Brazil catches Irish man with gut full of cocaine

<p> </p><p>Irish man has been arrested in Brazil with almost a kilo of cocaine hidden in his gut, police there say. The 20-year-old suspect was detained as he tried to board a flight from Sao Paulo to Brussels. Officers said they became suspicious because he looked nervous. When questioned, he admitted having swallowed sealed capsules of cocaine. He was rushed to hospital, where he expelled 72 capsules containing 830g (1.8lb) of the drug. The hospital released a scan showing the man's gut filled with the oval-shaped capsules. The suspect is being held on suspicion of international drug smuggling. If found guilty, he could face five to 15 years in prison. Risk Brazil is a major transit point for smugglers moving South American drugs into Europe's lucrative drugs market. Neighbouring Bolivia, Colombia and Peru produce almost all the world's cocaine. Every year hundreds of people - known as mules - are arrested trying to smuggle the drug on international flights. As well as the danger of being caught, smugglers who hide drugs inside their bodies risk having the capsules burst, with possibly fatal consequences.</p>

Brazil catches Irish man with gut full of cocaine

  Irish man has been arrested in Brazil with almost a kilo of cocaine hidden in his gut, police there say. The 20-year-old suspect was deta...

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US vintage aircraft crash leaves three dead and 54 injured

<p> </p><p><img alt="" height="183" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEge2pMtT7KlqSAl2sWgjuFtecaEHl3FBFoVvigjPzg55dG-QuI8MEvQhoo8GCe1HVYVglsvU0sQZ0gBuWPvZh-UQNn3jxHl6rMJH-8ZgpiwpAy6kUP_WFhQ-8dOUI39vDooQLXQ7d78vwE/" style="float: left;" width="275" />The plane, a P-51 Mustang, dubbed the "Galloping Ghost" that was being flown by Jimmy Leeward, 74, crashed at 4.30pm local time (11.30pm GMT) into a box seat area in front of the main grandstand at the Reno Air Races,. "I heard his engine and looked up. He was within 100 feet. He was coming right down on top of us," witness Fred Scholz told CNN, adding that the plane had first flown closer to the stands than allowed. "It just happened very quick." The Federal Aviation Administration halted the air race after the crash, and was investigating the incident alongside the National Transportation Safety Board, an FAA official said. Video apparently taken from the stands and posted on YouTube showed a plane plunging nose-down into the tarmac as spectators were heard gasping: "Oh, my God." Debris billowed near the crash site, and officials then told spectators to remain where they were so emergency workers could get to the scene. The FAA official, spokesman Ian Gregor, said that multiple spectator fatalities and critical injuries were reported. FAA inspectors had been observing the race at the time of the crash, he said. The head of the Reno Air Racing Association, Michael Houghton, put the number of injured at 54 people and said the 74-year-old pilot was among those killed. He said that there appeared to be a "problem with the aircraft that caused it to go out of control". At least 15 people were in a critical condition after the crash, which a spokesman for the event called a "mass casualty situation" in a written statement. Mark Hasara of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, is a veteran of the Air Force who attended the race and witnessed the crash. "As soon as I saw his nose pointed at the ground, I knew he wasn't going to recover," Mr Hasara told Reuters. The Reno Air Races, which began in the mid-1960s and is an event that is held annually, feature planes facing off in multi-lap races at an airfield north of Reno. Renown Regional Medical Center spokesman Dan Davis said that at least two people were killed, a man and a woman, but they were not identified. Stephanie Kruse, a spokeswoman for the regional emergency medical service authority, said 15 of the injured were in a critical condition. "This is a very large incident, probably one of the largest this community has seen in decades," Ms Kruse told the Associated Press. "The community is pulling together to try to deal with the scope of it. The hospitals have certainly geared up and staffed up to deal with it." Mr Houghton said that Mr Leeward, from Ocala, Florida, was a real estate developer who had been racing planes since the mid-1970s. He added that most of Leeward's family had been at Friday's event. Ronald Sargis, a witness who was sitting in the box-seat area, said spectators could tell the plane was in trouble before it crashed. "About six or seven boxes down from us, it impacted into the front row," Mr Sargis told KCRA-TV in Sacramento. He added: "It appeared to be just pulverised." Another eyewitness, Maureen Higgins of Alabama, told the Associated Press that the pilot was on his third lap when he lost control. "I saw body parts and gore like you wouldn't believe it. I'm talking an arm, a leg," Ms Higgins said.</p>

US vintage aircraft crash leaves three dead and 54 injured

  The plane, a P-51 Mustang, dubbed the "Galloping Ghost" that was being flown by Jimmy Leeward, 74, crashed at 4.30pm local time ...

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'Rogue trader' Kweku Adoboli faces fraud charges dating back to 2008

<p> </p><p>tearful Kweku Adoboli, the alleged rogue trader at the centre of a $2bn (£1.3bn) loss at Swiss bank UBS, appeared before magistrates on Friday to be charged with fraud and false accounting dating back to 2008. A clerk at City of London magistrates court handed the 31-year-old Ghanaian a tissue as the 15-minute proceedings began, after which the one-time star trader was led away to remain in custody until a bail hearing on 22 September. Adoboli's charge sheet appeared to allege that he had taken steps to cover loss-making trades as long ago as 2008. A committal hearing was set for 28 October. The timescale of the allegations will raise questions about risk management procedures at the bank, put intense pressure on the chief executive, Oswald Grübel, and fuel calls from some Swiss politicians for the bank to exit its investment banking business, putting thousands of jobs at risk in the City. Many UBS bankers already fear for their year-end bonuses. Smiling at times, Adoboli spoke only to confirm his name, address and date of birth, while the Swiss bank refused to add anything to the statement it issued on Thursday when it revealed it had called in City of London police at 1am to investigate Adoboli after uncovering "unauthorised trading". British-educated Adoboli – whose passport spells his name as Kwaku – joined UBS in 2006 and was a member of the so-called delta one trading desk, where, among other things, he traded exchange traded funds (ETFs). These complex financial instruments, on which the regulators issued warnings earlier this year, are structured to mimic market movements. His registration with the Financial Services Authority was switched to "inactive" on Friday at the request of the firm – indicating that he is no longer performing that role. Two charges claim that Adoboli falsified records of ETFs between October 2008 and December 2009 and then January 2010 and September 2011. A third charge alleges that he committed fraud between January 2011 and September 2011 while senior trader in global synthetic equities. His lawyers at Kingsley Napley – the law firm that advised Nick Leeson, the rogue trader who broke Barings – did not issue a statement or enter pleas to the charges. His father, John, told Reuters from Tema, Ghana: "I want the world to have an open mind. He should not be sentenced before the trial begins." The former United Nations worker is hoping to fly to the UK this week and is applying for a visa. The City of London police, who arrested Adoboli at his luxury home on the edge of the City at 3.30am on Thursday, said their investigation was continuing, in "close collaboration" with the Financial Services Authority, the Serious Fraud Office and the Crown Prosecution Service. Adoboli's trading activity, by its nature, required him to perform frequent numbers of small trades. One of the last postings on his Facebook page – "need a miracle" – came at around the time the Swiss National Bank intervened to reduce the value of the Swiss franc, which has prompted speculation that this helped expose his losses. The bank, which employs 6,000 staff in London, will now have to pay for a detailed investigation being launched by the FSA and the Swiss regulator, Finma, into the control systems at UBS, the failures that permitted the losses to occur, and details of the unauthorised trading activity. The "comprehensive, independent investigation" will be carried out by one of the big four accountancy firms, although no timescale has been given for when it might be completed. The discovery of the "unauthorised trading" has come at a sensitive time for the City, coinciding as it does with the third anniversary of the collapse of Lehman Brothers and coming after calls from politicians in the UK and Switzerland for the break-up of high street banks to separate "casino" investment banking arms. "It shows that investment banking is a high-risk field and it's important that we clearly separate systemically important functions from the rest of the banking business," said Caspar Baader, of the Swiss People's party. Switzerland's Social Democratic party called for "consequences" such as a ban on "proprietary trading" and replacing "egomaniacal, arrogant and irresponsible managers". Even a year after the banking crisis of 2008, during which Swiss taxpayers contributed to a $60bn bailout of UBS, the nation's banking assets totalled SFr3.47tr – nearly seven times the country's gross domestic product. New laws requiring UBS and Credit Suisse to rein in risk and hoard capital to a higher level than required elsewhere in Europe have already been passed in the first chamber of the Swiss parliament and were debated this week in the upper house, known as the national council. Moves to hive off riskier investment banking and private client operations from those banking functions vital to the smooth operation of the Swiss economy also form part of the legislation, but would not be implemented immediately. Banking analysts believe UBS may now have to scale back its investment banking business and axe even more jobs on top of the 3,500 group-wide cuts announced last month in a bid to save £1.5bn – a similar amount to the losses the bank now fears it faces from the alleged "unauthorised trading". "We are making further cuts in our 2012 profit estimates, as we believe that UBS is set to announce a more streamlined investment banking business strategy in November, with certain business units being closed and additional jobs being lost. This is part of the bank's efforts to address the long-term structural issues within the financial services industry," said Christopher Wheeler, an analyst at Mediobanca. Ratings agencies warned of a downgrade of the bank's credit rating. Standard & Poor's placed the bank on its Creditwatch list, citing factors including the "setback to UBS's efforts to rebuild its reputation and demonstrate strengthened risk-management following its weak performance in 2007-2009", when it almost collapsed during the credit crunch.</p>

'Rogue trader' Kweku Adoboli faces fraud charges dating back to 2008

  tearful Kweku Adoboli, the alleged rogue trader at the centre of a $2bn (£1.3bn) loss at Swiss bank UBS, appeared before magistrates on Fr...

