Tongan royal mourning is broken

Tradition in Tonga.

Tonga's royal family is preparing to end 100 days of mourning for the late king by releasing 40 royal undertakers from a three-month captivity.

The undertakers, known as nima tapu, meaning sacred hands, are forbidden from using their hands after preparing King Tupou IV's body for burial.

The nima tapu have spent the last three months confined in a special house where they are fed by other people. After an end-of-mourning ceremony, the undertakers are allowed to return home.

Having touched the late king's body during the funeral preparations, the royal undertakers are strictly forbidden from using their hands for any other purpose until the period of mourning is over.

The current generation of nima tapu are more fortunate than their predecessors.

Until 300 years ago they would have been strangled or had their hands cut off following the king's funeral.

Tonga's royal end-of-mourning ceremony is characterised by gift-giving. However, the new King Tupou V has decreed that, in a change of protocol, the traditional gifts of food, pigs and the fermented root drink kava should be presented to his mother Queen Halaevalu Mata'aho rather than to himself.

Correspondents say the break with tradition may indicate King Tupou V's willingness to reshape Tonga's semi-feudal monarchy. King Tupou V has already promised more democratic reforms following pro-democracy rioting in November.

BBC News

Figo to join Saudi Arabian club

Luis Figo is poised to join Al Ittihad for an undisclosed fee from Inter Milan, according to the Saudi Arabian club's team manager.
"It's official now," said Hamad Al Sanie. "Figo will sign on Friday or Saturday and he'll arrive in Jeddah on 5 January when he'll join the team."

The 34-year-old former Portugal winger will sign a 17-month contract.

Al Ittihad are historically one of the most successful Saudi teams and are based in the Red Sea port of Jeddah.

Al Sanie added: "We chose Figo because he's a big star and the coach asked us to look for a midfielder and, after we suggested Figo, he welcomed the idea."

Figo retired from internationals after the World Cup third-place play-off with Germany in July - in which he earned a record 127th cap for Portugal. Before signing for Inter in 2005, Figo played for Sporting Lisbon, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

BBC News

US ex-President Gerald Ford dies

Former US President Gerald Ford has died aged 93.
Last month he became the longest-living US president when he reached 93 years and 122 days, passing the record held by Ronald Reagan.

Mr Ford was never elected president. He took office after Richard Nixon resigned over the Watergate scandal in 1974 but lost to Jimmy Carter in 1976.

President George W Bush paid tribute to Mr Ford, a fellow Republican, praising his "integrity and common sense".

Gerald Ford was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and lived with Betty, 88, at Rancho Mirage, about 130 miles (210km) east of Los Angeles in southern California.
The former president suffered ill health this year and he was taken to hospital four times for tests and angioplasty. He suffered a stroke in 2000.

The BBC has published Mr Ford's obituary. Read it here.

How will hi-tech criminals attack Vista?

Vista will be the big event in computer security in 2007, say experts and add that it will have a profound effect on both sides of the security world.

Many organised hi-tech criminals and crime gangs are already tearing the new version of Windows apart looking for ways to exploit its weaknesses, say some.
Others are expecting to see Vista attacked soon after it debuts.

While Microsoft's business customers have been able to buy Vista since 30 November, consumers are being forced to wait until late January 2007 to get their hands on the next version of the Windows operating system.

Microsoft has said that the whole development process of the operating system has been run with better security in mind. Within Vista are several technologies that could stop many people falling victim to the most common sorts of malicious attack, said Kevin Hogan, director of security operations at Symantec.

In particular, he said, the way Vista handles user accounts will limit the freedom malicious programs have to run and install themselves surreptitiously.

Increasingly, said Mr Hogan, hi-tech criminals were booby-trapping benign looking webpages with code that slips through vulnerabilities in the various versions of Windows. It should also help stop people being caught out by malicious attachments on e-mail messages.

"That'll deal with a lot of the current threats we are seeing," said Mr Hogan.

Mikko Hypponen, chief research officer at security firm F-Secure, said the warnings that these account controls display when malicious code tries to install itself will prove useful.
"It'll become much more obvious when they get infected," he said.

For more innformation check this BBC News article.

Worship God not technology, Pope says on Christmas

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) –
Mankind, which has reached other planets and unraveled many of nature's secrets, should not presume it can live without God, Pope Benedict said in his Christmas message on Monday.

