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it 's a big day for fans of the internet site cheddarvision . tv , where visitors have been watching a 44 pound round of cheddar mature 24 hours a day since jan . 1 . today something will actually happen . as of last night , the site had counted more than 500 , 000 hits . about 55 , 000 fans are expected today , the bbc reported , when the camera , set up in a farmhouse by the west country farmhouse cheesemakers , somerset farmers who produces handmade cheddar , is given its first quality check . to ensure that the cheese is maturing properly ( it is fully expected to take a year ) , an expert cheese maker will pull out a core and sniff and taste it , the bbc said . the sampling is at 10 a.m . local time , or 5 a.m . new york time .

has a location of britain

a real_estate group led by lehman_brothers plans to buy 73 hotels in britain from the intercontinental hotels group for 1 billion ( 1 . 9 billion ) , the hotel company said . lehman and the realstar group of toronto are buying the hotels , which are mainly holiday inns , but the majority will continue to be managed by intercontinental . heather_timmons ( nyt )

has a location of britain

american_airlines said last night that it had reached an agreement to buy three trans_world_airlines routes to london for 445 million , a move that would complete a changing of the guard in trans_atlantic aviation . american ended up paying carl c . icahn , t.w.a . 's chairman , the entire price it had originally agreed to pay for all six of t.w.a . 's routes into heathrow_airport in london , considered the dominant gateway to europe . mr . icahn was able to hold out for the full amount after the transportation department ruled last week that american , the largest carrier in the united_states , could have only three of the routes , those from new york , los_angeles and boston . analysts said american was under pressure from a need to keep up with united_airlines , the nation 's second largest carrier , which began flying into heathrow last month on routes it purchased from pan_american_world_airways , another cash_starved weakling in the struggling air travel industry . " it is extremely important to american to operate these three key routes plus chicago heathrow and miami heathrow during the peak summer 1991 season , " american 's chairman , robert l . crandall , said in a statement . american said it hoped to begin flying the routes on july 1 . the deal still faces a legal challenge from the city of st . louis , where t.w.a . has its major domestic hub , and from t.w.a . unions in st . louis . the city filed suit in federal district court to oppose the sale of any of the london routes , saying the sale would weaken the airline and jeopardize the 15 , 000 jobs the carrier provides in missouri , which is about half the airline 's total employment . the city called the transportation department 's approval of the sale " capricious . " the unions contend that the route sales will effectively kill t.w.a . but mr . crandall said the legal challenge was " without merit . " american had initially agreed to pay 445 million for six t.w.a . routes into heathrow , with the other three originating in philadelphia , baltimore and st . louis . the transportation department 's decision letting american have only half of the routes set the stage for the negotiations between the two airlines . t.w.a . immediately said it wanted the full price . the three routes that american was allowed to buy carried more than 80 percent of the traffic . pressure to reach deal quickly both carriers were under pressure to reach a deal quickly , however . t.w.a . is in desperate need of cash . american said it needed to act fast , saying that if it did not reach an agreement on the routes by may 15 it would not be able to start serving heathrow by its target of july 1 . american had abandoned its earlier target of initiating the service on june 1 when the california investor kirk_kerkorian was able to delay the transportation department proceeding by saying he wanted to preserve t.w.a . by purchasing the whole airline , but only if the london routes were retained . american currently operates nonstop service between dallas fort_worth and gatwick_airport in london , and between miami and gatwick on june 1 it will begin service between chicago and gatwick . on july 1 , the airline plans to move the chicago and miami services to heathrow and begin the newly acquired heathrow routes to and from boston and new york . the los_angeles route will begin july 20 . company news

has a location of britain

the british economy grew slower than originally reported in the second quarter , the national statistics office said . gross_domestic_product rose 0.6 percent in the quarter and 1.2 percent for the year , less than the 0.9 percent quarterly growth and 1.5 percent annual growth originally reported . the widely expected downward_revision was mainly a result of an ''unprecedented'' decline in manufacturing output , the government said . manufacturing output fell 5.3 percent from may to june , and registered its sixth consecutive quarterly decline . suzanne_kapner ( nyt )

has a location of britain

punch taverns , britain 's second largest pub chain , said it would buy the pubmaster group for 168 million ( 280 million ) . as part of the deal , which nearly doubles the number of punch 's pubs to 7 , 400 , the company will take on 1 . 03 billion of debt . pubmaster became a takeover_target when it lost a bidding war for scottish and newcastle 's pub business earlier this year . heather_timmons ( nyt )

has a location of britain

smith new court p.l.c . said yesterday that it was holding talks with a " small number of parties " that could result in a takeover of one of the brokerage_firm , one of britain 's largest remaining independent stockbrokers . and this morning , the financial_times reported that merrill_lynch company was in takeover negotiations with smith new court . the paper said merrill_lynch was aiming to conclude a deal within days . officials of merrill_lynch could not be reached for comment last night . both the financial_times and the independent of london reported in today 's issue that commerzbank of germany had held preliminary talks with the british firm . smith new court said yesterday that it expected that any offer made would be at a " small premium " to its share price , which was at an all time high of 534 pence when the announcement was made . the shares fell back and closed at 511 , up 20 pence . the firm 's current market value is about 550 million . other suitors being mentioned included the american companies j . p . morgan , bear_stearns , morgan_stanley and smith_barney , a unit of travelers inc . smith new court 's roots go back to 1925 . it was primarily known as a specialist in south african gold stocks until 1986 , when it expanded into a full service market_maker . the company has a reputation for stock brokerage and international equities expertise . ( bloomberg business news )

has a location of britain

lead britain recorded a deficit in its so called invisible trade in the last three months of 1989 , the government said today . it was the first quarterly deficit since such data were first collected in 1955 . figures from the central statistical office showed a gap of 713 million ( 1 . 14 billion ) in the last quarter of 1989 for the category , which includes banking , insurance , shipping and tourism . britain recorded a deficit in its so called invisible trade in the last three months of 1989 , the government said today . it was the first quarterly deficit since such data were first collected in 1955 . figures from the central statistical office showed a gap of 713 million ( 1 . 14 billion ) in the last quarter of 1989 for the category , which includes banking , insurance , shipping and tourism .

has a location of britain

lead mikhail s . gorbachev accused the western allies tonight of introducing ''additional conditions and demands'' to block an agreement between the united_states and the soviet_union to remove their medium_range_missiles from europe . mikhail s . gorbachev accused the western allies tonight of introducing ''additional conditions and demands'' to block an agreement between the united_states and the soviet_union to remove their medium_range_missiles from europe . speaking at a kremlin banquet for prime_minister margaret_thatcher of britain , the soviet leader also rejected as ''unrealistic'' mrs . thatcher 's assertion that soviet progress on human_rights should be used as a standard for measuring moscow 's trustworthiness on arms control . the attack on the western_european countries underscored moscow 's irritation with washington 's allies for their determination to make an agreement on shorter range nuclear_missiles in europe a part of any accord reached on the medium_range_missiles . dividing strategy by soviet in the past the soviet_union has sought to split western_european nations from the united_states by trying to appear more conciliatory to the allies . but tonight , the kremlin found itself being just as tough with the european allies . in her remarks at the two hour banquet at the kremlin 's hall of facets , mrs . thatcher proposed that the united_states give the soviet_union ''a timetable'' of planned tests for the strategic_defense_initiative system to relieve soviet anxiety about american plans for a missile shield in space . british officials indicated that the reagan_administration knew mrs . thatcher would make the proposal , which they said had been discussed by american and british officials . talks are called blunt the leaders' remarks , delivered in their toasts at the banquet , came after seven hours of private talks that took up most of the second full day of mrs . thatcher 's five day visit . both sides described the talks as blunt and sometimes argumentative , but never openly hostile . this bluntness carried over into the speeches , as mrs . thatcher and mr . gorbachev described in unyielding language their core disagreements on economics , nuclear deterrence and human_rights . despite mrs . thatcher 's reputation for lecturing her counterparts , mr . gorbachev appeared sharper in defining their differences . for example , he condemned the insistence of nato 's european members that any american soviet agreement on medium_range_missiles also place limits on the soviet superiority in short range missiles , conventional forces and chemical_weapons . mrs . thatcher has demanded , in meetings with western leaders and in her remarks tonight , that any accord redress the large soviet advantage in short range missiles . those missiles pose a particular threat to west_germany , france and parts of britain . 'new conditions' assailed ''what we see is a whole new package of additional conditions and demands being set before the soviet_union concerning the problem of medium_range_missiles , '' mr . gorbachev said . he said raising these issues showed ''the nato countries gradually slipping away from their own 'zero option' position . '' he was referring to the plan put forward by nato in 1981 to ban all united_states and soviet medium_range_missiles from europe . as the latest round of arms control talks ended last week in geneva , the united_states said the russians had backed out on an earlier agreement to include shorter_range_missiles in the medium_range treaty . the soviet side wants to deal first with the medium_range_missiles , and take up the shorter range issue as soon as a medium_range treaty is concluded . the two sides are now stalled on this issue . rights arms link dismissed tonight , mr . gorbachev also seemed to dismiss mrs . thatcher 's new theme linking arms control and human_rights . ''we also hear statements to the effect that the west would take on trust soviet arms reduction proposals provided the soviet_union changes its political system and accepts western society as a model to copy , '' he said . ''but this is just not serious . it would simply be unrealistic to expect us ever to forgo our ideals . '' after the dinner , british officials said mrs . thatcher would have lunch tuesday with andrei d . sakharov , the soviet physicist and dissident who recently returned to moscow after seven years of internal exile . thus , the events today continued the principle that the two sides appear to have worked out for the thatcher visit . she and her host are stating their positions firmly , but without personal rancor , while she is given an unusual degree of publicity and access to the russian people . wide exposure given that was evident sunday in her handshaking tour of historic sites and a suburban moscow housing complex and supermarket . it continued today with an extended television newscast of almost 30 minutes on the activities of mr . gorbachev and his guest . the arrangement serves the political purposes of both sides . mrs . thatcher is enhancing her reputation for statesmanship as the british general_election approaches , while mr . gorbachev promotes his campaign for openness and reorganization . tonight , mrs . thatcher was firm on such points as seeking limits on short range missiles and on britain 's need for an independent nuclear_deterrent because ''nuclear_weapons have deterred not only nuclear_war but conventional war in europe . '' but she was more conciliatory in suggesting a way to ease soviet apprehension about the american plan known as ''star_wars . '' 1972 abm treaty raised she spoke of an exchange of testing schedules for anti missile systems as a confidence building step that could be coupled with agreement by both sides to abide by the antiballistic_missile treaty of 1972 for a time .

has a location of britain

when people talk about a peace_dividend in northern_ireland , roger johnston is part of the new world they have in mind . remote from the familiar images of hooded gunmen , defiant marchers and the bloody debris of bombings , mr . johnston , 36 , a father of two , commutes between his 5 , 000 square_foot home in a late model silver bmw ( with baby seat in the back ) . he works in a new business_park on the city 's raw outskirts as european representative of avalanche technology a software start up based in denver that became the latest high technology company to open an operation here . it was drawn , in part , by british_government grants intended to switch the economy from old to new . to complete the picture , mr . johnston is one of the province 's prodigals the migrant sons and daughters who , unlike those in the irish_republic , still outnumber the stay at homes . he left northern_ireland in 1984 to work in london and chicago after earning a degree in business_administration at queen 's university here . now , he has been drawn back by what he calls quality of life considerations and a sense that economic renewal is now possible for the first time in decades . ''we are n't really confident yet , '' mr . johnston said . ''but we are a lot more confident than we were 10 years ago . we are prepared to say that we can compete on a global basis . '' of course , the politics has had a bumpy ride since the so called good friday peace agreement was signed under american tutelage in 1998 . but when president_clinton comes here for a swansong visit intended to re energize the faltering accord , belfast start_ups like avalanche will be one of the proofs offered by local worthies that this torn and still bloody province is on the cusp of a resurgence comparable to that of the irish_republic , the so called celtic tiger economy , just to the south . ''we are in the endgame of whether we are going to pull this off or not , '' said sir reg empey , the minister of enterprise , trade and investment . ''but we do n't believe the problems are insoluble . what i can say is that if you look back at the position 10 years ago , it 's totally transformed . '' there are other changes , too . when mr . clinton paid his first visit as president in late 1995 one year after a ceasefire , he used the backdrop of mcerleans bakery on the staunchly roman_catholic falls road for a groundbreaking public encounter with gerry_adams , head of sinn_fein , the political arm of the irish_republican_army . even the bakery has changed in a way that gladdens those seeking to coax entrepreneurship from a region still dependent on handouts from london . in the president 's honor , the bakery 's new owner , kerry o'connor , has renamed her establishment clinton 's hot food sandwich bar and bistro , serving quarter pounders , fries and scones . ''in the past people did n't start up because they were afraid they could n't make money , '' said ms . o'connor , 31 , a former waitress who took a_20 , 000 bank loan to take over the establishment five months ago and spruce up its interior with bright mauve and yellow decor , bedecked with irish and american flags . ''there are better opportunities now , '' she said . ''more people have got jobs . they spend more . and i think everybody has put the troubles behind them . '' in a telling counterpoint , on the troubled mainly protestant shankill road where rival paramilitary groups run fiefs that compete for the spoils of conflict , another woman running a small business lowered her voice to a nervous whisper and declined to be identified by name when asked to talk about how business was going . ''there 's no peace_dividend here , '' she said . indeed , said sir george quigley , the chairman of ulster bank , the province 's second largest , until the peace has proved its durability , ''you are going to get some potential investors who say that until it 's all hammered down , we are not going to take a decision'' on risking money here . much of what northern_ireland puts on display is eerily reminiscent of the successes of the irish_republic low wages , a high proportion of young , skilled people and corporate incentives . unemployment now is at a low of 6.1 percent compared with its peak of 16 . 8 percent in 1986 . that is higher than in the rest of britain or in ireland , but lower than european averages and no longer makes the region the sickly laggard among britain 's most depressed areas . the province 's growth , indeed , local dignitaries say , is the fastest within britain , while foreign investment has boomed to record highs , 80 percent of it in high technology industries . in the 1990 's , the provincial economy created 90 , 000 new jobs . and since a ceasefire in 1994 , foreign investment has totaled 3 . 2 billion , rising and falling in step with the fortunes of peace efforts . along the belfast waterfront , glittery new prestige buildings a theater and a leisure center , hotels and offices reflect a surge in property development . house prices in belfast were up 25 percent in 1999 , the authorities said . but , of course , that is not the whole story . economic_growth has been handicapped by almost three decades of conflict that have cost more than 3 , 000 lives . with one time mainstays like shipbuilding , textiles and farming in decline , the province is heavily dependent on handouts from london . more than one third of the available jobs are in the government bureaucracy . a staggering 55 percent to 60 percent of the provincial economy is derived from taxpayers' money and northern_ireland remains poor in comparison with scotland or wales , with less than 80 percent of britain 's average per capita wealth . and , while the figure is half what it once was , it still costs the public purse about 13 , 500 to create one new job . ''you would expect to see a lot of money sloshing around , creating fairly buoyant consumer demand , '' said prof . john bradley , an economist with the independent economic and social research institute in dublin . ''but as an outsider i would n't mistake that for anything but funding from outside . '' outsiders , too , tend to be more skeptical than insiders about the whole idea of a peace_dividend . ''the notion is getting a bit thin , '' professor bradley said . ''the first thing you have to adjust for in northern_ireland is that this is a psychologically battered region , and they definitely want to be pointing at something that 's going well . '' while northern_ireland seeks to emulate the boom in the irish_republic , it finds itself disadvantaged by one element in its neighbor 's success europe 's single_currency . ireland is a member of the euro_zone while northern_ireland , as part of britain , is a holdout . yet , the two places share a porous frontier that enables northerners armed with strong british pounds to head south to hunt for bargains . and exports from northern_ireland to the rest of europe bear the burden of the strong british_pound . the difference in the gasoline price alone makes a huge impact , sir reg , the enterprise minister , said . by driving 40 miles , motorists can buy gas at the equivalent of 2 . 64 a united_states gallon , compared with 4 . 23 in northern_ireland , where british gasoline taxes are among europe 's highest . gasoline smuggling costs the province 140 million to 280 million , he said . ''the euro is devastating a whole range of northern_ireland industry , '' professor bradley said . ''they have a huge exposure to the southern market , but they ca n't compete'' against an exchange_rate that makes the british_pound so expensive compared with the irish punt . so why invest here when , just down the road , a cheap currency , long term corporate_tax breaks and membership in the euro_zone might seem to offer a better launching_pad for continental_europe ? part of the answer lies in ireland 's own success . so popular has dublin become for foreign investors that prices are rising and trained people are in shorter supply than in the north . the most compelling reason to focus on northern_ireland is the ready availability of skilled people , said alan gillespie , a former investment banker with goldman , sachs who heads the northern industrial development board , a government_agency that promotes investment . ''the republic of ireland is experiencing considerable congestion and high labor costs , '' he said . ''northern_ireland has a cost structure that 's quite attractive . '' not to mention free money . when avalanche technology , for instance , began its northern_ireland operation as the first link in a global chain of software outsourcing businesses , three quarters of its modest start up capital of roughly 5 . 6 million came from a british venture_capital_firm , 3i , and the rest from government funds . subject to the company 's success in profitability and job_creation , the total is set to increase to 32 million , roughly 5 million of it from the authorities . on average , the industrial development board said , its contribution to new investments is 20 percent . avalanche said it would create 480 jobs by 2005 . some two and a half years after the province 's politicians signed a historic peace accord , mr . johnston says he has just hired his first 50 software engineers , both protestants and catholics , and found no difficulty at all in dipping into a pool of trained talent . both donor and recipient prefer to minimize the role played by grants . ''i would play down the financial incentives , '' said fred crowe , the chief executive of avalanche , in a telephone interview from denver . ''it was n't the ultimate decision maker'' in his choice to put the new company 's first european operation in northern_ireland . ultimately , mr . crowe said , it was due more to other factors like the availability of people , broadband telecommunications links , finding a gateway to europe and anticipating being able to attract many people back to ireland . and it did not hurt that mr . crowe is himself a native of northern_ireland . salaries , too , make a big difference . according to mr . johnston , software engineers in northern_ireland may be hired for the equivalent of about 25 , 000 a year , compared with starting levels of 35 , 000 in britain . and , while northern_ireland , like the irish_republic , once suffered from its isolation , the advent of a wired , global economy has reduced its sense of remoteness . ''northern_ireland is not just coming out of a political and civil shadow , '' dr . gillespie said , ''but the emergence of a globalized economy means that geography is no longer a disadvantage . '' and others are crossing their fingers that the economic advances will prevent the political process from sliding back into conflict . ''there 's a buzz about the whole situation , '' said sir george of ulster bank . ''people are saying 'why do we want to lose all that ? ' it would be absolutely crazy . ''

has a location of britain

until mid august , louis gearing might have felt that in his 18 years he had achieved just about as much as he could have hoped for . he had been appointed head boy at his school . he was set for a place at oxford_university . he even had plans to share his college years there with his fianc e . then the_dream withered . at that moment of frenzy familiar to americans in particular , when teenagers join the annual joust for places at college , possibly thousands of britons like mr . gearing discovered that their grades in the exams that are crucial for university entrance had been arbitrarily lowered . the ensuing outcry led today to the dismissal of the chief regulator of examinations and strong calls from the political opposition for the ouster of britain 's education minister . the dispute has turned a classroom drama into a lightning_rod for political_dissent , adding to a litany of complaints over public services . in the case of mr . gearing , the unraveling began on aug . 15 when he went back to his school to learn his final grades . he expected that he had earned an a in french and german and a b in history , to satisfy oxford_university 's requirements . the examiners disagreed and gave an ''unclassified'' grade for his course work in history , equivalent to a failure . the grade brought his overall score down to a figure just fractionally below the required level , and he thus lost his place at st . anne 's college , oxford . ''i felt i must have done something wrong , '' he said . ''at the pinnacle of our education , it 's just all gone wrong for a lot of us . '' he was not the only disappointed student at his state financed school in baldock , 30 miles north of london . james lacey and hannah rose also discovered that their overall grades needed to study psychology at a university had been dragged down by failing grades . ''i was pretty confused , '' mr . lacey , 19 , said . ms . rose , 18 , added , ''i went home and cried . '' the results were all the more bewildering because the award winning school had been improving its passing rates on the nationwide advanced exams , known as the a levels and taken by all british college candidates , to its best ever . yet , according to the principal , peter chapman , 14 out of 20 students were given ''fail'' grades on their psychology course work . at first , mr . chapman thought the puzzling grading affected only his school . then word spread of setbacks at other schools . ostensibly , the lowering of grades was intended to avert accusations that with the introduction this year of a new testing system the a levels were getting systematically easier . but the furor also touched other unresolved debates about university education in britain whether it is too elitist , or too lax , and whether it admits too many students from state financed schools . none of that made much difference to the students . mr . lacey and mr . gearing are now preparing to take their exams again , or get their papers regraded , and finally qualify for a university , one or even two years later than expected . some , like karolina stein , a student in birmingham who missed a place at bristol university , argue that their lives have simply been put on hold . a levels have no clear equivalent in the united_states . they were introduced in 1950 , when a smaller percentage of students went on to college , to provide what was called a gold_standard of excellence . critics of the system say academic standards have steadily fallen to accommodate increasing numbers of poorly qualified students . others argue that higher_education is still elitist . at the same time , educators have wrestled with the a levels , trying to broaden the curriculum . the furor stirred by this year 's puzzlingly low grades led eventually to an official inquiry . michael tomlinson , the former chief schools inspector , concluded today that no one was specifically at fault . but sir william stubbs , the top regulator overseeing three examination boards , quit today after a bitter dispute with estelle morris , the education minister . ms . morris rejected calls for her own resignation and said sir william had been fired . mr . tomlinson suggested that pressure originating with sir william had filtered down the system to examiners , who lowered some grades in order to ensure that this year 's results did not show a surge of passes , which might have been taken as evidence of lower standards . he promised that some papers would be regraded , none of them downward .

