Wednesday, 26 March 2014

Flight MH370: Bad weather again halts plane search

Aircraft face a long flight from Western Australia to the remote search area
An air and sea search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane has again been suspended because of bad weather in the southern Indian Ocean.

Australian officials said all aircraft were returning to base and ships were leaving the search area.

On Wednesday Malaysian officials revealed fresh satellite images from the area that showed a possible debris field from the missing plane.

Flight MH370 disappeared on 8 March with 239 people on board.

It had been en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it disappeared from air traffic controllers' screens over the South China Sea.

So far, not a single item of debris linked to the missing plane has been recovered.

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa), co-ordinating the search, said that aircraft had spotted three objects on Wednesday but despite several passes had not been able to relocate them.

As dawn broke on Thursday, Amsa said six military aircraft, five civilian aircraft and five ships would be taking part in the day's search operations.

However, it later announced that the search was being suspended because of bad weather. It is the second time this week the operation has been called off because of conditions in the area.

The Australian Navy ship HMAS Success has been in the search area about 2,500km (1,500 miles) south-west of Perth and has been joined by four Chinese ships - Xue Long, Kuulunshan, Haikon and Qiandaohu.

Finding possible debris in choppy seas is proving a difficult task
On Wednesday, Malaysia's acting transport minister Hishammuddin Hussein said a French satellite had located some 122 objects that could be from the missing airliner.

The images, taken on 23 March, showed objects up to 23m (75ft) in length, he said.

Analysts say the images are the first to suggest a debris field from the plane, rather than just isolated objects.

Mr Hussein described the new images as the most credible lead so far.

Dr Erik Van Sebille, an oceanographer from the University of New South Wales, told the BBC that if aircraft debris was found, experts could try to work out where the plane had crashed, although it wouldn't be easy.

"This is home to the strongest current in the world," he said.

"Every day debris could move by easily 50, 100km... and it's not only in one direction, it's actually rather turbulent. This ocean is full of what we call 'eddies' and they are essentially mini hurricanes that spread everything out."

Malaysia said on Monday that fresh analysis of satellite signals showed that the plane had gone down in the southern Indian Ocean, with no survivors.

The reasons why the plane deviated off course and lost contact with air traffic controllers remain a mystery.

Investigators have ruled nothing out including mechanical or electrical failure, hijacking, sabotage or deliberate action by the pilot or co-pilot.

On Wednesday, FBI chief James Comey said that analysis of data from a flight simulator taken from the home of pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah was nearly finished.

"I have teams working literally round-the-clock," Mr Comey told members of Congress.

"I expect it to be done fairly shortly - within a day or two."

In the absence of any debris from the plane, some relatives of the flight's 153 Chinese passengers have refused the accept the Malaysian account of events and accused officials of withholding information.

On Wednesday, Mr Hussein also expressed exasperation, saying that Chinese families "must also understand that we in Malaysia also lost our loved ones" as did "so many other nations".

A total of six countries are now involved in the search - Australia, New Zealand, the US, Japan, China and the South Korea.

The vast search area - in one of the world's remotest regions - has now been split into east and west sections.
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Pregnancy problems in brain development in the womb may underpin autism

Autism 'begins long before birth'

Scientists say they have new evidence that autism begins in the womb.

Patchy changes in the developing brain long before birth may cause symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD), research suggests.

The study, in the New England Journal of Medicine, raises hopes that better understanding of the brain may improve the lives of children with autism.

It reinforces the need for early identification and treatment, says a University of California team.

US scientists analysed post-mortem brain tissue of 22 children with and without autism, all between two and 15 years of age.

They used genetic markers to look at how the outermost part of the brain, the cortex, wired up and formed layers.

Abnormalities were found in 90% of the children with autism compared with only about 10% of children without.

The changes were dotted about in brain regions involved in social and emotional communication, and language, long before birth, they say.

The researchers, from the University of California, San Diego and the Allen Institute for Brain Science in Seattle, say their patchy nature may explain why some toddlers with autism show signs of improvement if treated early enough.

They think the plastic infant brain may have a chance of rewiring itself to compensate.

"The finding that these defects occur in patches rather than across the entirety of cortex gives hope as well as insight about the nature of autism," said Prof Eric Courchesne, a neuroscientist at the University of California San Diego.

Dr Thomas Insel, director of the National Institute of Mental Health, said: "If this new report of disorganised architecture in the brains of some children with autism is replicated, we can presume this reflects a process occurring long before birth.

"This reinforces the importance of early identification and intervention."

Devastating impact

Carol Povey, director of the National Autistic Society Centre for Autism, said the study shed light on a complex and often misunderstood disability.

"Better understanding of the early brain development of children with autism could help us find new and more effective ways to support the estimated 700,000 people living with the condition across the UK," she said.

"Autism can have a profound and devastating impact but the right support can make a huge difference."
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Police fail domestic abuse victims, says official report

Only eight of 43 police forces were responding well to domestic abuse, HMIC report finds.

Thousands of people are at risk of harm or even murder because of widespread police failure in England and Wales to tackle domestic abuse, a report says.

HM Inspectorate of Constabulary said there was an alarming and ineffective response by many police forces.

And it accused them of unacceptable weaknesses despite domestic abuse being linked to 8% of crimes and police chiefs saying abuse was a priority.

Police chiefs said they were working to improve their response despite cuts.

'Serial offenders'

HMIC said police received more than one million calls a year relating to domestic abuse and almost 58,000 victims - the vast majority of them women - were at risk of serious harm or murder. It said three women a fortnight were being killed by a partner or former partner and a third of all assaults recorded by the police related to domestic violence.

In an exceptionally critical report, the HMIC said that chief officers must recognise that domestic abuse constituted a major problem that demanded comparable resources and focus to those devoted to tackling other high volume crimes such as burglary.

The report said only eight out of 43 forces were responding well to domestic abuse and it specifically criticised four others: Greater Manchester, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Gloucestershire. Bedfordshire had only one dedicated domestic violence officer, said inspectors.


HMIC says it is concerned by poor attitudes that some police officers show towards victims of abuse
HMIC said that victims faced a "lottery" in how they would be treated.

Sixteen of the 43 forces had no systems in place to prioritise calls from known victims or to prepare emergency response officers.

When it inspected 600 domestic assault files it found that half did not include pictures of injuries - a standard piece of evidence for a prosecution.

The failing to target serial offenders in a way that they would if dealing with a prolific burglar. It blamed many of the failings on the culture and ethos of individual officers.

"HMIC is concerned about the poor attitudes that some police officers display towards victims of domestic abuse," said the report.

"Victims told us that they were frequently not taken seriously, that they felt judged and that some officers demonstrated a considerable lack of empathy and understanding."

HM Inspector of Constabulary Zoe Billingham said: "We believe the findings of this report should be a wake-up call for the police service. Domestic abuse must no longer be the poor relation to other policing activity."

Home Secretary Theresa May, who commissioned the report, said it made depressing reading and the findings deeply worrying.

"HMIC makes a series of recommendations to forces and I expect them all to be implemented quickly," she said.

"I am establishing a new national oversight group, which I will chair myself. I expect chief constables to respond to this report by changing radically their response to domestic violence."

'Second-class crime'

Assistant Chief Constable Louisa Rolfe of the Association of Chief Police Officers said the issue "is not an easy one" for police to deal with.

"We grapple with a staggering level of acceptance of domestic abuse in our communities and a genuine reluctance from victims to come forward in the face of a very traditional justice system.

"We are also trying to improve our response in a time of continuing budget cuts and austerity."