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Facebook May Help Online Luxury-Goods Sales Grow 20% Annually

<p> </p><p>Online sales of luxury goods may climb 20 percent a year by 2015 as producers build networks of potential customers on social media websites such as Facebook.com, according to a study published today. Revenue from fashion, jewelry and other luxury products is likely to reach 11 billion euros ($15 billion) in four years, the report from Italian luxury trade group Altagamma shows. “The explosion of social media and the increasing investments in the online channel by luxury companies has reinforced and enlarged the community of those who explore, comment upon and eventually purchase luxury goods,” Milan-based Altagamma said in a statement. Luxury companies are more than doubling their “friends” on Facebook annually in recognition of the link between online and offline purchases, according to the report. At least half of consumers in Europe, the U.S. and China form an opinion or seek information online before buying in a store, while most online luxury sales are preceded by a boutique visit, Altagamma said. Burberry Group Plc (BRBY), the U.K.’s largest luxury goods maker, gets “the most reach and most response” from digital initiatives compared with other media, Burberry Chief Financial Officer Stacey Cartwright told analysts on July 13. To promote the Burberry Body fragrance, which hit shelves this month, the London-based company offered exclusive samples to its nearly 7 million Facebook fans. It received more than 225,000 requests in little more than a week. The Internet plays a key role in increasing the hype around luxury brands and their products, Altagamma said. Fashion Blogs The web’s influence on perceptions of luxury goods is strongest in China, where fashion blogs are the source of opinion for 58 percent of consumers, compared with 27 percent of their counterparts in Europe and the U.S., the report said. The Asian country also has a higher penetration of online purchasing. Seventy-eight percent of Chinese buy luxury goods online, compared with 56 percent of Europeans and 46 percent of Americans, “mainly because they wish to avoid interactions with sales personnel or their insistence,” Altagamma said. The study included surveys of 187 companies with total revenue of 60 billion euros ($82.1 billion), interviews with 1,500 consumers and analysis of 450 websites in seven countries.</p>

Facebook May Help Online Luxury-Goods Sales Grow 20% Annually

  Online sales of luxury goods may climb 20 percent a year by 2015 as producers build networks of potential customers on social media websit...

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Man quizzed over UBS rogue trading

<p> </p><p>31-year-old man was arrested in London today in connection with allegations of £1.3 billion of rogue trading at Swiss banking giant UBS. The man, named in reports as Kweku Adoboli, was arrested at 3.30am on suspicion of fraud by abuse of position and remains in police custody, sources said. Related articles Notoriety awaits UBS rogue trader French banks scramble to prove they're strong enough for debt crisis Search the news archive for more stories The bank, which has 6,000 staff in the UK, revealed earlier that a trader had lost two billion US dollars (£1.3 billion) on unauthorised trades and warned that the activity could have tipped the bank to a third-quarter loss. Oswald Gruebel, UBS chief executive, called the loss "distressing" and said he "will spare no effort to establish how it happened". According to his LinkedIn profile, Adoboli works as a director in European equity trading and was previously a trade support analyst at UBS. He was a student at the University of Nottingham, according to his profile on the business networking website.</p>

Man quizzed over UBS rogue trading

  31-year-old man was arrested in London today in connection with allegations of £1.3 billion of rogue trading at Swiss banking giant UBS. ...

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British Parliament Again Calls James Murdoch on Phone-Hacking Scandal

<p> </p><p>British lawmakers say they will recall News International's deputy chief operations officer, James Murdoch, for questioning in connection with the phone-hacking scandal at the now-defunct News of the World tabloid. Murdoch will face new questions about whether he knew that phone-hacking was widespread at the newspaper. It will be his second public questioning since lawmakers grilled him and his father, media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, in July. The recall centers around claims that James Murdoch saw an e-mail that is said to prove that phone-hacking at the paper was more widespread than earlier reported. Several people have been arrested in connection with the scandal, including former News of the World editors Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson. Coulson went on to head communications for Prime Minister David Cameron before resigning in January. News of the World shut down in July after allegations that reporters illegally accessed the cell phone voice mails of hundreds of celebrities, politicians, rival journalists and even murder victims. They also are suspected of bribing police for information. In a separate development, the mother of a man killed in the 2005 terrorist attacks on the London transport system has filed a lawsuit against News International for illegal hacking. Sheila Henry, whose son was killed in the July 7 bombings, is among several people seeking damages from News International. News International is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch's worldwide media conglomerate, News Corporation.</p>

British Parliament Again Calls James Murdoch on Phone-Hacking Scandal

  British lawmakers say they will recall News International's deputy chief operations officer, James Murdoch, for questioning in connect...

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Pirates kill Brit David Tebbutt and kidnap wife

<p> </p><p>BRITISH tourist has been killed and his wife kidnapped after suspected Somali pirates stormed their villa at an exclusive Kenyan resort. They were attacked by at least five men as they lay in bed in their beachside villa at 2am yesterday. David Tebbutt, 58, is believed to have been shot trying to protect wife Judith, 56, from the raiders. They bundled her into a speedboat and vanished. The couple, from Bishop's Stortford, Herts, had been at the Kiwayu Safari Village just a few hours and were the only guests. The secluded resort is 18 miles from the border with war-ravaged Somalia, notorious for its pirates. Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said a massive search involving military boats, helicopters and ground forces had begun at dawn. He added: "We are hoping that we will be able to at least find the lady. "We believe it is a kidnap but we are yet to receive any communication from the alleged kidnappers." Pirates tend not to raid on land — and it is rare for them to harm any victims because they want to ransom them. That has led to speculation that the attack could be the work of local Islamic fanatics who wanted to make their mark on the 9/11 anniversary. But police commissioner Mathew Iteere said: "So far we are treating it as a bandit attack. We've not received any hint pointing at a terror group.</p>

Pirates kill Brit David Tebbutt and kidnap wife

  BRITISH tourist has been killed and his wife kidnapped after suspected Somali pirates stormed their villa at an exclusive Kenyan resort. T...

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Microsoft online services hit by major failure

<p> </p><p>Millions of Microsoft users were left unable to access some online services overnight because of a major service failure. Hotmail, Office 365 and Skydrive were among the services affected. Microsoft was still analysing the cause of the problem on Friday morning, but said it appeared to be related to the internet's DNS address system. Such a major problem is likely to raise questions about the reliability of cloud computing versus local storage. Especially embarrassing is the temporary loss of Office 365, the company's alternative to Google's suite of online apps. Its service also went offline briefly in mid-August, less than two months after it launched. The latest disruption is believed to have lasted for around two-and-a-half hours, between 0300 GMT and 0530 GMT. In a blog, posted at 0649 GMT, Microsoft said: "We have completed propagating our DNS configuration changes around the world, and have restored service for most customers." The Domain Name System (DNS) is responsible for translating URL web addresses , such as bbc.co.uk into the internet's native system of IP addresses, e.g. 212.58.246.95.</p>

Microsoft online services hit by major failure

  Millions of Microsoft users were left unable to access some online services overnight because of a major service failure. Hotmail, Office...

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Rich Russians' love affair with Britain

