среда, 29 февраля 2012 г.

News Diary for Thursday, Feb 19, 2009


AAP General News (Australia)
02-19-2009
News Diary for Thursday, Feb 19, 2009
Good Morning News Editors and Chiefs of Staff

Here is AAP's preliminary newslist for today (not for publication).

This is a guide only and stories, local times and locations are subject to change. In
some cases times and locations may not be available. Story coverage is subject to staffing.

NATIONAL

BUSHFIRES VIC
- Firefighters working to consolidate control lines around five major blazes, under the
threat of a return to hot, windy conditions
- Contingent of 150 NSW police officers leaving Sydney bound for Victorian bushfire zone
- Princess Anne to travel to Australia to attend Sunday's national day of mourning

FLOODS
NSW - Mopping up begins in flood-ravaged parts of northern NSW, with a forecast reduction
in rain for the first time in a week
QLD - Residents in isolated town of Karumba get more supplies but some say the response
is "too little too late"

WA - Monitoring floods situation in Pilbara region

OTHERS
- Australia-Indonesia joint media conference in Sydney (1215)
- Defence Minister Joel Fitzgibbon says Aust troops to remain in Afghanistan for some years to come
- Opposition emissions trading spokesman Andrew Robb on AM
- Simon Crean on radio
- Wayne Swan and Joe Hockey face off on ABC TV's Q&A
- Final public hearing of Senate committee inquiry into Fair Work Bill
- Opposition accuses Rudd govt of waving the white flag over Japanese whaling

COURTS
BALLINA, NSW
- Man to face court on manslaughter charge over fatal boat crash on Sydney Harbour that
left six people dead
SYDNEY
- Phuong Ngo murder conviction inquiry continues, barrister for the police is now questioning
him (1000)
- Continuation of Daniela Beltrame murder trial (1000)
MELBOURNE
- Committal continues for a 60-year-old Leigh Robinson accused of shooting dead a young
Melbourne mother in her street (1000)
- Pre-sentence hearing for five men accused of a fire attack on an elderly defenceless man (1030)
BRISBANE
- Jayant Patel committal hearing continues.

- Court mention for driver accused over death of Chinese tourist, Gold Coast.

- Milmerran doctor Clem Bonney to face child porn charges, Brisbane.

PERTH
- Lloyd Rayney in District Court on two charges of tapping his murdered wife's phone.

(EDS: details suppressed until further order by court)

INTERNATIONAL
LONDON - Two men accused of raping and attempting to murder an Australian woman during
a seven-hour ordeal in Scotland face court
BUENOS AIRES - More than 70 passengers and crew from Australia, the US, Britain, Canada
and several other countries being rescued from a cruise ship that ran aground off Antarctica
LOS ANGELES - Oscars preview story focused on Hugh Jackman
BEVERLY HILLS - If Heath Ledger wins an Oscar his three-year-old daughter will become
the owner of the Oscar statuette, but it won't really be hers until her 18th birthday
- and even then, only if she signs a contract

ADELAIDE
- No items listed

MELBOURNE
- Former prime minister John Howard delivers inaugural John Howard lecture - "Australian
Liberalism in the 21st century" (1800)
- Man stabbed in chest during fight in Melbourne
- Melbourne police advise Indian students not to talk loudly in their own language or
display expensive items like MP3 players, in the hope of curbing robberies in the city's
west
- Man beaten up outside Melbourne supermarket fighting for his life

SYDNEY
- Premier Nathan Rees and Planning Minister Kristina Keneally to make announcement about
Carlton United Breweries site in Sydney (1115)
- NSW ambulance officers ordered to drop planned industrial action considering their next step
- Senator Conroy launches Livewire: a new online community for young Australians with
a serious illness, Luna Park 1045
- Body of a teenager found in Armidale house, man charged with manslaughter

FINANCE
ECONOMICS NEWS:
SYDNEY - RBA monthly bulletin released
SYDNEY - ABS new motor vehicles sales data for January
SYDNEY - National Australia Bank Ltd small and medium enterprise survey for December quarter

EQUITIES DESK:
SYDNEY - AMP Ltd annual results
SYDNEY - Brambles Ltd first half result
SYDNEY - Sims Metal Management Ltd first half results
SYDNEY - Insurance Actuaries of Australia hosts briefing on "Creating Australia's Retirement
Income System of Tomorrow"

MELBOURNE - Healthscope Ltd half year results
MELBOURNE - PaperLinx Ltd first half result
MELBOURNE - Country Road Ltd - half year results
BRISBANE - Mining Export Infrastructure summit
PERTH - Iluka Resources Ltd full year results
PERTH - Australasian Oil & Gas Exhibition & Conference
PERTH - WA Power & Gas 2009 conference
ADELAIDE - Santos Ltd annual result
ADELAIDE - Adelaide Brighton Ltd first half result*
PORT MORESBY, PNG - Lihir Gold Ltd annual results
DENVER Colorado, United States - Newmont Mining Corporation full year results

SPORT
CRICKET
POTCHEFSTROOM, South Africa - Australian team news and preview opening three-day tour
match starting Friday

GOLF
PERTH - Johnnie Walker Classic, The Vines, 1st round

AFL
MELBOURNE - Preview NAB Cup Carlton v North Melbourne; media conference with North coach
Dean Laidley, 1100, Arden St
MELBOURNE - Teams named for Hawthorn-Melbourne and Geelong-Port Adelaide NAB Cup matches

LEAGUE
SYDNEY/BRISBANE - NRL news ahead of first weekend of official trial matches

RUGBY
Super 14
PERTH - Preview Western Force v Cheetahs match on Friday
SYDNEY - Preview NSW Waratahs v Chiefs match on Friday
SYDNEY/BRISBANE - Match by match Super 14 preview panel.

SOCCER
MELBOURNE - Media conference with Victory coach Ernie Merrick, 1115, Gosch's Paddock

BASKETBALL
AUCKLAND - NBL q-final: NZ Breakers v Adelaide 36ers, 1730AEST

RACING
MELBOURNE - Looking at Saturday's Group One Blue Diamond Stakes and Group One Oakleigh
Plate at Caulfield.

SYDNEY - Looking ahead to Apollo Stakes day at Rosehill on Saturday.

BRISBANE - Preview Saturday's Doomben races.

AAP jlw/mn

KEYWORD: DIARY NEWS THURSDAY AM UPDATE

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

-HartoDesign woos customers with low prices, designers


Internet Business News
06-20-2011
-HartoDesign woos customers with low prices, designers

INTERNET BUSINESS NEWS-(C)1995-2011 M2 COMMUNICATIONS

20 June 2011 - French online furniture trader HartoDesign is trying to attract customers by combining moderate prices with designer expertise.
The company offers also design consulting services.

Currently, the group has presented two of its products at the Meet My Project fair in Paris.

((Comments on this story may be sent to info@m2.com))

(Copyright M2 Communications, 2011)

FED:Dental scheme urgent: Brotherhood


AAP General News (Australia)
12-07-2011
FED:Dental scheme urgent: Brotherhood

An anti-poverty group says the cost of dental care in Australia is costing the national
economy more than 1.3 billion dollars in lost employment.

