Barbara Windsor leaving UK soap Eastenders

Actress Barbara Windsor, a 15 year stalwart of the long running UK soap series Eastenders is to leave the BBC One soap next year. 72 year old Barbera Windsor has played the feisty Mitchell family matriarch character Peggy Mitchell in the soap series since 1994.

Windsor won a lifetime achievement award at the 2009 British Soap Awards.

Barbara Windsor claims that she is leaving because she wants to spend more time with her husband although her agent has said that she will not be retiring from show business completely.
"I'll be so sad to leave Peggy behind. EastEnders has been wonderful to me and it's no secret that it changed my life all of those years ago. I'm looking forward to the future and I suppose when all's said and done, I should spend a bit more time with my old man, as he's not getting any younger." she said.

Lockerbie Investigation 8 suspects never seen

Stuart Henderson, a former detective chief superintendent who headed the Lockerbie investigation has revealed that eight potential suspects were identified at the time of the original investigation but were never interviewed.

Although the Lockerbie investigation has never been formally closed there was little evidence until recently that it was stil active. For the victims' families, the news that the Scottish authorities are reassessing the evidence will be welcome although some are worried that the police investigation into the atrocity is being publicly freshened up in an attempt to thwart demands for a full public inquiry.More than two decades have passed since Britain's worst terrorist attack but the relatives of those who died in the Lockerbie bombing remain united by a single common goal: the truth.

The focus of the renewed investigation is a search for any new evidence which might point to the accomplices of Libyan Abdelbasset al-Megrahi, who was convicted in 2001 of the murder of 270 people and recently freed on compassionate grounds. Fresh forensic tests are to be carried out and 'several potential lines of inquiry' examined.

Christine Grahame MSP has criticised the move to renew the investigation into the Lockerbie bombing claiming it will prevent a public inquiry and stop new evidence being heard.

Libya's Col Gaddafi has told Sky News it is none of his concern who carried out the Lockerbie bombing, as police re-examine the case.

Double Car Bomb Slaughter in Iraq

Iraq suffered its deadliest terrorist attack in more than two years when suicide bombers used two car bombs and killed at least 132 people in the centre of Baghdad. Reports indicate that another 500 were wounded when the bombs targeting government buildings went off. This was one of the deadliest attack in two years with the two car bombs exploding almost simultaneously. The attacks targeted the Justice ministry and a provincial government office near the heavily fortified Green Zone.

President Barack Obama condemned Sunday's "outrageous attacks" outside government offices in the Iraqi capital and said that they "reveal the hateful and destructive agenda of those who would deny the Iraqi people the future that they deserve. These bombings serve no purpose."

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki visited the site of the twin bomb atrocity in Baghdad and issued a statement blaming al Qaeda and Baathist supporters of the former president Saddam Hussein. Three days of mourning have been declared.

Iran condemned the terrorist attacks and the Cairo-based Arab League (AL) strongly condemned the bombings. The atacks were also condemned by The European Union.

Meanwhile a top Iraqi General warned that Iraq risks increased instability if elections slated for January are delayed. Legislation key to the polls remains stalled. Iraqi leaders are preparing to meet to try to end the deadlock as concern grows that the January polls may have to be delayed.
Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is pushing for a resolution, arguing that a delay to polls would harm the legitimacy of Iraq's parliament and government.

Swine Flu US update

New York Ends Flu Shot Mandate for Health Care Workers. New York state made waves earlier this year when the health commissioner said all health-care workers had to get vaccinated. Now New York public health workers will no longer be required to be vaccinated against both the seasonal and H1N1 flu virus,

AS VACCINATION efforts go, the one underway for the H1N1 virus (aka swine flu) has not so far gone smoothly.
dupage County residents are clamoring for a limited number of free H1N1 flu vaccines offered by the Health Department,

Kansas health officials say a 62-year-old man is the ninth person in the state to die after contracting swine flu. H1N1 flu cases are surging all across California with hospitals seeing an increase and amid a reported vaccine shortage.

Only about a quarter, or nearly 450 of the 1700 Garden State health care providers that ordered vaccines have received them apparently.

The federal government promised 120 million doses of H1N1 vaccine would be available by now, but just 13 million have come through.