Speaking to tens of thousands of people in a sunny square, he wished the world a Happy Christmas in 62 languages - including Arabic, Hebrew, Mongolian and Latin - but his speech highlighted his preoccupation with humanity's fate.

In an age of unbridled consumerism it was shameful many remained deaf to the "heart-rending cry" of those dying of hunger, thirst, disease, poverty, war and terrorism, he said.

"Does a 'Savior' still have any value and meaning for the men and women of the third millennium?" he asked in his Urbi et Orbi (to the city and the world) message to the faithful in St Peter's Square. "Is a 'Savior' still needed by a humanity which has reached the moon and Mars and is prepared to conquer the universe; for a humanity which knows no limits in its pursuit of nature's secrets and which has succeeded even in deciphering the marvelous codes of the human genome?"

He appealed for peace and justice in the Middle East, an end to the brutal violence in Iraq and to the fratricidal conflict in Darfur and other parts of Africa, and expressed his hope for "a democratic Lebanon".

For more of the Reuters story

"For Christ's sake, it's Christmas Eve!"

BERLIN (Reuters) - A German taxi driver who shouted "Oh, for Christ's sake, it's Christmas Eve!" when a robber put a gun to his head scared the thief away.

The teenager opened the parked taxi's door in the western town of Bielefeld and demanded money Sunday evening, police spokesman Michael Mehler said.

The driver refused and jumped out, shouting for help. The two scuffled briefly before the thief fled.

"The taxi driver's resistance and reference to Christmas evidently unsettled the bandit," Mehler said Monday.
An 18-year-old and his 16-year-old accomplice were later arrested.
The whole story here.

Chinese students against Western cultural invasion

BEIJING, Dec 22 (Reuters Life!) - Ten doctoral students from three of China's top universities have posted an online petition slamming local Christmas celebrations and calling on people to "resist Western cultural invasion," state media said on Friday.

The students railed against "American and European culture" expanding throughout China along with "their technological and economic domination," the China Daily said.

"Occidental culture has been more like storms sweeping through the country rather than mild showers," the paper quoted the petition -- dated with China's traditional lunar calendar -- as saying.

It was a "failure on the part of the government to maintain Chinese traditions, while encouraging the economy."

The authors criticized retailers for using the festival to boost business and local people for reveling without knowing the origin of the occasion, the paper said.

"On Christmas Eve, people must wait for seats at nearly every restaurant in Beijing and other cities in China," the authors lamented.

For more of the Reuteurs story

Christmas goes digital for many

Christmas is a time for family but it is also a time for playing with new gadgets and toys received during the festive period.

More than $30 billion (£17bn) in consumer electronics is expected to be bought worldwide in the run up to Christmas and mobile phones have broken into the top 10 most wanted children's presents, according to analysts Deloitte.

The BBC asked six of their panel of technology addicts to reveal how they will be spending their digital Christmas.

Read more here.

My Christmas wish for you

Dear Friends,
This is a beautiful Christmas poem. I don't know its author, but whoever wrote it so simple did a great job. I wish you a Merry Christmas.

My Christmas Wish For You

My Christmas wish for you, my friend
Is not a simple one
For I wish you hope and joy and peace
Days filled with warmth and sun

I wish you love and friendship too
Throughout the coming year
Lots of laughter and happiness
To fill your world with cheer

May you count your blessings, one by one
And when totalled by the lot
May you find all you've been given
To be more than what you sought

May your journeys be short, your burdens light
May your spirit never grow old
May all your clouds have silver linings
And your rainbows pots of gold

I wish this all and so much more
May all your dreams come true
May you have a Merry Christmas friend
And a happy New Year, too …

London fog, but spectacular views

Thick fog covers the London Eye - one of the main tourist attractions in the British capital.

Fog has caused a lot of trouble all over London in the past few days.
British Airways domestic flights have resumed at Heathrow after being cancelled since Wednesday due to fog. The first flight to take off following the suspension left at 1322 GMT, bound for Newcastle.

Olive oil 'can cut cancer risk'

Adding plenty of olive oil to a diet could help protect against cell damage that can lead to cancer, experts say. A study of 182 European men found those who had 25 millilitres of olive oil per day had reduced levels of a substance which indicates cell damage.

The Danish team said it may explain why many cancer rates are higher in northern Europe than the south, where olive oil is a major part of the diet.

