Google has pledged to ‘aggressively’ invest
Google’s latest quarterly results have beaten market expectations after it posted a 32% rise in profits.
The internet giant made a net profit of $2.17bn (£1.4bn) in the three months to 30 September, up from $1.6bn for the same period a year earlier.
Google thanked higher advertising revenues, but also the success of its newer businesses, such as its Android mobile phone operating system.
Its overall revenues were up 23% to $7.29bn.
Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said the company had enjoyed “an excellent quarter”.
He added: “Our core business grew very well, and our newer businesses – particularly display and mobile – continued to show significant momentum.
“Going forward, we remain committed to aggressive investment in both our people and our products as we pursue an innovation agenda.”
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Hillary Clinton said Nato members must make “appropriate” contributions
Hillary Clinton has admitted Washington is “worried” over the scale of the UK coalition government’s planned spending cuts on defence.
The US secretary of state told the BBC that Nato must be “maintained”, as it was “most successful” defensive alliance “in the history of the world”.
Mrs Clinton’s comments precede next week’s defence spending review, when the scale of cuts will be revealed.
Downing Street said an agreement had been “very nearly” finalised.
The Treasury has been pushing for a reduction of up to 10% on the £37bn Ministry of Defence budget between 2011 and 2015.
However, leading military figures the UK’s defensive capabilities must be maintained.
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Defence Secretary Liam Fox warned Prime Minister David Cameron, in a letter leaked last month, against imposing “draconian” cuts during a time when the UK is at war.
But Mr Cameron later said any fears over defence capabilities were “unfounded”.
Asked whether the scale of defence spending reductions in countries like the UK “worried” Washington, Mrs Clinton told BBC Parliament: “It does, and the reason it does is because I think we do have to have an alliance where there is a commitment to the common defence.
“Nato has been the most successful alliance for defensive purposes in the history of the world, I guess, but it has to be maintained.
“Now, each country has to be able to make its appropriate contributions.”
Mrs Clinton also said: “We face new and different threats. Of course there are cuts that we’re making but then there are new responsibilities, like cyber security or missile defence, that we’re going to have to assume.
“But I have great confidence in the commitment to Nato by member nations and I believe that, despite the budgetary pressures that we all feel, we will continue to be committed to our mutual efforts.”
For Labour, shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said: “We must ensure that we maintain our military effectiveness so that our partnerships and alliances in Afghanistan remain strong.
“There must be no cuts to defence budgets that would hamper our support for British troops on the front line.
“The government must avoid rushing through enormous cuts that could permanently damage our ability to fulfil our military commitments.”
Downing Street confirmed Mr Cameron had met defence chiefs for “probably” the last time before strategic defence and security review is announced next week.
The prime minister’s spokesman said negotiations were “very nearly there” in finalising the plans.
A spokeswoman said: “Hillary Clinton was talking about defence cuts across Europe and specifically in the context of Nato.
“She is absolutely right when she says that each country has to be able to make its appropriate contribution to common defence in Nato and Britain will always do that.”
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Peter Fahy hopes the project will give an insight into the work officers do
One of England’s biggest police forces will be “tweeting” every incident it deals with in the next 24 hours.
Greater Manchester Police (GMP) is using Twitter to give the public an idea of the workload officers face.
Chief Constable Peter Fahy said it would also give politicians an idea of the kind of incidents “not recognised in league tables and measurements”.
Officers are posting updates on three GMP feeds on the social networking site until 0500 BST on Friday.
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“Policing is often seen in very simple terms, with cops chasing robbers and locking them up,” said Mr Fahy.
“However, the reality is that this accounts for only part of the work they have to deal with.
“A lot of what we do is dealing with social problems such as missing children, people with mental health problems and domestic abuse.
“Often these incidents can be incredibly complex and need a lot of time, resource and expertise.
“I am not saying that we shouldn’t deal with these types of incidents, far from it, but what I am saying is that this work is not recognised in league tables and measurements, yet is a huge part of what we do.”
The event is being held as police forces face budget cuts expected in the government’s Spending Review on 20 October.
Mr Fahy believes police performance needs to be measured in a different way – and has called for rethink on how forces are funded.
“There needs to be more focus on how the public sector as a whole is working together to tackle society’s issues and problems,” he added.
“We see time and again the same families, the same areas and the same individuals causing the same problems and these people are causing a considerable drain to the public purse.
“Instead of the public sector organisations having separate pots of money, we could spend it more efficiently it were one big pot.
“This could be achieved by working together more effectively, by joining up and sharing the responsibility of the issues that we are all dealing with.”
GMP, like a number of other forces around the country, has been using Twitter to release information and appeals since last year.
Last month, Assistant Chief Constable Ian Hopkins tweeted updates on arrests and incidents during Manchester United’s Champions League clash against Rangers.
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
The capsule carrying Luis Urzua emerged to cheers, songs and applause
Chile’s president has said his country will never be the same again after the extraordinary rescue of the 33 miners trapped deep underground for 69 days.
Sebastian Pinera said he thought Chile was “more united and stronger than ever”, and “more valued” worldwide.
There were earlier ecstatic scenes as Luis Urzua, 54, the last miner out, emerged at the top of the rescue shaft.
The 22-hour operation saw each man being winched up in a narrow capsule. They have now been taken to hospital.
