Satellites To Boost Internet In 180 Countries

Billions of people who struggle with slow internet access are to get quicker connections when a dozen new satellites are shot into space.

The first four satellites will be carried into orbit by the Russian Soyuz rocket, as part of a project to offer affordable, high-speed access to people in around 180 "under-connected" countries.

The launch has been delayed by at least 24 hours due to adverse weather.

Users will lock on to the satellites in the same way they might with GPS handsets.

Internet pioneer Greg Wyler, who launched the scheme after finding it difficult to get online during a trip to Russia in 2007, said: "Access to the internet backbone is still severely limited in emerging markets, whether landlocked in Africa or isolated by water in the Pacific Islands.

"Only when emerging markets achieve affordable and ubiquitous access to the rest of the world will we observe locally-generated content, widespread e-learning, telemedicine and many more enablers to social and economic growth."

The project is dubbed O3b after the "other three billion" people in the world with restricted internet access.

A constellation of small satellites will hover above the equator, covering a vast area that includes the entire African continent, the Middle East, southeast Asia, Australia, the Pacific Islands and most of Latin America.

Existing geostationary satellites provide similar services but their cost is prohibitive for many people.

Orbiting at around 36,000km (22,000 miles) above Earth, they take around half a second to bounce signals back to the planet.

The cheaper, lighter O3b satellites will be closer to Earth and communicate four times faster.

Another four orbiters will be launched within weeks, with the final four set to arrive in space next year.

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Market Mayhem: China Woes Extend Losses

The flight from risk in world stock markets has continued in Asia during volatile trading amid concerns over credit tightening in China and the winding down of US stimulus.

Asian stock markets suffered steep falls during much of Tuesday's session - with the Shanghai Composite Index entering bear market territory, analysts said, following falls of more than 5% at one stage on top of steep declines on Monday.

But Tuesday's losses were largely erased in late-trading - with Shanghai just 0.2% down - while Europe opened positively on perceptions that many stocks were now under-valued following weeks of falls.

The most recent worry for investors, particularly in Asia, has been that measures by the People's Bank of China (PBC) to curb a cheap credit boom would hurt growth in the world's second-largest economy.

Higher commercial lending rates prompted a flight from the stocks of smaller banks, which rely on central bank funding the most.

Prices correct at 08:25 BST

The value of medium-sized lenders was also hurt.

While the PBC has said it is satisfied by the amount of money available, the crackdown has left markets in China particularly fearing a liquidity squeeze.

Shanghai's stock index had endured its biggest loss in four years on Monday while the pain was also felt worldwide, with the US and European markets falling back further, having already been spooked in recent weeks by the prospect of the US Federal Reserve easing its $85bn-a-month bond-buying programme.

A top US central banker warned on Monday against market attempts to lift the yields on US Treasuries and stop plans to slow the Fed's stimulus.

Price correct at 08:30 BST

Richard Fisher, who is president of the Dallas Federal Reserve, told the Financial Times that "feral hogs" would not break the Fed's resolve.

The FTSE 100 share index lifted 0.7% in early trading on Tuesday from five-month lows while there were stronger gains on the continent.

The London market has lost more than 10% of its value since concerns first arose last month about the prospect of Fed stimulus easing.

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Top Italian Football Clubs Face Money Probe

Police with financial expertise have raided 41 Italian football clubs, including 18 of the 20 Serie A sides, as part of a tax and money laundering investigation.

Documents were seized and premises searched in an apparently coordinated operation early on Tuesday as officers hunted for evidence of tax evasion and irregularities over the buying and selling of players.

Eleven B league teams and 12 from the lower brackets were the other clubs involved in the inquiry, a police spokesman confirmed, though none of the team names were released.

The probe also included 12 player agents.

The spokesman said the operation was ordered by a court in Naples in connection with crimes of criminal conspiracy, international tax evasion, money laundering and invoice falsification.

Italian football is no stranger to scandal on or off the pitch - with match-fixing allegations and hooliganism among its other problems.

More follows...

