Jenjie

The withdrawal of around 600 British troops from Bosnia-Hercegovina is due to begin as the role of international forces in the country is scaled down. UK soldiers had been targeting war criminals' support networks and reducing illegal weapons ownership. The country itself is now largely stable. Most of the returning soldiers are Welsh Guards. A small number of staff officers will remain in Sarajevo. International forces are being reduced from 6,000 to 2,500 troops. Brigadier Chris Murray, the overall commander of the British troops in Bosnia, said: "A safe and secure environment here in Bosnia has been achieved. Death toll "Now that doesn't mean for a moment that this country is fixed, it isn't. There are still some dangerous fault lines here in this nation." He added: "There are very serious ethnic problems in this nation, but they don't need to be underpinned by so many soldiers." A series of commemorative events are to be held to honour the 55 British personnel who died and the thousands who served there since the UK first sent troops in 1992. Although the EU peacekeeping force Eufor is being reduced, the international community overseeing the 1995 Dayton Peace Accord said it was retaining the office of the High Representative until June 2008. It said the reforms it wanted had not yet been fully implemented. The government has rejected claims that the move had anything to do with military commitments in Afghanistan. Around 250,000 people died in the inter-ethnic war of 1992-95. Initially British troops served with the United Nations, and then under Nato command until Eufor took responsibility for safeguarding peace in 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6473727.stm

An undercover investigation by BBC One's Whistleblower programme has exposed serious customer service failings at a major High Street bank. BBC reporter Amanda Egbujo got a job at a Barclays bank call centre in Sunderland, then a branch in Surrey. While at Barclays, Ms Egbujo witnessed mis-selling, employees lying to customers and security failings. Barclays said the programme's findings were not truly representative of how it treats its customers. The Whistleblower programme launched a nine-month investigation after it had received a tip-off from a former Barclays employee. The employee had been disgusted at what she had been asked to do when working at a Barclays call centre. During her time undercover, first at the call centre and then in the branch, Ms Egbujo found: Bank employees lying and cheating to make a sale Customers being misled and sold products they did not even know they had bought Customers forced to pay charges deemed unlawful by some experts Serious flaws in security and fraudsters at work. In addition, while working in the call centre Ms Egbujo soon learned what were called "the tricks of the trade". She was coached by a workmate on how to spot good customers, involving potentially offensive stereotyping. "You can tell straight away, people like called Susan or Patricia, who are usually from Liverpool and have really rough accents, as soon as you hear their voice on the phone, 'hello', debt, she is going to have loads of it - or they want a new kitchen. Welsh men always want a new car or home improvements, Scottish people don't want to talk to you at all," the Barclays worker said. One bank trainer confesses to being a "right git" to customers complaining about the levying of bank charges. "They will start shouting, being abusive, crying, start blaming you, (saying) my kids are going to starve. 'But my attitude is I don't know you, I don't care," the trainer said. In response, Barclays bank said in a statement that it was a trustworthy institution. "We are not in the business of encouraging or condoning mis-selling or inappropriate sales in any way whatsoever, and we stamp on that when we find it because it is completely inappropriate behaviour for a bank," it said. "We pride ourselves on being a responsible institution that puts its customers first. I don't think what you've seen is any way representative of the way in which Barclays does business, and I'm sure our millions of customers would tell you exactly the same thing." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6474005.stm

Thousands of people told they had a ticket for the Leeds and Reading music festivals have had them cancelled. Weekend tickets for the event sold out within hours of going on sale on Monday but some fans were subsequently told their confirmations had been withdrawn. Organisers said purchases were dealt with so quickly that problems with over 3,000 credit cards only came to light after the confirmations had gone out. Those affected have coach package tickets reserved until 1930 GMT. 'Sad thing' About 1,100 people applying for Leeds tickets were affected alongside a further 2,000 applicants for Reading tickets. Melvyn Benn, managing director of festival organiser Mean Fiddler, said: "Cards were rejected either because their numbers were inputted incorrectly or they did not have sufficient funds. "The sad thing is they got a confirmation and then relaxed and it wasn't until the next morning they were told there was a problem, by which time the weekend tickets were gone." Mr Benn said they had a record of these transactions and would hold back enough coach tickets to give those fans an opportunity to still go to the festival. The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Razorlight and The Smashing Pumpkins will headline the twin events on 24-26 August. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6476897.stm

WHO IS JOHN LOCKE? Why did the russian seem to know him? why did he pretend not to know about the explosives? is he really an other? is he connected to the fella who recruited the blonde other whose name I've forgotten? ooooooooh questions!!!

