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Our selection of the big moments, best speeches and quips from politicians in Westminster and the devolved institutions.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Google’s Street View cars took snaps and scooped up data from wi-fi networks Google could be sued for scooping up data from open wi-fi networks after a US court ruling.
A judge in San Francisco decided that the company’s actions may have violated federal laws on wire tapping.
Google had tried to have the class action lawsuit thrown out, claiming that anyone could have intercepted the wireless signals.
It had previously admitted collecting the data by mistake while gathering images for its Street View service.
Since the blunder was revealed, Google has stopped its Street View cars logging wi-fi networks.
The problem was discovered in 2010 when German data protection officials asked the company what information its Street View photography cars were collecting.
As well as taking panoramic images, it emerged that they also logged wi-fi networks to help with the search firm’s location services.
That involved sampling packets of data from wireless hotspots. On open, unencrypted networks the system grabbed logins, passwords and other personal details. About 600MB of data was collected in 30 countries.
At the time, Google apologised for its action, blaming a coding error, and pledged to delete the data.
The revelation led to investigations in several countries. France fined Google 100,000 euros (£87,000) over the breach.
In the US, a class action lawsuit was brought on behalf of plaintiffs from nine states. The case is being heard in California where Google’s headquarters is located.
The company tried to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the data gathering was inadvertent. It also said that anyone could have intercepted the transmissions.
“the law doesn’t clearly cover that issue right now and that the law is really a mess.”
Jim Dempsey Center for Democracy and Technology
US District Court Judge James Ware disagreed and said that just because a wi-fi network was open did not mean it was meant to be public.
“Merely pleading that a network is unencrypted does not render that network readily accessible to the general public,” Judge Ware wrote in his decision.
The fact that Google used some specialist equipment meant it was was liable for prosecution under federal wire tap laws.
Judge Ware threw out several other elements of the complaint against Google, relating to state laws on wire tapping and unfair competition.
In a statement, the company dismissed the claims and said it would consider the latest ruling before deciding whether to launch an appeal.
US laws on wire tapping were in need of updating, said Jim Dempsey, a privacy expert at the Center for Democracy & Technology.
The laws were last updated in the late 1980s to address such things as CB radio and baby monitors, he said.
“I don’t think anyone doubts that it should be illegal to intercept someone’s communications,” said Mr Dempsey.
“But I think it’s equally clear that the law doesn’t clearly cover that issue right now and that the law is really a mess.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati faces a stark choice between justice and stability The press in Lebanon and the wider region is split in its response to the issuing of four arrest warrants by the UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 murder of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
In Lebanon itself, the response was divided between those papers loyal to the Hariri dynasty, which hailed the UN court’s indictments as a triumph for justice, and papers close to Hezbollah – which has been implicated in the case – seeing the move as a political one intended to pave the way for further Israeli military action against the organisation.
The pan-Arab press warned that the issuing of the arrest warrants might be seen as a provocation by Hezbollah’s allies in Syria and Iran and risk triggering a new round of sectarian conflict.
Several Israeli commentators were sceptical that the Lebanese government – in which Hezbollah is a dominant force – would be capable of acting on the indictments and arrest those accused of involvement in Hariri’s murder.
Nai’la Tuini in Al-Nahar
Today is a historic day for all of Lebanon because it opens a window for retrieving the state and gives a real chance to those who want to build a country that is not based on crime, corruption and collaboration … It is a historic day because it brings hope to all the Lebanese who believe in justice and defend the truth.
Editorial in Al-Mustaqbal
Time is up for the killers as the time of justice begins.
Editorial in The Daily Star
The fact that an indictment was issued represents progress for all Lebanon. It is not, however, the end … Active co-operation is needed if Lebanon is to uphold its STL commitment. There is no half measure to be had; an obligation made to justice should bear no regard to the political climate.
Sati Nur-al-Din in Al-Safir
Nobody could have imagined that the four Hezbollah members indicted by the Special Tribunal of Lebanon [STL] might one day be arrested by the Lebanese security authorities and sent to the International Criminal Court in the Hague… The worst thing that Lebanon could do right now is to choose a collision course with the STL.