has a location of britain

lead britain 's wpp group announced yesterday that it had completed the acquisition of the jwt group , parent of the j . walter_thompson agency , having completed its tender_offer and receiving 97 percent of the shares_outstanding for 55 . 50 a share . britain 's wpp group announced yesterday that it had completed the acquisition of the jwt group , parent of the j . walter_thompson agency , having completed its tender_offer and receiving 97 percent of the shares_outstanding for 55 . 50 a share . advertising

has a location of britain

blue circle industries p.l.c. , a british building materials and heating supplies company , said yesterday that it would cut up to 500 more jobs this year as part of its plans to reorganize its heating business in britain and continental_europe . the staff reductions come in addition to december 's announcement of more than 600 job cuts in britain , france and germany , bringing the total to around 1 , 150 . ( bloomberg business news ) international briefs

has a location of britain

the proposed sale of british_airways p.l.c . 's engine overhaul business to the general_electric_company of the united_states will not be referred to the monopolies and mergers commission , the department of trade and industry said in a statement , reducing the likelihood that completion of the deal will be delayed . british_airways agreed to sell the business , which performs repair and overhauls services for civil jet_engines , to g.e . for about 272 million , or 480 million , in august . company news

has a location of britain

seven years ago , britain 's conservative government decided to give publicly financed schools the opportunity to govern themselves , in a sense . under the plan , primary and secondary_schools could for the first time opt out of their local educational authorities and choose to be run instead by an independent board of governors . now school control has become a hot political issue here , with the conservative and labor parties divided over how well the change in control has worked and whether to move completely in that direction or to dismantle the plan . in creating the new system , the conservatives felt it would serve two purposes . first , it would remove the schools from control by the 117 local authorities in the country , many of which are liberal leaning . second , it would give the schools more autonomy , in keeping with the government 's general philosophy . the schools that have taken the option , known as grant maintained schools , receive money from a quasi_governmental central agency . the boards of governors include parents and teachers who set admissions policies , control hiring and firing and spend the school 's money . some 1 , 000 primary and secondary_schools have taken the government up on its offer , the department for education and employment said about 25 , 000 , however , have decided to remain under local government control . proponents of the new system say it has been an unequivocal success , pointing to a recent study showing that although london 's 93 grant maintained schools had more students per teacher than the 185 traditionally run schools , they also scored higher on standardized_tests . opponents of the schools pointed out , however , that students in grant maintained schools tended to be better off and have fewer special needs than those in other schools , which might explain the figures . in addition , many school principals have argued that the financial perks the government gives the grant maintained schools siphon resources from other schools and would be impossible to maintain if too many schools became self governing . labor 's confusion over the issue was compounded this year when tony_blair , the party leader , sent his son to a grant maintained school in west_london . he was , he said , making the choice " as a parent , not a politician . "

has a location of britain

another meteorite from mars has been found to contain evidence for possible life on that planet , british scientists reported yesterday . american geologists , who in august first announced finding possibly life related chemical and mineral compounds in an older mars rock , said the new research was ' 'very exciting and independent confirmation'' of their own startling and controversial results . the british discovery was certain to encourage intensive testing of meteorites from mars and increase scientific interest in new spacecraft missions to the planet , the first of which is scheduled for launching next wednesday . the fact that the latest evidence comes from a much younger meteorite , scientists said , indicated that some kind of life could have existed on mars more recently than had been thought likely . spacecraft observations of the planet 's landscape strongly suggest that mars was once a warmer and wetter planet and could have supported at least some forms of microbial life . the british examined a meteorite , designated 79001 , that crystallized 175 million years ago and was ejected from mars , presumably by an asteroid impact , only 600 , 000 years ago . the previous evidence came from a potato size rock that crystallized about 3.6 billion years ago and was blown away from mars 16 million years ago . both were found on the ice of antarctica . ''this is great , '' said dr . michael meyer , a biologist who specializes in extraterrestrial studies at the national_aeronautics_and_space_administration in washington . ''it means we have more than one sample with hints of life . and it means mars could have been inhabited for quite a long period and could even have some life today . '' the new findings , reported in london at a meeting of the royal society , were the result of research by dr . ian wright and dr . colin pillinger of the open university in milton_keynes , england , and dr . monica grady of the open university and the natural_history museum in london . their laboratory is considered by scientists to be one of the best in the world for studying carbon in extraterrestrial materials . the british scientists could not be reached for interviews after the meeting , but a description of their findings was included in the meeting announcement . their analysis revealed the presence of organic compounds in the meteorite that could be associated with life . one line of evidence suggested carbon compositions that are usually formed from microbially produced methane . dr . everett k . gibson jr . , a geologist at the johnson_space_center in houston , was familiar with the research and provided details in a telephone interview . he is a co leader , with dr . david s . mckay of the johnson center , of the team of nasa and university scientists that made the first discovery of what they said were hydrocarbon compounds , minerals and possibly microfossils associated with primitive microbial life on mars . ''we 're pleased that the british results support our data , '' dr . gibson said , noting that they were based on a different type of analysis in a different laboratory . after the american report was published in august in the journal science , dr . gibson and his colleagues drew a skeptical response . as dr . gibson described it , the british group heated samples of the meteorite to several levels of high temperature , at each step examining gases emanating from the rock . any earth contaminants near the surface would presumably have escaped at the lower temperatures . in this way , the scientists identified carbon compounds in the samples with a composition that , dr . gibson said , ' 'may be similar to that produced by microbial activity . '' the signature for this was the discovered ratio of carbon isotopes , atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei . at least 12 meteoritic fragments , collected by geologists in antarctica in the 1980 's , have been determined to come from mars . the meteorite studied by the british , 79001 , is considered the ''rosetta stone'' of the lot , because it was the analysis of trapped gases within the rock that linked the objects to mars . the gases were almost identical in composition to atmospheric samples gathered by the viking spacecraft in 1976 . definitive conclusions about the possibility of martian life may have to wait until spacecraft bring carefully selected samples back from the planet , possibly in a decade or so . nasa is planning 10 flights of orbiting spacecraft and robotic landers to explore mars , beginning with the launching next week of mars global surveyor , a low cost unmanned craft to study the planet 's climate and geology from orbit . another craft , designed to land on mars , is to be launched on dec . 2 , aiming for an arrival at the planet next july 4 .

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siri eklund looked at 54 apartments here before finding one with a perk that she simply could not resist proximity to britain 's first whole foods supermarket , scheduled to open in june . ''my friends all laughed that i was the only person in the world who would choose an apartment based on the location of a whole foods store , '' said ms . eklund , 32 , a new yorker whose home in the kensington neighborhood is within walking distance of the supermarket 's site . but actually ms . eklund had to consider a little more than grocery shopping when it came to renting her spacious two bedroom flat in the observatory gardens complex just north of kensington high street , one of west_london 's most popular shopping strips . she pays a weekly rent of 802 , or nearly 1 , 600 , for her 900 square_foot home . ''rent is paid by the week here and not the month , '' said ms . eklund , who was transferred to london in december 2005 to become senior brand manager for mo t chandon . ''and renters not landlords have to pay the local property council tax here . '' the monthly rent works out to 3 , 208 , or 6 , 309 . and the monthly tax adds another 110 , or more than 200 , for a total of 3 , 318 , or 6 , 525 . in comparison , rents in new york averaged 3 , 460 for a two bedroom apartment in a building without a doorman and 5 , 346 for a two bedroom apartment with a doorman , according to january 2007 figures from the real_estate group new york . still , ms . eklund 's rent seems nearly a bargain considering that london is now the world 's most expensive property market . with rents in the central part of the city having climbed 5 percent last year , a penthouse in nearby knightsbridge might have a weekly rent as high as 15 , 000 , or 29 , 000 . and when it comes to buying , things are n't much better . buyers pay an average of 5 , 860 per square_foot for luxury housing in central_london , compared with 5 , 276 per square_foot in new york . the market is being driven by a variety of factors generous salaries and bonuses , especially those being paid out by the capital 's thriving financial sector demand from foreign buyers and renters and a simple lack of supply . yolande barnes , director of savills research in london , said she expected both consumer confidence and appetite to remain high in the coming years . she predicts that house prices in britain will grow by an annual average of 6 percent over the next five years . ''growth will be even greater than this in the most supply constrained locations , like london , '' she said . the pound is approaching the 2 mark for the first time since 1992 that strength is actually what is keeping ms . eklund from buying a home . ''i 've got my assets in dollars , '' she said , ''and so i 'm waiting to see what the pound will do . everything costs about twice as much in london , but salaries are only about 20 to 30 percent higher . '' in addition to establishing rents by the week , property companies in london conduct exhaustive inventories on rented properties that can often take hours , making note of every little scratch on the wall or mark on the carpet before a renter moves in . while the examinations are designed to protect both landlords and renters , ''they would n't be so picky in new york , '' ms . eklund said . during her apartment search , she added , she got ''gazumped . '' in britain , that is slang for being dumped by a seller or landlord who has agreed to a deal with you but gets a better offer . ''i made an offer on the first apartment i wanted and it was accepted , '' she explained , ''and then someone later came in and offered more money and the landlord just took it . '' when ms . eklund finally came across the apartment in observatory gardens , she had to bid against others , raising her offer three times in the process . ''in the end , i had to pay six months' worth of rent in addition to a six week security deposit in order to finally win the apartment , '' she said . ''it can be very challenging trying to rent in london . '' yet she really likes what she found . foreigners have always been drawn to kensington by its museums , including the natural_history museum and the victoria and albert by its proximity to hyde_park and by the many restaurants and specialty stores lining kensington high street . observatory gardens , which occupies an entire block , is a magnificently renovated victorian brick terrace that once was home to sir james south , founder of the royal astronomical society . during world_war_ii the building was seriously damaged when a german bomber crashed nearby and its decline continued as its ownership changed several times in the decades after the war . but these days , from the exterior , it looks just as it did when built more than a century ago . northacre , a development company , bought the site in 1992 . rather than rebuild the norm in london during the 1980s it chose to refurbish the facade while creating 53 flats and 74 underground parking_spaces behind it . ''you wo n't find any radiators around this apartment like you would normally in london , '' ms . eklund said , ''because there 's under floor heating . the apartment really does have everything . '' the airy open plan apartment , which has seven large windows in the kitchen and living room , also has 24 hour monitoring . ''if the porter detects too much heat in my kitchen , he 'll call up and ask , 'are you cooking right now ? ' '' ms . eklund said . ''they want to make sure everything is o.k . ''

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continuing a recent trend in which the world 's richest religion prize has gone to scientists , john d . barrow , a british cosmologist whose work has explored the relationship between life and the laws of physics , was named the winner yesterday of the 2006 templeton prize for progress or research in spiritual matters . dr . barrow will receive the 1 . 4 million prize during a ceremony at buckingham_palace on may 3 . the prize was created in 1972 by the philanthropist sir john marks templeton , who specified that its monetary value always exceed that of the nobel_prize . five of the last six winners have been scientists . asked about this , dr . barrow said , ''maybe they ask the most interesting questions . '' dr . barrow , 53 , a mathematical sciences professor at the university of cambridge , is best known for his work on the anthropic principle , which has been the subject of debate in physics circles in recent years . life as we know it would be impossible , he and others have pointed out , if certain constants of nature numbers denoting the relative strengths of fundamental forces and masses of elementary particles had values much different from the ones they have , leading to the appearance that the universe was ''well tuned for life , '' as dr . barrow put it . in a news release , the prize organizers said of dr . barrow 's work ''it has also given theologians and philosophers inescapable questions to consider when examining the very essence of belief , the nature of the universe , and humanity 's place in it . '' dr . barrow is the co author of ''the anthropic cosmological principle , '' a primer on the subject , as well as 16 other books , more than 400 scientific papers , and a prizewinning play , ''infinities . '' asked about his religious beliefs , dr . barrow said he and his family were members of the united reformed church in cambridge , which teaches ''a traditional deistic picture of the universe , '' he said . noting that charles darwin is buried in westminster abbey , dr . barrow said that in contrast with the so called culture wars in america , science and religion had long coexisted peaceably in england . ''the concept of a lawful universe with order that can be understood and relied upon emerged largely out of religious beliefs about the nature of god , '' he said .

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of the many keyboards coming to market for hand held computers , one of the more interesting is the logitech keycase , a laptop size model that also serves as a soft protective case when wrapped around a palm organizer . it is the first widely available consumer product made of elektex , a fabric created by eleksen , a british company . the keyboard relies on what eleksen calls soft technology , in which thin sensors are embedded in layers of fabric . when a user presses a letter on the surface , the embedded sensors send a signal to the palm telling it which letter to display . because the sensors are less than one millimeter in depth , they allow for flexibility as well as function . the keycase has a cradle for the palm , which when placed upright activates the keyboard . the keyboard is compatible with the palm m125 , m130 , m500 , m505 , m515 and i705 . it sells for 99 . 95 and is to be available this month from online retailers . stephen c . miller news watch peripherals

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heir to the throne , defender of causes ranging from organic food to alternative_medicine , prince_charles has cast himself as a man for modern times . but he has become embroiled in a much older dispute in this class conscious land should people simply know their place and stay there , as was once expected of them , or should they reach for their dreams in the way americans hope to ? either way , the prince may find that , once again , his image has been tarnished by what some people see as his magnetic attraction for gaffes . the debate was inspired by testimony on wednesday at a court in south_london where elaine day , a former staff member in the prince 's household , alleged that she was dismissed unfairly from her job after complaining of unwelcome sexual advances by a royal aide . but the debate broadened beyond the perennial questions of sexual misbehavior in royal circles , inspiring an unusual public spat involving a government cabinet minister and prince_charles himself . it began when ms . day told the tribunal that during her time in the prince 's employment between 1999 and 2004 , she had asked whether the royal household offered a route to promotion for secretaries . ''what is wrong with people these days ? '' the prince responded with evident exasperation in a memo written in 2002 and made public wednesday at the tribunal . ''why do they all seem to think they are qualified to do things far above their capabilities ? ''this is all to do with the learning culture in schools , '' it added . ''it is a consequence of child centered education system which admits no failure . people seem to think they can all be pop stars , high_court judges or brilliant tv presenters or infinitely more competent heads of state without ever putting in the necessary work or having the natural ability . '' it was not clear whom the memo was addressed to or how ms . day obtained it . but at the tribunal , she said its message was clear . ''the culture in the royal household extends from the prince of wales , '' ms . day said . ''it was a household which was structured very much in the edwardian fashion . everyone knows their place and if you forget it the system will punish you . '' the airing of such accusations plays into britain 's long running debate between those who support the monarchy and those who believe it is an anachronism . the prince himself acknowledged on thursday that he had some ''fiendishly old fashioned views , '' but did not refer directly to the hearings . but , unusually , the memo also drew a tart personal attack on the prince on thursday from a government minister charles clarke , who is in charge of education . ''to be quite frank i think he is very old fashioned and out of time and he does n't understand what is going on in the british education system at the moment , '' mr . clarke told a radio interviewer . ''we ca n't all be born to be king but we can all have a position where we can really aspire for ourselves and for our families to do the very best they possibly can . '' paddy harverson , prince_charles 's spokesman , insisted that the prince had , in fact , been pleading for individual rights in education . ''he thinks everyone is not the same and everyone has different talents , '' mr . harverson said . ''what education should be geared toward is giving everyone the chance to make the best of those talents in their own way . '' prince_charles is hardly a stranger to the swirl of public debate , but some politicians clearly wished they could steer clear of this dispute . at a news conference alongside visiting president jacques_chirac of france , prime_minister tony_blair was asked what he thought about the dispute . ''if everything that i wrote on a memo in a moment of exasperation was given widespread publicity , i might make for a few headlines myself , '' he told reporters . ''i 'm staying out of this one . ''

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ntl , a british cable_television provider , said it would eliminate 2 , 000 jobs , bringing the total jobs cut this year to 8 , 800 , nearly one third of its work force . the company is also freezing pay for managers to cut costs and is selling assets to reduce about 17 . 5 billion in debt . the sale of a unit that provides satellite links and broadcasts television programs has recently run into trouble . france t l com , which owns 25 percent of ntl , said last month that it would bid for the unit only as part of a consortium . analysts had expected france t l com to buy the unit on its own . suzanne_kapner ( nyt )

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conservatives returned today from the coastal town of blackpool , where their annual party conference ended on friday with an address by prime_minister john_major in which he proclaimed that the tories were " united , healed , renewed and thirsting for the fight with labor . " despite his rallying cry , the three day conference saw the party in power lurching to the right and a raucous and divisive tone that was not customary for the tories . in his keynote speech mr . major promised he would lead them to a fifth straight election victory by offering tax cuts , a greater choice in schools and strong stands against scottish autonomy and european federalism . he said he would put 10 , 000 more closed_circuit security cameras in shopping areas and 5 , 000 more police officers on the streets , and allow m.i . 5 , the internal security agency , to fight drugs and organized_crime . the opposition , tony_blair 's labor_party , has jettisoned the principle of common ownership in a move to capture the middle ground . so mr . major may have been flogging a dead horse when he looked into the television cameras and exhorted the public to " beat labor one more time and you have beaten socialism out of this country for good . " an election must be held by may 1997 . mr . major 's party is down in the opinion_polls from 20 to 28 points , depending on who is doing the polling . it is suffering from the sort of scandals and fatigue that might be expected from 16 years in power . and it is badly divided over how much sovereignty to surrender to the european_union in brussels . but much of that seemed beside the point as the thousands of delegates cheered after listening for 70 minutes to the impeccably groomed , mild_mannered man whom many find uninspiring but comforting for his ability to bridge differences and project an image of decency and up from the bootstraps rectitude . mr . major played into that theme today by reminding his listeners that he came from basic , lower middle class stock . " my father made garden ornaments 40 years ago , and some fashionable people find that very funny , " he said . but , he added , his upbringing put him in touch with the dreams and sacrifices of small business men , especially when his father 's enterprise failed . conservative_party conferences are usually occasions for some tough sounding oratory from the delegates . no conference is complete without a delegate or two demanding restoration of hanging . but this time much of the tough language at the podium came from cabinet members and so more or less reflects the government 's official position . michael portillo , the new defense secretary , delivered a scathing attack on closer european_integration , asserting that a tory government would never allow britain to be part of a common european army . ( such a proposal does not exist . ) just imagine it , he said , his voice dripping with sarcasm , they would " stop our men from fighting for more than 40 hours a week , " and " send half of them home on paternity leave . " the gibe brought cheers in the conference hall but condemnation from brussels . jacques santer , president of the european_commission , called the remarks " grotesque . " mr . major 's address was noticeably softer . he promised to double to 60 , 000 the number of government grants for lower income students to go to private schools , and to find a way to " give people more of a say " in scotland . this was an attempt to hold off huge gains in scotland for labor , which has promised devolution of power through a proposed scottish parliament that would have limited powers .

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lead britain 's inflation_rate , the scourge of prime_minister margaret_thatcher 's conservative government , rose sharply in march , to 8.1 percent , from 7.5 percent in the previous month , the government announced today . the annual increase in the retail price index , britain 's main measure of inflation , was the highest since last summer . britain 's inflation_rate , the scourge of prime_minister margaret_thatcher 's conservative government , rose sharply in march , to 8.1 percent , from 7.5 percent in the previous month , the government announced today . the annual increase in the retail price index , britain 's main measure of inflation , was the highest since last summer .

