24 hours of news photos: 18 November
Protests against austerity measures
Children In Need Rocks concert in Manchester
An exhibition of the work of Swiss photographer
24 hours of news photos: 17 November 2011
Readers' pictures on the theme sharing
Operation stops Occupy Wall Street protest
Arab League suspends Syria
24 hours of news photos: 16 November
Events to honour the country's war dead
A study involving 22 centres in England and Wales is assessing how changing the mix of blood components given can affect outcomes.
The new trials aim to determine what is the optimal mix of red blood cells and plasma given to trauma patients.
New blood protocols have been used by US and British forces in Iraq and are credited for improved survival rates.
Catastrophic haemorrhageModern blood transfusions involve the intravenous injection of blood components such as red blood cells, platelets and plasma, a straw-coloured blood component which acts as a clotting agent.
Continue reading the main storyAround the world 2.5 million people bleed to death each year. That's more than die from HIV”End Quote Prof Karim Brohi Barts and The London Trauma Centre Until recently, plasma was given in the UK only once a blood test deemed it necessary, but this could mean valuable time was lost in stopping a patient from bleeding to death. The plasma also has to be thawed.
In recent years, military and civilian centres worldwide have been looking to use plasma early and in higher volumes with traumatic injuries. Less use of saline fluids has also been made in the immediate aftermath of an injury, for fear it will reduce clotting.
A retrospective study published in 2007 of 246 patients treated at a US combat support hospital in Iraq found a direct association between the amount of plasma given and survival rates.
The study, which involved only patients with severe injuries and massive blood loss, suggested the mortality rate fell from 65% to 19% when the ratio of plasma to red blood cells administered was increased from 1:8 to approximately 1:1.
Plasma is also being used early and aggressively in Afghanistan, as seen by BBC documentary maker Michael Mosley in his forthcoming BBC2 programme Frontline Medicine, and NHS trauma centres and trusts have adopted similar procedures.
Other clotting factors and a drug called tranexamic acid that reduces the break-up of clotting, are also being used.
Blood transfusions can involve giving units of red blood cells, platelets and plasma But what exactly the right mix of components is for trauma patients is still to be agreed. Other studies have showed no benefits of the 1:1 ratio favoured by the military.
Prof Karim Brohi, of the Barts and The London Trauma Centre, is leading two clinical trials to investigate which blood products work best, in what ratio, and which other devices or procedures could be used to save lives.
One trial involves more than 1,000 patients from centres in London, Oxford, Copenhagen and Oslo. The second involves 600 patients at 22 medical centres in England and Wales, and will follow surviving patients for a year after injury.
Preliminary data suggests that a 1:2 ratio of plasma to red blood cells may be "as good as if not better" than the 1:1 ratio, said Professor Brohi.
"Around the world, 2.5 million people bleed to death each year," he told the BBC. "That's more than die from HIV and Malaria and a lot of those deaths are preventable.
"We're trying to work out what are the underlying problems that go along with that, so that we can treat patients better so they survive and return to full health."
Making a differenceThe new transfusion procedures are also impacting upon the work of London's Air Ambulance, which is based during the day at the Royal London Hospital.
While they cannot yet carry blood on board, they are using a new code to instruct teams at the Royal London to ready all the products needed, including plasma. Blood units can even be brought up to the helipad.
"Code Red is a protocol we use to pre-alert the hospital to make sure that patients we pick up from the roadside who are bleeding get the blood products that they require as soon as they arrive at hospital," explains Dr Anne Weaver, lead clinician with London's Air Ambulance.
She says the new code appears to be making a difference.
"At the Royal London we've seen an improvement in the survival rates of patients with severe pelvic trauma. That's partly to do with the Code Red protocol, and partly to do with interventional radiology and packing of the pelvis."
Frontline Medicine can be seen on BBC Two at 21:00 on Sunday, 20 November, with part two the following week. Watch online afterwards via iPlayer at the above link
Munir Yakub Patel was filmed by a newspaper taking the bribe A clerk who took a bribe while working at a London court and became the first person convicted under the Bribery Act has been jailed for six years.Munir Yakub Patel, 22, worked at Redbridge Magistrates' Court at the time of the incident in August.
Patel, of Green Lane, Dagenham, took £500 to avoid putting details of a traffic summons on a court database.
He admitted one count of bribery but the prosecution believe he earned at least £20,000 by helping 53 offenders.
Continue reading the main storyYou manipulated the process in order to save offenders from the consequences of their offending - fines, penalty points and disqualification”End Quote Judge Alistair McCreath Southwark Crown Court Patel was sentenced to three years for bribery and six years for misconduct in a public office, which he also admitted at Southwark Crown Court last month. He will serve both sentences concurrently.
Sentencing him, Judge Alistair McCreath told Patel: "It hardly needs saying that these were very serious offences.
"They involved a very substantial breach of trust. Your position as a court clerk had at its heart a duty to public confidence in it.
"A justice system in which officials are prepared to take bribes in order to allow offenders to escape the proper consequences of their offending is inherently corrupt and is one which deserves no public respect and which will attract none."
Secret filmingThe judge added: "This indictment represents misconduct which lasted well over a year and involved at least 53 cases in which you manipulated the process in order to save offenders from the consequences of their offending - fines, penalty points and disqualification."
Patel was arrested after The Sun filmed him arranging the bribe to prevent a traffic penalty for speeding being entered on a legal database.
Between February 2009 and August 2011 he gave people advice about how to avoid being summoned to court over traffic penalties, the court was told.
The new Bribery Act, which came into force on 1 July, made it illegal to offer or receive bribes, and to fail to prevent bribery.
Before the new law, similar regulations dated back to 1906 but the Bribery Act also covers bribing a foreign public official and a corporate offence of failing to stop a bribe on behalf of your organisation.
The winner of the Miss Pole Dance Argentina competition, a surfing dog and a hen hotel.
It's the week's weird and wonderful video stories in Newsbeat's Odd Box with Dominic Byrne.
24 hours of news photos: 18 November
Protests against austerity measures
Children In Need Rocks concert in Manchester
An exhibition of the work of Swiss photographer
24 hours of news photos: 17 November 2011
Readers' pictures on the theme sharing
Operation stops Occupy Wall Street protest
Arab League suspends Syria
24 hours of news photos: 16 November
Events to honour the country's war dead
Contracts, industrial drawings and logins were all stolen in the attacks Oil, gas and defence firms in Norway have been hit by a series of sophisticated hack attacks.Industrial secrets and information about contract negotiations had been stolen, said Norway's National Security Agency (NSM).
It said 10 firms, and perhaps many more, had been targeted in the biggest wave of attacks to hit the country.
Norway is the latest in a growing list of nations that have lost secrets and intellectual property to cyber thieves.
The attackers won access to corporate networks using customised emails with viruses attached which did not trigger anti-malware detection systems.
Targeted attacksThe NSM said the email messages had been sent to specific named individuals in the target firms and had been carefully crafted to look like they had come from legitimate sources.
Many of the virus-laden emails were sent while the companies were in the middle of negotiations over big contracts.
It said user names, passwords, industrial drawings, contracts and documents had been stolen and taken out of the country.
The NSM believes the attacks are the work of one group, based on its analysis of the methods used to target individuals, code inside the viruses and how the data was extracted.
The agency said it was publishing information about the attacks to serve as a warning and to encourage other targeted firms to come forward.
"This is the first time Norway has revealed extensive and wide computer espionage attacks," the NSM said in a statement.
Singled outIt said it found out about the attacks when "vigilant users" told internal IT security staff, who then informed the agency.
However, the NSM said, it was likely that many of the companies that had been hit did not know that hackers had penetrated their systems and stolen documents.
Security firms report that many other nations and industrial sectors have been targeted by data thieves in recent months.
The chemical industry, hi-tech firms and utilities appear to have been singled out.
The return of Danish drama The Killing to television screens is the latest evidence of a shift towards long and glacially paced, small-screen drama. So why has slow TV taken off?It's hardly The Sweeney. Car chases and explosions are thin on the ground. Sensational weekly denouements and wild plot twists are conspicuous by their absence.
