Category: news

7 days 7 questions

It’s the Magazine’s 7 days 7 questions weekly quiz – a chance to find out how much news from the past week you’ve read, heard and watched… and how much has stayed lodged in the old grey matter.

Info

It’s goodbye to ventriloquist Ray Alan – pictured here with his snooty, sozzled puppet Lord Charles – who died on Monday. Click NEXT for the question.

1.) Multiple Choice Question

So who was Ray Alan’s puppet, Lord Charles, modelled on?

Beano’s Lord Snooty
Stan Laurel
Lord Lucan
Prince Charles

2.) Multiple Choice Question

The new government waged war on abbreviations as it set out its stall in the Queen’s Speech. Only one of these has survived – which one?

CGT
HIP
CTF

3.) Multiple Choice Question

In a newspaper sting, Sarah Ferguson offered to sell a businessman access to her former husband. What is Prince Andrew’s role?

Envoy Extraordinary for Trade and Investment
Ambassador-at-Large for International Trade
Special Representative for International Trade and Investment

4.) Missing Word Question

‘ * Hitler’ advert row in Italy

Berlusconi
Pink
Cocktail

5.) Multiple Choice Question

It’s the iPad v Nick Clegg v the volcano. Which has had the most national newspaper articles in the past four months (when Apple launched its latest toy)?

iPad, just gone on sale in the UK
Eyjafjallajokull’s ash cloud
Nick Clegg

6.) Multiple Choice Question

Jabulani. In the news this week, but what is it?

Official ball of the World Cup
Nickname of Palme d’Or winning Thai film at Cannes
Most-used plant in show gardens at London’s Chelsea Flower Show

7.) Multiple Choice Question

So, the film that’s won the Palme d’Or – it’s Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat, which means…

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives
Uncle Boonmee And The Princess
Uncle Boonmee Who Is Reincarnated From A Catfish

Answers

Stan Laurel was the inspiration for Lord Charles’s look – Ray Alan once performed with Laurel and Hardy. (Photo of Lord Snooty courtsey of DC Thompson & Co.)It’s CGT, or capital gains tax. But both CTF – the child trust fund saving scheme – and HIP – home information packs – are to be scrapped.He’s known as the UK’s Special Representative for International Trade and Investment. The Duchess of York said her ex-husband knew nothing of her cash-for-access attempt.Ads for a clothes shop showed the Fuhrer in a pink uniform with a heart armband instead of a swastika, with the slogan: “Change your style. Don’t follow your leader.”It’s Nick Clegg, appearing in 947 national newspaper articles from 27 Jan-27 May. The iPad scored 917 articles, and 939 articles with the term “ash cloud”. Source: LexisNexis database.It’s the official ball of the World Cup. Jabulani means “be happy” or “rejoice” in Zulu. Fabio Capello is reportedly unhappy about how it behaves at altitude. In other news, the Thai film which won the top prize on Sunday is called Lung Boonmee Raluek Chat.It’s Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall his Past Lives, a story about reincarnation which contains a baffling scene involving a catfish making love to a princess.

Your Score

0 – 3 : Hey! – I can see your lips moving

4 – 6 : Gottle of gear

7 – 7 : Bottle of beer

For a complete archive of past quizzes and our weekly news quiz, 7 days 7 questions, visit the Magazine page and scroll down. You can also do this quiz on your mobile device.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The diversity push aims to change the “group-think” of some boardrooms

Plans for directors to submit to an annual shareholder vote form part of an overhaul of the code of conduct for the UK's top 350 listed companies.

It is a seen as a way to increase accountabilty, as directors are currently re-elected every three years.

The Financial Reporting Council's new code will also demand that gender and diversity is explicity considered when new board members are appointed.

At present, a quarter of FTSE 100 companies have no female board members.

A further guideline is to link more closely the pay of top executives with their company's long-term performance.

The guidelines – known as the UK Corporate Governance Code – comes from the Financial Reporting Council (FRC), the country's independent regulator. Its key role is to promote confidence in the way companies listed on the stock market are run.