Fady Noun in French-language L’Orient – Le Jour
It’s the hour of truth. Six years after the murder of Rafik Hariri, the indictment in this case has been issued – even if still in a sealed envelope – and four international arrest warrants have been delivered … Long feared on account of Hezbollah’s veiled threats, the indictment divides Lebanon and gives rise to fears of renewed violence.
Ibrahim al-Amin in Al-Akhbar
It is easy to draw the conclusion… that the political moment the tribunal chose to issue its political indictment is directly linked to ongoing preparations for a new Israeli war on Lebanon’s resistance (Hezbollah) and possibly Syria.
Ra’uf Shahuri in Al-Anwar
The surprise was complete after Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said during a news conference that his government would act responsibly and realistically … In a few days’ time, the STL indictment will be swept under the carpet.
Editorial in Al-Quds Al-Arabi
The question that strongly arises after the indictments is how Mikati’s government will deal with the mechanisms to implement the decision especially the aspect of arrests?… The indictments and the timing might be a provocation not only for Hezbollah but its allies in Syria and Iran to push them to get involved in a war on Lebanese territory as they will not simply stand by and watch the party being attacked… The whole region is open for all possibilities, including civil and sectarian war.
Basim al-Jasar in Al-Sharq al-Awsat
Najib Mikati’s government will not live happy days and Lebanon will not know a promising summer or a cool spring. Things will remain pending and breaths will stay held awaiting developments in Syria.
Smadar Peri in Yediot Aharonot
What will happen when the Lebanese government ignores the charge sheets and the extradition warrants against four Hezbollah activists and does not co-operate with the international court in The Hague? We will very soon discover, because this is exactly what is going to happen … If someone by chance dares to go [to Hezbollah headquarters] and wave the charge sheets, he will not come out of there on his feet.
Boaz Bismuth in Yisrael Hayom
Lebanon is nervous and rightly so, because the indictments hint that Lebanon is again entering a period of uncertainty. Sunni Prime Minister Mikati promised to respect the wish of the international community. However, the composition of his government and Hezbollah’s right of veto torpedo any possible goodwill on his part.
Jonathan Spyer in The Jerusalem Post
Hezbollah has the hard power simply to refuse to co-operate with the tribunal, and to prevent by force any attempt to apprehend its members.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The European Commission wants to make roaming rates the same as domestic rates by 2015 The cost of making and receiving mobile phone calls while travelling in Europe has come down again.
From today, operators cannot charge more than 32p per minute (plus VAT) for outgoing calls, and 10p per minute (plus VAT) for incoming calls.
The new tariffs are the latest in a series of annual price reductions forced on the mobile industry by the European Commission.
Brussels has said it aims to equalise roaming and domestic charges by 2015.
Price regulation was introduced in 2007 by the then commissioner for information society and media, Viviane Reding.
Since then, the maximum call charge has been reduced by approximately 6% per year.
A group of UK mobile operators – O2, Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile – attempted to challenge the Commission’s price-cutting agenda, taking their case to the European Court of Justice.
However, their complaint was dismissed in June 2010.
Along with the lower rates for phone calls, the commission also reduced the wholesale rate of mobile data from 80 euro cents (72p) to 50 euro cents (45p) per megabyte.
Whereas the price cap on voice calls applies directly to the way consumers are billed, the data changes only affect what operators charge each other. There is an expectation, rather than obligation to pass-on the savings.
Operators are compelled to place a 50 euro (£45) cap on users’ data consumption, in order to avoid unexpectedly high bills. Customers who wish to continue their data roaming can request to have the limit removed.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati faces a stark choice between justice and stability The press in Lebanon and the wider region is split in its response to the issuing of four arrest warrants by the UN-backed tribunal investigating the 2005 murder of Lebanon’s former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
In Lebanon itself, the response was divided between those papers loyal to the Hariri dynasty, which hailed the UN court’s indictments as a triumph for justice, and papers close to Hezbollah – which has been implicated in the case – seeing the move as a political one intended to pave the way for further Israeli military action against the organisation.
The pan-Arab press warned that the issuing of the arrest warrants might be seen as a provocation by Hezbollah’s allies in Syria and Iran and risk triggering a new round of sectarian conflict.
Several Israeli commentators were sceptical that the Lebanese government – in which Hezbollah is a dominant force – would be capable of acting on the indictments and arrest those accused of involvement in Hariri’s murder.
