img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/12/1202 Britney Spears GMA/post_image/post_image-1202_britney_spears_gma_00.jpg" border="0"br Britney Spears turned 27 today and celebrated the occasion with a concert on emGood Morning America/em. Her new CD emCircus/em also launched today, and she performed the title track under a big top tent in front of an assload of fans (above). But let's cut to the chase; where the hell did those abs come from? Since it's Britney's special day, I'm going to be a kind, chivalrous blogger and simply say I would totally eat breakfast off those things. - And maybe not even wear a helmet. Happy Birthday! Videos after the jump. div style="width: 425px; margin: 0 0 0 30px; padding: 0;"ul style="list-style-type: none; display: block; width: 425px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"li style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/12/britney_spears_apparently_got.php" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/12/1202 Britney Spears GMA/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-1202_britney_spears_gma_00.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/lili style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/12/britney_spears_apparently_got.php?bfm_index=1" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/12/1202 Britney Spears GMA/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-1202_britney_spears_gma_01.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/lili style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/12/britney_spears_apparently_got.php?bfm_index=2" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/12/1202 Britney Spears GMA/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-1202_britney_spears_gma_02.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/lili style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/12/britney_spears_apparently_got.php?bfm_index=3" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/12/1202 Britney Spears GMA/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-1202_britney_spears_gma_03.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/lili style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/12/britney_spears_apparently_got.php?bfm_index=4" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/12/1202 Britney Spears GMA/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-1202_britney_spears_gma_04.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/lili style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/12/britney_spears_apparently_got.php?bfm_index=5" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/12/1202 Britney Spears GMA/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-1202_britney_spears_gma_05.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/lili style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/12/britney_spears_apparently_got.php?bfm_index=6" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/12/1202 Britney Spears GMA/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-1202_britney_spears_gma_06.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/lili style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/12/britney_spears_apparently_got.php?bfm_index=7" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/12/1202 Britney Spears GMA/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-1202_britney_spears_gma_07.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/li/uldiv style="clear: left;"/div/div div class = "credit"Photos: a href="http://www.infdaily.com"INFdaily.com/a/div pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/x38KRtj7_JqN3lyc1amId3AQQUM/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/x38KRtj7_JqN3lyc1amId3AQQUM/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thesuperficial/SNxk/~4/3o3-1uo8_yg" height="1" width="1"/

pimg src="http://www.readwriteweb.com/images/google-gears.png" width="150" height="58"/We recently had the opportunity to meet with two senior executives at Google. At the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco, ReadWriteWeb editor Richard MacManus and I met with Dave Girouard, President of Google Enterprise. Then a few weeks later, I met with Vic Gundotra, VP of Engineering, via video conference. Both meetings provided some interesting background - but the one question that keeps returning and that was not so well answered is: why is Google not deploying Gears aggressively?/p p align="right"emSponsor/embr /a href='http://d.openx.org/ck.php?n=12733amp;cb=12733' target='_blank'img src='http://d.openx.org/avw.php?zoneid=861amp;cb=12733amp;n=12733' border='0' alt='' align="right" //a/p h2What Is Gears?/h2 pAs explained on a href="http://code.google.com/apis/gears/gears_faq.html#whatIsGears"Google's FAQ/a:/p p"Gears is an open-source browser extension that lets developers create web applications that can run offline. Gears provides three key features:/p ulliA local server, to cache and serve application resources (HTML, JavaScript, images, etc.) without needing to contact a server;/li liA database, to store and access data from within the browser;/li liA worker thread pool, to make web applications more responsive by performing expensive operations in the background."/li/ul pThat is important. The biggest single hurdle to mass adoption of web-based office software is the inability to use it when online access is not possible (in airplanes and other fun places off the grid). Offline access is also reassuring for those times when the cloud platform is having trouble: at least you can work offline for a while. This is not a small feature. It is the big one./p pWe get the usual beta warnings from Google:/p p"Gears is currently a beta product; moreover, it is currently considered to be a developer-only release. When the developer community has had a chance to examine, critique, and improve Gears, a final version suitable for use with production applications will be made available."/p pBut we learn to ignore these beta designations from Google. Gmail still says beta./p pBut in this case, Google really is being shy about fully bringing Gears to its own product line-up./p h2Zoho Is Using Gears. Why Not Google Apps?/h2 pZoho started using a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/zoho_writer_adds_offline_support.php"Gears in Writer/a as early as August 2007, nearly 18 months ago. In October 2008, a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/zoho_mail_gets_offline_support.php"Zoho Mail went offline with Gears/a./p pOn March 31st, 2008, a href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/google_docs_offline_support.php"Google announced Gears for Docs/a. This was a step forward, albeit 8 months after its competition (Zoho) did it./p pSo, the big question is, "When will Gmail enable offline use via Gears?" I posed this question to Dave Grirouard, President of Google Enterprise. The response was along the lines of, making it work on the scale of Gmail is not a trivial engineering challenge. That sort of made sense. But Gears has been out for a long time; it is a critical feature, and Google has the best software engineering talent on the planet./p h2Ahem, What About Chrome?/h2 pAgain, from Google's FAQ:/p p"Gears works on the following browsers:/p ulliApple Mac OS X (10.4 or higher) ulliFirefox 1.5 or higher/li liSafari 3.1.1 or higher (requires OS X Tiger 10.4.11+ or Leopard 10.5.3+)/li/ul/li liLinux (Requirements) ulliFirefox 1.5 or higher/li/ul/li liMicrosoft Windows (XP or higher) ulliFirefox 1.5 or higher/li liInternet Explorer 6 or higher/li/ul/li liMicrosoft Windows Mobile (5 or higher) ulliInternet Explorer 4.01 or higher/li liThe following devices are not supported ulliSamsung i320 and i320N/li liOrange SPV C600/li liMotorola Q/li/ul/li/ul/li/ul p Additionally, the team is working on supporting Safari on Mac OS X in a future release."