Some have severe dental infections, and others have eye problems as a result of living in the dirt and darkness of the mine. One has been diagnosed with pneumonia but his condition is not thought to be serious.
Health Minister Jaime Manalich nevertheless stressed that all appeared to be in far better condition than expected. No-one has survived as long trapped underground.
The miners were left with only 48 hours’ worth of rations when part of the San Jose copper and gold mine in Chile’s Atacama desert collapsed on 5 August. After 17 days of drilling, rescuers made contact.
President Pinera was waiting at the head of the 624m (2,047ft) rescue shaft at 2155 on Wednesday (0055 GMT on Thursday), when the capsule carrying Mr Urzua emerged to jubilant cheers, songs and applause. Rescuers quickly wrapped him in the flag of Chile.
At the scene
Camp Hope, a rather drab and dry affair in the middle of the Atacama desert, erupted in an explosion of colour and sound the moment the capsule carrying Luis Urzua, the last of the 33 miners to be rescued, broke the surface.
Champagne corks popped, balloons in the red, white and blue of the Chilean flag were released, and a rain of confetti and champagne descended on families, police and journalists alike.
Sisters, mothers, fathers and brothers, everyone hugged and danced in front of the screen relaying the images from the rescue shaft some 500m up the hill. Their shouts of joy carried through the clear and cold night. As has become tradition, they then sang the national anthem, arms interlocked, their T-shirts with pictures of the drill which dug the rescue shaft, soaked in champagne.
The shift supervisor at the mine, credited with helping the miners endure the early days of their ordeal, then embraced the president and said: “We have done what the entire world was waiting for.
“We had strength, we had spirit, we wanted to fight, we wanted to fight for our families, and that was the greatest thing.”
Describing him as a “great captain”, Mr Pinera replied: “You are not the same, and the country is not the same after this. You were an inspiration. Go hug your wife and your daughter.”
He then led the crowd in singing the Chilean national anthem. Watching the rescue on a big screen nearby, the miners’ friends and relatives were showered with champagne and confetti.
Six rescuers who were lowered into the mine to supervise the operation held up a banner saying “Mission accomplished.”
The last of them, Manuel Gonzalez – who was also the first rescuer to go down the shaft – returned to the surface just under two-and-a-half hours later. Before leaving the underground chamber, he turned to a video camera, bowed and waved in triumph.
In a televised address to the nation at the mine entrance, Mr Pinera said: “The miners are not the same people who got trapped on… 5 August. They have come out stronger, and they taught us a lesson. But Chile is not the same either.
President Pinera praises the miners, the families and the rescuers
“I think Chile today is more united and stronger than ever, and I think Chile today is more respected and more valued in the whole world.
“What ended up as a real blessing from God started as a possible tragedy. But the unity, the faith, the compromise, the honesty, the solidarity of the Chileans in those 69 days makes us very proud,” he added.
The 33 rescued miners are now being treated in two wards at the hospital in nearby Copiapo. The rooms have been darkened to allow the men to adjust to the light.
The BBC’s Rajesh Mirchandani, outside the hospital, says the eldest miner, Mario Gomez, 63, is being treated for pneumonia and the lung disease silicosis. The second man out of the mine, Mario Sepulveda, also has silicosis.
Order of rescue
Florencio Avalos (31), Mario Sepulveda (39), Juan Illanes (51), Carlos Mamani (23), Jimmy Sanchez (19), Osman Araya (30), Jose Ojeda (46), Claudio Yanez (34), Mario Gomez (63), Alex Vega (31), Jorge Galleguillos (56), Edison Pena (34), Carlos Barrios (27), Victor Zamora (33), Victor Segovia (48), Daniel Herrera (27), Omar Reygadas (56), Esteban Rojas (44), Pablo Rojas (45), Dario Segovia (48), Yonni Barrios (50), Samuel Avalos (43), Carlos Bugueno (27), Jose Henriquez (54), Renan Avalos (29), Claudio Acuna, (35), Franklin Lobos (53), Richard Villarroel (27), Juan Aguilar (49), Raul Bustos (40), Pedro Cortez (24), Ariel Ticona (29), Luis Urzua (54)
Profiles: Trapped miners Key moments: Chile miners’ rescue
Our correspondent says doctors will want to ensure the men are fit and well before they go home, but it is possible some may leave the hospital as early as Thursday.
He says there was an incredible atmosphere in the main square in Copiapo as crowds watched the final man leave the mine. Afterwards many people drove their cars around town honking the horns.
The rescue operation began shortly after 2315 on Tuesday (0215 GMT on Wednesday) with Mr Gonzalez being lowered down the shaft.
Mr Gonzalez was supposed to return to the surface and report on the condition of the rescue shaft, before handing over to a paramedic. However, the miner Florencio Avalos instead got into the capsule and was hauled up.
The miners wore a “bio-harness” designed for astronauts – which monitors their heart rate, breathing, temperature and oxygen consumption – and sunglasses to protect their eyes from the glare of the desert.
Mr Avalos reached the surface at 0010 on Wednesday (0310 GMT) and was greeted by his family, rescuers, President Pinera and the first lady, Cecilia Morel.
The rescue team was soon able to cut the time down between each ascent from an hour to 25 minutes, and by Wednesday afternoon it became clear that the operation would be completed in half the time originally estimated.
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