The Killing's gradual, deliberate pacing seems to flout the conventions of the prime-time television crime thriller - a feature that puts it in company with other, similarly unhurried recent hit programmes.
Brooding, Pinter-esque pauses abound and violence, when it occurs, is downplayed. Dark, rainswept settings frame a mood of near-endless gloom. In its first series, the investigation of a single murder is played out over 20 hour-long episodes.
Returning for a second series on BBC Four, the abiding characteristic of the programme is its slowness. But it's not "slow" in the normally derogatory sense, but rather slow in the sense of crescendoing. It's proved a global hit and has already earned a US remake.
There are plenty of US shows that now adhere to the "slow TV" template. The Killing was preceded by Mad Men, a series whose lack of velocity makes the Danish thriller look like Walker, Texas Ranger.
Continue reading the main storyThe box set is slowly revolutionising the way we watch TV -audiences are choosing to watch in their own time”End Quote Abi Morgan Screenwriter In Matthew Weiner's 1960s-set serial - shown in the US on AMC and about to be a flagship series for the UK's Sky Atlantic - the focus is firmly on tone, mood and character development at the expense of plot-points. Entire episodes pass by in which relationships may subtly alter and themes of identity, alienation and social change be explored, but very little actually happens.
The widely hailed novelistic style of HBO's The Wire saw story arcs rise and fall across series. Though the Baltimore-set crime drama may have had its fair share of action, eventually, writer David Simon's follow-up, Treme, about the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, was profoundly slow-paced.
Such is the influence of this kind of drama that the Mail on Sunday ran an article criticising ITV1's flagship Sunday evening costume drama, Downton Abbey, for apparently unwelcome "breakneck" pace in the second series.
Slow-tempo TV is hardly new, of course. Series like the 26-part Forsyte Saga and the TV version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy unfolded gradually. Granada Television's classic 1980s dramas Brideshead Revisited and The Jewel in the Crown spread out over 11 and 13 hours respectively.
And two decades ago international audiences embraced Twin Peaks in huge numbers despite its lack of urgency in revealing Laura Palmer's murderer.
But what distinguishes the current incarnation of slow TV is that it flies in the face of conventional wisdom about modern audiences demanding immediacy, their attention spans sapped by the ever-moving online era.
The Killing is unashamedly long and slow Instead, it appears that a significant proportion of the viewing public have responded to the instant gratification culture given expression by Twitter and YouTube by demanding quite the opposite.
Indeed, for screenwriter Abi Morgan, who wrote the BBC's The Hour and the forthcoming Margaret Thatcher biopic The Iron Lady, the current popularity of slow TV is itself driven by technological development.
"The box set is slowly revolutionising the way we watch TV," she says. "Audiences are choosing to watch in their own time. That really allows us to appreciate these long-running shows."
Continue reading the main story The Killing (Danish) - 20 episodes (2007)The Forsyte Saga - 26 episodes (1967)Brideshead Revisited - 11 hours over 11 episodes (1981)The Jewel in the Crown - 13 hours over 14 episodes (1984)The Wire series 1 - 13 episodes (2002)Certainly, fans of such shows frequently compare the viewing experience to that of reading a book, with The Wire's creators in particular claiming to have consciously framed their stories using literary rather than televisual plot structures.As such, the pace of slow TV invites viewers to actively engage with the programme, rather than their normal treatment as passive, argues Dr Amy Holdsworth, lecturer in film and television studies at the University of Glasgow and an expert in small-screen history.
"Part of the appeal is working things out for yourself," Dr Holdsworth adds. "They allow the space for viewers to invest in them and make connections for themselves.
"These days there is definitely more of an appreciation of what you can do with TV as a form - you can have so much more character depth in 80 hours than you can in a two-hour film."
Nonetheless, the format has not always proved popular. US subscription channel HBO's atmosphere-driven serial In Treatment received relatively modest ratings, while AMC's atmospheric espionage slow-burner Rubicon was cancelled by the network.
The Forsyte Saga reportedly led to empty pubs and churches on Sunday nights One reason for this, suggests Boyd Hilton, TV editor with Heat magazine, is that making such a programme successfully is hugely difficult to execute, requiring skill and technique to hold the audience's attention.
As such, he questions whether the better-faring examples of the genre really are as slow as we think they are.
"I'd dispute whether they are really glacial," he says. "With The Killing, there's a crime in the first episode and it plays out like a crime thriller, albeit with a dense storyline and dense characters - every single scene imparts the story or the characters in some way.
"It doesn't always work. I found the second series of The Wire, the one set in the docks, quite boring, because I wasn't really interested in that world."
Continue reading the main storyPeople use it as a pejorative term, but the Sopranos is essentially using the form of soap opera”End Quote Dr Amy Holdsworth Lecturer in film and television studies Fans may differ about which aspects of their favourite slow TV shows work and which don't - fuelling a mini-industry of discussion forums and blogs.
But at least part of these programmes' appeal, Hilton adds, is the knowledge that one is consuming a work of art rather than a mere TV thriller or crime drama.
"There are some, but not all, who would take great pride in the fact they are watching something more multi-layered and nourishing than the supposedly lowest common denominator stuff that's out there," he says.
True, no-one could confuse Mad Men's delicately crafted Carousel scene - in which anti-hero Don Draper's advertising pitch to a group of slide projector executives reveals at once the protagonist's cynicism, inner anguish and lack of any kind of fixed identity - with an episode of the X Factor.
But the pacing of such a programme, it could be argued, owes much to another genre of popular entertainment.
With their immersive settings, long-running plotlines and characters who interact with each other over years rather than hours, slow TV shows could owe more to the likes of Coronation Street and EastEnders, Dr Holdsworth suggests, than many of the former's viewers might care to admit.
The life of Claudius would be hard to shoehorn into six episodes "In terms of a long-running serial with a narrative arc, I would argue that soap opera has been doing it for a long time," she says.
"People use it as a pejorative term, but the Sopranos is essentially using the form of soap opera."
For all that the likes of Mad Men have been enthusiastically reviewed and received in the UK, however, the country is yet to produce similar long-running slow TV of its own for the 21st Century. While such dramas as Stephen Poliakoff's Shooting the Past may have been slow to unfold, it lasted three episodes, compared with The Killing's 20.
Indeed, while it is common for US cable drama series to be commissioned in 12-14-episode blocks, the norm in the UK is still much shorter runs.
Morgan believes the British TV industry currently lacks the capacity for such long-form entertainment. But she is confident that the appetite is there - among viewers, dramatists and critics alike.
"American writers are executive producers on shows they originate. We don't have that infrastructure," she says.
"But what's interesting about The Killing is that it's a northern European show. I predict it will happen here in the next few years - I think there's the ambition to do that."
If so, it will represent a slow-burning drama of its own. Perhaps the makers of Downton Abbey will take heed.
Danger Mouse, voiced by David Jason, ran from 1981 to 1992 Animator Mark Hall, co-founder of Cosgrove Hall, responsible for Chorlton and the Wheelies, Dangermouse and The Wind in the Willows, has died of cancer at the age of 75.He died in the early hours of Friday at his home in Manchester surrounded by his family, his company Cosgrove Hall Fitzpatrick Entertainment said.
Operations director Adrian Wilkins hailed "a lifetime of achievement" in the world of animation.
"He is one of life's gentlemen."
Hall, together with Brian Cosgrove, set up production company Stop Frame in the late 1960s before forming Cosgrave Hall Films.
They enjoyed international success with their productions which also included Danger Mouse spin-off Count Duckula, Jamie and the Magic Torch and Cockleshell Bay.
Danger Mouse - voiced by Only Fools and Horses actor David Jason - was joined in his quest to defeat the evil Baron Greenback by bumbling sidekick Penfold, voiced by Terry and June star Terry Scott.
In 2006, the 25th anniversary year of Danger Mouse, Hall told the BBC that the programme had succeeded because of the strange scenarios the pair found themselves in.
"The adults watched because of that kind of anarchy," he said.
"The kids watched it because they just loved the stories and the absolutely stupid gags."
