Category: news

Hundreds of indigenous Brazilians are protesting in the capital, Brasilia, against the construction of what will be the world’s third biggest hydro-electric dam.

An indigenous leader delivered a petition opposing the project signed by more than half a million people.

Environmentalists say the dam in the Amazon river basin will harm the world’s biggest tropical rainforest.

Brazilian Energy Minister Edison Lobao said construction would begin soon.

Mr Lobao said the population which would be affected by the Belo Monte dam would be compensated and resettled.

But indigenous leader Raoni said he was convinced the dam would bring “bad things” to his tribe’s villages.

‘There’ll be war’

“We don’t want Belo Monte because it will destroy our rivers, our jungle and our way of life,” he added.

Another tribal leader said he and his tribe had not been given enough information about the project.

Ireo Kayapo said that if his tribe were to be driven from its land, “there’ll be war and blood will be spilled”.

Wearing their traditional headdresses, tribal leaders delivered a petition signed by more than 600,000 people demanding the government scrap the $10bn project.

Licences still have to be granted for the actual building of the plant, but last month Brazilian environment agency Ibama gave the go-ahead for the clearing of the land at the site of the planned dam.

The government says the Belo Monte dam is crucial for development and will create jobs, as well as provide electricity to 23 million homes.

The 11,000-megawatt dam would be the biggest in the world after the Three Gorges in China and Itaipu, which is jointly run by Brazil and Paraguay.

It has long been a source of controversy, with bidding halted three times before the state-owned Companhia Hidro Eletrica do Sao Francisco was awarded the contract last year.

Celebrities such as the singer Sting and film director James Cameron have joined environmentalists in their campaign against the project.

They say the 6km (3.7 miles) dam will threaten the survival of a number of indigenous groups and could make some 50,000 people homeless, as 500 sq km (190 sq miles) of land would be flooded.

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

A controversial law firm that sent letters to alleged illegal file sharers has been told it cannot drop its cases to “avoid public scrutiny”.

ACS:Law contacted thousands of people accusing them of illegally downloading movies and songs and demanding payments of £500 to avoid court action.

Cases against 26 of them proceeded, before the company attempted to pull out of prosecution at the last minute.

Now a judge had criticised the firm for its methods.

“I cannot imagine a system better designed to create disincentives to test the issues in court,” said Judge Ian Birss at the Patents County Court in London.

The case stems from a letter-writing campaign by ACS:Law and its partner company MediaCAT, which sent an undisclosed number of notices to alleged file sharers demanding they pay a fine or face the prospect of costly legal action.

Some of those contacted paid up, but it later emerged that the two companies had been taking 65% of the fines collected, with the minority of the money being passed back to the copyright holders in question, most of whom remain anonymous.

Those tactics – known as “speculative invoicing” – had come in for heavy criticism from those who claimed that the action was unfair.

Consumer group Which? said it had found several instances where plainly innocent people had received the demands.

The concerns stepped up last month when the head of ACS:Law, solicitor Andrew Crossley, suddenly told the court he wanted to withdraw all of the cases.

Mr Crossley blamed a campaign of harassment and threats that had “caused immense hassle to me and my family”.

But the court said that the move was confusing and gave the impression that ACS:Law was attempting to avoid scrutiny.

Judge Birss added that the case could not be discontinued, since the copyright holders themselves should be given time to take further action if they wanted, but strongly criticised the tactics used by the two companies.

“Why take cases to court and test the assertions when one can just write more letters and collect payments from a portion of the recipients?”

Mr Crossley, who was not present in court, had said that he fully intended to prosecute the cases before pulling out.

The judgment, however, cast doubt on that – pointing out that one of the reasons given for discontinuing the cases was that crucial documents were in storage.

“If true, it is extraordinary,” said the ruling. “A party who keeps key documents which are cited in the particulars of claim in storage is not a party anxious to progress their claim in court.”

ACS:Law announced that it was shutting down last week, and MediaCAT has also been wound up.

Mr Crossley is now the subject of an investigation by the Solicitors Regulation Authority.

Lawyers acting for some of the 26 defendants said they were pleased the complex case had been treated properly.

“The judgment highlights a number of legal and technical difficulties with these case, which we had advised our clients of throughout,” said Michael Forrester of law firm Ralli, which represented some of the defendants.

“We are dealing with cases where consumers have explained how they cannot possibly have uploaded or downloaded copyright protected material, but they are still pursued.”

The court gave MediaCAT and the copyright owners in question 14 days to join the action before it faces being struck out.

A further hearing is set for 16 March, when applications to award costs are also likely to be discussed.

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

Labour has warned that Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) are set to close “up and down the country” as a result of funding cuts, demanding to know: “Where are people to turn to for advice?”