The Copenhagen University Hospital researchers looked at 182 healthy men aged between 20 and 60 from five European countries. The scientists added either virgin, common or refined olive oil to their diets over two weeks.

At the end of study, scientists measured levels of the substance which indicates oxidative damage to cells, called 8oxodG, in the men's urine.

Oxidative damage is a process whereby the metabolic balance of a cell is disrupted by exposure to substances that result in the accumulation of free-radicals, which can then damage the cell.
The men were found to have around 13% less 8oxodG compared with their levels at the beginning of the study.

At the beginning of the study, men from northern Europe had higher levels of 8oxodG than those from southern Europe, supporting the idea that olive oil had a reductive effect.

Olive oil contains a number of compounds, called phenols, which are believed to act as powerful antioxidants.

But the Danish researchers said the men in the study used the three different oils, which had different levels of phenols, so that was unlikely to explain the protective effect.
They said that, instead, the monounsaturated fats in olive oil were probably behind the effect.

The scientists, led by Dr Henrik Poulsen, wrote in the FASEB journal: "These data provide evidence that olive oil consumption explains the difference in cancer incidence between north and southern Europe."

Dr Anthea Martin, science information officer at Cancer Research UK, said: "The effect of diet on cancer risk is very complex because of the many different components of the food we eat.

"Although this study suggests that olive oil can reduce DNA damage that could lead to the development of cancer, more long-term research is needed to confirm these effects."

She added: "We do know that a healthy, balanced diet, including plenty of vegetables and fruit and limited amounts of red and processed meat, can help reduce the risk of cancer."

BBC story here.

Europe's 'biggest dinosaur' found

Fossils found in Spain belong to what was probably Europe's biggest ever dinosaur, according to scientists.
Turiasaurus would have been 30 to 37 metres long, and would have weighed between 40 and 48 tonnes.

Writing in the journal Science, researchers say the beast is probably the only member so far discovered of a European group of Jurassic reptiles.

The world's biggest recorded dinosaur is Argentinosaurus, a South American reptile twice as heavy. Like the rest of the giant long-necked sauropods, Turiasaurus riodevensis was a herbivore, despite the fierce appearance of its teeth.

Fossils came to light in 2004 at Teruel in eastern Spain, and the scientists responsible, from the Fundacion Conjunto Paleontologico de Teruel-Dinopolis, have just published a formal analysis.

At 1.79m long, its humerus (upper arm bone) is one of the largest ever recorded, while one of its claws is comparable with a rugby ball or American football.
The discovery site also contains teeth from theropod dinosaurs, Stegosaurus remnants, and fragments from fish and turtles.

By comparing its features with other European dinosaurs, the scientists deduce that it belongs to a previously unknown clade, or grouping, which evolved in the Jurassic period (200 to 145 million years ago).

Teeth excavated in France, Portugal and the UK are similar, indicating that Turiasaurus , or more likely its close relatives, ranged across the continent.

BBC story: Read more here.

Sweet shop boss fired!

The manager of a chocolate shop has been forced to leave Barrow-in-Furness after he outraged locals by branding it rough and boring in an online diary. The town has over 50,000 inhabitants and is a centre of excellence for nuclear submarines.

Steve Beall, 20, moved from his home town to run the new cafe in Thorntons in Barrow-in-Furness. However, his comments about the town on a weblog so annoyed local residents they descended on the shop and the police had to be called. He has now left his post and the head of the chocolate firm has apologised.

When vandals smashed the shop window before it even opened, Mr Beall vented his frustration on a popular file sharing website. He said the town was rough and boring, and had no idea how people could bear to live in it. When the comments were printed in a local paper, residents visited the shop and invited him to go elsewhere.

Mr Beall has now left the town, and Thorntons has apologised to its residents.
Mike Davies, chief executive, said: "On behalf of Thorntons, I would like to apologise for the disparaging comments made by one of our employees about the town of Barrow-in-Furness.
"These comments do not reflect the company's views or those of its other employees."

Councillor Terry Waiting, leader of Barrow Council's Labour group said that Barrow was a very friendly place.
"It's a town that's like a big village, everyone knows everyone else.
"There's also a great location near the sea and the Lake District. It's the best place God made."

BBC story here.

Flu 'could wipe out 62 million'

A global flu pandemic could kill 62 million people, experts have warned.

The 1918 pandemic claimed 50 million lives, and experts predict the toll today would be higher than this, despite medical advances.