A new report says at least one million work days and at least 600 thousand school days
are lost each year because of poor dental health.

Brotherhood of St Laurence executive director TONY NICHOLSON says the cost of poor
dental health is borne by people at least able to afford it.

The report says adults on the lowest incomes are almost 60 times more likely to have
no teeth than those on the highest incomes and indigenous people are twice as likely to
have untreated decay in comparison to non-indigenous people.

AAP RTV ah/wf

KEYWORD: DENTAL (CANBERRA)

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW:Police search for missing Sydney teen


AAP General News (Australia)
04-04-2011
NSW:Police search for missing Sydney teen

SYDNEY, April 4 AAP - An intellectually disabled western Sydney teenager is missing
from his home, sparking a police ground and aerial hunt.

Keith Lonsdale, 17, was last seen walking his dog, a German Shepherd named Tammy, near
his home on Maple Street, North St Marys, at 5pm (AEDT) on Sunday.

He has not been seen or heard from since.

Police and polair started a search for the boy, but were unable to locate him.

He is described as being of Caucasian appearance, 152cm tall with a thin build, a fair
complexion with short, light brown hair.

When last seen, he was wearing black shorts with the words `bad boy' written on them,
a dark blue shirt with light blue horizontal stripes and a red baseball cap.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

AAP ih/rs

KEYWORD: LONSDALE

� 2011 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

TV:Crowe and Jackman to appear on Oprah


AAP General News (Australia)
12-13-2010
TV:Crowe and Jackman to appear on Oprah

Some of Australia's biggest stars will join OPRAH WINFREY at the recording of two of
her shows at Sydney Opera House tomorrow.

They include RUSSELL CROWE .. HUGH JACKMAN .. NICOLE KIDMAN .. KEITH URBAN .. OLIVIA
NEWTON JOHN and BINDI IRWIN.

International rock band BON JOVI and hip-hop star JAY-Z will perform .. and Australia's
JOHN FOREMAN and his orchestra will feature in a musical finale.

About six thousand audience members .. including OPRAH's 300 American guests .. will
watch the taping of each show after producers received more than 350 thousand requests
for the free tickets.

Another two episodes will comprise of footage from OPRAH's travels across Australia.

The episodes will air in January in both the US and Australia.

AAP RTV klw/sw/

KEYWORD: TV OPRAH GUESTS (SYDNEY)

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

FED:High-speed rail for east coast cities


AAP General News (Australia)
08-05-2010
FED:High-speed rail for east coast cities

By Cathy Alexander

CANBERRA, Aug 5 AAP - A high-speed rail network on Australia's east coast could move
people faster than air travel on some routes.

Labor has promised up to $20 million for a feasibility study into a fast railway linking
Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne.

The study will focus particularly on the Sydney to Newcastle leg.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the study was part of her sustainable Australia approach
which would manage the stresses and strains of growth.

According to previous studies collated by Australia's rail Cooperative Research Centre,
a high-speed rail trip between Sydney and Canberra would take less than two and a half
hours.

That's faster than travelling by plane, taking into account check-in and commuting to airports.

The 300km/h rail trip from Sydney to Melbourne would take just under six hours, compared
with 10 hours in a car.

The train trip from Sydney to Brisbane would take five and a half hours.

High-speed rail would also produce less than a quarter of the greenhouse gas emissions of flying.

But there's a catch.

High-speed rail is expensive, costing up to $48 million per kilometre to build the
infrastructure.

Federal governments have considered high-speed rail since 1981, but the cost has stopped
them from going ahead.

One recent study estimated an east coast network would cost between $33 billion and $59 billion.

Ms Gillard rejected suggestions the rail study was aimed at pleasing the Australian
Greens, who appear likely to win the balance of power in the Senate at the August 21 poll.

The policy was "not about currying favour with any other political party", she told
ABC Radio on Thursday.

Greens leader Bob Brown said it was a "very pleasing day" and a breakthrough for his
party, which has been calling for a high-speed rail network.

He told reporters in Canberra the rail proposal had not been part of the preference-sharing
deal clinched between Labor and the Greens.

Senator Brown was optimistic the feasibility study could lead somewhere, unlike previous
studies, and was more than a fleeing election sweetener.

"It's the 21st century transport option of choice between big cities," he said.

AAP ca/rl/jl

KEYWORD: POLL10 RAIL UPDATE

� 2010 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

WA: Five kangaroos shot in crossbow attacks


AAP General News (Australia)
12-23-2009
WA: Five kangaroos shot in crossbow attacks

Eds: reissuing to include pix advisory



PERTH, Dec 23 AAP - A string of crossbow attacks on kangaroos in urban parklands in
Western Australia is being investigated by police and animal welfare authorities.

Five kangaroos have been found with arrows lodged in their bodies at Mandurah, south
of Perth, in the past two weeks, the RSPCA says.

One wounded kangaroo had a small joey in its pouch when it was discovered on Tuesday
night, RSPCA spokesman Richard Barry said.

Mr Barry said the roo had to be put down and the joey was now in the animal welfare group's care.

Another two kangaroos with arrows in their bodies were reported seen in Mandurah on
Wednesday morning.

"This brings the number of roos shot with a bow and left to die with arrows lodged
in their bodies to five in just two weeks," Mr Barry said on Wednesday.

"All these attacks have taken place in the parklands region in Mandurah."

He appealed for anyone with information on the attacks to call Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.

AAP ap/was/jl/cdh

KEYWORD: KANGAROO (PIX ADVISORY) REISSUING

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NT: Judgment day in the NT as no-confidence motion is voted


AAP General News (Australia)
08-14-2009
NT: Judgment day in the NT as no-confidence motion is voted

By Tara Ravens

DARWIN, Aug 14 AAP - It's D-day for Labor in the Northern Territory but the parliamentary
showdown looks set to end with a whimper and not a bang.

After a three-day recess, the NT's 25 MPs will gather in the Legislative Assembly on
Friday to vote on a no-confidence motion in the government.

It was introduced by the opposition on Monday in the wake of the resignation of renegade
Labor MP Alison Anderson.

The government will either be booted out of government three years early or they will
have the numbers to defeat the motion and hold on to power.

Independent Gerry Wood has the deciding vote and he's widely speculated to have made
up his mind to support Labor to ensure the best economic outcome for the NT while avoiding
the cost and hassle of an early election.

But on the eve of the showdown, both the government and the Country Liberals denied
Mr Wood had made up his mind despite reports Labor was already popping champagne corks.

"He's a man who has not made his mind up," Opposition Leader Terry Mills said on Thursday.

NT Chief Minister Paul Henderson said he had "his fingers crossed".

"Anybody who knows me knows that I am a beer man not a champagne man and the beer is
not yet on ice," he said.

"The ball is really in Gerry's court."

Meanwhile, Mr Wood has said he won't reveal his choice until shortly before parliament sits.

Ms Anderson last week labelled the chief minister "a dead man walking" and accused
her former party of spin, manipulation and racism.

Even if Labor survives the stoush, the party has been hit hard by the criticism while
Mr Henderson has been portrayed as a leader incapable of keeping his ministers happy or
in line.

The Labor leader conceded it has been a tough few weeks for the party.