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

A fire has broken out at Ivory Coast’s treasury, destroying financial documents in the main city, Abidjan.

The cause of the blaze in the high-rise building was not clear but several floors were damaged before it was brought under control.

The international community is trying to force Laurent Gbagbo to accept defeat at least year’s elections.

Last month, Mr Gbagbo’s allies seized regional bank offices after officials refused to accept his signature.

The UN, backed by Western powers and the African Union, says Alassane Ouattara won the election and so the West African central bank said it would only obey his orders.

Ivory Coast is one of eight countries which use a common currency – the CFA franc, which is tied to the euro.

Mr Ouattara has also tried to increase financial pressure on Mr Gbagbo by calling for a halt to cocoa exports in the world’s largest producer.

On Monday, there were clashes between Mr Gbagbo’s security forces and Ouattara supporters in parts of Abidjan.

Two police stations were ransacked and three bodies were found later, reports the AFP news agency.

Mr Ouattara remains blockaded in a hotel in Abidjan, protected by UN peacekeepers and former rebels who still control northern areas.

November’s presidential vote was supposed to reunify the country, which has been divided between north and south since a conflict in 2002.

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

Warren Gatland hands James Hook Wales’ playmaker role for their Six Nations trip to Scotland – but tells him to be more “conservative.”

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

The Community Safety Minister Fergus Ewing gives evidence to the Justice Committee as it considers the Long Leases Bill on 8 February 2011.

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

Hundreds of pupils at a west London school are protesting in support of a teacher who was dismissed over “child protection issues”.

The male teacher was sacked from Villiers High School in Southall on Monday after an internal investigation, headteacher Juliet Strang said.

Students began their protest at 0800 GMT after hearing about the dismissal.

Pupils who organised the protests said the accusations that led to the sacking were false.

It is understood the teacher was sacked, pending an appeal, following a hearing at the school on Friday.

The same day a 14-year-old boy was cautioned for a public order offence after being arrested outside the school when a disturbance broke out.

One pupil who had helped organise Tuesday’s demonstration claimed up to 500 pupils had skipped lessons to protest at the school gates.

He said all year groups were involved and that more pupils had been due to join the protest at lunchtime.

The headteacher said she was allowing the pupils to protest peacefully “provided” they remained in a safe place.

“It’s more or less a peaceful protest – we are just letting them work out their protest,” she said.

Ms Strang said one of the teacher’s representatives had leaked the information to the pupils through other members of staff.

“That should never have happened,” she insisted.

“All of this should be confidential and dealt with an a totally confidential way.”

She said the leaks were part of an “orchestrated campaign to wind up students” and said the school, which has a total of nearly 1,230 pupils, was looking into its legal position.

“There are people with bigger political agendas who are out to destroy the school,” she added.

“They are from outside the school but they have created a situation inside the school.”

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

A riot in a prison in northern Brazil has left at least six inmates dead, some of whom have been decapitated, reports say.

The clashes broke out late on Monday at a prison some 330km (205 miles) from Sao Luis, in Maranhao state.

According to Brazilian media sources, some of the prisoners who died had been imprisoned for paedophilia.

Prisoners went on the rampage to protest at overcrowding after a failed attempt to escape, O Globo reports.

“The prisoners say that six of the inmates have been killed, and some have been decapitated and the heads hung on the bars,” Pinheiro regional commissioner Laura Amelia Barbosa is quoted by AFP as telling a local radio station.

She said the standoff, involving 90 prisoners, was still ongoing and described the atmosphere as “tense”.

There are frequent riots in Brazilian prisons, which are often overcrowded.

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

Apple is being warned against trying to squeeze cash out of the newspaper industry by controlling subscriptions for iPads and iPhones.

The European Newspaper Publishers’ Association (ENPA) says it is concerned by the company’s plans to direct online sales through iTunes.

If that happens, the ENPA warns, a large cut of their profits would go to Apple.

However, the technology giant insists it wants to give customers choice.

Several European Newspapers claim that Apple has banned them from offering free electronic editions to their print customers.

The move sparked industry speculation that a further clampdown was imminent.

Publishers’ main concern is that users will not be allowed to subscribe via newspapers’ own websites.

In a statement, the ENPA said: “consumers may only have access to the newspaper of their choice via the iTunes store, where the transaction would be subject to commission.”

Apple currently receives a 30% share of revenue from apps and eBooks sold this way.

Publishers are also worried that if Apple takes control of sales, they could lose access to subscribers’ personal information.

Details such as age, sex and location are useful when selling advertising.

Apple declined to comment on the ENPA’s criticism.

The company has previously denied that it plans to stop users from buying subscriptions through publishers’ own websites.