It enforces its code by a "comply or explain" policy – which means companies either follow it or explain how else they are acting to promote good governance.

‘Group think’

Baroness Hogg, the chairman of the FRC, said: "The FRC responded to the financial crisis by examining the questions it raised about corporate governance and thoroughly reviewing the code."

Changes to the code will see board nomination committees asked to consider gender and diversity when hiring to avoid so-called "group think".

It states companies should assess board candidates "with due regard for the benefits of diversity on the board, including gender".

The government welcomed the new rules. Equalities Minister Lynne Featherstone said: "Half of all consumers are female but only 12 per cent of FTSE 100 directors are."

"A more equal workplace is a more successful workplace."

Changes to the code follow extensive consultation, and there has been broad approval for it from business organisations, big business itself, and shareholder groups.

The CBI's director general, Richard Lambert, said: "We welcome most of the measures put forward by the FRC. It has rightly stuck with guiding principles, rather than impose hard-and-fast rules."

It warned though that the target for annual board elections may backfire and promote a focus on short-term results – as well as destabilising boardrooms.

But the Co-operative Asset Management said forcing directors to stand for re-election each year would bring greater accountability to shareholders.

The new edition of the code will apply to financial years, starting after 29 June.

This report comes in the wake of a raft of recommendations made an earlier review by Sir David Walker following the financial crisis.

The FRC is also working on a new Stewardship Code, in response to calls for institutional shareholders to engage better with the companies they invest in.

Listed companies have increasingly found themselves at odds with their shareholders, particularly over executive pay.

The FRC aims to report back with a final code by the end of June.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The government says it is possible that Mr Coke has fled the country

Jamaican police say at least 73 people have been killed in four days of fighting between police and gunmen, as authorities continue their search for an alleged drug lord.

Of these, 70 are civilians, including a number of suspected gunmen or gunwomen, and three aresecurity personnel.

The information minister said it was unknown whether the chief target of the operation, Christopher "Dudus" Coke, was still in the country.

In the country's capital, Kingston, security forces have been going from house to house in Mr Coke's Trivoli Gardens district an attempt to find him.

‘Urgent needs’

The new death toll marks a significant increase on earlier figures.

TIVOLI GARDENSContinue reading the main storyLocated on Jamaica's south-eastern coast, far from tourist hub in northBuilt in late 1960s on grounds of a cleared dump known as the Dungle or "dung hill"Warren-like public housing project with population of about 25,000One of Jamaica's notorious "garrison" slums – described as "a state within a state"Power base of PM Bruce Golding's West Kingston constituencyInvaded in 2001 by security forces in search of illegal weapons; 25 people killed in three-day stand-offFour residents died in a similar operation in 1997Jamaica counts cost of battleWitness: ‘We got out fast’Profile: Christopher ‘Dudus’ CokeIn pictures: Jamaican unrest

Information minister Daryl Vaz said the authorities were trying to identify the dead.

Glenroy Hinds, deputy commissioner of police, suggested some of the dead had been armed.

More than 500 people have been arrested over four days, mostly in Trivoli Gardens where some people loyal to Mr Coke had pledged to support him at any cost.

Reports suggest the violence has not ended – sporadic gunfire was heard in the nearby slum of Denham Town.

Jaslin Salmon, the director of Jamaica's Red Cross, said he was trying to gain entry to the neighbourhood.

"We know there are people with urgent needs there," he said.

"We've also been told there are bodies in there".

Residents in affected areas have accused security forces of being heavy-handed.

"What we need is money and food," a woman called Marlene told Associated Press news agency.

"Coke, he take care the community. Not the soldiers, they just shoot."

Prime Minister Bruce Golding said earlier that he regretted the loss of life in the recent violence, and promised an independent evaluation.

The violence was sparked by a decision by Mr Golding to extradite Mr Coke to the US on drugs and weapons trafficking charges – for which he could receive a life sentence.