<p> </p><p>In the countryside outside Moscow, an army of cement mixers is droning, churning and, quite bizarrely, helping to turn Russian fields into an English town. They're building 200 "British-style" houses here and they've called the compound Hyde Park. It's one of several UK-themed residential areas popping up around Russia, for rich Russians with a soft spot for Britain. On a tour of the village, I'm shown rows of big brick buildings with tall chimneys and English lawns. Each house has its own stylish title, like Dorchester, Park Lane and Windsor. A gated community called Hyde Park built in Russia for lovers of British style I'm invited into Oxford, where new resident Yuri Dranga shows me round. Yuri is particularly proud of his British kitchen, where the wallpaper is tartan and the tiles have pictures of Beefeaters, red telephone boxes and people queuing at a bus stop. Very tasteful. Yuri admits to being a big fan of the UK. "Britain is a very stable and a very conservative country," he tells me. "Just the kind of place Russia should be." Strained relations It's true that the political relationship between the UK and Russia has been strained in recent years. Particularly since the murder in London of former Russian security agent Alexander Litvinenko. There have also been spy scandals, financial disputes, and Moscow is annoyed by the number of anti-Kremlin tycoons who've taken refuge in the UK. Continue reading the main story “ Start Quote I love London, the smell of the city, the way of life... jogging in Hyde Park.” Grigory Guselnikov Russian investor But none of that has dented wealthy Russians' love affair with the British way of life. What's more, they're not just copying Britain - they're also buying up Britain. You name it, the Russians have been coming over to acquire it: from football clubs, like Chelsea and Portsmouth, to newspapers like the Independent. The book chain Waterstones is now Russian-owned - and so is the flagship Rolex store in central London. I simply love your country, tycoon Grigory Guselnikov tells the BBC It was tycoon Grigory Guselnikov who clinched the Rolex deal. Like many Russian businessmen, he feels it's safer doing business in Britain than back home in Russia. "Some people like, I simply love your country," Mr Guselnikov told me when we met in a Moscow restaurant. "I don't know why, but when my plane starts to descend I feel safe and secure. I love London, the smell of the city, the way of life, and my every morning jogging in Hyde Park." I ask him what it's like doing business in the UK compared with Russia. "It's absolutely transparent. I feel very easy. Although sometimes you have to overpay a little bit to lawyers. Sometimes I think it's a country of lawyers." Cuisine not a hit Back in Russia, I'm reminded that a British lifestyle is available here, too - at a price. An English-style pub near Moscow where President Medvedev and Vladimir Putin have enjoyed a night out In another gated community near Moscow I discover a giant English pub-restaurant. There's a photo of President Dmitry Medvedev and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on the wall; the two leaders live down the road and popped round recently for a night out. "We decided to build a restaurant in the English style because people who live in this village often go to England," pub manager Oleg Alyshev told me. "Some of them have houses there and some of their children study in England. So we think this place suits for this village." I've never been to a pub quite like this one before. The beer is £8 a pint. And instead of fish and chips, there's pate de foie gras and gazpacho. So where's the roast beef and Yorkshire pud? "Unfortunately, English style is more popular in Russia than English cuisine," Oleg told me. "That's why the restaurant has a European menu." Still, English pubs and British homes - it's like a Little Britain for the few Russians who can afford it.</p>

Rich Russians' love affair with Britain

  In the countryside outside Moscow, an army of cement mixers is droning, churning and, quite bizarrely, helping to turn Russian fields into...

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Gale-force wind warnings issued

<p> </p><p>Hurricane Katia could bring gale-force winds across the Atlantic to Scotland by Monday, forecasters have warned. The hurricane, which is moving from Bermuda, is expected to result in stormy weather and gusts of up to 75mph, although no official severe weather warnings have yet been issued. Forecasting provider Meteogroup said it is still too early to predict the effect the hurricane would have on the country's weather. Forecaster Andy Ratcliffe said: "By the time it gets across the Atlantic, it will be the remnants of Hurricane Katia. "We're still a little uncertain on the exact track of its path, although it looks like the centre of depression will be in the vicinity of Scotland." Meteogroup has forecast winds of 60mph, or possibly 75mph in some areas, accompanied by spells of heavy rain. Katia is the second major hurricane of the 2011 Atlantic hurricane season and was rated as a category four hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale at its peak. The scale rates hurricanes from one to five, with five being the strongest</p>

Gale-force wind warnings issued

  Hurricane Katia could bring gale-force winds across the Atlantic to Scotland by Monday, forecasters have warned. The hurricane, which is m...

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Germany's top representative on the European Central Bank resigned in an apparent protest of the bank's recent interventions in euro-zone debt markets

<p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 10px; line-height: 10px; background-color: #ffffff;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">Germany's top representative on the European Central Bank resigned in an apparent protest of the bank's recent interventions in euro-zone debt markets, dealing a severe blow to an institution struggling to retain its credibility amid the region's worsening debt crisis.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">Jürgen Stark is stepping down "for personal reasons," the ECB said in a statement. ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet "wholeheartedly" thanked Mr. Stark for his tenure at the ECB, the bank said.</p><div class="insetContent embedType-image imageFormat-DV" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 19px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 8px; font-size: 1em; zoom: 1; float: left; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: #70787c; width: 264px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="insetTree" style="font-size: 1em; float: left; position: relative; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><div class="insettipUnit" style="margin-top: 6px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; float: left; top: 0px; padding: 0px;"><img alt="[stark0909]" border="0" height="394" hspace="0" src="http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/OB-PN993_stark0_DV_20110909093232.jpg" style="float: none; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; border: 0px initial initial;" vspace="0" width="262" /><cite style="font-style: normal; text-align: right; display: block; color: #666666; margin-top: 3px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px;">Reuters</cite><p class="targetCaption" style="margin-top: 6px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 6px; margin-left: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.1em; line-height: 1.2em; color: #333333; display: block; padding: 0px;">European Central Bank's Executive Board member Jürgen Stark.</p></div></div></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">Mr. Stark, one of the ECB's most outspoken anti-inflation "hawks," had opposed the ECB's decision last month to reactivate its government bond purchase program, as did the head of Germany's central bank, Jens Weidmann. The ECB has purchased €50 billion ($69 billion) in government bonds since reactivating the program.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">Mr. Stark's departure comes as a surprise. His term doesn't expire for nearly three more years. As head of the ECB's economics division at the ECB's Frankfurt-based executive board, Mr. Stark holds considerable sway over the economic analysis behind the ECB's interest-rate decisions.</p><div class="insetCol3wide" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 19px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1em; width: 280px; float: left; clear: left; padding: 0px;"><div class="insetContent" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 8px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 8px; font-size: 1em; zoom: 1; border-top-width: 4px; border-top-style: solid; border-top-color: #70787c;"><h3 class="first" style="margin-top: 8px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 8px; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.4em; font-weight: bold; color: #333333; background-image: none; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-position: 0% 0%; background-repeat: repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; border: initial none initial;"></h3></div></div><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">The news sent the euro tumbling to $1.3697, its lowest level since February, and ensured U.S. stocks got off to a weak start. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down more than 300 points in interday trading, while Germany's DAX ended the day down 4% to 5189.93</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">Mr. Starks' resignation comes at a dicey time for the ECB. Mr. Trichet's eight-year term ends at the end of October. He will be succeeded by Mario Draghi, who currently heads the Bank of Italy.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">Unless Mr. Stark is replaced by another German, his departure leaves the prospect of the ECB having three Italians on the 23-member governing council, and only one German.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">Germany's government may nominate its deputy finance minister, Joerg Asmussen, to replace Mr. Stark on the ECB's executive board, according to one person familiar with the matter.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">Mr. Stark is the second top German official at the ECB to step down this year. Former Bundesbank President Axel Weber resigned in April. Mr. Weber, who had been seen as a front-runner to succeed Mr. Trichet, later cited his opposition the the ECB's bond purchases as a factor in his decision to not seek the presidency.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">German politicians have denounced the ECB's decision to purchase Italian and Spanish bonds during the past month, though the decision was praised in other parts of Europe, and in the financial markets, as having prevented a Lehman-like collapse in financial markets.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">German President Christian Wulff, whose position is largely ceremonial, has called the ECB's bond purchases "politically and legally questionable." The head of German's center-left SPD party, Sigmar Gabriel, has also denounced the move.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">At his monthly press conference Thursday, Mr. Trichet blasted his German critics, saying the ECB has kept inflation lower over its 12-plus years of existence than at any time in Germany over the past 50 years.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">"I would very much like to hear the congratulations for an institution that has delivered price stability in Germany," Mr. Trichet said.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">Germany's finance ministry declined to comment on who would succeed Mr. Stark. But it said Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble will discuss Mr. Stark's resignation at a press conference in Marseille on Friday evening.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">Mr. Stark's departure won't change the "fundamental direction" of the ECB, which is "clearly set in the EU treaty," Ewald Nowotny, an ECB Governing Council member and head of Austria's central bank, said in a statement Friday. Still, Austria's central bank regrets Stark's departure, the statement said.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">Mr. Stark will leave once a successor is appointed, which will be by the end of the year, according to the bank's appointment procedure, the ECB said.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 8px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 8px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.3em; line-height: 1.5em; display: block; padding: 0px;">Mr. Asmussen, a member of Germany's opposition SPD party, became deputy finance minister in 2008 and was able to stay on in the post even after his party left government after the 2009 election.</p></span></p>

Germany's top representative on the European Central Bank resigned in an apparent protest of the bank's recent interventions in euro-zone debt markets

Germany's top representative on the European Central Bank resigned in an apparent protest of the bank's recent interventions in euro...

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Millions of Hotmail users cut off by Microsoft 'cloud' failure

<p> </p><p>As well as Hotmail, the outage affected Office 365 and the Skydrive online storage service. Microsoft said the cause appeared to be related to the Domain Name System, the computer network that ensures that web addresses are connected to websites. “Preliminary root cause suggests a DNS issue,” the firm said on its office 365 Twitter feed. The problems lasted for at least two-and-a-half hours, beginning at around 4AM British Summer Time. On a company blog, Microsoft said it had fixed the problem at 5.45AM, but the repairs took some time to “propagate” through the DNS network.  "We are working on propagating the DNS configuration changes and so it will take some time to restore service to everyone. Again we appreciate your patience," the firm said. For Office 365, Microsoft’s subscription-only competitor to Google Apps, which went live earlier this year, it was the second major technical failure in less than a month. Such incidents are likely to give pause to organisations considering migration to online “cloud” services, whereby software is delivered from vast data centres, over the internet.</p>

Millions of Hotmail users cut off by Microsoft 'cloud' failure

  As well as Hotmail, the outage affected Office 365 and the Skydrive online storage service. Microsoft said the cause appeared to be relate...