However, it has introduced a rule that newspaper apps must include an option to purchase through iTunes.

Critics argue that the ease of “in app” subscription means most users will opt for Apple’s preferred method.

In a related move, Belgium’s economy minister has called for an official investigation into Apple’s plans to sell e-newspapers.

Vincent Van Quickenborne has suggested that the company may be abusing its dominant position in the market.

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

Readers have shared a long list of distinctively-named local papers after reading the Magazine’s feature on some attention-grabbing newspaper names.

The debate was sparked by the launch of News Corp’s iPad paper, which has the rather simple moniker, The Daily.

Now readers have come up with some of the imaginatively-titled papers from around the globe.

Here are 50 of the most distinguished.

1. How about Enniskillen, County Fermanagh’s Impartial Reporter?

Fergus Sullivan, San Francisco, California, US

2. My favourite is from a small town near the Missouri state capital, Linn. Their paper is the Unterrified Democrat.

Janet Breid, Columbia, Missouri, US

3. New Orleans has rejoiced in the Times-Picayune for many, many years, even though it is anything but picayune in my book.

E S Holmans, London

4. The Arran Banner is the only newspaper named after a potato. The Banner was one of a number of potato varieties developed by local Donald McKelvie in 1927, on the plot of land where the Arran High School now stands. The Arran Banner is the weekly newspaper for the Isle of Arran in Scotland.

John C, Macclesfield, UK

5. I know it wasn’t a national newspaper, but our Sixth Form had an underground publication called the Egregious Hippogriff for a while. There are some interesting names of student publications across the country.

Chad Gething, London

6. Fidel Castro and his Marxist followers landed in Cuba from a boat called Granma. Once the revolution had succeeded, the national daily paper was renamed Granma and remains so to this day. A friend is just back from a Cuban Holiday and confirmed that Granma is still on sale.

J King, Pilton, Somerset, England

7. The Falmouth Packet is the very long-standing local newspaper in Falmouth, Cornwall. It gets its name from the packet ships – the fast mail-carrying sailing ships which used to arrive in Falmouth.

Katie D, London

8. My favourite newspaper title is in Broken Hill, Australia – the Barrier Daily Truth. Could there be a better title for what a newspaper is supposed to do – tell the truth?

Roger Stonebanks, Victoria, Canada

9. My hometown newspaper back in Massachusetts is the Carlisle Mosquito.

Will Harte, Iowa City, US

10. You forgot about the Onion!

Josh Barton, London

11. The Tombstone Epitaph (Tombstone, Arizona, US) has not been around for years but it is an unusual name.

Dan Macry, Austin, Texas, US

12. I’m a cataloguer with the California Newspaper Project. The strangest title I’ve run across in almost 12 years at this job is actually a title from the state of Nevada which was publishing early in the 20th Century: the Bullfrog Miner. Don’t ask – I have no idea what they were thinking.

Christine, Riverside, California

13. In Japan there is an English-language newspaper called The Mainichi Daily. “Mainichi” in Japanese means daily so the paper is the Daily Daily.

Robin Bulow, London

14 & 15. Surely the most pleasing name must be the Bunyip, published in the South Australian country town of Gawler. The Bunyip is a mythical beast derived from aboriginal lore, and said to inhabit billabongs, rivers etc. Less bizarre, but usually provoking laughter from non-Victorians who know it not, is Sunraysia Daily – published in Mildura in Northern Victoria, centre of the Sunraysia grape-growing and citrus fruits district.

Murray Hedgcock, London

16. One of Canada’s oldest newspapers is the venerable Kingston Whig Standard.

Kevin Hill, Winnipeg, Canada

17. My hometown paper in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, Canada, is called the Casket.

Margaret Chernosky, Bangor, Maine, US

18. How about the Saskatoon StarPhoenix (originally two papers, the Saskatoon Daily Star and the Saskatoon Phoenix, which merged in 1928).

Clara, Saskatoon, Canada

19. Tourists always get confused by the West Highland Free Press. When I worked in a Skye petrol station, I used to have to gently point out to some customers that the paper was not actually free!

Kate, UK

20 & 21. Ohio has a number of wonderful newspaper titles, including Cleveland’s Plain Dealer [which featured in the 10 unusual newspaper names feature]. But can you beat either the Toledo Blade or the Youngstown Vindicator?

Kevin Cox, Columbus, Ohio US

22. Not my local paper, but the Royston Crow is my favourite title. Where did that come from?

Chris Ward, Beckenham, UK

23. The strangest newspaper name in Oxfordshire has to be the Banbury Cake. It’s bizarrely inappropriate, but wonderfully memorable. I can’t decide whether it’s the work of a complete lunatic or a marketing genius.