/p pNotice the elephant not in the room? Yes, Gears does not work on Chrome. Is that because Chrome does not support extensions?/p pIs Google holding up Gears until Chrome can support Gears? We hope not. That seems contrary to its philosophy to date, which has been to couple them very loosely. So that is probably just coincidence./p h2"Gears for Mobile Is the Holy Grail"/h2 pWe had a fascinating talk with Vic Gundotra (VP of Engineering) and Sumit Agarwal (Mobile Product Management). They laid out a mobile strategy that clearly shows that Google is thinking bigger and deeper than anyone else about the future of this huge market. They were also frank about the scale of the engineering challenge. Looking globally, there is no dominant mobile device. In fact, it is an extremely fragmented market. That is a problem when each user expects a native interface./p pVic Gundotra described how about a year ago Google bet that the mobile browser would be the unifying force. Specifically, the strategy was to standardize on a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WebKit"Webkit-based browsers/a. That makes sense but still leaves out the all-important offline access question. So, I posed the "What about Gears?" question. I was told that Gears in a mobile browser was, of course, the "holy grail."/p h2The Answer Given Is Probably Correct/h2 pGoogle is confirming that Gears is critically important to both its web apps and its mobile strategy, and that the delay is simply because deploying Gears on the scale that Google operates is a tough engineering challenge. That seems like the best explanation. But we would love to hear from our readers. Have you used Zoho Mail with Gears, and did it work well? Is it simply a scale issue that is delaying Google's more aggressive deployment of Gears?/p stronga href="http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/why_is_google_not_deploying_gears_aggressively.php#comments-open"Discuss/a/strong pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/55KwOMFlRoDepw3qCJYrLD0Pkxo/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/55KwOMFlRoDepw3qCJYrLD0Pkxo/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pdiv class="feedflare" a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?a=RMOxVCWj"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?d=1035" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?a=rMxZKv3J"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?d=41" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?a=KTMCp6CG"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?i=KTMCp6CG" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?a=rY4Ugtsh"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?i=rY4Ugtsh" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?a=0U16bMpz"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?i=0U16bMpz" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?a=mFg8C4O0"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?d=52" border="0"/img/a a href="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?a=LLzlbJdk"img src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~f/readwriteweb?d=1034" border="0"/img/a /divimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/readwriteweb/~4/o-X0CKCRJoA" height="1" width="1"/

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/96515?ns=guardianpageName=Environment%3A+EU+reaches+compromise+deal+on+car+emission+capsch=Environmentc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Travel+and+transport+environmental+impact%2CEnvironment%2CCarbon+emissions+%28Environment%29%2CClimate+change+%28Environment%29%2CFossil+fuels+%28Environment%29%2CBusiness%2CAutomotive+industry+%28Business%29%2CEurope+%28Business%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Motoring%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CBusiness+Markets%2CClimate+Change%2CEnergy%2CEthical+Livingc6=Ian+Traynorc7=2008_12_02c8=1127544c9=articlec10=GUc11=Environmentc12=Travel+and+transportc13=c14=h2=GU%2FEnvironment%2FTravel+and+transport" width="1" height="1" //divpEuropean leaders have agreed a deal relaxing new rules to cut car pollution and reduce the penalties for the automotive industry if their vehicles continue to spew out high levels of carbon dioxide, while setting a more ambitious longer-term target for slashing emissions from new cars./ppUnder the deal reached by French officials and members of the European parliament late on Monday, the big European car companies will be given a longer leeway to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars while fines levied on those breaking the new law have been dramatically cut./ppGreen pressure groups denounced the deal as capitulation to the powerful car lobby led by Germany. But EU officials, MEPs and European governments hailed the agreement as a breakthrough in a crucial part of the EU's ambitious climate change package./pp"This is one of the most important results the EU is bringing to the [UN climate change] conference in Poznan," said Guido Sacconi, an Italian socialist MEP who led the negotiations with the French government that currently holds the EU presidency./ppMonday night's agreement comes the week before a major EU summit which is supposed to approve the European climate change package aimed at cutting greenhouse gases by 20% by 2020. The complex negotiations surrounding four pieces of legislation which are to make the targets binding for 27 countries and European industries have hit several hurdles./ppFrantic mediation is going on in Brussels, with the French haggling with the parliament and with the 27 governments over renewable energy commitments, the EU's emissions trading scheme, the auctioning of permits for the scheme, whether or not they should be free or which industries should be exempted. Another thorny issue is over how to finance around a dozen pilot carbon capture and storage schemes, which would bury the emissions from coal-fired power stations./ppPoland and eight other central European countries are in an insurrectionary mood, complaining that wealthy western Europe should bear the brunt of the package, that their electricity bills will rocket if they sign up for the scheme and that Poland in particular is being unfairly penalised because 94% of its electricity is coal-based./ppItaly is also threatening to block agreement on the grounds that the package will prove too expensive at a time of economic recession. Germany is also driving a hard bargain./pp"This will go down to the wire at the summit," said an EU diplomat./ppPresident Nicolas Sarkozy of France is to go to Gdansk on the Baltic coast at the weekend to try to finesse a compromise with the nine central European countries in what a senior Polish official described as "the moment of truth"./ppDespite the air of tension and nervousness in Brussels, the agreement on car pollution suggests that Sarkozy will cobble together an overall package that preserves the key targets ndash; a 20% reduction in greenhouse gases with 20% of Europe's energy mix also coming from renewable sources by 2020./ppThe conflicts are not over the targets, but over how to achieve them and how to divide the costs and burdens. /ppIn the case of the rules for car emissions, the initial proposals from the European commission last year called for all new cars were to emit 130g/km of carbon dioxide