"Sleep is a bit hard to come by ... This has been a tough time, it's been a tough time
for everybody," he said.

"There's a lot that has been said that has certainly caused me a fair degree of angst
and certainly there is a lot of water that has gone under the bridge in the last seven
to 10 days."

Debate on the no-confidence motion will begin in parliament at 10am (CST) on Friday
but it could take most of the day before a final vote is known.

AAP tr/cdh

KEYWORD: LABOR NT AM UPDATE

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

NSW: Woman gives birth in hospital toilet


AAP General News (Australia)
04-03-2009
NSW: Woman gives birth in hospital toilet

There's been another tragic incident involving a pregnant woman at a NSW public hospital
with a baby boy being delivered in a toilet .. before dying a short time later.

The baby's 21-year-old mother went to Bankstown Hospital's emergency department last
night complaining of abdominal pain.

The Seven Network says the woman wasn't aware she was pregnant and told doctors she'd
been diagnosed with constipation by two general practitioners.

Hospital staff arranged for her to have X-rays without testing to see if she was pregnant
.. examinations which are dangerous to unborn babies.

But shadow health minister JILLIAN SKINNER says a radiologist realised she was pregnant
and told her to go back to the emergency department .. without telling the patient why.

On her way back the woman gave birth to the baby in a hospital toilet.

Ms SKINNER has called on the health minister to explain why and how it happened.

AAP RTV bc/crh

KEYWORD: BABY (SYDNEY)

2009 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Meebo introduces instant messaging application for Android


Internet Business News
11-07-2008
Meebo, a live communications platform, has announced the launch of Meebo for Android, an instant messaging application for T-Mobile's G1, an Android powered mobile phone.

The company said that Meebo for Android provides instant messaging on Meebo and other IM service accounts. The service includes access to all of a users IM accounts through a single login, a single buddy list and IM alerts.

The T-Mobile G1 has a touch-screen function, a QWERTY keyboard and a one-touch access to Google Search. Users will be able to download Meebo for Android through the phone at http://www.android.com/market/.

((Comments on this story may be sent to info@m2.com))



Copyright 2008 M2 Communications, Ltd., All Rights Reserved.

Vic: Firefighters scaled back at Bunyip bushfire


AAP General News (Australia)
04-27-2008
Vic: Firefighters scaled back at Bunyip bushfire

By Michelle Draper

MELBOURNE, April 27 AAP - Firefighters have scaled back efforts at a bushfire in state
forest south-east of Melbourne as overnight rain prevented it spreading.

More than 10mm of rain has fallen in the area of the fire, which has burnt up to 800
hectares in the Bunyip State Park, about 9km south-east of Gembrook.

But while the rain has stopped the fire spreading, it is not under control yet.

Incident Controller Rocky Barca said work still needed to be done to build containment
lines around the fire.

"We haven't called the fire contained because there is still a fair amount of work
to do to track the edge of the fire," he told AAP.

"The fire has really died down and the cooler conditions prevented the spread of the fire."

About 40 Department of Sustainability and Environment and Country Fire Authority members
remain at the scene patrolling the fire front and surrounding areas.

Firefighters numbers have been reduced from about 200 yesterday, as rain stopped the
fire spreading but also caused steep terrain to become muddied and too hazardous for trucks
to access, Mr Barca said.

"The rain is a blessing but also a curse," he said.

The fire is continuing to burn in a slight southerly, but more easterly direction, he said.

But properties which were just 1.5km from the fire yesterday should now be in the clear, he said.

The Bureau of Meteorology's forecast for more rain over the next few days was good
news and it is unlikely firefighters numbers would be boosted again, Mr Barca said.

A community meeting scheduled for 10.30am (AEST) today will still go ahead at the Tonimbuk
Hall to update residents on the fire situation.

Firefighters and police will continue to investigate the cause of the fire, which broke
out on Friday and is being treated as suspicious.

AAP md/gfr/jt

KEYWORD: BUSHFIRES VIC DAYLEAD

2008 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Vic: Bogus cancer quack faces jail time


AAP General News (Australia)
12-22-2007
Vic: Bogus cancer quack faces jail time

A former bogus cancer therapist is facing jail after a Melbourne court found him guilty
of criminal charges.

The Melbourne man .. PAUL JOHN RANA .. was found guilty by Federal Court Justice TONY
NORTH of criminal charges over the failure to provide documents about his companies to
the ACCC consumer watchdog.

The ACCC already successfully sued RANA earlier this year for misleading and deceptive conduct.

The case involved cheating cancer sufferers out of tens of thousands of dollars to
pay for useless remedies he mistakenly told them could rid them of cancer.

RANA has pleaded NOT guilty to the more serious charges in which he rather than his
company NuEra .. at Wyndham Vale west of Melbourne .. was liable for not producing documents.

AAP RTV gr/wz

KEYWORD: RANA (MELBOURNE)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

SA: Red tape to be slashed for small clubs in SA


AAP General News (Australia)
08-16-2007
SA: Red tape to be slashed for small clubs in SA

Government red tape clogging up the operations of smaller sporting clubs .. professional
associations .. and ethnic and cultural clubs in South Australia is to be slashed.

Attorney-General MICHAEL ATKINSON says clubs and other groups that take in less than
500 thousand dollars each year .. will no longer be identified as prescribed associations.

That means they won't have to abide by strict financial reporting conditions.

Previously the threshold was just 200 thousand .. a level that's been unchanged since 1993.

Mr ATKINSON says the change will lift the financial and bureaucratic burden from hundreds
of small clubs and organisations .. which form the backbone of local communities.

AAP RTV tjd/af/bart

KEYWORD: CLUBS (ADELAIDE)

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Coonan says online books won't be censored


AAP General News (Australia)
03-15-2007
Fed: Coonan says online books won't be censored

CANBERRA, March 15 AAP - Publishers can be assured that proposed new classification
rules will not ban or restrict online publications of material currently sold over the
counter, Communications Minister Helen Coonan says.

Senator Coonan is to meet Australian book publishers later today to discuss government
proposals for standardised online and television classification rules.

Publishers are concerned that the new system - sparked by the furore surrounding the
Big Brother reality TV show "turkey-slapping" incident last year - may create a defacto
censorship system, which means books now available from shops might have their online
versions banned.

Senator Coonan said the objective was to streamline rules for electronic content, irrespective
of how that content was delivered.

"The confusion has really arisen because ... there's different classifications across
different mediums," she told ABC radio.

"Books and magazines don't have to be classified at all. The intent that I have is,
that apart from restricted categories, they won't have to be restricted if they are online.

Senator Coonan said that was her main objective.

"You can take the current arrangements and translate them online. The new legislation
is not intended to make material that is currently legal illegal or inaccessible," she
said.

"It is important that we work through the current classifications."

Senator Coonan said the government wanted to do this to protect children from harmful
online content or through new devices such as 3G phones.

She said classification categories did need to be aligned as there were different classifications
for films, computer games, books and magazines as well as internet content.

On top of that are differing state and territory laws and the criminal code.

"By the time you get to live streaming, which is what the Big Brother (turkey slapping)
incident was all about, you have got an unregulated space," she said.

"What we are trying to do is to make it consistent, practical, not onerous for anyone
... the snapshot we took from consultations has thrown up the fact that there needs to
be a better look at making sure that there are not these barriers."