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Chancellor Signs Off £11.5bn Spending Cuts

Chancellor George Osborne has reached agreement with Cabinet colleagues over the extent of cuts to their budgets for the year after the next general election.

The Treasury said the new agreements among government departments would produce savings of £11.5bn.

A spokesman said: "We've completed the spending round savings early and without all the arguments you normally get. This shows our determination to take the tough decisions needed to deliver our economic plan and to turn Britain around."

Sky News political correspondent Sophy Ridge said the sign-off would come as a "huge relief" for the Chancellor.

"I'm not completely convinced by the Treasury's argument that there were no rows over this spending settlement," she said.

"For example, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond and Business Secretary Vince Cable were pretty late in signing off cuts to their budgets so I think there was clearly concern among some Cabinet ministers.

"But at the same time this is a clear win for the Chancellor and I think he will be pretty relieved to have had it signed off at all."

Mr Osborne indicated there would be further cuts in the number of civilians employed at the Ministry of Defence, but no further reduction in military manpower under the settlement agreed with Mr Hammond.

There will be no reduction in military manpower under the settlement

He also promised £10m a year to help uphold the military covenant and to spend more money on cyber warfare.

Before the 2010 election Prime Minister David Cameron pledged to protect universal pensioner benefits such as bus passes and winter fuel allowance for the duration of the Parliament.

But Mr Osborne would not commit to funding pensioner benefits beyond the 2015 poll, acknowledging "we have got to look at how we can afford them".

Mr Cable was understood to be holding out until he was sure that he had reached a settlement which would safeguard measures to boost growth.

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said he would adopt Mr Osborne's day-to-day spending limits for 2015-16 if his party wins the election, but indicated that a Labour government could borrow more to pay for infrastructure investment.

"If George Osborne had done that last year or the year before, we wouldn't have had such a flatlining economy," he told the BBC.

"I think he is so complacent and out of touch, I'm not going to make the same mistake."

Mr Osborne will announce the details of the Whitehall cuts in the Government's spending review on Wednesday, in which he will also reveal plans for an infrastructure plan using savings to invest in roads, railways, education and science.

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Boeing 787 Dreamliner In Emergency Landing

A Boeing 787 Dreamliner jet operated by United Airlines has been forced to make an emergency landing due to a problem with its brake system.

United said in a statement that the unscheduled landing occurred on a domestic flight in the United States over the weekend.

"United flight 94 from Houston to Denver returned to Houston Sunday due to a brake indicator issue," the US carrier said.

"Following standard operating procedures, as a precautionary measure, the flight landed in emergency status.

"The aircraft landed safely at 11.58am and our maintenance team is conducting a review of the aircraft."

A Boeing spokeswoman said the problem with the braking system forced the plane "back to base," without giving details of the malfunction or how long it might take to repair it.

Batteries overheated on two Japanese Dreamliners in January

Boeing sent a field service representative to the scene in Houston to help the airline with the problem.

The dual concerns were getting the aeroplane back into service and dealing with the flight's stranded passengers.

Last week, United said a Dreamliner on its way to Tokyo from Denver was forced to land in Seattle as a precaution.

Regulators and investors are keenly following the progress of the Dreamliner, Boeing's first predominantly carbon-fibre aircraft.

It was more than three years late getting into service after a number of production setbacks.

Introduced by airlines in late 2011, the Dreamliner was grounded in January after batteries overheated on two Japanese jets in quick succession.

It resumed commercial service in May after Boeing installed a redesigned battery system, based on a beefed-up housing, on the 50 jets in service.

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Vodafone Lines Up £9bn Kabel Deutschland Deal

Mobile phone giant Vodafone is poised to buy Germany's biggest cable operator in a deal worth £9.1bn, it has been confirmed.

The addition of Kabel Deutschland's 8.5 million connected households would leave Vodafone with 32.4 million mobile, 5 million broadband and 7.6 million direct TV customers in 13 of Germany's 16 states.

Kabel Deutschland was "an attractive platform for TV and fixed broadband in Germany and creates a leading integrated operator with pro forma revenues of approximately 11.5 billion euros," Vodafone  said in a statement.