Diana Barran, chief executive of charity Co-ordinated Action Against Domestic Abuse (CAADA), said Police and Crime Commissioners and Chief Constables had a responsibility to tackle the problem.

"We look forward to seeing the leadership, accountability and transparency that can move domestic violence from being treated as a second-class crime by the police to one where victims get the response that they deserve."

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said Labour had been warning that action against domestic abuse has "deteriorated" for three years, branding the situation a "national scandal".

"We need answers from the home secretary about why things are getting so much worse and what she will do to improve action by the police, prosecution and support services too," she said.
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Shatta Wale Replies Samini With Letter 666

Despite earlier attempts by Shatta Wale to settle the impasse between himself and Samini, the latter seemed not pleased as he reignited the beef that existed by releasing his latest single Scatter Badmind which casts a s wipe at Shatta Wale but that will not keep the Shatta mute as he has in a strong worded song titled Letter 666 addressed Samini. The content is somehow vulgar.

He however stated the only person he fears was God
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Apple, too, is working on a dual-camera technology, but entirely different from HTC’s

Could future iPhones be equipped with dual camera sensors? A new patent suggests that.

Yesterday's announcement of the all-new HTC One M8 brought the world the first mobile device with dual camera modules on the rear. The secondary camera in the HTC One is used for receiving depth information, which can be used to selectively edit the foreground and background in an image after it was taken. Now, it seems like dual cameras could be the new trend, as Apple has applied for a patent (recently published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office) for such a technology, albeit one that is different from HTC's.


Apple's dual-camera patent. Note that the illustration is of laptop computer, but could be used in a mobile device.
In the patent application that was originally filed back in 2012, Apple describes an electronic device featuring two adjacent camera sensor modules, one that captures brightness information exclusively, and one that captures color information exclusively. The data captured by each sensor would then be combined to form a single photograph (or, as is safe to assume, video.)

This way, per the patent description, mobile devices could be built much slimmer, as the individual camera modules can be made smaller as compared to regular camera units for mobile devices. The question is, how much slimmer are smartphones and other mobile devices going to get? And will we see such a dual-camera technology in the iPhone 6 or iPhone 7? Could Apple combine this technology with its other patent for Lytro-like refocusing? Only time will tell.

In any case, it's an interesting idea to separate brightness and color information capturing from each other. For those who'd like to dig deeper into the technicalities of this patent, the full patent description can be found here as a PDF file.
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Blame me for Man Utd decline - Moyes

Manager David Moyes took responsibility for Manchester United's dramatic decline this season after a dismal home defeat to Manchester City.
The reigning champions are seventh, 18 points adrift of leaders Chelsea after City inflicted United's sixth home league loss of the season.

"I am the one who picks the team," Moyes said. "I take responsibility and always will do. It is disappointing.

"I thought it would be a tough year but I hoped it would be more competitive."
The defeat means United have now lost more league games at home this season than in the previous three campaigns combined.

In nine matches against the Premier League's top five, they have won just once, against Arsenal in November.
Despite reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, United have fallen well short of the consistency which saw them win the title by 11 points under Sir Alex Ferguson before his retirement last summer.

"Everybody knows this is a job that is going to take a little bit of time to get the way we would like but that is the job," added Moyes, 50
.
"Other clubs have had to do rebuilding jobs - we hope it won't take as long as some others but we have a period of time to get to that level.

"There are a lot of really good players in the squad, a lot of internationals, who, on their day, can be a match for most players."
The former Everton boss admits he hoped United would be "closer to the top of the league than we are at the moment," but believes his side did not "lack effort or commitment" against their city rivals.

City, who were the last team to deny United the title - in 2012 - scored through Edin Dzeko after 43 seconds at Old Trafford and the Bosnian doubled the lead before Yaya Toure struck a third late on.

"We never came out of the blocks," added Moyes. "We never got started. For Manchester City to score inside the first minute gave them a really big lift.
"I told the players at half-time that we wanted to start the second half stronger and that we needed to play in their half but we never really got that."
United striker Wayne Rooney said the team's record at Old Trafford is "not good enough", adding: "We can't lose six home games in a season. We have to put that right and make this a place teams fear again.

"We know we have to respond. It's a bad night for us all but we have to move on."

Speaking to MUTV, Rooney added: "We didn't deserve to win. We weren't clinical enough and we didn't create enough chances.

"No-one likes to lose a derby game - they're big games and they're great to win, but when you lose it's not a great feeling."
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Apple may ship a Macbook Air wielding a Retina Display in second half of 2014

Apple may release a Macbook Air with a Retina display by the end of the year, according to rumors coming out of Apple's supply chain. One of Apple's Taiwan-based component manufacturers claims that Cupertino will ship the new models during the second half of 2014. The report comes months after rumors that Apple will launch a 12-inch Retina Macbook Air surfaced.

According to Digitimes, the whispers emerged in response to reports from suppliers that Apple has dramatically reduced the number of Macbooks in production this Spring. "MacBook shipments in January-February 2014 were as expected, but Apple has significantly decreased shipments in March," said the site's unnamed source.

The same report suggests that Apple will make the 2014 Air models even lighter by removing their internal fan. For what it's worth, the 2013 11-inch Macbook Air weighs 2.38 pounds, while the 13-inch model weighs 2.96 pounds. Though removing the fan along might slim down the MacBook Air, the decrease in bulk could be at least somewhat offset by the extra hardware needed to make the Retina display run.

There's also the prospect of the new MacBook Air including a larger battery, which would also add bulk over the existing battery. A larger battery is arguably necessary considering that a Retina display would likely chew through battery life much faster than the 1366×768 and 1440×900 displays found in the current-generation of MacBook Air laptops do.

Assuming the rumors regarding the new 12-inch MacBook Air are correct, it remains unclear whether or not there will be 11 and 13-inch MacBook Air with Retina display models offered, or if there will be a standard 12-inch model.

As always, it would be wise to take these rumors with a grain of salt.

What do you think of the prospect of a MacBook Air with Retina? Sound off in the comments below.
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Samini Accused of Masterminding Attacks on Shatta Wale in Canada

Well, the tact to keep themselves in the media is not stopping anytime soon as the two frontliners of dancehall music in Ghana at the moment, Samini and Shatta Wale will go any means to have audience. I don't know if it is somehow planned so they keep making money or just one of the things.

According to a report by Razz newspaper, Shatta Wale and his SM4LF team who were and remain in Canada for a series of performances over the weekend were attacked in their hotel by an unknown troup belieevd to have been sent by Samini who was in Ghana at the moment.

Read what the newspaper reports;

According to reports, on Saturday 22nd March, 2014, some unexpected troupe of guys entered the hotel room and manhandled Shatta Wale and others. It was quite baffling to Shatta's team as to how the guys got access to the hotel premises and to the room of Shatta Wale.

Bull Dog, manager for Shatta Wale, in recounting the episode to Razz Newspaper stated that they were in the hotel when some guys came around and wanted to attack them which resulted in some serious arguments and shoving in the hotel room.

Strangely, Samini was nowhere in Canada and nowhere close to the incident but BullDog is accusing the artiste of masterminding the harassment on his artiste. According to Bulldog, right after the unfortunate incident at the hotel in Canada, Samini updated his twitter page, writing the following;

Toronto is my turf..Just in case you didn't know. HGF to da world. Akyesaaaaa LOL
In a separate interview with the promoter for Golden Empire Productions/Sam Tuga's Promotions, Mr. Samuel K. Agyei, he confirmed that the alleged attackers went to Toronto Airport Quality Suite Hotel to harass Shatta and his team but luckily, they called some security officers to their rescue. Mr. Agyei stated that he sensed some danger with the purported attack and in taking precautionary measure, he moved Shatta from the Toronto Airport Quality Suite Hotel to a different hotel but he did not disclose the new hotel.