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under a new plan intended to address britain 's growing problem of school absenteeism , the british_government today proposed granting principals , welfare caseworkers and police officers the right to fine parents of students who are chronically absent from school . ''we need to increase the instruments that are available so that we can deal with parents who collude in persistent truanting , '' a spokesman for prime_minister tony_blair said . according to the proposals , announced by the education secretary , charles clarke , parents of students who miss an undue amount of school without permission would be obliged to sign a contract pledging to improve their children 's attendance . if the children continue to avoid school , the parents would be subject to fines of up to 2 , 500 , about 3 , 900 at current exchange_rates , or , if that fails , criminal_prosecution . the government , whose previous efforts have made little dent in the truancy problem , says that some 50 , 000 pupils a day miss school without permission and that many more behave in an unruly manner in school . it is up to parents to turn the situation around , mr . clarke said in a speech , adding that ' 'discipline begins at home . '' ''quite simply , we ca n't raise educational standards if pupils miss school and behave badly when they are there , '' he said in announcing the new package . ''these measures are about ensuring we as government do all we can to restore order in our classrooms . '' but david hart , general secretary of the union representing school principals , said he was worried about giving school officials powers that , he said , should be handled by law enforcement officers . ''i am not sure it will do much for the relationship between the heads and these parents , '' mr . hart said in a television interview . all previous efforts by mr . blair 's labor_government to tackle the problem of chronic absenteeism has met with little success in reducing the numbers of students missing school . last spring , in a case that received wide publicity , and is believed to be the first of its kind , a mother in oxfordshire was sentenced to 60 days in jail after being found guilty of allowing two of her children to miss school chronically . the mother , who had been repeatedly warned about the situation by school officials and whose children were usually at home with her when they should have been at school , was released after two weeks following an appeal .

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britain 's financial regulator said today that it would temporarily suspend some rules governing how insurance_companies invest in the stock_market , in an attempt to forestall a snowballing effect when insurers are forced to sell stocks into a falling market . the changes would replace firm rules with discretionary leeway on when to sell losing positions and how much stock to hold . rules meant to guarantee the solvency of insurance_companies require them to pull money out of the stock_market any time their reserves are insufficient to absorb a_10 percent fall in stock prices and still pay claims . when the market falls suddenly , the rules can force them to dump stocks to raise cash at a time when such sales would tend to accelerate the downward trend . the financial_services agency said that for now , insurance actuaries will be allowed ''to apply their professional judgment'' in making portfolio decisions rather than have to hew to a strict rule . ''we recognize that in current unusual market conditions , further steps are necessary to avert the need for some insurance_companies to sell equities for short term technical reasons in a way which could be damaging to the interest of their policyholders , '' the agency said in a statement . though it rose sharply on monday , the benchmark ftse 100 stock_index is off 8.3 percent since the close on sept . 10 , the last before the terrorist attacks in the united_states . many analysts have speculated that such a slide would force british insurers like prudential ( unrelated to the american insurer of that name ) and cgnu to sell large stockholdings . of course , many major insurers , like lloyd 's of london , munich re and swiss re , will find themselves forced to sell because they need cash to pay claims related to the attacks . but the agency said that as long as insurers meet other solvency requirements , it did not want to make an already wobbly stock_market weaker by obliging them to switch automatically from equities to bonds just to comply with a statistical guideline . today 's announcement was the second in two weeks of a relaxation of the agency 's rules . on the day of the attacks , the depth of decline in stock prices that insurers' reserves must be able to cover was reduced to 10 percent from 25 percent . the new rule on discretion ' 'should give investors a bit more confidence , '' said trevor may , an analyst at schroder_salomon_smith_barney . insurance_company stocks , among the hardest hit last week , regained ground today . prudential jumped nearly 12 percent in london cgnu rose 5.5 percent .

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to the editor the account of midwifery in england described care the writer received after the birth of her child and illustrates important gaps in american obstetrics ( ''so lucky to give birth in england'' ) . the public_health system in england treats birth as the beginning of a family with both health_care and health education needs . the medical system in the united_states treats birth as an isolated medical event . we discharge families from care when the ''patients'' no longer require hospitalization . this is shortsighted . it has multiple consequences that harm families . the importance of breast_feeding in preventing childhood illness and the detection of postpartum depression are two examples . midwifery care and postpartum home visits would save thousands of dollars in health_care costs . we commend the royal college of midwives for its services . an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure . tekoa king washington the writer edits the journal of midwifery women 's health .

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information , as the saying goes , wants to be free . in this spirit , a growing number of internet_service_providers have begun offering completely free internet_access no monthly charges and no start up fees . companies like netzero , world spy , freei . net , and even kmart ( yes , kmart ) now let anyone with a computer and a modem browse the web at no cost , and , through aggressive advertising campaigns , aim to lure web users away from fee based services like america online and earthlink . and the trend is accelerating in january alone , established web names like alta vista and juno joined their ranks . free access has been slower to catch on in the united_states than in countries like britain , where the debut last year of dixon 's freeserve , run by an electronics retailing chain , was so successful that many competitors , including aol , now offer free services of their own . in britain , though , telephone customers pay by the minute for local calls , which means a so called free internet connection can still be costly . few internet experts expect such dramatic changes on this side of the atlantic . zia daniell wigder , an analyst at jupiter communications , a new york based company that provides research on internet commerce , predicts that 13 percent of net users will gain access via free providers by 2003 a healthy amount , but probably not enough to scare aol . ''the free services are catching on , '' ms . wigder said , ''but they are competing against each other , not just aol . '' why has free internet_access been a greater hit in britain than the united_states ? for one thing , industry analysts say , the british tend to spend less on entertainment . also , established i.s.p . 's command greater customer loyalty in the united_states . ''aol offers a very good service that people are addicted to , '' said bruce kasrel , an analyst at forrester research , a research company in cambridge , mass . , that analyzes how changes in technology affect businesses and society . ''free i.s.p . 's will not be the primary way people access the internet in the future . '' nonetheless , free i.s.p . 's are a burgeoning presence in the united_states , with a dozen companies offering national services and many regional i.s.p . 's offering something like free connections ( many charge one time set up fees ) . i recently signed up for a number of the largest providers and tested them over several weeks . the ground rules i ignored providers who promised free monthly service but charged a hefty set up fee , avoided services that could not provide a local phone_number ( in my case , area_code 718 ) and tried to rely only on free technical support , which was sometimes available only by e mail . in short , my goal was to evaluate the quality of internet_access i could get without paying a cent . to begin , i downloaded the software from the free i.s.p . web_sites using my existing provider , a regular phone line , a 56k modem and windows 98 . anyone who does n't already have an internet provider can order the software by phone , usually for less than 10 . among the following free i.s.p . 's , only freei is compatible with macintoshes . netzero netzero ( www . netzero . net ) the biggest of the free i.s.p . 's , reports having three million subscribers , all with pc 's ( it does not work with macs ) . netzero subscribers must use windows 95 , 98 , nt or 2000 . downloading the software and answering a marketing questionnaire , a necessary part of the sign up process , took an hour . after i had used netzero a few times , an ambiguous error message began cropping up on my computer ''691 member id password invalid or we may have temporary system difficulties . '' since i had been using netzero successfully , i figured that it was the latter . but i could not be sure because netzero does not have toll free technical support by phone you must either pay for a call to southern_california or use the service 's ''platinum'' phone support , which is 14 . 95 per call . if the service is down , you obviously cannot use e mail or consult a web_site for help unless you have another internet provider . i decided to use another i.s.p . to send e mail to netzero 's technical support service . all i got was a standardized response urging me to upgrade to the latest version of netzero . it was faster to register again under another name , with a new id and password . the error message disappeared , but i would not want to re register every time i encountered a problem . netzero provides free e mail , and it comes with a window for advertisements , called the zeroport , that can be moved around but not removed from the screen . the zeroport was only a moderate distraction i found it least obtrusive at the bottom of the screen . worldspy ''free internet_access , ''the worldspy advertisements say ( www . worldspy . com ) . ''our accountant is n't happy . '' neither was i , after realizing that worldspy 's memory gulping software would occupy 8 megabytes on my hard_drive . and there were glitches a dialogue box kept reappearing on the screen , the service intermittently disconnected and occasionally when i dialed in , the worldspy application would start , then enigmatically disappear from the screen . on the positive side , worldspy 's technical support includes a toll free phone_number , and the people there were prompt and helpful although the first time i tried it , i was cut off in midcall . a representative solved the dialogue box problem without too much difficulty and assured me that the mysterious disappearing application was caused by a software bug that worldspy was attempting to fix . worldspy does not include an advertising window like zeroport . worldspy is an online retailer , and its internet_service is intended to draw traffic to the site . its service is compatible with windows 95 , 98 and nt , but not yet with windows 2000 . over all , i had enough connection problems to give me pause about using worldspy as a long term i.s.p . freei setting up freei 's software is quick , provided you have version 5 of microsoft 's internet explorer . anyone using an earlier version of explorer will first have to download version 5 , which can itself be a lengthy process , to install freei . in fact , almost all free i.s.p . 's use explorer as the default browser , perhaps because netscape is now part of aol . freei ( www . freei . net ) , based in seattle , does not have a toll free number for phone support , but the service itself presented a minimum of connection problems . since freei provides access for macintosh users with os 8.0 or higher , apple partisans may choose to go here first and consult friends if technical issues arise . freei is also compatible with windows 95 , 98 , nt and 2000 . alta vista one of the best known portals on the web , alta vista ( www . altavista . com ) , recently started offering free internet_access . the software downloads rapidly , and alta vista allows users to list several local phone numbers in the setup program . if the modem encounters a busy signal when dialing in , it will try the next number on the list . alta vista provided a reliable connection and has a highly detailed trouble shooting guide , parts of which pertain to basic networking and protocol issues and could be useful no matter which i.s.p . you use . the service works with windows 95 , 98 , nt and 2000 . alta vista also provides free technical support by phone , which in my case included about a_10 minute wait on hold . juno an established i.s.p. , juno ( www . juno . com ) offers a choice between its premium service for 9 . 95 a month and completely free access . among other differences , the premium service includes free technical phone support , which costs 1 . 95 per minute if you choose the free service . premium users also have more local phone numbers to choose from . but like alta vista , juno 's free service also allows users to list several local numbers in case of a busy signal , and it offers a dependable , consistent connection . it does not take long to download juno 's software , either . in fact , the most time consuming part of the set up process is answering a tedious personal questionnaire , which is by far the longest of any free i.s.p . reviewed here . juno 's free service also requires windows 95 or any later version , including windows 2000 . bluelight ( kmart ) when i learned that kmart was in the free i.s.p . business , i pictured a cheesy service with pop up advertisements distracting me while i perused the web ''attention , kmart surfers . we now have a blue light special on garden hoses . '' as its name indicates , though , kmart has a sense of humor about its cyberventure ( www . bluelight . com ) . bluelight does show a video advertisement while your modem is dialing , and it includes the usual on screen advertising window . these distractions aside , bluelight emerged as a dark horse winner . it took just a few minutes to download the software and to register . the service is run in collaboration with yahoo the default home page and users are given a yahoo . com e mail address . bluelight runs with windows 95 , 98 , nt and 2000 . i have yet to experience a single software glitch , connection problem or curious error message with bluelight . when i tested its technical support by phone , i reached a representative within a minute . granted , that required a call to the 409 area_code ( texas ) , but that seems like a reasonable trade off . indeed , using free i.s.p . 's generally means accepting trade offs like connection difficulties and limited technical support , but that can also be true of services you pay for . you may have to endure an advertising window , and many free i.s.p . 's monitor the online activities of their users . almost all free service_providers require windows as a platform . and if you are using the internet for professional reasons , it is a good idea to try a free i.s.p . for a while before relying upon it too heavily . but if all that seems reasonable to you , there is one undeniable benefit a very nice price . places to look a number of internet_service_providers provide free web access , in addition to those mentioned in the article . here are some of them . unless otherwise noted , these services are compatible with only windows 95 , 98 , and nt . the simpsons www . thesimpsons . com free internet_access and e mail brought to you by the site of the long running hit series , but only for windows users . d'oh ! it runs with windows 2000 . excite home www . excite . com where would a major portal be these days without offering free net access ? excite 's freeworld works with windows 2000 . freewwweb www . freewwweb . com this site says it was the first national provider of free access . it covers nearly every area_code in the country . ifreedom www . ifreedom . com local access numbers are limited in some states , especially in rural areas , but ifreedom is promising compatibility for mac users by the middle of 2000 . a windows 2000 version is also on the way . dotnow www . dotnow . com national coverage for dotnow is extensive . before downloading , use its search form to see if your local access number is available . tritium network www . tritium . net currently , tritium network covers only major cities and requires at least windows 95 . in return for free access , users must fill out an online survey once a month . free advice here are a few hints on how to make sure that you get more than you pay for from free internet_service . avoid hidden costs some free i.s.p . 's , especially local and regional providers , advertise ''free service'' or ''no monthly fees'' but actually charge a hefty set up fee or make users purchase their software . check system requirements before downloading a free i.s.p . 's software , make sure that your system is compatible with it . most i.s.p . 's list system requirements , sometimes on a frequently asked questions page . read the fine_print some free i.s.p . 's terminate sessions if users do not click on a banner advertisement within a certain number of minutes others monitor use or require users to fill out surveys on a regular basis . look at the user agreement and any disclaimers on the site . correction february 29 , 2000 , tuesday an article in circuits on thursday about free internet_service omitted an operating system that is compatible with the freewwweb service . the service works with macintosh as well as windows computers .

has a location of britain

the downtown streets with their georgian row_houses and victorian clock towers have names that have long been thought of as typically british queen , wellington , duke , bank , castle . the shops and storefronts nestled among them have names that are fast becoming typically british marcia 's caribbean takeaway , imran 's southern fried_chicken , the kebab house , the somalian and mediterranean food hall . but the 40 , 000 nonwhite residents of this city of 530 , 000 in the heart of britain , many of them born and raised here and speaking in the distinctive broad vowels of a yorkshire accent , identify themselves as anything but british . they do not even say afro british it 's afro caribbean not asian british , simply asian . this self definition strikes a nerve in britain , where the government has made taking on a common_sense of british nationhood by the immigrant population a critical measure of progress in its push for racial_integration and assimilation . experience in cities like sheffield proves that it is one thing to transform churches into mosques , tea rooms into curry houses and old depots and cutlery workshops into ethnic community centers and something else again to turn people who feel foreign into self proclaiming britons . ''the only times i call myself british are when i go to get a passport and when someone asks me where my accent comes from , '' said jenni i'anson , 33 , a mental_health aide of jamaican parentage who was born in sheffield . ''otherwise i would never class myself as british . there is no sense of belonging here . i would only say that i am african caribbean . '' her nephew , theo hamilton , 15 , a third generation sheffielder , said , ''british to me means white , and i do n't get treated like a white person , so i do n't think of myself as british . '' european_countries are experiencing profound changes in their population mixes , and britain 's reputation as one of the region 's more stable multiethnic societies was shaken during the summer by a series of riots in cities with substantial immigrant populations . in the aftermath of sept . 11 , the country also found that it had been a breeding ground for young islamic radicals linked to terror groups and committed to holy_war against the west . according to the office of national statistics , britain is 7.1 percent nonwhite , with 2.2 percent of the population categorized as black , 3.4 percent from the asian subcontinent and 1.5 percent chinese and ''other groups . '' of the 82 , 000 people granted british citizenship in 2000 , 27 percent were from asia , 35 percent from africa and the caribbean and 8 percent from the middle_east . a government report on the summer outbreaks concluded that whites and ethnic minorities in britain were leading separate lives with no social or cultural contact and no sense of shared nationality . it urged immigrants to become active british citizens . in february , home_secretary david blunkett recommended that minorities speed the process of integration by adopting british ''norms of acceptability , '' and he proposed that newcomers take an oath of allegiance , study british history and culture and embrace ''our laws , our values , our institutions . '' sheffield , england 's fourth largest city , would seem to be a place where that project would enjoy more success than elsewhere in britain . race relations have been less combative here than in cities like london , birmingham , liverpool , bradford and leeds with histories of rioting . the local government has been more attentive and the police more communicative . ''here we do it better , '' said mohamed awale , 56 , a development worker of somali background who came here in 1994 . ''it 's not so explosive . '' but even nonwhite people in sheffield who have had success in getting educations , finding jobs and building stable lives say they still do not feel they are part of the same nation inhabited by white residents , and they resent the official entreaty to think otherwise . ''of course it 's the wrong thing to be asking of us , '' said zahid hamid , 46 , who came here from pakistan in the early 1960 's . ''what a lot of so called english want us to want is leafy oxfordshire . ''but what we want is a job , a decent place to live , safety , a chance to educate our children . we want to preserve our separate identities . and remember , we must still also maintain the economic link with our original homes . forty years later , i am still sending money back . '' britain 's policy had been one of championing multiculturalism , an approach that seeks to guarantee equality of opportunity while respecting and even celebrating cultural differences . many nonwhites in britain thought they witnessed a departure from that ideal with the publication of the report and the subsequent recommendations of citizenship classes and pledges . they reacted with bewilderment and anger . ''you ca n't give your allegiance to a country that is trying to exclude you , '' said seaton gosling , 63 , the jamaican born chairman of sheffield 's black community forum . ''everyone wants to keep the right to preserve his culture and identity . '' the exclusion that arouses their anger is the barrier they feel white society places in the way of job advancement . ''i have a ph . d. , and i find it impossible to get past a certain level , '' said abdul shaif , 40 , an education officer with the city_council who came here in 1971 from yemen . ''not one black manager has made it onto the ladder . '' uttering a lament common to minority workers in immigrant societies , raja shaffique , 44 , a pakistani born housing officer , said , ''we have to be twice as good as our white colleagues to get the same job . '' while sheffield , like other british cities , has largely segregated residential patterns , that form of separation upsets minority residents less than the blockage in workplace advancement . for many of them integration appears to be less of a goal than it is for the government . ''even after 40 years here , i like to see a black face close by , '' said mr . gosling of his afro caribbean neighborhood . ''it 's a kind of comfort . but i have to add that if society had shown us years ago that it wanted us , it would n't have driven us into this kind of protectiveness . '' ms . i'anson said young people were even less interested in integration . ''the young generation is more segregated than we were , '' she said . ''they 're more aware of the issues . '' she said she recently gathered a group of black youths to try to interest them in a job that had come up . ''do you know what the first question always was ? '' she asked . '' 'is the boss black or white ? ' '' her nephew theo said the only white people he ever encountered were police officers who regularly stopped him on the street . ''i do n't know any white kids , but i try to mingle with them so i wo n't get picked up so much , '' he added . isadora aiken , 50 , a jamaican born business manager who came here in 1967 , said ''people are simply not integrating . i go out onto the high_street and into the downtown department_stores , and black people are not visible there at all . '' mr . shaif protested the imperative the government was putting on integration . he said a teenager he had a conversation with days earlier explained the quandary of being asian and british at the same time . ''by day i 'm english , '' she said . ''but at night i 'm yemeni . '' angela baugh , a 39 year old filmmaker of jamaican background , and her two children were born here . ''i am second generation and the mother of the third , and none of us say we 're british . '' she said she was reminded of her outsider status every time she came back to britain from abroad and went through customs . ''when i go into the european_community line , i 'm stopped and quizzed and made to feel like i 'm either an asylum seeker or a refugee , '' she said . ''so how am i expected to ever feel british . ? ''

has a location of britain

wessex water p.l.c . said yesterday that it wanted to bid for a neighboring utility , south west water p.l.c. , in what would be the largest consolidation in the british water and sewage industry since the government sold it piecemeal in 1989 . a marriage of south west with wessex would be the first among britain 's 10 major water and sewage companies . the two combined provide water to 2.6 million people and sewage services to 4 million in the southwest of england . wessex said it would offer mainly cash , at a " commercially justifiable premium " to south west 's closing share price on tuesday of 508 pence . south west water 's shares soared 70 pence , to 608 , after rising 30 pence on wednesday amid rumors of a bid . ( bloomberg business news ) international briefs

