How We See The World

Rare Chinese Bowl, $3 at Tag Sale, Sells for $2.2M NEW YORK March 20, 2013 (AP) - A rare Chinese bowl bought at a tag sale for $3 has sold at a New York auction for more than $2.22 million. The 1,000-year-old bowl was part of the opening session of Sotheby's fine Chinese ceramics and works of art auction Tuesday. Sotheby's says it was sold to a London dealer for $2.225 million, far above the presale estimate of $200,000 to $300,000. The person who put the bowl up for auction bought it at a tag sale in 2007 and had it displayed in the living room for several years before becoming curious about its origins and having it examined. The bowl is 5 inches …

Evening Standard sorry over Budget leak The Evening Standard has apologised after it published details of the Budget online before George Osborne delivered his statement. The newspaper's front page outlined announcements such as the cancellation of a fuel duty rise and a rise in the personal tax allowance to £10,000. Budget decisions are supposed to be secret before the chancellor speaks. The newspaper apologised for what it called a "very serious mistake" and removed the online image. Evening Standard political correspondent Joe Murphy said the newspaper's front page had been published on Twitter in error. "We are so sorry to the House of Commons, to the Speaker…

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td8vw9q6lS8]Six Nations 2013 Trailer - BBC Sports - YouTube[/ame] Six Nations: England, France and the wild bunch ride again Rarely the case, there is a certain logic to the Six Nations this season. England and France, the two biggest and richest rugby countries in a sport that demands size and cherishes wealth, are in rude health. England's last game was a seismic victory over the New Zealand All Blacks and France went through the autumn undefeated, with wins over Australia, Argentina and Samoa. England have the advantage now of three home games, starting against Scotland, while France are on the road for three games. Any noti…

Pope Benedict XVI is to resign The Pope is to resign at the end of this month in an entirely unexpected development, the Vatican has confirmed. The 85-year-old became Pope Benedict XVI in April 2005 following the death of John Paul II. The reasons behind the pontiff's surprise resignation have yet to emerge. At 78, the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger was one of the oldest new popes in history when elected. link ----------------- Vatican spokesman Frederico Lombardi has told the AFP news agency that he will step down at 20:00 on 28 February. This is a surprise announcement, and makes him the first pope to resign in centuries. The Pope says his s…

I'm wondering if anyone else here has ever unlocked an iPhone from Orange? And what the procedure is and how it went and how long it took? Last week I rang Orange to go about doing it, and they said I'd need to have £20.40 in credit on my PAYG account which they'd debit as the fee for unlocking it, and it'd take up to two weeks. But so far they haven't even taken the money from my account, so I'm wondering have they even bothered going about it yet, or does it get debited from my account once they've done it? I'm kinda in a rush to have my phone unlocked and I don't want to have waited two weeks to find out they actually haven't done anything and have to wait another t…

Obama signs sweeping US budget cuts into effect US President Barack Obama has signed into effect a wave of steep spending cuts which he has warned could damage the US economy. The cuts - known as the sequester and drawn up two years ago - will take $85bn (£56bn) from the US federal budget this year. Last-ditch talks at the White House to avert the reductions before Friday's deadline broke up without agreement. The IMF has warned the cuts could slow global economic growth. The BBC's Mark Mardell in Washington says the cuts were designed to be so brutally painful that politicians would be forced to agree on a better way of balancing the books. However, as …

PS4: Sony previews powerful Playstation 4 System has greater online and social media connectivity to compete with Xbox and Nintendo's market-leading Wii Sony fired the first shot in the next round of the console wars last night, previewing a powerful new version of its Playstation system with greater online and social media connectivity that is meant to drive sales back up as it competes with Microsoft’s Xbox and Nintendo’s market-leading Wii. With technology to stream games over the internet, built-in connectivity with Facebook and greater integration with tablets and smartphones, Sony made a pitch to reclaim lost market share and counter growing competition fr…

Oswald Laurence made the recording four decades ago Mind the Gap returns to London tube station after wife's plea A 40-year-old "mind the gap" recording once heard across the Tube is returning to one station - so the widow of the actor behind it can hear his voice. Oswald Laurence's announcement used to be heard all over London, but it was phased out until only Embankment used it. Finally it disappeared there too. His wife recently asked for a copy, saying she used to go to the station after his death to hear his voice. After the request Transport for London decided to restore it to Embankment. London Underground director Nigel Holness said: "Transport for Lon…