The world's poorest nations would be hardest hit, fuelled by factors such as HIV and malaria infections, the Harvard University researchers believe. Yet developing countries can least afford to prepare for a pandemic, they say.

Lethal global flu epidemics tend to occur three or four times a century. Some scientists believe a new one may be imminent and could be triggered by bird flu. So far there have been only 258 cases of the latest strain of avian flu, H5N1, recorded in humans.

But the fear is that this strain could mutate and spread quickly and easily between people, triggering a deadly pandemic. It is estimated between 50,000 and 700,000 people could die in the UK if such an event occurred.

BBC story. Read more.

Smoothies: the new coffee wars?

In the 80s, fast-food burger joints flooded UK town centres.

By the 90s, coffee shops took their place on every street corner.

But now that the noughties are well established, the new fast food fight is on a rather healthier battlefield.

Warnings about obesity and increased awareness of the importance of eating five fruit a day have fuelled a surge in healthy eating.

The UK smoothie market is worth £100m and doubling yearly.
London's Crussh, which opened its 15th branch just off Oxford Street in October, is the UK's biggest smoothie chain. The firm, now eight years old, expects to turn over more than £5m this year.

Boost Juice Bars, which has nearly 200 outlets stretching from Australia to Kuwait, is set to enter the market, with plans to open bars in Manchester, Oxford and Nottingham by March 2007.

The firm recently signed a deal with former Millie's Cookies owner Richard O'Sullivan to bring the brand to the UK.

And although the world's largest smoothie chain, US-based Jamba Juice, has yet to enter the UK market, chains such as Love Juice and Fruit Boost are also expanding.

BBC: Read more here.

Air travel fog ordeal continues

Fog has disrupted domestic and international flights at Heathrow and other airports.

Dense fog is continuing to cause misery for Christmas holiday travellers at Heathrow and other UK airports. Hundreds of domestic flights and some international flights are grounded.

Heathrow has been the worst hit, with 40,000 people affected, and services from Gatwick, Manchester and Cardiff have also been disrupted. Passengers said they were angry about a lack of information.

About 350 flights out of Heathrow have been cancelled on Thursday, a 40% reduction.
Napil Berry, 37, from Nottingham, said he had missed his sister's wedding in Stockholm.
Sitting outside the terminal concourse, he said: "I told my sister I'm not going to make it. She said: 'Try to come in time for Christmas.'

"I'm not angry with BA about it but I am angry and upset I missed my sister's wedding."
The BBC's Lucy Rodgers in Heathrow said that by 1200 GMT the scene in Terminal One seemed to be calming after the morning chaos.

The disruption will continue on Friday, with British Airways announcing it would be operating no domestic flights in and out of Heathrow and a reduced short-haul schedule because of the fog. About 100 flights in total have already been cancelled.

Read more here.

Mourinho makes apology to Johnson

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has apologised for comments he made about Everton striker Andrew Johnson after Sunday's 3-2 victory at Goodison Park. Mourinho claimed Johnson had dived to win a penalty and Everton responded by saying they would make an official complaint to the Football Association.

"Everton, his manager and he deserve my apologies," said Mourinho. Everton chief executive Keith Wyness added: "Common sense has prevailed and this is an end to the matter."

A spokesman for the FA said: "We are pleased this issue has been sensibly resolved.
"It is important to remind everybody in football of the need to respect opponents and other people in the game for the good image of the sport."

Everton initially said they were taking legal advice because the remarks questioned Johnson's "professionalism and integrity".

The incident occurred when Johnson went down after challenging Chelsea keeper Hilario for the ball. Mourinho said that he had now watched the incident again on video and had a different view of it.
BBC story: Read more here.

Interesting stories on December 20th

Two-headed reptile fossil found

Scientists have found what is thought to be the first example of a two-headed reptile in the fossil record. The abnormal animal, belonging to a group of aquatic reptiles, was unearthed in northeastern China and dates to the time of the dinosaurs.

The specimen reveals that it must have been very young when it died and became fossilised, says lead researcher Eric Buffetaut. Details of the fossil appear in the UK Royal Society journal Biology Letters.

This animal was a choristoderan, an extinct reptile that reached a length of one metre in adulthood and was characterised by a long neck - two in this case.

The animal's spinal column divided in two at the point where the neck emerges from the body. This formed two long necks that ended in two skulls.