The latest offer, which has been backed by Kabel Deutschland's management and supervisory boards, has a total value of £9.1bn when including £2.5bn of debt.

The acquisition, however, could still be derailed by rival interest from US media group Liberty Global.

Vodafone's proposal is worth 87 euro (£74) a share and is thought to better an earlier rival bid from Liberty, owner of Virgin Media, at 85 euro (£72) a share.

The British company has been expanding its presence in Germany recently, announcing a tie-up with Deutsche Telekom to offer pay-TV over high-speed broadband to its customers.

Germany has been one of Vodafone's better-performing markets in Europe, while its Mediterranean region has been hit hard during the downturn.

Chief executive Vittorio Colao said: "German consumer and business demand for fast broadband and data services continues to grow substantially.

"As customers increasingly access TV, fixed and mobile broadband services from multiple devices in the home and workplace, and on the move."

Early trading in London saw shares in Vodafone rise 1.18% before easing to 0.8%, meanwhile Kabel Deutschland shares in Frankfurt added 1.7%.

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Diesel Drivers 'Get Worse Deal' In Fuel War

The cost of filling up at the pumps has edged up over the last month, with diesel drivers getting a worse deal than those using petrol, according to new figures from the AA.

The average price of petrol in the UK has risen from 133.35p a litre in mid-May to 134.61p in mid-June, while diesel has gone up from 138.17p a litre to 139.16p.

Northern Ireland has the most expensive petrol, at an average of 135.8p a litre, with London having the cheapest, at 134.61p.

Northern Ireland also has the dearest diesel (139.8p a litre) with London and south west England having the least expensive (139.1p).

The AA said the slight rise in average petrol prices nationally represented "something of a lull" after the 8-10p swings in prices over the last 12 months.

But it warned that this year retailers have on average been "creaming up to £1 a tank extra off diesel car drivers and up to £1.40 a tank extra off diesel van owners".

The AA went on: "At present, the 1p-a-litre premium that fuel stations are generally adding to the cost of diesel adds 5,500 miles to the break-even point for a new car buyer who chooses diesel instead of petrol.

"Diesel cars typically cost £1,500 more but the saving from better fuel efficiency should eventually recoup that."

AA President Edmund King said: "To be fair, there is often much greater variation in the price of diesel among retailers in a town than with petrol.

"However, on average, the profit margin on diesel is consistently at least a penny higher than with petrol.

"The clear message to diesel drivers is to take advantage of the greater range of prices locally. Some forecourts are more diesel-friendly than others."

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Football Streaming Website Faces Legal Action

Internet service providers in the UK could be forced to block a Swedish-based website which streams live football matches.

The Premier League is in the process of requesting a court order that would make ISPs effectively ban their customers from accessing www.FirstRow1.eu.

The planned legal action by the football governing body follows moves made by the music and film industries.

They have successfully blocked websites which offer the opportunity to download copyrighted material, such as Pirate Bay, under Section 97 of the 1988 Copyright, Design and Patent Act.

The Premier League has agreed a new worldwide television deal worth around £5.5bn over three years, starting with the new season.

BT has paid £246m to the Premier League for three years and BSkyB, the parent company of Sky News, has invested £760m in its football coverage for the next three seasons.

The Premier League has written to the major UK ISPs, which also include Virgin Media and TalkTalk, to outline its plans to apply for a court order to block www.FirstRow1.eu.

The proposals are expected to be put forward by the end of the month.

Should the court order be granted, the ISPs would then have to contest the application, or comply and restrict access.

It is understood that indications are the ISPs have no plans to go against any such application.

The Premier League has for many years monitored various websites during live matches and enforced the removal of any streaming content which breaches copyright.

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Osborne: Economy 'Leaving Intensive Care'

Chancellor George Osborne will claim the British economy is "moving from rescue to recovery" as he unveils his fresh round of spending cuts for Whitehall.

Mr Osborne will deliver his spending review on Wednesday, setting out £11.5bn of cuts in Government departments in the year after the next general election.