by 2012, as an average across a manufacturer's fleet. That compares to current levels of almost 160g. Cars are responsible for around 10% of Europe's CO2 emissions./ppUnder the compromise now reached, the targets are being staggered over three years ndash; two=thirds of cars are to reach that target by 2012, three-quarters by 2013, 80% by 2014 and all by 2015./ppFines on companies exceeding the target were to have kicked in at €20 per excess gram on a rising scale, but are now to start off at €5./ppYesterday's deal also set a new and lower target of 95g/km for emissions by 2020 - that had not been stipulated in the draft legislation./ppSmaller or niche car manufacturers that produce only high emission vehicles, such as the UK's Jaguar and Landrover, will be able to ask for special "derogations" exceeding the mandatory targets as long as they reduce emissions by 25%./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/travelandtransport"Travel and transport/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/carbonemissions"Carbon emissions/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/climatechange"Climate change/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/fossilfuels"Fossil fuels/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/automotive"Automotive industry/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/europe"Europe/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/lIGFWeN9AqllYauFKdzssuK_hSA/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/lIGFWeN9AqllYauFKdzssuK_hSA/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/77597?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+US+%27warned+India+before+Mumbai+attacks%27ch=World+newsc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Mumbai+terror+attacks+%28News%29%2CIndia+%28News%29%2CPakistan+%28News%29%2CTerrorism+-+international%2CWorld+news%2CIslam+%28News%29c5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Vikram+Dodd%2CMark+Tranc7=2008_12_02c8=1127546c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Mumbai+terror+attacksc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FMumbai+terror+attacks" width="1" height="1" //divpThe US warned a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/india"India/a before the Mumbai attacks, a senior Bush administration official said today, fuelling criticism of the Indian government's lack of preparedness. /ppAccording to an unnamed official, the US told Indian officials that terrorists appeared to be plotting a water-borne attack on India's financial capital. /ppSeveral top Indian officials a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/02/mumbai-terror-attacks-india" have resigned/a after the a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/mumbai-terror-attacks"attacks/a that claimed at least 172 lives and injured more than 300. Vilasrao Deshmukh, the chief minister of Maharashtra state, yesterday became the latest official to offer his resignation over alleged warnings about terrorist activities that were not acted upon. /ppHis deputy, RR Patil, also submitted his resignation after being quoted as downplaying the seriousness of the attacks. Their offers to go followed the resignation of the home minister on Sunday and came amid Indian media reports of a string of intelligence blunders, all of which are adding to an atmosphere that the government and state apparatus cannot cope with the scale and complexity of the security threat facing the country./ppa href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/02/mumbai-attack-india-pakistan"India has demanded that Pakistan hand over 20 militants/a it believes are in the neighbouring country amid fears that relations between the two nations will deteriorate following the Mumbai attacks./ppBut the Pentagon has seen no signs that Pakistan is preparing to shift troops out of its tribal region near the Afghanistan border due to rising tensions, a US defence official said./pp"There are no indications that anything is happening. Nothing has happened or is planned to happen in that vein," the official told Reuters. "It's business as usual." /ppIn India, recriminations after the Mumbai attacks have been rife./ppAn officer in the elite commando unit that ended the siege has told the Guardian his troops were delayed getting to the scene of the attacks because a plane could not initially be found to take them./ppMajor Vikram Singh, of the national security guard, said his unit, which is based in Delhi, took 10 hours to reach Mumbai. The NSG, nicknamed the Black Cats, have been feted by the Indian public after ending the siege. The criticism by a serving officer of his government is a sign of the anger politicians are facing after the attacks. Singh told the Guardian the delay may have let the terrorists gain more control of the two hotels and Jewish centre than they otherwise would have had./ppSingh, who was speaking outside the Oberoi Trident hotel, said: "We've taken 10 hours to come from Delhi. Initially no one could judge the level of threat."/ppBut the officer said his troops were ready to move 20 minutes after an order to deploy, and believes they were delayed by at least four hours in reaching the scene. /pp"In 20 minutes we could have started. The aircraft to take us was somewhere else." /ppMumbai is 90 minutes by air from Delhi. Singh said an NSG unit should be based outside Delhi including in cities such as Mumbai: "Had we been in Mumbai, 30 minutes would have been enough to start the operation."/ppIn a further sign of anger at India's elite, a senior politician seeking to attend the funeral of a commander killed in the fighting was refused permission by the commander's father./ppAway from the recriminations there were signs yesterday that the death toll from the Taj Mahal Palace hotel may be less than feared. So far 23 bodies have been recovered, 19 Indian and four foreigners./ppThe trustee of a Muslim graveyard in Mumbai said yesterday that it would not bury the dead gunmen, with an official saying they are not true followers of the Islamic faith./pp"People who committed this heinous crime cannot be called Muslim," said Hanif Nalkhande, a trustee of the Jamia Masjid Trust, which runs the three-hectare (7.5 acres) Bada Kabrastan graveyard in Mumbai. Meanwhile teams from Scotland Yard and the FBI have arrived to help the investigation. The British team will assist with the forensic investigation./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/mumbai-terror-attacks"Mumbai terror attacks/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/india"India/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/pakistan"Pakistan/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/terrorism"Global terrorism/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/islam"Islam/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/6zfZy8dtgi3TopZWhA9cW5t8ay4/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/6zfZy8dtgi3TopZWhA9cW5t8ay4/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/12/1202 Madonna concert/post_image/post_image-1202_madonna_concert_00.jpg" border="0"br Madonna and Alex "A-Rod" Rodriguez are doing a super job keeping their relationship on the down low. Because you know what's always incredibly discreet? Shopping for $60 million mansions together in New York City. They should be spies. a href="http://www.nypost.com/seven/12022008/gossip/pagesix/madge__a_rod_hunt_love_nest_141739.htm"Page Six/a reports: blockquoteA knowledgeable real estate source tells us the kabbalah-crazed pop queen and the skirt-chasing power hitter are "discreetly looking at properties