this year according to dolby
the company also showed off dolby true hd which is being built into blu ray
high definition video players and disks to deliver sound tracks as immersive as
the imagery
person with blu ray player can literally hear the same quality heard in the
studio when they were mixing the audio the same quality as is on the master
tapes eggers said
dolby also developed digital plus audio technology to bring surround sound
to online films and other content delivered to televisions that are being built
with widgets linking them to online services
france italy and poland have adopted dolby digital plus as standard for high
definition audio in televisions according to the company
dolby also has put technology in headphones that provide stereo surround sound
experiences to people playing films or music on computers mp players or mobile
telephones
dolby axon in headsets for videogame lovers gives positional feedback to people
talking to each other while playing together online by making voices sound as
though they are coming from where virtual characters happen to be
voices get louder as gamers approach one another and fainter with distance
according to dolby like in life sounds made by on screen characters are
obstructed by objects in the game
as gamer can tell you it comes in pretty handy to be able to hear your
enemies footsteps coming up behind you said eggers evidently fan of shooter
titles
british pm dismisses plot as storm in teacup
london jan afp
embattled british prime minister gordon brown dismissed as storm in teacup
thursday new plot questioning his leadership few months before general
election
in deeply embarrassing challenge to his already weakened authority former
ministers geoff hoon and patricia hewitt called wednesday for ballot of
governing labour party lawmakers on whether brown should remain their leader
but brown in his first comments on the plot said it not going to take up
much of my time and hasn certainly taken up much of my time
this is bit of storm in teacup we are actually dealing with real storms
at the moment he told bbc radio referring to bitterly cold temperatures and
snowfalls gripping the country
in their letter to all labour lawmakers hoon defence secretary when britain
joined the invasion of iraq in and former health secretary hewitt said
the party was deeply divided over whether brown should be leader
many colleagues have expressed their frustration at the way in which this
question is affecting our political performance they wrote
the letter gained early support from handful of persistent brown critics but
no major labour figure backed the move and hoon admitted late wednesday that it
had failed
brown who succeeded tony blair as premier in must face general election
by june at the latest his labour party has long been more than points behind
in polls against the main opposition conservatives
ministers rallied round brown on thursday after the failed leadership challenge
it is something we could have easily done without justice secretary jack
straw admitted but insisted think it will actually have the effect of
bringing people behind the leadership even more
in june last year brown fended off nascent leadership plot after several
government ministers quit in quick succession and one james purnell urged him
to step down
commentators agreed thursday that brown appeared to have seen off the latest
attempt to unseat him despite receiving only lukewarm public backing from
some of his key cabinet ministers
foreign secretary david miliband who reportedly considered standing against
brown in took seven hours to issue statement which failed to mention
brown by name commentators noted
the times newspaper described miliband statement as less than wholehearted
while the guardian daily said it was both later and less full throated than
anything offered by fellow cabinet members
the bbc reported wednesday that six cabinet ministers had been prepared to
support coup but straw among those named on thursday denounced the report
as sub standard journalism
defence secretary bob ainsworth was also alleged to be among those backing the
plotters but spokesman denied this
the prime minister has bob full support he said adding mr ainsworth had
no part in this so called plot
miliband insisted no senior ministers were involved in the plot
we have got an election to fight gordon is leading us into it we are
determined to win it under his leadership and am looking forward to getting
stuck into it he told sky news television
the timing of the row could hardly be worse for brown he and conservative
leader david cameron effectively started election campaigning this week after
the christmas break even though ballots are not expected until may
cameron said the fresh labour infighting showed the government was deeply
divided
this is incredibly depressing for the country he said
we cannot go on like this we ve got to have an election and change of
government he said adding if ever there was time when our country needed
strong leadership and united government it is today
cbi say snow sparks massive disruption for business
london jan afp
britain biggest employers organisation said thursday that wintry weather had
caused massive disruption for companies already suffering from the sharp
economic downturn
the severe weather has obviously caused massive disruption for companies across
the country and the people who work for them said john cridland deputy
director general at the confederation of british industry cbi
it particularly unfortunate because it comes at what is already difficult
time because of the economic situation he added in statement
cridland noted however that improved high speed internet services have made it
far easier for many britons to work from home if the icy conditions meant it was
impossible for them to travel to work
one thing that has made things slightly easier has been the willingness of
people to use modern technology especially broadband internet to work from