AAP mb/lh/bwl

KEYWORD: ONLINE

2007 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Business investment continues to grow - ABS


AAP General News (Australia)
08-31-2006
Fed: Business investment continues to grow - ABS

CANBERRA, Aug 31 AAP - Business investment continued to grow in the June quarter, new
figures showed.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said capital expenditure rose 1.1 per cent
to $18.6 billion, boosted by a seven per cent surge in spending on buildings and structures.

Capital spending was up 18.4 per cent for the year, driven by the mining industry.

Spending on equipment, plant and machinery fell 0.6 per cent to $11.2 billion with
the mining sector again the biggest influence.

Businesses also ramped up their expectations for spending this financial year.

The estimate of $72.1 billion capital expenditure for 2005-06, is 25 per cent more
than the comparable estimate a year ago.

"The increase since 2004-05 is mainly driven by mining which has increased by 76.2
per cent," the ABS said.

AAP so/sb/cjh/sd

KEYWORD: INVESTMENT

) 2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

Fed: Howard offers condolences to dead soldier's family=2


AAP General News (Australia)
04-24-2006
Fed: Howard offers condolences to dead soldier's family=2

"This man died tragically, doing something that he wanted to do," Mr Howard said.

"He was clearly admired and held in great affection by his colleagues and I know that
all Australians, especially on the eve of Anzac Day, will feel for his family and feel
for his comrades-in-arms."

AAP str/kaj/hn/sco/sd

KEYWORD: IRAQ AUST SOLDIER HOWARD 2 SYDNEY (REOPENS)

2006 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

понедельник, 27 февраля 2012 г.

Fed: Australia Post named Commonwealth Games sponsor


AAP General News (Australia)
04-17-2005
Fed: Australia Post named Commonwealth Games sponsor

By Sharon Mathieson and Shelley Markham

CANBERRA, April 17 AAP - Australia Post has been named as a major sponsor of the Melbourne
2006 Commonwealth Games as well as the official courier of Games tickets.

Melbourne 2006 Games chief executive John Harnden welcomed Australia Post's commitment
to the event and urged Australians to enter the ticket ballot by Friday to be in the race
to get the best tickets.

"We look forward to working closely with Australia Post to efficiently deliver the
Games tickets," he said in a statement.

"We also encourage everyone to enter the ticket ballot online by 22 April, 2005, to
ensure they have a chance to get the best tickets to the best events at Games time."

Australia Post managing director Graeme John said the company was proud to support
the Australian team and to be part of the Melbourne Games.

"We look forward to lending our support to the Games and continuing our ongoing commitment
to major community initiatives and supporting Australian athletes competing at the world's
premier sporting events," he said.

With less than a week to go until the ticket ballot closes, the Melbourne 2006 Commonwealth
Games Corporation said today that 80 per cent of the applications it had received so far
were from Victoria.

Mr Harnden said at today's sponsorship announcement the tickets in highest demand were
those for events such as track cycling, swimming, gymnastics and basketball.

"Ticketing's going fantastically well, we're very pleased, we've had applications coming
in at a rate of over 100,000 a week ... and that's starting to ramp up more as we get
closer to the ballot closing," Mr Harnden said.

Victorian Swimmer Giaan Rooney and diver Loudy Tourky said their families had applied
for tickets to the games.

"They've applied for the opening and closing ceremonies, and of course my diving events,"

Tourky said.

"I think Melbourne will do the Commonwealth Games really well, and mum and dad as well
as my grandma will see me compete for the first time internationally," Rooney said.

The Commonwealth Games will run from March 15 to 26 next year.

AAP sm/dl/sam/gfr/dl/sd

KEYWORD: COM06 POST NIGHTLEAD

2005 AAP Information Services Pty Limited (AAP) or its Licensors.

PT-109 found, won't be raised

THIS ELECTRONIC VERSION MAY DIFFER SLIGHTLY FROM PRINTED VERSION

Robert Ballard, who discovered the Titanic, says he has found PT-109, the torpedo boat commanded by John F. Kennedy during World War II.Ballard said the wreck is in 1,200 feet of water in the South Pacific, near the Solomon Islands, where the boat went down in 1943 after being hit by a Japanese destroyer.

The Navy said that based on the location and type of weaponry found, the wreck is probably that of the famous vessel.

Ballard said the wreck, which was found in May, will be left where it is.

"We have an understanding with the Kennedy family as well as others who lost loved ones -- there were two people lost from the boat -- that we will not disturb the site and we will not dig it up," he said.

Eventually, the site might become part of Ballard's planned network of underwater museums accessible over the Internet. But he said it would probably be years before that happens, given the technology required.

PT-109 was rammed on Aug. 2, 1943. The destroyer was believed to have struck Kennedy's 80-foot boat amidship, slicing it in two. But Ballard said it appears PT-109 was actually struck a glancing blow that sheared off only a portion of the stern.

The 11 surviving crewmen clung to the slowly sinking bow, then swam to a small island. Kennedy towed an injured crewman to shore by swimming with a strap from the man's lifejacket in his teeth.

The future president was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal and a Purple Heart. The episode was dramatized in a 1963 movie.

Rational Software Announces Support for Microsoft Office 2000; Rational Tools Will Accelerate Development of Office 2000 Applications.

NEW ORLEANS, March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Rational Software Corporation (Nasdaq: RATL) today at the Microsoft Office 2000 Deployment Conference announces support for Microsoft Office 2000. Rational Rose 98i, the world's leading visual modeling tool, provides integration with Office 2000 to facilitate the development of customized applications that extend the functionality of Microsoft's Office 2000 suite. In addition, future versions of Rational's integrated family of development tools will provide enhanced Office 2000 support to accelerate the development of applications that leverage Office 2000 functionality for maximum business benefit.

Microsoft Office 2000 includes enhanced productivity tools and components for developers building custom applications that employ Office 2000 components. The Office 2000 Developer edition includes tools for Visual Studio developers building Office 2000 integrations, including Component Object Model (COM) add-in templates as well as sample code for automating Office applications. The product also includes data access tools that enable developers to easily integrate enterprise data directly into Microsoft Office applications to facilitate more accurate and timely access to corporate information.

Rational Rose 98i accelerates the development of Office 2000 applications. Through the use of the industry standard Unified Modeling Language (UML), Rational Rose enables developers to visualize Office 2000 objects, including their interfaces, interdependencies and extensions. Developers can build their application model based on these objects and automatically generate code for Visual Basic, Visual C++ and Java development. Rational Rose also makes it possible to reverse engineer legacy applications written in Visual Basic, Visual C++ and Java, which can be enhanced to take advantage of the functionality provided in Office 2000.

"Rational Rose's support for visualizing the Office 2000 architecture will allow developers to take full advantage of the Office development platform," said Chris Gibbons, Microsoft's general manager of Office marketing. "Visual modeling provides the developer with a better understanding of Office components and their interdependencies, freeing the developer from manually examining object code, and allowing them to focus on how best to use Office components to build applications quickly and reduce overall development time."