A Northern Ireland airport may be the first in Europe to ban the CIA's controversial "extraordinary rendition" flights. The practice is the alleged illegal CIA transfer of terror suspects to secret prisons in Europe. Management at City of Derry Airport have confirmed that the matter is under discussion. It follows talks between the publicly-owned airport and human rights group Amnesty International. City of Derry Airport was suspected of being used by US agents transporting detainees, but was later cleared of any wrongdoing by Amnesty. Campaigners have claimed UK airspace has been used for transferring suspects to places where they could be tortured. The government has said it would not permit flights if such activity was suspected. The US has admitted the CIA had used prisons abroad for the secret detention of terror suspects but has not specified where the jails were and insisted torture had not taken place. Amnesty International said Derry's council-owned airport was "one of many originally named as a stopover destination for two Gulfstream private jets, known to have been used in the past by the CIA for so-called 'rendition' flights". "Subsequently, Amnesty International was able to give the airport the 'all-clear', after records for the suspicious flights were shown to members of the local Amnesty Foyle Group," said Patrick Corrigan. Amnesty was confident the council would introduce a landmark ban within weeks that will put pressure on other airports to follow suit, he said. "I think we can say with as much confidence as we can garner that this will be a first for Europe. "We are not aware of any other local authority or any other airport in Europe which has a specific anti-rendition policy." Airport manager Seamus Devine said: "It's something that we are currently discussing. When we are satisfied that such a policy can be implemented then the council can discuss it." 'More questions' Councillor Gerry Diver, a member of the governing Airport Committee, said his SDLP party was emphatic about its anti-rendition policy. "It's something we are very keen to see and support," he said. "At the minute the practicalities of this are being looked at by council officers with a view to bringing a motion before the council. I obviously hope we can do that." However, DUP councillor Joe Miller said it was "not a burning issue." "What will it do in real terms? How can it be enforced? Do we go into every single plane? This throws up more questions than it answers." A Derry City Council spokesman said it had received a formal request from Amnesty International to adopt its policy on rendition flights. The council said it was anticipated a report on the matter would be discussed initially at the next airport committee meeting scheduled for April. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/6472053.stm

The US Supreme Court is considering its first major test of students' free speech rights in two decades. At issue is whether a school principal violated a student's right to free speech by suspending him for displaying a banner reading "Bong Hits 4 Jesus". High school student Joseph Frederick unfurled the banner during a school trip to watch the Olympic flame pass through Juneau, Alaska, in 2002. Former special prosecutor Kenneth Starr is representing the head teacher. Mr Starr investigated former US President Bill Clinton over the Whitewater land deal and the Monica Lewinsky sex scandal. He said the head teacher, Deborah Morse, acted reasonably and in accord with the school's anti-drug stance. Mr Frederick said the words on his 14ft (4.26m) banner did not relate to drug use and were meant to be funny in an attempt to get on television. Ms Morse destroyed his banner shortly after he unfurled it and suspended Mr Frederick, 18 at the time, because she said the banner promoted drug use. A bong is a type of water pipe that can be used to smoke marijuana. "This is a case about free speech," said Mr Frederick's lawyer Douglas Mertz. "It is not a case about drugs." 'Political speech' The case could decide to what extent public schools can bar students at school events from displaying messages deemed inappropriate. Ms Morse and the Juneau school board are supported by the Bush administration which wants a broad rule that public schools do not have to tolerate speech that disrupts their basic educational mission. But several of the justices seem reluctant to give schools too much authority at the expense of students' free speech rights. "It's a political speech, it seems to me," said Justice David Souter. "I don't see what it disrupts." At the height of the Vietnam War, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of students who wanted to wear black armbands in class to protest against the war. But the court ruled in the late 1980s that a student did not have the right to give a sexually-suggestive speech at a school assembly and that school newspapers can be censored. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/6468685.stm