When asked if the attackers had confirmed that they were sent by Samini, he said that all indications confirms so and also, from the investigations conducted, Samini is the most possible character whose identity comes to mind but at the appropriate time, Samini shall be exposed.

When Razz Newspaper contacted Tony Pun, Samini's manager, he rubbished the story and said that Shatta Wale's issues are not important to them at High Grade Family, and he also gave the reporter a stern advice that he should not be called on issues concerning Shatta Wale.

Shatta Wale has over the years been making allegations in all his interviews on radio and television as well as on social media platforms, that, Samini has been blackmailing him to event organizers, especially, music promoters abroad.

However, he's never been able to pull out any evidence or proof to substantiate his claims.
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MALL ADVERTISING GETS INTERACTIVE SHOPPING MALL GIANT WESTFIELD IS EXPANDING THEIR MALL TOUCH-SCREEN PROJECT WITH GIANT INTERACTIV

GIANT TOUCH SCREENS
Westfield's touch screens are over seven feet tall and can be configured in portrait or landscape mode.
WESTFIELD LABS

TOURIST ATTRACTION
The giant touch screens are near the entrance to a new addition to Garden State Plaza.
WESTFIELD LABS

3D MANIPULATION
Customers can perform 360-degree inspections of selected products sold by mall vendors.
WESTFIELD LABS

THE INSIDES
Despite their large size, the inside of the touch screens feature similar tech to consumer tablets and smartphones.
WESTFIELD LABS


GIANT TOUCH SCREENS
Westfield's touch screens are over seven feet tall and can be configured in portrait or landscape mode.
WESTFIELD LABS

Shopping mall giant Westfield is testing out gigantic touch screens as a replacement for conventional mall information kiosks.

The new "Digital Storefronts" are on display at the Westfield Garden State Plaza in suburban New Jersey and are designed to help promote a new wing of the shopping center that opened in late 2013. The three giant 7' by 3.8' touch screens can be viewed in landscape or portrait mode, and essentially serve as dual-function information centers and advertising portals for mall tenants.

The touch screens were developed by San Francisco-based Westfield Labs, who were previously featured in Fast Company for their work creating similar touch-screen interfaces for eBay in a West Coast shopping mall. The Garden State Plaza project is the Westfield's first attempt at replacing traditional mall kiosks with touch screens outside of the eBay project at the Westfield San Francisco Centre mall. SVP Erik Kokkonen told Fast Company that the Garden State Plaza kiosks took approximately nine months to spec and scope out, and cost "in the multiple thousands" of dollars. In-mall customer interception surveys were conducted to help develop the kiosks' UI and aesthetic.


At the moment, the touch screens are only being used to promote stores and brands located in a recent high-end addition to the mall called the Fashion District. Initial tenants featured on the touch-screen portals include Ann Taylor, Nordstrom, Microsoft, Bose, Tommy Bahama, Michael Kors, Vince Camuto, Maje, and Sandro. However, Kokkonen stated that there are longer-term plans to expand the kiosks to provide information on the entire mall, and plans to include availability information on items inside the stores themselves.

The touch screens are part of a larger marketing push to promote the new mall addition that also includes an upcoming Microsoft-sponsored parking lot concert by Macklemore.

For Westfield, the touch-screen kiosks have the added advantage of taking up normally underutilized space, as they're located in the middle of wide walkways. The kiosks also provide Westfield with more advertising bang for the buck: Instead of static mall advertisements with fixed ads that don't change for weeks or months, with the kiosks Westfield can offer advertising to multiple tenants--advertising that doubles as a novel, techy draw for visitors.


The technology behind Westfield's touch screens is within reach of their competitors--and, as prices fall and in-house marketing and research teams become more familiar with the technology, it's something that will likely become more common in malls across the country. Contractors for retailers and institutions are adding new functionalities, including screens that buzz back when you touch them.
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FULL-TIME Liverpool 2-1 Sunderland

Liverpool 2-1 Sunderland
Sunderland boot upfield. One last hurrah for the visitors.

21:48
Liverpool 2-1 Sunderland
Luis Suarez hares after the ball to regain possession and a chorus of You'll Never Walk Alone fires up in the Kop. They think this is won.

21:48
Liverpool 2-1 Sunderland
Glen Johnson is taking all the time he can over a throw-in up near the Hull corner flag. "Get it in the corner!," yells a home punter.

21:47
Three minutes of injury time Liverpool 2-1 Sunderland
Liverpool hanging on. Three minutes to hold out.

21:46
Sitter! Liverpool 2-1 Sunderland
Gasps all around Anfield and the home side are lucky to be ahead. Adam Johnson's free-kick picks out a free John O'Shea six yards out but he can only get a faint glance on it and the ball spills wide.

O'Shea once scored a late winner for Manchester United against the Reds.

21:43
FULL-TIME West Ham 2-1 Hull
The final whistle blows and West Ham have all three points. Their fans wanted a better performance to go with them though and their jeers are meet with a bemused/exasperated/ irritated shoulder shrug and ear-cupping motion by Sam Allardyce.

All is not well at Upton Park.

21:41
Five to go Liverpool 2-1 Sunderland
Sunderland are pressing Liverpool back in search of a leveller. Five minutes of normal time to go.

21:40
SUBSTITUTION Liverpool 2-1 Sunderland
Andrea Dossena departs to applause from the home fans he used to represent. Jack Colback is on in his place.

21:39
Partick Thistle 1-5 Celtic
"Celtic have performed brilliantly in the second half and have looked like Champions, they didn't play all that well in the first half but all five of their goals have been fantastic and they have been totally dominant. Their fans have been celebrating all night and it has been a party atmosphere here amongst the Celtic fans."
21:38

Four minutes of injury-time West Ham 2-1 Hull
Four minutes of added time at Upton Park.

21:38
West Ham 2-1 Hull
Hull are striving hard, but down to 10 men, are struggling to cause West Ham too many late worries. James Chester heads over and Tom Huddlestone rifles one wide, but neither effort was that threatening.

21:35
SUBSTITUTION Liverpool 2-1 Sunderland
Liverpool make a change with Daniel Sturridge replaced by Raheem Sterling. That doesn't lessen their attacking threat much, but gives them another man in midfield perhaps.

21:34
Five to go West Ham 2-1 Hull
Five minutes of normal time left on the clock at Upton Park.

21:32
GOAL Liverpool 2-1 Sunderland - Ki Sung-Yueng (76 mins)
That creaking defence means Liverpool will have a nervy final 15 minutes and Sunderland have hope. Adam Johnson's corner clears Daniel Agger at the near post, bounces through the six-yard box and is turned in at the far post by a stooping Ki Sung-Yeung.

"The frustrations of the West Ham fans are there again, the fans must expect with a numerical advantage that they would be putting more pressure on Hull. Hull have just passed the ball ten times there without coming out of their own half and there was no pressure from West Ham. They should be doing more in this game."

21:31
West Ham 2-1 Hull
West Ham still have not killed off a battling Hull side with Tom Huddlestone pinging a long-range effort just wide.

21:31
Partick Thistle 1-3 Celtic
Just under five minutes to go at Firhill where Celtic are closing in on the Scottish Premiership title.

Catch the closing stages and reaction here.
21:30

HITS THE WOODWORK Liverpool 2-0 Sunderland
Liverpool go straight up the other end and rattle the frame of the Sunderland goal with Daniel Sturridge sweeping a curling shot onto the bar from 20 yards. He was already heading for the stands to celebrate.