He praised Jason's "fantastic" voicing of Danger Mouse as well as Scott's "wonderful" Penfold.
He said that Dangermouse, who lived inside a postbox in London's Baker Street, was "a sort of cross between Bond and all sorts of things".
"He was supposed to be suave but he was a mouse with big ears."
The show, produced by Cosgrove Hall for Thames TV, attracted an average audience of 3.5 million when it was first shown in the UK on ITV.
It has since been seen in more than 80 countries.
The robots will sample the sea as they cross the Pacific Ocean Four robots have set out on an epic 33,000 nautical mile (66,000km) journey across the Pacific Ocean.Created by US firm Liquid Robotics, the four are aiming to set the record for the longest distance at sea travelled by an unmanned craft.
Throughout their journey the robots will gather lots of data about the composition and quality of sea water.
The journey is expected to take about 300 days, and is designed to inspire researchers to study ocean health.
The robots were launched from the St Francis Yacht Club on the edge of San Francisco harbour on 17 November.
Initially the four will travel as a flotilla to Hawaii and then will split into two pairs. One will go on to Australia and the other will head to Japan to support a dive on the Mariana Trench - the deepest part of the ocean.
The robots manage to move thanks to interaction between the two halves of the autonomous vehicle. The upper half of the wave-riding robot is shaped like a stunted surfboard and it is attached by a cable to a lower part that sports a series of fins and a keel.
Sensor readingsInteraction between the two parts brought about by the motion of the waves enables the robot to propel itself.
Electrical power for sensors is provided by solar panels on the upper surface of the robot.
On their epic journey, the four robots will take sensor readings every 10 minutes to sample salinity, water temperature, weather, fluorescence, and dissolved oxygen.
About 2.25 million data points will be gathered during the voyage and the wandering route they will take passes through regions never before surveyed.
The data set will be fed back as it is gathered and then shared with anyone that registers their interest with Liquid Robotics.
The company is also seeking innovative suggestions about what to do with the data being gathered. The winning entry in this competition will win six months of access to the wave-riding robots to complete the research.
The wave-riding robots are veterans of ocean-going science and helped monitor the spread of oil during the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Before now the longest single journey they have undertaken was over a distance of 2,500 miles.
Two ambulances and an air ambulance were sent to Aberpergwm colliery A miner has been injured underground at a pit in the Neath Valley.Emergency services were called to Aberpergwm, near Glynneath, Neath Port Talbot, at 10:45 GMT on Friday.
The Welsh Ambulance Service said there were reports a man was trapped underground and drifting in and out of consciousness.
It is the second incident at the mine this month. On 3 November, two men were taken to hospital and another treated for shock after a collapse at the site.
After the latest incident the Health and Safety Executive said an inspector would be visiting the site.
Two ambulances and the air ambulance were sent to the scene.
Aberpergwm is believed to employ about 230 people and to have coal reserves of around 6.8m tonnes.
The incident happened as Prince Charles was meeting rescuers involved in attempts to save four miners who died when a drift shaft at Gleision Colliery in the nearby Swansea Valley flooded in September.
Mr Chavez is himself a former soldier Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has ordered thousands of National Guard troops onto the streets to tackle widespread violent crime. The troops have been placed under a new command known as the People's Guard.
They will operate in the capital Caracas and two neighbouring states - Vargas and Miranda.
Rising levels of murder, kidnap and robbery in recent years have made Venezuela one of the most dangerous countries in Latin America.
Crime is expected to be a major issue in next year's presidential election.
President Chavez said the People's Guard had been created "for the benefit of the security of the streets of Venezuela, to reinforce the fight against crime and to give more life to our people", Venezuelan National Radio reported.
The new body will eventually comprise 3,650 troops, officials said.
Campaign issueAs well as tackling violent crime, the troops will support police and community groups to deter offences such as street drug-dealing and public drunkenness.
Rising crime has become a major source of public dissatisfaction in Venezuela, and a key campaign issue for opposition leaders seeking to challenge Mr Chavez in presidential elections in October 2012.
The extent of insecurity was underlined last week by the kidnap last week of the Venezuelan US major league baseball player Wilson Ramos.
Mr Ramos was abducted in his home town of Valencia but rescued by security forces two days later.
By Dan WhitworthThe complaints watchdog says so-called data download bill shock is a serious and growing problem.
Chief Ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith says that is because it is becoming more common for people to download big files, like videos, onto mobiles.
He says that has led to a rise in the number of customers being affected.
Adam Barclay-Faulkner, who's 27, runs his own small business selling big, inflatable adverts in Staffordshire.
He says he makes the most of his mobile's unlimited data deal.
He said: "Mainly I use my mobile for Facebook to keep in touch with family and friends.
"I also send and receive a lot of work emails and watch the occasional video as well."
Big billsLike many people Adam thought he was on an unlimited data deal with his mobile operator.
As can often be the case though, there was a limit which was in the small print of the contract.
Adam says he got a bill for £160 more than he was expecting When he went over that limit Adam started getting charged extra.
Adam says that led to a bill of around £200 instead of his regular monthly one for £38.
"We're in a recession and I don't have the money to just throw at things like this," said Adam.
The unintended overspend led to him being cut off until he could pay his bill.
He says that meant missed emails and lost work.
"I'm the main point of call in my business," he said. "It's really difficult to not have something for a few days before they decided to reconnect me after I'd paid it."
AdviceAs technology improves it is becoming more common for people to download bigger files.
Those include songs, videos and emails with large attachments.
Communications Ombudsman Lewis Shand Smith thinks phone companies could do more to warn people but says they are doing nothing wrong under the current regulations.
He said: "Most mobile operators are playing by the rules, so that then begs the question are the rules what they ought to be?"
Continue reading the main storyCustomer satisfaction is always a priority and there are several ways people can keep track of exactly how much data they useBig five mobile phone operators
He's calling on mobile phone operators to do three things.
"First of all, be very clear about what they mean by unlimited in the advertisements," he advised.
"Secondly, give advice to consumers so they know when they're reaching their limit.
"And thirdly, give advice on the amount of data that's being downloading."
In a series of statements the big five mobile phone operators said: "There are a variety of different tariffs and deals that let customers manage their bills effectively.
"Customer satisfaction is always a priority and there are several ways people can keep track of exactly how much data they use."
Depending on your download connection the amount of data you use for one song is roughly 3 megabytes, for a three-minute video it's 15 megabytes and for a half hour TV show it's around 350 megabytes.
Follow our technology reporter Dan Whitworth on Twitter
But the operating loss does not include the club's huge sponsorship deal with Etihad Airlines, worth a reported £35m a year, or revenues from this season's Champions League campaign.
Uefa's Financial Fair Play rules, which come into full effect in 2013-14, say clubs must break even over three years.
However the latest figures fall outside the accounting window for that.
The previous biggest Premier League loss was £141m reported by Chelsea in 2005 - when they went on to win the league.
The scale of City's losses reflect the investments made by owner Sheikh Mansour of Abu Dhabi, who has spent more than £460m on players since taking over the club in 2008.
Since then, City have been transformed into the current Premier League leaders.
Brian Marwood, chief football operations officer at the club, told the BBC: "We know that we still have an awful lot of work to do but I think it's exactly where we said we would be in terms of the initial investment.
"Over a period of time we are fully aware we have to be compliant and there's a lot of work going on to make sure that's achieved."
He added that the club was working with Uefa all the time and was "comfortable" with the governing body's new rules.
'No repeat'It is the second year in a row that City has made big losses. In 2009-10, it reported an operating loss of £126m.
But chief operating officer Graham Wallace said the losses "will not be repeated on this scale in the future".
Turnover hit £153.2m, up from £125.1m in 2009-10.
This was driven by a 49% jump in commercial partnership revenue to £48.5m.
Income from television rights rose by 27.4% to £68.8m, thanks largely to the club's third-place finish in the Premier League, winning the FA Cup and a run to the last 16 of the Europa League.
Match day ticket sales were up 8.2% to £19.7m.
But wage costs continue to exceed turnover, rising from £133m in 2009-10 to £174m in 2010-11.
