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

Small WKU back wants big results against UK

WKU run Tyrell Haydenning back went to Lexington Christian and grew up a UK basketball fan

Tyrell Hayden is a football player who draws inspiration from a basketball player.

While growing up in Mount Sterling, Ky., and attending Lexington Christian Academy, Hayden said he was always more of a University of Kentucky basketball fan than a UK football fan. His favorite player was Tayshaun Prince.

Prince never let his rail-thin physique prevent him from success. That’s something the compact Hayden always remembers, especially now that the tailback for Western Kentucky University (2-2) will face UK (3-0) at Commonwealth Stadium on Saturday night.

“What I like about Tayshaun is that he’s tall but he’s real skinny,” Hayden said. “He’s real light for the position he plays. He goes against people a lot bigger than he is. But somehow he finds a way to make plays on the court and make his team better. I feel like I’m in that situation. When people look at me they say, ‘I don’t see how this guy plays Division I college football.’ “

The 5-foot-10, 190-pound Hayden has been exceptional.

As a sophomore last season, he led WKU in rushing (205 carries for 1,134 yards, 10 touchdowns). He’s the team’s top rusher this season but is off to a slow start (42 carries, 131 yards, one TD).

Hayden, whose family now lives in Lexington, hopes he won’t be grounded in his return to Central Kentucky. There will be 50 friends and relatives cheering him on.

Hayden was a four-year starter at Lexington Christian. He completed his career with 80 TDs and more than 4,500 rushing yards but was recruited mostly by NCAA Division I-AA (currently called Football Championship Subdivision) and D-II schools.

His best Division I-A (Football Bowl Subdivision) offer was to join Eastern Michigan as a “grayshirt,” meaning he would not enroll as a full-time student until the spring semester of 2007. He was on the verge of going there until WKU jumped in.

He finished his freshman year third on the Hilltoppers with 315 rushing yards. Then Hayden, who grew up idolizing small tailbacks such as Warrick Dunn, followed with a sophomore season that included the ninth-most rushing yards in school history.

His breakout year has so far been followed by a junior slump. Last week, against Murray State, Hayden finished with eight carries for just 19 yards.

“It kind of reminds me of last year when I had a slow start,” he said. “By the third or fourth game, things picked up for our offense. We’re still putting points on the board. We’re running the ball. We’re just not running the ball like we want to.”

Western is in the second and final year of transitioning to the FBS, so its statistics don’t officially count in that subdivision’s national rankings. If they did, the Hilltoppers would rank 93rd out of 120 teams in rushing yards per game with 117.25, but that includes losses to BCS conference opponents Indiana and Alabama. Last season WKU averaged 247.2.

“I wouldn’t say (Hayden has) been struggling,” WKU coach David Elson said. “We’ve been rotating more. One thought I had after Saturday night’s game is that maybe we need to ride him a little bit more and get him in the groove a little bit more.”

Running room might be hard to find. UK is fifth in the FBS in rushing defense (50.3 yards per game) and held Middle Tennessee State to 31 on Sept. 13. But imagine what it would feel like for Hayden and his teammates to break out in the first meeting between these schools.

“It’s something that does feel special,” he said of playing the Wildcats. “Going into this game we are going to prepare like we are playing any other opponent. But maybe Saturday before the game I might feel some sort of special emotions about the opportunity I have and the opportunity as a team we have.”

Source: http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080924/SPORTS03/809240869