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Red or Black: The criminal thing about Cowell's show?

<p> </p><p>The premise of Red Or Black is based partly on roulette and entirely on luck. It bills itself as a show that offers 'ordinary people across the UK the chance to become millionaires'. All contestants are asked to do is choose between red and black. Black or red. It's that simple. A no brainer for the brain dead. There is absolutely zilch talent involved; indeed a toddler on the brink of speech could do it. A highly motivated tadpole might just manage it. A smart budgie could be in it to win it. Yet this is what passes for primetime entertainment. Naked, slavering greed served up on a platter. No palpable skills required.  We have finally mined down to the showbiz nadir, reached the lowest common denominator of Saturday night entertainment. The prospect of total strangers doing nothing very much to win large sums of money is supposed to be hugely entertaining. Isn't that depressing? The nation has been shaken down, sieved and graded so that those who can actually do something, or at least think they can, have already auditioned for The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent, Big Brother, Countdown or The Weakest Link. Now we are left with the desperate dregs.  Padded out: Former X Factor winner Leona Lewis, one of Cowell's acts, appeared on Red Or Black Indeed, the very first Red Or Black winner, Nathan Hageman, has been exposed as a violent criminal who served a prison sentence for an assault on a woman, believed to be an ex-girlfriend. Red or Black and black and blue? It put the show on the front pages earlier this week, but it was not good publicity — for anyone. Hageman may have fulfilled his jail sentence and his debt to society, but a wife beater, by any other name, elicits scant public sympathy.  Even down in the grim bowels of public entertainment, there is little compassion for a man who hits a woman. Hageman may have done his time, but it appears that redemption is not yet his. And he must have suspected as much, otherwise why lie on his Red Or Black entry forms? Cowell was furious, and wanted Hageman not to be given the £1 million he had rightly won. Yet ITV says there is nothing it can do. Hageman had been allowed on Red Or Black despite the fact that producers knew he had a criminal record. He had claimed that he attacked a man, whereas in reality he was jailed for assaulting Amy McLean. As he was allowed onto the show without proper checks, he was allowed to keep his winnings. Beating up a woman is unacceptable, but beating up a man is OK? What a joke. ITV bosses are now carrying out stringent checks to make sure no more controversial participants appear, and have so far booted three dubious contestants off shows this week. Yet it all makes one wonder about their standards. If, in fact, they have any in the first place. Yet what can you expect on a show like this? If you remove the need for flair or aptitude, anything and anyone goes. Hundreds of thousands have already applied to be on Red Or Black, including the barely sentient, the desperate, the not quite there. Some were filmed sobbing in the queues about how hard life was, and how much they needed the cash. Very unedifying, for all involved.  Let me say it again. All you have to do is choose between red or black. Despite this, the shows are given a frill of respectability with cheap pomp and dreary stunts.  There have been motorbike daredevils — something that stopped being interesting pre-Evel Knievel. And David Hasselhoff doing a 'reverse bungee jump' — catapulted 230ft into the air — thrilled absolutely no one.  The show was padded out exclusively with Cowell musical acts, such as Leona Lewis and Il Divo. How have ITV even allowed this blatant plugfest? Successful game shows flourish by showing real suspense and thrills. Not this overblown and immoral nonsense. It's like Deal Or No Deal for the criminal classes. It makes Dale Winton's Hole In The Wall look like Mastermind. Where on earth do we go from here?</p>

Red or Black: The criminal thing about Cowell's show?

  The premise of Red Or Black is based partly on roulette and entirely on luck. It bills itself as a show that offers 'ordinary people a...

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'Credible' terror threat for 9/11

<p> </p><p>The threat is unconfirmed but reportedly involves Washington DC and New York, where people are preparing to mark the 10 year anniversary of 9/11, the worst ever terrorist attack on US soil in which nearly 3,000 people died. New York's Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the new threat was uncorroborated, but he asked citizens to report suspicious activity and said that security would be increased at bridges, tunnels and on public transport. He added: "For the record, I plan to take the subway tomorrow morning." 9/11 anniversary The anniversary of 9/11 will be marked by a ceremony at Ground Zero, attended by President Barack Obama as well as former president George W Bush. The White House said President Obama had been briefed on the threat against the United States. It noted that the US government had "enhanced its security posture" ahead of the anniversary. White House spokesman Jay Carney added: "We're hyper-vigilant to this specific report that's just coming in."</p>

'Credible' terror threat for 9/11

  The threat is unconfirmed but reportedly involves Washington DC and New York, where people are preparing to mark the 10 year anniversary o...

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Soldiers may face Mousa prosecution

<p> </p><p>British soldiers could face a fresh prosecution over the brutal death of an Iraqi civilian after a scathing report condemned the "shameful" abuse of prisoners in UK custody. A landmark public inquiry concluded that father-of-two Baha Mousa, 26, died after an "appalling episode of serious gratuitous violence" meted out by members of 1st Battalion the Queen's Lancashire Regiment (1QLR). Inquiry chairman Sir William Gage said a number of British officers who could have stopped the abuse, including 1QLR's former commanding officer Colonel Jorge Mendonca, bore a "heavy responsibility" for the "grave and shameful events". He also strongly criticised the "corporate failure" by the Ministry of Defence that led to "conditioning" techniques banned by the UK in 1972, including hooding and making prisoners stand in painful stress positions, being used by soldiers in Iraq. The £13 million public inquiry, which has published its 1,400-page final report, condemned the "lack of moral courage to report abuse" within Preston-based 1QLR. It named 19 soldiers who assaulted Mr Mousa and nine Iraqis detained with him, and found that many others, including several officers, must have known what was happening. The damning report said the violence could not be described as a "one-off" because of evidence that 1QLR troops abused and mistreated Iraqi civilians on other occasions. Lawyers for Mr Mousa's family called for the soldiers responsible for his death to face charges in the light of the findings. Seven members of 1QLR, including Col Mendonca, faced allegations relating to the mistreatment of the detainees at a high-profile court martial in 2006-07. The trial ended with them all cleared, apart from Corporal Donald Payne, who became the first member of the British armed forces convicted of a war crime when he pleaded guilty to inhumanely treating civilians. Payne was acquitted of manslaughter. The legal team for Mr Mousa's relatives and the other detainees believe that evidence in the inquiry's report could form the basis for a new prosecution. Sapna Malik, from law firm Leigh Day and Co, said: "In light of the cogent and serious findings by Sir William Gage, we now expect that the military and civilian prosecuting authorities of this country will act to ensure that justice is done." The Crown Prosecution Service said the inquiry's report had not been referred to it. The Service Prosecuting Authority, which brings military prosecutions, was not available for comment.</p>

Soldiers may face Mousa prosecution

  British soldiers could face a fresh prosecution over the brutal death of an Iraqi civilian after a scathing report condemned the "sha...

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Citigroup banker faces 30 years in jail after admitting $22m fraud

<p> </p><p>Former Citigroup banker Gary Foster has pleaded guilty to embezzling $22m (£14m) from the bank, money he spent on a lavish lifestyle of fast cars and fancy apartments. He faces up to 30 years in jail. The 12-year Citigroup veteran spent hundreds of thousands on cars including a Ferrari and a Maserati Gran Turismo, even though he is legally blind and was unable to drive them. He hired a chauffeur. Foster, 35, was arrested in June at John F Kennedy Airport as he was getting off a flight from Bangkok. He had quit the bank in January before Citi had uncovered his scheme. A former treasury finance department executive, Foster earned $100,000 a year managing internal investments at the bank. Prosecutors said his scheme began in September 2003 and continued into 2011. He wired the money from internal Citi accounts into his personal bank account and covered up his tracks by assigning phony contract or deal numbers to the transfers to make them appear bona fide. According to prosecutors, between July and December 2010, he moved around $14.4m from Citigroup's debt adjustment account and $900,000 from the bank's interest expense account to his personal account in eight separate wire transfers. In a single transfer, on 8 November, he is alleged to have wired himself $3.9m. The US Attorney's Office in Brooklyn has already seized $16m in assets including his cars, an exclusive apartment in Manhattan's Rockefeller Centre, an apartment in Brooklyn and mansion in Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. "The defendant violated his employer's trust and stole a stunning amount of money over an extended period of time to finance his personal lifestyle," said US attorney Loretta Lynch. "We will vigorously investigate and prosecute such conduct and seek to recover as much of the proceeds as possible."</p>

Citigroup banker faces 30 years in jail after admitting $22m fraud

  Former Citigroup banker Gary Foster has pleaded guilty to embezzling $22m (£14m) from the bank, money he spent on a lavish lifestyle of fa...