Nai’la Tuini in Al-Nahar
Today is a historic day for all of Lebanon because it opens a window for retrieving the state and gives a real chance to those who want to build a country that is not based on crime, corruption and collaboration … It is a historic day because it brings hope to all the Lebanese who believe in justice and defend the truth.
Editorial in Al-Mustaqbal
Time is up for the killers as the time of justice begins.
Editorial in The Daily Star
The fact that an indictment was issued represents progress for all Lebanon. It is not, however, the end … Active co-operation is needed if Lebanon is to uphold its STL commitment. There is no half measure to be had; an obligation made to justice should bear no regard to the political climate.
Sati Nur-al-Din in Al-Safir
Nobody could have imagined that the four Hezbollah members indicted by the Special Tribunal of Lebanon [STL] might one day be arrested by the Lebanese security authorities and sent to the International Criminal Court in the Hague… The worst thing that Lebanon could do right now is to choose a collision course with the STL.
Fady Noun in French-language L’Orient – Le Jour
It’s the hour of truth. Six years after the murder of Rafik Hariri, the indictment in this case has been issued – even if still in a sealed envelope – and four international arrest warrants have been delivered … Long feared on account of Hezbollah’s veiled threats, the indictment divides Lebanon and gives rise to fears of renewed violence.
Ibrahim al-Amin in Al-Akhbar
It is easy to draw the conclusion… that the political moment the tribunal chose to issue its political indictment is directly linked to ongoing preparations for a new Israeli war on Lebanon’s resistance (Hezbollah) and possibly Syria.
Ra’uf Shahuri in Al-Anwar
The surprise was complete after Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati said during a news conference that his government would act responsibly and realistically … In a few days’ time, the STL indictment will be swept under the carpet.
Editorial in Al-Quds Al-Arabi
The question that strongly arises after the indictments is how Mikati’s government will deal with the mechanisms to implement the decision especially the aspect of arrests?… The indictments and the timing might be a provocation not only for Hezbollah but its allies in Syria and Iran to push them to get involved in a war on Lebanese territory as they will not simply stand by and watch the party being attacked… The whole region is open for all possibilities, including civil and sectarian war.
Basim al-Jasar in Al-Sharq al-Awsat
Najib Mikati’s government will not live happy days and Lebanon will not know a promising summer or a cool spring. Things will remain pending and breaths will stay held awaiting developments in Syria.
Smadar Peri in Yediot Aharonot
What will happen when the Lebanese government ignores the charge sheets and the extradition warrants against four Hezbollah activists and does not co-operate with the international court in The Hague? We will very soon discover, because this is exactly what is going to happen … If someone by chance dares to go [to Hezbollah headquarters] and wave the charge sheets, he will not come out of there on his feet.
Boaz Bismuth in Yisrael Hayom
Lebanon is nervous and rightly so, because the indictments hint that Lebanon is again entering a period of uncertainty. Sunni Prime Minister Mikati promised to respect the wish of the international community. However, the composition of his government and Hezbollah’s right of veto torpedo any possible goodwill on his part.
Jonathan Spyer in The Jerusalem Post
Hezbollah has the hard power simply to refuse to co-operate with the tribunal, and to prevent by force any attempt to apprehend its members.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Ofqual waited for the exam season to end before beginning its inquiry Exams regulator Ofqual has launched an inquiry into a string of errors in this summer’s exam papers.
The regulator said it would be trying to find the root causes of the 10 blunders that have emerged over the past few weeks.
Three exam boards in England and one in Northern Ireland have experienced problems with errors in their papers.
Deputy chair of Ofqual, Sandra Burslem, said the body had made it clear that exam paper errors were unacceptable.
She said: “Ofqual’s priorities during the exam season were to make sure the awarding organisations did everything possible to prevent further errors and to make sure that, where errors have occurred, the marking of papers neither unfairly advantages or disadvantages the candidates involved.
“Now that the taking of exams is over we turn our attention to an inquiry.”
She said the inquiry would hold the exam boards to account for their mistakes by finding out what had caused the errors and how they could be put right.
It would also look at the need for any necessary improvements and arrangements for risk management. And it would set out any decisions on further regulatory action related to the errors.
She added: “The regulators will not hesitate to take regulatory action as necessary at any stage to protect the interests of students.”
So far 10 errors have been identified on exam papers from three exam boards in England, OCR, AQA and Edexcel, and one board in Northern Ireland, CCEA.
