic activity (production, employment levels, spending and so forth). But for most monetarists any anti-inflationary policy will stem from the basic concept that there should be a gradual reduction in the money supply. Monetarists believe that instead of governments continually adjusting economic policies (i.e. government spending and taxes), it is better to let non-inflationary policies (i.e. gradual reduction of money supply) lead an economy to full employment.  

QTM Re-Experienced 
John Maynard Keynes challenged the theory in the 1930s, saying that increases in money supply lead to a decrease in the velocity of circulation and that real income, the flow of money to the factors of production, increased. Therefore, velocity could change in response to changes in money supply. It was conceded by many economists after him that Keynes’ idea was accurate.  

QTM, as it is rooted in monetarism, was very popular in the 1980s among some major economies such as the United States and Great Britain under Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher respectively. At the time, leaders tried to apply the principles of the theory to economies where money growth targets were set. However, as time went on, many accepted that strict adherence to a controlled money supply was not necessarily the cure-all for economic malaise.