home to try to help companies keep going and this is obviously good thing
the cbi is the country largest employers organisation representing around
companies
more eurostar misery as winter chill brings mayhem
london jan afp
eurostar passengers faced new winter misery thursday with another high speed
train breaking down in the channel tunnel while heavy snow also left thousands
in britain with no electricity
across the rest of northern europe one of the most brutal winters in decades
caused more travel mayhem with scores of flights cancelled and many roads
blocked
overnight temperatures dropped to minus degrees celsius zero degrees
fahrenheit in woodford outside manchester northwest england and in benson
southern england glasgow saw minus nine degrees celsius while london fell to
minus three
no major british airports reported closures thursday with runways open
following day of disruption wednesday
but budget airline easyjet scrapped around flights as result of severe
weather conditions largely in and out of london gatwick airport south of the
british capital
british airways said it had cancelled number of flights and was experiencing
delays due to icy conditions at both gatwick and london heathrow
dublin airport which closed for several hours on wednesday was operating
normally but there were number of flight cancellations and delays as some
airlines continued to experience knock on effects
at orly south of paris outgoing flights were cancelled or delayed while
incoming ones were diverted spokesman for aeroports de paris told afp
eurostar faced fresh embarrassment on thursday when brussels to london train
had to be towed out of the tunnel after being stuck for around two hours
arctic temperatures were blamed for the breakdown last month of several eurostar
trains in the tunnel between britain and france which sparked three day
suspension of the service
at first they told us that it was an engine problem jonattan lurasin
from liege in belgium told afp at london saint pancras international station
they tried to restart two or three times but it didn work
eurostar spokesman bram smets said the cause of the latest breakdown was not
immediately known and warned of delays
we are not allowing any train to enter the tunnel at present they are waiting
we don want any more trains to be blocked in the tunnel if we don know
what happened he told afp in brussels
even before the new incident eurostar had already cancelled four of its
services for second straight day due to disruptions caused by cold weather
speed limits
meanwhile electricians were working round the clock to restore current to around
homes in southern england which were left in the dark when snow brought
down power lines said edf energy
britain met office weather service said the cold spell was the worst since
and warned of more to come
britain biggest employers organisation the confederation of british industry
cbi said the wintry weather had caused massive disruption for companies
already suffering from the sharp economic downturn
children however lapped up the chance to spend another day playing in the snow
as hundreds of schools that had been due to reopen in both britain and ireland
after the christmas break remained closed
much of southern france was put on alert for further snowfall and icy
conditions as snow caused traffic problems in paris grenoble bordeaux and the
north
in austria authorities are on standby amid forecasts of some centimetres of
snow at the weekend in low lying parts of the country normally spared much of
the regular snowfalls in its alpine areas
ireland was also hit by severe weather not seen for almost years with
forecasters warning that thaw was unlikely to come for six or seven days
prime minister brian cowen said the military had mobilised staff and equipment
in case they were needed and the government national emergency committee would
meet daily until the severe weather abated
weather of this severity and duration has not been seen since in many
parts of ireland cowen said
on thursday norway was among the coldest countries with temperatures ranging
from minus degrees celsius to minus degrees celsius oslo had reduced
bus service as engine oil froze while ice kept ferries from sailing
the cold snap also hit train services in the netherlands
meanwhile torrential rain hit parts of italy and officials feared the swollen
river tiber could threaten rome in the coming days
thousands of hectares acres of land were also flooded in northern albania and
authorities were obliged to open the sluices on reservoirs for fear of dams
bursting
the interior ministry said hundreds of houses particularly in the city of
shkoder were under water and at least people had to be evacuated
athletics britain to get gold in pettigrew fall out
london jan afp
great britain world championship metres relay team are to receive
the gold medal after finishing second behind quartet featuring us dope cheat
antonio pettigrew it was confirmed thursday
pettigrew ran the anchor leg for the united states team that won gold in athens
years ago but subsequently admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs
as well as britain receiving gold jamaica will receive the silver medals and
poland the bronze
spokesman for the international association of athletics federations iaaf
athletics world governing body told afp the decision to strip pettigrew of
his medals was approved by the iaaf council in late november and the new
medals were sent to the relevant iaaf member federations great britain jamaica
and poland in
in close race the american team beat the british quartet by just
seconds in the athens final
have missed out on years of telling people am world champion jamie
baulch member of the british team that also featured iwan thomas roger black
and mark richardson told the bbc on thursday
there is little bit of bitterness that we were robbed of the gold it is
bit of disgrace as missed an opportunity to celebrate in front of
