Bahrain prince sues Michael Jackson in UK court

Michael Jackson in Court

Michael Jackson is to travel to London to defend allegations that he owes an Arab sheikh £4.7 million.

His lawyer, Robert Englehart QC, told Mr Justice Sweeney that he was withdrawing his application for Jackson to give his evidence via video link from Los Angeles because of health fears.

He said: “He has been cleared by his medical advisers to travel in two days’ time.”

Jackson is expected to arrive in the UK over the weekend to give his evidence on Monday afternoon.

The case involves Sheikh Abdulla bin Hamad Al Khalifa, second son of the King of Bahrain, who is suing Jackson to get back what he says he spent on the star.

Bankim Thanki QC, representing the sheikh, told Mr Justice Sweeney that Jackson signed a contract for recording albums, writing an autobiography and staging shows in which it had been agreed that £4.7 million would be deducted from Jackson’s agreed royalties to pay for the expenses.

Jackson insists there was no valid agreement and that the sheikh’s case is based on “mistake, misrepresentation and undue influence”.

In his pleaded defence, Jackson says the payments he received were “gifts” and that no project was ever finalised.

Source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20081120/ten-jackson-to-appear-in-uk-court-ea4616c.html

Madonna Divorce – “Never about the Money”

Madonne Guy Ritchie Divorce

Guy Ritchie has said “it was never ever about the money” as he and Madonna are set to get a “quickie” divorce at London’s High Court.

According to reports, Ritchie, 40, has done a “Piper” – by refusing to take a penny of 50-year-old Madonna’s estimated £300 million fortune.

Actress and former singer Billie Piper was praised when she walked away from her marriage to Chris Evans without taking any of his cash. Ritchie has had his own successful career and is believed to be worth around £30 million.

Ritchie, on hearing the news, said: “Thank God.” He added: “it was never ever about money.”

Proceedings will take just a matter of minutes at Court 10 of the Principal Registry of the High Court’s Family Division in High Holborn, central London.

The case is listed under the names Ciccone M L v Ritchie G S and will be heard before District Judge Reid. Their decree nisi will be announced at 10am. A decree absolute can then be granted after six weeks and one day, making the divorce final.

A compromise has also reportedly been reached over their children, which will see the couple’s sons Rocco, eight, and three-year-old adopted David Banda, splitting their time between Britain and the US.

Lourdes, 12, from Madonna’s relationship with Cuban-born fitness instructor and actor Carlos Leon, will remain with her mother.

Ritchie and Madonna announced they were splitting on October 15, ending months of speculation. They married seven years ago at a lavish ceremony in Scotland.

Source: http://uk.news.yahoo.com/4/20081120/ten-madonna-divorce-never-about-the-mone-ea4616c.html

Hi-tech Congress goes Wi-Fi

Their starched white khadi-kurtas have since long given way to an off-white silken attire. Laptops adorn tables of officials as freshly prepared films to be used during the campaign are given a last look before being released in public. And just in case one needed to log on to the Net, just click on for the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee (RPCC), which has just gone Wi-Fi. That is the latest poll eve preparation by the Congress as the D-day for the Assembly polls draw near.

“One never knows when one would need to log on to the Net to get on to the AICC site or the Election Commission site. And that is why we decided to make the office Wi-Fi recently,’’ explains Mumtaz Masih, general secretary, RPCC. But that is just one of the various hi-tech methods the Congress plans to use this election either for addressing its party workers or the people.

Masih is an old hand at the computers. “As the president of the Congress Sewa Dal then, I was responsible for sending reports to Rajivji on projects in tribal areas. Besides, I have been a dealer of computers since long,” he explains as he puts in a compact disc in his laptop to view the latest film on the party’s campaign.

“The Congress would be using compact disc to a great extent. In fact we have prepared several documentaries highlighting our message for the masses. These CDs would be played in DVD players that would be mounted on our ‘raths’ (read a Tata pick-up vans). These DVD players would have detachable large screens and whenever the raths reach a rural destination the DVD player and the screen would be dismounted and played for the people,” he adds.

