Blancer.com Tutorials and projects
Freelance Projects, Design and Programming Tutorials
world news,online new,us news,uk news
Team Garmin-Cervelo win the team time trial to put Thor Hushovd in the yellow jersey after the second stage of the Tour de France.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The deal with the Chinese company is valued at £626m A joint venture company has been formed to run the Grangemouth refinery on the Forth.
It has brought together current operators Ineos and the Chinese company PetroChina.
Finance Secretary John Swinney said the £626m deal secures more than 2,000 jobs associated with Grangemouth.
The refinery processes about 210,000 barrels of crude oil each day, supplying Scotland, Northern Ireland and the north of England.
Ineos directly employs more than 1,000 people at Grangemouth and a plant of similar size at Lavéra in France.
The agreement followed a period of detailed negotiation, after PetroChina made an offer in January for a 50% share in the business.
Welcoming the agreement, Mr Swinney said: “Scotland has unrivalled energy resources and expertise, and the Scottish government is committed to working with China across this sector.
“This joint venture enhances security of supply for customers and retains the jobs and skills that have been built up over many years at Grangemouth.
“We will continue to identify opportunities to share information, expertise and technology between our two countries.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Mr McCrea’s car was burnt outside his home The car of DUP Mid Ulster MLA Ian McCrea has been destroyed by fire.
Mr McCrea found the car in flames outside his home at about 0400 BST on Sunday. He said it was only yards from his home and a gas cylinder.
“Nothing will remove the terror of this event from the minds of my three young children who had to be lifted from their beds and taken to safety.
“I expect to be the target of verbal criticism but targeting my family home is outrageous,” he said.
Mr Crea thanked the police and fire service for their “swift response”.
“Whilst no one was injured, this situation could have been a lot different had the gas cylinder exploded or the house caught fire,” he added.
“We could be dealing with several fatalities.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
A man in his early 20s has been shot dead outside a Bristol pub, police have confirmed.
The shooting happened at about 0410 BST outside the Coach House pub in Stapleton Road, St Pauls.
Police say a man and a woman are being treated at Bristol Royal Infirmary for injuries which are not thought to be life-threatening.
Tens of thousands of people had been in St Pauls on Saturday celebrating the annual carnival.
The road at the scene of the shooting has been closed in both directions between Warwick Road and Oxford Place.
Keti Sarguna, who lives just off Stapleton Road, said she had heard the shots.
She said: “I heard a commotion and I heard shots going off. It didn’t sound like gun shots at all, it sounded like fireworks.
“Police are searching the area right now. Everything’s shut off. We just know we have to go around the back.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Joanna Parrish was working as a trainee teacher in France More than 20 years after a student from Gloucestershire was raped and murdered while teaching in France, the French authorities have closed the case.
The parents of 21-year-old Joanna Parrish said they will challenge the decision and will “go down fighting”.
Miss Parrish, from Newnham-on-Severn, was found raped and strangled in a river in Auxerre on 17 May 1990.
Vital DNA relating to the murder scene was lost but her parents still hope new evidence will come forward.
French serial killer Michel Fourniret was made a suspect in, but never tried for, the young woman’s murder.
Miss Parrish’s mother Pauline Murrell said she had been expecting the decision for about 18 months, but added: “We are going to go down fighting.”
“It’s been an absolute disaster all the way through, I suppose we shouldn’t be surprised that’s what they’re doing,” she said.
“Our lawyers have already faxed about 36 pages of questions for them which they’re going to have to answer.
“I keep wracking my brains for what else there is we can do.
“Here we seem to be able to pick up court cases 30 years on, but obviously in France they’re not able to do that.”
She described the fight to get justice for her daughter as “an extra arm or leg” because it was always there.
Miss Parrish’s father Roger Parrish said: “It’s a big disappointment. We feel completely let down.
“We know full well that the French authorities had forensic evidence… we now find that same DNA evidence is no longer available.
“Our lawyers have responded to the latest piece of information from the prosecutor’s department and they’ve suggested there’s a number of ways that the case can be kept open, but I haven’t heard the details of that yet.
“We are just hoping the prosecutor’s department will have a rethink about that.
“In France it’s the situation that within 10 years after a case is formally closed it can be opened if new evidence comes to light.
“If 10 years has lapsed from the date of formal closure of the case, nobody can be charged.