Several clubs are considering installing artificial pitchesArtificial pitches could make a shock comeback if some Football League clubs get their way.They were banned in 1988 because of complaints they caused injuries and that the quality of football played on them was poor.
Wycombe and Accrington are two clubs keen to reintroduce them in a bid to cut costs and increase revenue.
"Within 10 years, we will see quite a number of pitches," said Wycombe vice-chairman Brian Kane.
Accrington chief executive Rob Heys added: "There's been a change of opinion recently. There is an appetite for them."
Luton Town, Oldham Athletic, Preston North End and Queens Park Rangers all possessed artificial pitches until they were outlawed by the Football Association in the late 1980s, although Preston continued to use theirs until the end of the 1993-94 season.
Since then, technology has advanced significantly and a number of top-flight clubs in Italy, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland and Russia now play on artificial pitches.
Several lower-division sides in Scotland use them as well, while the FA permits their use in such competitions as the FA Trophy, FA Vase and Women's Premier League.
These hi-tech pitches are approved by world governing body Fifa, while Uefa, which runs football in Europe, allows Champions League ties to be played on artificial surfaces.
England were beaten 2-1 by Russia in a Euro 2008 qualifying game at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, while Tottenham Hotspur met Swiss side Young Boys in a Champions League play-off game in 2010.
Continue reading the main storyI thought a move towards a return to artificial surfaces would never happen but I sense that has changed nowBrian Kane Wycombe vice-chairman
Wycombe chief Kane accepts that the reintroduction of artificial pitches might not be universally welcomed.
"When I first started talking to people about this, they thought about the old pitches," said Kane, who first considered the possibility of a synthetic surface at Adams Park three years ago.
"At one point, I thought a move towards a return to artificial surfaces would never happen but I sense that has changed now."
The interest comes from clubs at the lower end of the Football League, where the potential revenue boost combined with benefits to community schemes would have a significant impact.
"Accrington is a very traditional club, we sell real football," said Heys. "But more and more - and I think a lot of people in the Football League feel like this - the commercial benefits are starting to shout up."
Heys estimates that the cost of installing an artificial pitch would be around £500,000, which would be recouped through increased revenue streams.
"There is an income to be gained from hiring the pitch out and money to be saved in maintenance costs and the fact that you can train on it," he explained.
"The community benefit is that you can get people down to the ground seven days a week rather than just 23 times a season for home fixtures."
It may be several years before a Football League match is played on synthetic turf but discussions have already taken place among League officials and clubs.
After a request from several clubs, deputy operations director Michael Tattersall outlined the Football League's latest position in late November.
All 72 clubs present then headed into three divisional meetings to debate the issue.
The Football League does not want to comment officially but BBC Sport understands the issue will be raised again when the clubs meet again on 16 February.
While Wycombe and Accrington are keen to explore the possibility of installing artificial pitches, the BBC understands there is limited support at Championship level.
Clubs hopeful of reaching the top flight are unwilling to install a surface that they would have to rip out in the event of promotion.
Burnley chief executive Paul Fletcher, a former professional with vast experience in stadium development, is firmly against the idea.
"I hope they do not appear anytime soon," he said. "I do not think the spectators would like it because it would be like seeing a game of five-a-side not a real game of football.
"I can understand clubs wanting an all-weather pitch that they can use 10 times a week but it would be false. Just like if you put a plastic surface down on the tennis courts at Wimbledon, it would not quite be the same."
Fletcher also says the impact artificial surfaces have on the body should not be underestimated either.
"The players of my era have had major problems with hips and joints as they have got older," said the 60-year-old. "Modern pitches have shock pads and they are getting better and better but, in my view, they will never replace the beautiful surface of grass."
The old plastic pitches were hard on the knees of players The Clarets are one of numerous Championship clubs who use a combined synthetic and grass surface, which Fletcher claims provides the best available playing surface.
But Heys countered: "It is very expensive to maintain and would not get the same level of use."
For artificial surfaces to return to the Football League at some point in the future, there would need to be a proposal and vote in favour at an annual general meeting.
For the vote to be passed, there would need to be a 50% plus one majority of the member 72 clubs, plus 50% plus one club majority in the Championship.
In theory a proposal could be raised in time for a vote at the next AGM in June, although that is thought unlikely. Any hope of a return to artificial surfaces could also be damaged if the FA and Premier League were to raise a significant objection to FA Cup and Carling Cup ties taking place on them.
It is thought unlikely that any consideration will be given to having different rules on artificial surfaces in Leagues One and Two than those operating in the Championship, given that any League Two club could be in the Championship in two seasons.
Additional reporting by Jamie Gavin and Peter Cooke.
Edwards signed a new deal with Wales after leaving London Wasps Shaun Edwards believes Jim Mallinder and Ian McGeechan could be the ideal double act to replace Martin Johnson as England manager.Edwards was linked with the role before signing a new deal with Wales.
He said: "We should go for the best of the guys currently coaching here, say Mallinder, alongside someone of unparalleled experience, say McGeechan.
"My guess is they'd develop as a partnership and develop England's young team at the same time."
Edwards accused the Rugby Football Union of being too focused on getting a southern hemisphere replacement for Johnson.
South African Nick Mallett, who has coached the Springboks and Italy, revealed he had turned an approach down from the RFU.
Continue reading the main story Age 45Born WiganPlayer: Wigan (1983-1997), Balmain Tigers (1989), London Broncos (1997 and 1998-2000) and Bradford Bulls (1998)Coach: London Wasps (2001-2011) Wales defence(2008-)His compatriot Jake White has also been linked with the role, as have Australian Eddie Jones and New Zealander John Kirwan.
"The mindset seems to be that if you come from Australia, South Africa or New Zealand that's enough of a CV," Edwards said in his column in the Guardian newspaper.
"Kirwan, who was a fine player, only coached up here with Italy. When Jones left Saracens they were about seventh in the Premiership.
"True [Mallett] once led South Africa to 17 consecutive wins, but the last of those was in 1998. I can't accept that because someone comes from the southern hemisphere they have an advantage.
"The thinking appears to be that Twickenham goes out in the market and buys an off-the-peg winner - a White, a Graham Henry. That seems like flawed thinking."
Instead Wales defence coach Edwards, who left Wasps earlier this month after 10 years in charge, believes Mallinder is the ideal man to become England's head coach.
"To my mind, he has already got most of what it takes to be an England coach. First with Sale and now with Northampton, he has turned sides around and last season came within a fingertip of claiming the Heineken Cup.
Continue reading the main storyRob Andrew has the air of a man who either is or thinks he's in charge - [so] shouldn't he perhaps think about his own position?Shaun Edwards
"If he's short of anything, it's the experience in fighting the battles in the corridors of power which are part and parcel of the England job."
Edwards also criticised RFU operations director Rob Andrew, who was Johnson's line manager, yet refused to take responsibility for England's World Cup performance at a news conference on Wednesday.
"Rob Andrew has the air of a man who either is or thinks he's in charge," Edwards added. "And in that respect shouldn't he perhaps think about his own position, even if someone else isn't about to do it for him?
"Meanwhile, big men, like Johnson, take the rap."
On Friday her National League for Democracy said it would register to run in as yet unscheduled by-elections.
The party boycotted the last polls in November 2010, the first in 20 years.
Meanwhile the US is to send Hillary Clinton to visit Burma next month, amid what President Barack Obama called "flickers of progress" in the nation.
Mr Obama spoke to Ms Suu Kyi before deciding to send Mrs Clinton, who will be the first secretary of state to visit in 50 years.
The BBC's South East Asia correspondent Rachel Harvey says the developments are being seen as endorsements of the steps taken by the new military-backed civilian-led government towards political reform.
'Unanimous decision'The announcements from Ms Suu Kyi and her party followed a meeting of 100 senior NLD leaders in Rangoon.
Continue reading the main story
Rachel Harvey BBC South East Asia Correspondent By any measure this has been an extraordinary week for Burma. On Monday, Aung San Suu Kyi marked a year since her release from house arrest.