between Fifth and Park avenues, from just above 60th Street through the 80s.br "Madonna personally came to look at one house a couple of months ago, and Alex has been looking recently," the insider said. "We're talking about private, double-width mansions in the vicinity of $30 million to $60 million."br Madge and A-Rod are also interested in scoring a house "with a garage that you can drive into for additional privacy - although those are rare and hard to come by," our spy added. Another source said they were also looking in the Hamptons. /blockquote So, wait, $30 to $60 million for a "double-width" mansion and it doesn't even come with a garage? Christ, even my strikeshitty, dilapidated/strike quaint, child-friendly place has a garage. *light bulb* Excuse me, folks, I suddenly feel the need to move some real estate. Anyone know how many zeroes are in $50 gajillion? div style="width: 425px; margin: 0 0 0 30px; padding: 0;"ul style="list-style-type: none; display: block; width: 425px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"li style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/12/madonna_arod_shop_for_30_mil_m.php" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/12/1202 Madonna concert/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-1202_madonna_concert_00.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/lili style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/12/madonna_arod_shop_for_30_mil_m.php?bfm_index=1" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/12/1202 Madonna concert/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-1202_madonna_concert_01.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/lili style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/12/madonna_arod_shop_for_30_mil_m.php?bfm_index=2" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/12/1202 Madonna concert/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-1202_madonna_concert_02.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/lili style="display: block; float: left; width: 90px; height: 134px; margin: 0; padding: 0 10px 10px 0;"a href="http://thesuperficial.com/2008/12/madonna_arod_shop_for_30_mil_m.php?bfm_index=3" style="display: block; width: 90px; height: 134px; background: #CCC; overflow: hidden; margin: 0; padding: 0;"img src="http://cdn.thesuperficial.com//bfm_gallery/2008/12/1202 Madonna concert/gallery_thumb/gallery_thumb-1202_madonna_concert_03.jpg" style="display: block; border: 1px solid #cccccc; width: 88px; margin: 0; padding: 0;"/a/li/uldiv style="clear: left;"/div/div div class = "credit"Photos: a href="http://www.splashnewsonline.com"Splash News/a/div pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/FpfTRMdQpLSa5cKSIQlbPiD_EVE/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~a/FpfTRMdQpLSa5cKSIQlbPiD_EVE/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/pimg src="http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/thesuperficial/SNxk/~4/vnWaC0FYy3Y" height="1" width="1"/

div class='rss_texte'p class=spipLe mois d'octobre a permis à a href=http://www.wiki-brest.net class=spip_outWiki-Brest/a de reprendre son rythme de croisière avec une moyenne de 100 articles par mois et 20 articles par semaine. La rentrée est aussi l'occasion de redéfinir les projets qui seront en cours durant l'année et les axes prioritaires. L'accent sera mis sur des publics comme les journaux de quartier et les jardins partagés avec toujours un accompagnement en direction de tout ceux qui s'intéressent au projet./p p class=spipDe nouvelles collectes verront le jour. strong class=spip2008/strong a été l'occasion de mettre un coup de projecteur sur les femmes et la culture maritime. strong class=spip2009/strong verra la Mémoire mise en valeur avec tout un ensemble d'initiatives suivies en proximité./p p class=spipLe prochain strong class=spipwiki-contoir qui se tiendra le lundi 15 décembre à 17h30 au salon Colbert/strong de l'hôtel de ville permettra à tout à chacun de s'exprimer sur le projet et de réfléchir ensemble aux futures collectes./p p class=spipspan class='spip_document_5094 spip_documents spip_documents_center' img src='http://www.a-brest.net/local/cache-vignettes/L400xH300/lettre8-0ea21.jpg' width='400' height='300' alt= style='height:300px;width:400px;' class='' //span/p h3 class=spipQuelques articles récemment publiés/h3 p class=spipVoici quelques nouveaux articles dont nous vous proposons la découverte :/p p class=spipstrong class=spipEvénements :/strong/p ul class=spipli class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Exposition_%22Brest%2C_l%27esprit_du_large%22 class=spip_outExposition Brest, l'esprit du large /a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Radio_Rue_Libre_2008 class=spip_outRadio Rue Libre 2008/a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Semaine_bleue_2008 class=spip_outSemaine bleue 2008/a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Exposition_%22Des_figures_et_des_cris%22 class=spip_outExposition Des figures et des cris/a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Imm%C3%A9diatiques_2008 class=spip_outImmédiatiques 2008 /a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Festival_Breton_du_Jeu_Vid%C3%A9o_et_du_Multim%C3%A9dia_2008 class=spip_outFestival Breton du Jeu Vidéo et du Multimédia 2008/a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Tr%C3%A9teaux_chantants_2008 class=spip_outTréteaux chantants 2008/a /li/ul p class=spipstrong class=spipPatrimoine et histoire :/strong/p ul class=spipli class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Histoire_de_la_mairie_de_Lamb%C3%A9zellec class=spip_outHistoire de la mairie de Lambézellec /a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Entre_deux_Brest class=spip_outEntre deux Brest /a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Course_Paris-Brest-Paris class=spip_outCourse Paris-Brest-Paris /a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Osismes class=spip_outOsismes/a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Jean_Coll%C3%A9 class=spip_outJean Collé/a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Fond_ancien_de_la_biblioth%C3%A8que_d%27%C3%A9tude class=spip_outFond ancien de la bibliothèque d'étude /a/li/ul p class=spipstrong class=spipArt et artistes :/strong/p ul class=spipli class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Alain_Robbe-Grillet class=spip_outAlain Robbe-Grillet /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Ar%C3%A9nicole class=spip_outArénicole /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Abirato class=spip_outAbirato /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Le_Gou%C3%ABfflec_Arnaud class=spip_outLe Gouëfflec Arnaud /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Guide_collaboratif_des_bons_plans_photo_en_Bretagne class=spip_outGuide collaboratif des bons plans photo en Bretagne /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Artitude class=spip_outArtitude /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Christophe_Miossec class=spip_outChristophe Miossec /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Maison_de_la_Fontaine class=spip_outMaison de la Fontaine /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/L%27%C3%89pervier class=spip_outL'Épervier /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/%22Ensemble%2C_une_vanit%C3%A9_%3F_%22_MPT_de_Saint-Pierre class=spip_outEnsemble, une vanité ? MPT de Saint-Pierre /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Pr%C3%A9sentation_du_1_%25_culturel class=spip_outPrésentation du 1 % culturel /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Matmatah class=spip_outMatmatah /a/li/ul p class=spipstrong class=spipPays de Brest :/strong/p ul class=spipli class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Centre_multim%C3%A9dia_de_Saint-Renan class=spip_outCentre multimédia de Saint-Renan /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/%C3%8Ele-Mol%C3%A8ne class=spip_outÃŽle-Molène /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Souvenirs_d%27adolescence_en_Pays_d%27Iroise class=spip_outSouvenirs d'adolescence en Pays d'Iroise /a/li/ul p class=spipstrong class=spipBrest 2008 : d'autres articles continuent de voir le jour/strong/p ul class=spipli class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Portail:Brest_2008 class=spip_outLes 12 articles du maire de portde – Yffic Dornic /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Cat%C3%A9gorie:Marine_marchande class=spip_out6 Interviews faites par Frenchlines/a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Philippe_Qu%C3%A9r%C3%A9%2C_30_ans_au_service_du_nautisme_%C3%A0_Brest class=spip_outPhilippe Quéré, 30 ans au service du nautisme à Brest /a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Aphrodite class=spip_outAphrodite /a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/%C3%89toile class=spip_outÉtoile /a /lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Shtandart class=spip_outShtandart /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Sjokurs class=spip_outSjokurs /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Belle_Ang%C3%A8le class=spip_outBelle Angèle /a/li/ul p class=spipstrong class=spipProduits de la mer :/strong/p ul class=spipli class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Matmatah class=spip_outGalère portuguaise /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Matmatah class=spip_outCoquille Saint-Jacques en rade de Brest /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Matmatah class=spip_outCrépidule /a/li/ul p class=spipstrong class=spipPortail de structures du Vivre ensemble :/strong/p ul class=spipli class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Portail:Journal_de_Lamb%C3%A9 class=spip_outPortail journal de Lambé/a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Portail:Bellevue%2C_journal_de_nos_quartiers class=spip_outPortail Bellevue, journal de nos quartiers/a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Portail:Espaces_Formations class=spip_outPortail Espaces Formations/a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Centre_Social_de_K%C3%A9rangoff class=spip_outCentre social de Kérangoff/a/li/ul p class=spipstrong class=spipDivers :/strong/p ul class=spipli class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/F%C3%A9d%C3%A9_B class=spip_outFédé B /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Photographies_a%C3%A9riennes_de_la_Rade_de_Brest class=spip_outPhotographies aériennes de la Rade de Brest /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Le_boulon_ouvre_son_atelier class=spip_outLe boulon ouvre son atelier /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Agro-%C3%A9cologie class=spip_outAgro-écologie /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Le_Superbe class=spip_outLe Superbe /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Association_APSEB class=spip_outAssociation APSEB /a/lili class=spipa href=http://www.wiki-brest.net/index.php/Ultimate class=spip_outUltimate /a/li/ul h3 class=spipLes statistiques du projet au 27 novembre 2008 :/h3 ul class=spipli class=spip1 940 pages de véritables articles, 4 837 fichiers multimédia /lili class=spip913 utilisateurs /lili class=spip2 409 059 pages ont été consultées et 37 358 pages modifiées/li/ul/div

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/57980?ns=guardianpageName=Politics%3A+Gordon+Brown+to+crack+down+on+benefit+cheats+in+Queen%27s+speechch=Politicsc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Queen%27s+speech%2CPolitics%2CUK+news%2CWelfare+%28Politics%29%2CSociety%2CSocial+exclusion+%28Society%29c5=Society+Weekly%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CSocial+Care+Societyc6=Patrick+Wintourc7=2008_12_02c8=1127455c9=articlec10=GUc11=Politicsc12=Queen%27s+speechc13=c14=h2=GU%2FPolitics%2FQueen%27s+speech" width="1" height="1" //divpGordon Brown has returned to New Labour's so-called "respect agenda" with proposals that all benefit cheats will lose access to benefits for a month, and also find themselves subject to lie detector tests. /ppThe "one strike and your out" proposals forms part of a tough commentary on the Queen's speech released today by the Cabinet Office./ppFresh proposals are also to be launched to give the public clearer information on how criminals were sentenced in local courts, while communities are to be given a bigger role in deciding what form of community punishment local criminals should be forced to undertake. /ppThe government also highlighted a pilot covering 25 local councils administering housing benefit to 500,000 claimants, saying "voice risk analysis technology" will be used to test whether a claimant is providing false information. The government first introduced the technology in Harrow in north London last year, but now says it plans to make the technology available nationwide. In the first three months Harrow council saved £300,000, suggesting levels of benefit fraud may be higher than government estimates. /ppMinisters are taking the action even though benefit fraud is now officially at the lowest level ever recorded, down 66% since 2001. /ppThe government currently withdraws benefit for at least 13 weeks to anyone found making a fraudulent benefit claim twice in five years, but said it intends to harden this process by punishing first-time benefit fraud with four weeks' withdrawal. The action will be taken against those that suffer an administrative penalty and those found guilty in court. /ppThe Department of Work and Pensions applies civil penalties where the fraud is worth less than £2,000./ppMinisters also announced plans to make claimants for employment support allowance (ESA), the new incapacity benefit, commit themselves to complete an action plan designed to make them "work ready" in return for benefit. /ppa href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/dec/02/welfare-trade-unions"Lone parents with children aged between one and seven are also to be required for the first time/a as a condition of benefit to make themselves work ready by attending regular interviews with employment staff, drawing up an action plan and making themselves available to take skills, health or drug courses. /pp The proposals in a new government report were put forward by Professor Paul Gregg, who said today he did not expect the proposals to come into force until the recession had ended. About 300,000 ESA claimants will be deemed to be too mentally or physical unfit to prepare for work. Gregg also proposed that a clearer sanctions regime is introduced since at present different sanctions apply according to the benefit claimed. /ppIn other proposals the Cabinet Office paper suggests the power of public servants to use force may be strengthened. It argues that "the public looks to healthcare professionals, neighbourhood wardens and teachers to deal with unacceptable behaviour in public places. If they are not able to fulfil that role because they are not sure the law is on their side, or because they do not see it as part of their job. that sends the wrong message about what we as a society are prepared to tolerate."