21:28
HITS THE WOODWORK Liverpool 2-0 Sunderland
A warning shot across the bows for Liverpool as Lee Cattermole bashes the bar from 20 yards with Simon Mignolet beaten. Ki Sung-Yueng almost makes something of the rebound, but Martin Sktel shuts him down just in time.

21:26
Liverpool 2-0 Sunderland
Philippe Coutinho is justifying what must be a marginal call for Brendan Rodgers to include him ahead of Raheem Sterling. The Brazilian catches one sweet from 25 yards, but his effort is into the hoardings.

21:25
Liverpool 2-0 Sunderland
Pass and move. Liverpool keeping to that old bootroom ethos as Philippe Coutinho swaps passes with Luis Suarez, but can't quite lift a finish over Vito Mannone. Suarez and Sturridge almost combine shortly after.

Not a lot coming the other way, with Adam Johnson's trundling long-range effort the only shot of note from a Sunderland player.

21:21
West Ham 2-1 Hull
As Phil Brown mentions, Joe Cole has been ushered on to replace the injured Mohamed Diame for West Ham. The Hammers are still having more of the play without creating any clear-cut chances.

21:20
"Bringing Joe Cole on is a clever move from Sam Allardyce, he has brought on one of their own. He is a product of the West Ham academy and the crowd like him, I think that's a clever move from the big man."

You can listen to full match commentary of West Ham v Hull on BBC Radio 5 live.

21:19
SUBSTITUTION Liverpool 2-0 Sunderland
Sunderland make two changes with Adam Johnson and Sung Yong Ki on for Emanuele Giaccherini and Connor Wickham. They need something. They have been struggling to get a kick since the break.

21:17
West Ham 2-1 Hull
It is still up for grabs at Upton Park. Hull are pressing forward in search of an equaliser.

21:16
Liverpool 2-0 Sunderland
Luis Suarez is getting hungry. He shrugs off Santiago Vergini with ease after collecting Steven Gerrard cross-field pass, but sends a curling shot fizzing just beyond the far post.

21:13
Join the debate at #bbcfootball
Matthew Penny: (external) As a neutral, many of us want LFC to win EPL for one reason, so I'm starting a new hashtag #winitforstevieg spread the word!

Phil Hakim: (external) The standard of refereeing over the weekend and this week has been as poor as I can remember in the prem

Ashley Wilkinson: (external) For everything that's made of Suarez and diving...I think he's had more legitimate penalties turned down this season than given.

21:12
Liverpool 2-0 Sunderland
Liverpool are piling on the pressure as they look to kill this game off. Daniel Sturridge's side-foot shot from Jordan Henderson's cut-back is accidentally blocked by strike-partner Luis Suarez and the Uruguayan's attempt to put it in himself is well blocked by the advancing Vito Mannone.

"We're going to win the league," sing the home fans.
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Microsoft releases source code for MS-DOS and Word for Windows

The source code for some historic Microsoft software, MS-DOS 1.1, MS-DOS 2.2, and Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1a, has been made available to the public. Microsoft donated the code to the Computer History Museum, which has made the them available to the public.

"We think preserving historic source code such as these two programs is key to understanding how software has evolved from primitive roots to become a crucial part of our civilisation," Len Shustek, the museum's chairman, told PC Pro. The Mountain View, California-based museum has  collected and preserved a collection of historic gear from the world of computing.

Modern PC users likely wouldn't recognize DOS, but its role in PC history is undeniable. Microsoft licensed and bought "86-DOS" from third-party developer Seattle Computer Products in 1980. MS-DOS version 1.1, the code the museum has obtained, was the first version completely owned and maintained by Microsoft after purchased the software. DOS 2.0 was launched in March of 1983 alongside IBM PC-XT.

Though Microsoft Word for DOS was not the definitive PC word processor when it was released in 1983, Word for Windows, which was first released in 1983, was responsible for half of the word processing market sales by 1993.

To give you a sense of how far Microsoft's software has come in these last 24 years, the code for MS-DOS version 1.1 is a mere 300kb, while Windows 8 requires 16GB of drive space. The zip file containing Word for Windows 1.1a takes up 7MB, while Word 2013 requires 3GB of hard drive space.

If you want to check them out for yourself, you can download the code for MS-DOS 1.1 and 2.0 and Microsoft Word for Windows 1.1a from the Computer History Museum website right now.
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Puget Systems offers to give their Windows 8 systems a Windows 7-like look and feel

Custom PC builder Puget Systems is apparently well aware of the fact that many people have yet to warm up to Windows 8. With that in mind, Puget offers its customers the option to tweak Windows 8 and make it function and feel like its more popular cousin, Windows 7.

Puget systems offers something called Windows 8 Makeover: Emulate Windows 7 to re-skin Windows 8.  With Windows 8 Makeover: Emulate Windows 7, Windows 8 boots directly to the desktop mode,  a start button is added, and the OS uses desktop apps by default when possible. At its core, this tool consists of an existing app called Classic Shell.

Perhaps best of all, the service is free for anyone who buys a PC with Windows 8 installed, should they choose to check off the box asking Puget to load their rig with Windows 8 Makeover. It's worth noting that, with a little bit of technical know how, users can definitely tap into most of these tricks on their own rigs. On top of that, you can also configure your Puget Systems PC with Windows 7, should you prefer the real thing.

Of course, there's more than one way to tweak Windows 8. Feel free to check out our guide on how to make Windows 8 look and feel more like Windows 7.

What do you think? Sound off in the comments below.
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HOPE NEWS: This brain implant may help people walk again

Brain implants sound strange, like something out of sci-fi, but they're closer than you think. Researchers at the A*Star Institute of Microelectronics in Singapore have developed a neural probe array is finally small enough that it can sit inside someone's brain on a long-term basis without damaging delicate tissue. The probe array is so compact that it can float along with a person's brain inside their head. Their specialty: helping amputees and people with spinal cord injuries control artificial limbs.

The neural array forms a link between the brain and artificial limbs, allowing someone with an injury to walk or move again. As the technology advances, who knows what else they could allow us to do.

Despite the benefits, neural implants come with risks. The most common way of inserting probes into people's brains is by drilling holes into the skull to serve as a pathway for electrodes. If things go wrong, patients can develop infections, or even bleed in the brain. 

"A high-profile array may touch the skull and damage the tissue when relative micromotions occur between brain and the probes," researcher Ming-Yuan Cheng told Phys.org. 

To solve this issue, Cheng and his team made the probe array as thin as possible, employing "innovative microassembly" techniques to limit the height of the array to within 750 micrometers, or about 75 percent of a single millimeter. The probe array is implanted in the brain's subarachnoid space, 1-2.5 millimeter a cavity in the brain between the arachnoid mater and the pia mater of the meninges. These are layers of the membranes that surround and protect the brain and spinal cord. Basically, the implants sit right in the middle of our brain's protective membranes.

Biocompatibility tests conducted with the neural probes have shown that it did not cause cell membranes to rupture nor suppressed cell growth, both of which would be bad. The team will make design tweaks to make the probes fully implantable.
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North Korea ups stakes: new missile launch

North Korea is back to its old ways, it seems. South Korea's military has reported that its reclusive northern neighbor test-fired two medium-range ballistic missiles Wednesday morning from a site north of Pyongyang into the sea off its east coast.

The military posturing came while the South's leader, Park Gyuen-hye, met with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President Barack Obama on the sidelines of the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague.

United front

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported the three leaders urged tripartite cooperation in the face of North Korean antagonism.