On Thursday, Asean awarded Burma the rotating chairmanship of the regional grouping in 2014. The US Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, is to visit Burma next month and the NLD, which boycotted last year's widely criticised elections is now re-entering the official political fold.
The Burmese government, led by President Thein Sein, appears to be reaping the benefits of its recent steps towards reform. Sceptics will say it is being rewarded too richly, too soon. But Aung San Suu Kyi, Mr Obama and others have all cautioned that, whilst they are encouraged by what they have seen thus far, much more needs to be done.
Releasing all remaining political prisoners, resolving the armed conflicts which persist in some areas and addressing the concerns and rights of Burma's ethnic minorities, remain key benchmarks yet to be met.
But there appears to be a consensus forming among diplomats that recent progress needs to be supported if the momentum is to be maintained.
"We unanimously decide that the National League for Democracy (NLD) will register according to party registration laws, and we will take part in the coming by-elections," a party statement said.It boycotted the previous polls because of election laws that banned Ms Suu Kyi - a former political prisoner - from running.
But this regulation has since been dropped, and Ms Suu Kyi said she now wanted the party to contest all 48 seats left vacant in parliament by the appointment of ministers.
She later told the BBC that she would contest one of the seats and run for parliament.
The NLD won elections in 1990 but was never allowed to take power. Ms Suu Kyi spent years under house arrest but was freed a year ago by the new government.
Since then it has entered into dialogue with her and freed some - but by no means all - political prisoners.
Ms Suu Kyi has given a cautious welcome to the moves, but says more progress is needed.
'Concrete action'Mr Obama echoed her view in comments at a regional summit in Bali.
"Last night, I spoke to Aung San Suu Kyi directly and confirmed she supports American engagement to move this process forward," he said.
Continue reading the main story 7 Nov 2010: First polls in 20 years13 Nov: Aung San Suu Kyi freed from house arrest30 Mar 2011: Transfer of power to new government complete 14 Aug: Aung San Suu Kyi allowed to leave Rangoon on political visit19 Aug: Aung San Suu Kyi meets Burmese President Thein Sein6 Oct: Human rights commission established12 Oct: More than 200 political prisoners freed13 Oct: New labour laws allowing unions passed17 Nov: Burma granted Asean chair in 2014During her visit, Mrs Clinton would "explore whether the United States can empower a positive transition in Burma", he said."That possibility will depend on the Burmese government taking more concrete action. If Burma fails to move down the path of reform it will continue to face sanctions and isolation," he said.
The US maintains economic sanctions and travel bans against members of the former junta.
The US announcement came a day after leaders of the Association of South-East Asian Nations (Asean) agreed that Burma could chair the regional bloc in 2014.
Burma was passed over for its turn at the rotating presidency last time because of its human rights record.
But Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa said member states believed Burma had made significant progress towards democracy.
JLS performed as part of the special Children In Need concert in Manchester on Thursday Westlife, JLS, Susan Boyle and the cast of EastEnders are set to appear as part of the BBC's annual Children In Need appeal show later. The programme will start with a One Show special, which will see presenter Matt Baker end his 500 mile rickshaw ride from Edinburgh to London.
The BBC newsreaders will perform a dance routine, while Lord Alan Sugar will appear in Dragon's Den.
Sir Terry Wogan, Fearne Cotton, Alesha Dixon and Tess Daly will host the show.
Former X Factor band One Direction will open the show, which starts on BBC One at 1930 GMT.
The Collective, a supergroup featuring Gary Barlow, Ed Sheeran, Tinchy Stryder, Chipmunk, Ms Dynamite, Tulisa, Wretch 32, Rizzle Kicks, Mz Bratt, Dot Rotten and Labrinth will perform the Children in Need single Teardrop.
Lord Sugar will enter the Dragons' Den and Wan, best known for presenting fashion shows, has been lined up to sing.
The cast of comedy series Outnumbered will perform Hey Hey We're the Monkees and the Muppets will lead an all-star version of the classic song Mah Na Mah Na.
There will be regional segments to the show, allowing viewers to see fundraising events across the UK.
The aim of the night is to raise as much money as possible to help support children's charities across the country.
The alleged neo-Nazi cell operated for more than ten years without being noticed by German security agencies German security officials have been meeting to discuss the threat from far-right groups, after a suspected neo-Nazi cell went undetected for a decade and allegedly killed 10 people.The Berlin gathering brings together ministers from the federal government and the 16 German Laender (states).
Intelligence agencies and police have been criticised for failing to detect the neo-Nazi group.
Newspaper revelations about its activities have shocked many Germans.
The existence of the cell only emerged this week when one alleged member surrendered and two others reportedly killed themselves.
The two men, Uwe Mundlos and Uwe Boenhardt, were found dead in a caravan in Eisenach in eastern Germany.
They had left behind a DVD in which they admitted to the 10 killings. The dead allegedly included nine immigrants - eight from Turkey and one from Greece - and a police officer.
Intelligence failureThe woman who handed herself in, Beate Zschaepe, was wanted in connection with an armed robbery.
She had blown up her flat in the eastern city of Zwickau before surrendering.
Germany's 16 states have separate justice and security arrangements and have been accused of failing to share intelligence on unsolved killings The three are reported by German media to have had close links going back to the 1990s.
Police have arrested another suspected member of the group - which called itself the National Socialist Underground.
Detectives are reopening all unsolved cases stretching back to 1998 in which possible racist motives could have been involved.
The neo-Nazi cell is also suspected of carrying out a bomb attack in Cologne and a number of bank robberies.
Police and intelligence agencies from around Germany have been accused of failing to share information.
German Justice Minister Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung newspaper she wanted to see the 16 German Laender merge their intelligence agencies.
Earlier this week Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich said a national database would be set up listing neo-Nazi extremists.
Current UK defence projects include the building of two new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers Defence officials spent £564m which had been earmarked for equipment on technical advice, a report suggests.Civil servants made little attempt to ensure value, an internal audit of defence contracts since 2009 found.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond blamed "a culture of sloppiness" at the MoD, while the shadow defence secretary described the findings as "concerning".
The MoD said it was now "tightening the approvals process to ensure proper scrutiny of spending".
It comes as it looks to cut thousands of military and civilian personnel.
About 920 soldiers and 930 RAF personnel were told they were being made redundant, in the first tranche of cuts announced in last year's Strategic Defence and Security Review.
About 42,000 MoD civilian and armed forces jobs are to be cut by 2015 as defence spending falls by 8% over the next four years.
'Perfectly legitimate'The MoD says it needs the expertise of specialists to provide advice when it buys military equipment.
Mr Hammond told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that it was "perfectly legitimate" for the MoD to hire consultants.
Continue reading the main story Jonathan Beale Defence correspondent, BBC NewsLiam Fox, the former defence secretary, once likened the Ministry of Defence's finances to a "car crash".
The wreckage has become apparent over the past 18 months with thousands of redundancies announced, equipment scrapped and orders cancelled.
The latest news that the MoD spent more than £500m on "consultants" over the past few years only confirms a picture of budgetary chaos.
Trade unions say that money should have been better spent on equipment and saving jobs. They argue much of the work could have been done "in house".
The "consultants" - who the MoD says are in fact mostly "technical experts"- had a bonanza. Perhaps rather appropriately the scheme was called FATS.
Money was handed out to hundreds of specialists with seemingly few checks and controls. But this government will not be taking the blame.
The rules on the use of outside experts were relaxed under the last Labour government. Ministers say they have now tightened controls.
But he added: "Have the guidelines and procedures been followed properly? On the evidence of this report, they have not."The Ministry of Defence has a culture of sloppiness around financial discipline and management controls.
"Ten years of lax controls under the last government has created an environment in which good financial discipline is not the prevailing culture."
He said new controls were being brought in and a fresh audit would be carried out six months after the plans were introduced next April.
"The MoD is an oil tanker. It has 250,000 people and you can't turn it on a six pence. The culture is changing," he said.
'Not right'Shadow defence secretary Jim Murphy said there should always be value for money.
"Recent revelations show even today the MoD pays consultants £4,000 a day, which means some consultants are getting paid more in a week than some [in the] forces get in a year," he said.