Ikea withdraws cake contaminated with 'faecal bacteria' Ikea has withdrawn a type of almond cake from its restaurants after two samples were found to be contaminated by faecal bacteria. Traces of the coliform bacteria were found in batches of the cake that went through Ikea's health checks. The cake came from a Swedish supplier. The cake has been withdrawn from 23 countries; the UK and Ireland are not affected, said the furniture company. Last month Ikea withdrew meatballs from sale in some of its restaurants after it was suspected they contained traces of horse DNA. The meatballs in 1kg packs were made in Sweden, and labelled as beef and pork. The latest w…

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHCnjYFGLQo]Man Dressed As Batman Brings Wanted Criminal to Bradford Police - YouTube[/ame] 'Batman' brings in suspect to Bradford police A man dressed as the caped crusader Batman has handed over a wanted man at a Bradford police station before disappearing into the night. Police said the costumed crime-fighter marched the 27-year-old man into Trafalgar House Police Station, in the early hours of 25 February. The man was charged with handling stolen goods and fraud offences. Police said: "The person who brought the man in was dressed in a full Batman outfit. His identity remains unknown." Despite speculation on social me…

U.S. baby's HIV infection cured through very early treatment Mississippi girl's case is the first account of an HIV cure in an infant Doctors started treatment within 30 hours of the child's birth A baby girl in Mississippi who was born with HIV has been cured after very early treatment with standard drug therapy, U.S. researchers reported on Sunday, in a potentially ground-breaking case that could offer insights on how to eradicate HIV infection in its youngest victims. The child's story is the first account of an infant achieving a so-called functional cure, a rare event in which a person achieves remission without the need for drugs and standard blood tests sho…

An artist's impression of Titanic II Mining tycoon unveils plan to build Titanic 2 - with extra lifeboats More than a century after the original, supposedly unsinkable, ocean liner hit an iceberg and went down in the North Atlantic, Palmer thinks the time has come to complete the unfinished journey to New York. "The Titanic was the ship of dreams. Titanic II is the ship where dreams will come true," Palmer said in New York at the project's official launch, AFP reported. Featuring the same rigid divisions as in 1912 between first, second and third class, passengers will eat either in an ornate dining room or at a long common table. "There'll be no mingling" betwe…

David Brent has written a new protest song called Equality Street Ricky Gervais resurrects David Brent for one-off special of The Office Comedian Ricky Gervais is bringing back The Office's David Brent for Comic Relief. He will reprise his role as the former manager of Slough paper merchants Wernham Hogg, in The Office Revisited, for Red Nose Day on 15 March. It has been 10 years since Gervais has been seen on British TV as David Brent. "I thought it was time to revisit my most famous comedy creation to find out what he's been up to for the last decade," Gervais told The Sun. The character has appeared in two episodes of the American version of The Office…

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoBjxJDpoRM]GRAPHIC VIDEO: Man tied and dragged behind a police van in South Africa - YouTube[/ame] South Africa shock as 'police dragging' video man dies South Africa's police watchdog is investigating the death of a Mozambican taxi driver who was allegedly handcuffed to the back of a police van and dragged through the streets. Video footage taken by a bystander of the incident, near Johannesburg, has been shown in the local media. A spokesman for the Police Investigative Directorate said he was "shocked" by the footage. Rights groups often accuse South African police of brutality. Local media reported that police initial…

Hot air balloon crash in Egypt kills 19 foreigners: An Egyptian security official says at least 19 foreign tourists were killed as their hot air balloon crashed near the famed ancient city of Luxor. The casualties included French, British and other nationals. The official says there was a fire and an explosion and that the balloon then plunged from the sky and crashed into sugar cane fields west of Luxor on Tuesday. Luxor is 510 kilometers (320 miles) south of Cairo. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to talk to the media. An Associated Press reporter at the crash site says he counted eight bodies as they were put into body bags an…

Greater Mancheter Police force spends £16,000 on speaking clock and Directory Enquiries Over two years Greater Manchester Police spent £16,000 of taxpayers' money calling the speaking clock and also Directory Enquiries. Need to know the exact time? You'll probably check your phone. Need a number for someone? You'll probably look that up on the exact same device you'll use for the call. A world of information has been available at our fingertips for years, which has made some people question why police in Greater Manchester called the Speaking Clock and Directory Enquiries more than 35,000 times between 2010 and 2012. The cost: £16,000. Almost 22,000 of those …