"I think it's very important for our three nations to display this kind of unity and shared determination," President Obama said following the talks.

Japan has registered a "strong protest" with the North Korean embassy in Beijing, Minister for Foreign Affairs Fumio Kishida told a parliamentary session Wednesday. But he said the launch would not affect Japan-North Korea talks scheduled for March 30.

"It is a very important opportunity to make a strong approach to North Korea," he said. "Japan is not considering the change of the plan as of now."

It is believed that two medium-range Rodong missiles -- one at 2.35 AM (local time) and again a few minutes later -- were launched, eventually splashing down in the Sea of Japan, also known by the Koreas as the East Sea.

Several launches of short-range ballistics have been conducted in recent weeks, including one that came within minutes of potentially hitting a Chinese passenger jet. It does not appear that North Korea issued any warnings ahead of Wednesday's launches.

If confirmed, this latest launch marks the first time since 2009 that the DPRK has fired the Rodong class of missile.
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Egypt military chief Abdul Fattah al-Sisi resigns

Field Marshal Abdul Fattah al-Sisi has announced that he has resigned as Egypt's military chief in order to stand for the presidency.

He made the widely expected announcement on state television.

Mr Sisi led the overthrow of President Mohammed Morsi in July following mass opposition protests.

Correspondents say he is likely to win the presidential poll, given his popularity and the lack of any serious rivals.

In his address, Mr Sisi told Egyptians he was "appearing in front of you for the last time in military uniform", before warning that the country was "threatened by terrorists" and saying he would work to make an Egypt "free of fear".

He also promised to tackle the country's growing economic problems, but said he could not "perform miracles" and called on Egyptians to work hard to improve their country.

Mr Sisi, 59, who said he first wore military uniform as a 15-year-old cadet in 1970, said he had "humbly" decided to bow to the will of the people.

Sounding a similar note earlier this month, he was quoted by state media saying he could "not turn his back on calls by the majority of Egyptians" for him to run for president.

To his supporters, the former army chief is a saviour who can end the political turmoil dogging Egypt since a popular uprising ended Hosni Mubarak's three decades of one-man rule in 2011.

Tens of thousands of his supporters have taken to the streets to urge him to stand.

But his opponents hold him responsible for what human rights groups say are widespread abuses, and fear that he wants a return to authoritarianism.

His announcement came hours after Egypt's interim authorities ordered the prosecution of 919 suspected Islamists and days after 528 Islamists were sentenced to death in a separate case.

If Abdul Fattah al-Sisi becomes president, he will be the latest in a line of Egyptian rulers drawn from the military; a line only briefly broken during Islamist President Mohamed Morsi's year in office.

The starting date of the nomination process for the presidential election will reportedly be announced on Sunday, after which no changes may be made to the electoral roll.

The government has yet to set a date for the vote, although earlier this month al-Ahram newspaper cited interim President Adly Mansour as saying that it would be completed by 17 July.

Leftist politician Hamdeen Sabahi, who came third in the 2012 election, is the only other candidate to have declared his intention to run.

Gen Sedki Sobhi, the current chief-of-staff of the armed forces, is expected to be named the new commander-in-chief and defence minister.
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Sulaiman Abu Ghaith: Bin Laden's son-in-law convicted

Abu Ghaith appeared alongside Bin Laden in a video just one day after the 9/11 attacks.

Osama Bin Laden's son-in-law Sulaiman Abu Ghaith, who was an al-Qaeda spokesman after 9/11, has been convicted of terrorism-related charges at a trial in New York.

He could face life in prison when he is sentenced in September for conspiracy to kill Americans and aiding al-Qaeda.

The Kuwaiti clergyman was captured in Jordan last year and brought to the US.

He is the highest-ranking al-Qaeda figure to face trial on US soil since the attacks.

The jury returned a guilty verdict on three charges: conspiracy to kill Americans, conspiring to provide support to al-Qaeda, and providing support to al-Qaeda. The verdict came after about five hours of deliberation.

Videos showing Abu Ghaith threatening America with no end to the "storm of airplanes'' were shown to jurors, but he argued his role was a purely religious one, aimed at encouraging all Muslims to rise up against their oppressors.

He testified that Bin Laden had asked him to be al-Qaeda's spokesman on the night of the 9/11 attacks.


In his surprise testimony, Abu Ghaith recounted the night of the 9/11 attacks, when Bin Laden met him in a cave and asked him: "Did you learn what happened? We are the ones who did it."

Abu Ghaith's defence lawyer argued there was "zero evidence" his client was involved in conspiracies

In court, Abu Ghaith was repeatedly shown videos in which he called for more attacks on Americans
On Monday, during closing arguments, Assistant US Attorney John Cronan highlighted what he said was the importance of Abu Ghaith's post-9/11 status.

"Going to that man was the very first thing Osama Bin Laden did on September 11 after the terror attacks," he said. "The defendant committed himself to al-Qaeda's conspiracy to kill Americans, and he worked to drive other people to that conspiracy."

Denying he was an al-Qaeda recruiter, Abu Ghaith insisted he had agreed to meet with Bin Laden in a cave on the night of September 11 out of respect for Bin Laden's standing as a sheikh.

One witness at the trial was a British man who was supposed to join Richard Reid in the attempted shoe-bomb airline attack of December 2001. The man left the plot after his parents warned him against involvement in terrorism.

He did not know Abu Ghaith, but prosecutors introduced evidence to show Abu Ghaith knew of such detailed plans for more air attacks on the US, as he promised in his videos.

Abu Ghaith's defence lawyers argued there was "zero evidence" that the 48-year-old former teacher knew about any conspiracies and that the prosecution case was based purely on "ugly words and bad associations."

In a surprise move, the cleric took the witness stand in his own defence, denying he helped plot al-Qaeda attacks and claiming he never became a formal member of the group.

Abu Ghaith, who is one of the highest-ranking al-Qaeda linked figures to face a civilian jury on terrorism-related charges, is married to Bin Laden's eldest daughter Fatima.

Bin Laden, a founder of al-Qaeda, was killed by US forces in May 2011 at his hideout in Pakistan.

As in several other terrorism trials held in American civilian courts, the jury remained anonymous.


Abu Ghaith repeatedly claimed al-Qaeda responsibility for the 9/11 attacks, in his videos
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Starz and Major League Gaming arrive on the Xbox with new TV Everywhere apps

Microsoft, alongside its relevant content partners at hand, revealed an expansion of its "TV Everywhere" video services in the form of launches of new authenticated apps for both the Xbox 360, as well as previews of future launches for the Xbox One. And movie buffs aren't the only ones with reason for excitement — gamers can also revel in Microsoft's launch of the Major League Gaming app on Xbox 360 earlier this week. 

Specifically, as far as the 360 is concerned, Starz has launched its Encore Play and Movieplex Play authenticated TV Everywhere apps that will join Starz Play (which has been a 360 app since last December). Later this year, Microsoft and Starz will release apps currently in development for the Xbox One.

As expected, viewing content from any of the new "Play" options will require a Pay-TV subscription to one of a host of partners such as DirecTV, Verizon FiOS, AT&T U-verse TV, Cox Communications, Google Fiber and Time Warner Cable, among many others. Comcast and Dish Network offer Starz content through their own TV Everywhere platforms, but not through Starz's own app(s).

For the Xbox One, Microsoft has positioned the premium network/on-demand movie service EPIX for the development of an app slated for release later this year. EPIX has also extended authentication to certain TWC subscribers on the 360, offering free access to its app all the way through mid-June. In addition, the Xbox One will premiere its MLB.tv service just in time for Major League Baseball's opening day, which will provide live and archived MLB content to subscribers of the service.