"I don't think that's right."
Under the last Labour government, the rules were relaxed to allow civil servants to bring in technical advice and support without ministerial approval as it sought to carry out ship-building programmes and other major projects.
Current projects include a £1bn upgrade of the Army's Warrior armoured vehicles and two new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, are being built.
Figures obtained by the Guardian, using the Freedom of Information Act, revealed the MoD spent £564m in the last two years on contractors.
Some 380 firms are currently being employed for technical support. The MoD spent just £6m in 2006.
The audit of defence contracts since 2009 found that most were awarded without any kind of competition.
But Defence Secretary Mr Hammond said the MoD had cut the annual bill for management consultants from £261m under Labour to £21m.
'Economic madness'Prospect, the union representing 7,000 civilian specialists in the MoD, said the findings showed how plans to cut staff had "badly affected" the MoD's ability to manage its equipment programme efficiently.
"The tragedy is that the department is busy making its specialist staff, who would normally undertake that technical work, redundant. It is economic madness," said national secretary Steve Jary.
The Taxpayers' Alliance said it was "appalling" the MoD had managed its budget "so catastrophically badly".
Matthew Elliott, chief executive of the pressure group which lobbies for lower taxes said consultants should be used "in moderation".
'Proper scrutiny'An MoD spokesman said the government "instigated an internal audit" in the summer to assess the procurement of technical assistance.
"As a result of the findings of that report we are tightening the approvals process to ensure proper scrutiny of spending under this framework," he added.
Earlier this week, the National Audit Office (NAO) said cuts to defence spending had contributed to a £466m rise in the cost of the UK's 15 largest military equipment projects.
It said the decision to delay the Astute submarine programme could also leave the Royal Navy short of attack submarines.
The NAO said the cuts and delays represented poor value for money. Mr Hammond said the MoD had "got a grip" on costs.
Mr Amano says there is information Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a bomb World powers have agreed a draft resolution, which expresses "increasing concern" over Iran's controversial nuclear programme.The document by the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany comes amid fears of "possible military dimensions" to the programme.
The text is to be discussed at a meeting of the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, later this week.
The IAEA proposes sending a high-level mission to Iran to address the fears.
Tehran says its programme is for peaceful purposes.
'Restoring confidence'The draft resolution was hammered out by Britain, China, France, Russia, the US and also Germany on Thursday in Vienna, as the International Atomic Energy Agency continues to debate the latest report on Iran released last week in the Austrian capital.
The draft expresses "deep and increasing concern about the unresolved issues regarding the Iranian nuclear programme, including those which need to be clarified to exclude the existence of possible military dimensions".
The document also "calls on Iran to engage seriously and without preconditions in talks aimed at restoring international confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature" of Tehran's programme.
However, it stops short of reporting Iran to the UN Security Council, which could impose more sanctions, the BBC's Bethany Bell in Vienna reports.
IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano earlier said that there might be undeclared nuclear material and activities.
"Our technical experts have spent years painstakingly and objectively analysing a huge quantity of information from a wide variety of independent sources, including from a number of member states, from the agency's own efforts and from information provided by Iran itself. The agency finds the information to be, overall, credible," Mr Amano said in a statement.
"It is consistent in terms of technical content, individuals and organisations involved, and timeframes. The information indicates that Iran has carried out activities relevant to the development of a nuclear explosive device."
Mr Amano expressed hope that a date for the the proposed mission to Iran would be agreed soon.
The US and its allies want to see stronger sanctions imposed on Iran, but Russia believes the report contains no new evidence - and could hurt the chances for diplomacy, our correspondent says.
China says sanctions cannot resolve the issue.
'Accident'On Wednesday, Iranian General Hassan Firouzabadi said that - contrary to speculation - the US and Israel were not behind a weekend munitions base blast that killed 17 Revolutionary Guards, including a key ballistics missile expert.
"This recent incident and blast has no link to Israel or America, but the outcome of the research, in which the incident happened as a consequence, could be a strong smack to the mouth of Israel and its occupying regime," Gen Firouzabadi was quoted as saying by the student news agency Isna.
Iranian officials had previously said the accident happened while munitions were being moved at the base, without linking it directly to weapons research.
Brig Gen Hassan Moqaddam, who was considered a key figure in Iran's missile programme, was the most senior casualty in the incident.
It will enable scientists to accurately portray the shape of the entire Moon at a higher resolution than ever before.
The map was produced using data sent back by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) spacecraft, which was launched in June 2009.
It reveals troughs and bumps over nearly the entire Moon with a pixel scale close to 100m (328 ft).
A single measure of elevation (one pixel) on the map is roughly the size of two football pitches placed side-by-side.
"Our new topographic view of the Moon provides the dataset that lunar scientists have waited for since the Apollo era," said Dr Mark Robinson, chief scientist on the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera (LROC), one of LRO's instruments.
Dr Robinson, from Arizona State University in Tempe, added: "We can now determine slopes of all major geologic terrains on the Moon at 100m scale, determine how the crust has deformed, better understand impact crater mechanics, investigate the nature of volcanic features, and better plan future robotic and human missions to the Moon."
Two instruments were involved in producing the map: the camera instrument (specifically the Wide Angle Camera) and the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (Lola) instrument.
The Nasa spacecraft was launched to lunar orbit carrying six instruments designed to collect detailed information about the lunar environment.
Camps for internally displaced people are areas were famine conditions still exist Famine no longer exists in three of the worst-affected areas of Somalia following the intervention of aid agencies, the United Nations has said.The UN's Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit said improving conditions meant Bay, Bakool, and Lower Shabelle had been downgraded from famine zones.
But the UN says a quarter of a million people still face imminent starvation.
"Somalia still remains the world's most critical situation," a senior UN official told the BBC.
Three other areas, including the squalid camps in the capital, Mogadishu, remain in a state of famine.
BBC East Africa correspondent Will Ross says aid agencies have better access in the capital so it is surprising that the malnutrition and mortality rates have not dropped further there.
The UN says about $800m (£505m) has been raised for the humanitarian effort following the worst drought to hit East Africa in 60 years.
The rains have now come, but Mark Bowden, the UN's humanitarian affairs co-ordinator, told the BBC the crisis was still very much on.
"It is good to see reductions in rates of malnutrition, some reductions in the rates of mortality," he said.
"Even so, I have to say that Somalia still remains the world's most critical situation. There are more people needing assistance than any other part of the world and the rates of malnutrition are still unacceptably high."
More than $1bn in donations will be needed next year, the UN says.
Conflict concerns Continue reading the main storyIf farmers are not able to work in safety now, there may be yet another failed harvest in January and a prolonged food crisis well into next year”End Quote Senait Gebregziabher Oxfam However, a senior aid worker familiar with the situation in Somalia who did not wish to be named told the BBC that the situation was still getting worse.
He said the UN could not admit this because it had to show the aid money was being well spent and having an impact.
Oxfam's country director for Somalia welcomed the announcement.
"The latest figures show that aid is reaching people in some of the worst-affected areas, and it highlights the amazing work being done by Somali organisations to tackle famine," Senait Gebregziabher told the BBC in a statement.
But the British aid agency said conflict was jeopardising the aid effort.
Last month Kenyan troops crossed into Somalia to fight al-Shabab - the al-Qaeda-linked militants it blames for a spate of kidnappings in Kenya.
Al-Shabab, which controls much of central and southern Somalia and has banned many Western aid agencies from its territory, has denied the allegations.
"Insecurity is already disrupting the supply of aid to tens of thousands of people at a critical time in the crisis, and an escalation in violence could throw recovery off course," Ms Gebregziabher said.
The international community should focus on diplomacy rather than more conflict, Oxfam said."We're seriously concerned that if people do not have the security to plant seeds or the freedom to access clean water and food in the markets, the humanitarian situation will deteriorate once again. If farmers are not able to work in safety now, there may be yet another failed harvest in January and a prolonged food crisis well into next year," said Ms Gebregziabher.
The Food Security and Nutrition Analysis Unit survey said famine would persist throughout December 2011 in Middle Shabelle and among areas of Afgoye and Mogadishu housing camps for internally displaced people.