Ofqual said it would continue to work to ensure that any candidates faced with exam errors were not unfairly disadvantaged or advantaged as a result.
National Union of Students vice-president for further education Toni Pearce welcomed the inquiry, saying: “It is vital that students are able to have full confidence in the exam paper in front of them.
“We have heard from many students worried about the added stress of wondering if a difficult question is in fact unanswerable.
“It is unacceptable for exam boards to let even one error slip through and they should be forced to compensate every student who feels they have been disadvantaged by exam board error.”
Dr Jim Sinclair, director of the Joint Council for Qualifications, which represents exam boards, said the council welcomed the inquiry and would continue to work with the regulators to identify the causes of the errors.
“This inquiry builds on the rigorous investigations awarding bodies are carrying out within their own organisations.
“The examination system is huge, and the questions and papers that contained errors – although unacceptable – represent a tiny proportion of the total number. Each year awarding bodies set more than 60,000 questions.”
He said awarding bodies deeply regretted the errors that occurred and apologised to students who took the papers.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Google’s Street View cars took snaps and scooped up data from wi-fi networks Google could be sued for scooping up data from open wi-fi networks after a US court ruling.
A judge in San Francisco decided that the company’s actions may have violated federal laws on wire tapping.
Google had tried to have the class action lawsuit thrown out, claiming that anyone could have intercepted the wireless signals.
It had previously admitted collecting the data by mistake while gathering images for its Street View service.
Since the blunder was revealed, Google has stopped its Street View cars logging wi-fi networks.
The problem was discovered in 2010 when German data protection officials asked the company what information its Street View photography cars were collecting.
As well as taking panoramic images, it emerged that they also logged wi-fi networks to help with the search firm’s location services.
That involved sampling packets of data from wireless hotspots. On open, unencrypted networks the system grabbed logins, passwords and other personal details. About 600MB of data was collected in 30 countries.
At the time, Google apologised for its action, blaming a coding error, and pledged to delete the data.
The revelation led to investigations in several countries. France fined Google 100,000 euros (£87,000) over the breach.
In the US, a class action lawsuit was brought on behalf of plaintiffs from nine states. The case is being heard in California where Google’s headquarters is located.
The company tried to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the data gathering was inadvertent. It also said that anyone could have intercepted the transmissions.
“the law doesn’t clearly cover that issue right now and that the law is really a mess.”
Jim Dempsey Center for Democracy and Technology
US District Court Judge James Ware disagreed and said that just because a wi-fi network was open did not mean it was meant to be public.
“Merely pleading that a network is unencrypted does not render that network readily accessible to the general public,” Judge Ware wrote in his decision.
The fact that Google used some specialist equipment meant it was was liable for prosecution under federal wire tap laws.
Judge Ware threw out several other elements of the complaint against Google, relating to state laws on wire tapping and unfair competition.
In a statement, the company dismissed the claims and said it would consider the latest ruling before deciding whether to launch an appeal.
US laws on wire tapping were in need of updating, said Jim Dempsey, a privacy expert at the Center for Democracy & Technology.
The laws were last updated in the late 1980s to address such things as CB radio and baby monitors, he said.
“I don’t think anyone doubts that it should be illegal to intercept someone’s communications,” said Mr Dempsey.
“But I think it’s equally clear that the law doesn’t clearly cover that issue right now and that the law is really a mess.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Google’s Street View cars took snaps and scooped up data from wi-fi networks Google could be sued for scooping up data from open wi-fi networks after a US court ruling.
A judge in San Francisco decided that the company’s actions may have violated federal laws on wire tapping.
Google had tried to have the class action lawsuit thrown out, claiming that anyone could have intercepted the wireless signals.
It had previously admitted collecting the data by mistake while gathering images for its Street View service.
Since the blunder was revealed, Google has stopped its Street View cars logging wi-fi networks.
The problem was discovered in 2010 when German data protection officials asked the company what information its Street View photography cars were collecting.
As well as taking panoramic images, it emerged that they also logged wi-fi networks to help with the search firm’s location services.
That involved sampling packets of data from wireless hotspots. On open, unencrypted networks the system grabbed logins, passwords and other personal details. About 600MB of data was collected in 30 countries.
At the time, Google apologised for its action, blaming a coding error, and pledged to delete the data.