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American Banker Shows DOJ Sat On a Bank-Kickback Scandal

<p> </p><p>Jeff Horwitz has a big scoop in today’s paper, reporting on a HUD investigation that says banks forced mortgage insurers to pay them $6 billion in kickbacks over ten years. HUD’s inspector general tied a bow on the case and presented it to Obama’s Department of Justice, which has sat on it for two years now. It’s just the latest example of the Obama administration not going after the banks. Here’s the gist: Most homebuyers don’t put 20 percent down and banks require them to buy mortgage insurance from third parties to cover their risk. In the 1990s, banks started requiring insurers to pay them to reinsure the loans. Reinsurance is basically insurance for insurance companies, and if a deal isn’t crooked, the reinsurer will be compensated based on the risk it takes. But there was a major market flaw here (and an antitrust issue, if you think about it)—Banks control who gets to insure mortgages—and they took full advantage of it, naturally. If a PMI company resisted paying kickbacks—or didn’t want to pay a higher level of bribe—the bank would take its mortgages to someone who would. HUD’s IG says they gouged the PMI companies and consumers: Documents from the investigation show that the inspector general’s staff concluded that banks and insurance companies had created elaborate financial structures that had the appearance of reinsurance but failed to transfer significant amounts of risk to their bank underwriters. Some of the deals were designed to return a 400% profit on a bank’s investment during good years and remain profitable even in the event of a real estate collapse. Making matters worse, banks allegedly forced unknowing consumers to buy more insurance than they needed and failed to properly disclose the reinsurance agreements, another RESPA violation. But AB’s excellence here isn’t just the scoop, nice as that is. Horwitz and the Banker do a very good job explaining a somewhat complicated topic. This piece could have got bogged down in the details of the arcane world of captive mortgage reinsurance, but it doesn’t. That’s no small thing. There are a couple of other interesting points here, including this statement from Wells Fargo: Wells Fargo said in a written statement to American Banker that risk was split equitably under its contracts with mortgage insurers. It further denied that its captive mortgage reinsurance arrangements had ever been under HUD investigation. “It is simply not true that Wells Fargo has ever been the subject of a HUD investigation involving either our captive reinsurance programs or our relationships with any private mortgage insurance company,” the statement says. The Banker nicely places these graphs directly after a quote from the HUD investigation of Wells. It also reports that HUD found that “Nearly all loan files reviewed show borrowers with excessive coverage placed on their loan.” Banks gouged consumers on mortgage insurance because they were getting a taste. Actually, a 40 percent cut with 10 percent of the risk is more than a “taste.” “Half” would be more like it. At some point when you sit on a slam-dunk case like this long enough, it starts smelling pretty bad, particularly when your administration has bailed out and protected them at almost every turn, and you’ve recently been exposed pressuring other law-enforcement agencies to ease up on the banks.</p>

American Banker Shows DOJ Sat On a Bank-Kickback Scandal

  Jeff Horwitz has a big scoop in today’s paper, reporting on a HUD investigation that says banks forced mortgage insurers to pay them $6 bi...

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Corruption scandal plunges Kuwait into deep crisis

<p> </p><p>The wealthy Gulf state of Kuwait appeared headed Thursday for a major political crisis over allegations of corruption involving several members of Parliament and former ministers. Media reported that a number of banks planned to refer as many as 15 MPs and possibly former ministers to the public prosecution to investigate "suspicious" huge cash deposits into their accounts. Citing informed sources, Al-Rai daily said local banks are likely to refer between 15-20 MPs in the 50-member parliament to public prosecution to probe money-laundering suspicions. It said a number of former ministers could be involved in the scam. State Minister for Cabinet Affairs Ali al-Rashed denied late Wednesday reports that incumbent ministers were involved in the alleged scandal. The government has instructed the central bank and the finance ministry to "take all necessary legal measures" to deal with the allegations. The scandal, as opposition MPs describe it, was exposed by Al-Qabas newspaper in an unsourced report two weeks ago that cash funds totaling 25 million dinars ($92 million/65.4 million euros) had been deposited into the accounts of two MPs. The report claimed the deposits were linked to domestic political events including grillings, indicating that the deposits were used to buy the support of the lawmakers in crucial voting in parliament. Independent Shiite MP Hassan Jowhar expected the issue to develop into a major political crisis that will lead to dissolving parliament and calling for snap polls, the fourth since May 2006. Youth activists campaigning to oust Prime Minister Sheikh Nasser Mohammad al-Ahmad Al-Sabah, a senior member of the ruling family, plan to stage a new rally on September 16 and the corruption charges could energize them. Kuwaiti opposition MPs demanded recalling parliament from summer recess for an emergency session on September 22 to review government measures on the allegations and debate and pass a number of anti-corruption laws.</p>

Corruption scandal plunges Kuwait into deep crisis

  The wealthy Gulf state of Kuwait appeared headed Thursday for a major political crisis over allegations of corruption involving several me...

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Shameful phone hacking scandal forces change inside the Murdoch bunker

<p> </p><p><img alt="" height="348" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi1DDUbDzLKjTzbOPMBxw9XX-dhSSNytUOekSp2Qr3psuQ83LVnM1of_apP4o6idje0csOj3MJy3VT-iw5GQhQ5sD75EvSyAJEC0MGiRhOB_NcljLm5VLsSwIM1xxcbKK1wHU7lzj-cDI/" style="float: left;" width="620" />A community with a voracious appetite for scandal, it does appear we are experiencing Murdoch news fatigue. Like frogs in boiling water, we are losing sensitivity to the barrage of sensational News Corp instalments flowing from the phone hacking affair. On Tuesday, two former News International managers - head of legal affairs Tom Crone and News of the World editor Colin Myler - told a British parliamentary committee that James Murdoch had been made aware of widespread phone hacking despite his written statement to the contrary. The testimony was another milestone in the series of explosive revelations of systemic criminal phone hacking which had been going on for years but allegedly covered up by a corporate and police conspiracy. Advertisement: Story continues below Since the hacking affair was blown open, there has been a myriad of developments from the company, government and police - many of them astonishing. Much of this is highly significant to the Murdoch empire, and the ramifications have been difficult to digest. This shameful episode has changed the News Corp organisation and Rupert Murdoch's management style. In a corporate sense, the decision by Murdoch to undertake a $US5 billion ($4.7 billion) share buyback is, on its own, momentous. Aggressive expansion of the News Corp empire has been a hallmark of Murdoch's modus operandi. The decision to undertake a capital management program that allocated cash to shareholders rather than to acquisitions marks a major departure. The focus of News Corp's strategy in the past has been on raising funds and using available cash to expand, and avoiding the dilution of Murdoch family control. This was never more evident than in the creation of News Corp non-voting stock and the move to domicile the company in the lax regulatory jurisdiction of Delaware. The only other incidence of Rupert Murdoch bowing to outside pressure was in the early 1990s, when the Pittsburgh Bank famously forced News Corp to the brink of bankruptcy by threatening to block the rollover to a new debt package. News Corp has otherwise been run by Rupert Murdoch and in his way. The notion of appeasing minority shareholders is new to Murdoch, as is divorcing the hard-wired nepotism.</p>

Shameful phone hacking scandal forces change inside the Murdoch bunker

  A community with a voracious appetite for scandal, it does appear we are experiencing Murdoch news fatigue. Like frogs in boiling water, w...

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Amelia Hill was questioned under caution by police in an inquiry into alleged leaks of information from Operation Weeting