About Rational Rose

Rational Rose 98i provides Unified Modeling Language (UML) -- based modeling for designing component-based applications. The UML, pioneered by Rational and officially adopted as a standard by the Object Management Group (OMG), is the industry-standard language for specifying, visualizing, constructing, and documenting the artifacts of a software system. COM, ActiveX and JavaBean components can be reverse engineered to derive interfaces and determine the inter-relationships of all components within a model. Rose 98i Enterprise provides the capability to mix and match multiple languages, such as C++, Visual Basic, and Java, within the same model.

About Microsoft Office 2000

The Microsoft Office 2000 line includes five different suite options, offering a set of tools tailored for each type of Office customer. Office 2000 Premium is the most comprehensive of the suites and includes the FrontPage 2000 Web site creation and management tool, PhotoDraw 2000 business graphics software, Word 2000, Microsoft Excel 2000, the Outlook 2000 messaging and collaboration client, the PowerPoint 2000 presentation graphics program, Microsoft Access 2000, Publisher 2000, Microsoft Small Business Tools and Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 browser software (IU1).

About Rational

Rational Software Corporation (Nasdaq: RATL) is the market leader in ensuring the success of customers who depend on their ability to develop and deploy software for technical, embedded, Web, e-commerce, and enterprise information systems. Rational had revenues of $311 million for its fiscal year that ended in March 1998, and employs over 2,000 people worldwide. Rational's comprehensive solution addresses the major challenges faced by customers developing the mission-critical software applications that they depend on. Rational's solution substantially improves the effectiveness and productivity of software development teams, enabling them to reduce development time and improve quality. For more information, visit Rational at www.rational.com.

Rational, Rational Rose, the Rational logo and Rational's products are

trademarks or registered trademarks of Rational Software Corporation in the United States and in other countries. All other names are used for identification purposes only and are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

воскресенье, 26 февраля 2012 г.

Du warns of slow Internet speed.

Summary: DUBAI - UAE's second largest telecoms operator du said a maintenance activity on a cable route between Alexandria and Palermo from midnight July 25 to July 31 would not impact its network's national or international voice calls from mobile and fixed lines.

DUBAI - UAE's second largest telecoms operator du said a maintenance activity on a cable route between Alexandria and Palermo from midnight July 25 to July 31 would not impact its network's national or international voice calls from mobile and fixed lines.

The cable maintenance activity by the SMW-4 sub-marine cable consortium 'is a preventative measure to ensure the continuity of service and avoid long outages that would result from a failure in the repeater,' the telecoms operator said.

"While there will be no complete loss of internet, some customers may experience a slower Internet connection. In order to minimise the impact of this scheduled maintenance and to restore lost capacity, we will be taking measures to ensure that alternate routes from within our multi-cable systems are used during the cable maintenance period from July 25 -- July 31," the operators said in a statement.

"Our teams will be doing all they can to ensure that the effects of this maintenance are as little as possible ," it said.

issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com

Copyright 2011 Khaleej Times. All Rights Reserved.

Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company

Fiction.(TimeOut)

Fiction

1. "Hit List" by Laurell K. Hamilton (Berkley)

2. "The Kingdom" by Clive Cussler and Grant Blackwood (Putnam Adult)

3. "State of Wonder" by Ann Patchett (Harper)

4. "Dead Reckoning" by Charlaine Harris (Ace)

5. "Dreams of Joy: A Novel" by Lisa See (Random House)

6. "10th Anniversary" by James Patterson, Maxine Paetro (Little, Brown)

7. "Summer Rental" by Mary Kay Andrews (St. Martins Press)

8. "Buried Prey" by John Sandford (Putnam Adult)

9. "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest"by Stieg Larsson (Knopf)

10. "The Jefferson Key" by Steve Berry (Ballantine)

Nonfiction

1. "Go the ____ to Sleep" by Adam Mansbach and Illustrations by Ricardo Cortes (Avon)

2. "The Greater Journey" by David McCullough (Simon & Schuster)

3. "Demonic: How the Liberal Mob is Endangering America" by Ann Coulter (Crown Forum)

4. "In the Garden of Beasts" by Erik Larson (Crown)

5. "The Dukan Diet" by Pierre Dukan (Crown Archetype)

6. "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption" by Laura Hillenbrand (Random House)

7. "Through My Eyes" by Tim Tebow and Nathan Whitaker (Harper)

8. "We First: How Brands and Consumers Use Social Media to Build a Better World" by Simon Mainwaring (Harper)

9. "The 17 Day Diet: A Doctors Plan Design for Rapid Results" by Dr. Mike Moreno (Free Press)

10. "Get Rich Click! The Ultimate Guide to Making Money on the Internet" by Marc Ostrofsky (Razor Media)

Publisher Weekly

Data theft risk for Android smartphones.(News)

Byline: Sean Poulter Consumer Affairs Editor

MILLIONS of smartphones which use the Android software promoted by Google are a security risk, it was claimed yesterday.

Researchers found that criminals can tap into the transfer of information between the phones and the internet, gaining access to personal data.

The discovery was made by security experts at the University of Ulm in Germany.

Most smartphone manufacturers other than Apple use the Android operating system.

Many applications on Android phones interact with Google services by asking for an authentication token - essentially a digital ID card for particular application. The token removes the need to keep logging into a service each time you need to access it.

It is claimed that a hacker monitoring an Android smartphone connected to the internet via a wi-fi network would be able to steal the token.

In theory, the hacker would then use the information to log on to websites using the identity of the phone's legitimate user.

In a blog posting on their findings, the researchers said: 'The adversary can gain full access to the calendar, contacts information, or private web albums of the respective Google user.' Google has released software updates which are said to address most of the security concerns.

STATE OF ALABAMA - FEDERAL DISASTER DECLARATION FACT SHEET.

WASHINGTON -- The following information was released by the office of Alabama Rep. Terri A. Sewell:

State of Alabama

Federal Disaster Declaration Fact Sheet

On April 28, 2011, President Obama issued a major disaster declaration for the State of Alabama, triggering the release of Federal funds to help individuals and communities recover from the Severe Storms, Tornadoes, Straight-line Winds, and Flooding, beginning April 15, 2011, and continuing.

Details of the disaster declaration and assistance programs are as follows:

Individual Assistance

Individual Assistance can include temporary housing assistance for eligible applicants such as rental assistance and repair assistance. Residents of Cullman, DeKalb, Franklin, Jefferson, Lawrence, Marshall, Tuscaloosa, Walker, Sumter, and Marengo Counties are eligible for Individual Assistance and are encouraged to register with FEMA.

Fact Sheet: Assistance to Individuals and Households

How You Can Register:

Telephone: 1-800-621-FEMA (3362),

TTY - (800) 462-7585 for individuals with speech or hearing disabilities.

Internet: You may apply for disaster assistance online at www.DisasterAssistance.gov.

Smartphone: The mobile website m.fema.govallows the public to easily accessdisaster-related information directly on their smartphone. The site also includes a registration form that the public can fill out to apply for disaster assistance after a Presidential declaration.

FEMA's Individuals and Households Program Guide: FEMA's Help After a Disaster Guide is mailed to FEMA applicants and provides an overview of FEMA's Individuals and Households Program. It is available in PDF and Text formats and is translated into several languages.