The revelation led to investigations in several countries. France fined Google 100,000 euros (£87,000) over the breach.
In the US, a class action lawsuit was brought on behalf of plaintiffs from nine states. The case is being heard in California where Google’s headquarters is located.
The company tried to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the data gathering was inadvertent. It also said that anyone could have intercepted the transmissions.
“the law doesn’t clearly cover that issue right now and that the law is really a mess.”
Jim Dempsey Center for Democracy and Technology
US District Court Judge James Ware disagreed and said that just because a wi-fi network was open did not mean it was meant to be public.
“Merely pleading that a network is unencrypted does not render that network readily accessible to the general public,” Judge Ware wrote in his decision.
The fact that Google used some specialist equipment meant it was was liable for prosecution under federal wire tap laws.
Judge Ware threw out several other elements of the complaint against Google, relating to state laws on wire tapping and unfair competition.
In a statement, the company dismissed the claims and said it would consider the latest ruling before deciding whether to launch an appeal.
US laws on wire tapping were in need of updating, said Jim Dempsey, a privacy expert at the Center for Democracy & Technology.
The laws were last updated in the late 1980s to address such things as CB radio and baby monitors, he said.
“I don’t think anyone doubts that it should be illegal to intercept someone’s communications,” said Mr Dempsey.
“But I think it’s equally clear that the law doesn’t clearly cover that issue right now and that the law is really a mess.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The auction drew interest from major tech companies such as Apple, Google, Microsoft and Intel Bankrupt telecoms firm Nortel has sold its remaining patent portfolio for $4.5bn (£2.8bn) to a consortium of six firms including Apple and Microsoft.
The other consortium members are Sony, Research In Motion, Ericsson, and EMC.
The auction of Nortel’s assets had been hotly contested, with Google and Intel losing out.
The sale included more than 6,000 patents and patent applications including areas such as data networking and semiconductors.
“The size and dollar value for this transaction is unprecedented, as was the significant interest in the portfolio among major companies around the world,” said George Riedel, chief strategy officer at Nortel.
Google had opened the bidding in April at $900m.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The European Commission wants to make roaming rates the same as domestic rates by 2015 The cost of making and receiving mobile phone calls while travelling in Europe has come down again.
From today, operators cannot charge more than 32p per minute (plus VAT) for outgoing calls, and 10p per minute (plus VAT) for incoming calls.
The new tariffs are the latest in a series of annual price reductions forced on the mobile industry by the European Commission.
Brussels has said it aims to equalise roaming and domestic charges by 2015.
Price regulation was introduced in 2007 by the then commissioner for information society and media, Viviane Reding.
Since then, the maximum call charge has been reduced by approximately 6% per year.
A group of UK mobile operators – O2, Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile – attempted to challenge the Commission’s price-cutting agenda, taking their case to the European Court of Justice.
However, their complaint was dismissed in June 2010.
Along with the lower rates for phone calls, the commission also reduced the wholesale rate of mobile data from 80 euro cents (72p) to 50 euro cents (45p) per megabyte.
Whereas the price cap on voice calls applies directly to the way consumers are billed, the data changes only affect what operators charge each other. There is an expectation, rather than obligation to pass-on the savings.
Operators are compelled to place a 50 euro (£45) cap on users’ data consumption, in order to avoid unexpectedly high bills. Customers who wish to continue their data roaming can request to have the limit removed.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The European Commission wants to make roaming rates the same as domestic rates by 2015 The cost of making and receiving mobile phone calls while travelling in Europe has come down again.
From today, operators cannot charge more than 32p per minute (plus VAT) for outgoing calls, and 10p per minute (plus VAT) for incoming calls.
The new tariffs are the latest in a series of annual price reductions forced on the mobile industry by the European Commission.
Brussels has said it aims to equalise roaming and domestic charges by 2015.
Price regulation was introduced in 2007 by the then commissioner for information society and media, Viviane Reding.
Since then, the maximum call charge has been reduced by approximately 6% per year.
A group of UK mobile operators – O2, Vodafone, Orange and T-Mobile – attempted to challenge the Commission’s price-cutting agenda, taking their case to the European Court of Justice.
However, their complaint was dismissed in June 2010.