<p><span style="color: #333333; font-family: arial, sans-serif; line-height: 18px; background-color: #ffffff;"><div id="main-content-picture" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 14px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; display: block; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;"><img alt="amelia-hill-guardian-police" height="276" src="http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2011/9/7/1315426433308/amelia-hill-guardian-poli-007.jpg" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" width="460" /><div class="caption" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #666666; display: block; font-size: 12px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;">. Photograph: Katherine Rose</div></div><div id="article-body-blocks" style="border-collapse: collapse; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">The National Union of Journalists and a respected media watchdog have criticised the questioning of a Guardian journalist in an inquiry into alleged leaks of information from Operation Weeting, the investigation into phone hacking at the News of the World.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">It emerged on Wednesday that Amelia Hill, a reporter involved in a number of the Guardian's key phone-hacking revelations over recent weeks, was questioned under caution several days ago in a case that raises concerns about attempts to criminalise contact between journalists and off-the-record sources.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Last month a 51-year-old detective constable was arrested in connection with alleged leaks from the Scotland Yard phone-hacking investigation. At the time there were reports that the officer had passed information to the Guardian, but the newspaper said it had "no comment to make on the sources of our journalism".</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Michelle Stanistreet, the general secretary of the National Union of Journalists, said that there was "a vital journalistic principle at stake here" and that "it is outrageous that an allegation of off-the-record briefings is being treated as a criminal matter".</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">She added: "There is a clear distinction between legitimate off-the-record interviews and the illegitimate payment of bribes."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Martin Moore, the director of the media watchdog the Media Standards Trust, said that in the light of the phone-hacking scandal it was becoming "increasingly important to sustain and defend journalism in the public interest". He said that it was "not the time to be threatening public interest journalism" by the <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/police" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: #005689; text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;" title="More from guardian.co.uk on Police">police</a> moving to question reporters such as Hill.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">The Guardian said in a statement: "We can confirm Amelia Hill has been questioned in connection with an investigation into alleged leaks." The newspaper argued that the case could have lasting repercussions for the way journalists deal with police officers. The statement added: "On a broader point, journalists would no doubt be concerned if the police sought to criminalise conversations between off-record sources and reporters."</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Although the paper said it would not comment on any specific confidential source, a spokesman said Hill had never paid a police officer for information.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">The police investigation into leaks from Operation Weeting has been going on for several weeks.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Meanwhile, Raoul Simons, 35, the deputy football editor of the Times, became the 16th person to be arrested as part of the phone hacking enquiry.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Simons, who had joined the Times from the Evening Standard in August 2009, is understood to have been arrested at 5.55am on suspicion of conspiring to intercept communications. He was released on police bail until a date in October.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">He was not arrested by prior appointment. He was taken to a north London police station and questioned on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept voicemail messages, contrary to Section 1 (1) of the Criminal Law Act 1977.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Hill's police interview comes amid growing pressure to clamp down on contacts between officers and journalists following the News of the World phone hacking scandal, which has spread out into wider allegations of police corruption.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Emails from News International allegedly imply that journalists on the now closed Sunday tabloid bought copies of Buckingham Palace's private phone directory from a royal protection officer.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Following those revelations, an inquiry by Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary is examining "alleged corruption and abuse of power" in police relationships with the media, and Elizabeth Filkin, the former parliamentary commissioner for standards, heads a group drawing up a framework for how police officers handle their relationships with reporters. Both inquiries are considering whether communication between police officers should be officially monitored and recorded by a press officer.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">The questioning of Hill has similarities to a case police mounted against Sally Murrer, a reporter on the Milton Keynes Citizen, and a former Thames Valley police detective, Mark Kearney, which was thrown out. Kearney had been accused of leaking information to Murrer. The collapse of the case was widely seen as a victory for journalistic freedom.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">It was reported meanwhile that Andy Coulson, the former editor of the News of the World and the prime minister's former personal communications director, is refusing to appear before a Commons select committee that is investigating phone-hacking.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">His solicitors have written to the culture, media and sport committee declining an invitation to appear, citing "concerns" about "parallel inquiries and investigations and the publicity generated by them".</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">He has consistently denied knowing that phone hacking took place but last month a previously unseen letter from Goodman emerged that claimed phone hacking was "widely discussed" at editorial conferences until Coulson banned mentions of it. Goodman's letter also claimed that Coulson had offered to let him keep his job if he agreed not to implicate the paper in hacking when it came to court.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Coulson resigned from the News International paper in 2007 after its former royal editor Clive Goodman was jailed on phone-hacking offences.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">It also emerged yesterday that MPs on another committee have been told that News International asked a technology firm, HCL, to delete emails and other documents 13 times since 2009.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 13px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; padding: 0px;">Technology company HCL, which provides services under contract to News International, informed the Commons home affairs committee in August that it was aware of the deletion of hundreds of thousands of emails on nine occasions between April 2010 and July 2011, but said it did not know of anything "untoward" behind the requests. Yesterday, HCL's solicitor, Stuart Benson, contacted the committee again to say that a further four requests had come to light - one of which related to the deletion of emails from an inbox of a user who had not accessed his account for eight years.</p></div></span></p>

Amelia Hill was questioned under caution by police in an inquiry into alleged leaks of information from Operation Weeting

. Photograph: Katherine Rose The National Union of Journalists and a respected media watchdog have criticised the questioning of a Guardian ...

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Film festival premieres announced

<p> </p><p>Madonna's latest directorial outing and George Clooney's new movie are to receive UK premieres at the BFI London Film Festival (LFF). Highly anticipated adaptations of Shakespeare's Coriolanus - directed by Ralph Fiennes - and Wuthering Heights, the first to feature a black actor as Heathcliff, will also be screened. The event next month will feature 204 films, including 13 world premieres - two more than last year. Hollywood star George, a regular visitor to the LFF, will be in London to support two of his films - The Descendants and The Ides Of March, which he also directs. Madonna's new film W.E. looks at the romance between Wallis Simpson and Edward VIII, which led to the monarch's abdication, as well as a parallel modern-day romance. It is not clear whether Madonna will attend the gala screening of the film, which was given its world premiere in Venice this week. Other highly anticipated films to be shown at the festival - which runs from October 12 to 27 - include Lynne Ramsay's adaptation of the novel We Need To Talk About Kevin, starring Tilda Swinton. Turner Prize-winning film-maker Steve McQueen will showcase his new film Shame, starring Carey Mulligan and Michael Fassbender. And Michael also features alongside Keira Knightley and Viggo Mortensen in David Cronenberg's A Dangerous Method. Oscar-winning British director Andrea Arnold will present her version of the Emily Bronte classic Wuthering Heights, which features newcomer James Howson as Heathcliff. Roman Polanski's Carnage - starring Kate Winslet and Jodie Foster - is also among the films which will be screened.</p>

Film festival premieres announced

  Madonna's latest directorial outing and George Clooney's new movie are to receive UK premieres at the BFI London Film Festival (LF...

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Johnny Depp hands Keith Richards writer of the year gong

<p> </p><p>Hollywood star Johnny Depp presented a gong to Keith Richards, the rocker who famously inspired his Pirates of the Caribbean performance, at an awards ceremony tonight. The actor, Captain Jack Sparrow in the films, awarded Rolling Stone guitarist Richards, who recently wrote a warts-and-all account of his life as a hellraiser in his autobiography, writer of the year at the ceremony. The GQ Men of the Year awards, at London's Royal Opera House, also saw Chancellor George Osborne expected to attend to win politician of the year. Advertisement >> The BBC's political editor, Nick Robinson, was due to present the award at the ceremony, also attended by actresses Charlize Theron and Emma Watson, Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, singer Kylie Minogue, and comedian and Britain's Got Talent judge Michael McIntyre. Doctor Who star Matt Smith wins the most stylish man award at the event, while Professor Brian Cox is getting TV personality of the year. Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch wins best actor, Tinie Tempah gets the solo artist gong, actor Bradley Cooper is named international man and Duran Duran get the lifetime achievement gong. Other winners at the event, hosted at London's Royal Opera House in Covent Garden by David Mitchell, include woman of the year for Lara Stone - whose husband David Walliams is currently swimming the Thames. Lord Sebastian Coe is getting the man of next year award, presented by Boris Johnson.</p>

Johnny Depp hands Keith Richards writer of the year gong

  Hollywood star Johnny Depp presented a gong to Keith Richards, the rocker who famously inspired his Pirates of the Caribbean performance, ...

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Phone hacking: Police bail sports writer Raoul Simons

<p> </p><p><img alt="" height="168" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVgvo2HHuswD07Ss2lBDS829zNAsr5V3YV5UjtOSoHv0lZRh7SrxPeCH_y-jiD3xpyLhd3z2SufA-iSwndeZuc2RzFY4CE5_gdTNwcWc0lPow2e1qdEeeztagHAC5-_Tl514v1ASuAaPY/" style="float: left;" width="299" />Police bail sports writer Raoul Simons A total of 16 people have now been arrested as part of the investigation into phone hacking Continue reading the main story Phone-hacking scandal Q&A: Phone-hacking scandal Key people and profiles Timeline Inquiries and legal challenges A 35-year-old man held by officers probing phone hacking at the News of the World has been bailed, police say. The BBC understands he is sports journalist Raoul Simons who used to work at London's Evening Standard before moving to the Times in 2009. The man was bailed on suspicion of conspiracy to intercept voicemails. Meanwhile, Guardian reporter Amelia Hill has been questioned under caution over alleged police leaks surrounding the hacking inquiry, the paper said. It followed the arrest of a Met Police detective constable last month who worked in the Operation Weeting team. Scotland Yard says the "investigation continues" and they are not giving a "running commentary" on events. Mr Simons was appointed deputy football editor at the Times in August 2009, having previously worked at the Evening Standard. In September 2010, he went on extended leave after material allegedly linking him to phone hacking emerged. He is still on the payroll but has not returned to work since. It is understood he has not been involved in any inappropriate behaviour while at the Times. The man has been bailed by police to a date in October pending further inquiries. A total of 16 people have now been arrested on suspicion of phone hacking - 15 of whom are still under investigation - since Operation Weeting was launched in January. Scotland Yard's fresh investigation was set up to examine the illegal interception of voicemails. Former News International chief executive Rebekah Brooks and ex-Downing Street communications chief Andy Coulson are among those who have already been arrested as part of the inquiry. The scandal has led Met Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson and Assistant Commissioner John Yates to resign, and the News of the World to close down after 168 years.</p>

Phone hacking: Police bail sports writer Raoul Simons

  Police bail sports writer Raoul Simons A total of 16 people have now been arrested as part of the investigation into phone hacking Contin...

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Starting today, companies and celebrities will have a 50-day "sunrise" period allowing them to officially register under the .xxx domain and put down bids to set up shop in the Internet's red-light district.