has a location of britain

northern_ireland hardly needs help remembering bloody sunday , when british paratroopers shot and killed 14 unarmed civil_rights marchers in londonderry on jan . 30 , 1972 . those events are etched in collective memory . even so , individual witnesses have trouble recounting where they were and what they saw that day . their memories are vivid , but the cityscape of londonderry has changed so much that witnesses lose their bearings . the 10 story rossville flats housing_project in the bogside neighborhood , for example , which towered over the scene of the killings , was torn down 13 years ago . the common inability to connect old memories to a new landscape presented a handicap to a british_government inquiry convened a generation later to investigate bloody sunday . so to help witnesses orient themselves in 1972 londonderry , investigators commissioned a virtual_reality program . using a touch_screen , witnesses on the stand can pick the street corner on which they were standing , turn 360 degrees to show the court where soldiers and demonstrators stood , and trace their movements with a drawing program like those used by sports commentators . in addition to the 20 inch touch_screen in the witness box , the courtroom is equipped with more than a dozen monitors , including individual touch_screens on the tables of lawyers and judges and overhead projection screens for spectators . ''i was hurtled back 30 years in a very tangible way , '' said david tereshchuk , a journalist who had not revisited the site since 1972 . ''i could see the point where the soldiers fired , and then swivel 180 degrees and see the other direction . i remembered seeing a bullet break a piece of masonry off a wall , something i had n't thought of in years . '' the effect can be experienced at a computer screen as part of ''hidden truths bloody sunday , 1972 , '' an exhibition that runs through march 17 at the international_center_of_photography in midtown_manhattan . the software program for the computerized re creation was designed by malachy mcdaid , a multimedia developer for the northern_ireland council for the curriculum , examinations and assessment , an agency that is financed by the british_government and provides education and technology services to the province . ''the software was designed to enhance memory , '' said mr . mcdaid , 39 , who attended the demonstration and whose cousin was killed in the shooting . ''the witnesses are 30 years older than they were on the actual day of bloody sunday and would have found it difficult to recall buildings that have long since gone . i also designed it for people who had no experience using computers . '' since formal hearings in the inquiry began at the guildhall in londonderry two years ago , two of three witnesses have used the software on the stand , mr . mcdaid estimates . the witness first touches one of 83 points called ''hot_spots'' on a map of londonderry . the spots were chosen as key vantage points based on statements given by 1 , 500 witnesses in the initial stages of the inquiry , which was announced by prime_minister tony_blair in january 1998 . the hot spot button opens a 360 degree photo of the location as it looks today . by moving a finger left or right , the witness virtually turns in space . if the location has changed since 1972 , and most of them have , the witness can push a button to show a corresponding artist 's rendering of 1972 londonderry , or another to enter a composite created with photographs and drawings . these views swivel 360 degrees as well . to create the 360 degree views , mr . mcdaid 's team set up a camera tripod on the actual hot spot and shot a series of photographs at 30 degree intervals with a wide angle lens . software stitched the photographs together into a continuous panorama . consarc design group , an architecture firm in belfast , created the virtual models . many of the hot_spots are also indexed to a photo gallery that displays pictures of the bogside neighborhood and sometimes of the march and ensuing violence taken from roughly the same vantage_point . a witness can ' 'move'' through the virtual londonderry by using a walk through function . in the 360 degree drawings of the 1972 city , hot_spots are visible as gray dots . touching a dot opens the adjacent 360 degree view from the direction in which a witness ''approaches'' it . this creates the illusion of walking from one place to the next . if moving from one hot spot to the next is confusing , witnesses can back up , swivel around or shift between current and 1972 views to regain their bearings . finally , to illustrate movement or lines of fire , witnesses draw on the screen . to do this they press save to freeze a screen shot and activate a drawing program . by finger painting on the screen , the witness creates a diagram similar to those made by television sports commentators . the diagram is saved and catalogued by a mainframe computer . ( this program is not activated at the manhattan exhibition because it runs on a personal computer . the more limited computing capacity at the photography center also requires visitors to navigate with a mouse instead of a touch_screen . ) new york prosecutors and defense lawyers who examined the software at the center said such a system could help juries understand testimony in conventional cases . ''you could have something akin to a site visit at almost every trial , '' said john irwin , a senior trial_lawyer at the manhattan district_attorney 's office . ( such excursions , which are supervised by judges , are rare . in 15 years of trying cases , mr . irwin said he has yet to take a jury to a crime scene . ) in a recent case involving a chase and a stabbing , mr . irwin had eight witnesses who saw the events from different vantage points , including apartment windows above street level . ''i would have needed a view of ninth_avenue from 49th to 51st street , '' he said . ''having the technology would have helped the jury to visualize the narrative . '' ronald l . kuby , the defense lawyer and radio talk show host , said that ''from a defense perspective , the program is most useful in challenging eyewitness accounts when the witness saw things at impossible distances . '' for example , he said , a police_officer might testify to having seen an inch square glassine envelope change hands at 50 yards . ''you can take the jury to the point where the witness sees the event and get a sense of distance , '' mr . kuby said . mr . kuby and mr . irwin agreed that the technology had one advantage that is rare in trial exhibits as a simple rendering of a location , it is not adversarial . ''i think both sides would agree on this most of the time , '' mr . irwin said . ''as corny as it sounds , this is a truth seeking technology . ''

has a location of britain

the first week in june , students in fred close 's ninth year english class in london sat down to 12 pages of word drills and reading exercises , part of a new nationwide examination intended to measure how well they and other 14 year olds were absorbing the lessons of britain 's five year old national_curriculum . but when the students turned in their work , the only grade mr . close handed out was to the government ministers and bureaucrats who had designed the test he flunked them for designing an exam he said was badly organized and cumbersome to grade , and bore little relationship to what is actually taught in the classroom . " it has absolutely nothing to do with measuring real student progress , " said mr . close , who gave the test only to confirm his own doubts , and says he will not record the results of his class , at quintin kynaston , a secondary_school in north_london similar to a high_school . officially , mr . close joined teachers in all but a handful of britain 's 4 , 400 secondary_schools in boycotting the june examination , which dealt a sharp setback to government plans to provide , for the first time , a comparative national measure of math , science and english skills among 14 year olds across england and wales . five years after government ministers and educators embarked enthusiastically on their ambitious campaign to raise standards and insure equal educational opportunity , britain 's grand experiment in a national_curriculum is foundering . a focus of angry and paralyzing debate while there is widespread acceptance of the curriculum 's overall ambition to set down agreed curriculum standards in the hope of improving pupils' basic skills in reading , writing and mathematics arguments over how to institute the curriculum and its proposed protocol of tests and assessment measures have become the focus of angry and sometimes paralyzing debate between government ministers and teachers , from the shires of rural england to london 's inner city . " i 'm a strong believer in establishing national standards and a national_curriculum , " said mr . close , whose own class of 23 students includes 11 who do not speak english as a first language . " but if we keep the system as it is , 40 percent of the children in my class ca n't even sit for the test as written . the point is , they are learning and they are making progress , but the test does not measure that . " as the boycott threat gathered steam , john patten , the former oxford geography don who took over as britain 's education secretary last year , agreed to order a full scale review of the way the curriculum was being carried out , especially the schedule for testing and assessment . but so far , even that concession has failed to diminish the acrimony of the debate , which has often been more like a schoolboys' lunchroom brawl than a policy disagreement among adults . when mr . patten rose earlier this month to speak at a conference of school headteachers , or administrators , in newcastle , the audience responded with sustained booing and heckling , a chorus that peaked when he declared , " the measurement of children 's progress is one of the keys to raising standards . " cries of " rubbish ! " and " nonsense ! " came from the hall . the growing divide between the government and educators is such , said peter mortimore , the deputy director of the institute of education at the university of london , that " the whole idea of a national_curriculum is now at a crossroads . " the national_curriculum was adopted by the government of prime_minister margaret_thatcher in 1988 . it set out national standards for england and wales in 10 subject areas , including technology , physical_education and a modern foreign language , as well as mandating national testing for every schoolchild at ages 7 , 11 and 14 to assess performance of schools and pupils in meeting the new standards . for its part , the government has described the teachers as throwing up obstacles to badly needed education reforms , which are intended to enable parents and the public as education consumers to better measure the progress of students and their schools . setback to reforms at downing_street , a senior adviser to prime_minister john_major acknowledged that the boycott had dealt a setback to the government . but he contended that both mr . major and mr . patten were undeterred in their effort to enforce the reforms , which they describe as part of an effort to bring " market oriented " thinking to an education establishment that consumes public revenues without having to adhere to any real performance standards . " we acknowledge that the measurements we proposed were not perfect , " the aide said , noting that a review was under way that would , among other things , simplify the next round of tests . but he said britain had no choice but to press forward , given both the nation 's educational achievement , which he described as well below that of both germany and france , and continuing problems of young people leaving school early . according to one recent survey by british business , for example , illiteracy and poor basic learning skills cost british industry some 8 billion annually . but it was n't until this year that the festering complaints of teachers reached full chorus , focused mostly on the plans to begin testing 14 year olds . " in a nutshell , the national_curriculum is a good idea that has gone very , very bad , " said henry iven , of the national association of school masters union of women teachers , one of britain 's major teaching unions . " it is not well thought out , and it has added enormously to the workload of teachers . " some teachers and educators have taken issue with specific aspects of the curriculum on which the tests were based , particularly its efforts to set out national standards for the teaching of english . there have been complaints that proposed reading lists give too little leeway to teachers , and that the emphasis on so called " standard english " syntax and pronunciation ignores the richness of regional dialects . in june , for example , 600 university teachers joined a letter to the times of london , condemning the government for its " doctrinaire preoccupation " with grammar and spelling , " as well as its insistence that the study of shakespeare should be an integral part of the curriculum . but the heart of many teachers' complaints is the government 's insistence on publishing what it calls league tables , which will rank the nation 's schools according to the performance of the pupils on tests , without allowing for differences in teaching resources or social and cultural backgrounds . " they are wasteful of people , time and resources , " said geoff thomas , a history teacher at quintin kynaston . " and at the end of the day , they only damn you . you do n't need tests to know the kids in my class , most of whom come from africa or india , wo n't do as well as students in a lot of other schools . why rub their noses in it ? " in many ways , the debate over the national_curriculum in recent months has had more to do with politics than educational philosophy . the national_curriculum was part of a broader education_reform that the sunday_times of london recently described as one of mrs . thatcher 's " big ideas , " and part of a larger conservative agenda that also included her determination to privatize public utilities and diminish the authority of labor_unions . to that end , the thatcher_government bloodied the teachers' unions in the early 1980 's , when they sought unsuccessfully to mount national pay strikes . 'get their own back' now , some educators and teachers acknowledge , the unions seem determined to " get their own back , " by defying the major administration 's effort to carry through with the thatcher reforms . the unions are shrewdly reading the political winds , which in recent months have been blowing against mr . major . public opinion_polls this spring have ranked him as the least popular prime_minister since such opinion_surveys began in the 1930 's . interestingly , surveys that showed strong support among parents for the original reforms in the late 1980 's also now show parents siding with the teachers in their current dispute over the testing . " the program is not lost yet , not if the government works more closely with teachers and educators , " said professor mortimore . " but that means the government must say they were wrong to push it ahead as fast as they have that they were wrong to do it without closer consultation with teachers , and that some of the goals they set were not attainable . "

has a location of britain

in 1984 , as almost everyone in the world must know by now , tina brown , editor of the tatler , left london to come to new york and take over as editor_in_chief of vanity_fair . what no one knew , however , was that a british invasion of american magazines had begun . ms . brown was followed three years later by anna wintour , editor in chief of british vogue , who took over hg and soon thereafter vogue . over the next few years , british editors took over the helm at the national review , conde_nast traveler , details , the new republic , tv_guide and harper 's bazaar . ms . brown is now the editor of the new yorker . and just last week , gabe doppelt , a south_african who was trained in london by both ms . brown and ms . wintour , became editor_in_chief of mademoiselle . what is going on here ? " it may be that the english are so well trained in language and that we are experiencing a reinvigorated appreciation of language , partly in reaction to tv omissions and partly because language counts , " said roger rosenblatt , a contributing editor at the new republic and vanity_fair . or maybe this is just snob appeal . as mr . rosenblatt puts it , " the economist is everybody 's favorite magazine to call their favorite magazine . " british editors may simply carry a kind of cachet , which probably has more to do with their accents than their editing . " i think we are talking about images , " said edwin diamond , media critic for new york magazine . " i think it is an emotional love affair . i do n't think there is any confirmed data that says that british women have better taste or sharper editing instincts than american women . " nonetheless , charismatic force seems to be an increasingly requisite quality for editors of high profile magazines . when hearst wanted to shore up harper 's bazaar this year , it turned to elizabeth tilberis , a glamourous and talented editor who succeeded ms . wintour at british vogue . ms . tilberis 's first issue of harper 's bazaar was a self proclaimed testament to the new elegance in fashion and its very elegance became an unstated testament to the renewed vigor of the tired magazine . the british influence extends beyond magazines . harry evans former editor of the times of london , became founding editor of conde_nast traveler and later became president of random_house . ( mr . evans reports to alberto vitale , who was born in italy and raised in egypt and who also has under him sonny mehta , an indian who worked for many years in britain and now heads knopf . ) but british publications are known for taking not only the high road glossy , gossipy magazines with beautiful pictures of aristocrats and royalty but the low road of lurid tabloid journalism . interestingly , three american equivalents the star , the national enquirer and the globe , all supermarket tabloids are headed by british editors . in fact , some people say there is a kind of high_culture , low culture synthesis that is peculiarly british . it is the mix of soap_opera reportage and investigative journalism that anthea disney is bringing to tv_guide and the mix of celebrity and serious journalism that became the mark of vanity_fair under tina brown . graydon carter , a canadian who succeeded ms . brown at vanity_fair , said british magazines , which have smaller circulations than their american counterparts , were more conducive to experimentation . " you can be braver and more adventurous if the mistake may be the difference of 10 , 000 copies in britain than of 300 , 000 here , " he said . david hirshey , deputy editor of esquire , agrees . " we are going through a particularly cautious phase in the history of magazines , " he said . " in come our british friends with their brash enthusiasm for the daring and the raunchy filtered through this pristine cultivated sensibility that renders them safe for american consumption . " in what would once have been considered an outrage , ms . brown is bringing over alexander chancellor , a british writer , to edit the new yorker 's " talk of the town , " a quintessentially american feature . james truman , the british editor_in_chief of details , says the british sometimes have a sharper ear and a different eye for life here that americans simply take for granted . " i think i have an overheated romanticism about american things , " said mr . truman , who has lived in the united_states for 11 years . " i 'll sort of get excited about something here , and americans will look at me and say , 'are you crazy ? that 's not exotic . ' " but like andrew sullivan , british editor of the new republic , mr . truman said he had come to feel more american than british . " i moved here when i was 22 years old and i felt like i had finally found home . " mr . chancellor and the other british journalists ms . brown lured to the new yorker and vanity_fair are examples of what leslie hinton , president of news america publications , calls " the snowball dynamic when you get english editors who know english editors . " the better known editors are at the top of the mastheads , but the british influence is found throughout many magazines . " from the pieces tina brown selected at vanity_fair , you could see clearly the british sensibility was driving the magazine , " mr . rosenblatt said . " the english have certain historical skills , such as the skill of argument with grace . maybe bring ing in these english editors shows that we are feeling a little more comfortable with ourselves and allowing ourselves to embrace self mockery . " " we lost self mockery and irony in the 60 's with political seriousness , and we have not gotten them back , " he added . " oddly , we have now sent abroad for them . "

has a location of britain

citing persistent ' 'deterioration across the economy , '' the bank of england lowered its benchmark interest rate today by half a percentage point , the third cut in as many months and the second consecutive time it did so by a half point . the cut , to 6 . 25 percent , reflected anxiety over the slowing performance of the british economy and the growing threat posed to it by turmoil abroad . ''the prospects for global activity appear to have weakened , and commodity prices have fallen further'' since its last cut on nov . 5 , the central_bank said in a statement . the move came a week after 10 of the 11 nations joining a single european currency , the euro , lowered rates to 3 percent . the cut is intended to give some relief to manufacturers and exporters that have attributed a deep slump in sales to britain 's higher rates and the strong pound . it still left the securities_repurchase_rate , the minimum at which the central_bank lends to commercial_banks , more than double that in the rest of europe . financial markets had expected a rate cut , and stock and bond prices showed little change . the ftse index fell 8 . 80 points , or less than two tenths of a percent , to 5 , 660 . 30 , and the yield on government 10 year bonds held near a record low of 4 . 49 percent . the pound held at a one month low of 2 . 76 german marks . the bank 's decision brought a swift response from lenders , with the principal mortgage banks all cutting their rates by the same half point within minutes of the bank 's announcement . although the housing market has not suffered the same problems as other sectors of the nation 's sluggish economy , there has been a marked slowdown in sales over the last six months . kevin gardiner , senior economist at morgan_stanley international , said that ' 'survey data from the manufacturing and service sectors have been consistently negative since last month , '' with a growth in inventories particularly worrisome . this indication of a decline in consumer confidence was cited by business leaders and retailers worried about poor early holiday sales . ''a cut of at least half a percent was essential to boost flagging consumer demand before the christmas period and also to help encourage sterling on its downward path , '' said dr . ian peters , deputy director general of the british_chambers_of_commerce . kate barker , chief economic adviser at the confederation_of_british_industry , welcomed today 's announcement as evidence that the central_bank was alert to the dangers of deflation but warned that more cuts were needed . ''with economic weakness now spreading out well beyond manufacturing , this cut is unlikely to be the last and will not in itself ward off the impending downturn in growth , '' she said . jeremy batstone , analyst at natwest stockbrokers , said the move was praised in the city of london financial district , where most traders had expected only a quarter point drop . the bank of england was given independence last year to set interest rates free of government direction , but its nine member monetary_policy_committee is still obliged to maintain them at a_level that prevents inflation from sliding more than 1 percent above or below the current 2.5 percent target . despite government forecasts of continued growth , many economists are predicting that britain will experience a sharp slowdown or a small recession in the first half of 1999 . companies have issued profit warnings not just in britain 's depressed manufacturing industry but also in the service_sector that has been held up by the government of prime_minister tony_blair as the key to britain 's economic future . international business

has a location of britain

after a review of final exams in many high_schools , examiners gave improved grades to almost 2 , 000 of some 91 , 000 students who had complained of their grades being lowered in tests crucial for university entrance . the issue had threatened to undermine confidence in britain 's higher_education and caused a political furor . but the regrading showed that the impact on college entrance had been limited to 168 students who failed to secure places at their universities of first choice and a further 73 who had been denied entry to their preferred courses of study at their first choice universities . alan_cowell ( nyt )

has a location of britain

an american spacecraft , the robotic roving vehicle called spirit , landed on mars late saturday night and radioed home that it is apparently safe and ready for three months' searching for signs of water in the planet 's early history . the first signals of success were intermittent and inconclusive as spirit appeared to be bouncing and rolling over the surface . the suspense finally ended when flight controllers reported the reception of a ' 'strong signal'' from the rover 's small antenna . chris jones , director of planetary flight projects at the jet_propulsion_laboratory , announced that deep space antennas in australia and california had ''a solid lock'' on radio signals direct from the 400 pound lander . early indications , mr . jones said , were that the craft was resting upright after bouncing for more than a mile after touchdown . officials said this should make it easier for spirit to shed its protective petals , raise a camera laden mast and start taking pictures of its surroundings . the landing , at about 11 25 p.m . eastern time , brought joy and relief at the jet_propulsion_laboratory , in the foothills of the san gabriel mountains . missions to mars fail more often than they succeed , and the last american landing effort , in 1999 , was an embarrassing failure . only this christmas_eve , the british built beagle 2 tried to land and has not been heard from since apparently a failure . for days , officials of the mission had gone out of their way to prepare the public , and perhaps themselves , not to be too optimistic . even if the landing was successful , they said , a radio signal of the craft 's status might not be received immediately . the silence need not be alarming , they cautioned , unless it continued through sunday . but data received during spirit 's entry into martian atmosphere and descent to the surface indicated that the craft performed normally and was on target . the craft plunged into the upper atmosphere at a speed of 12 , 000 miles an hour . it was six minutes to touchdown 437 miles downrange at the 100 mile wide gusev crater , near the martian equator . the landing was a nail biter . spirit turned its heat shield toward the angle of attack , a parachute opened , the heat shield was jettisoned , retrorockets fired and then it was on mars . the craft 's aim had to be precise and in six crucial minutes of descent , the sequence of critical steps had to be taken on time . the flight was being controlled entirely by commands from spacecraft computers , with no time for human intervention . the absence of a clear message heightened the anxiety that had been rising for days among flight controllers , scientists and officials of the national_aeronautics_and_space_administration . they had said there was a strong chance that the craft would not be able to signal its status until sometime on sunday . much depended on being able to relay the signal through two spacecraft in an orbit of mars , or to get a direct call through before mars rotated out of communications range with earth . concerns for the mission are one reason nasa sent two spacecraft to deliver rovers to the martian surface to take advantage of the planet 's current closeness to earth . an identical rover , named opportunity , is on its way to a scheduled landing at another site in three weeks . the 800 million mission of the two spacecraft was designed to look for evidence in the rocks and sediments of liquid water on the surface in the martian past . ample signs of dry riverbeds and other erosion there have encouraged the search . where there is or has been liquid water , astrobiologists think , there could have been life . explaining the rationale for current explorations of the planet , dr . edward j . weiler , nasa 's associate administrator for space science , said ''mars is the closest place to look for life elsewhere , and the best place to look . water is a key to life , and we know mars has water , and that it was abundant there in the past . '' but geologists on the project emphasized that the landers spirit and opportunity were not equipped to search for living or fossil organisms on mars . launched last june from cape_canaveral , fla . , spirit carries nine cameras , two spectrometers for analyzing rocks and soil and a robotic arm for digging and scraping the surface . on landing the rover is to photograph its environs in color as the first step in planning travels over the site . it should be capable of daily traverses of as much as 300 feet . gusev crater is thought to be an ancient basin that once held a lake . examining the rocks and sediments are expected to answer some questions about the warmer , wetter past of mars , as geologists have hypothesized . the rover was not expected to roll into action for another nine days of testing and planning where it should begin looking for telltale_signs of water in the martian past .