FEMA Widget: If you would like to place a DisasterAssistance.gov widget on your website, please click here and scroll down the page until you see "DisasterAssistance.gov Widgets."

Public Assistance

Public Assistance is assistance for emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged facilities. All 67 counties in the State of Alabama for debris removal and emergency protective measures, including direct Federal assistance, under the Public Assistance program.

Hazard Mitigation

Hazard Mitigation is assistance for actions taken to prevent or reduce long-term risk to life and property from natural hazards. All counties in the State of Alabama are eligible to apply for assistance under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program.

Additional designations may be made at a later date if requested by the State and warranted by the results of further damage assessments.

суббота, 25 февраля 2012 г.

Emulex OCe11000 UCNAs Named 2011 Network Computing Network Infrastructure Product of the Year.

Emulex OneConnect Technology Recognized for Second Year in a Row

LONDON -- Emulex Corporation (NYSE:ELX) is pleased to announce that the readers of Network Computing magazine have voted its newest OneConnect[TM] OCe11000 family of Universal Converged Network Adapters (UCNAs) as the Network Infrastructure Product of the Year. Voted for by the readers of the magazine, the awards recognize the products, service and companies which have most impressed them throughout the last year.

Emulex was presented with the award at The Network Computing Awards Ceremony on April 7, 2011. Last year, the Emulex OneConnect technology was also honored in the same category, in addition to Product of the Year.

Emulex's single-chip high-performance OneConnect UCNAs enable customers to efficiently consolidate their network and storage infrastructures. The new OCe11000 family of UCNAs was selected as network infrastructure product of the year based on improvements and benefits such as:

* Improved VM Performance with SR-IOV Support: SR-IOV, which allows PCIe devices to appear as multiple physical devices, can be used to optimize I/O performance for virtualized servers by allocating unique physical functions to VMs and offloading I/O functions from the hypervisor to host-based IOCs.

* Lower OPEX with Power Savings: Increased integration and reductions in external chip components provide a 20% improvement in power efficiency.

* More VMs per CPU with Emulex vEngine[TM] Technology: Emulex vEngine provides full hardware protocol offload support for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), iSCSI and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE) which removes the overhead of network and storage traffic from the CPU.

* Next Generation Virtual Networking: The OCe11000 family supports emerging VEPA (Virtual Ethernet Port Aggregator) and VEB (Virtual Ethernet Bridge) standards. With these capabilities, the adapter functions as a Layer 2 hardware switch to offload network-based management of VM traffic that is internal or external to the virtualization platform.

* Optimized Networking Performance: Using Class 2 switch capabilities to classify and sort incoming traffic, OneConnect adapters support virtual queue technologies for optimum networking performance.

"Emulex is honored to be recognized again this year by Network Computing for our OneConnect OCe11000 UCNAs," said Shaun Walsh, vice president of marketing, Emulex. "ESG recently announced that two of the top IT priorities for 2011 are increased used of server virtualization and managing data growth, and the OCe11000 UCNAs help IT managers tackle these priorities and maximize data center consolidation with next-generation virtual I/O capabilities, improved power usage and simplified management."

The Network Computing Awards, which took place on 7th April in London, have been running for 5 years and are particularly meaningful as they are voted for by the readers of Network Computing magazine in December and January. Approximately 6,000 individuals cast votes for the 2011 awards, making this one of the most significant surveys relating to networking technology in the UK.

Learn more about network convergence and Emulex's OneConnect UCNAs, please visit: www.emulex.com/solutions/convergence.html

Learn more about Emulex: http://www.emulex.com

Follow Emulex on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/emulex

About Emulex

Emulex is the leader in converged networking solutions for the data center. Our Connectivity Continuum architecture provides intelligent networking services that transition today's infrastructure into tomorrow's unified network ecosystem. Emulex provides a single framework that intelligently connects every server, network and storage device within the data center. Through strategic collaboration and integrated partner solutions, Emulex provides its customers with industry leading business value, operational flexibility and strategic advantage. Emulex is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:ELX) and has corporate headquarters in Costa Mesa, California. News releases and other information about Emulex Corporation are available at www.emulex.com.

Emulex Safe Harbor Statement

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: With the exception of historical information, the statements set forth above include forward-looking statements that involve risk and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include, among other matters, statements concerning Emulex's acquisition of ServerEngines Corporation, including anticipated benefits expected from the acquisition, expected impact on Emulex's results of operations and financial condition, and expected market opportunities; Emulex's business outlook, as well as expectations of other future events and future performance. Emulex wishes to caution readers that a number of significant factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Those factors include among others, the anticipated benefits of the combined companies may not be achieved, the combined operations may not be successfully integrated in a timely manner, if at all, and other risks inherent in acquisitions of businesses, including unanticipated costs and expenditures, potential changes in relationships with strategic partners, potential contractual or intellectual property issues, and potential accounting charges and write-downs; as well as changes in economic and industry conditions and the effects of ongoing global economic uncertainty, changes in end user demand for technology solutions; the effect of any actual or potential unsolicited offers to acquire Emulex; Emulex's dependence on a limited number of customers and the effects of the loss of, or decrease or delays in orders by, any such customers, or the failure of such customers to make payments; the emergence of new or stronger competitors as a result of consolidation movements in the market; the rapidly changing nature of technology, evolving industry standards and frequent introductions of new products and enhancements by competitors; the effect of rapid migration of customers towards newer, lower cost product platforms; slower than expected growth of the storage networking market or the failure of Emulex's Original Equipment Manufacturer ("OEM") customers to successfully incorporate Emulex products into their systems; delays in product development; the highly competitive nature of the markets for Emulex's products; Emulex's ability to gain market acceptance for its products; any inadequacy of Emulex's intellectual property protection or the potential for third-party claims of infringement; Emulex's ability to attract and retain skilled personnel; and Emulex's reliance on third-party suppliers. These and other factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements are also discussed in Emulex's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its recent filings on Forms 8-K, 10-K and 10-Q. Statements in this release are based on current expectations and, except as required by law, Emulex undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements for any reason. All trademarks, trade names, service marks, and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies.

Borland Unveils MIDAS: Makes Multi-Tier Development & Deployment Easier

New Multi-Tier Distributed Application Services Suite to Ship with Delphi 3

                        Client/Server Suite this Quarter 

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif., April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Borland International, Inc. (Nasdaq: BORL) today announced the MIDAS Multi-Tier Distributed Application Services Suite, a set of advanced middleware technologies designed to make Windows NT distributed application development easier and more manageable for corporate Information Technology organizations. Application servers built with MIDAS deliver 24-hour, seven-day-a-week reliability, optimized network performance, and a thin-client architecture for easier application maintenance, distribution and configuration. MIDAS will be available this quarter, shipping at the same time as Delphi 3 Client/Server Suite, Borland's high-productivity, high-performance client/server development tool. Delphi 3 will be the first of Borland's scalable development tools to build MIDAS-enabled applications.

Customers interested in MIDAS can receive more detailed information from Borland's website, at http//www.borland.com/midas/.

"MIDAS and Borland's highly-scalable development tools use the advantages of visual, rapid application development to tackle the complexity of building multi-tier systems," said Zack Urlocker, Borland's vice president of product management. "We are making business-critical application development much easier and more accessible for the corporate IT developer."