In fact, in their latest campaign film the state Congress has used puppets to highlight the “misrule of the Raje regime” and portray the “throes that the people have been plunged into.”

“We would be largely using traditional things and combining them with modern gadgets for campaigning this poll. In fact, the puppets have been purposely used to highlight the fact that the Raje governance has been a puppet rule,” says Masih. The Congress would be using a software to send bulk SMS to a 5,000-strong workforce all over the state for instructing them on what do and what not. “SMS is a cheap option and we are able to stay in touch better with our workforce,” he says. However, the Congress would not be using SMS to send messages to the general electorate as “it might backfire and people might take offence.”

And it is not just that but the Congress party has also identified one worker in every constituency who has an Internet connection so that after November 20 when the election fever is at its peak, the worker can send a daily report over the Net.

Verizon Communications Inc – The Samsung Saga (TM)

Verizon Communications Inc.

The Samsung Saga (TM) from Verizon Wireless is a global smartphone that features a 2.55′ advanced touch screen and a full QWERTY keyboard that provides business professionals with an easy way to send e-mail, text and instant messages. This productivity powerhouse is equipped with Quad Band GSM/GPRS capability, an optical mouse, Wi-Fi access (802.11 b/g), Opera mobile browser and Windows Mobile 6.1 Professional to keep customers connected to their offices when they are at home and abroad.
(PRNewsFoto/Verizon Wireless).

Source: Yahoo News

O2 to Sponsor Academy Music Venues

Uk Music

Mobile operator O2 has struck a £22.5m deal with music promoter Live Nation to sponsor 11 music venues across the UK including the Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

The deal, which will run for five years, will see Academy-branded music venues in Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow, Liverpool, Newcastle, Oxford, Sheffield and Leeds rebranded as O2 Academy.

A number of the venues, which will be rebranded from January 1, have previously been sponsored by Carling.

The O2 deal with Live Nation – which controls 51% of the venues – and fellow shareholders Metropolis Music and SJM Concerts, marks a significant ramping up of the mobile operator’s live music marketing strategy.

O2 already has a significant music venue sponsorship in a £36m deal for the naming rights to the London venue The O2, formerly known as the Millennium Dome, as well as the Wireless festival in Hyde Park.

The company will use the Academy deal as a vehicle to extend its successful priority tickets service for customers attending events at The 02 to venues across the UK.

O2 is today launching a £6m ad campaign highlighting the advantages of the service for gigs.

“Our customers tell us that they really value having priority access to tickets at The O2 so we want to bring this benefit to even more customers,” said Ronan Dunne, the chief executive of Telefonica O2 UK.

“The O2 Academy venues are a hugely important part of the UK’s music scene.”

As part of the deal, O2 will also get first option on exclusive live content from gigs and will “work closely with artists” to make music available for download to handsets. O2 has music services on Napster and MyPlay.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/nov/06/marketingandpr-mediabusiness

Record fall in UK producer prices

The cost of goods leaving UK factories fell by 1% in October from September, the biggest monthly decline on record.

UK manufacturers have seen prices of fuel and materials decline

The decrease, which was helped by the recent fall in oil prices, cut the annual rate of output price inflation to 6.8% from 8.5% in September.

Annual inflation in input prices – what firms pay for materials and fuel – fell to 13.8% in October from 24%.

Analysts said the figures indicated that inflationary pressure in the economy were now waning sharply.

“The producer price data are really eye opening” said Howard Archer of Global Insight.

“Just as we saw very sharp rises earlier in the year, we are now seeing deep declines”, he added.

Last week, the Bank of England slashed interest rates to 3% from 4.5% – a much greater cut than had been anticipated – in an attempt to boost the economy and avert a recession.

The sharp falls in oil and other commodity prices in the past few months have helped to push input price inflation below 20% for the first time since December 2007

Hetal Mehta, senior economic advisor to the Ernst & Young Item Club, said: “The rapid fall in output prices indicates consumer price inflation is set to tumble”.

“The Bank of England has room to cut interest rates even further.”