Choristoderans seem to have been common aquatic reptiles during the Cretaceous Period (144 to 65 million years ago) in what is now northeastern China.

BBC story. Read more …

Discovery space shuttle undocks

The space shuttle Discovery has undocked from the International Space Station (ISS) after an eight-day stay on the orbiting outpost. Early on Tuesday, astronauts fixed jammed solar panel on the ISS during an unscheduled fourth spacewalk.

A US astronaut on the space station has switched places with a member of the seven-person Discovery crew and will travel back to Earth on the orbiter.

Discovery detached from the space station at 2210 GMT.
"We finished all the mission objectives so we are very pleased. It's a great day for the ISS programme and the shuttle programme," said Kirk Shireman, deputy manager of the ISS programme.

The mission had three main objectives: installation of a two-tonne truss to the girder-like ISS structure, the rewiring of the power and thermal systems, and the retraction of an old solar array to allow a new one to collect solar energy.

BBC story. Read more ….

The first foundation columns have been laid for the Freedom Tower that will replace the World Trade Center in New York.
On September 11, 2001, two hijacked planes hit the two towers and they fell, killing 2,749 people.

Norway tackles toxic war grave

It was not quite the deadly legacy the Germans had in mind when they deployed a U-boat on a daring mission to Japan
In the last desperate months of World War II a German U-boat (U-864) set sail in December 1944, packed with 65 tonnes of weapons-grade mercury destined to help the Japanese win back supremacy over the US in the Pacific - and divert American attention away from Europe in the process.
Neither the cargo nor the 73 men on board made it. The U-boat was torpedoed to the bottom of the North Sea floor by a British submarine.

More than 60 years on, its toxic cargo is slowly leaking into the waters off the coast of Norway, an ecological time bomb threatening marine - and potentially human - life.

Now the Norwegian government is set to act, following recommendations that the wreck be hermetically sealed to prevent any more of the mercury from escaping.

BBC story. Read more.

Are you spending or saving at Christmas?

Are you flashing the cash or counting the pennies in the run up to Christmas? With Christmas just a few days away, the retail world is becoming increasingly polarised.While some companies are performing well others are struggling with sales down.The BBC has been asking people to send them their comments.

Two comments:

I have spent sufficient to keep the family and friends happy.When young, my family did not mention Christmas until half way through the month, and decorations went up on the eve.It now lasts too long, with people trying to outdo each other with expensive gifts, trendy toys and other things that are electrical fashion items.
Jeremy, UK

I spend less at Christmas than at any other time of the year. At the supermarket my usual groceries are sold out. Pubs are closed or full of loud people so better to stay home. I can't understand why people spend, spend, spend. It just annoys me that my workplace closes for a week - so I can't go to work and earn money even though I want to. What is the point of being on holiday from work when the weather is crap.
JR, UK

The BBC has more ...

Robber's gun was a TV remote control

A robber who tried to hold up a Chinese takeaway with a TV remote control has been jailed for four years. William Dunnachie entered the Welcome Inn in Stirling (Scotland) and threatened to "shoot" the owner, Lai Wong.

At the High Court in Edinburgh the 38-year-old, who admitted the attempted robbery in 2005, was told he would be supervised for three years on release.

He received a further two years and three months for admitting being concerned in the supply of diazepam (a drug).
Judge Lady Dorrian also ordered Dunnachie to be supervised for three years after the end of his sentence.
BBC story

Veteran of both world wars dies

The last British serviceman to serve in both World War I and World War II has died aged 106.
Captain Kenneth Cummins served in the Royal Navy in WWI and in the Merchant Navy in WWII.

Until his death at home in Great Bedwyn in Wiltshire on 10 December, he was one of five WWI veterans living in the UK. Dennis Goodwin, chairman of the WWI Veterans' Association, said: "Any death of a veteran of WWI means the end of a unique and special generation."

The four WWI veterans who survive him are: William Stone, 106, of Oxford; Henry Allingham, 110, from Sussex; Philip Mayne, 107, of Richmond, North Yorkshire; and Harry Patch, 108, from Somerset.

In WWII, Mr Cummins survived the torpedoing of his ship, the Viceroy of India, which was owned by P&O but used by the military.

"Ken was one of the icons," said Mr Goodwin.
"It was the likes of Ken and all the vets who survived WWI who put this country back on its feet and made Britain what it is today."

BBC text