The Chicago Department of Public Health will begin offering free H1N1 flu vaccinations at six City Colleges of Chicago locations to those most at risk. Limited amounts of the H1N1 swine flu vaccine have arrived in metro Detroit, with health department clinics to administer it starting Saturday. Belated vaccinations could help combat a possible second wave of H1N1, federal health officials hace said.

At the same time nearly four in 10 parents do not plan to have their children get the swine flu vaccine this year, with doubts about its safety overwhelmingly cited despite the fact that more than half of recent hospitalizations for H1N1 influenza involved people younger than 25, and almost a quarter of fatalities were in that age group,

Nick Griffen on Question Time

Nick Griffin , the British National Party leader, looked rattled as he was confronted and jeered by politicians and audience members on Question Time last night. David Dimbleby, the Question Time presenter, challenged Nick Griffin over his enthusiasm for the Ku Klux Klan in 2000. The BNP leader Nick Griffin's appearance on Question Time caused great controversy and was preceded by protests outside the BBC with scenes of crowds bursting through police lines in protest.
The row over Nick Griffin's appearance on Question Time also echoes the controversy that greeted the first invitation for Jean-Marie Le Pen to debate on French TV. the big debate is whether this apearance will have helped the BNP or if it will have shown them up for being a racist fascist party.

Windows 7 upgrading issues

Microsoft Windows 7 looks likely to be well recieved by business. A study by Information Technology Intelligence Corp. and Sunbelt Software found around 76 percent of those surveyed
plan to deploy the new OS, with 30 percent deploying before mid-2010. This would be an adoption rate similar to the introduction of Windows 2000. 78 percent of those who tested a beta copy of Windows 7 seem to have had a good or excellent experience with it. So it could be that Microsoft is finally putting it's Vista troubles behind it.

The Windows 7 open beta process has given a good buzz for the new
operating system and there does not seem to be too much left for Microsoft to say about the new OS.
Windows 7 biggest competitor is Windows XP, because of its satisfied customers, and companies who cannot afford the cost of upgrading or replacemnt. Time will tell how many companies are actually able to follow through on their Windows 7 intentions.

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Is your PC ready for Windows 7 ?

Microsoft's official system requirements for Windows
7.
Minimum:
a 1 GHz or faster processor.
At least 1 GB of RAM for the 32-bit edition of Windows 7, or 2 GB for the 64-bit edition.
16 GB available hard drive space.
A graphics card compatible with DirectX 9.
(Some newer games need a graphics card compatible with DirectX 10.)

Hardware that is fairly old - older than four years - but which runs XP well should probably still work with Windows 7. You should think about looking at Microsoft's Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor website .
There you can download the free Upgrade Advisor application, which runs tests on your existing hardware and tels you which components may be lacking. The advisor won't tell you though if all your peripherals -printers, scanners, webcams etc - will work properly with Windows 7 Fortnately the operating system does a better job than previous versions of Windows in automatically recognising and installing drivers for a wide range of peripherals.

It's best to make a list of your peripherals and stop by the websites of the manufacturers to see if Windows 7 drivers are already available then download them and have them handy during the installation of Windows 7. If they're not then a Google search may show if others have had problems with the same equipment under Windows 7.

One thing to note is that although Windows 7 may automatically install a driver for your device the Microsoft-supplied driver might not have all of the features of the driver you're using with Vista or XP. Some duplexing HP printers get installed under Windows 7 but fail to print on both sides of the paper, regardless of driver settings.

Software compatibility is a key issue also of course and Microsoft's Upgrade Advisor can help with this also. Most common Windows applications work with Windows 7 and give no problems. Some utility software packages and antivirus utilities may cause more problems.

New Windows XP Mode.
If you have older legacy applications that run fine under Windows XP, but for some reason will not under Windows 7, Microsoft Windows 7 has a new Windows XP Mode but this is available for free only for the Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions of Windows 7.

It creates a completely separate Windows XP operating system running inside of Windows 7. Once XP Mode is running, you can switch to it like switching to any other open application. All applications that ran under XP will also work under XP Mode. But a cautionary note - it will only work with Intel processors that support virtualization technology. Fortunately, most recent ones do.