The Devil is not in league with global consumer brand Procter & Gamble, a US court has ruled. P&G won a $19m (£9.7m) lawsuit against four distributors of rival Amway over rumours tying it to Satanism. The court concluded a 12-year lawsuit in P&G's favour, after it ruled that the four had spread a false accusation that P&G subsidised Satanic cults. The case is one of several unfair competition suits P&G has brought refuting the Satanism slurs. According to P&G, the four distributors had passed on to customers the notion that its logo - featuring a bearded man looking over a field of 13 stars - was a symbol of Satan. "This is about protecting our reputation," said Jim Johnson, P&G's chief legal officer. For its part, Amway pointed out that it had successfully defended itself in an earlier case connected with the rumours and brought by P&G. It had also, it said, done everything it could to get the rumour retracted. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6471373.stm

Israel has cancelled a meeting with a visiting Norwegian minister after he held talks with the prime minister of the new Palestinian unity government. Norway was the first Western country to recognise the new government which contains members of the militant group Hamas and its main rival, Fatah. Israel says it will not deal with the new administration, and has called for a continued international boycott. The US and EU have withheld recognition but left a door open for future ties. They say they will judge the government on its actions and meanwhile they have indicated they will maintain contacts with ministers who are not members of Hamas - which they consider a terrorist organisation. Raymond Johansan, Norway's deputy foreign minister, had been due at the Israeli foreign ministry, but the meeting was called off. On Monday, he met Prime Minister Ismail Haniya of Hamas and other government officials, becoming the first high-ranking Western official to visit leaders of the militant Islamic movement. Clarification "This is standing policy," said an Israeli political source quoted by Reuters. The source said Israel decided a year ago, after Hamas won parliamentary elections, it would boycott visiting dignitaries who met leaders of the group. The US and EU want the new government to clarify its position in three areas, recognition of Israel, the armed struggle and signing up to past peace agreements. The current platform talks of "respecting" peace deals, but also the "legitimate right" to all forms of Palestinian resistance, which US and EU say could include terrorist attacks on Israeli civilians. Norway is not an EU member but has played a major role in past Middle East peacemaking. In the 1990s, it hosted secret meetings between Israeli negotiators and members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation, which led to signing of the Oslo accords. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/6470669.stm

Berlin Zoo has vowed it will not kill a baby polar bear amid a heated row over whether it is right to hand-rear the cub, who was rejected by his mother. Knut has been nurtured by a keeper who has slept by his side, bottle-fed him, and strummed him Elvis Presley songs. But suggestions the three-month-old should have been put down to stop him becoming emotionally and physically reliant on a human have caused outrage. "We are keeping Knut," Berlin zoo's vet told the BBC. "He's staying alive." The zoo says Knut should be strong enough to make his first public appearance at the end of this week, having amassed an army of fans who have followed his development - from walking to weaning - in the city's newspapers. He has already posed for the world-renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz as part of an environmental campaign, and next week is to be the subject of a documentary series by German broadcaster ARD. Letting Knut go But ahead of his debut, several voices have questioned the decision to keep him alive after he was rejected by his mother, a 20-year-old former performing bear from East Germany. Both Knut and his twin were left exposed to freezing temperatures shortly after they were born in December. Knut's brother died, at which point the zoo intervened to save the surviving cub. "One should have had the courage to let the bear die then," said Wolfram Graf-Rudolf, head of the Aachen Zoo, cited by the Sueddeutsche newspaper. The zookeeper, who has watched the hand-rearing of two animals, said Knut will find life intolerable once bars inevitably come between him and his carer. "Each time his keeper leaves him, and he can't follow, he will die a little." Frank Albrecht, an animal rights campaigner, had started the debate in the mass-circulation Bild newspaper by declaring the zoo was violating animal protection legislation by keeping him alive. "If truth be told, the zoo should have killed the baby bear." New home Animals similarly rejected by their mothers in captivity have in the past been killed. Last December, a baby sloth was put down at Leipzig zoo after his mother refused to care for him. But each case is individual, argues Andre Schuele, Berlin Zoo's vet, and should be decided on their own merits. "Knut was a healthy baby bear when we found him and so there was no reason for us to put him down," he said. "And there's certainly no reason to do so now." To help Knut gain independence, he was already being left on his own for a couple of hours each day, and had been weaned off the bottle. Polar bears were lonesome creatures, and so spending several years without the company of other bears would not be a problem, said Mr Schuele. The cub will however eventually be introduced to others - although not back to his own family in Berlin Zoo. "He will go to another zoo," said Mr Schuele. "Eventually, we will find him a new home." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6470509.stm