About MIDAS

Borland's MIDAS is a collection of brokers that can streamline today's client/server systems by centralizing the business rules and data access on a middle-tier, Windows NT application server (see diagram at http://www.borland.com/midas/). As an integration of advanced technologies from Borland and its Open Environment division, MIDAS is upward-compatible with Borland's Entera cross-platform intelligent middleware for larger-scale, higher-transaction and heterogeneous systems.

"Developing, maintaining, and deploying distributed software applications has been a significant problem for the computing industry. MIDAS addresses our customers' needs for easier maintenance, configuration, and access to existing systems," said Louis Kleiman, manager for Financial Dynamics, an application development consulting and training firm based in Washington, DC. "MIDAS also represents a substantial business opportunity because we can naturally extend our current expertise to create much larger intranet, Internet, and Enterprise-wide systems."

The MIDAS Suite consists of:

* The Business ObjectBroker -- for dynamic load balancing and fail-over safety in a multi-tier, business-critical application environment. The Business ObjectBroker has been architected to support industry-standard network protocols such as COM and DCOM. Therefore, any OLE Automation object registered with the Business ObjectBroker can be managed within the system, including objects developed using other tools.

* The Remote DataBroker -- for reducing configuration and distribution costs of thin-client database applications. The Remote DataBroker allows developers to easily create thin database clients connecting to middle-tier application servers and business objects. It also provides a rich set of database facilities for both the client and middle tier.

* The ConstraintBroker -- for automated and codeless propagation of database integrity rules from the database server to the client application. Developers can continue to centralize data validation in the RDBMS, while providing responsive data-entry applications. Database rules are automatically included with requested data and enforced at the client, reducing overall network traffic and simplifying application maintenance.

MIDAS Pricing and Availability

MIDAS will be available from Borland this quarter. Delphi 3 Client/Server Suite will be the first Borland tool to support multi-tier development through MIDAS. Future high-end versions of C++Builder and JBuilder will also support MIDAS. MIDAS pricing starts at $5,000 (US) per server with volume discounts and special VAR licensing available. For more information on MIDAS, customers can visit Borland Online at http//www.borland.com/midas/ or call Borland Direct Sales at 408-431-1064. International customers should contact their local Borland office, distributor or representative.

Borland: Making Development Easier

Borland International, Inc. is a leading provider of high-quality software products for software application developers worldwide. Borland is distinguished for its award-winning family of rapid application development tools and scalable middleware technology for desktop, client/server, Internet/intranet, and enterprise systems. The Company's products are supported through comprehensive corporate and independent developer programs, value added resellers, and systems integrators. Founded in 1983, Borland is headquartered in Scotts Valley, California. For more information on Borland, customers can visit Borland Online at http://www.borland.com .

NOTE: Forward-looking statements in this release, including but not limited to, those concerning Borland's future financial performance, product availability dates, and the potential features of or benefits to be derived from the Company's products, involve a number of uncertainties and risks, and actual events or results may differ materially. Factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially include, among others, the following: possible disruptive effects of organizational or personnel changes, shifts in customer demand, market acceptance of the Company's new or enhanced products, delays in scheduled product availability dates, actions or announcements by competitors, software errors, general business conditions and market growth rates in the client/server and Internet software markets, and other factors described in the Company's S.E.C. reports on forms 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K and the Borland prospectus relating to the acquisition of Open Environment Corporation.

Borland product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Borland International, Inc. Other product names mentioned herein may be trademarks of the party using such names.

SOURCE Borland International Inc.

     -0-                             04/28/97 

/NOTE TO EDITOR: Copies of previous Borland press releases and additional corporate and product information are also available on Borland's website at http://www.borland.com./

/CONTACT: Steve Curry of Borland International, Inc., 408-431-4863, or scurry@corp.borland.com/

(BORL)

CO: Borland International Inc. ST: California IN: CPR MLM SU: PDT

DC-KF -- SFM070 -- 7601 04/28/97 07:30 EDT http://www.prnewswire.com

AFP BOSS PLEASED WITH HIS PERFORMANCE SO FAR.

SYDNEY, April 4 Asia Pulse - The boss of the oldest news agency in the world was all smiles as he looked out over Sydney harbour and sipped his double espresso.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) chief executive Pierre Louette has already accomplished one of his goals for the year, after recently signing a deal with Dow Jones & Company to provide editorial content to its global business and financial news service Dow Jones Newswire.

Dow Jones & Co, recently snapped up by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp (ASX:NWS), has broken a 40-plus year relationship with US agency Associated Press (AP) to link up with AFP.

Mr Louette, who visited Australia this week, said Dow Jones was a key reference in the world of news.

"We feel proud and it is very important to us and it is a tribute to the quality of our work," he said.

"For the 40 last years, Dow Jones was relying heavily on AP for both domestic news and international coverage.

"In the future they will not rely on them any more for international coverage.

"It is a big change."

And big change is what Mr Louette is about.

Since being named head of AFP in 2005, Mr Louette has been transforming the multilingual agency, operating in 165 countries, into a full multimedia outlet.

AFP is pouring resources into its video operations, which now have 30 video producers globally.

Mr Louette said the success of AFP's video operations remained a key priority.

AFP has taken a 32 per cent stake in the French online firm, CitizenSide, getting a slice of the internet networking world, where the public can sell photographs and videos of newsworthy events to the media.

One of CitizenSide's recent scoops was receiving an amateur video of the police questioning Societe Generale rogue trader Jerome Kerviel, who is accused of losing his bank 5 billion euros (US$7.806 billion).

Mr Louette wants to take AFP even further into the web's social networking through Facebook, where AFP's subsidiary Newzwag has created a game called Deadline News Quiz.

The San Franciso-based company Newzwag is a "laboratory to develop new products for the web", Mr Louette said.

Mr Louette has a background in finance and law and is not a journalist, but talks passionately about communication and independence.

"News will never be a commodity like electricity or water," he said.

"It needs to be tailored and it needs to be protected.

"This may sound a bit old fashioned, but we really intend on protecting the capacity of our people to produce news all over the world.

"News needs to inform the public."

AFP was founded in 1835 by Charles-Louis Havas, the father of global journalism.

In 1953 AFP gained worldwide international fame for breaking the news of Stalin's death.

In 1969 it launched an Arabic language service, which has since helped propel it to be the leader among international agencies in the Middle East.

Mr Louette began his career working as a civil servant in France and helped launch the national Information Highways project - a precursor of the internet - and went on to work for the public broadcaster France Televisions, Havas Advertising and the luxury products giant LVMH.

"Nothing and everything was going to take me to AFP," he said.

"I'm not a trained journalist ...(but) was always interested in press and newspapers," he said.

"Creating companies and revamping companies, selling assets and buying assets, all of this is almost exactly what I do today."

Mr Louette said he felt a "duty" to serve AFP. The job was not just about making profits, despite the agency's record sales turnover of 260 million euros (A$447.2 million) in 2007.

"We are doing something that others don't do, and that is to cover the world," he said, ordering another double espresso.

(AAP) 04-04 1844

пятница, 24 февраля 2012 г.