Along with the lower rates for phone calls, the commission also reduced the wholesale rate of mobile data from 80 euro cents (72p) to 50 euro cents (45p) per megabyte.
Whereas the price cap on voice calls applies directly to the way consumers are billed, the data changes only affect what operators charge each other. There is an expectation, rather than obligation to pass-on the savings.
Operators are compelled to place a 50 euro (£45) cap on users’ data consumption, in order to avoid unexpectedly high bills. Customers who wish to continue their data roaming can request to have the limit removed.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Bjork gave the first full performance of the songs from her nature-themed concept album Biophilia A musical lightning generator and four harp-playing pendulums were among the custom-made instruments unveiled by Bjork as she opened her world tour.
The Icelandic singer performed the first date of her Biophilia tour on Thursday to launch the Manchester International Festival.
The festival specialises in staging music, theatre and art premieres.
Bjork’s concert also involved a 24-piece all-female Icelandic choir and a voice-over from Sir David Attenborough.
With voluminous ginger hair and a purple robe, Bjork gave the first full performance of songs from her forthcoming album Biophilia.
It is a concept album about nature with songs inspired by such themes as DNA, tectonic plates and crystals.
The concert’s opening song Thunderbolt featured two Tesla coils – electrical columns that shoot out small bolts of lightning to generate musical notes.
The “sharpsichord” was among the bespoke instruments made for the tour Four “gravity harps” were made from 10ft (3m) pendulums that plucked strings as they swung back and forth during a song about gravity.
Other newly-invented instruments included a “sharpsichord”, a large cylinder with protruding pins that played a harpsichord as they were turned, and a “gameleste”, a kind of piano that had been adapted so glockenspiel-style bronze bars were struck as notes were played.
Bjork approached Sir David Attenborough to take part after drawing inspiration for the album from his natural history programmes. She recently said he was her “rock star” when she was growing up.
The singer watched hundreds of video clips from his landmark shows to get inspiration for her songs and concert visuals.
The story of so-called zombie snails, which are invaded by parasites and were seen in Sir David’s Trials Of Life series, has been incorporated into one song.
The Graduale Nobili choir accompanied Bjork on stage Footage of three-foot worms and carnivorous starfish feasting on a seal carcass at the bottom of the Antarctic, from the Life series, was shown on screens during the show.
Sir David recorded his introductory voice-over hours before the concert on Thursday. “He’s been a constant source of inspiration for the project,” the Biophilia project co-ordinator James Merry said.
The concert took place in front of 1,800 fans in a Victorian former fruit and vegetable market, which has more recently been used to store a Spitfire aeroplane and other items from the Museum of Science and Industry.
Bjork has said she wants Biophilia to be a multi-media experience combining music, technology and nature.
As well as a standard album and tour, the project involves a series of iPad and iPhone applications that let fans play with and create their own versions of the songs.
The apps also include a brand new system of musical notation devised by Bjork as well as academic essays explaining the ideas behind the tracks.
She will now play two shows a week at Campfield Market Hall for the next three weeks before taking the show to eight cities around the world over the coming two years.
Thursday’s concert opened the third Manchester International Festival, which aims to put the city on the global cultural map by hosting new works by respected performers.
The festival began in 2007 and takes place every two years.
This year’s other highlights include an opera by Blur and Gorillaz frontman Damon Albarn. Dr Dee, which tells the story of 16th Century alchemist, astrologer and spy John Dee, opens on Friday.
Victoria Wood is staging a new musical play about a 1920s Manchester children’s choir, while performance artist Marina Abramovic and theatre company Punchdrunk are also showcasing original productions.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Ofqual waited for the exam season to end before beginning its inquiry Exams regulator Ofqual has launched an inquiry into a string of errors in this summer’s exam papers.
The regulator said it would be trying to find the root causes of the 10 blunders that have emerged over the past few weeks.
Three exam boards in England and one in Northern Ireland have experienced problems with errors in their papers.
Deputy chair of Ofqual, Sandra Burslem, said the body had made it clear that exam paper errors were unacceptable.
She said: “Ofqual’s priorities during the exam season were to make sure the awarding organisations did everything possible to prevent further errors and to make sure that, where errors have occurred, the marking of papers neither unfairly advantages or disadvantages the candidates involved.
“Now that the taking of exams is over we turn our attention to an inquiry.”