people as the sport was at its peak it was the golden days of athletics
when you think of it and to put it into perspective we ran four seconds faster
than the current gb team ran last year so that was how fast we were
it is bit sad that it has happened the way it has but that the way the
cards have been dealt to me so you may see us in medal ceremony in the next
amount of months he added
last year pettigrew together with his team mates was stripped of the gold
medal the united states won for the relay at the sydney olympics
because of his doping offences
kabila tells dr congo parliament to revise budget
kinshasa jan afp
president joseph kabila of the democratic republic of congo has told parliament
to trim the budget for to align it with demands of the international
monetary fund imf lawmakers said thursay
under the constitution the head of state was supposed to have promulgated the
new budget by december providing for about six billion dollars
billion euros in public spending
but kabila has asked parliament for second reading of the budget plan
considering that the draft proposal is not in line with commitments made by the
government and the imf said hubert masala vice president of the national
assembly economic and financial committee
massala said that some aspects of the draft budget such as remuneration
exceed the salary envelope agreed with the imf to enable the country to attain
the point of being one of the heavily indebted poor countries with the prospect
of attaining hipc debt relief
there is real problem for we under developed countries if we cannot implement
budget as provided for with the imf said jean lucien bussa anouther
lawmaker and vice president of the same committee
the dr congo is among hipc countries negotating the reduction of their
foreign aid with the imf in the middle of december the imf approved debt
relief of million dollars to the dr congo to help with poverty reduction
according to official figures the foreign debt of the dr congo currently stands
at about billion dollars
gunman kills one wounds four at missouri power company
st louis missouri jan afp
gunman was on the run in missouri thursday after storming power company
office killing one person and injuring four others the authorities said
fire brigade officials said five people were shot when gunman went on the
rampage at the offices of abb power two people were said to be in critical
condition and one was said to be serious as police hunted for the shooter
police swat teams entered the offices of abb power after reports of the shooting
spree at the busy factory of workers located near the center of st louis
the authorities shut down interstate highway in the hunt for year old
timothy hendron whom they named as their main suspect
police said the attack took place on semple avenue an industrial area that is
home to the local offices of the swiss swedish engineering giant abb
there is large business at this location with numerous employees inside of
the building police spokeswoman said the shooter is thought to be at this
location but he is currently unaccounted for
local media reported some employees had sought refuge on the roof of the
building to escape the gunman and were talking to police
according to st louis court documents hendron was involved in legal dispute
with the firm over the management of employees retirement funds
abb spokesman bob fesmire could not confirm whether the shooter was former
employee
we can confirm that there was shooting but the information is still
unclear he told afp
fesmire said there would normally be around people in the factory from the
start of the first shift at around am to am around the time the
shooting is thought to have taken place
but fesmire said there may have been fewer workers at the plant on thursday
thanks to snow blizzard and temperatures which plunged to degrees
fahrenheit minus celsius which forced some colleagues to stay at home
the plant is part of zurich based abb engineering business and makes power
transformers
world veterinary agency to probe link meat climate link
paris jan afp
the world top authority in farm animal health announced on thursday it would
launch study into the role of meat in climate change
the report carried out by independent experts is expected to be published by
the summer bernard vallat head of the world organisation for animal health
known by its french acronym of oie said in paris
it is the first time in its nearly year history that the nation oie is to
carry out an environmental investigation
the agency swaps information about diseases in farm animals and issues
recommendations in veterinary scares such as avian flu
the probe coincides with mounting interest in the role of meat eating in stoking
climate change
farm animals are significant sources of greenhouse gases either directly
through methane emissions from digestion or indirectly such as clearing forests
for pasture and inputs used in raising cattle
vallat who is the oie director general said there had been very strong
request from member states for the report
the investigation scope will be limited and it will not seek to rival or
replicate the work of the un global warming scientists the inter governmental
panel on climate change ipcc he said
by some estimates there will be percent surge in demand for animal protein
by in order to feed the world burgeoning population and demands from
emerging economies he said
whatever happens we are going to have to produce more animals to feed the
planet he told press conference
celebrity vegans such as paul mccartney are urging consumers to boycott meat as
personal contribution to fighting climate change
kilogram pounds of beef causes more greenhouse gas and other pollution
than driving for three hours while leaving all the lights on back home
according to study led by akifumi ogino of the national institute of
livestock and grassland science in tsukuba japan
eu presidency no bailout for debt hit greece
madrid jan afp