A public school has expelled two pupils after they were caught having sex in its grounds. The two lower sixth form pupils, a girl and a boy, were pupils at Rugby School in Warwickshire. A school spokesman said the two teenagers were both over the age of consent but were in breach of the school's regulations. Rugby School is famous as the place where William Webb Ellis started the sport of Rugby. It is also the setting for the novel Tom Brown's Schooldays by Thomas Hughes. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/coventry_warwickshire/6472617.stm

A former footballer has been fined £500 for having sex in a public place. Steve Anthrobus, who had played for Millwall, Wimbledon and Shrewsbury Town, was seen having sex on a picnic blanket in Brownhills, Staffordshire. He admitted outraging public decency along with Debbie Matthews, 40, from Aldridge who was fined £250. The pair denied the charge but Stephen Thomas, defending Anthrobus, 37, from Birmingham, said he made a difficult call to his wife before the hearing. Wolverhampton Crown Court heard that that they were spotted in a field and Judge Robert Orme told them it had been deeply distressing for the members of the public who had caught them. The father-of-two from the Handsworth Wood area is now working with disadvantaged children in Birmingham, the court heard. Anthrobus parted company as manager with Hednesford Town in May last year and came second in a BBC Football Focus poll of Shrewbury Town's cult heroes in 2004. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/shropshire/6472187.stm

The organisers of T in the Park have announced plans for a new "grown-up" music festival. The Connect Music Festival will take place in the grounds of Inveraray Castle next to Loch Fyne in Argyll. The Beastie Boys, Primal Scream and Bjork have been confirmed for the three-day event at the end of August. Organisers said the event would appeal to the discerning music fan seeking a "chilled atmosphere" and a festival with a little more comfort. Other acts lined up for the event include The Jesus and Mary Chain and Idlewild. More performers are to be announced over the coming months. Connect will also feature local food and drink, comedians and its own Highland games. Unsigned music talent will be able to perform at the Your Sound Bandstand. Geoff Ellis, of organisers DF Concerts, said: "We have felt that there has been a gap in the market for a festival like Connect for some time now and its fantastic to see it come to fruition in such an incredible location. The festival, which takes place from Friday 31 August to Sunday 2 September, will form part of Scotland's Highland 2007 celebrations. Alison Magee, chair of Highland 2007, said: "Connect will bring top-class international acts to perform in the beautiful grounds of Inveraray Castle. "It showcases one of the most stunning locations within the Highlands and Islands to a worldwide audience through a celebration of contemporary and traditional culture." Tickets for Connect go on sale on Friday. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6472087.stm

A convicted criminal has won a legal challenge after he claimed a recorded message on phone calls from prison breached his human rights. Stewart Potter, 43, from Glasgow, is serving a 21-year sentence for assault and robbery. He claimed the recorded message was "an unnecessary and embarrassing reminder" of where he was phoning from. A judge at the Court of Session ruled the system was unlawful under the European Convention on Human Rights. Phone calls made out of prison carry a pre-recorded message that the call is coming from a jail. Judge Lord Glennie said this policy was not made with the authority of parliament. He said: "In some societies, it might be regarded as obvious that a person convicted of a criminal offence and sentenced to a period of imprisonment should, for the duration of his imprisonment, be deprived of his civil rights. "Such a notion has no place in our society." said the judge. Potter has been serving his sentence in HMP Glenochil, Clackmannanshire. He was jailed for assault and stealing money from a wine shop in the west end of Glasgow in 2001. The manageress told the High Court in Glasgow that Potter had foamed at the mouth "like a mad dog" as he held a knife to her throat. Potter challenged the legality of the Scottish Prison Service policy after obtaining legal aid. Aidan O'Neill QC, for Potter, argued that there was no justification for a blanket policy on phone calls. He said measures were in place, including pre-approval of phone numbers, which meant a prisoner could not make calls to victims or others who did not want to receive his calls. Lord Glennie said: "It is accepted that the message constitutes interference with the prisoner's right to respect for family life and correspondence." The judge pointed out examples given in Potter's legal challenge. He said that if Potter telephoned his children's school, the message would be heard by whoever picked up the telephone. When Potter telephones home, the message tells his family and particularly his children of the fact that he is prison. The Scottish Prison Service said the message was meant to stop "grooming", prevent former victims of crime being contacted and halt calls to people who had previously been harassed. Lord Glennie said that given the safeguards were in place he could see no justification for a blanket policy of pre-recorded messages. "If, despite these safeguards, there is perceived to be a risk in a particular case, some form of message, pre-recorded or otherwise, could be attached on a case by case basis," he added. William Higham, head of policy at the Prison Reform Trust, said: "A recorded message preceding all phone calls from a prison is a very blunt instrument indeed for guarding against potential nuisance calls. "Prison is already far too brutally effective at breaking up families and social ties, such a 'scarlet letter' approach to a vital communication lifeline is unnecessary and harmful. "The judge is quite right to say that the punishment of prison is loss of liberty and not the destruction of family life." However, political parties criticised the ruling. 'Laughing stock' Kenny MacAskill, the SNP's justice spokesman, said: "This is utterly outrageous - people who breach the law must pay the price. "Hardworking taxpayers' money is being used to fund these legal aid cases. "Money which could be going to help vulnerable people in need of legal representation. A line needs to be drawn and it needs to be drawn now." Scottish Conservative leader Annabel Goldie said: "Back in February when we first heard about this, I warned that we would be a laughing stock if this man won his case. "There is a clear issue here - are the rights of the law-abiding majority being served ahead of the rights of a minority who happen to be in jail? It appears not. "Prisoners forfeit a number of rights when they go to jail for their crimes, which should include the ability to dictate on what terms they make a phone call." A spokesman for the Scottish Prison Service said: "We are aware of the decision and are considering it carefully." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/6470279.stm