has a location of britain

the fate of britain 's first unmanned mission to mars was in doubt thursday as the appointed hour for the beagle ii martian lander to signal from the planet surface passed with a disappointing silence from space . the tiny lander , a saucer only 25 inches across , was due to open up like a pocket watch on the martian surface and issue nine notes composed by the british band blur to a passing american mars odyssey spacecraft for relay back to earth . despite the initial radio silence , the science team directing the mars landing project in partnership with the european_space_agency and its orbital mars express mission was preparing for a second attempt to contact the beagle ii lander from britain 's jodrell bank observatory . ''i 'm afraid it 's a bit disappointing , but it 's not the end of the world , '' dr . colin t . pillinger , the chief scientist who conceived the beagle ii mission , told a news conference in london . ''please do n't go away from here believing we 've lost the spacecraft . '' while the fate of beagle ii was unknown , european space officials at mission control in darmstadt , germany , rejoiced that its mother ship , the mars express , had successfully entered mars orbit . ''we now have an operational mars mission , '' said jean_jacques dordain , director general of the agency . mars express will use a powerful radar to scan the subterranean features of the martian surface for signs of life supporting water resources . two american mars landers are due to touch down on the planet in january as the search for signs of life intensifies . the 140 pound beagle ii lander , about the size of an open umbrella , was designed and built on a shoestring budget by a team of mars enthusiasts from britain 's major universities working without formal organization or national financing . their initiative and pluck have captivated a large following . britain 's media mainstream and tabloid have covered the mars mission as if it were a galactic soccer match . scientists remained hopeful that the lander had survived impact on the surface and would be available to complete its mission six months' worth of digging and sniffing martian rocks and soil for signs of life and the bio chemical environment that could have supported it . the lander detached from the mars express on dec . 19 . it was scheduled to make its fiery descent to the planet surface at 2 54 a.m . london time , where a parachute and three air bags were to be deployed to brake its speed for impact to 40 miles per hour . the beagle ii was expected to bounce 100 feet in a landing scenario that created serious challenges for scientists trying to preserve its instrumentation during impact . the threat from an improperly deployed parachute or air bag , or an air bag puncture on jagged martian rocks were among the most serious worries during beagle ii 's development . ''this is not the end of the story this was the first opportunity , '' said david southwood , director of science for the european_space_agency . ''we 're sure beagle is down on the surface , and we just need to hear from it , '' he added . the lander is equipped with a five watt transmitter , which is enough for broadcasting to the mars express . the orbiter fired retro rockets early thursday and successfully entered mars orbit , scientists said . but it will be more challenging to search for beagle ii 's tiny signal even with powerful receivers on earth , as mission scientists hope to do now .

has a location of britain

hundreds of british college lecturers borrowed tactics once reserved for their students on thursday to demonstrate with bullhorns and banners for higher pay . the protest was part of a sharpening dispute , after months of failed negotiations , in which academics are refusing to grade final examinations and course papers unless their employers increase a pay offer . the dispute could mean that thousands of students will be unable to graduate . ''the money 's there , '' about 500 lecturers chanted as they gathered on thursday in leafy tavistock square . ''give us our share . '' examinations have been canceled or postponed at many colleges and universities , and the dispute has left many of the lecturers saying they are torn between their students and their paychecks . ''i would like to be back helping my students graduate this summer , '' said gavin reid , a senior lecturer in chemistry from the university of leeds in northern_england . but , he told cheering protesters , ''we have got to stay out . '' there are indications that the dispute is troubling the government , which wants to increase the number of high_school graduates who go to college and can barely afford campus chaos when it is embattled on so many other fronts . bill rammell , the higher_education minister , said the lecturers appeared to have rejected ''out of hand'' a slight increase to 13 . 1 percent over three years from 12 . 6 percent over the same period offered by the universities and colleges employers' association , which represents public institutions . concern is widespread that the dispute could devalue the degrees members of the class of 2006 receive . passions have intensified as colleges across the land prepare to raise tuition . the additional money is to be used to improve education . lecturers , currently paid on a scale from about 44 , 000 to 84 , 000 a year , had hoped for substantial raises . the dispute affects more than 100 , 000 higher_education academic personnel and other staff members grouped in a new union the university and college union which came into being on thursday after a merger between the association of university teachers and the national association of teachers in further and higher_education . the colleges insist that , despite increased government spending and tuition , they cannot afford to increase their pay offer . ''we have responded constructively to every request they have made in the course of talks and negotiations over the last weeks and months but each time we do so , they move the goalposts , '' said jocelyn prudence , the chief executive of the universities and colleges employers' association .

has a location of britain

a fierce bidding war broke out yesterday for control of the energy group p.l.c. , a big british utility , with pacificorp raising its offer for the company beyond a new bid made earlier in the day by texas utilities . pacificorp , which is based in portland , ore . , lifted its offer by 7 percent , to 7 . 2 billion , slightly more than the 7 . 1 billion bid by texas utilities of dallas . the willingness of the american companies to fight for the energy group underlines how desirable british utilities have become as the united_states follows britain 's move toward deregulation . several analysts said the battle could intensify further , with still higher offers from both bidders . texas utilities , whose entry into the battle had been expected , said yesterday that it was considering whether to increase its offer . to bolster its position , pacificorp said that it had acquired an 8.6 percent share in the energy group , paying 8 . 20 , or 13 . 54 , a share . energy group shares closed yesterday at 8 . 06 , up 28 pence . ''pacificorp really wants this company , '' said edward tirello of bt alex . brown in new york . analysts cautioned that the price could become too steep , with mr . tirello saying that if it reached the 9 a share range , he would begin to wonder . dan scotto of bear , stearns said that if the bidding rose in increments bigger than 100 million roughly 60 million the price could quickly become too high . texas utilities had said about a month ago that it was considering a bid for the energy group , as had a unit of nomura_securities of japan , which later said the potential price for the company was too high . texas utilities started yesterday 's bidding by offering 8 . 10 a share , or 13 . 37 , which was nearly 6 percent higher than the 7 . 65 a share , or 12 . 62 , offered by pacificorp on feb . 3 a bid that had been raised from an original 6 . 90 last june . late yesterday , pacificorp came through with its 8 . 20 bid . pacificorp 's stock closed at 23 . 625 a share yesterday , down 56 . 25 cents , while texas utilities closed at 40 . 5625 , up 12 . 5 cents , in trading on the new york stock_exchange . derek bonham , chairman of the energy group , had said before the higher pacificorp bid that his company 's board would recommend that shareholders accept the texas utilities offer . energy group could not be reached for comment on the latest pacificorp bid . utility companies in the united_states have taken over 7 of the 12 highly profitable distribution companies in britain , which is moving faster than the united_states in allowing customers to bypass their local utilities and purchase electricity from other sources . in addition to helping american utilities learn how to operate in a more competitive market , most of the acquisitions have helped the parent companies' earnings . the energy group is considered one of the strongest of the distribution companies , serving three million customers in eastern england including parts of north_london . whoever wins the bidding will also assume 3 billion of energy group debt , which effectively takes the price over 10 billion . under texas utilities' offer , two energy group businesses , peabody coal and citizens power , a trading company , would be sold to lehman_brothers merchant_banking partners ii l.p. , an affiliate of lehman_brothers holdings , for 2 . 3 billion in cash and assumption of debt . the strategy of texas utilities is different from that of pacificorp , which bid for the energy group in part to gain control of peabody , the largest coal producer in the united_states . pacificorp has many low cost coal fired plants and is one of the nation 's largest wholesalers of electricity . getting control of a big coal producer would help it trade coal for power around the country , which it then could sell wholesale to various power buying pools that are being set up by states deregulating their utility markets . the strategy of texas utilities was not only to gain control of a profitable company but also to use its expertise in the marketing of electricity to strengthen its own drive in the united_states to become a major marketer of power and natural_gas . texas utilities , however , would still have to pass a number of regulatory hurdles , including reviews by british officials . pacificorp has already gotten clearance from british agencies .

has a location of britain

no overall change is likely to come in the next couple of school years , in part because britain is facing a general_election sometime before next may , and neither political_party wants to commit itself to a particular education budget that might force the universities to charge tuition . an independent panel , led by sir ron dearing , an authority on educational issues , is studying the tuition issue and is expected to make its report in late summer , but the writing already seems to be on the wall . to americans resigned to paying close to 30 , 000 for a year at an ivy_league institution , the british system seems like a throwback to an old style socialist state . currently , all college students who are from britain or another european_union country are awarded free tuition at any british school for which they meet admittance requirements . the government also pays maintenance grants directly to students for living expenses , based on need the amount depends on such factors as where the students are enrolled and whether or not they live at home . the most any student gets is 2 , 340 ( the equivalent of 3 , 740 ) a year . if the fees are imposed , it is unclear how much money a british student would have to pay . about 30 to 40 percent of british university students are awarded the full maintenance grant for which they are eligible , said iain crawford , a member of the london school of economics' education funding research team . but many students find that the grants , which are meant to cover room , board , books and all miscellaneous living expenses , are not enough to account for even basic costs . as a result , they 're forced to do what students in the united_states have long done take out interest free student loans , albeit for much smaller sums than their american counterparts . ''the grant has been frozen for several years , '' said liz llewellyn , a spokeswoman for the national union of students . ''already some students are leaving university with debts of 6 , 000 ( nearly 10 , 000 ) . '' mr . crawford agreed . ''the package is about 25 percent lower than the absolute bare_minimum of expense , '' he said . at the same time , universities are increasingly hard pressed to meet all their own costs with the government allotted tuition money . the money is paid to the universities on a per student basis , according to a complicated funding formula that , for example , pays out more for pre med students and less for liberal_arts students . according to figures provided by the vice chancellors' committee , in the last school year , the average amount paid by the government for each student was 7 , 195 , far less than the universities say they need . since the 1988 89 school year , the number of students attending universities has increased dramatically , to 1.7 million from 830 , 000 students . ( the government made an effort to increase the number of students by adding schools and expanding existing schools . ) but at the same time , mr . nield said , per student government funding has decreased by 30 percent in real terms , in large part because government funding in the current fiscal year , its entire higher_education budget is 10 . 3 billion has n't kept pace with the increase in students . the financing situation , mr . nield said , has left universities with a cash crisis , forcing them to make choices between cutting capital programs or slashing recurring expenses . in most cases , said mr . nield , capital programs have been the most heavily hit . ''the reason universities have n't gone bankrupt is that they 've deferred maintenance on buildings , '' he said . ''the buildings have gotten more tatty and out of date , the universities have n't invested in infrastructure and equipment , and there 's a growing obsolescence problem , particularly in the sciences . '' universities have also frozen teachers' salaries and stopped spending on things like libraries , classrooms and dormitories . ''what we are seeing is a falling off in the standard of the student experience , '' mr . nield said . ''the classrooms are becoming overcrowded and there are fewer books and fewer places to study in the libraries the number of workstations , for example , has n't risen in line with student numbers . '' the vice chancellors' group met in early december to consider whether to advise its members to consider imposing tuition fees on british and european_union students ( foreign students already pay roughly between 10 , 000 and 24 , 000 a year , depending on their discipline , according to the vice chancellors' committee ) . in part because of the tory government 's last minute decision felt by many to be politically_motivated to pump an extra 160 million into the system over the next two years , the group put off a decision on the issue until next fall , after the dearing panel makes its report . but while the universities say that the extra funds are just a stopgap_measure that hardly settles future funding problems , the government itself , understandably , argues that the money should be enough to prevent the politically damaging imposition of tuition fees . ''our position is that we do n't think the universities need to charge these fees , that they already get enough money from their own sources and from the central government , '' said david peale , a spokesman for the british department of education . still , educators estimate that at least seven british universities are seriously considering having to charge tuition within the next few years . one of these is the london school of economics , which recently announced that it will probably charge fees for some students in the realm of 800 to 1 , 600 starting with new students in the 1998 school year . currently , about one third of the school 's 3 , 000 or so undergraduates are from countries other than britain or the european_union . the school needs their tuition payments which can go as high as 14 , 055 a year per student to subsidize the cost of educating its british and european_union students , for whom the government pays only about 4 , 100 to 5 , 000 ) a year each . ''we are concerned about the current u.k . funding situation , '' mr . crawford said . ''a lot of university governing bodies are putting themselves into a position where they will be able to make contingent decisions , '' such as being able to charge tuition should the next budget be unfavorable . a serious consideration for the london school of economics and other universities , mr . crawford said , would be to make sure that any imposition of tuition would not deter eligible students from attending the schools . ''the question that needs to be answered is to what extent do you insure that someone who is bright enough to go to l.s.e . is backed by loans or scholarships of some sort , '' he said . ms . llewellyn of the students' union , though , warned that charging tuition would deter many poorer students from attending a university at all even if the government was able to set up a favorable loan program . ''students now have to pay to live and eat and house themselves , so the least they can expect is for their education to be paid for , '' she said . ''if tuition fees were charged , a lot of people you would think of as middle_class would be priced out of going to university . '' college and money sarah lyall reports for the new york times from london .

has a location of britain

the bank of england left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 6 percent for the fourth month . the decision , widely expected by analysts , followed recent reports that industrial output , pay raids and price increases for houses are all slowing , reducing the threat of inflation . the trend has weakened the pound , which has fallen 8 percent against the euro from a peak of 1 . 76 euros on may 4 . alan_cowell ( nyt ) world business briefing europe

has a location of britain

lead the total number of unemployed in britain fell in july to its lowest level in more than four years , the department of employment said today . the government also said that average earnings rose 7 . 75 percent in the first half of 1987 . the seasonally_adjusted unemployment figure registered a larger than expected drop of 47 , 600 last month , to 2 . 87 million , or 10 . 4 percent of the work force . the total number of unemployed in britain fell in july to its lowest level in more than four years , the department of employment said today . the government also said that average earnings rose 7 . 75 percent in the first half of 1987 . the seasonally_adjusted unemployment figure registered a larger than expected drop of 47 , 600 last month , to 2 . 87 million , or 10 . 4 percent of the work force .

has a location of britain

three new york students are among this year 's winners of the marshall scholarships , it is to be announced today by the british ambassador to the united_states , sir christopher meyer . two of the three , tara helfman and her classmate joseph stern , share the honor of receiving the first two marshall scholarships awarded to queens_college seniors . a history major at queens_college , ms . helfman plans to study for a doctorate in history at cambridge as preparation for an academic career in history and a legal career in constitutional_law . mr . stern , with a double major in mathematics and philosophy , plans to study pure mathematics at imperial college , london , in preparation for doctoral work in the united_states after he completes his marshall scholarship . eric nelson , a history major at harvard , is the third new yorker to win the scholarship this year . he expects to study political thought and intellectual history at cambridge . the marshall scholarships often equated in prestige with rhodes scholarships were established in 1953 by the british_government as a gesture of thanks to the people of the united_states for the assistance provided by the marshall_plan after world_war_ii . the scholarships provide an oppurtunity for american students who have demonstrated academic excellence and leadership potential to continue their studies for two or three years at a british institution . twenty eight american colleges and universities are represented in this year 's list of recipients . following are the other marshall scholars bagert , broderick , boston_college . bahcall , orli , m.i.t . beerbohm , eric , stanford_university . benjamin , daniel , harvard_university . benson , jocelyn , wellesley_college . boyadzhyan , lucy , occidental college . brown , christopher , harvard_university . chuhta , jesse , colorado school of mines . cohen , andrew , yale_university . cutler , jillian , yale_university . dasgupta , anisha , yale_university . defrance , daun , university of texas at austin . evenson , elizabeth , university of chicago . foster , dante , university of alaska at fairbanks . goldstein , miriam , harvard_university . gudzowska , justyna , rice_university . halabi , sami , kansas state university . heuer . thaddeus , brown_university . johnston , richard , princeton_university . joyner , valencia , m.i.t . keefe , patrick , columbia_university . martinez , leonardo , northwestern_university . mcmullin , jaremey , georgetown_university . miyake , yuka , m.i.t . oppold . paul , m.i.t . pacold , michael , indiana_university . riemann , timothy , kansas state university . roberts , david , cornell_university . ross , bertrall , university of colorado at boulder . ruscio , lea , northeastern_university . seshamani , meena , brown_university . smith , stacey , virginia polytechnic institute . spires , tara , university of texas at austin . stephens , chris , oklahoma state university . sykes , jennifer , michigan_state_university . young , evan , duke_university . zapetis , craig , johns_hopkins_university . following are the marshall sherfield post doctoral fellowship recipients kaufman , jordy , duke_university . savla , ushma , northwestern_university .

has a location of britain

when bae systems , europe 's biggest military contractor , announced this month that it would lay off a fifth of its work force here , the job cuts looked like a familiar enough display of the ''hire 'em , fire 'em'' spirit that helps set british business apart from some of its more constrained counterparts in continental_europe . but it also showed how history , geography and a solid infusion of political maneuvering have conspired to create a jekyll and hyde economy in this country , where manufacturing has become the laggard and growth is driven by the service industry . that divide has long been a burden in towns like this northwestern outpost on the irish sea , 300 miles from london . but this time the worries coincide with signs that the british economy , vaunted as europe 's strongest , may be vulnerable . bae announced the cuts as it was negotiating to win the leading role in a_4 . 9 billion contract to build two aircraft_carriers in conjunction with the partly state owned french company thales group a deal tilted in bae 's favor by the sharp differences between france and britain over a possible war with iraq . some reports suggested that the announcement of the 700 job cuts here and 300 more at scottish yards was timed to coincide with the carrier negotiations . the aim , the reports contended , was to show how lean the company planned to be after a series of disastrous cost_overruns and delays on other big projects or to warn the government what would happen to british jobs if bae did not win the bulk of the contract . bae systems denied any link between the talks about the two 60 , 000 ton carriers and the job cuts . ''these were two separate issues , '' said mike smith , a spokesman for bae . ''there 's a shortage of work'' once the yards finish fitting out two troop landing vessels , he said , and that looming shortage caused the job cuts . but business leaders who went out of their way to lobby politicians in london on behalf of bae in the carrier negotiations said the job cuts came as a cruel and unexpected payback . not only did bae cut jobs sharply , it also shifted the construction of a navy destroyer under development here to scottish yards . that left barrow with only the troubled astute nuclear powered submarine contract , which has been dogged with long delays and big cost_overruns . ''important contracts are being taken elsewhere , and we are being left with a contract that has major difficulties , '' said harry knowles , chief executive of a business lobby group called furness enterprise . ''we felt let down . '' the carrier contracts should ultimately provide 10 , 000 british jobs , according to bae . the ships are , however , not expected to enter service until 2012 and 2015 , and that is too distant a prospect to yield much hope in a town that once drew great economic benefit from its location . from the late 1900 's on , abundant iron_ore deposits fueled steel mills that fed shipyards on a sheltered deep water channel . as long ago as 1917 , the shipyards employed 31 , 000 people around half the population at the time . after world_war_ii , the yards built navy warships like the ark royal aircraft_carrier and the cruise liner oriana . britain 's shipbuilding has been in steady decline , and the steel works here closed in 1985 . when the end of the cold_war sharply reduced military spending , cutting 10 , 000 of 14 , 000 shipyard jobs , barrow 's geographic edge turned to a burden . barrow lies at the end of a twist in the furness peninsula , some 30 miles from the nearest major highway . ''people say we live at the end of the longest cul_de_sac in britain , '' said francis burns , an 88 year old retiree who worked at the shipyards and recalls a time when most of the town depended on the shipyards , then owned by the vickers company . the job reductions are not on the same scale as in the early 1990 's . ''but they have come at a critical time when we thought we had some stability , '' said john simpson , industrial editor of the north west evening mail , a local newspaper . indeed , said steve murray , the chairman of furness enterprise , ''up until last year , everything looked rosy , so there 's a feeling of bitterness now . '' the decline of the shipyards has taken its toll in other ways . from 1991 to 2001 , according to census figures , the number of 20 to 29 year olds fell 35 percent , to 7 , 500 , and the number of babies born each year slid by a quarter , to just 780 . while london struggles with overcrowded classrooms , this town has too few young children to keep all its schools open . ''young people have been drifting away from barrow in search of employment , '' said terry waiting , the leader of the town council , in published remarks . ''some of them have gone to university and taken degrees and they do n't come back . '' that is not altogether surprising . unemployment , defined as the number of jobless people drawing government money , is 5.7 percent here , compared with 3.1 percent nationally , which is one of europe 's lowest levels . but the figure disguises ''hidden unemployment , '' with up to 15 percent of working age men claiming sickness and other benefits not registered in the statistics . barrow 's true unemployment rate could be 23 . 5 percent eight times the national average and among britain 's highest according to a study conducted by researchers from sheffield hallam university before the latest job cuts . ''what appears to have happened is that as job loss has occurred , large numbers of unemployed workers in poor health have become marginalized , '' the study said . businesses here are left mulling the message that this town 's days as a company town are over . with so many young people leaving the town , mr . waiting of the town council said , ''we have to have something to show them that the future is secure , and that means we ca n't rely on bae as the major employer . ''

has a location of britain

the government announced today that for the first time , britain plans to impose tuition fees on all college students , effectively abandoning the country 's long held commitment to free higher_education for everyone . for americans used to paying fees for state run schools or tuition approaching 30 , 000 a year at ivy_league schools , the proposal to charge up to 1 , 600 a year may seem laughably modest . but the plan also means students would no longer be eligible for government grants covering room and board , and many graduates will face debts of more than 16 , 000 . in a nation where free education is considered a basic right , the announcement was taken as a further sign that prime_minister tony_blair 's new government is intent on dismantling many most sacred vestiges of britain 's welfare_state . ''free tuition is seen as a right , '' said liz llewellyn , a spokeswoman for the national union of students , which says the prospect of leaving school deeply in debt will deter many young people from attending college at all . ''we 've always been told that if you choose to go on with your education , the state should pay because you 'll give so much back to the state by getting a better job and paying more in taxes . '' the government 's plan was outlined in a speech to the house of commons this afternoon by david blunkett , the secretary for education and employment . he said britain 's universities , which face a deficit of up to 3 . 2 billion in the next decade , had fallen into a financial_crisis that could be addressed only by imposing fees . tuition at british universities is free to citizens of britain and other european_union countries room and board is paid for by a combination of government grants , student loans and parental help . postgraduate and part time students and students from countries outside the union already pay tuition . under the government 's plan , all but the poorest students would be expected to pay tuition of up to 1 , 600 a year , as well as several thousand dollars for room and board . student loans , to be paid back according to income and over a number of years , would be available for both tuition and living expenses . some students said today that the new charges would put an almost unbearable strain on their already shaky finances . others said that while they would benefit from the more relaxed loan repayment schedule , they felt the government had abdicated a basic responsibility . ''the issue is whether or not it 's fair for students to pay fees , '' said kat myers , 21 , a student at loughborough university in leicestershire , who does clerical work to help meet her living expenses . ''the ethos of this country has always been that it should lie with the government . '' in most other european_union countries , university costs are paid for out of taxes and governments spend a comparatively higher percentage of gross_domestic_product on college level education . but not even in germany , for instance , where there has been considerable pressure to reduce social spending , has the government proposed to levy university fees on students . for a number of years , britain 's universities have been warning of an impending financial_crisis . while the number of students has increased drastically in the early 1960 's , one in 20 young people in britain was enrolled in higher_education today the figure is one in three government aid to universities per student has declined . some colleges at oxford and cambridge have their own endowments and have soldiered on with relatively few problems . but other institutions have had to scrimp and save .