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Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7

For XP users who wish to upgrade, and are confident their hardware is up to the job there are three options. If you have enough disc space you can leave XP where it is and install Windows 7 in a newly created partition or if you are feeling brave you could first upgrade from XP to Vista then upgrade to Windows 7.

Upgrading from Windows XP to Windows 7

The third option? Perform a ‘clean’ install, wipe the hard drive, install Windows 7 then reinstall all programs and data files.

For most people method three is best and Windows 7 makes it fairly easy by offering to backup all your essential data (documents, media etc), critical settings (email and web accounts and so on) and Windows preferences.
There is a utility program on the Windows 7 installation disc called Easy Transfer that copies everything to an external hard disc or USB drive. Once that’s done and after you’ve installed Windows 7 run Easy Transfer again and import all of your data and settings from the drive. There’s an easy tutorial on the Microsoft TechNet website . Easy Transfer cannot move your programs though– you’ll still have to reinstall those from the original discs and downloads.

Easy Transfer can save hard work but can’t help if the upgrade goes badly wrong and there’s no easy route back to XP, so you should plan for this possibility. Make a disc image or ‘clone’ of your XP hard drive so if the worst does happen you can justinstall the cloned drive and revert to XP. To do that you’ll need a second hard drive of similar or greater capacity and a disc-cloning program such as Acronis True Image.

Alternatively make a separate backup of all of your documents, photographs, media files, address book and anything else you value on to an external hard drive. Also copy any program installation files.

LapLink PC Mover Windows 7 Upgrade Assistant is a utility designed to move not just files and settings but also programs from XP to Windows 7, without using an external storage device but its not clear yet how reliable this is.

BNP Question Time Appearance Row

On Thursday night, BNP leader Nick Griffin will appear on the BBC's current affairs programme “Question Time” after the BBC ignored calls to ban him. The corporation's governing body had met in emergency session to consider the issue of the BNP appearance.

Anti-fascist protesters rallied outside the BBC's west London studios on Thursday ahead of a white-supremacist party leader's appearance.

The BNP is now saying that its “security team” will be with Griffin inside the BBC studio.

BBC WALES will not be inviting BNP representatives on to political panel programmes because it judges that the far-right party has insufficient support.

I can understand the disgust that millions of BBC TV viewers will feel at the inclusion of the British National Party leader but millions of Britons will nevettheless watch tonight as the nation's public broadcaster gives Griffen his first full TV airing.

Ben Bradshaw, the Culture Secretary, says he does not believe that Nick Griffin should appear on Question Time tonight but Gordon Brown said tonight's appearance by Nick Griffin would be a good opportunity to expose what the BNP are really like and expose his "unacceptable" views.

One overlooked aspect of the emergence of the BNP is the influence of Jean-Marie Le Pen. BNP publications praise his Front National's (FN) transformation. Jean-Marie Le Pen called his spot on L'Heure de Vérité 'the hour that changed everything'.

UK postal strike

The strike's roots can be traced back to 2007, when Royal Mail signed a 14-page Pay and Modernisation Agreement and the government claims the current disagreement centres on changes "agreed two years ago".Ken Clarke today gave the clearest indication yet that a Conservative Government would privatise the whole of Royal Mail and the Prime Minister says it is "incumbent on workers and management to get together" to solve the current dispute which is "self-defeating".

The postal workers' union will announce a new three-day strike from next Thursday, according to Sky sources.
Thousands of Royal Mail workers are taking part in the first nationwide postal strike in two years.Birmingham's Royal Mail workers went on strike after failing to come to an agreement with their bosses over working conditions. Postal workers in Northern Ireland are taking part in the first nationwide postal strike in two years. Thousands of postal workers in Scotland have also walked out in support of a national strike over jobs, pay and modernisation. The Communication Workers Union

The postal service has been around in one form or another for 350 years - but thanks to emails and texting we are using it less and less which is good because hardly any of the 30000 emergency post workers employed to alleviate postal strike are ready to start work, because they are undergoing criminal records checks.

Dave Ward, the CWU's Deputy General Secretary, says that postal workers claims they had 'no alternative' but to strike, to 'stand up' for UK postal services whiel businesses were scrambling to line up alternative delivery services and reassure customers.