It reversed nine months of opposition to his extradition, with Mr Golding arguing that the evidence against Mr Coke was obtained illegally by intercepting mobile telephone calls.

But he changed his mind in the face of growing public discontent, and questions about his possible ties to Mr Coke.

Mr Coke, 41, insists he is a legitimate businessman and enjoys the support of many impoverished Kingston residents who see him as a benefactor.

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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Dame Margot Fonteyn, one of Britain’s most famous ballerinas, was “up to her neck” in a coup plot in Central America – along with Fidel Castro, according to government files released today at the National Archives.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Two versions of the iPad are available

The Apple iPad tablet computer is going on sale in the UK, after one million were sold in the first 28 days after its launch in the US.

Some Apple stores will open an hour earlier, at 0800 BST, to allow fans to get their hands on the device.

But there are warnings that some customers who pre-ordered the device in order to get it in the post on its UK launch date may be disappointed.

This is because shipping dates for the computer have slipped.

Connection cost

Apple has already delayed the international launch of the iPad citing strong demand in the US since its launch on 3 April.

Despite the success, some have criticised the iPad saying it was a closed system that limited what people could do with the books, magazines, music and video they enjoy.

Customers outside the US have been able to place pre-orders for the touch-screen device since 10 May.

While those that placed orders immediately are likely to get them, others may face a longer wait. Apple's estimates for shipping dates are now mid-June.

There are also reports that some who placed an early pre-order had got their UK iPad a day ahead of its officieal release.

IPAD PRICESContinue reading the main story16GB, wi-fi only – £429 inc vat32GB, wi-fi only – £499 inc vat64GB, wi-fi only – £599 inc vat16GB, wi-fi/3G – £529 inc vat32GB, wi-fi/3G – £599 inc vat64GB, wi-fi/3G – £699 inc vat

Some bigger Apple stores are set to open at 0800 on 28 May in anticipation of extra sales.

"There will be some stock on the shelves," said Stuart Miles of gadget site Pocket Lint. "But it's likely that it will only last for tomorrow."

Two versions of the iPad are available. One only uses wi-fi to connect to the net and the other uses both wi-fi and the 3G mobile technology.

In the UK mobile phone providers Vodafone, Orange, O2 and 3 have revealed details of the price plans for the 3G version. This will require a separate micro-Sim card in order to connect to the net. Existing mobile phone Sims will not work in the iPad.

Mr Miles said he had been using his wi-fi-only US iPad for about a month.

"It's an emotional luxury product," he said. "One that you do not need but once you have it you will find ways to use it."

He agreed that many of the things the iPad offers can be done on other gadgets such as phones and laptops.

"Most of the people in the world do not interact with content, they just consume it," he said. "It's a great device for consuming content but not great for creating it."

The tablet-device is also starting to see competition from other devices such as the Dell Streak and many others.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Ireland’s Niamh Kavanagh is in line to win the Eurovision Song Contest for a second time after being voted through to Saturday’s final.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

By Roger HarrabinEnvironment analyst, BBC News There is debate over “feedback” effects on the climate

The UK's Royal Society is reviewing its public statements on climate change after 43 Fellows complained that it had oversimplified its messages.

They said the communications did not properly distinguish between what was widely agreed on climate science and what is not fully understood.

The society's ruling council has responded by setting up a panel to produce a consensus document.

The panel should report in July and the report is to be published in September.

It is chaired by physicist John Pethica, vice-president of the Royal Society.

Its deliberations are reviewed by two critical sub-groups, each believed to comprise seven members.

Each of these groups contains a number of society Fellows who are doubtful in some way about the received view of the risks of rising CO2 levels.

Continue reading the main story

It’s not clear to me how we are going to get precise agreement on the wording

Review member

One panel member told me: "The timetable is very tough – one draft has already been rejected as completely inadequate."

The review member said it might not be possible for the document to be agreed at all. "This is a very serious challenge to the way the society operates," I was told. "In the past we have been able to give advice to governments as a society without having to seek consensus of all the members.