Tenerife: British woman beheaded in Canaries attack A British woman has been beheaded in a shop in Spain's Canary Islands, officials say. Spanish media said a homeless Bulgarian man had been arrested in the town of Los Cristianos. Witnesses said a man entered a Chinese supermarket in a shopping centre and stabbed then beheaded the 62-year-old woman. He is said to have dropped the head outside before being tackled. A local official said the man appeared to choose his victim at random. Witnesses said the man entered the Chinese supermarket in Valdes Shopping Centre and attacked the woman without saying a word. "Apparently this gentleman without any motive or any…

Oscars 2013: Daniel Day-Lewis makes Hollywood history Daniel Day-Lewis has made Oscars history by becoming the first person to win the best actor prize three times. The British-born star, who had been the runaway favourite, was rewarded for his role in Steven Spielberg's Lincoln. "I really don't know how any of this happened. I do know I've received much more than my fair share of good fortune in my life," he said. Ben Affleck's Iran-set rescue thriller Argo beat Lincoln to the top prize for best picture. In a live broadcast from the White House, First Lady Michelle Obama joined Jack Nicholson to help present the best picture prize at the end of the night. …

Chancellor George Osborne who insisted Britain would not "run away" from its problems after Moody's downgraded the country's AAA credit rating Chancellor tries to make light of Moody's downgrade to UK's prized AAA credit rating Confronted by rising debt and sluggish economic growth, George Osborne is licking his wounds this weekend after the humiliating loss of the UK's AAA credit rating. The Chancellor has long pointed to the fact that the world's biggest credit-rating agencies maintained their top-notch assessment of the British economy as an endorsement of his austerity programme. That all changed late on Friday. Moody's reduced the country's credit-worthin…

So far, Google has struggled to generate mass consumer interest in the Chromebook line Google unveils its first touchscreen Chromebook Pixel Google has unveiled its first touchscreen-enabled laptop. The Chromebook Pixel runs Google's Chrome operating system and has been "largely built" by the web giant. The laptop has Intel's Ivy Bridge processors, fast 4G LTE connectivity and a high-resolution screen aimed at challenging Apple's Retina Display. Analysts say the move represents a fresh bid to build market share for Chromebooks against machines running Microsoft and Apple operating systems. Unlike PCs that use installed software such as Microsoft Word, Chrom…

I'm just now getting into the FIFA apps for the iphone. Late to the game, yes. For those who have mastered it, tell me this for all three (2011, 2012, 2013) apps: is there an international cup, how many games do you have to play to win a trophy in manager mode and how do you make subs?

Apple describes a device which wraps itself around the user's wrist Apple patent hints at smart watch Fresh evidence that Apple has been working on a smart watch concept since at least 2011 has emerged in a patent filing. The document describes a flexible touchscreen display which would communicate with a smartphone or other electronic device. It coincides with a report from a tech consultancy suggesting there is huge pent up demand for such a gadget. But ABI Research warns that battery life issues still need to be addressed. It says assuming such problems can be resolved, about 485 million wearable computing devices might ship by 2018, providing a significan…

Oscar Pistorius 'shoots girlfriend' South African Paralympic athlete Oscar Pistorius has been arrested over the fatal shooting of his girlfriend at his home in Pretoria, local media say. Police said a 26-year-old man, who they have not named, was in custody and a case of murder was being investigated. The precise circumstances surrounding the incident are unclear. Reports say he may have mistaken her for a burglar. Pistorius, 26, is known as the "blade runner", and was the first double amputee to run in the Olympics. The news that he may have killed his girlfriend will shock the country as Pistorius is regarded as one of South Africa's national icons, repo…

Police are said to be looking for eight men 'Gigantic' Brussels Airport diamond heist Armed robbers have made off with a "gigantic" haul of diamonds after a daring raid at Brussels Airport. They broke through a fence on Monday evening and stole gems worth tens of millions of euros as they were being loaded from a Brinks security van onto a plane bound for Switzerland. They escaped back through the same hole. Police later found a burned-out vehicle close to the airport. Police are looking for eight men, a prosecutors' spokeswoman said. Caroline De Wolf, of the Antwerp World Diamond Centre, said the haul was estimated to be worth 50m euros (£43m). "What…

Google Glass features unveiled in preview video Fresh details about Google's eagerly-anticipated smart glasses have been released by the company. A YouTube video uploaded by the company shows Google Glass in action - including the interface which appears in the wearer's line of sight. The search giant has also opened up the trial of the product to "creative individuals" and developers. Google co-founder Sergey Brin was recently spotted on New York's subway testing the device. The product was first unveiled as part of a demonstration at a Google launch event last year where developers were offered early access to the device for $1,500. The company is now inviting …