/ppIt also suggests most family intervention projects will reach 20,000 families with the most severe difficulties./ppThe paper also proposes an alcohol code limiting "all you can drink" promotions, and setting conditions on premises in particular local trouble hotspots. Lap dancing clubs will be reclassified as sex establishments so local councils have greater scope to close them. Ministers are also to look at preventing the clustering of betting shops. /ppThe paper draws heavily on the work of Louise Casey, the former "respect tsar", now working in the Home Office, Liam Byrne, the former immigration minister now co-ordinating much government policy from the Cabinet Office, and Hazel Blears, the communities secretary and a strong advocate of community empowerment. /ppThe paper tries to put the emphasis on fair rules in the context of the credit crunch. It says: "As everyone enters difficult economic times, with families working harder, household budgets coming under pressure, and more demand being placed on public resources, fair rules will become more important. /pp"If people perceive that not everyone is treated equally, that some get preferential treatment, that people who break the rules get away with it, respect for rules is undermined."/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/queensspeech"Queen's speech/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/welfare"Welfare/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/socialexclusion"Social exclusion/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/teiQ5qmkgdRPB1rEz6tU2ZcaO0Y/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/teiQ5qmkgdRPB1rEz6tU2ZcaO0Y/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/54267?ns=guardianpageName=Money%3A+FSA+warns+lenders+over+tracker+mortgagesch=Moneyc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Mortgages+%28Money%29%2CBanks+and+building+societies%2CMoney%2CInterest+rates+%28Money%29%2CBorrowing+and+debt%2CBusiness%2CUK+newsc5=Personal+Finance%2CInvestments%2CNot+commercially+useful%2CBusiness+Markets%2CProperty+Mortgages+and+Interest+Ratesc6=Rupert+Jonesc7=2008_12_02c8=1127448c9=articlec10=GUc11=Moneyc12=Mortgagesc13=c14=h2=GU%2FMoney%2FMortgages" width="1" height="1" //divpa href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/banks"Banks and building societies/a were today warned they could find themselves in hot water if they use small print terms to avoid passing on this week's likely a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/interestrates"interest rate/a cut to their tracker mortgage customers./ppThe Financial Services Authority has waded into the row over the "collars" or "floors" that some mortgage lenders have in their terms and conditions, which allow them not to pass on rate cuts, even if the contract says the loan is tied to the Bank of England base rate./ppMany holders of tracker home loans are looking forward to another sizeable reduction in their monthly costs if the Bank cuts rates on Thursday. Some economists are predicting a cut of a full percentage point, which would take the main rate down to 2%./ppHowever, some lenders have small print in their contracts which allows them to set a minimum rate for customers. /ppNationwide building society has indicated that once the base rate hits 2.75% it will not pass on any further cuts to borrowers, while Halifax has an option not to pass on any cuts below 3%, but both would be under pressure to do so. The restriction means a borrower with a Nationwide mortgage tracking 0.5% above the base rate will never see their pay rate fall below 3.25%, even if interest rates continue to fall./ppSpeaking today at the Council of Mortgage Lenders annual conference, Jon Pain, the FSA's retail markets managing director, said that while tracker interest rate floors could be a legitimate term of a mortgage, "it can only be if it is clear and unambiguous to the consumer, and is consistently and prominently spelt out in the initial KFI [key facts illustration] and offer document throughout the sales process"./ppHe added: "If it is not [lenders] run the real risk of both breaching our disclosure requirements and having an unfair contract term you cannot enforce."/ppPain said he was well aware of the potential risks some lenders faced in a very low interest rate environment. "But the solution cannot be to introduce contract terms that don't exist or are unenforceable," he added./ppYesterday, Nationwide launched a tracker deal with a collar of 1%, allowing new borrowers to benefit from further rate cuts. However, the rate on the mortgage is pegged 1.99% above the base rate./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/mortgages"Mortgages/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/banks"Banks and building societies/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/interestrates"Interest rates/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/debt"Borrowing debt/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/KIMTpSpdHBoGS203wCyeliELdwo/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/KIMTpSpdHBoGS203wCyeliELdwo/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/85378?ns=guardianpageName=Sport%3A+Olympic+champion+DeGale+turns+professional+with+Frank+Warrench=Sportc3=guardian.co.ukc4=James+DeGale+%28boxer%29%2CBoxing%2COlympic+games+2012+%28News%29%2CSportc5=Not+commercially+useful%2COlympic+Gamesc6=Sean+Inglec7=2008_12_02c8=1127407c9=articlec10=GUc11=Sportc12=James+DeGalec13=c14=h2=GU%2FSport%2FJames+DeGale" width="1" height="1" //divpOlympic gold medallist a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/jamesdegale" title=""James DeGale/a today became the third member of Great Britain's boxing squad from Beijing to turn professional with promoter Frank Warren./ppWarren has also signed Billy Joe Saunders, who lost meekly in the second round before complaining of homesickness, and Frankie Gavin, the 2007 world amateur champion, who was sent home before the Games when he failed to make his required weight. All three men will make their professional debuts early in 2009./pp"I'm delighted to have signed James, Frankie and Billy Joe, and I'm very excited about working with them in the future," said Warren./pp"I think they will all become world champions, and after their success as amateurs, the public is really going to get behind them and will want to watch their progress through the ranks."/ppWarren said there would be plenty of opportunity to see his stable of fighters action. "There will be six to eight shows a year," he said. "We will be taking them around the country so the British public can see a work in progress as they are built to be world champions. We had to beat off a lot of competition to make these signings. These lads will follow in the footsteps of the likes of Naseem Hamed, Joe Calzaghe and Ricky Hatton. We are building them to be world champions."/ppDeGale had insisted he would stay as an amateur for the London Olympics, provided his coach, Terry Edwards, remained in charge of the national team and he was given "sensible money" to train and provide for his family./pp"I want to win a gold medal in my home town of London," he told reporters following his 16-14 victory over Cuba's Emilio Correa in the Olympic final. "Obviously the money will have to be nice, and it will be hard to say no if they offer me £1m [to turn pro] but I want to sign a contract [to stay as an amateur] until 2012. If Terry stays, I stay."