"The size of the population in need of emergency assistance to save both lives and livelihoods will likely remain near current levels [four million people] for the coming nine months," the unit said in a statement.
Tens of thousands of Somalis have fled rural areas - many over the borders to Ethiopia and Kenya - in search of food.
Somalia has not had a functioning central government for more than 20 years and has been wracked by fighting between various militias.
Karl Edwards, 44, a former "premier relationship manager", appeared at Birmingham Crown Court along with Andrew Waters, 26, who was also a Barclays employee, in Croydon.
Waters was also sentenced to five years.
The court was told that the victims of the fraud were three people in their 80s.
Liam Neeson was a fan of the original album when it came out in 1978 Liam Neeson is to appear as a 3D hologram in a new version of Jeff Wayne's long-running The War of the Worlds musical.The actor takes over the narrator role from Richard Burton, whose holographic head has appeared in the show since it began touring in 2006.
The Northern Irish star said he was "very flattered" to take on the part.
Burton's narration had been taken from Jeff Wayne's original 1978 double album, which has sold some 15m copies.
Continue reading the main storyWhile it may have been the greatest opportunity, it was also the hardest decision to make.”End Quote Jeff Wayne on his decision to replace Richard Burton's hologram The cast on the original recording included David Essex, Justin Hayward, Phil Lynott and Julie Covington.
In a new element to the production, Neeson's holographic character will appear interacting with the live performers on stage.
The show, based on HG Wells' classic science fiction novel, tells the story of a Martian invasion of Victorian England.
At the launch of the 2012 "New Generation" show and album in London on Friday, Wayne said he had decided to "re-explore" HG Wells' storyline and characters for the new tour.
This, he said, included the main character of George Herbert, The Journalist, as voiced by late actor Burton.
"While it may have been the greatest opportunity, it was also the hardest decision to make because I knew that with a re-developed storyline, a new Journalist would need to be sought, as Richard Burton's original performance was finite," Wayne said.
"And whoever that person might turn out to be, he would have to be of no less stature and quality of voice than that of Richard - an incredibly tough act to follow."
'Head and shoulders'
Jeff Wayne is taking a new approach to the story and the music for the 2012 tour Burton appeared in 74 sequences in the old show, while Neeson's character features in 90.
He will take three separate forms: As a full-length hologram, as a holographic "head and shoulders" and also in filmed CGI sequences on a giant screen.
Neeson said he had been a fan of the original album, having bought it on cassette tape in 1978.
He also recalled working with Burton on a 1984 US TV mini-series, Ellis Island, shortly before the Welsh actor died.
"I remember coming out of my trailer and he was listening to this lady with his arms behind his back, and he looked incredibly fit," he told the BBC.
"I thought 'wow - that's Richard Burton'. I didn't want to go over, I wished I had, but two weeks after that he passed away. He had this 'halo' round him."
The new War of the Worlds tour takes place in the UK in December 2012.
24 hours of news photos: 18 November
Protests against austerity measures
Children In Need Rocks concert in Manchester
An exhibition of the work of Swiss photographer
24 hours of news photos: 17 November 2011
Readers' pictures on the theme sharing
Operation stops Occupy Wall Street protest
Arab League suspends Syria
24 hours of news photos: 16 November
Events to honour the country's war dead
The area has been sealed off while investigations continue Two people, believed to be a man and a woman, have died after a farm fire in Flintshire in the early hours of the morning.A member of the public raised the alarm at 01:45 GMT after seeing flames at Gors Farm on the outskirts of Babell village near Holywell.
North Wales Police and North Wales Fire and Rescue service are conducting a joint investigation into the blaze.
The property is a farmhouse although it is not a working farm.
Fire crews from Holywell, Flint and Deeside attended the incident.
Continue reading the main storyWe're stood at the end of a closed lane which leads to the farmhouse.
There's some sort of steam rising up from the remnants of the house but the fire is out as crews have been damping down.
The fire appliances left at around 11:45 GMT so the investigation team is here and there are forensic teams on site.
Crime scene Home Office pathologist Brian Rogers is also at the scene but it is unlikely the bodies will be formally identified on Friday.Family have been informed.
North Wales Police said the property was currently being treated as a crime scene.
The area has been sealed off while investigations continue.
Ed Miliband meets Ford workers at the Bridgend engine plant The UK coalition government and the Labour opposition have brought their battle over the economy to Wales.Deputy Minister Nick Clegg was due to visit a recycling project that trains the long-term unemployed in Cardiff on Friday.
Labour leader Ed Miliband, at Ford in Bridgend, said the Welsh government's hands were "tied" by Westminster.
It came in the wake of announcements of rising unemployment in Wales and the Bank of England's growth forecast cut.
Both the UK government in Westminster and the Labour Welsh government in Cardiff have faced attacks from critics for not doing enough to reinvigorate an ailing economy.
Official figures on Wednesday showed unemployment in Wales had reached its highest level since comparable records began in 1992.
On the same day, the Governor of the Bank of England Sir Mervyn King said the outlook for the UK had worsened and the economy could stagnate until the middle of next year.
Mr Miliband has said that there is mounting evidence the UK government's austerity policies are not working and that ministers should change course when the Chancellor delivers his autumn statement on 29 November.
He supported the actions of the Welsh government, pointing to funding to create 4,000 training opportunities for young people.
First Minister Carwyn Jones led a government that was "doing everything it can to get our economy moving."
'Absolute confidence'"But he's being held back," said Mr Miliband.
"His hands are tied by a government in Westminster that's making all kinds of decisions about our economy which I think are the wrong decisions."
Labour agrees that the deficit needs to be reduced but the government can't get the deficit down until Britain gets back to work, said Mr Miliband.
Action on the economy has been a sticking point in Labour's talks with opposition parties as it tries to get its budget through the assembly.
Mr Miliband said it was up to Carwyn Jones and his cabinet to decide whether they strike a deal with Plaid Cymru or the Liberal Democrats.
"I have absolute confidence that Carwyn will make the right decision by the people of Wales."
Mr Jones, who was also meeting workers at Ford's engine plant, said the Welsh government was doing what it could to stimulate growth.
He hailed an announcement about funding worth £55m to help small businesses and said there would be another announcement about capital spending next week.
"It's very important that the UK government do the same thing [as us] and they are not at the moment," he said.
Black and Ryan were killed in St Albans in 1991 when a bomb detonated prematurely An MP has condemned plans to lay flowers in memory of an IRA bomber blown up in St Albans 20 years ago.Patricia Black and Frankie Ryan were killed on 15 November 1991, when a bomb they were carrying detonated early.
Police have confirmed the family of one of two IRA members plans to mark the anniversary by laying a wreath.
Mr Lilley, who was the city's MP at the time, said: "I think it's grotesque to commemorate an evil act which was attempting to kill indiscriminately."
He said the bomb had targeted "innocent citizens of St Albans and bandsmen".
The bomb exploded in the doorway of the old Barclays Bank next to the Alban Arena.
The Blues and Royals military band were playing in the venue at the time.
One civilian was injured in the blast, but minutes later about 300 people would have been leaving the concert.
Mr Lilley was the city's MP at the time Black, 18, from Belfast, was a volunteer in the Belfast Brigade of the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
Fellow volunteer Ryan, 25, had Irish parents but was brought up in Essex and went to Ireland in 1985 where he became involved in the Republican movement.
A memorial to the pair was erected in their honour at the Sally Gardens Centre in Belfast in 2007.
Hertfordshire police said they had been "made aware of an intention to lay wreaths".
A statement read: "At this stage we are currently making numerous checks as to who is organising this and what their plans are.
"Until the exact circumstances are confirmed it would be inappropriate for us to comment any further."
A spokesperson for St Albans City and District Council, which owns land where the bomb exploded, said it was liaising with the police and would not comment further.
Peter Lilley, who was the Conservative Secretary of State for Trade and Industry at the time of the blast, became MP for Hitchin and Harpenden in 1997.