<p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 12px; background-color: #fefefe;"><div id="storyMediaBox" class="storyMediaBox" style="font-style: inherit; font-size: 12px; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; clear: both; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><div class="photoLarge" style="font-style: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; color: #717171; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"><img alt="" border="0" height="349" src="http://i.i.com.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2011/09/07/xxx-registration_620x350.png" style="font-style: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" width="620" /><p style="margin-top: 6px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 15px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 11px; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline-block; color: #717171; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"> (Lance Whitney/CNET)</p></div></div><div class="storyText" style="font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1.4; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">(CBS News)  <p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; display: inline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Starting today, companies and celebrities will have a 50-day "sunrise" period allowing them to officially register under the .xxx domain and put down bids to set up shop in the Internet's red-light district.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;"> </p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 18px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; text-align: left; vertical-align: baseline; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The new .xxx top-level domain is open not just to porn sites but to nonporn sites that want to block the use of their names on the .xxx domain. Florida-based ICM Registry, which is administering the launch, will work with 50 individual registrars around the world to handle the actual registrations. After the expiration of the sunrise period, a 17 day "land rush" period will open, allowing adult sites to register for whatever .xxxx addresses are still available. After that, applications will be reviewed individually on a first come basis.</p></div></span></p>

Starting today, companies and celebrities will have a 50-day "sunrise" period allowing them to officially register under the .xxx domain and put down bids to set up shop in the Internet's red-light district.

 (Lance Whitney/CNET) (CBS News)   Starting today, companies and celebrities will have a 50-day "sunrise" period allowing them to ...

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Pop legend Lulu and Harry Judd from McFly are putting on their dancing shoes for this year's Strictly Come Dancing competition.

<p><span style="color: #444444; font-family: arial, helvetica, clean, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; background-color: #ffffff;"><div class="storyBodyTopParagraph" style="margin-top: 10px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; clear: both; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-color: #cccccc; border-top-style: dotted; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-color: #cccccc; border-bottom-style: dotted; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; color: #333333; line-height: normal;"></div><div id="storyBodyImageGallery" class="storyBodyImageGallery" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 14px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; clear: both; float: left; width: 314px; position: relative; padding: 0px;"><div id="storyBodyImage1" class="storyBodyImage" style="display: block; border-top-style: solid; border-top-width: 1px; border-top-color: #cccccc; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"><span class="storyBodyImageGallery-number" style="background-image: url(http://www.rte.ie/ten/images/bg_black_transparent.png); text-align: center; color: #ffffff; font-size: 11px; width: 40px; position: absolute; right: 0px; display: block; visibility: hidden; padding: 0px; margin: 0px;"> </span><img alt="Lulu is swapping singing for salsa " src="http://img.rasset.ie/0004f2e6-314.jpg" style="display: block; width: 314px; padding: 0px; margin: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;" /><div class="storyBodyImageGallery-caption" style="padding-top: 6px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 0px; display: block; width: 314px; text-align: center; color: #ffffff; background-color: #000000; position: relative; bottom: 0px; margin: 0px;"><a class="storyBodyImageGallery-left" style="color: #000000; text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; background-image: url(http://www.rte.ie/ten/images/sprite_arrows_box_pager.png); display: block; height: 17px; width: 16px; visibility: hidden; cursor: pointer; position: absolute; left: 7px; top: 15%; background-position: 0px 0px;"></a><a class="storyBodyImageGallery-right" style="color: #000000; text-decoration: none; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; outline-color: initial; background-image: url(http://www.rte.ie/ten/images/sprite_arrows_box_pager.png); display: block; height: 17px; width: 16px; visibility: hidden; cursor: pointer; position: absolute; right: 7px; top: 15%; background-position: 16px 0px;"></a><span style="width: 240px; display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: auto; font-size: 11px;">Lulu is swapping singing for salsa</span></div></div></div><p style="margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; font-size: 14px; clear: none; color: #333333;">Ex-<em style="font-style: italic;">Neighbours</em> stars Jason Donovan and Holly Valance have also agreed to take part in the show, according to The Sun newspaper.</p><p style="margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; font-size: 14px; clear: none; color: #333333;">It has been confirmed by show producers that<em style="font-style: italic;">Daybreak's</em> sport presenter Dan Lobb,<em style="font-style: italic;">Waterloo Road</em> actress Chelsee Healey and impressionist Rory Bremner, will also be taking part in the hit TV show.</p><p style="margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; font-size: 14px; clear: none; color: #333333;">Sven-Goran Eriksson's ex Nancy Dell'Olio and ex- <em style="font-style: italic;">EastEnders</em> star Anita Dobson plus astrologer Russell Grant are also set to be swapping their day jobs for salsa dancing.</p><p style="margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; font-size: 14px; clear: none; color: #333333;">Speaking about the line-up, a source told The Sun newspaper, "Lulu is lots of fun and will bring in viewers who remember her from the Sixties - but also younger fans who know her from her duet with Take That on <em style="font-style: italic;">Relight My Fire</em>. Harry will tick the heartthrob box."</p><p style="margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 12px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 14px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 1.4em; font-size: 14px; clear: none; color: #333333;">The BBC will officially confirm the <em style="font-style: italic;">Strictly Come Dancing</em> line-up on <em style="font-style: italic;">The One Show</em> on Tuesday.</p></span></p>

Pop legend Lulu and Harry Judd from McFly are putting on their dancing shoes for this year's Strictly Come Dancing competition.

  Lulu is swapping singing for salsa Ex- Neighbours  stars Jason Donovan and Holly Valance have also agreed to take part in the show, accord...

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London Fashion Week is approaching and there are hospitality packages on offer

<p><span style="color: #343536; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; background-color: #ffffff;"><img alt="<title>London Fashion Week approaches</title>" border="0" id="_ctl0_phMainContent_imgNewsImage" src="http://pictures.directnews.co.uk/liveimages/x_2911_800719835_0_0_7014847_300.jpg" style="float: left; padding-top: 2px; padding-right: 8px; padding-bottom: 2px; padding-left: 2px; margin: 4px; border: 0px none initial;" /><p style="padding: 2px; margin: 4px;"><span style="color: #0073ad;">London Fashion Week</span> is approaching and there are <span style="color: #0073ad;">hospitality packages</span> on offer for those keen to get a close-up look at the latest trends as the autumn and winter collections emerge.</p><p style="padding: 2px; margin: 4px;">The event runs from September 16th to 20th, with the majority of the venues being located in Somerset House.</p><p style="padding: 2px; margin: 4px;">Others include the Topshop Venue in the Royal Opera House, Fashion Scout in the Freemasons' Hall on Great Queen Street and the My Beautiful City, in the Old Sorting Office on the corner of Museum Street and New Oxford Street.</p><p style="padding: 2px; margin: 4px;">The event features collections from the likes of Paul Costelloe, Christopher Raeburn, Vivienne Westwood, Holly Fulton, Michael Van Der Ham, David Koma and Topman Design.</p><p style="padding: 2px; margin: 4px;">Speaking about the week, Caroline Reader, the event manager for London Fashion Weekend - which follows later in the month - said that she hopes to get away from her desk to see the collections by Christopher Kane and Richard Nicholl.</p></span></p>

London Fashion Week is approaching and there are hospitality packages on offer

London Fashion Week  is approaching and there are  hospitality packages  on offer for those keen to get a close-up look at the latest trends...

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Fashion week photographs of Kate Moss or Agyness Deyn sashaying down the catwalk in the latest season’s designs appear in magazines and on front pages around the world.

<p><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 21px; background-color: #ffffff;"><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Fashion week photographs of Kate Moss or Agyness Deyn sashaying down the catwalk in the latest season’s designs appear in magazines and on front pages around the world. Yet look more closely and it appears that few of these images are taken at London Fashion Week.</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Many of the most talked-about models of the moment — some household names, some the next big thing — will appear at fashion weeks in New York, Paris and Milan, but not London. Some fly in for a day or two, others skip London completely. Industry figures say London has a lot going for it: creativity, innovation, cool. But compared with the other capitals, it doesn’t have the financial clout to attract the “hottest” models.</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Is this damaging London’s fashion reputation?</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“A lot of things have gone wrong with fashion weeks,” says Carole White, the founder of Premier models. “It’s causing a problem for the British fashion industry. London designers are not realistic about what they pay. Their rates have not moved on since 1983.” She says London offers models only a fraction of the fees they can command elsewhere.</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">White knows what she is talking about. The workaholic, outspoken star of Channel 4 TV’s fly-on-the-wall documentary The Model Agency is the woman Naomi Campbell called “mum” for years (until they had a big falling out). She has represented the likes of Claudia Schiffer and Christy Turlington as well as famously turning down Kate Moss for being “too short.”</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">The London “squeeze” has been debated since New York, due to start tomorrow, moved its position in the schedule. New York is traditionally seen as more powerful than London, which is how the change was pushed through two years ago. “Since New York got moved to the first slot, all the fashion weeks butt up against each other. It’s crazy.” White warns that some of the most in-demand models may struggle to make it to London, which opens on Sept. 16.</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">It makes more sense for them to jet straight from New York to Milan. “There is a lot of politics going on here. They seem to think it helps the buyers. But it doesn’t help the models.”</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Aidan Jean-Marie, creative director of Premier and one of White’s bookers, says: “Big names like Kate Moss or Stella Tennant, they make their guest appearances elsewhere. We don’t have the money in London any more.”</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">Last season one of the most memorable photographs from the shows was Kate Moss swishing down the runway in a rare catwalk appearance. That was for Louis Vuitton in Paris. But this isn’t so much about household names (many of these models no longer do catwalk work anyway as advertising is so much more lucrative). It’s about the young women who suddenly become “the latest big thing” on the eve of these shows. The model bookers argue that these “hot girls” (as they call them) are what creates the noise around a collection.</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">“The buzz of London is the creativity,” White says. “And you want the best models to showcase that. They don’t have to be the most famous, but they have to be the coolest. If a girl is really tired and looks like she’s going to have a really good show season in Milan, the agents will say, ‘Let’s skip London.’ It tends to lessen us as a market.”</p><p style="margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; font-style: inherit; font-size: 15px; font-family: inherit; padding: 0px; border: 0px initial initial;">For the models, London is apparently not that appealing: “Most girls are not avaricious. They want to cover their costs and make a little profit. But in London they can leave with a debt and have to return the next season to clear it.”</p></span></p>