Wi-Fi users demand access [T-Mobile].

Byline: T-Mobile

Wi-Fi users are demanding access to information on the move in an increasing variety of locations according to research from T-Mobile and YouGov released today.

When asked where they would like more public Wi-Fi HotSpots, more than half of respondents said that they want to be able to access Wi-Fi services on trains, with 37% calling for access at shopping centres. Nearly a third of respondents would like Wi-Fi access in parks, whilst over a quarter want access on the tube. Meanwhile, 13% of respondents would also like to be able to surf the net whilst soaking up the sun at the beach.

Hotels are the most popular choice of location for accessing Wi-Fi services, with 42% of respondents connecting here. Cafes, such as Starbucks, were the second most popular with 32% and airports third with 29%.

The research also demonstrates that the uptake of Wi-Fi services has increased significantly over the last year, with people also using the service to stay on top of their personal lives in addition to business. 45% of users surveyed started using the service within the last 12 months, whilst a further 45% stated that they use the service to keep in touch with friends and family whilst on the move. As a result, 30% of respondents have benefited from an improved work/life balance.

You Never Know When You'll Need Wi-Fi Respondents also revealed a number of business situations where they've needed urgent Wi-Fi access. The Top 10 reasons given include:

1. "As a campaign organiser during last year's general election, we needed to get electoral information to party HQ on an urgent basis." 2. "Finalising details on a tender document just before boarding an aeroplane. The tender was worth several million pounds." 3. "Getting hold of an order detail from an email, to resolve a customer problem on the spot and retain a big contract." 4. "I have had to send documents urgently to the office in regards to a potential customer, so that we can gain their business." 5. "I needed to find out whether my book was going to be published or not!" 6. "Test my products while on the road." 7. "To contact the company who manufactured my sound system when a component failed at a festival." 8. "Urgent request for a proposal that I was able to read and then reply to with a [completed] proposal." 9. "Whilst staying in a hotel overseas on business, I was hooked into the Wi-Fi service and VPN'd into our office systems, including our telephone system. The telephone rang - a business critical support issue from a client. I was able to resolve it using remote access. This all happened at 4am local time." 10. "Checking which airport my flight left from - turned out I was heading to Gatwick when I should have been heading to Heathrow, but luckily I found the information in time and made it to my flight!"

Derek Williamson, Head of Business Marketing, T-Mobile UK says, "The business case for access to email, the internet and company documents on the move has long been established and it is always encouraging to see organisations reaping the rewards of mobile broadband services such as Wi-Fi HotSpots. But the research also clearly shows that such services need not be solely the domain of business. There is clear demand for personal use, there are clear examples of where people want to access such services, and here at T-Mobile we will continue to look at addressing these demands."

The ability to access information on demand was seen as the biggest benefit by 79% of respondents. Half stated Wi-Fi services had enabled effective use of deadtime, and 45% stated that Wi-Fi access enabled them to respond to clients more quickly. Keeping in contact with staff via Wi-Fi had proved particularly useful for 39% of respondents and 17% said it gives them a competitive edge. A further 14% felt that Wi-Fi services helped them to take advantage of new business opportunities.

Other key findings from the research include: * Users spend on average more than 2 hours signed in to a Wi-Fi session * 85% of respondents would be willing to use a Wi-Fi network installed and supported by a major network operator, whilst only 34% would be willing to use an independent Wi-Fi network. * Accessing Wi-Fi services via a laptop was the most popular method with 86% of respondents connecting in this way. 19% also accessed Wi-Fi services via a PDA.

The research was commissioned by T-Mobile UK and undertaken by YouGov PLC. It was based on a study of 253 Wi-Fi users in the UK. The research was carried out online between 16th - 23rd August 2006.

United American Corporation Wishes to Update its Shareholders on Recent News.

MONTREAL -- United American Corporation (OTCBB:UAMA) wishes to update its shareholders on numerous issues pertaining to its recent growth in business volume and spin-off of its Teliphone Inc. subsidiary.

United American Telecom Increases Revenues

United American Telecom is pleased to announce that its recent increased investment in additional termination capacity on its CaribbeanONE(TM) network has achieved over $400,000 monthly revenue last month, an increase of 40% over previous estimates.

United American Telecom is also pleased to announce that it has finalized the necessary upgrades to its web-based billing platform in order to begin distribution of its HaitiDIRECT(TM) pre-paid card to retail customers.First deliveries to the 5,000 + retail points of sales will commence as early as September, 2005.

Teliphone share dividend to UAMA shareholders

The spin-off of Teliphone has been completed.UAMA shareholders are owners of 24,038,462 shares, or 79% of OSK Capital II Corp (whose name will change "Teliphone Corp." upon shareholder and regulatory approval).These shares are being held by United American Corp. for the time being until Teliphone becomes financially independent and no longer requires additional financing from UAMA.UAMA management feels that this is in the best interest of shareholders and for the long term viability of Teliphone and the growth of its share value. UAMA intends to preserve its original May 30th, 2005 shareholder of record date for the upcoming payment of the special dividend to UAMA shareholders of the Teliphone shares.

Teliphone News

Teliphone now E-9-1-1 compliant

Teliphone is now offering FCC (Federal Communications Commission) and CRTC (Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission) E-911 compliance to all of its customers.For additional information, please visit http://www.teliphone.us .

Teliphone now offers Dominican Republic Phone Numbers

Prospective customers can now order Teliphone service with a Dominican Republic (DR) phone number, offering the following benefits:

- A caller in the DR can reach DR Teliphone customers anywhere in the world by dialing a local call.

- Customers in the DR can pay as little as $29.90 per month and have unlimited Continental US & Canada calling.

This represents a very exciting opportunity for Teliphone as there are over 2 million DR ex-patriots living in the US & Canada who will see tremendous cost savings to their monthly phone bill should they subscribe to this new service.Teliphone intends to aggressively market this new service offering to local DR communities throughout the US & Canada.

Teliphone / OSK Capital II Corp. NASD OTCBB trading

Management is now finalizing its consolidated financials with OSK, which will be filed shortly in an 8-k.Following this last disclosure, management will file its 15C-211 to seek regulatory permission to begin trading its shares.In the interim, Teliphone is raising bridge financing to invest in promotion and growth of its customer base.Interested investors are encouraged to contact investorrelations@teliphone.ca .

Teliphone Investor Relations Web Site

Interested investors and shareholders wishing to receive Teliphone Corporate newsletters are encouraged to register their e-mail address at http://www.teliphone.us .

About United American Corporation

United American Corporation is a holding and management company focusing on next generation Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) based telecommunications. The organization has recently spun-off its VoIP services company, Teliphone Inc., where shareholders received a property dividend of the new corporation.The company is now focused on growing its new flagship subsidiary, United American Telecom, with operates CaribbeanONE(TM), a state-of-the-art International telecommunication route & gateway. For more information, visit the company website at www.unitedamericancorp.com.

This news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to various risks and uncertainties. The Company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors that may be beyond the Company's control. Forward-looking statements are based on the expectations and opinions of the Company's management on the date the statements are made, and the Company assumes no obligation to update forward-looking statements should circumstances in management's expectations or opinions change.

United American Corporation (OTC Bulletin Board:UAMA)