“We will keep on trying, we will never give up.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The opposition is on course for victory in Thailand’s general election, with the sister of the ousted former leader, Thaksin Shinawatra, set to become the first female prime minister.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Jorge Lorenzo comes from fifth place on the starting grid to clinch victory in the Italian MotoGP at Mugello.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
On Friday Hama saw some of the biggest demonstrations yet against President Assad Syrian troops are being deployed at the restive city of Hama after mass anti-government protests and the sacking of its governor, activists have said.
Troops were taking positions at key entrances to the city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
On Friday the city saw some of the biggest demonstrations yet against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad.
A day later, Mr Assad sacked the governor of Hama, Ahmad Khaled Abdel Aziz.
Activists say more than 1,350 civilians and 350 security personnel have been killed since protests began in mid-March.
Rami Abdel-Rahman, president of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said troops took up positions at Hama late on Saturday and “heavy gunfire” was heard in the city overnight.
He told Reuters news agency there had been a number of arrests on the outskirts of the city.
“The authorities seem to have opted for a military solution to subdue the city,” he said.
One resident also told Reuters that shots had been fired. He said that communications in the city had been cut and that a number of arrests had been made in its Sabounia district.
Tens of thousands of people were said to have taken part in protests in Hama on Friday.
Correspondents say there were reports the army had eased its presence in the city earlier in the week.
Hama was the scene of a Muslim Brotherhood uprising against Mr Assad’s father, Hafez, in 1982, which the army crushed, killing at least 10,000 people.
Mr Rahman also told Agence France-Presse that troops and tanks had deployed to the north-western village of Kfar Rumma.
The Syrian government has not commented on its latest military movements.
Mr Assad has previously accused a “small faction” of “saboteurs” of exploiting popular grievances.
Reports cannot be independently verified as the Syrian authorities have banned most foreign media from the country.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
If the plans for phase one are approved work could start on the HS2 route in 2015 Mayor of London Boris Johnson has criticised plans for the HS2 high-speed rail link in a letter to a campaigner.
The proposed line would link London with Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester. But Mr Johnson wants any track through London to go in tunnels.
He also claimed the line would double the number of passengers at Euston Station – and said the government would need to increase Tube capacity.
Number 10 has repeatedly said it backs the scheme.
The first phase of HS2 would link London and Birmingham, cutting rail journey times between the two cities.
Last week Prime Minister David Cameron told an audience in Birmingham: “The government is committed to HS2.”
But the mayor wrote in his letter to anti-HS2 campaigner Jerry Marshall: “While I have expressed support for a high speed rail network in the past my support is conditional on a number of specific criteria and on the need to make the new railway work well for London.
“The proposal now being consulted on does not reflect these conditions and is inadequate for a number of reasons.
“It is perverse that a section of the route through Greater London has been subject to so little environmental mitigation”
Boris Johnson Mayor of London
“It is perverse that a section of the route through Greater London, clearly affecting large numbers of people, has been subject to so little environmental mitigation.”
Confirming the contents of the letter, a spokeswoman for Mr Johnson said: “It was a private letter.
“The mayor supports high speed 2 in principle. He just has concerns over the route as it stands.”
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “London’s economy stands to benefit from HS2 – that’s why the capital’s business community strongly supports the scheme.
“While our proposals will have an impact on communities directly affected, we are committed to doing everything possible to mitigate this.
“This is demonstrated by the fact that the alignment of the route has already changed.”
He added: “Euston Underground station will see an overall increase of just 2% in the number of passengers travelling on the Tube through Euston at peak time.”
The scheme is projected to cost £30bn.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
More than 100 people were arrested for violent conduct, police say Police in the Bangladeshi capital Dhaka have used batons to disperse protesters during a six-hour strike against a gas exploration deal with the US energy giant ConocoPhillips.
Most shops, businesses and schools were closed and very few vehicles were on the roads during the strike called by a left-leaning citizens’ group.
The group says the deal compromises Bangladesh’s interests.
Strikes called by political parties are not uncommon in Bangladesh.
But this time a shut down was enforced by the National Committee for Protection of Oil and Gas and Ports.
The left-wing group wants the government to scrap a deal with the US oil giant ConocoPhillips to explore for gas in the Bay of Bengal.
The strike forced most businesses, offices and schools in Dhaka to close.
Police said more than 100 protesters were arrested for violent conduct.