A school in Greater Manchester has banned its pupils from wearing knotted ties because it says they could pose a safety risk. Clip-on ties, like those worn by police officers, are regulation uniform at Bramhall High School in Stockport. Head teacher John Peckham said the ties looked smarter on pupils, as well as preventing potential accidents. The Campaign for Real Education said the school's decision was "health and safety gone mad". Bramhall High's uniform shop has been selling clip-on ties for more than a year to phase in the new rules. Mr Peckham said: "Obviously there is a health and safety element. "Pupils can take precautions during technical lessons where there is machinery, but it is the unexpected factors such as running and having their ties pulled that could be a problem. "We also feel it is smarter because older children will not wear the ties in a casual way. This is in line with places like Marks and Spencer, the police and the armed forces." The tie rule will be strictly enforced from September with loose tie offenders sent home. Stockport Council said the decision was taken by the school. Nick Seaton, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education, said the decision was inexplicable. "It seems like another instance of political correctness and health and safety gone mad. "Children have worn school ties for decades and I have never heard of an accident in all that time." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/manchester/6465695.stm

Thousands of people, including two men convicted over terror attacks, obtained passports under false pretences, the Home Office has admitted. It admitted 10,000 passports were wrongly given in the past year, but said plans to interview applicants would combat such fraud. One of the men was convicted of a bombing in Morocco, and the other of planning a major attack in the UK. The Conservatives called the admission "shocking". The figures were revealed as the Identity and Passport Service gave details of plans for interviews for passports at a network of new offices. Face-to-face interviews for adults applying for a passport for the first time would be gradually introduced from May, it said. The two men who obtained false passports were Dhiren Barot and Salaheddine Benyaich. Barot, from London, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to murder at Woolwich Crown Court in December and was sentenced to life with a recommendation that he serve 40 years. He had seven passports in his true identity and two further passports in fraudulent identities. The IPS said he would not have been able to obtain the latter two passports in fraudulent identities if he had been interviewed. Moroccan national Benyaich had two British passports in the name of a British citizen born in Brighton. He is currently serving 18 years in Morocco for terrorist offences. The IPS said a face-to-face interview would have stopped his application. Home Office minister Joan Ryan said the IPS had 16,500 fraudulent applications during the 12 month period to September 2006 - 10,000 of which went undetected. She said that represented a level of undetected fraud of about 0.15% of the planned 6.6 million passports issued per year. Shadow home secretary David Davis said: "This is a shocking admission which betrays chaos at the heart of the passport system." Downing Street said the multi-billion-pound plans for biometric ID cards would help in the fight against fraudulent applications. But Mr Davis said it undermined the government's case for its "expensive" ID card system because false passport holders could use the document to get a genuine ID card. The Liberal Democrats accused the government of using the "bad news" about false passports to back its case for ID cards. Nick Clegg, the party's home affairs spokesman, said more security features on passports and targeted interviews were a better way of tackling passport fraud. Damian Green, the shadow immigration minister, and the campaign group NO2ID both said that the interviews would inconvenience millions of law-abiding people, while criminal gangs would find it easy to get round the new safeguards. 'More sophisticated' The prime minister's official spokesman said each fraud case was being followed up and the problem was being addressed by the interviews. Ms Ryan said the main threats of fraud came from first-time adult applicants, followed by first-time child applications. "It appears that the level of attempted fraud is increasing and getting more sophisticated," she said. IPS executive director Bernard Herdan said applicants would be expected to know answers from a pool of around 200 questions about their personal and financial history, such as previous addresses and when their parents were born. "We will not ask questions to which we don't know the answers," he said. "Before the interview takes place, we will have cross-checked that individual against various databases in order to uncover information about them." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/6470179.stm