Striking post workers were accused of having a "death wish" as they began a 48-hour walkout.

Steve Phillips Brooke Hundly scandal

Through most of Wednesday, Google's top three most-searched terms related to baseball. But not the playoffs. ESPN baseball analyst Steve Phillips has been suspended from the network for one week in the midst of a reported affair with a 22-year-old. Brooke Hundley is the 22-year-old ESPN production assistant who had a sexual relationship with ESPN analyst Steve Phillips.

ESPN long has been home to a volatile mix of middle-aged former male sports figures and twentysomething female production assistants. When it comes to the personal lives of public figures, we're not supposed to be too judgmental. Try to ignore Steve Phillips' morals.
People are now so curious who Brooke Hundley is. He even topped the search trends because of the curiosity of people who were searching for her. He is known for his snow white beard and hair, but ESPN's Baseball analyst Steve Phillips has been in the news for his steamy affair with
Brooke Hundley, the twenty-something at the heart of the ESPN Sex Scandal. The two were apparently having an affair, and Brooke got jealous.
ESPN confirmed this afternoon that baseball analyst Steve Phillips is taking a leave of absence. Steve Phillips is reportedly under suspension after news surfaced about his alleged affair with a 22-year-old. When Phillips broke off the relationship, Brooke Hundley retaliated by contacting Steve Phillips' wife who made a frantic 911 call when she discovered her husband's affair.

US Health Reform News

Liberal groups to protest insurers Leaders of the left-leaning groups Health Care for America Now (HCAN) and MoveOn.org say they're organizing an anti-insurance rally tomorrow.

House Panel Approves Bill Curbing Insurers' Antitrust Exemption The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved a bill that would curb the health insurance industry.

Panel Votes to End Insurance Antitrust Exemption The US House Judiciary Committee voted to repeal the insurance industry's federal antitrust exemption.

US congressional panel OK's insurer antitrust plan A House of Representatives panel voted on Wednesday to approve insurer antitrust plan. As Congress closes in on what Democrats hope will be landmark health-care reform, plans to rescind a House committee has voted to strip the health insurance industry of its exemption from federal antitrust laws.

Insurance exchanges called key to health care Supporters of health care reform told senators Tuesday that insurance exchanges are a critical part of proposed health care legislation for small businesses

Will Obamacare Look More Like Auto Insurance? Little noticed in the furor over a proposed health-care overhaul is the critical question of whether legislation should move health insurance

Editorial: A matter of trust The insurance industry may find out that there's something worse than having to compete with a Medicare-style health plan for working-age Americans.

Profit a small piece of health care pie While the government feels the need to demonize insurance companies in the health care debate, there is little evidence that taking the profit and won't reduce prices or profits. The Senate Small Business Committee this morning heard from small business stakeholders about what kind of health reform they want to see. Critics claim the health insurance industry was acting in bad faith when it released a controversial report last week.

Obama Officials: Health Overhaul to Help Small Firms Obama administration officials and small-business groups offered conflicting opinions Tuesday.

Explaining the excise tax If a new tax is passed and no one actually pays it, can it fund health-care reform? It sounds like a zen koan for public policy students. In the special interest war over health care, the White House and congressional Democrats have a look at key issues in the health care debate: THE ISSUE: Why is the United States the only wealthy industrialized nation that does not have universal health care?

Health care bills would end gender differences in rates, but keep age ... WASHINGTON -- The older you are, the more you usually pay for health coverage, and that's a difference likely to persist under the new plans.

Beware insurers yelping A just-released health industry-funded study claims health insurance premiums will rise under health-care reform legislation put forth by the Senate.

Reviving an Old Threat in Health-Insurance Battle President Obama and some Democrats want to repeal the federal antitrust exemption for insurers. That may not be easy—or effective. Senate Democrats and White House officials met on Monday evening to discuss how to merge the two versions. The Senate Finance Committee's health care bill has now been posted.

Windows 7 Laptops UK

Windows 7 preorders already top Vista sales Amazon has said gross pre-order sales have topped Harry Potter, while DSGi said Windows 7 has already outsold Vista.