"There is very clear evidence that governments are right to be very worried about climate change. But in any society like this there will inevitably be people who disagree about anything – and my fear is that the society may become paralysed on this issue."

Another review member told me: "The sceptics have been very strident and well-organised. It's not clear to me how we are going to get precise agreement on the wording – we are scientists and we're being asked to do a job of public communication that is more like journalism."

But both members said they agreed that some of the previous communications of the organisation in the past were poorly judged.

Question everything

A Royal Society pamphlet Climate Change Controversies is the main focus of the criticism. A version of it is on the organisation's website. It was written in response to attacks on mainstream science which the Royal Society considered scurrilous.

It reads: "This is not intended to provide exhaustive answers to every contentious argument that has been put forward by those who seek to distort and undermine the science of climate change…"

One Fellow who said he was not absolutely convinced of the dangers of CO2 told me: "This appears to suggest that anyone who questions climate science is malicious. But in science everything is there to be questioned – that should be the very essence of the Royal Society. Some of us were very upset about that.

"I can understand why this has happened – there is so much politically and economically riding on climate science that the society would find it very hard to say 'well, we are still fairly sure that greenhouse gases are changing the climate' but the politicians simply wouldn't accept that level of honest doubt."

Another society protester said he wanted to be called a climate agnostic rather than a sceptic. He said he wanted the society's website to "do more to question the accuracy of the science on climate feedbacks" (in which a warming world is believed to make itself warmer still through natural processes).

"We sent an e-mail round our friends, mainly in physical sciences," he said.

"Then when we had got 43 names we approached the council in January asking for the website entry on climate to be re-written. I don't think they were very pleased. I don't think this sort of thing has been done before in the history of the society.

"But we won the day, and the work is underway to re-write it. I am very hopeful that we will find a form of words on which we can agree.

"I know it looks like a tiny fraction of the total membership (1,314) but remember we only emailed our friends – we didn't raise a general petition."

Precautionary principle

He said the agnostics were also demanding a "more even-handed" bibliography.

The first "climate agnostic" also said he was angry at previous comments from the previous president Lord May who declared: "The debate on climate change is over."

Lord May was once quoted as saying: "'On one hand, you have the entire scientific community and on the other you have a handful of people, half of them crackpots."

One source strongly criticised the remarks.

Lord May's comments were made at a time when world scientists were reaching a consensus (not unanimity) that CO2 had warmed the planet and would probably warm it more – maybe dangerously so.

Lobbyists funded by the fossil fuel industry were fighting to undermine that consensus and science academies were concerned that public doubt might deter governments from taking precautionary action to reduce emissions of CO2.

Climate change doubters among the society's Fellows say that in their anxiety to support government action, the academies failed to distinguish between "hired guns" and genuine scientific agnostics wanting to explore other potential causes of climate change.

The remit of the society panel is to produce a new public-facing document on what scientists know, what they think they know and which aspects they do not fully understand. The task is to make the document strong and robust.

It should answer the complaint that previous communications have failed to properly explain uncertainties in climate science.

Language of risk

At the Heartland Institute climate sceptics conference in Chicago, Richard Lindzen, professor of meteorology at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), criticised the current society president Lord Rees for what he described as exaggerating the certainty in a joint public letter with Ralph Cicerone, president of the US National Academy of Sciences.

The letter, published by the Financial Times newspaper, states: "Something unprecedented is now happening. The concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is rising and climate change is occurring, both due to human actions…. Uncertainties in the future rate of (temperature) rise, stemming largely from the 'feedback' effects on water vapour and clouds, are topics of current research."

Professor Lindzen says the "unprecedented" statement is misleading because neither the current warming nor the CO2 level are unprecedented. He complains that the statement on uncertainties is also misleading because it does not reveal that uncertainties about future climate projections are, in his view, immense.

A spokesman for the society defended the letter, saying that the rise in man-made CO2 was indeed unprecedented. But Professor Lindzen told me: "This is part of an inflation of a scientific position which has sadly become rather routine for spokesmen for scientific bodies."