Alongside the cuts the Chancellor will announce plans for an infrastructure plan to "power Britain back into the economic premier league", using savings to invest in roads, railways, education and science.

Final details of the spending review are still being worked out, with reports suggesting some ministries, including Vince Cable's Business Department, are yet to agree their settlements.

Mr Osborne is expected to tell MPs on Wednesday: "Britain is moving from rescue to recovery. But while the British economy is leaving intensive care; now we need to secure that recovery.

"Full recovery won't be easy but I won't let up in my determination to put right what went so badly wrong. We are already making progress: the economy is growing, more than a million new jobs have been created by British businesses and the amount the government has to borrow each year - the deficit - is down by one third.

"But there's more we have to do - it's time for the next stage of our economic plan."

Ed Balls calls on Mr Osborne to pump money into the economy

Mr Osborne has come under pressure to invest in capital projects in order to help the fragile recovery and he will give details of  "a long term infrastructure plan".

He will say: "We're saving money on welfare and waste to invest in the roads and railways, schooling and science our economy needs to succeed in the future.

"I know that times are still not easy for families. But we have a clear economic plan. We've stuck to it. It is working. And I'm determined to go on delivering it. Now, together, we're moving Britain from rescue to recovery let's build an economy that works for everyone."

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls urged Mr Osborne to pump money into the economy now in order to reduce the need for cuts in two years' time.

Writing in the Sunday Mirror, he said: "Instead of planning more cuts two years ahead, they should use this week's spending review to boost growth and living standards this year and next year.

"More growth now would bring in more tax revenues and mean our public services would not face such deep cuts in 2015."

He said the Government should boost lending to businesses with a new British Investment Bank and reintroduce the 10p income tax band.

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Watchdog Urges Faster Energy Tariff Reform

The energy watchdog's proposals for a "simpler and fairer" energy market have drawn a mixed response from consumer groups, as the regulator called on suppliers to adopt them "as quickly as possible".

Regulator Ofgem has told suppliers to limit themselves to four "core" tariffs each for electricity and gas and for each type of payment, while all information suppliers send to consumers must be "simplified, more engaging and personalised".

Suppliers will use a new Tariff Comparison Rate (TCR), which the regulator claims will help to simplify the selection process for consumers.

And new enforceable standards of conduct will enable Ofgem to take action against suppliers where they have failed to treat customers fairly.

Today Ofgem launched the last statutory consultation before it decides whether to implement "the most radical reforms to the retail market since competition began".

The reforms are expected to come into effect from the summer, but Ofgem said there was nothing to stop suppliers moving to deliver them now.

Ofgem senior partner for markets, Andrew Wright, said: "Our reforms today are the blueprint for the simpler, clearer and fairer energy market that consumers deserve.

"This will provide them with the choices they want alongside the simplicity they need.

Both electricity and gas companies have used complex tariff systems

"They have been delivered following two years of engagement with consumers and industry in the most comprehensive ever review of the retail market.

However consumer watchdog Which? said it was "hugely disappointing" that Ofgem had pressed ahead with the TCR format.

Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: "While these new rules will help make the market simpler and fairer it's hugely disappointing to see the regulator sticking to its fundamentally flawed idea of how energy prices should be presented.

"This will fail to help people find the best deal easily and could even mislead millions into paying over the odds for their energy."

Trade association Energy UK defended the firms and said: "Energy suppliers have already pressed ahead with providing customers with simpler, clearer tariffs.

"Our members have dramatically reduced the number of tariffs, simplified structures and pledged to help all customers move to the deal that suits them best."

But Energy Secretary Ed Davey has continued to push for faster reform and said: "I welcome the continued progress of Ofgem's reform of the retail energy market.

"It's simply scandalous that over eight in 10 of households, including the most vulnerable, are put off switching or engaging in the energy market.

"That's why I'm backing Ofgem's reforms to make it easier to compare tariffs and switch suppliers. These reforms are the fastest way to speed up delivery of simpler bills and a fairer system."

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