Microsoft says Windows 7 will offer customers a 'sexy experience' amid growing ... Microsoft hopes its new Windows 7 operating system will succeed where its current Vista system failed.

Microsoft to launch Windows 7 today Software giant Microsoft formally launches its operating system (OS) — Windows 7 — in India today.

Microsoft launches Windows 7 Microsoft's Leila Martine unveils the new operating system's key features hours before it goes on sale.

Sky announces Sky Player Windows 7 integration Sky used Microsoft's official Windows 7 launch today to announce it has teamed up with the software giant to integrate its Sky Player into the new operating system.

Windows 7 - Part 5: Networking, Security and Compatibility In this second part of our Windows 7 review, we examine the various added features for consumer and business customers.

Windows 7: Going touchy feely Windows 7 has been designed to be operated using touch control rather than more traditional methods like the mouse.

Windows 7 set to smash sales records Computer users are counting down the hours until they can get their hands on Microsoft's new operating system, Windows 7 .

Windows 7 laptops prices and comparison from the Best UK Shops Check availability, price and fetaures on Windows 7 Laptops from the Best UK Shops.

Orionid meteor shower 21st Oct 2009

Orionid meteor shower peaks tonight: Use Twitter hashtag #meteorshower to ... Do something different tonight: Leave the city and the suburbs for a late-night picnic beneath a meteor shower.

Meteor shower lights up sky The “Orionids” meteor shower — is now on display in the sky.

Space Shuttle Loses Battle of Launch Dates A second launch attempt on November 17 is being negotiated with a Delta IV launch, but NASA will stand down the 18th for the Leonid Meteor Shower.

1) The Orionid meteor shower peaks over the next few days! These meteors are remnants of comet Halley. The annual space dust spectacle will be best viewed between 1 am and dawn on Wednesday. Unfortunately, our forecast is for clouds.

Balloon boy

Balloon boy's father 'wanted TV fame before world ends in 2012' Richard Heene, the man suspected of the alleged " balloon boy " hoax, was driven by a conviction that the world will come to a cataclysmic end in 2012,

Balloon boy: It was a hoax to get dad a TV show A family who pretended their sixyear-old son was carried off in a hot air balloon cooked up the hoax.

Paul Farhi on pop culture: Balloon boy, media stunts, dream up your own Why was the Balloon Boy story such a can't-resist made-for TV event?

Balloon boy story and reality TV culture: What are parents thinking? Parents' quest for reality-TV fame, from 'Jon & Kate' to balloon boy story, can be damaging to their children, say media watchdogs and child advocates.

In advance of charges potentially being filed next week, authorities in Colorado are questioning associates of the parents in Colorado who made headlines by telling authorities that their child was missing in the UFO-looking balloon.

Afghanistan Election Run-off confirmed

SNAP ANALYSIS - What will run-off mean for Afghanistan? Afghan election authorities said today there must be a run-off vote on Nov. 7

For His Decision On Troops, Obama Has Leeway, The White House Says James Jones and Vice President Joe Biden, Obama plans to wait until Afghanistan holds a run-off presidential election on November 7.

Afghan election run-off likely in Nov - ex diplomat Afghan leader Hamid Karzai is likely to face a second round run-off in early November.

Afghanistan elections: results of the investigation, polling station by ... The UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission has published the results of its investigation into the Afghan elections .

Pakistan Taliban Afghanistan News 20th Oct 2009

Pakistan targets key Taliban town The army said it had secured the heights around Kotkai, the home town of top Taliban leader Hakimullah Mehsud. Up to 100000 civilians have fled the conflict.

Iran threatens revenge against Britain over bombing ... where Pakistani forces are currently in all-out conflict with the Taliban . Both Pakistan and Iran have in the past been accused of aiding the Taliban .

An insurgency swells, but Pakistan focuses on India

Govt rules out talks with terrorists He said the Taliban strongholds in South Waziristan were not adjacent to Pakistan's border with Afghanistan.

Bloody conflict looms in Afghan north ... its allies has been focused on containing the Taliban insurgency in the south and east along the border with Pakistan , though unsuccessfully.

In a move to isolate Tehrik-e- Taliban , Pakistan Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani has appealed to the Mehsud tribe.