Anonymous, Oxfordshire, UK

24. Southport Visiter – why is the spelling odd?

Alan Breeze, Bebington, Wirral, UK

25. The Bloomington, Illinois, Pantagraph has always been a favourite of mine dating back to my journalism school days.

K, Farmington, Connecticut, US

26. Louisville Eccentric Observer, now officially the LEO Weekly or just LEO (pronounced Leo, not L-E-O).

J.J., Louiseville, Kentucky, US

27 & 28. In the 1970s I was a reporter on a newspaper in Memphis, Tennessee, called the Memphis Press-Scimitar. I loved the name because it seemed to reflect a kind of romantic journalism I wanted to practise. Sadly the Press-Scimitar is no longer published, but the other Memphis newspaper, the Commercial Appeal, still is. Quite a different feel to that name.

David Flynn, Nashville, Tennessee, US

29. My small riverside town has the Grand River Sachem, a sachem being a rather highly-ranked chief among the natives.

Ed Gilliam, Caledonia, Ontario, Canada

30. In Bel Air, Maryland (where I grew up) the local paper is called the Aegis, after Zeus’ impenetrable goat-skin breastplate armour. I always enjoyed the locals not being able to even pronounce it, let alone know what it was named for.

Sharon Wielechowski, Baltimore, Maryland, US

31. My home town is St. Anthony, on the Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland. “Peninsula” is sometimes shortened to “Pen”, and so the local newspaper, which services the entire peninsula, is called the Northern Pen.

Ford Elms, St. John’s, Newfoundland

32. You missed the Sacramento Bee.

Justin Ward, Glasgow, Scotland

33. Surely the Burlington Hawkeye deserves a place in this list?

Forest Hill, Australia

34. The Keswick Reminder is the gentlest of newspapers, its few pages are packed with useful information! It is North Lakeland’s local newspaper; founded February 1896.

A Middleton, Kendal, Cumbria, UK

35. Three years ago we merged four small weekly newspapers, all located within Labette County Kansas. We needed to find a newspaper name that would be acceptable to all four towns, and we chose Labette Avenue. I would doubt if there’s another “Avenue” newspaper name in the world.

Rudy Taylor, Oswego, Kansas, US

36.Our local rag is the Kenora Daily Miner and News.

Jan Richardson, Kenora, Ontario, Canada

37. Here’s an American favourite newspaper title, in Colorado – Boulder Daily Camera.

Roger Stonebanks, Victoria, Canada

38. I know it’s fictitious, but I’ve always liked the name of the newspaper in King of the Hill – the Arlen Bystander.

Simon, Edinburgh, Scotland

39. Chester’s weekly paper is called the Chester Chronicle. It is, unfortunately and frequently, shortened to the Chronic.

Clare, Chester, UK

40. The morning newspaper in Lancaster, Pennsylvania was named the Intelligencer Journal. To save money, it merged with the afternoon newspaper a couple of years ago and is now the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era.

Andrew, Pennsylvania, US

41. My local paper is the Hunterdon County Democrat. This invokes a degree of irony considering the fact that they have had a conservative Republican bias for years.

Bruce Pierson, Glen Gardner, New Jersey, US

42. There is quite large a regional newspaper based in Bologna, Italy called Il resto del Carlino – the change from a “Carlino”, which was a local coin in usage when the paper was founded.

Richie, Brussels, Belgium

43. Surely the Salvation Army newspaper the War Cry must be pretty high on an unusual name list. Still going after 100 years.

Rhys Hughes. Broadstairs, UK

44. Sheffield has the Green ‘Un, which is so named because it is green.

Ian, London

45. I do like Offaly Independent!

Johnny, Edinburgh, Scotland

46. I have a list of all the newspapers (those registered with Newspaper Society) in the UK. Your Leek Paper is one of the more unusual ones.

Nick, Birmingham, UK

47. My last job before retirement in 2006 was that of editor of the Banffshire Journal. Back in the 1800s its full title was Banffshire Journal, Aberdeenshire Mail, Moray, Nairn, and Inverness Review, and Northern Farmer. Can anyone beat that for length?

Mike George, Portgordon, Scotland

48. In Bradford, where I grew up, the local paper is called the Telegraph and Argus. Telegraph, bringing news from a long way away, and Argus, after the mythological all-seeing giant who had 100 eyes. You can rely on it to cover all the news!

Michael d’Arcy, London

49. There is the Huddersfield Examiner. A great local paper serving the Kirklees area of West Yorkshire.

Karen, London

….and finally, it’s not always the name that’s different…

50. A paper with an ordinary name but a lovely slogan, is the Charlottetown Guardian from Prince Edward Island. It’s slogan says it “covers Prince Edward Island like the dew”.

Judy Langford, Saskatchewan, Canada

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