has a location of britain

for centuries this venerable university has been a citadel of academic prowess and social privilege , one of those nearly timeless institutions that like the monarchy and the bank of england define the soul of britain . but in recent months , both cambridge and its counterpart at oxford have become the focus of a new and at times sharp debate here about who it is , exactly , that oxbridge as the two schools are known collectively ought to serve . the disagreement grows out of a decision last fall by five cambridge colleges to seek applications from bright students who are deemed the products of " substantial social and economic disadvantage . " some may be considered for admission , the schools said , even if their secondary_school grades are lower than those expected of cambridge candidates . begun at st . john 's college here , the project is the most recent in a long series of attempts to widen the pool of applicants from which oxbridge 's best and brightest are chosen , and make the schools more broadly reflect the country 's growing ethnic and racial differences . efforts to diversify the student body at oxbridge go back at least to the end of world_war_ii , when the new labor_government fostered changes that started a steady flow of working_class and lower middle class youngsters to oxbridge . class consciousness strong nevertheless , the new debate over the cambridge plan reflects in part the degree to which class and class consciousness still help shape life and manners here . while only a small handful perhaps fewer than a dozen of cambridge 's 10 , 000 undergraduates are involved in the program , the perception that one of britain 's most hallowed institutions is somehow lowering its standards in return for cultural and racial diversity has provoked indignation and even outrage in some quarters . among the headmasters and private schools whose often upper_class charges make up 20 percent of the country 's college bound population , yet continue to fill nearly half of oxbridge 's places , the new admissions plan is described as an egregious example of " reverse discrimination . " and among those educators and commentators who see themselves as guardians of the nation 's standards and traditions , it is an example of " destructive social_engineering . " in a column in the daily_mail last month paul johnson , a conservative commentator , described the plan as wrongminded because it is attacks oxbridge for being " elitist . " elitism equated with quality " of course it is , " bristled mr . johnson . the reason that cambridge and oxford are so good , he wrote , is " precisely because they pursued an unswerving policy of elitism . " in an interview , ian beer , the headmaster at harrow , one of britain 's most prestigious prep schools , said cambridge had embarked " on a dangerous road of social_engineering " by choosing poor students with lower grades over private_school students with better grades . " it is not the fault of harrow boys that they are well taught , " he said . but dr . ray jobling , the admissions tutor at st . john 's college here , says the special entrance plan is part of an ongoing effort to " widen access to cambridge , and encourage students who would n't ordinarily think of coming here to take a chance . " " we are not accepting poor students or reducing academic standards , or establishing quotas , " he said . " we are merely looking to encourage bright students with high potential , but whose grades or situations might not accurately reflect that potential . " the proof of the program 's success , he argues , is that students brought in under the program so far have performed as well or better than students whose secondary_school grades were higher . 4 among 175 in program while the symbolic import of the program is large , he said , the numbers are small . of about 175 new students enrolled at st . john 's last fall , only 4 came in under the program . one of those is shelley shenkel , who grew up in london 's tough hackney neighborhood . " if it had n't been for the encouragement i got from the people at st . john 's , i never would have thought of coming to cambridge , " said miss shenkel . " the idea was , it 's just a place for the upper_class . " over the years , both oxford and cambridge have embarked on programs to broaden access and rebut those critics who have long argued that the schools are havens for the elite . as a result , the number of students from state supported schools has increased , and now makes up about half the population , as have the number of women , who account for about 4 of every 10 students . working with inner city schools both oxford and cambridge work more closely with schools in poor neighborhoods to encourage applications . although no statistics are released on racial composition of the student body at cambridge , it is estimated by members of a black student group that fewer than 250 students about 2.5 percent of the enrollment are non white . over all , non whites are estimated to make up about 5 percent of the british population . nicole austin , a cambridge graudate and a black from trinidad , now serves as a paid special assistant in the admissions office , working mostly with inner city applicants . " attitudes are changing , " said miss austin , who is a member of the black caucus , a group of about 65 black and asian students . " but the culture is still very white , very anglo_saxon . " shankar balasubramanian , a student whose family is from india , said white students from upper_class private schools have historically benefited from what he called " positive discrimination . " " we do n't want quotas , " he said . " all we want to see is a lessening of that positive discrimination . "

has a location of britain

malcolm freeland cannot say enough about the benefits of coastal living . he has had a home on the water 's edge in south devon , near the pretty sailing resort of salcombe , england , since 1972 . he described his seven acres , which includes his own beach and a jetty for his 38 foot sailing boat , as ' 'simply beautiful . '' ''we raised five children here and certainly they enjoyed growing up along the water , '' he said . ''we moved here for the coastal lifestyle and we 've stayed because of this lifestyle . '' and , since telecommunications has improved , mr . freeland also has had another benefit he has been able to continue his career as an engineer from home . indeed , coastal regions of britain like devon are drawing a growing number of professionals who are not required to work in specific locations . and britons in general are finding it harder to resist life by the seaside , and they are willing to pay a premium for the pleasure . the growing demand for homes along britain 's coast has meant rising prices .. ''in my area houses usually sell before they are even advertised so it 's definitely a hot property market , '' mr . freeland said . a recent real_estate survey by halifax estate agents showed that house prices in more than half of britain 's seaside_towns have soared by at least 50 percent over the past three years , with most communities recording jumps that have far exceeded the 31 percent average increase in house prices across the rest of the country . seaham , in the northeastern county of durham , is the country 's best performer over the past three years , with average house prices increasing by 172 percent to 117 , 266 , or nearly 200 , 000 . much of the improvement in this former coal_mining town on the north_sea coast is credited to a major injection of money from the government and the european_union , part of which financed a number of residential projects . across the country , ''firm demand for second homes has clearly been a factor pushing up prices near the sea but regeneration efforts in seaside_towns have also been a positive for prices , '' said colin kemp , managing director at halifax estate agents , which completed its annual seaside town review over the summer . the surge also has been powered by retirees and families eager to find spacious victorian and edwardian homes at reasonable prices , a rare find in almost any british city these days . it is not surprising that dorset is one of the most expensive seaside counties , with an average home price of more than 222 , 853 or about 400 , 000 . for one thing , its 95 mile coastline has been given natural world heritage status by the united_nations , placing it in a_league with the grand canyon in arizona and the great barrier reef in australia . each year , millions of tourists visit the fossil rich beaches of dorset 's lyme regis , a hilly town of pretty white georgian homes mixed with a smattering of thatched roof cottages . ''dorset is a location which has grown enormously in popularity in the last decade as people have become happier to commute further and further from london , '' said liam bailey , head of residential research for the knight frank estate agency . ''this is so much more practical as an increasing number of people enjoy the option of working from home part of the week , '' he said . but mr . bailey warned about the limited number of available properties , noting that the supply is now 20 percent smaller than it was last year . one example is sandbanks , a town near bournemouth that was all but a shantytown until the 1960 's and is now called ''monte carloby the sea'' by the locals . homes in the town , known for its quiet streets and white beaches , now top 500 , 000 , or nearly 1 million . ''high demand and short supply in a very concentrated area make the prices high , '' said simon milledge , a waterside properties specialist at the buying solution , a search agency that finds homes for wealthy buyers . ''the south coast economy is strong and entrepreneurs like the idea of moving to sandbanks . '' part of the town 's appeal may be its celebrity cachet . many well known british soccer stars have moved to sandbanks and even the british actor hugh grant and his girlfriend , jemima khan , recently were reported to have viewed properties nearby . sandbanks also has flown the european blue flag , an award for the cleanest beaches , for 17 consecutive years , longer than any other coastal area in britain . eight of britain 's 10 most expensive seaside_towns are on the country 's west_coast four in cornwall three , including sandbanks , in dorset and two in devon . a survey earlier this year by the sunday_times of london found that properties with boat moorings are typically 30 percent more expensive than identical properties inland . top quality homes without moorings , but with uninterrupted water views , are on average 25 percent more expensive , while properties within modern marinas , along lakes or on the banks of canals command 15 percent to 25 percent more . yet property hunters still can find good value in some coastal communities , property experts say . according to the halifax review , there are 14 seaside_towns where homes sell for an average of less than 100 , 000 pounds , or about 185 , 000 . britain 's most affordable town is wick in scotland , where prices average 64 , 612 pounds , or about 100 , 000 . in general , mr . milledge said , the people seeking coastal properties are searching for a better quality of life and , for those looking along the southern coast , one that is only a two and a half hour drive from london . ''they are coming for the landscape , the peace and quiet and the seemingly slower pace of life , '' he said .

has a location of britain

''we 're interested in people 's wastebaskets as much as anything else . '' martin andrews , deputy director of the center for ephemera studies at the university of reading in england . b9

has a location of britain

racal electronics p.l.c . said yesterday that it would team up with its main rival , itt industries , to bid for a delayed 2 billion ( 3 . 4 billion ) british defense ministry radio contract . racal , a british military and telecommunications company , announced a joint_venture with the united_states company , which means there is just one bidder to build the next generation bowman radio network for the british_army . earnings from racal 's radio making unit plunged to 1 . 9 million in the first half of the year , from 8 million . racal had to keep financing bowman even as the the bidding lagged 15 months behind schedule . ( bloomberg business news ) international briefs

has a location of britain

ebenezer scrooge would not be happy this christmas . at pubs , restaurants and office parties in the city , london 's wall_street , all the talk has been on the bonuses that are being lavished on bankers and traders . london is at the center of an expansion in european deals , helped by inflows of cash from private_equity shops , the middle_east and russia , and a rush of foreign listings on the london exchange . as a result , many bankers here are hoping that this is the year when their year end bonuses , which have traditionally lagged those of their counterparts across the atlantic , rise to a comparable level . ''london and new york have been coming closer and closer together over the last few years , '' said carl sjostrom , a partner in kpmg 's executive_compensation practice . ''new york is a bigger market , but there have been some fantastically lucrative areas in europe as of late . '' at goldman_sachs , for example , fees from european mergers alone are up 102 . 4 percent from a year earlier , to 656 . 7 million , versus an 18 percent increase in merger fees in the united_states , to 994 . 6 million , according to data compiled by thomson_financial . at merrill_lynch , they are up 151 . 7 percent in europe , to 377 . 3 million , versus a 53 . 7 percent increase in the united_states , to 510 . 8 million . ( banks based in new york almost always have smaller investment_banking staffs in europe in some cases as little as half the size . ) the numbers do not take into account russian or middle_eastern deals , which are often done by london bankers , debt sales or new equity offerings on the london_stock_exchange . disparity in pay between new york banks and their foreign outposts has been a longstanding source of friction . in london , banking and trading markets were once notorious for clubby relationships and liquid lunches , but they are being transformed into springboards for growth markets like eastern_europe and the middle_east . ''i think there is still a perception that people work harder in new york , which is probably justified , but the gap is narrowing , '' said mounzer nasr , the head of european corporate investment for the private_equity_firm arcapita , and a former deal maker for bankers_trust in new york and merrill_lynch in london . ''depending on who you 're talking about , the top m. a . bankers in london work just as hard as their new york counterparts . '' investment_bank managers in london say they are often looking for skills that are generally found outside new york . in particular demand are bankers with experience in the middle_east or china . ''there is a premium for people who are bi and tricultural , '' said john j . studzinski , the chief executive of hsbc 's corporate and investment_banking division . klaus diederichs , head of european investment_banking at j . p . morgan_chase , is also looking for specialized skills . ''our bankers are flying as much to kazakhstan and istanbul as they are to frankfurt , '' he said . ''deals in countries such as south_africa and kazakhstan have grown in size considerably . '' ''the european markets now require bankers to be complete athletes , '' he said , ''as competent in mergers and acquisitions as they are in structured financing , capital raising and derivative transactions . '' in london , expectations were high this bonus season . nearly 60 percent of city employees expected their bonuses to be larger than last year , and one in five expected it to be at least twice as large , according to morgan mckinley , a financial recruiting firm . in the united_states , 44 percent of bankers expected their bonuses to be larger than last year 's , according to a similar survey by vault , an employment research firm . as in new york , estimating how many millions bankers and traders will receive holds a particular fascination . the london afternoon newspaper the evening_standard started the bonus speculation early this year , with a headline on its front page in september ''3 , 000 new city millionaires biggest bonuses for five years as good times return . '' the paper attached numbers to the names of various bankers , estimating , for example , that a head of british banking at goldman_sachs would be awarded 5 million ( about 8 . 7 million ) . while no banker or trader would comment on the record about bonuses , year end pay is all the chatter . and there are signs that bankers , traders and others in the city have been out celebrating more often this year . anthony fuller , the chairman of the pub chain fuller smith turner , last month cited a 6.6 increase in sales in the financial district for the six months ended oct . 1 . ''it was particularly pleasing to see continued buoyant trading in the city which , up to a year ago , had been suffering the effects of a sluggish economy , '' he said . sales did not necessarily increase because city pub visitors are drinking more expensive beer or wine , tony johnson , a spokesman for fuller , noted . some of the increase has come from ' 'more people coming to the pub , '' he said . ''when things are good , people are more comfortable being seen out having a good time than when they are bad . ''

has a location of britain

it all looked so rosy just a few months ago . market strategists were almost unanimous in predicting that british stocks would continue their long climb throughout 1994 , driven by steadily improving corporate earnings , falling interest rates and a stream of investment from abroad , particularly the united_states . reality has proven considerably less pleasant . the financial_times stock_exchange index of 100 leading shares has fallen nearly 15 percent since its peak in february of 3 , 520 . 3 . the london market , europe 's largest , closed out last week at 2 , 997 . 8 . the market gained 17 points on friday and 48 . 9 points on thursday . but those performances were rare bright_spots in what has been a grim three month slide in both stock and bond prices here . and while analysts still see sound fundamentals that could help the market turn around later in the year , there is little hope for improvement in the next few months . so what went wrong ? all fingers point to the united_states . the decision by the federal_reserve in february to begin raising interest rates drastically changed investment psychology on both sides of the atlantic . signs of inflation in the united_states , analysts reasoned , inevitably meant that inflation , and rising rates , would soon begin biting in britain , where the economic cycle has lagged just a year or so behind the american cycle . " the move in interest rates by the fed has brought forward a lot of concerns on inflation in the u.k . that otherwise would have taken 12 to 18 months to impact on the economy , " said robert buckland , a strategist at natwest markets in london . moreover , rising rates led to a quick slowdown , and maybe even a reversal , of the flow of investment funds out of the united_states and into europe , where returns had been higher . the result was less demand for stocks , and falling prices . the fall in the london stock_market has been broadly mirrored by declines in the paris and frankfurt markets , where investors also see a two year period of falling interest rates coming to an end . " right now we 're fairly pessimistic in the near term about the prospects in the u.k . , " said marcus grubb , the international equity strategist at salomon_brothers in london . " the consensus view of the first part of the year has been proved wrong . there may be some value opportunity in the u.k . late in the year , but i fear the market could go lower first . " mr . grubb said many investors are nursing losses and do not have cash to put back into the market . he said the market is also likely to be spooked again over the summer if the federal_reserve raises rates in the united_states once more a prospect that seemed increasingly likely after friday 's report of strong job growth , a harbinger of inflationary pressures . salomon_brothers predicted in february that the london market could reach 3 , 950 by the end of the year . now , mr . grubb said , it could still reach 3 , 600 if corporate earnings show the solid growth expected of them . " in terms of timing , it 's all going to come in the late third and fourth quarters , " mr . grubb said , " because you 're not going to get a handle on earnings until then and the lack of cash_flow will be a drag_on the markets throughout the summer months . " mr . buckland said both the stock and bond markets appear to have overreacted to economic conditions . bond yields in britain are at levels that assume inflation is heading back up to around 4.5 percent from around half that now , he said . dividend yields on equities , at 4 percent , are nearing their average levels from the 1980 's , he said . the market 's expectations of surging inflation , according to mr . buckland , are not reflected in the operating experience of companies in britain . most big industrial companies are scrambling to cut costs , and consumer companies are finding it difficult to pass along prices increases because consumers simply stop buying when product prices go up . " companies are telling me they do n't want to chase market_share , they want to protect margins by cutting costs , " mr . buckland said . " unless you start seeing them pushing prices up , its hard to see inflation going back to 1980 's levels . " even without a reignition of inflation , though , analysts said it may be hard to lure buyers back into the market . one ray of hope could come from the market for government_bonds , or gilts , which are now widely viewed as undervalued . a rally in the bond_market , they said , could induce enough investor confidence to send equities up as well . " just as the markets overshot on the upside early in the year , they could overshoot on the downside now , " mr . buckland said . " in the short term it 's going to be tricky . but when the markets do turn it 's going to happen quickly . " among the hardest hit equities over the last few months have been the interest rate sensitive financial stocks , like banks . mr . grubb said there may be value in a few bank stocks , such as national_westminster_bank . but he said that given the nervous market sentiment , cyclical stocks would be a better bet . mr . grubb said salomon likes chemical companies like boc group , and capital goods and building stocks like btr , tarmac and hanson , all of which can benefit not just from britain 's slow but steady economic_growth but from continental_europe 's incipient upturn as well .