the spanish eu presidency on thursday warned greece which is struggling with
growing mountain of debt that it should not expect bailout by the rest of the
bloc
spain secretary of state for european affairs diego lopez garrido said
economic coordination within the eu was necessary but there is limit which
is no bailout
he rejected any easing of this rule among the nations that share the euro single
currency
each country has responsibility on the budget he told news conference
you have to address the risk of the budget in each country
missions from the european commission and europe central bank are on three day
visit to athens to assess the socialist government crisis action plan to
rescue the economy amid deep scepticism in the financial markets
greek finances are in parlous state the public or budget deficit is estimated
at percent of gross domestic product in compared with an eu upper
limit of just percent
its total public debt of accumulated past annual deficits is put at
percent of output in and is set to rise
the government expects to borrow further billion euros this year half of
it abroad meanwhile it expects to pay billion euros or percent of
total output in interest and also faces an estimated shortfall of billion
euros on state hospital budgets
under intense pressure from the eu and financial markets the government plans
to hack the deficit back to the maximum permitted under eu rules of percent
by
however on tuesday prime minister george papandreou shortened radically even
this ambitious target bringing it forward by year
there is widespread concern that greece in facing such dilemmas also poses
potential threat to the cohesion of the eurozone
the chief economist at the ecb juergen stark also warned on wednesday that
greece must not expect an financial rescue package
spain is also faced with soaring public deficit which is expected to hit
percent of gdp this year after surplus of percent as recently as
cycling tour de france prepares for dauphine takeover
paris jan afp
key french cycling stage race the dauphine libere will be run by the owners of
the tour de france this june ahead of an eventual takeover
held three weeks before the tour de france the dauphine is tough one week
event held around the alps and is thus considered key warm up for many of the
tour top riders
held since and run by the dauphine libere newspaper it is now set to be
taken over by aso amaury sports organisation which runs the tour paris nice
and number of major one day classics as well as major events like the paris
dakar rally and the french golf open
the dauphine newspaper announced the news in its thursday edition
we have handed over the organisation of the edition to aso talks over
ending the race as organised by the dauphine are at an advanced stage said
henri pierre guilbert the chairman of the dauphine libere group
according to internal sources at the newspaper the race was incurring losses
annually
gilbert said aso was logical choice to take over the race
it the most legitimate choice given their experience in organising races he
added
we want the race to survive it is an important part of our regional heritage
aso which also owns races in belgium oman and qatar will henceforth own and
run all the major stage races in france
in the company also increased its stake in unipublic which owns the tour
of spain to percent
this year edition of the dauphine libere is likely to attract host of big
stars
seven time tour de france champion lance armstrong winner in and is
expected to follow current yellow jersey champion alberto contador by competing
at the race
cricket india beat bangladesh by six wickets
dhaka jan afp
india beat bangladesh by six wickets in triangular one day series match here
on thursday
brief scores
bangladesh in overs india in overs
us corporate bankruptcies hit third largest total
washington jan afp
the number of us corporate bankruptcies spiked to last year the third
largest total on record led by the massive general motors filing research
firm said thursday
bankruptcydata com said the number of publicly traded companies filing for
bankruptcy protection in jumped significantly from year earlier
it was the third largest total on record according to the firm topped only by
and with and filings respectively
the firms filing for creditor protection had combined assets of billion
dollars the second largest on record the largest was in led by the
largest ever us bankruptcy filing from investment giant lehman brothers
the biggest bankruptcy was general motors with listed assets of billion
dollars followed by business lender cit group with billion dollars and
chrysler llc with billion
the main industries affected by bankruptcy included manufacturing banking and
finance and the oil and gas sector the firm said
the banking and finance firms filing for bankruptcy had combined assets of
billion dollars according to the survey
german cop in trouble for explosive underwear joke
berlin jan afp
german who found himself in hot water for joking during airport security
checks that he had explosives in his underwear turned out on thursday to be
policeman
the year old who has not been named was briefly taken into custody at
stuttgart airport in south west germany on tuesday after making the joke which
he then repeated when questioned by airport security personnel
prosecutors are considering pressing charges against the man who had been due
to fly to egypt with his wife and child on holiday and he also faces fine of
euros dollars police spokeswoman said
security at airports has been stepped up around the world after nigerian man
with suspected al qaeda links allegedly tried to blow up an airliner over the
united states on december with explosive chemicals sewn into his underpants
sri lankan execution video authentic un envoy
united nations jan afp
independent experts have concluded that video footage allegedly showing sri
lankan troops executing prisoners during the final phase of their battle against