The forthcoming Royal Society publication – if it can be agreed by the review panel – will be scrutinised closely because the society carries huge weight in global science. Under Lord May it was prime mover of a joint letter of international academies stating that climate change was a major concern.

The comments from the current president Lord Rees in his first Reith lecture next week are rather carefully measured and couched in the language of risk rather than certainty – but even in this speech, critics are likely to say that in some particulars he does not sufficiently distinguish between what is certain and what is very widely believed.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Downing Street refused to allow a government minister to appear on the Question Time programme unless Tony Blair’s former adviser Alastair Campbell was removed, the BBC says.

No 10 complained about the presence of Mr Campbell on the discussion show, the the corporation said.

No 10 had said he was not elected nor a frontbench spokesman and asked him to be replaced by a shadow minister.

The BBC said it refused the demand as a point of "fundamental principle".

No representatives from the coalition government appeared on the show, which was recorded earlier in the evening.

Besides Alastair Campbell, the other guests were Conservative MP John Redwood, former Lib Dem MP Susan Kramer, and journalists Piers Morgan and Max Hastings.

Introducing the programme, Mr Dimbleby said he would have "expected" to have had a government minister on the panel in the week that it unveiled its legislative agenda for the year ahead in the Queen’s Speech.

He explained that No 10 had made it clear that a Cabinet minister was "available" to appear but only if Mr Campbell was replaced by a member of the shadow cabinet.

He said it was up to "us on Question Time to decide who should be on the programme not Downing Street".

‘Fundamental principle’

Gavin Allen, the show’s executive editor, said it was the "first time" in his three years in the job that No 10 had made such a demand.

Explaining why it had been "obviously refused", he said: "It is a fundamental principle of our independence that politicians cannot dictate who sits on the panel.

"It is for Question Time, not political parties, to make judgements about impartiality and to determine who is invited to appear in the interests of the audience.

"Parties are free to accept or reject those invitations but they do not have a right of veto over other panellists. Licence fee payers rightly insist that the BBC must be free from political interference."

Mr Allen said Mr Campbell was one of the most "senior and influential" figures in the Labour movement.

He added that when in government, Labour ministers had regularly appeared on Question Time when the opposition was represented either by a backbench MP or by an unelected panellist.

"It is not an argument or an objection that bears scrutiny," he added

Mr Campbell was a key adviser to Tony Blair in opposition and was No 10 director of communications and strategy between 1997 and 2003 – when he stepped down from the role.

He recently returned to the limelight advising Labour on its general election strategy and was among those coaching Gordon Brown ahead of the leadership debates.

He was one of a close circle of advisers in Downing Street in the final hours of Mr Brown’s premiership as the party tried and failed to negotiate a coalition deal with the Liberal Democrats.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

By Katia MoskvitchScience reporter, BBC NewsHurricanes are common in the Gulf of Mexico

Hurricanes could complicate the clean-up of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and damage other offshore pipelines, US scientists warn.

With the hurricane season looming, a study says storm-induced underwater currents may spark mudslides on the seafloor.

This could break oil pipes, but the leaks could be small and difficult to detect, they say.

The study will be released on 10 June by the American Geophysical Union (AGU).

The researchers further warn that the damage could have irreversible impacts on the environment.

Hurricane studies are nothing new – scientists have long known that storms can create waves some 20m high.

Damage to oil pipelines has also been noticed in the past, but the recent research was able to measure the huge forces hurricanes exert at great depths (bottom stress).

William J Teague, one of the authors and a scientist at the US Naval Research Laboratory at Stennis Space Center in Mississippi, told BBC News: "This has been the first time that hurricane-induced bottom stress has been evaluated with simultaneous measurements of water waves and currents – and the stress on average was about 15% to 20% of the wind stress on the surface and as high as 40% under the peak of the hurricane."

The researchers found that the induced bottom stress was still critical at depths of up to 90m.