Finally, with gamers in mind, Microsoft announced via Xbox Wire the addition of a MLG app on 360, specifically available to Xbox Live Gold members in Australia, the U.K., Canada and the U.S. The app will let users watch all of the league's MLG.tv programming, including podcasts and streams of some of the world's best gamers competing in MLG's premier competitions, live broadcasts of tournaments, and top-quality gaming content.

Considering Redbox's recent announcement of its potential offering of PS4, Xbox One and Wii U games as early as April 1, and the host of new services available in the Xbox universe, gamers and movie fans alike should have quite a bit to look forward to in the near future. Just don't forget to bring your cable or satellite subscription along.
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W Hotels offer ‘social media concierge’ to live-tweet your wedding – for $3,000 (N450,000)

The W Hotel chain appears to believe it's onto a surefire winner with the addition to its wedding package of a special 'Social Media Wedding Concierge' who'll tweet, Instagram, Vine, blog, and Facebook every precious moment of your special day.

Running until the end of the year, the deal, which is being offered to those tying the knot by four W hotels in New York, involves the services of a social media "expert," according to marketing material received by the Huffington Post's Bianca Bosker.

"From live tweets and #hashtags to Vine videos and Instagram filters, W's Social Media Wedding Concierge will document the 'I Dos' and encourage guests to utilize a dedicated wedding hashtag for every one of their posts," the hotel chain says.

You heard it right, your special concierge will tweet the ceremony and reception ("he's putting the ring on her finger," "Grandma's tearing up," "a brawl's just kicked off by the cake," that kind of thing), fire off Instagram photos and Vine videos, take care of the headache-inducing task of thinking up a unique wedding hashtag, and "encourage" guests to use the hashtag. And it'll only cost you $3,000.

What?!? I hear you cry. Is that all I get for my three grand? No, of course isn't. Your concierge will also take the time to set up a blog and maintain it "before and after the big day," though presumably they won't be accompanying you on your honeymoon as well.

In the hotel chain's marketing spiel, there's also something about creating a Pinterest board "to inspire the couple" and a Shutterfly book containing all the "social media highlights from the day," though it's still hard to see how it arrived at the $3,000 figure.

What do you think? Is W Hotel ahead of the game on this one, or is it simply an overpriced gimmick seeking to exploit people's addiction to social media? Sound off in the comments below.
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Spotify goes after college students with half-price subscription offer

Spotify is now offering US-based students the chance to sign up to its Premium service for the half the usual cost as the music streaming service seeks to grow its user base and fight off competition from similar outfits.

Announced this week, the special deal means those in school need only pay $5 a month instead of the usual $10, an offer Spotify hopes will be attractive enough to tempt users into switching from its free service or simply bring in new ones dissatisfied with rival offerings.

Spotify's free version may of course be perfectly adequate for many students reluctant to fork out any money on music streaming, though the $5 deal will banish ads and allow for offline listening. For those with finely tuned ears, better sound quality is also part of the package.

The Sweden-based company launched its service in the US in 2011. Growth has been relatively slow in the country, where it's currently the fourth most popular music streaming service, sitting behind Pandora, iHeartRadio, and Apple's iTunes Radio, which launched just six months ago

Cross-platform Spotify has been around since 2008 and is now available in more than 50 countries. Its 25 million active users and 6 million subscribers have access to a catalog of around 20 million tracks, with various levels of service offered depending on payment and device used.

This week's student-based offer comes two years after a similar Spotify deal launched in the UK, while in the US rival service Rdio has been tempting students with a half-price subscription offer for the past six months.

To learn more about Spotify's 50-percent-off deal, check out the service's dedicated webpage here. Full terms and conditions can be found here.
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This Ferrari Evoluzione is the $2.19 million Ferrari FXX with ‘Rosso Corsa’ paintjob

If your blood runs "Rosso Corsa", then this is the ultimate evolution of what is essentially an unrestricted Ferrari Enzo … born for the track.

However, red is not the only color that should run through your veins if you want this amazing machine. The price tag will be oozing green – the Ferrari Evoluzione is a $300,000 upgrade from the already uncompromising and virtually priceless FXX. As with anything this pricey, Ferrari limited production to just 30 vehicles. Out of the 30 made, one was a special black edition tailored specifically for Michael Schumaker. That specific model sold for a jaw-dropping $2,756,000 last year.

The figures don't stop there, as an Evoluzione that recently landed in Ferrari of Fort Lauderdale has been priced at $2.19 million. The number of Evoluziones converted from the original 30 FXX models is unknown, so this is a very rare stallion indeed.

In the case that are somehow able to afford such an investment, you should realize that the Evoluzione isn't even road legal … but for good reason.

This special Enzo model produces an enormous 848 horsepower from its 6.3-liter V12. 0 to 60 mph takes a mere 2.5 seconds and the V12 will sing all the way up to 9,500 rpm. Those numbers probably aren't necessary for the road, but it would be considerate of Ferrari to enable this beast for at least a little Autobahn use … or a Texas highway when no one is looking.
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Alfa Romeo will return to the U.S. at the 2014 New York Auto Show

Alfa Romeo is back.

That's what U.S. car enthusiasts have been waiting to hear since the storied Italian brand left our shores in 1995. It's been plotting a return for roughly a decade, and it will finally make its comeback here at the 2014 New York Auto Show next month.

Alfa will show off the 4C sports car which, aside from a limited run of 8C Competizione models, will be its first officially-imported model since the Clinton administration when it goes on sale this June.

The 4C is the perfect car for Alfa Romeo to stage a comeback with. Small and mid-engined, with a lightweight carbon fiber monocoque chassis, it's essentially a love letter to fans of driving pleasure.

The lightweight chassis is paired with a 1.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, which produces 240 horsepower and 258 pound-feet of torque. Mated to the mandatory six-speed TCT dual-clutch transmission, the 4C will go from 0 to 62 mph in 4.5 seconds, and reach a top speed of 160 mph.

Anyone disappointed by the lack of a clutch pedal will be happy to know that the 4C doesn't have a feel-sapping electronic power-steering system.

In fact, it has no power steering at all. That should provide the ultimate road feel, and given the 4C's low curb weight (around 2,193 pounds in U.S. trim), it should also be manageable at parking lot speeds.

Alfa Romeo may also bring with it the 4C Spider convertible, which it unveiled earlier this month at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show. However, the 4C Spider has not been confirmed for production.

Right now, Alfa Romeo only has two other models, the micro MiTo and the Giulietta, which shares its platform with the Dodge Dart and Jeep Cherokee.

Alfa Romeo was supposed to launch a new Spider sports car based on the nest Mazda MX-5 Miata, but that plan appears to be dead. There have also been rumors of an SUV based on the upcoming Maserati Levante.

Whatever its future plans, it will be good to have Alfa Romeo back on U.S. shores. The company's return kicks off at the 2014 New York Auto Show, which opens April 16.

The hardtop 4C is expected to go on sale in June with a base price of $54,000.
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Richard Durkin wins 16-year laptop credit wrangle with HFC bank

Richard Durkin said the ruling was a victory for the consumer
A man has won a 16-year dispute over a laptop which he bought from the Aberdeen branch of PC World.

Richard Durkin claimed the HFC bank ruined his credit rating after he tried to pull out of a credit agreement when he returned the £1,499 computer.

Mr Durkin, 44, took his case to court and initially won damages of £116,000, but that ruling was overturned.

The Supreme Court in London has now allowed his appeal and ruled he should receive £8,000 in damages.