tamil tiger rebels last year was authentic un envoy said thursday
the video aired on britain channel last august is authentic philip
halston the un special rapporteur on extrajudicial summary or arbitrary
executions told reporters here
he said the conclusion was reached by three independent experts and called for
genuine and independent investigation by the sri lankan government
us corporate bankruptcies hit third largest total
washington jan afp
the number of us corporate bankruptcies spiked to last year the third
largest total on record led by the massive general motors filing research
firm said thursday
bankruptcydata com said the number of publicly traded companies filing for
bankruptcy protection in jumped significantly from year earlier
it was the third largest total on record according to the firm topped only by
and with and filings respectively
the firms filing for creditor protection had combined assets of billion
dollars the second largest on record the largest was in led by the
largest ever us bankruptcy filing from investment giant lehman brothers
the biggest bankruptcy was general motors with listed assets of billion
dollars followed by business lender cit group with billion dollars and
chrysler llc with billion
the main industries affected by bankruptcy included manufacturing banking and
finance and the oil and gas sector the firm said
the banking and finance firms filing for bankruptcy had combined assets of
billion dollars according to the survey
egypt christians clash with police after christmas murders
cairo jan afp
clashes erupted on thursday as thousands of coptic christians in southern
egyptian village buried six of their number gunned down on coptic christmas eve
by men believed to be muslims security officials said
officials and the local bishop said three men in car had raked pedestrians
with gunfire along street containing two churches and shopping precinct late
on wednesday
bishop kirilos said the victims were people who had just emerged from church
after attending christmas eve service and the proximity of the shopping area
might have drawn some of them to it
six copts and muslim policeman were killed while at least nine more copts
were wounded two of them seriously security official said
the wounded were evacuated to hospital in the nearby governorate of sohag
an estimated copts attended thursday funeral in nagaa hammadi miles
kilometres from the popular tourist city of luxor
police said group of protesters stoned cars as the dead were buried and
police responded with tear gas the demonstrators chanted with our spirit and
blood we will sacrifice ourselves for the cross
they said copts earlier stoned police cars and the hospital where the bodies of
the six dead were held before the service chanting no to repression
security sources said sporadic trouble continued after the funerals
an initial investigation into wednesday shooting reported that the gunmen
opened fire as they sped along the street killing and wounding people over
distance of metres yards
as the car headed out of town the gunmen fired at convent which also housed
the bishop offices before fleeing to rural area near the town in qena
province kilometres miles south of cairo
copts celebrate christmas on january along with many other orthodox
communities around the world
bishop kirilos told afp on thursday that he saw gunmen spraying worshippers with
automatic gunfire outside the archbishopric after the mass ended the previous
night
we concluded the mass at pm gmt and was heading to the bishopric
when saw man in car open fire with an automatic rifle at copts who were
walking past the building kirilos said in phone interview
the gunman then continued to fire on copts in the streets of the town he
said people are angry and very worried
the bishop said the author of this crime has police record and should have
been arrested for past crimes but is under the protection of prominent figures
close to the ruling national democratic party
witnesses cited by local officials earlier said the main gunman is muslim
wanted by police and linked the shooting to the abduction of year old
muslim girl in november who was allegedly raped by coptic youth
the first elements of the investigation based on testimony of people on the
ground indicate that the main shooter is town resident identified as mohammed
ahmed hussein who is wanted by the police one official said
kirilos also told afp that for the past week some of his parishioners had
received cell phone hate calls and threats alleging that muslims will avenge
the rape of the girl during the christmas celebrations
copts who represent under percent of egypt million strong population
are the largest christian community in the middle east but they frequently
complain of discrimination harassment and sectarian attacks
in november hundreds of muslim protesters torched christian owned shops in the
town of farshut near nagaa hammadi and attacked police station where they
believed the suspected rapist was being held
it was latest in wave of sectarian tension between muslims and egypt copts
on wednesday the head of the coptic minority pope shenuda iii led christmas
midnight mass at the abbassiya church in cairo which was attended by thousands
of worshippers including president hosni mubarak son and heir apparent gamal
finnish police detain chechen charity couple group
helsinki jan afp
finnish police have detained chechen couple known for their charity work for
children on the basis of an arrest warrant issued by lithuania finnish peace
organisation said thursday
the couple was seeking asylum in finland when they were arrested
mutual friends were with them when they were detained by the police on
wednesday teemu matinpuro executive director of finland peace committee
suomen rauhanpuolustajat ry told afp
they felt they were under persecution in lithuania and returning to chechnya
is obviously not an option matinpuro said adding the couple had decided to
seek asylum in finland couple of months ago