The rapid fall in output prices indicates consumer price inflation is set to tumble
Hetal Mehta, senior economic advisor, Ernst & Young Item Club

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7719500.stm

Metallica tour UK

Metallica Tour UK

Metallica will embark upon a tour of UK arenas next year.

The band will play seven dates in total, starting at the Trent FM Arena in Nottingham on February 25.

The shows come after the release of new album “Death Magnetic” last month.

Tickets go on sale at 9am this Friday (October 24).

Full itinerary listed below:

February 2009

25 Nottingham, Trent FM Arena

26 Manchester, Evening News Arena

28 Sheffield, Arena

March

2 London, O2 Arena

3 Newcastle, Metro Radio Arena

25 Birmingham, LG Arena

26 Glasgow, SECC

Watch Metallica’s music videos here…

Search for the latest concerts tickets on Ticketmaster

UK- Foreign National ID Card Unveiled

ID cards for British nationals will begin to be introduced next year

The first identity cards from the government’s controversial national scheme are due to be revealed.

The biometric card will be issued from November, initially to non-EU students and marriage visa holders.

The design – containing a picture and digitally-stored fingerprints – is a precursor to the proposed national identity card scheme.

Critics say the roll-out to some immigrants is a “softening up” exercise to win over a sceptical general public.

The card, to be unveiled by Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, will also include information on holders’ immigration status.

The UK Border Agency will begin issuing the biometric cards to the two categories of foreign nationals who officials say are most at risk of abusing immigration rules – students and those on a marriage or civil partnership visa.

Both types of migrants will be told they must have the new card when they ask to extend their stay in the country.

The cards partly replace a paper-based system of immigration stamps – but will now include the individual’s name and picture, their nationality, immigration status and two fingerprints.

Immigration officials will store the details centrally and, in time, they are expected to be merged into the proposed national identity register.

The card cannot be issued to people from most parts of Europe because they have the right to move freely in and out of the UK.

Ministers say the cards will combat illegal immigration and working because officials, employers and educational establishments will be able to check a migrant’s entitlements more easily.

The Conservatives say they support modern biometric cards for immigrants – but they say a national identity register remains unworkable.

Phil Booth, head of the national No2ID campaign group, attacked the roll-out of the cards as a “softening-up exercise”.

“The Home Office is trying to salami slice the population to get this scheme going in any way they can,” Mr Booth told the BBC.

“Once they get some people to take the card it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

“The volume of foreign nationals involved is minuscule so it won’t do anything to tackle illegal immigration.

“They’ve basically picked on a group of people who have no possibility of objecting to the card – they either comply or they are out.”

Source: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=104802

UK prefers mobile broadband over Wi-Fi – O2 leads mobile broadband market

Wi-Fi

Almost half of UK users accessing the internet away from home or work prefer mobile broadband networks, according to a survey by Point Topic. Last year Wi-Fi hotspots held the lead.

Forty-seven percent of surveyed users now choose mobile broadband networks to access the internet, compared to 42 percent who still use Wi-Fi hotspots. A year earlier the ratio was 40 percent to 30 percent in favour of Wi-Fi, according to Point Topic.

The combination of heavy marketing and lower costs has worked in favour of mobile broadband, according to Oliver Johnson, CEO at Point Topic.

He sees the operator price war continuing, with lower monthly rates, and a growing market share for mobile networks as a result. “In 12 to 24 months I think we’ll see a 60:40 split,” said Johnson.

There is more good news for mobile operators. Only about 10 percent of surveyed users plan to switch operator in the next six months, although that may in part be explained by long contracts that often are required for subscribers.

But the low churn is not true for everyone. Vodafone and Orange have greater customer turnover than competitors.

The survey also shows that 26 percent of the mobile network users are with O2. Orange and Vodafone each take about 20 percent of the market. They are followed by T-Mobile and 3, at 14 percent and 12 percent, respectively.

If Wi-Fi operators want to see their share grow they have to work on building better and more well-known brands, according to Johnson. More consolidation would also be good for the market, he said.

But in the end accessing the internet via mobile networks or Wi-Fi hotspots might be a moot point, as the two technologies finally converge, with mobile broadband users defaulting to Wi-Fi where it’s available. “Operators just want users to stay on their network,” said Johnson.