has a location of britain

one newspaper said six ''known sex_offenders'' were teaching in britain 's state run schools . another put the figure at 20 . a third said there could well be more than 100 . after two weeks of feverish language in the news_media and around parliament , the government announced on thursday that it would tighten its background_checks for teachers and that anyone who had been convicted or even cautioned by the police for committing a sex offense involving children would be permanently barred from teaching . ''we need a system where child protection comes first above all other considerations , '' ruth kelly , the education secretary , told the house of commons . the notion that the british schools are riddled with pedophiles has consumed national attention since early this month , when the observer reported that a registered sex_offender had been allowed to work as a gym teacher at a school in norfolk . the teacher , paul reeve , was visited by the police in 2003 on suspicion of accessing child_pornography from the internet in connection with operation ore , which has charged thousands of people across britain with downloading child_pornography onto their computers . people netted include judges , police officers , politicians and the rock star pete townshend of the who . mr . reeve was released with a caution , meaning he was not charged but agreed to accept guilt . he was automatically placed on the sex_offenders register . the register , which contains 28 , 000 names , includes people convicted or cautioned for sex related offenses . the revelation cost mr . reeve his job and unleashed disclosures about other school employees suspected of sex offenses as well as outrage from critics of prime_minister tony_blair 's labor_government . school change is a major piece of mr . blair 's domestic agenda in this legislative term , which he has said will be his last as prime_minister . but with a reduced parliamentary majority and a suddenly strong conservative opposition , mr . blair is at a vulnerable moment , one his opponents have seized with glee . ''either ruth kelly does know how many sex_offenders have been cleared to work in our schools , in which case she should tell anxious parents now , '' david willetts , education spokesman for the conservative opposition , said . ''or she does not know , in which case her department is shockingly incompetent . '' meanwhile , an article in the daily_star carried the headline ''pervs now rife in our schools . '' the mirror reported that ''at least 10 pedophiles have got jobs'' in the school system . in the daily_mail , the columnist melanie phillips warned that the disclosures so far were ' 'merely the tip of an iceberg . '' pedophilia preoccupies britain like almost no other issue . this is a country where a doctor 's house was once attacked because some of his neighbors confused the word ''pediatrician'' with the word ''pedophile . '' ''this is a_level of hysteria that makes mccarthyism look benign , '' said frank furedi , a professor of sociology at the university of kent and the author of ''paranoid parenting . '' ms . kelly revealed thursday that a search of school records in england and wales since 1997 had turned up 10 registered sex_offenders who had not been placed on list 99 , a roll of some 4 , 045 people who are barred from teaching because of a range of offenses . ( scotland has an independent education system , and its own lists . ) none is teaching now , she said . under the government plans , lists of potentially unsuitable teachers will be more closely_aligned , and schools would be required to run criminal_record checks on prospective employees .

has a location of britain

liberty mutual insurance , boston , a fire and casualty insurance_company , said it planned to open an international reinsurance unit , liberty reinsurance company , in london . spring industries , fort mill , s.c. , which makes home furnishings and specialty fabrics , said its proposed 120 million merger with dundee mills inc . , a towel maker , had been approved by dundee 's stockholders .

has a location of britain

the bank of england came within a vote of raising interest rates this month , leading european markets to think that a rate increase is inevitable before the end of the year . the bank voted 5 to 4 to keep interest rates in britain at 48 year lows of 3.5 percent . the minority voted to increase rates by a quarter of a point . heather_timmons ( nyt )

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an independent board of directors of drax , england 's largest coal plant , will decide today whether to accept a buyout offer from international power or goldman_sachs . international power , an energy company based in london , offered to buy the plant for 130 million ( 205 million ) . the offer includes paying 64 pence for each pound of its senior debt . goldman is offering one pence less on the pound for the debt . but goldman 's offer does not include a 2 . 5 million a year management fee that international power plans to charge . the former owner of drax , aes , walked away from the plant after debt holders refused to accept its restructuring plan . heather_timmons ( nyt )

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television commercials have become so fashionable in britain that a new satellite network , the advert channel , has begun showing them 24 hours a day . ''people love commercials , '' said vince stanzione , managing director at the network outside of london . marketing for the advert channel takes the same stance , with slogans like , ''everything you 'd see on a normal tv channel except the programs . '' advert channel programming includes chatty hosts introducing featured spots , viewers voting on which commercials they want to see next , and shows like ''ad chat , '' ''adverts for you'' and ''advert focus'' tackling their subjects from various angles . given the success that american versions of british programs occasionally achieve , could some kind of advert channel play here ? mr . stanzione , for one , sees potential . ''i 'm surprised nobody 's done it , '' he said . but americans may not want much more marketing at all . a study conducted this spring by yankelovich partners , a marketing consulting company , found that 65 percent of consumers felt constantly bombarded by too much advertising . more ominously for the traditional commercial , 69 percent said that they were interested in products and services that would help them skip or block ads . the idea of an all commercial channel found a mixed response at commercial alert , an advocacy_group whose mission statement includes a commitment to limit the reach of commercial culture to ''its proper sphere . '' ''we hope this is the future of advertising , '' said gary ruskin , executive director at commercial alert , ''that it will be segregated to one channel and the rest can be ad free . '' failing that , mr . ruskin said the commercials as entertainment approach was just another instance of ad creep . ''there are ads in almost every nook and cranny of our culture , '' he said . ''i think more people would rather bang their heads against the wall than watch more ads . '' there is some precedent for advertising as programming in the united_states , in the form of nine years of specials on abc called ''the best commercials you 've never seen ( and some you have ) . '' these two hour specials achieved high ratings with a mix of foreign commercials , collections of spots revolving around music , ''guess the product'' segments and lots of humor throughout , said tracey baird , a producer at dakota pictures who worked on all nine shows . the first special also highlighted the 1984 commercial from apple computer that started the tradition of spectacular ''event'' commercials during the super_bowl . in the spot , someone runs into a room and smashes an image of a big brother type face with a hammer . ''it was almost a way to give commercials some sort of relevance , to show why they are important , '' ms . baird said . the impact of advertising on culture is precisely the reason to root for a 24 hour channel , said james b . twitchell , professor of english and advertising at the university of florida in gainesville . ''if it 's the water we 're in , why not study the water ? '' he said . ''it 's modern ethnography . '' mr . twitchell said he had already contacted agencies , advertiser associations and television stations to suggest a show focused on advertising . ''you 'd have some talking heads , the client , the agency , a fussbudget academic and some ralph_nader type , '' he said . ''you would take it seriously because it is the culture that we 're in . '' though mr . twitchell said he thought there would ''absolutely'' be an audience , the proposals never gained traction . one reason that britons might watch a channel that is literally full of ads is the different style of advertising across the atlantic , said catherine rasenberger , president at rasenberger media , which helps start up cable networks . ''the brits take great pride in the creativity of their commercials , and i think consumers actually enjoy commercials , '' ms . rasenberger said . ''that is not as true in the united_states . '' moreover , an audience of interested viewers would not necessarily be enough . ''it 's a very hostile environment for new networks of any type , '' ms . rasenberger said . ''maybe there 's a show , but certainly not a 24 hour network . '' not incidentally , the advert channel will sell commercial time during its regular programming . ms . baird , the producer , said , ''i 'd be curious to see who advertises on it . '' the media business advertising

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an employment tribunal found that aishah azmi , the muslim classroom assistant suspended from her job for wearing a full face veil , had not been discriminated against or harassed on religious grounds . but she was awarded 1 , 850 in damages for ''injury to feelings . '' her case has been a part of a furious debate in britain about the wearing of the niqab , the veil that covers all but a woman 's eyes . after the hearing in northern_england , ms . azmi , 24 , criticized prime_minister tony_blair and other government ministers for commenting on her case while it was under way . alan_cowell ( nyt )

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seeking to import a measure of new world innovation and technology to the old world , the british_government will announce a 108 million investment today in a joint_venture that will link research and educational programs at the university of cambridge in england with those at the massachusetts_institute_of_technology . the cambridge m . i.t . institute , as the new enterprise will be known , will seek to develop technologies , products and companies to improve the productivity and competitiveness of british manufacturing industries , officials of the two universities said yesterday . the new institute will receive 80 percent of its planned 135 million budget over the next five years from the british_government , with the remaining 27 million to be raised from british industry . gordon_brown , the chancellor of the exchequer , is expected to announce the agreement today in london . the agreement is unusual in several ways , education experts say . though universities often establish joint research programs , rarely do those efforts receive any significant investment up front . equally rare are programs in which a foreign government pays for the expertise of an american_university and its faculty . ''the aim is not so much to develop specific technologies as to enhance the culture of entrepreneurship at cambridge and the understanding of how a university can work with industry , '' charles vest , the president of m.i.t. , said . ''we will be giving them access to our decade and a half of experience working to couple engineering and management and working in partnership with industries on manufacturing , product development and industrial competitiveness . '' robert m . zemsky , director of the institute for research in higher_education at the university of pennsylvania , said the agreement demonstrated how universities , like private industries , were trying to adjust to a more competitive world . ''we 're seeing the emergence of a world market for name brand education , '' he said . but , mr . zemsky added , the cambridge m . i.t . institute seems to have a built in advantage . ''the key is that the british_government seems to be putting real money on the table , '' he said . ''these types of joint_ventures are more often formed out of good will but with no real money behind them . '' the cambridge m . i.t . institute 's activities will also include exchanges of undergraduates , graduate students and faculty_members between the two universities , which will build computer and other technological links to foster the development of virtual classrooms that span the atlantic_ocean . the agreement to be announced today is a preliminary one , mr . vest said , with many important details to be worked out . among them are what compensation , if any , the british_government will receive if the research projects undertaken by the new institute result in technologies or products that can be licensed or sold for profit . mr . vest said he did not think the programs undertaken by the new institute would trigger controls on exports of american technology . ''we have informed a few people in the federal_government that this was under discussion , and we received a very positive reaction , '' he said . in addition , mr . vest said , the benefits will flow to american students and industries as well as to those in britain . ''we 're aiming to build a better global basis of education for m.i.t . students and the people who will lead businesses in this country in the future , '' he said . sir alec broers , the vice_chancellor of the university of cambridge , said the joint_venture with m.i.t . could ''create entrepreneurs who can use their inspiration and perspiration to build a stronger british economy . '' he added , ''they could change the face of entrepreneurship and wealth creation in the u.k . '' m.i.t . has extensive experience working with profit making companies to develop new methods of engineering and manufacturing , and the university 's faculty_members , students and alumni have had a hand in the founding of more than 4 , 000 companies . according to a 1997 study by the university , those companies employed more than 1.1 million people and , in 1994 alone , generated 232 billion in sales around the world .

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the department_of_homeland_security has begun experimenting with a wide_ranging computer database that allows investigators to match financial transactions against a list of some 250 , 000 people and firms with suspected ties to terrorist financing , drug_trafficking , money_laundering and other financial crimes . the program , developed by a british company and used in recent test runs at the department_of_homeland_security , gives investigators what amounts to an enormous global watch list to track possible financial crimes at american border crossings , banks and other financial_institutions . ''this is something that 's shown promise , '' said dean boyd , a spokesman for the department 's immigration and customs enforcement agency . while the program is still in its trial stage , mr . boyd said , ''it 's interesting technology , and it would give us another tool in the box , but there 's been no decision made on whether to put it into operation or not . '' he stressed that the software had not been used as part of any criminal investigations or other operations . david leppan , chief executive of world check , the british company that has provided the database to american officials , said the recent test runs had produced a number of promising hits on people with suspected criminal ties overseas who had entered the united_states with more than 10 , 000 in cash or made other financial transactions in this country that were reported to the government . the program provides yet another indication of the wide_ranging efforts by american officials to look for new technological tools in fighting terrorism and other international crime . but it also raises privacy and civil_liberties questions because domestic security officials are relying on a private overseas firm to provide a voluminous list of people and companies that it considers to represent a ''high risk'' of committing financial crimes , based on an assortment of public records and data . ''there 's a real risk in a situation like this because there 's really no accountability , '' said marc rotenberg , executive director of the electronic privacy information center , an advocacy_group based in washington devoted to privacy issues . ''people can find themselves on a watch list incorrectly , and the consequences can be very serious . '' mr . rotenberg likened the trial program at the department to a pentagon operation disclosed last year in which jetblue airlines agreed to turn over data on millions of its passengers to a private contractor doing antiterrorism work for the military . in both cases , mr . rotenberg said , government officials effectively ''outsourced'' the job to private firms ''in order to develop profiles on people and circumvent u.s . privacy laws . '' with a proliferation of private companies looking to profit from a surge in national_security contracts , he said , ''we 'll see more arrangements like this , and we 're likely to see more and more companies in the dot connecting business . '' officials at the department_of_homeland_security and at world check said they were mindful of privacy concerns . ''we 're not hiding in alleyways taking pictures of people , '' said brendan cohen , director of united_states operations for world check , which is allowing the department to use its database free on a_12 month trial basis . ''it 's just that there 's so much information already out in the public_domain that by the time the mainstream media or a government_agency gets onto someone , there 's already a lot of information out there on them . '' mr . boyd said that if his agency went ahead with the program , it was likely to use the private database as a tip sheet of sorts . ''hits'' from the company 's list of ''high risk'' targets would then allow investigators to initiate follow up work , develop intelligence and open criminal investigations or move to freeze financial assets if warranted . ''we 've obviously got an obligation to go to a court of law and prove our case , and we 've got a higher burden of proof'' than does world check in establishing whether someone does in fact have criminal ties , mr . boyd said . homeland_security lawyers have not yet done any legal analysis of the database 's privacy implications , he said , but such a review would be conducted if the department decided to put the program into operation . world check provides its financial profiles to about 800 private clients and governmental agencies around the world . in developing its watch lists , the firm says , it relies on data from some 140 , 000 public sources including lists of ''banned'' financiers developed by governments worldwide , news reports and court filings . as a result , the list includes far more names than many governments have on their own watch lists . for instance , the company 's high risk list includes both viktor bout , a well known international arms trafficker , and his older brother , serge . but the united_states office of foreign assets control , which administers financial sanctions against banned foreign individuals and entities , does not include serge bout on its list . mr . leppan acknowledged that his company used lower standards than most governments in declaring someone a high risk to engage in financial impropriety , but he said that flexibility gave the firm 's clients a head_start in tracking crime . in early 2002 , for instance , world check added to its high risk list a terror suspect in southeast_asia who went by the name of hambali . months later , the united_states office of foreign assets control added hambali to its own list of ''banned'' foreigners . hambali , captured in thailand last year , is in american custody and is accused of organizing two deadly nightclub attacks in bali in october 2002 . world check 's financial profiles also list the suspects' corporate affiliations and their aliases . the profile for hambali , for instance , lists eight aliases and variations on the spelling of his name . ''once somebody knows that they 've been blacklisted , '' mr . leppan said , ''the likelihood of them opening up a bank account or applying for a passport in their own name is very slim , so they 're going to use variations of their name . that 's why keeping a running database is so important to what we do . ''

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the european arm of the buyout firm hicks , muse , tate furst has split from its united_states counterpart and plans to change its name as it seeks to distance itself from the less successful operations across the atlantic . last week , managers in europe completed a separation begun this summer , and they have signed letters resigning from hicks , muse and its management committee , people close to the firm said thursday . john muse , a co founder of the firm who started the group 's london office , will be nonexecutive_chairman of the european company but will not be involved in its day to day operations , these people said . mr . muse , who has been working out of london for the last few years , is moving back to the united_states full time this year . partners in europe may still play some role in the american firm 's investment decisions or money raising . the separation comes after several years of mixed results in the united_states , compared with a string of smart deals for the firm 's 1 . 5 billion european dedicated fund . the fund 's european arm , run by lyndon lea , a canadian , set up a british management company last summer in anticipation of a split . the european arm has not decided on a name . the separation was accompanied by some bitterness at the fund 's london office , some people close to hicks , muse said . mr . muse and mr . lea were struggling for control of the european arm , and the atmosphere in the office was so negative that some managers did not want to come to work , these people said . a spokesman for the fund in the united_states said the split was not abrupt . a spokeswoman for hicks , muse in europe declined to comment . mr . muse and jack furst , another co founder , did not return calls to the firm 's headquarters in dallas . the other founders are thomas o . hicks , who is retiring this year , and charles tate , who retired in 2002 . hicks , muse , which was founded in 1989 and has invested more than 50 billion since then , was hit hard when the telecommunications bubble_burst in the united_states . the company lost more than 1 billion from its fourth fund , for example . it has been trying to recover from its telecommunications losses by returning to its roots , building up big businesses from several smaller purchases . in a sign of difficulty raising money in the united_states , the firm promised in november 2000 that it would make a_20 percent annual rate of return on 200 million in internet investments . the firm fell short of its goal in 2000 and has not raised money in the united_states since then . in contrast , the company 's european arm has racked up several successful deals in recent years , like taking public the yellow_pages company yell . the european fund also bought the champagne brands mumm and perrier jou t , and sold them in just two years for several times the initial investment . the european company is raising a second fund , which is expected to have less than a billion_euros . a shift in emphasis between europe and the united_states has been happening across the private_equity industry , but hicks , muse is the most extreme example , analysts said . ''a number of well known united_states buyout funds have increased their investments substantially in europe in the past few years , '' said jamille jinnah , managing director at almeida capital , based in london , a consulting and research firm for the private_equity industry . ''with the other firms , investment in europe now makes up almost 50 percent of total activity , whereas with hicks , muse , it was a lot more than that , '' mr . jinnah said . ''the balance of power has shifted in some respects between the u.s . and europe . '' international business

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prime_minister tony_blair narrowly_defeated a revolt in his own labor_party on tuesday night over legislation in parliament to revamp the country 's higher_education system , thus avoiding a political humiliation that threatened to bring down his government . the close vote , 316 to 311 in favor of substantially raising tuition fees , gave an important lift to mr . blair on the eve of a potentially greater challenge to his government on wednesday , when lord hutton issues the findings of his investigation into the events surrounding the death of dr . david kelly . he was the specialist on iraq 's weapons whose concerns , privately expressed to the bbc , formed the basis of news reports that mr . blair and his aides had overstated the intelligence on iraq 's illicit_weapons programs to make a stronger case for war . the university financing bill will require british university students , who like most europeans make only nominal tuition contributions toward the cost of a college degree , to begin paying as much as 5 , 500 a year starting in 2006 . the existing tuition , which is means tested and therefore paid by fewer than 50 percent of students , was put in place by mr . blair in 1998 . it has been the object of protests and demands for repeal . the bill on tuesday essentially calls for tripling those fees , and adds a number of features to convert them into loans and defer repayment . the bill set off a rebellion within the labor_party when 159 members declared opposition last month and forced a series of concessions and negotiations . the conservative_party , departing from its traditional free_market stance , joined the opposition and called for a complete rollback in university tuition . after the vote was tallied tuesday evening , tim yeo , who led the conservative_party in the debate , called the five vote margin of victory an ''utter humiliation for the government . '' he later told the bbc that it appeared that mr . blair was ''losing control'' of his party . mr . blair did not speak during the debate on tuesday . but he indicated in an interview with the observer on sunday that he had reached a point in his premiership where he understood that the convergence of any series of political crises risked toppling his government . ''i think in this job you spend the entire time at risk , so there is not a moment when you are not , '' he told the newspaper . almost from the outset , the legislation on university finances became a referendum on mr . blair 's hold over the party after six and half years in office , and a reflection of deep discontent both with his iraq policy and his style of governance . clare short , who quit her ministerial post last spring over the war in iraq , accused mr . blair of acting more like a president than a prime_minister on tuesday , by not consulting the party before introducing major social initiatives . alan johnson , mr . blair 's minister for higher_education , told several television interviewers after the vote , ''we could have handled it better . '' still , mr . blair worked the telephones feverishly , demanding loyalty from backbenchers and engineering , by a slim margin , the rescue of a flagship piece of legislation . the higher_education funding bill is part of the broader social reform agenda mr . blair would like to extend to the national health system and the beleaguered railways . but the vote on tuesday calls into question whether labor is capable of the kind of consensus necessary to move forward on large legislative projects . part of the revolt seemed inspired by supporters of gordon_brown , the chancellor of the exchequer who is regarded as mr . blair 's most likely successor if he should step down . but the burgeoning popularity of the conservative_party under its new leader , michael_howard , makes the prospect of new elections a threat for the first time in years a factor in whipping labor narrowly back into line . the debate on tuesday began with a signal that the knot of opposition to mr . blair was loosening when nick brown , a leader of the opponents and a loose associate of the chancellor , declared that he would vote in favor of the bill . but 71 opponents voted in opposition and 24 more abstained , suggesting that mr . blair 's troubles in holding the party together may continue . charles clarke , mr . blair 's education secretary , began the seven hour debate on tuesday by telling the house that their decision ''will determine the future of our universities and so determine the future ability of this country to prosper in the increasingly competitive global economy . '' he said that as more students enter the system , ''we cannot continue to rely on the taxpayers alone'' to finance university education .

has a location of britain

the british court of appeal ruled wednesday that a muslim teenager 's rights had been violated by a school 's refusal to let her wear a concealing muslim gown instead of the school uniform . the court stopped short of ordering the school to allow the girl , shabina begum , to wear her choice of dress the jilbab , a long shapeless robe . but it said that the school , denbigh high_school in luton , bedfordshire , had erred in not considering her human_rights when it ordered her to wear the uniform . ''her freedom to manifest her religion or belief in public was being limited , '' lord_justice brooke , vice_president of the civil division of the court of appeal , one of britain 's highest courts , said in his opinion . as an extension of the state , he said , the school should be required to ''justify the limitation on her freedom created by the school 's uniform code and by the way it was enforced . '' miss begum , 16 , called the decision ''a victory for all muslims who wish to preserve their identity and values despite prejudice and bigotry . '' she told reporters that the school 's policy was not ' 'merely a local decision taken in isolation'' but part of a pattern . ''it was a consequence of an atmosphere that has been created in western societies since 9 11 , '' she said , ''an atmosphere in which islam has been made a target for vilification in the name of the 'war on terror . ''' but a spokeswoman for luton borough council , which is responsible for denbigh , said that the case had been lost on a ''technicality'' concerning the way the decision to deny miss begum the right to wear the jilbab was reached not , significantly , on the merits of its uniform policy or on its right to set policy . ''the court held that the school governors , when holding an oral hearing to consider her complaint , should have considered , first , whether there had been any infringement of their pupil 's right under the european convention on human rights to manifest her religion , '' said the spokeswoman who , according to borough policy , asked not to be named . ''and , secondly , that if there had been such an infringement , could that infringement be justified ? '' denbigh has an unusually liberal uniform policy , which lord brooke went out of his way to praise . in contrast to french_state schools , where students are prohibited from wearing head_scarves , denbigh allows girls a choice wearing standard pants or skirts , or dressing in a shalwar kameez , a traditional muslim outfit consisting of loose pants covered by a tunic . head_scarves are allowed if they meet certain criteria . luton is one of several towns in britain with a large muslim population . seventy nine percent of denbigh 's 1 , 000 or so students are muslim those students speak 40 languages and come from 21 ethnic groups . the uniform policy , the school said , was established after widespread consultation with students , parents , muslim organizations and others , and ''takes into account the cultural and religious sensitivities of pupils at the school . '' the luton spokeswoman said no one had complained about the uniform until 2002 when miss begum , accompanied by her brother ( their parents are dead ) came dressed in a jilbab . she was sent home and told to change into a regular uniform . other students , including muslims , said they felt threatened by the jilbab because they associated it with extremism , the school said . in his decision , lord brooke said that the government should give schools more guidance in how to comply with human_rights_law when setting school uniform policies . miss begum has moved to a school where she is permitted to wear a jilbab .