Officials say the deal is essential to meet the growing energy demands of Bangladesh,which is facing a daily gas shortage of up to 14m cubic metres or about 25% of its total requirement.
But critics say the deal will not solve the country’s energy crisis.
They allege that under the agreement ConocoPhillips could export up to 80% of the gas found in the two deep sea blocks.
The government says some clauses in the deal are being misinterpreted.
Bangladesh has been seeking new sources of gas amid forecasts that at present consumption rates, its current reserves will run out by 2015.
Meanwhile, the main opposition and its allies have announced a 40-hour nation-wide strike from 6 July in protest against the government’s decision to abolish the caretaker system of administration, which oversees general elections.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The letter was sent from the office of Communities Secretary Eric Pickles A government department warned that a key Tory policy on welfare reform could result in 20,000 people being made homeless in the UK, it has emerged.
A letter from the communities secretary’s office also warned the PM a benefits cap for unemployed families was likely to cost more than it saved.
It was written by Eric Pickles’ private secretary and leaked to the Observer.
A government source said it would not get into a “running commentary” on the plan and the letter was six months old.
BBC political correspondent Gary O’Donoghue said Conservative sources had stressed that the two-page memo was old. He said this was not a “current row”.
The letter was not written by Mr Pickles himself and he was “fully behind” the policy, his spokesman said.
The memo was written by Nico Heslop, Mr Pickles’ private secretary, and sent to Mr Cameron’s private secretary, Matthew Style.
The letter said the department supported the principle of the benefits cap “on the grounds of fairness” because it was “not right that a household on benefit should receive more than the average working household”.
The fact that this document is six months old gives the government significant protection when charges of splits over the policy are levelled.
Sources say that Eric Pickles is completely behind the policy and supports the way it’s being implemented. The difficulty is that senior civil servants don’t go freelancing on policy, particularly when setting out the department’s view to Downing Street.
Indeed, the note itself explicitly suggests Mr Pickles was planning to raise these issues in a meeting on council tax benefit. The sources insist he never raised the issues in cabinet or in any cabinet committee.
So it seems we’re left with a document setting out major worries about the policy and a secretary of state who’s completely relaxed about it.
A couple of possibilities spring to mind: first that Mr Pickles is completely at odds with his private secretary over the matter; or second, and more likely, that he’s been argued round over the course of six months.
But it said the cap could cause some “very serious practical issues”.
It said the policy could result in 20,000 people being made homeless across the UK.
This figure was “on top of the 20,000 additional acceptances already anticipated as a result of other changes to housing benefit”, it said.
It outlined concerns an estimated £270m in savings from the measure did not take into account the financial implications of the policy for local authorities who would have to help more families into housing.
It said the policy “could generate a net cost.”
The letter said the department was worried about the impact of the policy on its ability to build social housing for families.
“To fund new affordable housing development providers need to be able to charge rents of up to 80% of the market levels but the impact of the overall benefit cap will prevent them from doing so in many areas greatly reducing their financial capacity,” it said.
“Initial analysis suggests that of the 56,000 new affordable rent units up to 23,000 could be lost.”
The cap would have the effect of “disproportionately impacting on families and therefore children”, the letter said, because reductions would affect family homes rather than flats.
The letter said removing child benefit from the overall benefits cap could “substantially reduce the negative impacts”.
“This would also mean the overall message of the cap would not be lost,” it added.
Such a move would also reduce the knock-on effect to local authorities and the number of new affordable rent properties lost, the letter said.
Plans for a maximum limit on the amount of benefits one family can claim were announced at the Conservative conference last October.
Chancellor George Osborne said the cap would be set at the amount “the average family gets for going out to work”, which is about £26,000 a year.
The cap would apply to the combined income from benefits including payments such as jobseekers allowance, housing benefit and council tax benefit.
About 50,000 families were expected to be affected by the cap, planned for 2013, and were likely to lose an average of £93 a week.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Rescuers in southern China are trying to reach more than 40 workers in two coal mines after one pit was flooded and the other caved in.
They are venting explosive gas and pumping water from a mine in Guangxi region, where three miners died.
Flooding has continued to hamper rescue work at the other mine in the neighbouring province of Guizhou.
China’s mines are the world’s deadliest; more than 2,600 miners died in accidents in 2009 alone.
Heavy rain was said to have caused the latest accidents.