Mr Durkin said the ruling was a victory for the consumer but a blow for him personally.

He had handed over £50 and signed a credit agreement with HFC in 1998, but said he was told by a sales assistant at the store in Aberdeen that the laptop could be returned if it had a problem.

He discovered the laptop did not have an inbuilt modem.

Mr Durkin was eventually paid back the £50 by PC World but HFC said he was still required to make payments under the terms of the credit agreement.

In 2008 Aberdeen Sheriff Court ruled that he was entitled to reject the laptop and cancel the sale and the credit agreement and awarded damages of £116,000.

The decision was overturned later by judges at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

Mr Durkin said: "I am disappointed that the Supreme Court was unable to restore to me the full damages awarded by the sheriff - even though it was clear that they were sympathetic to my position on this.

"This decision is a great victory for all consumers and I am proud to have been the driving force behind it.


The laptop was bought from PC World in Aberdeen in the 1990s
"As a result of the decision, no consumer will have to endure again what I had to put up with - the loss of the ability to buy a family home because of wrongful blacklisting of me."

He added: "Taking a case to any court is a huge stress, but taking it to the highest court in the land with all the risks that go with it was the most stressful thing that anyone could voluntarily put themselves through.

"But sometimes you have to do what is right, and not what is easy."

Mr Durkin said: "I am grateful to my legal team, and to the Law Society of Scotland who funded the court fees which I could not afford.

"But I am most grateful for an end to this matter now, having fought a long and difficult battle which at last is over."
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Blame me for Man Utd decline - Moyes

Manager David Moyes took responsibility for Manchester United's dramatic decline this season after a dismal home defeat to Manchester City.
The reigning champions are seventh, 18 points adrift of leaders Chelsea after City inflicted United's sixth home league loss of the season.

"I am the one who picks the team," Moyes said. "I take responsibility and always will do. It is disappointing.

"I thought it would be a tough year but I hoped it would be more competitive."
The defeat means United have now lost more league games at home this season than in the previous three campaigns combined.

In nine matches against the Premier League's top five, they have won just once, against Arsenal in November.
Despite reaching the quarter-finals of the Champions League, United have fallen well short of the consistency which saw them win the title by 11 points under Sir Alex Ferguson before his retirement last summer.

"Everybody knows this is a job that is going to take a little bit of time to get the way we would like but that is the job," added Moyes, 50
.
"Other clubs have had to do rebuilding jobs - we hope it won't take as long as some others but we have a period of time to get to that level.

"There are a lot of really good players in the squad, a lot of internationals, who, on their day, can be a match for most players."
The former Everton boss admits he hoped United would be "closer to the top of the league than we are at the moment," but believes his side did not "lack effort or commitment" against their city rivals.

City, who were the last team to deny United the title - in 2012 - scored through Edin Dzeko after 43 seconds at Old Trafford and the Bosnian doubled the lead before Yaya Toure struck a third late on.

"We never came out of the blocks," added Moyes. "We never got started. For Manchester City to score inside the first minute gave them a really big lift.
"I told the players at half-time that we wanted to start the second half stronger and that we needed to play in their half but we never really got that."
United striker Wayne Rooney said the team's record at Old Trafford is "not good enough", adding: "We can't lose six home games in a season. We have to put that right and make this a place teams fear again.

"We know we have to respond. It's a bad night for us all but we have to move on."

Speaking to MUTV, Rooney added: "We didn't deserve to win. We weren't clinical enough and we didn't create enough chances.

"No-one likes to lose a derby game - they're big games and they're great to win, but when you lose it's not a great feeling."
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Flight MH370: 122 new objects spotted - Malaysia minister

The images, given to the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency by Airbus, show several light-coloured objects
A further 122 objects potentially from the missing Malaysian plane have been identified by satellite, the country's acting transport minister has said.

The images, taken on 23 March, showed objects up to 23m (75ft) in length, Hishammuddin Hussein said.

All aircraft taking part in Wednesday's search have now left the area without identifying debris from the plane.

Flight MH370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing disappeared on 8 March with 239 people on board.

The objects were found in satellite images from a 400 sq km area around 2,557km (1588 miles) from Perth in Western Australia, Mr Hishammuddin said.

He said that it was not possible to tell whether the potential objects were from the missing aircraft, but called them "another new lead that will help direct the search operation".

The images were supplied by French-based Airbus Defence and Space and were given to the Malaysian Remote Sensing Agency on 25 March, Mr Hishammuddin said.

The images were passed on to the Australian Rescue and Co-ordination Centre in Perth on Tuesday, he added.

The latest images are the fourth known collection of satellite pictures showing possible debris in the southern Indian Ocean. No pieces have yet been recovered in the search area, which has now been split into an east and west section.


The transport minister said Malaysia Airlines was "now taking a lead in communicating with the families" and would be conducting its own press conferences.

Aircraft leave area

The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa), co-ordinating the search, said that all aircraft involved had left the area without finding objects from the plane.

It said seven military and five civilian planes had taken part and a total of six countries were now involved - Australia, New Zealand, the US, Japan, China and the South Korea.

The commander of the Chinese search operation, Dong Yan, said his ships were still looking for an object spotted by a plane earlier on Wednesday.

"The focus is on searching for floating objects, oil slicks, floating parts of the external layer of the plane and people that may have fallen into the water," he told Chinese television.

Australian authorities said on Wednesday that three more objects had earlier been spotted by a civilian aircraft involved in the search.

However, it could not be confirmed whether they were related to the missing aircraft.

The search for debris from the missing plane is taking place in one of the world's remotest regions.

If debris confirmed to be from the plane is found, the search area will narrow further.

However, experts say the aircraft's locator beacons, which will help guide ships to the wreckage, now have less than two weeks of battery life remaining.

Specialised equipment which can help locate the beacon is being flown to the search area.
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Teacher strike: NUT's Christine Blower on working hours

Primary school teachers are working up to 60 hours a week, and being asked to work until they are 68, leading to many leaving the profession, a union leader said as members took strike action.

The NUT's Christine Blower said the profession could not manage, with government figures showing 40% of teaching leaving the job within five years.

She spoke to Jo Coburn on the Daily Politics on the day that pupils in England and Wales faced disrupted classes as teachers joined rallies and picket lines in protest at changes to their pay, pensions and working conditions.
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HTC One M8 Hands On

Life is never easy when you're up against behemoths like Apple and Samsung. With last year's One, HTC struggled to get the word out that it might just have the best smartphone on the market. Undeterred, it's back to try again with its third major One. The One M8 is a fantastic new device, but can it compete with the big guns from Samsung and others? 

So soft, so fresh, and so clean

Looking at pictures of the HTC One M8, you will not be impressed. There's nothing all that exciting about it. Seeing it in person is a different experience. Like the iPhone, the One M8 is built with incredible attention to detail that you literally have to touch to appreciate.

The new One is the most comfortable phone we've held, thanks to its aluminum case that's so brushed and buffed that it's actually soft to the touch. It's so smooth that the few seams it does have are undetectable by human fingers. You'd have to be an alien with extra sensitive feelers to find a crack in HTC's shell, and we can't verify that such an alien exists at all.

We don't intend to gush, but the One M8 has better "hand-feel" than the Moto X and anything Samsung or Apple have to offer. Thanks to its roughly 90 percent aluminum shell, it feels sturdier than most devices, too.

HTC's front-facing "Boom Sound" speakers also got an upgrade this year. They sound clearer and a little louder than the One. Don't sell your Bluetooth speaker out of excitement, but do know that the One M8 probably has the best sound you're going to get on a smartphone.