She said the inquiry would hold the exam boards to account for their mistakes by finding out what had caused the errors and how they could be put right.
It would also look at the need for any necessary improvements and arrangements for risk management. And it would set out any decisions on further regulatory action related to the errors.
She added: “The regulators will not hesitate to take regulatory action as necessary at any stage to protect the interests of students.”
So far 10 errors have been identified on exam papers from three exam boards in England, OCR, AQA and Edexcel, and one board in Northern Ireland, CCEA.
Ofqual said it would continue to work to ensure that any candidates faced with exam errors were not unfairly disadvantaged or advantaged as a result.
National Union of Students vice-president for further education Toni Pearce welcomed the inquiry, saying: “It is vital that students are able to have full confidence in the exam paper in front of them.
“We have heard from many students worried about the added stress of wondering if a difficult question is in fact unanswerable.
“It is unacceptable for exam boards to let even one error slip through and they should be forced to compensate every student who feels they have been disadvantaged by exam board error.”
Dr Jim Sinclair, director of the Joint Council for Qualifications, which represents exam boards, said the council welcomed the inquiry and would continue to work with the regulators to identify the causes of the errors.
“This inquiry builds on the rigorous investigations awarding bodies are carrying out within their own organisations.
“The examination system is huge, and the questions and papers that contained errors – although unacceptable – represent a tiny proportion of the total number. Each year awarding bodies set more than 60,000 questions.”
He said awarding bodies deeply regretted the errors that occurred and apologised to students who took the papers.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Ofqual waited for the exam season to end before beginning its inquiry Exams regulator Ofqual has launched an inquiry into a string of errors in this summer’s exam papers.
The regulator said it would be trying to find the root causes of the 10 blunders that have emerged over the past few weeks.
Three exam boards in England and one in Northern Ireland have experienced problems with errors in their papers.
Deputy chair of Ofqual, Sandra Burslem, said the body had made it clear that exam paper errors were unacceptable.
She said: “Ofqual’s priorities during the exam season were to make sure the awarding organisations did everything possible to prevent further errors and to make sure that, where errors have occurred, the marking of papers neither unfairly advantages or disadvantages the candidates involved.
“Now that the taking of exams is over we turn our attention to an inquiry.”
She said the inquiry would hold the exam boards to account for their mistakes by finding out what had caused the errors and how they could be put right.
It would also look at the need for any necessary improvements and arrangements for risk management. And it would set out any decisions on further regulatory action related to the errors.
She added: “The regulators will not hesitate to take regulatory action as necessary at any stage to protect the interests of students.”
So far 10 errors have been identified on exam papers from three exam boards in England, OCR, AQA and Edexcel, and one board in Northern Ireland, CCEA.
Ofqual said it would continue to work to ensure that any candidates faced with exam errors were not unfairly disadvantaged or advantaged as a result.
National Union of Students vice-president for further education Toni Pearce welcomed the inquiry, saying: “It is vital that students are able to have full confidence in the exam paper in front of them.
“We have heard from many students worried about the added stress of wondering if a difficult question is in fact unanswerable.
“It is unacceptable for exam boards to let even one error slip through and they should be forced to compensate every student who feels they have been disadvantaged by exam board error.”
Dr Jim Sinclair, director of the Joint Council for Qualifications, which represents exam boards, said the council welcomed the inquiry and would continue to work with the regulators to identify the causes of the errors.
“This inquiry builds on the rigorous investigations awarding bodies are carrying out within their own organisations.
“The examination system is huge, and the questions and papers that contained errors – although unacceptable – represent a tiny proportion of the total number. Each year awarding bodies set more than 60,000 questions.”
He said awarding bodies deeply regretted the errors that occurred and apologised to students who took the papers.
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The by-election is being held following the death of MP David Cairns Polling stations have closed in Inverclyde to elect a new member of the UK Parliament.
Labour is defending a 14,416-vote majority in the seat, which is also being contested by the Conservatives, SNP, Liberal Democrats and UKIP.
The by-election is being held to find a replacement for David Cairns who died from acute pancreatitis in May at the age of 44.
A result is expected in the early hours of Friday morning.
Sophie Bridger is standing for the Liberal Democrats, Iain McKenzie for Labour, Anne McLaughlin for the SNP, Mitch Sorbie for the UK Independence Party and David Wilson for the Conservatives.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.