"And the most surprising thing was that the period in which this bottom stress could be damaging persisted for about a week after the hurricane passed," said Mr Teague.

Mudslides in the ocean

The scientists based their study on the observations of the powerful category 4 Hurricane Ivan that raked the Gulf of Mexico in 2004.

Hurricanes could potentially cause difficulties to the ongoing clean-up procedures in the Gulf of Mexico, where a BP-operated Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded and sank in early April.

This triggered a spill that has so far spewed tens of thousands of barrels of oil into the ocean.

The scientists say a hurricane could disperse the oil much further into the Atlantic.

Continue reading the main story

The seafloor is the foundation that supports the pipelines. Additional stronger stress due to the waves induced by a hurricane could weaken the foundation and damage the pipelines

Dr David W WongOceanographer

They installed six large sensors on the seafloor to record changes induced by hurricanes in underwater currents. The oceanographers found that currents became so strong that they triggered mudslides – powerful enough to break pipelines or other underwater equipment.

"The seafloor is the foundation that supports the pipelines. Additional stronger stress due to the waves induced by a hurricane could weaken the foundation and damage the pipelines," said Dr David W Wong, a co-author of the report.

The researchers then used a computer model of wave-induced current stresses to find out just how powerful hurricanes would need to be for the currents to tear up the seabed.

They discovered that even storms much weaker than the devastating Ivan could potentially disrupt the ocean floor.

This is not good news for the Gulf of Mexico, whose seabed is criss-crossed with some 50,000km of pipelines. The region provides almost a third of the US oil supply and about a quarter of its natural gas, but it is prone to hurricanes – especially early in the season, which officially begins on 1 June.

Researchers lowered sensors to the ocean floor to measure the changes in underwater currents

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

The total number of UK personnel killed in Afghanistan has reached 288

A soldier shot dead during a firefight in Afghanistan has been named as Gunner Zak Cusack, of the 4th Regiment Royal Artillery.

The Ministry of Defence said the 20-year-old soldier was from Stoke-on-Trent.

He was shot on Wednesday during a joint foot patrol with Afghan National Army personnel near Nahr-e Saraj, Helmand.

The total number of UK service personnel killed in Afghanistan since 2001 has reached 288.

It was his second tour of duty in Afghanistan, having first been deployed on his 18th birthday in 2007.

In a statement released by the ministry, his family said: "Zak was a courageous, compassionate and charismatic young man. We are justly proud of not only the job that he did, but of the complete person we all knew and loved."

Commanding officers praised his professionalism, energy and character.

Expressing condolences to the family, Defence Secretary Liam Fox said: "It is clear that he was hugely valued by his friends and comrades as a professional and selfless soldier, and they all speak highly of his wit and strong spirit."

He said he had been killed while providing security to the local population following "recent attempts by the Taliban to intimidate them".

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

French Open second round: Andy Murray v Juan Ignacio Chela Venue: Roland Garros, Paris Date: Wed, 26 May (Third match on Court One)Coverage: Live video streamed on BBC Sport website (UK only) and BBC red button; commentary on BBC 5 live sports extra; also live on Eurosport; live text commentary on BBC Sport website

British number one Andy Murray will hope to have recovered from his four-hour victory over Richard Gasquet when he takes on Argentina’s Juan Ignacio Chela in the second round of the French Open on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old Scot is due to play in the third match on Court One at around 1300 BST, although bad weather is expected to disrupt the schedule on day four.

And although Murray looked strong throughout his marathon five-set win against Gasquet, he may not be too upset if there were to be a delay as it would give him more time to rest his troublesome right knee.

Murray’s main weakness is his service. No doubt he knows that, but I can’t understand why he can’t sort it out

Murray admitted after Monday’s match that it had felt sore, and that the sliding required on clay is particularly unkind to the bipartite patella with which he suffers, but it is a long-term condition with which he seems resigned to coping.

"It hurts at different parts of the year," he said. "I can’t do anything about it. It’s just something I was born with, and I’m just going to have to deal with it for my whole career."