Emergency workers said water continued to rise inside the Niupeng mine in Pingtang County in Guizhou, Xinhua news agency reported.
The accident there happened on Saturday morning, after which the coal mine officials confirmed 21 workers had been trapped. However, two more were declared missing a day later, Xinhua said.
At the other mine in Guangxi, rescuers are digging into the shaft to reach 19 miners believed to be 390m (1,200 feet) under the ground.
Xinhua said progress appeared to be slow, due to the build-up of explosive gas and flooding.
China Central Television broadcast an interview with a miner who said he heard a loud explosion before the cave-in, which was believed to have killed the three miners.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
A Frenchman has broken a world record by executing a 29 metres (95 feet) long jump on roller-skates.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The intricately-carved, three-tiered temple dates back to the 11th Century An ancient Angkor temple has re-opened in Cambodia following decades of reconstruction work – a task described as the world’s largest puzzle.
The work has involved taking apart the Baphuon monument’s 300,000 sandstone blocks and piecing them back together.
The project began in the 1960s but was interrupted by Cambodia’s civil war, and restarted in the mid-1990s.
The 11th-Century three-tier tower is part of the Angkor complex which draws two million tourists a year.
The re-opening was marked by a ceremony attended by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and French Prime Minister Francois Fillon.
“The work at Baphuon has been exceptional,” Mr Fillon said.
Meanwhile, King Sihamoni expressed “profound gratitude to France” for funding the 10m-euro ($14m; £9m) project.
French Prime Minister Francois Fillon said the work on the temple was “exceptional” The BBC’s Guy De Launey in Phnom Penh says the Baphuon was once among the finest of the great monuments of Angkor, but by the 1950s it was on the brink of collapse.
A French-led team of archaeologists decided that the only way to save the temple was to take it apart, our correspondent says.
They dismantled the monument, laying all the stone blocks in the surrounding jungle. Each piece was painted with a number, matching an entry on the master plan, so the tower could be rebuilt.
But work was disrupted by the civil war and the records needed to reconstruct it were destroyed by the Khmer Rouge, a hardline communist regime that took power in 1975.
The reconstruction was only restarted in 1995.
Pascal Royere, who has been overseeing the project, said the early years had been the hardest.
“We were facing a three-dimensional puzzle, a 300,000-piece puzzle to which we had lost the picture. And that was the main difficulty of this project,” Mr Royere told AFP news agency.
“There is no mortar that fills the cracks which means that each stone has its own place. You will not find two blocks that have the same dimensions.”
Our correspondent says that some pieces – more than 10,000 – are left over, and dot the forest floor surrounding the temple.
The Angkor region was the seat of the medieval Khmer empire.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Lord Patten took up his post as chairman of the BBC Trust in May BBC Trust chairman Lord Patten has said moves will be announced in the next few days to tackle the issue of salaries paid to executives at the corporation.
Speaking on The Andrew Marr Show, he said it is “one of the most toxic reasons for the public’s lack of sympathy for the BBC”.
He said pay of top bosses and staff on £150,000 or more would be addressed.
Lord Patten added that closing a service to deal with funding cuts had not been ruled out.
The peer, who took up his post in May, heads the body which oversees the workings of the BBC on behalf of licence fee payers.
An ongoing review which is looking at ways to save money at the BBC included “looking at the main relationships between the TV channels”, he said.
“I think we can see symmetries that we can perhaps organise better.”
But Lord Patten added that the review is “looking at everything” and any proposals are unlikely to be firmed up until at least September.
‘Fairness’
Speaking about the issue of executive pay, the BBC Trust chairman said he hoped the corporation would become the first organisation to fully implement Lord Hutton’s proposals for fair pay.
This would ensure that an executive would not receive pay more than 20 times the median salary at the BBC.
He also said there was an issue of “fairness across the board” to be addressed, with some staff benefits only applicable to senior managers.
The corporation is facing cuts of 17-20% after after the licence fee was frozen for six years and the costs of the World Service were transferred to the BBC.
Lord Patten said that he wants the BBC to become “flexible, lean, more confident and self-challenging”, adding that it would have to “learn to live with a flat budget”.
But he said the broadcaster would still be capable of delivering high quality programming.
The former Conservative cabinet minister also praised BBC Three for two recent documentaries, calling them “brilliant programmes”.
The digital channel has been criticised previously for some of its content.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.