/ppHowever DeGale, a 22-year-old from Harlesden, has become increasingly disillusioned with the Amateur Boxing Association. Another of the British squad, light-heavyweight bronze-medallist Tony Jefferies, recently made public the squad's frustrations with the ABA saying: "The ABA haven't been in touch with me at all about staying amateur until 2012. They owe me a £5,000 medal bonus from the Olympics as well. James Degale hasn't got his either and he got a gold so his bonus was a lot bigger. I also got fined last month for not going to training camps before the European Championships."/pp"When we got off the plane we all thought we were going to have packages in place for us," added Jeffries, who has agreed a professional contract with promoter Dennis Hobson's Fight Academy added. "With the next Games being in London, it was tempting to see what they were prepared to offer us to stay amateur. But I can't wait forever."/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/jamesdegale"James DeGale/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/boxing"Boxing/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/olympics2012"Olympic games 2012/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/3jIrvIYQR2Z6s6gcW0yxQkI2vPQ/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/3jIrvIYQR2Z6s6gcW0yxQkI2vPQ/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/10053?ns=guardianpageName=UK+news%3A+De+Menezes+coroner+rules+out+unlawful+killing+verdictch=UK+newsc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Jean+Charles+de+Menezes%2CUK+news%2CLondon+%28News%29c5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Peter+Walker%2CSandra+Lavillec7=2008_12_02c8=1127437c9=articlec10=GUc11=UK+newsc12=Jean+Charles+de+Menezesc13=c14=h2=GU%2FUK+news%2FJean+Charles+de+Menezes" width="1" height="1" //divpThe jury at the inquest into the death of Jean Charles de Menezes will not be permitted to consider returning a verdict of unlawful killing, the coroner conducting the hearing said today./ppThe coroner, former high court judge Sir Michael Wright, began summing up seven weeks of evidence by telling jurors they will only be allowed to return a verdict of lawful killing or an open verdict./ppHaving considered all the evidence, a verdict of unlawful killing could not be supported, he said./ppAfter consideration, he told the 11-strong jury, "I so direct you that the evidence in this case, taken at its highest, would not justify my leaving verdicts of unlawful killing to you"./ppDe Menezes, a 27-year-old Brazilian electrician, was shot dead by armed police at Stockwell underground station in south London on the morning of July 22 2005./ppPolice mistakenly believed he was Hussein Osman, one of a group of would-be suicide bombers who had attempted to set off bombs on a number of tube trains and a bus the previous day. De Menezes was living in the same block of flats connected to one of the July 21 bombers./ppThe coroner told the hearing that the jury should not be able to "return a verdict which found any individual or institution criminally or civilly liable". /ppThis included both the elite firearms officers who shot De Menezes dead inside a tube carriage, identified at the inquest only as C12 and C2, as well as senior officers involved in the "management and conduct of the operation", he added./ppThe jurors would be able to consider questions including whether C12 lied when he said police had shouted warnings to De Menezes before opening fire, Wright said./ppHowever, he added, even if the jury found the officers had lied they would not be able to blame them for the death, he explained, saying: "Many people tell lies for a variety of reasons ... [including] to mitigate the impact of what might be a ... tragic mistake". /ppThe officers told the inquest earlier that they shouted "armed police" before shooting. One said the Brazilian moved towards him with apparent aggressive intent, making him fear that the electrician was about to detonate a bomb./ppHowever, some passengers travelling on the carriage where De Menezes was shot contradicted this account, saying they heard no warnings and that De Menezes gave no significant reaction to the police officers' arrival./ppThe coroner told the jury, sitting at Oval cricket ground, near Stockwell station, that he was aware the Brazilian's mother, Maria Otone de Menezes, had attended much of the hearing and "your heart will go out to her"./ppHe added: "But these are emotional reactions, ladies and gentlemen, and you are charged with returning a verdict based on evidence./pp"Put aside any emotion - put them to one side."/ppThe summing up is expected to last two days./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/menezes"Jean Charles de Menezes/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/london"London/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/HTozo0W093vlRzyCVDtK7B8pC7k/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/HTozo0W093vlRzyCVDtK7B8pC7k/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/29042?ns=guardianpageName=Technology%3A+Hacker+in+final+showdown+to+avoid+extradition+to+USch=Technologyc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Technology%2CHacking+%28Technology%29%2CLaw+and+technology%2CComputer+security%2CUS+news%2CUK+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CCorporate+IT%2CConsumer+Electronicsc6=Bobbie+Johnsonc7=2008_12_02c8=1127395c9=articlec10=GUc11=Technologyc12=Hackingc13=c14=h2=GU%2FTechnology%2FHacking" width="1" height="1" //divpThe British man accused of hacking into US military computers will have his final showdown in the UK courts next month./ppAfter almost four years of fighting extradition to the US as a result of what prosecutors have called "the biggest military computer hack of all time", Londoner Gary McKinnon will face a judicial review conducted by the high court on January 20./ppMcKinnon – who used the online name Solo – is accused of hacking into computers belonging to the Pentagon, Nasa and US armed forces in raids conducted between 2001 and 2002./ppProsecutors say he shut down thousands of machines and caused up to $700,000 worth of damage, while the 42-year-old claims he was searching for evidence of UFOs./ppOver the course of the case, defence lawyers argued that McKinnon will face unduly harsh punishment for his actions and should instead face trial in the UK, since the alleged hacking attacks were conducted from a house in north London./ppBy the time the decision is made, it will be almost seven years since McKinnon ended his activities. During that time a succession of arguments have been made against his removal – including that he faces up to 60 years in prison or detention at Guantánamo Bay, and that he should receive leniency because he suffers from Aspberger's syndrome./ppSuch protestations have so far proved unsuccessful, however, with a string of decisions against him, including rulings by the law lords and the home secretary. McKinnon's last chance to avoid removal to the US will come in next month's judicial review./ppProsecutors acting for the government argued that McKinnon's review should take place today but his lawyers succeeded in pushing it back until the new year./ppThe news brought cheer to some campaigners who see the date as an auspicious sign. Coinciding with the inauguration of Barack Obama as president, supporters at the Free Gary website suggested the date could be the equivalent of "waving a couple of fingers" at the Bush administration./ppIn recent months campaigners – including a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2008/nov/03/gary-kinnon-hacker-aspergers-extradition"former home secretary David Blunkett/a have argued that McKinnon should be tried in the UK because of his medical condition. /ppHis supporters are hopeful that they can sway the final judgment, particularly after Gordon Brown spoke about the case publicly for the first time last week and hinted that McKinnon may not end up in a US jail./ppDuring prime minister's questions last week, Brown was asked about McKinnon's situation and said that existing conventions would enable him to serve any prison sentence in Britain, rather than in the US./pp"The UK and the US are signatories to the Council of Europe convention on the transfer of sentenced persons, which enables a person found guilty in the United States of America to serve their sentence in the UK," he told MPs./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/hacking"Hacking/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/law"Law and technology/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/security"Computer security/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/Hf_g_y-z4kF8AEzJrzRnlm7p92M/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/Hf_g_y-z4kF8AEzJrzRnlm7p92M/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/34048?