Fashion week photographs of Kate Moss or Agyness Deyn sashaying down the catwalk in the latest season’s designs appear in magazines and on front pages around the world.

Fashion week photographs of Kate Moss or Agyness Deyn sashaying down the catwalk in the latest season’s designs appear in magazines and on f...

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London Fashion Week Spring 2012 Preview

<p> </p><blockquote>The buzz around London is that this is going to be the season of the new-established designers. Labels such as Erdem, Christopher Kane, and Peter Pilotto have garnered widespread coverage with celebrities donning their wares on the red carpet and fashion editors flocking to feature them in magazines but they still lack the widespread recognition of other established designers. This will be their year to stand out and join the big leagues.  We shouldn't expect too many big-name models as it's been revealed that LFW designers pay much less than Paris or Milan and London is simply too short to make it worth their while. Scheduled September 16 - 20, The British Fashion Council petitioned to have London Fashion Week extended earlier in the year but an extension isn't in the cards this season. The Topshop Show Space has returned to the Old Eurostar Terminal from two seasons ago and will be equipped with the always popular cafe.  Pringle of Scotland's new Design Director Alisair Carr is looking to photographer Watanabe Katsumi to inspire his debut collection.  For 2012, Mulberry's Emma Hill was inspired by the British seaside. We should expect seventies silhouettes with floral fabrics and that signature Mulberry eccentricity.  Matthew Williamson will be showing his collection in the turbine hall at The Tate Modern. Designers with the British Fashion Council's NEWGEN sponsorship are Holly Fulton, Louise Gray, and Michael Van der Ham. It has also been revealed that Van der Ham will be showing a collaboration with Christian Louboutin.  Luxury hosiery brand Bebaroque is collaborating with PPQ for customized and jewel encrusted tights and bodysuits.  The Aldo Rise collaborations with designers J.W. Anderson and Preen will be revealed.  Tom Ford will be showing his collection to a very select group of buyers and press. It is by far the most hush-hush exclusive presentation of the week.   Rumor has it that there may be a few last minute show cancelations due to budgeting but we'll have to wait and see.</blockquote>

London Fashion Week Spring 2012 Preview

  The buzz around London is that this is going to be the season of the new-established designers. Labels such as Erdem, Christopher Kane, an...

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Domestic helps’ accomplices prime suspects:

<p> </p><p>The two accomplices of the two domestic helps arrested for the murders of Juhu resident Kavita Suchak and her manager Prakash Bagwe on August 30 were the masterminds behind the murders said investigators, a day after arresting all four, two from Navi Mumbai and two from Nanded. Based on the investigations, police said the two domestic helps identified as Ram Singh Badaila and Tek Singh Badaila, also have a past crime record. According to Vishwas Nangre-Patil, Additional Commissioner (West region), the police are now compiling a database of domestic helps working in each society in the western region and their backgrounds would be checked. However, the victim had not verified the backgrounds of the two before hiring them, which made it difficult to trace them, said Nangre- Patil. The police arrested the Badailas and their accomplices from Navi Mumbai on Saturday. Nangre- Patil further said that the two Nepali nationals had been working for the Suchaks for the past five years. They had come in contact with two of their friends, Prem Bahadur Badaila and Bhim Bahadur Beek over the years. “The Suchaks owned a traditional safe in the house, apart from an electronic vault. The domestic helps hoped to find a large sum of money in the traditional safe. But the safe was empty as it was only maintained as a showpiece and as a object of faith. The gang bludgeoned Kavita with a crowbar when she returned home after dropping her kids to school a few minutes earlier than her usual schedule on August 30. Bagwe was strangled and gagged by the accused, as he had witnessed Kavita's murder and raised an alarm," Nangre-Patil added. The gang stole a laptop, three cellphones, jewellery and cash, collectively worth Rs 1.24 lakh. After leaving Kavita's house, the gang split up. Prem headed to Nerul in Navi Mumbai while the other three went to Pune. From Pune, they went to the house of a relative, Dev Bahadur, in Nanded. The police tracked down Prem first, by tracing the location of the stolen cellphones. “One of our teams went to Nepal and with the help of BSF kept a watch on the border to stop the accused from leaving the country. Another team went to Nanded with Prem,” said Pratap Dighavkar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone IX). Dressed in plainclothes, the policemen accompanied Prem to Dev Bahadur's house. “We did not want to reveal that Prem had been arrested, so we let him walk alone towards the house. Dev Bahadur came out of the house and Prem signaled to us that he was not a part of the gang. Prem then led us to Bhim who had sat in an autorickshaw and to Ram and Tek who were hiding in a water pipeline,” an official said. Bhim was arrested in the past for two cases of theft while Prem was booked for assaulting a government servant at MIDC. “The robbery at Suchak's residence was planned in detail. Bhim purchased a rope, crowbar, screwdriver and tape from Andheri. Tek who had keys to the vault was assigned the job of cleaning up the house while Ram kept watch. Prem and Bhim hid inside the house and struck after Kavita left for dropping her kids to school around 8.15 am,” an official said. So far, Rs 80,000 in cash has been recovered, besides some ornaments. The laptop was destroyed by the gang. “We are now trying to ascertain whether the Rs 80,000 is from the Suchak residence or elsewhere,” said Nangre-Patil.</p>

Domestic helps’ accomplices prime suspects:

  The two accomplices of the two domestic helps arrested for the murders of Juhu resident Kavita Suchak and her manager Prakash Bagwe on Aug...

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70 stabbings in public view! Gruesome gang murders man in Ahmedabad

<p> </p><p>Yafizuddin Sheikh, a resident of Juhapura, was brutally killed when some people repeatedly ran a car over him and then stabbed him over 70 times on Friday night in Amraiwadi. Sheikh's assailants continued to stab him till he succumbed to his wounds on the spot. A murder complaint has been filed with the Amraiwadi police against members of the Daddu gang for the gruesome murder. Yafizuddin and another man Mohammad had gone to Bal Bhavan in Khokhra to meet his friend, one Harish Darbar alias Harry in their Maruti Esteem car.While the victim waited there to meet his friend, a group of people, in a Santro car, rammed into Yafizuddin. They then reversed the car and ran it over him again repeating the process thrice. They then came out and stabbed Yafizuddin so much so that he had around 70-odd stab wounds on his body when he died. The victim cried for help but a crowd that had gathered to make arrangements for the ongoing Ganesh Chaturthi did not bother to intervene. The people were allegedly afraid of the Daddu gang that is very notorious in the area for its anti-social activities. The attackers were identified as Daddu Vaghela, his nephew Divyaraj aka Montu along with Naresh Thakor alias Jigo, Rahul aka Chako, Suresh Thakor and Rakesh Bihola. Two more men on a motorcycle also accompanied them. They were identified as Prakash aka Kaaniyo and Rahul aka Kalu Bhil. Two others, who were also involved in the incident, remained unidentified. Daddu Vaghela is a notorious bootlegger of the city and along with his gang has around 21 cases registered against him. Vaghela is wanted by the cops in at least 11 cases from the same area. According to the complaint, the gang attacked the already injured Yafizuddin with their weapons and inflicted 70-odd wounds all over his body. The victim lay in a pool of blood before breathing his last. Police said that the incident was a fall out of a scuffle between Daddu gang and Harry. The victim had come to his friend Harry's rescue during the scuffle.Teams of detection of crime branch reached the scene to investigate the matter following direct orders from the city police commissioner.</p>

70 stabbings in public view! Gruesome gang murders man in Ahmedabad

  Yafizuddin Sheikh, a resident of Juhapura, was brutally killed when some people repeatedly ran a car over him and then stabbed him over 70...

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