Institute for Fiscal Studies researchers said potential inequalities did not rule out the need for reforms Plans to alter education funding could boost the budgets of some schools, while others see theirs reduced, the Institute for Fiscal Studies suggests.Currently, most school funding goes directly to local authorities who decide how to share it out.
But a government plan to base funding on one nationally set formula, could create "winners and losers", a study by the research body suggests.
The government said it wanted to make the system "more transparent".
The IFS report looks at different options for a national funding formula, a plan announced by Education Secretary Michael Gove.
It considers the option of setting a fixed amount of money for all pupils, possibly with different levels for primary and secondary schools, including extra cash for poor students.
Other factors, such as additional funding for schools in high-cost areas to recruit teachers, were also considered by researchers.
The study concludes that even if the formula is kept as simple as possible, to minimise disruption to schools, around 15% of schools would face cuts of 10% or more compared with the current system.
But around one in 10 would see their budgets rise by 10% or more.
"Whatever formula is chosen, it will lead to a large number of winners and losers relative to existing policy," says the report.
'Sustained losses'
It goes on: "This is an inevitable consequence of replacing the current system, where funding levels can be based on myriad historical and local factors, by a simpler version that seeks to make funding more transparent and consistent across the country."
The authors of the report warn that a new system should be introduced over a long period, and that any move of less than a decade "will involve significant, sustained losses for some schools".
According to the study, a change-over of six years would leave some schools facing annual cash-terms cuts of up to 5%.
However, the report also says "maintaining the status quo is unlikely to be desirable either".
Continue reading the main storyThese changes could bring costs and disruption to all schools, as well as large losses for some”End Quote Stephen Twigg Shadow education secretary "Without reform, school funding may become less transparent and less related to educational needs over time," states the report.
Report author Luke Sibieta, who is an IFS senior research economist, said there is "little doubt" that the school funding system merits reform.
Meanwhile, a Department for Education spokesman said the IFS agrees that maintaining the current funding system is "undesirable" and without it school funding "may become less transparent and less related to education needs over time".
He said: "We want to make it fairer, simpler and more transparent.
"The introduction of a new formula would inevitably mean that some schools would receive more funding and some would receive less.
"We would, however, put in place transitional arrangements to ensure that schools do not experience sharp changes to their budgets."
But shadow education secretary Stephen Twigg said the largest cuts would come in areas with the greatest need for funding, such as Liverpool, Wigan and Coventry.
"These changes could bring costs and disruption to all schools, as well as large losses for some," he said.
"The government needs to be far more open and transparent about its plans which are understandably frightening for teachers, heads and parents," added Mr Twigg.
Marion Thomas was awarded more than £2,500 by the tribunal A former British National Party worker has been awarded over £2,500 for wrongful dismissal by the right-wing party last year.Marion Thomas worked in the party's east Belfast office for over a year.
BNP leader Nick Griffin was named as the respondent in the case as the employment panel unanimously decided to award the damages.
The ruling said that both the BNP and Mrs Thomas provided evidence that was "not credible" to the tribunal.
The 49-year-old Comber woman was dismissed by the party when the call centre she worked in closed in December 2010.
Mr Griffin and his daughter, Jennifer Matthys, who jointly managed the call centre, were criticised for not giving evidence to the tribunal.
The settlement Mrs Thomas received was made up of four week's pay, one week's notice pay, postage expenses incurred taking the case and £760 for the failure of Mr Griffin to provide a witness statement to the panel.
Mrs Thomas' claims for overtime, holiday pay and mobile phone expenses were dismissed.
The tribunal did hear evidence from five other members of the BNP during the three-day hearing.
The three-strong panel heard how the call centre, which was leased to the BNP by Belfast businessman Jim Dowson, closed at the end of 2010 when the party found itself in serious debt.
BNP leader Nick Griffin was criticised for not giving evidence to the hearing. In its decision the panel referred to some of the colourful testimony during the hearing.
"The tribunal heard allegations of blackmail, threats, cars being forced off the road, information being sought about political rivals, electoral malpractice, paramilitary involvement and that staple of Irish political life, the passing of money-filled envelopes in strange locations and in even stranger circumstances.
"However, this was, in truth, a banal and ordinary employment tribunal claim alleging unfair dismissal and non-payment of holiday pay, overtime, expenses and notice pay."
The tribunal concluded that Mrs Thomas was "automatically unfairly dismissed for non-compliance with the statutory dismissal procedure".
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Magazine Home UK Africa Asia Europe Latin America Mid-East US & Canada Business Health Sci/Environment Tech Entertainment Video Magazine In Pictures Also in the News Editors' Blog Have Your Say World Radio and TV Special Reports 18 November 2011Last updated at 08:05 GMT Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Quiz of the week's news Continue reading the main story/*div.story-body div#quiz_container{width:448px;border:1px solid;padding-left:16px;}*/Info
It's the Magazine's 7 days, 7 questions quiz - an opportunity to prove to yourself and others that you are a news oracle. Failing that, you can always claim to have had better things to do during the past week than swot up on current affairs.
1.) Multiple Choice Question
The Duchess of Cambridge attended the Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cenotaph in London on Sunday, along with other members of the Royal Family. Which poppy did she wear?
One2.) Multiple Choice Question
Benetton has withdrawn a poster featuring the Pope and an imam sharing a kiss. Earlier, another poster featuring which amorous duo was also stopped?
Sarkozy and MerkelInfo
Another poster features Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy, shown here on a street in Paris.
3.) Multiple Choice Question
Silvio Berlusconi left office this week but was still in the news. Which famous name is NOT being called as a defence witness in a trial involving the former Italian prime minister?
Actor George Clooney4.) Multiple Choice Question
"Last night changed my life and I will never forget it." Who said this this week?
Bollywood star Aishwarya Rai Bachchan on giving birth to a baby girl
Justin Timberlake on escorting US Marine Kelsey De Santis to her annual ball
Robert Pattinson on escorting Kristen Stewart to the UK premiere of The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn
Info
US Corporal Kelsey De Santis invited the singer via YouTube to her Marine Corps Ball. He accepted and they went together last Friday. She described the night as "wonderful". On his website the singer said it "turned out to be one of the most moving evenings I've ever had".
5.) Missing Word Question
Too much * can depress older women
TV6.) Multiple Choice Question
Baroness Trumpington hit the headlines after giving a two-fingered salute to fellow peer Lord King for making a remark in the House of Lords about what?
Her name7.) Multiple Choice Question
Nick Hewer, of Apprentice fame, is the new host of Countdown. But what does outgoing host Jeff Stelling have in common with the show's original host, the late Richard Whiteley?
They both had trials for Bradford City FCAnswers
It's number four, the two poppies entwined. Number one was worn by the Duchess of Cornwall, the second by the Countess of Wessex and the third by the prime minister's wife, Samantha Cameron.It's Berlusconi and Merkel. The remaining pictures in the advertising campaign include President Obama kissing Hugo Chavez.It's Rapper Jay Z. More than 200 people will give evidence in the trial of three people said to have recruited prostitutes for Mr Berlusconi.It's Justin Timberlake. He responded to being asked in a YouTube appeal.It's TV. Watching too much television can make older women depressed, a new study has shown.The 89-year-old former wartime codebreaker stunned the House of Lords when she flicked her colleague a V-sign in defiance at being referred to as old.It's choosing to be known by their middle names. Richard Whiteley was actually called John Richard Whiteley and Jeff Stelling is actually called Robert Jeffrey Stelling, according to Channel Four. Neither had trials for Bradford City FC or dyslexia.Your Score
0 - 3 : Fired
4 - 6 : Shortlisted
7 - 7 : Hired
Continue reading the main story National animals CVs Baking Dinosaurs For past quizzes including our weekly news quiz, 7 days 7 questions, expand the grey drop-down below - also available on the Magazine page (and scroll down). More on This Story Magazine quizzes - all in one place National animals CVs Baking Dinosaurs Costume dramas Cheeses 7 days (4 Nov) 7 days (28 Oct) 7 days (21 Oct) 7 days (14 Oct) 7 days (7 Oct) 7 days (30 Sept) Share this page Delicious Digg Facebook reddit StumbleUpon Twitter Email Print Top Stories
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