Chela is certainly an opponent he has grown used to, having played the 30-year-old from Buenos Aires on six occasions, winning the last five in a row.

Most recently, Murray swept Chela aside on the clay of Madrid earlier this month and he gave the Argentine just five games when they met in the first round of last year’s French Open.

Chela has only made it past the third round at Roland Garros on one occasion, and his run to the quarter-finals in 2004 came to an end with a straight-sets defeat by former British number one Tim Henman.

However, Murray insists he will be on his guard against the world number 58, who has one more tournament win than Murray this year after taking the clay title in Houston in April.

"He’s a very good player," said the Briton. "He’s obviously got a lot of experience. I just need to make sure I recover well. If I feel good going into the match then I’ll be confident that I can win.

"But he can’t be underestimated with the results he’s had, not only here but on a lot of clay courts during his career."

In other matches on Wednesday, defending champion Roger Federer takes on Alejandro Falla of Colombia in the second match on Court Philippe Chatrier after women’s second seed Venus Williams plays Spain’s Arantxa Parra Santonia.

Reigning women’s champion Svetlana Kuznetsova will face Germany’s Andrea Petkovic in the second match on Court One.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Many Polish migrants to the UK have returned home

More European migrants, from countries including Poland and the Czech Republic, are leaving the UK than arriving, Home Office figures show.

It marks a reversal in movement for the first time since large scale immigration in Europe began.

In all, there were 45,000 arrivals of A8 nationals in 2009, compared with 57,000 departures.

A8, or accession eight, refers to the central and eastern European countries that acceded to the EU in 2004.

They include Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia.

Overall, the UK's net migration figure – the number of immigrants minus numbers emigrating – for the 12 months ending in September 2009 was 142,000, down from 160,000 for the same period the previous year.

The data comes from the International Passenger Survey of long-term international migration, considered a broad guide to migration movements.

However, it does not take into account adjustments for asylum seekers, people who stay longer or less than intended, and migration to and from Northern Ireland.

Immigration cap

The figures also show the number of people granted British citizenship last year is at its highest level since 2005.

In 2009, 203,790 people were given citizenship, up 59% from 129,375 the previous year.

There was also a 40% increase in the numbers given grants of settlement in the UK and a 45% rise in those allowed to settle for employment reasons.

Other figures from the Home Office showed that nearly a third of foreigners wanting to make Britain their home had failed to pass their citizenship test.

The 45-minute test on British society, history and culture is a crucial step on the road to being allowed to settle permanently or full citizenship.

The new government has committed itself to introducing a cap on non-EU immigration, although the level has yet to be set.

Immigration minister Damian Green said the figures illustrated the scale of the immigration challenge facing the new government.

"I believe that immigration has been far too high in recent years which is why we will reduce net migration back down to the levels of the 1990s – to tens of thousands rather than hundreds of thousands," he said.

New measures including a limit on work permits, actions on marriage and an effective system of regulating students who come to the UK would be introduced, he added.

This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.

Patients were given the right to a second course of treatment from April

Health boards in Wales face a shortfall in funding to provide a second free IVF cycle on the NHS, claim the Conservatives.

The assembly government has invested £800,000 for the first year but the full cost is over £1.6m, says Tory health spokesperson Andrew RT Davies.

Mr Davies claimed health boards would have to provide additional funding to meet the shortfall.

The assembly government said the comments were "scaremongering".

It said sufficient resources had been provided and the money had been "properly resourced and budgeted".

Patients with fertility problems were given the right to a second course of treatment from April this year.

Previously, women in Wales had access to one cycle of treatment.

Mr Davies said the assembly government confirmed £800,000 would be made available from 2010/11 to help fund the second IVF cycle but the total cost is £1.67m.

He said: "The introduction of a second NHS IVF cycle for patients is a welcome move that goes some way to meeting NICE [National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence] guidelines.

"However, it is disappointing that the health minister seems content to 'pass the buck' in meeting some of the costs of this treatment back to local health boards.