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nice idea for a thread Bands 1. Take That 2. Coldplay 3. Beatles 4. Monkees 5. dunno :) movies 1. Pretty Woman 2. little women (the black & white version with elizabeth taylor as amy) 3. Dirty Dancing 4. Notting Hill 5. eternal sunshine of the spotless mind tv shows 1. lost 2. coronation street 3. friends 4. er 5. west wing books 1. Anne of Green Gables 2. Any Lee Child novel with Jack Reacher in it 3. Adventures of the Little Wooden Horse 4. Wild Swans 5. Brave New World entertainers 1. Kirsten Dunst 2. Robbie Williams 3. Drew Barrymore 4. Gary Barlow 5. Samuel West

Police in London have raided a house that was allegedly at the centre of a pirate DVD operation. Officers from the Metropolitan Police, the Federation Against Copyright Theft (Fact) and Newham Council entered the house in Canning Town. PC equipment and several hundred discs were seized and a 22-year-old man taken into to custody for questioning. Officers from Fact said a surveillance operation had centred on stores set up on the eBay internet auction site. Also seized were quantities of counterfeit clothing, shoes, jewellery and iPods for sale online. Fact - a trade organisation designed to tackle copyright infringement - said illegal traders could import and sell thousands of illegal discs a month and make tens of thousands of pounds a year. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6447501.stm

Historical war epic 300 has been criticised as an attack on Iranian culture by government figures. The Hollywood film, which has broken US box office records, is an effects-laden retelling of a battle in which a small Greek army resisted a Persian invasion. Javad Shamqadri, a cultural advisor to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, said it was "plundering Iran's historic past and insulting this civilization". He branded the film "psychological warfare" against Tehran and its people. But Iranian culture was strong enough to withstand the assault, Mr Shamqadri said. "American cultural officials thought they could get mental satisfaction by plundering Iran's historic past and insulting this civilization," he said. "Following the Islamic Revolution in Iran, Hollywood and cultural authorities in the US initiated studies to figure out how to attack Iranian culture. "Certainly, the recent movie is a product of such studies." Daily newspaper Ayandeh-No carried the headline "Hollywood declares war on Iranians". The paper said: "It seeks to tell people that Iran, which is in the Axis of Evil now, has for long been the source of evil and modern Iranians' ancestors are the ugly murderous dumb savages you see in 300." Three MPs in the Iranian parliament have also written to the foreign ministry to protest against the production and screening of this "anti-Iranian Hollywood film". The film has already proved a major box office hit in the US where it earned almost $71m (£36.8m) in its first weekend, making it the best ever March opening in North American cinemas. This is not the first time Iran has protested over its portrayal in films made in the West. There was outrage over the 2004 epic Alexander which showed the Macedonian general easily conquering the Persian Empire. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6446183.stm