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Rice+warns+Nato+against+closer+ties+with+Moscow+%E2%80%93+for+nowch=World+newsc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Nato+%28News%29%2CRussia+%28News%29%2CGeorgia+%28News%29%2CWorld+news%2CUS+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Owen+Bowcottc7=2008_12_02c8=1127411c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Natoc13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FNato" width="1" height="1" //divpNato should beware of cooperating too closely with Russia after the invasion of Georgia last summer, the outgoing US secretary of state, Condoleezza Rice, warned today./ppSpeaking in London before attending a meeting of the military alliance in Brussels, she signalled that the US was willing to improve strained diplomatic relations with Moscow. "In principle, we don't have any problem [with closer ties]," Rice said. /ppHowever, the timing of renewed cooperation should be subject to tests, such as whether Russia was meeting its ceasefire commitments or "acting on its quite ill-tempered decision" to recognise two breakaway Georgian provinces as independent. "Those are ... the touchstones of when it makes sense," Rice said./ppTwo days of talks at Nato are expected to focus on Georgia's and Ukraine's hopes of joining the alliance. France and Germany fear that opening pre-membership negotiations with the two states would antagonise Russia. /ppThe US government recently backed away from its call for Ukraine and Georgia to be prepared for Nato membership. It has called, however, for such "post-Soviet" nations' to modernise their armed forces and develop stronger democratic institutions. /ppRice hinted that the US was considering seeking to improve relations with Moscow. "I think you would want to be very careful, for instance, about doing things that look military-to-military, because the Russian military is still sitting in the states," she said, referring to the standoff in the breakaway provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The US-backed government in Georgia claims the territories as integral parts of the nation. /pp"This [war] turned out badly for Russia, very badly," Rice said. Moscow had failed to bring down the Georgian government, its economy or international support for it, Rice said. "If they did anything, they managed to increase international support for Georgia, not decrease it."/ppRice is cutting short her attendance at the Nato session to travel to India, where she will hold talks about the Mumbai atrocities. /ppSome Nato states have opposed allowing Georgia and Ukraine to join the organisation's Membership Action Plan (MAP). Despite internal divisions, the US is still hoping to find a new way for Georgia and the Ukraine to join the alliance./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/nato"Nato/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/russia"Russia/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/georgia"Georgia/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/usa"United States/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/9PHK1yNXSzW6D29osUcfZEV8FA4/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/9PHK1yNXSzW6D29osUcfZEV8FA4/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/12771?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Chinese+figures+show+fivefold+rise+in+babies+sick+from+contaminated+milkch=World+newsc3=guardian.co.ukc4=China+%28News%29%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Tania+Braniganc7=2008_12_02c8=1127371c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Chinac13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FChina" width="1" height="1" //divpAlmost 300,000 babies were taken ill due to contaminated milk powder this year, China's health ministry has said; more than five times as many cases as previously disclosed./ppIt also raised the melamine scandal's death toll from four to six infants, underlining the impact of the country's worst safety scare in years. More than 860 babies are still hospitalised, with 154 of those classed as severe cases./ppThe crisis caused public outrage because it is thought the chemical was added deliberately to allow substandard milk to pass nutrition tests and because of the cover-up. /ppSanlu, the firm at the heart of the problems, knew the milk was tainted months before it told local officials. It did not contact Hebei's provincial government for another month - leaving babies to drink unsafe milk until mid-September./ppIn a statement released overnight, the ministry said 294,000 babies across the country had suffered from urinary problems after consuming milk powder laced with melamine. Most received outpatient treatment but 54,000 were hospitalised. In sizable quantities, the substance can cause kidney stones and even failure. /ppThe ministry said it investigated 11 possible deaths related to melamine-tainted milk and ruled five of them out./ppBut several families are convinced their children died because of tainted formula but have not been counted in the death toll. "When the county health bureau first came to us, they said my child died because of the milk powder," Tian Xiaowei, a farmer from Shaanxi, whose one-year-old son died in August, told the Associated Press./pp"But later, when the case was reported to the district health authority, they said there's no proof that the death was linked."/ppA Beijing lawyer who has aided affected families said he believed even more deaths might have gone uncounted because parents had not reported them. Chang Boyang also told AP there was no word on compensation yet./pp"I assume that the government is worried about the situation of the dairies and is afraid the companies may fall if they have to pay for the compensation amid the current financial crisis," he said./ppThe scandal prompted authorities to announce a complete overhaul of the country's dairy industry to improve safety./ppDozens of countries imposed bans and extra checks on Chinese food products, with tests on products ranging from chocolate bars to yoghurt finding traces of the substance. Low levels of the chemical are not thought harmful./ppIt later emerged that eggs also contained melamine because it had been added to animal feed./pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/china"China/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/E6LXGBeJ1Q-Ksy-0f2_5EvE3D-k/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/E6LXGBeJ1Q-Ksy-0f2_5EvE3D-k/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p