A few design downsides

HTC still hasn't figured out that placing the phone's power button way up top does make you stretch your hand a little to use it. Luckily, there is a new way to unlock the phone: touch. (We'll get to that next.) And though we like the larger 5-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel screen on the One M8 (the One had a smaller 4.7-inch screen), the bezels around the screen are thick compared to the LG G2 and other LG products. HTC could have fit a larger 5.2-inch screen on the M8 or shrunk the size of it.

The big tradeoff with HTC's design is its lack of water resistance. Both the Galaxy S5 and the Sony Xperia Z2 come with full waterproof bodies, but if you drop the One M8 in the water, or it rains particularly hard, you're in trouble. Apple and LG also haven't addressed waterproofing yet, but we expect it's going to be a big selling point for Samsung this year.

Bring on the gestures

We haven't had time to dive deep into Sense 6, HTC's new interface that some of its execs lovingly call "Sixth Sense," but some of its big ideas are impressive, especially its gestures.

The new One is the most comfortable phone we've held.

Last year, LG introduced a feature called KnockOn. Instead of having to press the power button to turn the LG G2 on, you could tap your finger on the dark screen, waking it up like magic. HTC has borrowed this idea and introduced four new ways to unlock using swipes from the top, bottom, left, or right. These open different apps directly from unlocking. Oh, and if you want to use the camera, simply hold the phone up in a camera position and press the volume rocker like a shutter button; the camera app will open right up.
There's another cool gesture, too. You can swipe three fingers from the left side at any time and quickly access all the video and audio devices that the One can connect up with.

Outside of gestures, Sense 6 has more of a minimalist vibe to it than previous versions. It looks more like stock Android and is speedy like stock Android, too. The other big area of divergence is HTC's built-in BlinkFeed.

Think of BlinkFeed like a built-in version of Flipboard. You access it by swiping from the left on the home screen. This time around, BlinkFeed does more than just aggregate news. It is becoming a place to find notifications. Currently, Fitbit and Foursquare connect up and will send you notifications through BlinkFeed.

Processing power to back up its good looks

There's nothing revolutionary about the specs of the new One M8, but it's competitive. It has the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor as all the hot high-end phones this year, including the Xperia Z2, Galaxy S5, and LG G Pro 2. And like all those phones, it's loaded with a 5-inch (ish) 1920 x 1080 pixel screen, about 2GB of RAM (some have 3GB), on-screen navigation buttons, and Android 4.4, the latest and greatest new operating system from Google. Sadly, base models only come with 16GB of internal storage. This won't get you far. We recommend a 32GB model.

BlinkFeed is like a built-in Flipboard, but now HTC uses it to send notifications.

What does processing power get you these days? Well, for starters, it's how the M8 performs all its fancy new camera features, including Ufocus, which adds Lytro-like refocusing abilities to pictures. Every big phone has this, but thanks to HTC's dual-rear cameras, the M8 does it right. But we'll get to that in a minute.

Did we mention the 2,600mAh battery and the MicroSD slot? HTC added MicroSD back into its flagship after it went missing on the One last year. We assume this is due to complaints by good readers like you. Though the battery isn't a lot bigger than the One, HTC says this phone will get 40 percent better battery life. We chalk this up to Qualcomm's new battery-friendly Snapdragon processor as much as anything else.

It has three cameras?

Yep. Three cameras. HTC has upped the ante with a very nice 5-megapixel front-facing camera (much like the Huawei Ascend Mate 2), but there are two cameras on the back of the One M8. The first is an Ultrapixel camera, which is an HTC-branded invention. The idea is that the pixels take in more light, so they're called Ultrapixels. Bottom line: The rear camera works very well. On top of it is a new camera that's used to add depth.

Using these two cameras in conjunction, the M8 can produce shots with actual depth to them, allowing you to focus on almost any object in frame and defocus (blur) everything else. It's what our eyes do all the time … if only our eyes had some of the fun filters and effects that the M8 does. Imagine being able to easily turn everything in a shot that isn't you black and white. That's the kind of thing HTC has made easy – no more Photoshop required.

We still need to do more testing on the rear camera. It has some neat effects, but overall doesn't appear to be a massive revolution over what's out there right now – evolution is a better word for it.

Conclusion

We need to spend a lot more time with the One M8, but it's a gorgeous, fantastic phone. We wish it had better water resistance, and really wouldn't recommend that current One owners drop all their things and buy this immediately (especially since HTC is going to send HTC One phones an Android 4.4 update), but if you're looking to upgrade, this is one of the best superphones around. Best of all, its already available on Verizon and is coming to AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint soon, not to mention more than 230 other carriers around the world. The full rollout starts in April.

Highs

Apple-level design detail
Excessively comfortable to hold
Great sound from front-facing speakers
Dual-rear cameras lead market on Lytro-like effects
MicroSD card support
5MP front camera
Lows

No water resistance
Only 16GB of internal storage
Uncomfortable power button placement
Expensive $600+ price
No Google Play Edition (yet)
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Why teachers are on strike

The NUT strike follows a series of strikes by NUT and NASUWT members
As members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) across England and Wales strike over pay, pensions and conditions, the BBC News website looks at the backdrop to the industrial dispute.

Why are teachers striking?

Members of the NUT are taking industrial action over performance-related pay, pension changes and what it calls, excessive workload and bureaucracy.

The union says teachers are concerned about the impact these imposed changes are having on:

the morale of the profession
the recruitment and retention of teachers
the provision of quality education
The main concern is the introduction of a tougher version of performance-related pay and what the unions say is an attack on national pay structures.

The union said Wednesday's strike action was covered by two ballots held in May 2011 and June 2012. The turnout for the ballot was 40% of the NUT's 326,930-strong membership and 92% of these voting members were in favour of strike action.

How widespread is the action?

This latest walkout is having an impact on schools in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland are not affected.

The Department for Education, which is responsible for schools in England only, says officials are trying to determine the number of schools affected by the strike but that the process is "very labour-intensive".

An official said "well under a quarter" of the 24,330 schools in England were closed, compared with about 60% during the bigger of the two national strikes in 2011.

The BBC understands there are 472 partial closures and 297 full closures in Wales, out of a total of more than 1,700 schools.

Haven't teachers taken a lot of industrial action lately?

Wednesday's action is the third national walkout since 2011 over pay, pensions and conditions. There have also been regional strikes.

On 30 June 2011, four teachers' unions held a national day of action.

On 30 November 2011 these unions, together with other public-sector workers, staged a one-day stoppage over concerns about pensions.

A London-only NUT strike was held on 28 March 2012 over pensions.

Regional strikes by the NUT and NASUWT over pay, pensions and conditions were held on 27 June, 1 October and 17 October 2013.

A proposed one-day national walkout in November by the NUT and the NASUWT was called off after a return to negotiations with the government.

Why is the NASUWT not involved this time?

The NASUWT, which had previously taken joint action with the NUT, announced on 14 February that it would not take strike action on this occasion.

The union said Education Secretary Michael Gove's acceptance of recommendations made in the latest report by the School Teachers' Review Body ensures "important contractual entitlements of teachers are maintained".

The NASUWT also said Mr Gove's commitment to meet with them on a weekly basis to discuss their concerns was another reason not to stage strike action.

What does the government say?

The Department for Education says the unions are striking over the government's measures to allow heads to pay good teachers more.

This refers to the performance-related pay structures introduced in September 2013, under which teachers will only progress up pay scales if they meet certain standards.

It says any industrial action disrupts pupils' education, inconveniences parents and damages the profession's reputation in the eyes of the public.
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