Teenage mood swings are known to be down to hormones, but scientists claim they have identified the specific one that makes adolescents so volatile. A team from the State University of New York identified a hormone which normally acts to calm anxiety, but the effect is reversed in adolescence. Writing in Nature Neuroscience, the researchers say it may be possible to reverse the puberty effect. And they add the study should help parents and teachers understand teens. A hormone called THP is normally released in response to stress. It usually behaves like a tranquiliser, acting at sites in the brain that calm brain activity and, in adults and pre-pubescent children, helps someone cope with stress. But a mouse study by the New York team shows THP actually increases anxiety at puberty. 'Things are harder for teenagers' They found that the target for the hormone, a specific receptor, is more prevalent in the part of the brain which regulates emotion during puberty. This appears to reverse the normal calming effect. Dr Sheryl Smith, who led the study says it is so far unclear why this happens, but she suggests it is because of the action of all the other hormones which come into play at puberty. Dr Smith and her team were able to genetically alter the receptor to reverse the puberty effect. She said it might also be possible to block the effect of the hormone. But Dr Smith said more research was needed before that was possible, and a more immediate benefit of the research might be to help parents and teachers understand what teenagers were going through. "This research has revealed that there is a biological basis for a teenager's mood swings. "They can be frustrating for parents and teachers - as well as the adolescents. "As adults, we just deal with things, but it is harder for teenagers because of their biology. I think it's important for people to know that." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6434327.stm

A Harrogate family say they are angry that they have to pay for sign language lessons to enable them to communicate with their two-year-old son. Debby Wood and her daughter Natalie have been taking sign language lessons at Harrogate College to help them talk to son Alex, who was born deaf. But each class costs £5 per person, which the family say is prohibitive. Harrogate College, the Department of Education and Skills, and the Learning and Skills Council declined to comment. In some areas of the country, the fees for courses in sign language and lip reading are absorbed by colleges or subsidised by the local authority, but in Harrogate they are not. 'Should be free' The family said they could not afford for all of them to attend the classes. Mrs Wood said: "I think it is terrible, at the time it really upset me because all I want to do is talk to my son through sign, and here I am not being able to afford it." Father Ian Wood said: "Ideally I would love to attend the course, but the cost of the course is quite prohibitive and we are getting no assistance. "Considering the fact that it is a life skill, it is quite ridiculous that we have to pay for this - it should be free." http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/north_yorkshire/6439855.stm

Thousands of music fans could lose money totalling £1.4m and miss concerts they have paid to see after a ticket agency went out of business. The administrators for the firm, Ticket Tout, said customers would not receive tickets they were awaiting or refunds. About 6,500 people are affected, with claims averaging more than £200. Fans can call a helpline on 020 7194 1015. People who paid for tickets by credit card could be refunded by their card supplier, the administrators said. 'Lack of funds' Ticket Tout, set up in February 2006, went into administration on 6 March. "The company's offices are now closed and no further trading will take place," said a statement by joint administrators Lane Bednash and Mark Reynolds of Valentine & Co insolvency practitioners. Initial investigations suggested there was "no possibility of refunds or of providing tickets to consumers who have placed orders with the company due to lack of available funds and the quantum of the claims", the statement said. A special website has been set up at Insolvencynoticeboard.co.uk to provide information to the public. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6443273.stm

The fourth Harry Potter novel and David Beckham's autobiography are among the books least likely to be finished by Britons, according to a survey. Booker winner Vernon God Little was the least-finished fiction title, followed by Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Autobiographies by David Blunkett, Bill Clinton and David Beckham topped the non-fiction unfinished list. A Teletext survey of 4,000 Britons found that almost half of the books they bought remained unfinished. Some 35% of those who bought or borrowed Vernon God Little, DBC Pierre's story of a US high school massacre, admitted not finishing it. The figure was 32% for the fourth instalment in the Harry Potter series, while 28% said the same for James Joyce's Ulysses, third on the list. The fiction top 10 also included Louis De Bernieres' Captain Corelli's Mandolin (27%), made into a film starring Nicolas Cage and Penelope Cruz. Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses, over which a Muslim fatwa was issued ordering the writer's execution, was unfinished by 21%. On the non-fiction list, former home secretary Blunkett's The Blunkett Tapes was too much for 35% of readers, followed by Clinton's My Life (30%) and Beckham's My Side (27%). The average Briton spent more than £4,000 on books during their lifetime, the survey found. Less than a quarter of people found time to read every day, with 48% saying they were too tired. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/6440981.stm

they definitely need to look at what they include in driving tests. you don't do any motorway driving, yet as soon as you pass your test you can go out alone and drive on one. there ought to be an additional layer to enable you to have motorway lessons and then pass a motorway driving test, or the advanced driving test should be compulsory.

and what are the odds of someone claiming that lorry back from the police? :o