Q. and A.: Held by the Taliban It also reveals the extent to which the Taliban has, with impunity, colonized a swath of Pakistan .

Pakistan suicide bomb kills 12 The two-week-old Taliban onslaught has rocked Pakistan , killing more than 160 people and exposing gaps in the intelligence and security apparatus.

Pakistan Afghanistan Taliban 2009-10-19

Leaders urge Karzai to accept fraud report on Afghanistan election The White House was engaged in a dangerous and unpredictable stand-off with the Afghanistan president Hamid Karzai today.

US Dept of Defense - Gates to Press Asia, NATO for More Afghanistan Support "I hope that we will have a clarification of the political situation in Afghanistan , because time is not on our side," Fogh Rasmussen told reporters.

Need To Soldier On A second attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul in just over a year highlighted the security disaster looming over Afghanistan .

Richards: 'Afghanistan is winnable' But adequate security levels will not be enough.

For Vietnam, read Iraq – and Afghanistan The White House made itclear today that it will not be rushed into any decision about whether to send more troops to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan : the fallout of operation Waziristan How does Waziristan action relate to Afghanistan.

RAF crews return from Afghanistan 12 (Bomber) Squadron Tornado crews from RAF Lossiemouth have returned home after four-and-a-half months in Afghanistan .

Austria not to send more troops to Afghanistan Austrian Defense Minister Dalabosi said on Monday that Austria would not send more troops to Afghanistan .

Pakistan Taliban Conflict

Pakistan pounds Taliban targets "The security establishment as well as the civilian government are absolutley clear that they will not negotiate with the Pakistan Taliban.

Indian Army to respond to Taliban threat suitably: army chief The Army chief's statement came in the wake of last week's threat by the new head of the Pakistan Taliban , Hakimullah Mehsud.

Double bombing kills 11 at Pakistan police station The Friday afternoon attack targeted a heavily fortified police station next to a mosque in the main city in Pakistan's Taliban -riddled North West Frontier ...

Iran: US, Britain, Pakistan linked to militants Iran also claimed that Jundallah receives support from al-Qaida and Taliban militants that operate across the border in Pakistan's Baluchistan province, ...

At least 40 dead after Pakistan suicide attack Azam Tariq, a spokesman for the Pakistan Taliban , indicted there would be no let up. "It was carried out by our Punjab unit," he told reporters.

Taliban cannot be split from al-Qaeda, Obama warned Those atrocities were planned and organised from Afghan soil, where the Pakistan -backed Taliban regime had given bin Laden and his mainly Arab followers a safe haven.

40 hostages freed in raid on Pakistan army base That group is one of several similarly minded outfits that have forged close links with the Pakistan Taliban leadership.

Gates seeking allies' help on Afghanistan war ... Taliban in Afghanistan, as his top commander there has requested, or to focus more narrowly on al-Qaida terrorists believed to be hiding in Pakistan .

Health Care News

Arena Digest: The politics of health care By POLITICO STAFF 10/19/09 4:47 AM EDT POLITICO's Arena contributers discuss the endgame to Obama's push for health care reform. ...

Nurses 'too busy to care for patients' Patient care is being neglected at least once a week due to a shortage of available nurses, according to four out of 10 members of the Royal College of ...

Health care bill makes Sen. Roland Burris relevant WASHINGTON — For Democrats determined to get a health care bill, Sen. Roland Burris is like the house guest who couldn't be refused, won't soon be leaving ...

NHS should care for those in custody In one study, a third of detainees were found to have no regular access to primary care although 40% had previous medical conditions. ...

The National Women's Council says the Government's failure to provide paid paternity leave is one of the reasons why the vast majority of care work is still ...

Adviser: Obama waits on finished health care bill WASHINGTON — The White House is waiting for Congress to settle on a final health care bill, even though President Barack Obama has a clear preference in ...

Child care costs economy 'millions' Experts have told the programme that spending on child care needs to become an urgent priority. BBC reporter and new mum Suzanne Allan investigated. ...

Shadow health minister on hospital care Shadow health minister Mark Simmonds on the news that almost half of English hospitals are failing to meet core standards of care , despite a decade of ...