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I’ve got many friends that are waiting for their second cycle

Kara Ellard, IVF campaigner

"Expecting health boards to raid their already stretched budgets puts even more pressure on delivering services and is unrealistic and unfair for providers and patients alike."

He said the health minister, Edwina Hart, had a duty to ensure that commitments like this were properly resourced and "not just a headline-grabbing gimmick for the assembly government".

Kara Ellard, an IVF campaigner from Pembrokeshire who became a mother following IVF, said the funding claims were a "huge worry".

"I've got many friends that are waiting for their second cycle [of IVF]," she said.

"If this doesn't happen they're going to be heartbroken.

"They're going to be in the same situation that we were when you need to find this money [to pay for IVF]."

She said undergoing IVF was a "rollercoaster" where "it's constantly up and down".

"When it does fail and you haven't got the back up of money, that's when the confusion of how you are going to try again starts," she said.

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Mr Davies’s comments are scaremongering and unhelpful for those receiving, or due to receive, IVF treatment

Welsh Assembly Government

The assembly government said it had provided sufficient resources to fully fund two cycles of IVF treatment.

A spokesman said: "This is not an additional burden for health boards.

"The money is properly resourced and budgeted from various sources including the £0.8m funding from the Welsh Assembly Government, as well as from NHS specialist services budgets.

"Mr Davies's comments are scaremongering and unhelpful for those receiving, or due to receive, IVF treatment."

The assembly government said it did not "consider it a burden for the NHS in Wales to provide funding for a second cycle of IVF".

"Over time we would like to meet the NICE recommendation of providing three cycles of IVF on the NHS," added the spokesman.

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By Hannah RichardsonBBC News education reporter The QCDA was responsible for developing the curriculum and tests

Education Secretary Michael Gove has confirmed that he is closing down the qualifications and curriculum agency, the QCDA.

Mr Gove has written to the chairman of the quango to say he will bring forward legislation in the autumn to scrap it.

The agency's work on national tests and exam administration would continue until it could be transferred, he said.

But its qualifications and curriculum work would stop, resulting in an £8m budget cut.

The Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency had been created by the previous government to develop the curriculum and administer tests.

Both Prime Minister David Cameron and Mr Gove had pledged to scrap the QCDA before the general election as part of plans to cut public sector spending.

And an announcement on this was widely expected on Monday when Chancellor George Osborne set out his deficit reduction plans.

Statutory duty

But it emerged that legislation was needed to bring about its abolition and instead its budget was cut by £8m.

Mr Gove wants to lessen government involvement in the administration of exams, but it needs staff to continue until the agency's functions can be transferred.

In his letter to Chairman Christopher Trinick, Mr Gove said: "I appreciate that the news of closure will come as a disappointment to those working in the QCDA, as well as to you and your executive team.

"While the QCDA as an organisation does not have a place in the education system of the future, I know that the agency has many dedicated public servants who are committed to improving the quality of education."

He added: "In other areas – notably qualifications development and the curriculum – I would want QCDA to withdraw as soon and as far as is practicable, and continue with activities only where it is necessary in order to comply with a statutory duty or where I am clear that not to do so would jeopardise the interests of learners.

"That is the basis on which reductions to the budget were made this year."

The QCDA was created when the former Qualifications and Curriculum Authority had been split.

The other part of this break-up was the creation of Ofqual, launched in 2008, which remains as the watchdog for exam standards.

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US President Barack Obama has unveiled a series of measures in response to the oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico.

Mr Obama confirmed a six-month extension of the moratorium on permits for new deepwater oil drilling.

Speaking at the White House, he defended against criticism that his administration had been slow to act.

He vowed to hold BP accountable for the "horrific disaster" and said his officials would do everything necessary to protect and restore the coast.

Earlier, his administration announced the resignation of the head of the Minerals Management Service (MMS), which oversees drilling operations.

Mr Obama said the MMS had been plagued by corruption for years.

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