Source: http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?RSS&NewsID=104802

Researchers Appeal For Volunteers To ‘Road-Test’ Exercise Programmes Prescribed By East Kent GPs – UK

Sports Science UK

Sport and exercise academics are launching an appeal for local volunteers to ‘road-test’ East Kent GPs’ exercise referral programmes.

Dr Kate Woolf-May and her team from the University’s Department of Sports Science aim to find out if exercise programmes prescribed by GPs are successful at enhancing health and reducing body weight. The research has been commissioned by the Department of Public Scrutiny and part funded by Kent County Council.

The researchers are appealing for 80 male adults to take part – 40 of the 80 will undertake an eight-week exercise intervention, assigned by a GP, and the other 40 will continue with their habitual lifestyle.

The participants will be required to complete some questionnaires and undergo some tests to measure their health. Participants are also required to complete a physical activity diary throughout the duration of the study.

The criteria for eligibility are:

• Overweight
• Male
• Non-smokers
• Not currently undertaking any regular physical exercise.

Team member, Dr Gill Perkins, said: “Volunteers who participate in the research study will benefit from a comprehensive health and fitness assessment and be under the constant supervision of sport and exercise experts whilst supporting a very important research project.” Dr Kate Woolf-May added: “The aim of this research project is to find out if short-term exercise referral programmes, offered by GPs, are effective in reducing obesity and boosting short and longer-term exercise adherence in overweight adults. The effects of exercise referral upon markers of health in East Kent are currently unknown, therefore, the study aims to address this question.”

The research team will carry out the following assessment of the participants before and after the eight-week period, and at 3 and 6 months after the programme to determine the impact of the eight-week intervention:

Health & Safety Equipment

• A series of health questionnaires
• Dietary analysis
• Quality of life and well being
• Measurement of waist circumference and waist hip ratio
• Body fat percentage
• Body mass index (BMI)
• Aerobic fitness
• Artery ‘stiffness’.

Further information for volunteers

Do I have to take part?

Even if you are accepted onto the study, it is up to you to decide whether or not you wish to take part. If you do decide to participate, you will be given an information sheet to keep and be asked to sign a consent form. However, you are still free to withdraw from the study at any time and without giving a reason. There will be no payment for taking part.

What will happen to me if I take part?

If you decide to take part in the study, please contact the researchers (contact details above) and an appointment will be made for you to visit them in the Sports Science Laboratory at Canterbury Christ Church University. On your first visit you will be shown the tests and have a walk on the treadmill to get used to it.

On the next visit you will be asked to complete some questionnaires and a researcher will be available to assist you if you wish. These include:

-Three physical questionnaires
- Health screening questionnaire
- Food frequency questionnaire
- Quality of life questionnaire.

The researchers will also take a number of measurements (as mentioned above). These will be done in a room that ensures your privacy. Each test will only start when you feel confident and happy about what is required of you.

You are requested to wear loose clothing and not to eat or drink tea, coffee or any drink containing caffeine with two hours of the test, nor to drink alcohol or exercise within the 24 hours prior to any tests. Drinking water is permitted.

How often will I have to be tested?

The above tests will need to be carried out before you can start the 8-week exercise programme. They will also be carried out again after the 8 weeks of exercise and these same assessments will be carried out at 3 months and 6 months after the end of the exercise programme to follow your exercise and lifestyle habits. While you are taking part in the study you will be asked not to drastically change your diet unless specifically requested to do so by your GP.

Will taking part harm my health?

During any physical activity or exercise, there is always a slight increased risk to health, however, for those without underlying heart disease, the risks are extremely minimal.

Will my taking part in this study be kept confidential?

All information, which is collected about you during the course of the research, will be kept strictly confidential, and kept in accordance with the 1998 Data Protection Act. Furthermore, any collected data will be kept for the duration of the research and used, even if you withdraw from the study. However, if you request, any personal details will be returned to you upon your withdrawal from the study.

What will happen to the results of the research study?

You will receive a copy of your own results from the study and upon publication of the general results, will be sent a non-technical summary of the results.

Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/122496.php