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lead what many regard as europe 's most effective scientific collaboration , the european organization for nuclear research , known by the french acroynym cern , survived a critical test last week when britain conditionally agreed to continue its membership . what many regard as europe 's most effective scientific collaboration , the european organization for nuclear research , known by the french acroynym cern , survived a critical test last week when britain conditionally agreed to continue its membership . the organization , which was formed after world_war_ii and is based near geneva , is made up of 14 european_countries . britain provides 16 percent of its budget . the british said they would remain in the organization if changes recommended by a special cern commission , headed by the french physicist anatole abragam , were adopted . staff changes recommended according to cern officials , the commission noted the ' 'resounding success'' of research efforts at cern , but found the enterprise ' 'doomed to inefficiency'' if it was not revitalized . it recommended that the organization streamline operations of the center , let go 300 of its staff of 3 , 500 people over the next five years , and replace some of them with younger people . the estimated budget saving would be from 3 to 5 percent . the officials said , however , that the committee proposed that the staff be changed through a process of attrition rather than outright dismissal . the budget of cern is about 600 million . each member nation is also expected to provide for financial support of its own reseachers . in meetings thursday and friday , the cern council , made up of representatives from all member states , considered the recommendations of the abragam commission . in other action , the cern council , representing all the members states , nominated dr . carlo rubbia to be the director general , commencing a year from january . in 1984 dr . rubbia shared a nobel_prize with dr . simon van der meer of the netherlands for the discovery of three subatomic particles , the positive and negatively charged w particles and their electrically neutral cousin , the z particle . the long sought particles unite two of the fundamental forces of nature , the electromagnetic and the so called weak force , which accounts for some forms of radiation . dr . rubbia , an italian , is on the faculty of harvard_university . the current director general is herwig schopper , a west_german . the cern council also named josef rembser of west_germany as its president , to take office next month . dr . rembser is general director of basic_research and coordinator of international cooperation at the ministry of research and technology in bonn . he will continue his role there whereas dr . rubbia will actively administer cern . report critical of funding pressure for a british withdrawal from cern stemmed from a 1985 report by a committee headed by sir john c . kendrew , who shared a nobel_prize in 1962 for his discovery of the molecular structure of the proteins myoglobin and hemoglobin . that report said that cern was receiving an inordinate amount of money from britain 's science and engineering research council , which also allocates funds for other forms of basic_research in britain . the kendrew committee said that britain should withdraw from cern unless its contribution was reduced by 25 percent for the 1991 92 budget . there is an informal agreement under which the members of cern , including britain , should continue full support of the organization until completion of its new particle accelerator , the lep , or large electron positron storage ring . ( positrons are the antimatter cousins of electrons . ) the storage ring , l9 miles in diameter , is expected to be completed early in l989 .

has a location of britain

the joke used to be that if two englishmen were sent to the moon , they would promptly form a gentleman 's club . these days , two britons of either sex would probably talk smugly or wistfully about house prices . in the last 12 months , house prices , particularly in london and the southeast , have soared by almost one quarter , the fastest expansion in more than a decade and the latest unfolding of a sustained boom in which the price of some homes has doubled since the late 1990 's . even as stock markets have withered , the cost of houses and apartments has soared , fueled by the lowest interest rates and the lowest unemployment levels for almost 40 years . the boom has sent prices into what one columnist called ''cloud cuckoo land . '' just last month , new research showed that the number of homes on sale for more than 1 million roughly 1 . 5 million , and once an exotic benchmark of high value for most britons had almost doubled to 1 , 100 across england in a year , the bulk of them in the london neighborhood of st . john 's wood . in another london district , the owner of a double garage in upmarket notting_hill , the location of the movie of the same name starring julia roberts and hugh grant , has put half the garage on the market for 225 , 000 . a former public bathroom is being offered for around 200 , 000 . some economists argue that the market has created a feel good factor in a land with one of the world 's highest levels of property ownership . this means that britons keep on spending cash and plastic , and thus keep their service driven economy growing faster than its european counterparts , because they feel so rich in bricks and mortar . yet in recent weeks , doubts have begun to creep into this idyll of ever expanding wealth almost an echo of america 's faith in the seemingly unlimited riches to be plucked from the equities markets in the 1990 's because the high prices are leaving too many potential buyers behind . not too long ago , britain 's soaring house prices had been seen by economists as a source of inflationary concern , largely because of the dominance of housing investment in british calculations . but the same dominance makes the housing market a font of consumer confidence and growth . roughly 75 percent of britons own their own home , compared with around 50 percent in france and germany or 64 percent in the united_states , according to real_estate industry estimates . in continental_europe , some real_estate prices have fallen in recent years for dinner table anecdotes about soaring prices , only some united_states cities , like new york , seem to compare to london . moreover , britons tend to invest more than three times the amount in their homes that they do in the stock_market , banking estimates say , meaning that they are likely to be less exposed to stock market swings than americans . in a wildly uneven housing market in which the same 225 , 000 that buys half a garage in notting_hill can buy a three bedroom , detached home in the northern city of manchester , the national average price for a dwelling topped 100 , 000 ( 150 , 000 ) for the first time earlier this year and now stands at over 110 , 000 . now , though , there are fears of a chill , evoking memories of the late 1980 's and early 1990 's when house prices crashed , leaving some buyers with loans worth more than their properties . last month , house prices rose 0.2 percent , the slowest increase in 10 months , according to halifax , britain 's biggest mortgage lender . although other mortgage lenders have been less gloomy , the slowdown coincided with a broader slide in britain 's economy . last month , the national statistics office said annual growth slowed to 1.2 percent in the second quarter , pulled down by a huge slump in manufacturing , which fell 5.3 percent from may to june . also in august , the bank of england lowered its forecast for britain 's economic_growth this year to 2.5 percent from 3 percent . indeed , repaying the housing loan has become one of britain 's central worries . a survey in june 2002 of 2 , 000 people found that 36 percent feared that they would be unable to repay their mortgage loans within the next four months , compared with 31 percent last april . the deepest worries were among people 35 to 44 , half of whom feared they would not be able to repay their mortgages . the findings ''are the first clear indication that people are taking on more than they can afford , '' said the survey by cpp , a debit and credit_card protection company . the recent slowing in price increases comes only after the rises caused some fundamental social shifts . according to a survey of 1 , 000 britons aged 18 to 25 that was conducted for egg , an internet bank , the high price of buying a home has forced many people to delay marriage and parenthood , to live at home with their parents for longer and to cancel vacations and nights on the town to save for a deposit on a house or apartment . ''if ever there was an example of the madness of property prices , surely this is it , '' the columnist becky barrow wrote recently in the daily_telegraph . ''the inexorable rise of property prices from edinburgh to exeter has created a financial bind so powerful that it changes the way we live . '' consider , for instance , laura chapman , a 28 year old producer for a financial television_network . with a friend who inherited money , she said , she is negotiating to buy a modest , one and a half bedroom apartment near london 's financial district . the cost 460 , 000 . by her calculations , people earning less than the equivalent of 75 , 000 find it difficult to buy anywhere in central_london . even with mortgage interest rates at record low levels some lenders are offering 3 . 75 percent she said many people had trouble coming up with the initial deposit on a property , let alone repayments . ''unless you have got a lot of savings , getting an inheritance seems to be the only way you can buy , '' she said . north of london , in the suburb of edgware , james inverne , a 27 year old freelance_journalist , said he earned around 45 , 000 a year and had been renting an apartment as prices to buy properties just ran away from him . two bedroom suburban properties he looked at three years ago for the equivalent of 114 , 000 now cost around 225 , 000 . and while couples with two salaries stood a better chance as first time buyers , he said , people like him , earning well over the average london salary , 36 , 000 a year , had problems . ''i do n't know how people across the country are coping , '' he said . international business

has a location of britain

lead the honda motor company of japan will set up its european headquarters in reading in southern_england , the auto_maker said . the wholly owned honda motor europe will start operating next april . the headquarters operation will create 100 jobs , and it will control production , sales , services , marketing , distribution and management in the honda motor company of japan will set up its european headquarters in reading in southern_england , the auto_maker said . the wholly owned honda motor europe will start operating next april . the headquarters operation will create 100 jobs , and it will control production , sales , services , marketing , distribution and management in europe . honda had planned to locate its european headquarters nearer london , but the company said it had decided on reading because it is between london and swindon , where honda said earlier this year that it would build a car assembly plant . company news

has a location of britain

lead britain 's unemployment rate fell to a seasonally_adjusted 10 . 2 percent in august , from 10 . 4 percent in july , the department of employment said today . the august figure was down from 11 . 6 percent in august 1986 . britain 's unemployment rate fell to a seasonally_adjusted 10 . 2 percent in august , from 10 . 4 percent in july , the department of employment said today . the august figure was down from 11 . 6 percent in august 1986 .

has a location of britain

when she left the university of california at berkeley to become dean of the london_business_school nearly two years ago , laura d'andrea tyson was struck by her new colleagues' penchant for meetings . ''there 's a lot of minute writing , and minute review , '' she said . for david vandelinde , arriving in britain meant adopting a new terminology . ''some of my colleagues in the states were surprised that i was taking the no . 2 job in a british university , '' recalled mr . vandelinde , the vice_chancellor of the university of warwick and former vice_chancellor of the university of bath . few americans realize that the vice_chancellor is actually at the top of britain 's academic hierarchy , whereas the chancellor is essentially a figurehead . adjusting to the quirks and foibles of a different system is the easy part of the job for the small but growing set of academic leaders in britain who , like ms . tyson and mr . vandelinde , got their training in the united_states . kings college london will get an american head next september , and in october , alison richard , formerly yale 's provost , became vice_chancellor of the university of cambridge , britain 's top university by most counts . ms . richard is british and holds her undergraduate degree from cambridge . but she has spent the last 30 years at yale , where she established a reputation for careful budget management good news for cambridge , which predicts a deficit of 8 . 3 million for this academic year . today , more and more foreigners are securing the top administrative posts at britain 's best universities . the united_states is not the only source of recruits the future vice_chancellor of the university of oxford , john hood , is from the university of auckland , in new zealand . ''twenty years ago i think the attitude was probably , 'we want to have a domestic person , ' '' mr . vandelinde said . now , british universities and their boards ''are saying , 'o . k. , fine , we 'll look wherever we can find the talent . ' '' gillian evans , a history professor at cambridge , cites a ''talent vacuum'' for administrators in britain , possibly compounded by the wish to bypass internal politics , which can be fierce at ancient institutions like cambridge . ''if they had appointed people from inside the u.k. , we would all have known too much about them we 'd have read them in who 's who , '' she says . but most of all , experts say , the importing of top administrators may signal a growing sense of the need to keep pace with their global counterparts , especially in the united_states . even institutions like oxford and cambridge are awakening to the fact that many britons are ending up in highly paid academic posts across the atlantic . ''british universities are starting to face competition , more than they have before , '' says nicholas barr , an economics professor at the london school of economics and political science . ''it would therefore not be surprising if they were to look for vice chancellors who have experience of competitive environments . '' as british universities join the worldwide battle for talent , experience in fund_raising is increasingly a factor . american candidates are considered particularly savvy on this issue . ''there does seem to be a sense in the u.k . that obviously the u.s . understands this magical world of fund_raising in some way and that the british institutions have to take strides to close the gap , '' said ms . tyson of london_business_school , which is planning a capital campaign . the school also wants to burnish its image as an international school , she said , ' 'so having a dean who was not british is a very important signal to send . '' britain 's new administrators will need financial skills , because universities here may soon face what mr . barr calls their ''biggest shake up'' in 40 years . at issue is a policy proposal , backed by tony_blair 's labor_government , that would move the heavily state subsidized universities closer to an american style system as students pay more for their education . the proposal would allow universities ( in england only , as opposed to scotland , wales and northern_ireland ) to raise tuition fees for english students from their current limit of 1 , 900 to 5 , 000 , starting in 2006 . legislation on fees is expected to be debated in parliament in the coming months . students vigorously oppose the proposal , fearing that higher fees will increase their debt and deter applicants from poor families . others see increased fees as the universities' only recourse . without it , mr . barr said , ''we will be a declining industry under central_planning , and britain can kiss goodbye forever to having any pretense of world class universities . '' separately , the government plans to raise spending on higher_education in england from 12 . 6 billion in 2002 03 to nearly 16 . 7 billion in 2005 06 . the cash_flow problem at british universities is stark . between 1989 and 2002 , government spending per student fell 37 percent in real terms as the number of students increased by 94 percent , according to universities uk , an association of university heads . faculty student ratios have worsened . the united_states spent 2.7 percent of its gross_national_product on higher_education in 2000 britain spent 1 percent . even london_business_school , which sets its own m.b.a . fees , is a poor cousin to its american rivals . its net assets , which include its endowment , total 84 . 6 million compared with the 215 million endowment of its partner and rival , columbia business school . british institutions , ms . tyson notes , face challenges like those of public universities in the united_states they are trying to make headway against the private universities , with their great fund_raising prowess . even if the proposal goes through and british universities adopt a more market oriented financial structure , will the new crop of foreign administrators be able to reverse the slide ? ''running a university in britain is an appallingly difficult task , '' cautioned mr . barr of the london school of economics , citing financial pressures . bringing britain 's strong_willed professors to heel will also be tough . ''there is , in most universities , a suspicion amongst many of the faculty_members about increasing levels of management , '' said kenneth edwards , a former vice_chancellor of the university of leicester and a cambridge professor . ''therefore , a lot depends upon the individual , at how skilled they are at actually managing this change and keeping people on board . '' that is especially true of cambridge , where ms . richard has taken the helm at a time when the relationship between the administration and the faculty is strained . ''this is a small , very closely knit , highly_politicized community of very clever and articulate people who are used to being able to say no to anything they like , '' says ms . evans , the history professor . ms . richard 's first order of business , ms . evans says , will simply be getting faculty_members to like and trust her . ''it 's like taming a wild animal . ''

has a location of britain

more than a decade ago , britain chose to split the work of transmitting electricity over long distances from the work of generating and selling it . generation and sales were opened to market forces , attracting many competitors and driving down prices sometimes too far , complain some companies that have lost millions and quit the market . at the same time , power transmission was left in the hands of one company , now called national_grid transco , which remained tightly_regulated . power travels over 4 , 500 miles of high tension lines and 400 miles of underground cables criss crossing england and wales . profits earned by the grid are set by the government , after consulting with national_grid about what it plans to reinvest in the system , where and how it plans to invest and how consumer costs will change . a power disruption caused by failures on this grid on aug . 28 left two fifths of london in darkness , shut down the subway system during rush_hour , and tempered thoughts that the british model would serve as a guide for the united_states to rebuild its strained transmission network . national_grid quickly tried to distance itself from the problems in the united_states . ''this is not an issue of underinvestment , '' the chief executive , roger urwin , said in a conference call the next day . the company invests about 300 million ( 474 million ) a year in the transmission network , triple the amount when the network was publicly owned , he said . the london power cut was a freak accident , mr . urwin said . it started when a transformer in kent failed , and a backup system in london collapsed seconds later , he said . full details will not be available for weeks , the company said , but a preliminary investigation is focusing on equipment that is only a year old . london 's power cut lasted 40 minutes , a fraction of the time that the power was out in most places during the united_states blackout . still , it caused chaos because london 's subway system , which is run by the city government , has a backup power generator that works only when all of the network is out . just 60 percent of the network 's power was cut , so the backup could not kick in , leaving thousands of commuters stranded underground . many subway lines were still shut for hours after the electricity was restored , as some commuters had been evacuated from the cars and were walking along the tracks . even though power was quickly restored , the failure could not have come at a worse time , analysts said , because national_grid has been seeking to work with united_states transmission networks . the company 's ' 'reputation will have taken a knock , '' citigroup said in a report . the company 's liability for the power cut is also being investigated by the gas and electricity regulator . britain 's approach to restructuring its electricity_market differs from the united_states method in several ways . in britain , the grid is the responsibility of one company , not many . regulations are made and enforced by one government_agency , not by a patchwork of state and federal officials , as in the united_states . and national_grid is encouraged to reinvest in the grid because the regulator will allow it to earn higher profits if it does . britain 's experience has been anything but smooth . competition to produce and sell energy has been so fierce that several companies have been driven into bankruptcy . they blamed market rules set by regulators . but until last week 's power failure , there were no problems with transmission . in the united_states , little attention was paid to transmission after the market was opened to competition . the focus was on creating more power , encouraging consumption and lowering prices . to a large degree , restructuring succeeded in doing that . but it also strained the grid . cheap power is not always near the customers , so it is sent to them along high tension wires , sometimes for hundreds of miles . the grid was not built for such volumes , and because many companies own parts of the grid no one company has the incentive to invest much to improve any part of it . ''in the united_states , it does n't seem that anyone that has responsibility for the reliability of the whole grid to the same extent as in the u.k . , '' said david crane , chief executive of international power , an energy company based in texas that operates in both countries . when problems occur , one company and one regulatory system can react more quickly . it took days for the american blackout to be completely fixed and weeks for its source to be pinpointed , versus minutes for national_grid to identify and repair london 's blackout . national_grid also operates in the united_states . it owns 14 , 000 miles of electricity transmission_lines in the northeast , including the niagara mohawk grid in upstate new york . but in response to the rules in each country , its investment_strategy differs significantly . in the 12 months ended march 30 , national_grid invested 364 million ( 574 million ) in its british network , and about 50 million ( under 80 million ) in its united_states network , which is more than three times larger . the company makes approximately the same rate of return in both countries , philip greene , an analyst at merrill_lynch , said . national_grid says that direct comparisons are hard to make , because england and wales are shifting from coal to gas to supply electricity , requiring some specific investments . in addition , national_grid 's transmission_lines in the united_states do not have to carry as heavy a load . ''it 's apples and oranges , '' says jeff scott , chief_operating_officer of united_states transmission . still , national_grid supports federal_energy_regulatory_commission proposals that would make the united_states system look more like that of england and wales . the plan would link the rates of return that transmitters can earn to improvements they make to the system . national_grid also controls the transmission of another valuable commodity , natural_gas , after it acquired britain 's money losing national pipeline in january 2002 . last june , the company said it made a profit of 391 million on sales of 9 . 4 billion in the fiscal year ending march 31 . that is up from a loss of 321 million in fiscal 2002 , which includes results for the gas pipeline , but down from a profit of 1 . 123 billion in 2001 . sales rose 24 percent last year , from 7 . 554 billion for the two companies in 2002 . about a fourth of national_grid 's profit came from running and managing britain 's electricity distribution system . the rest came from the gas pipeline business and from its electricity and gas operations in northern new york . even before the london blackout , shares of the company have dropped almost 15 percent since the beginning of the year , on concerns that a series of acquisitions have left the company too large to increase earnings quickly . on aug . 29 , the day after power was cut in london , the shares fell another 2 percent . still , the company is considered a success by historical measures . when the british_government in 1989 selected national_grid to own and operate the transmission system , it required the company to develop and maintain an efficient , coordinated and economical system of transmission and to encourage competition in the supply and generation of electricity . national_grid has reduced the cost of electricity transmission by 40 percent in the last eight years , mr . greene said , in part because of constant reinvestment . the office of gas and electricity markets was created to oversee the company and set the rates it can charge for owning and managing the system . it allows the company to recover its costs and earn a fixed 6 . 25 percent return on the capital it has invested by charging generators , distributors , suppliers and big industrial customers for use of the grid . that rate of return will be reevaluated in 2005 . britain 's experience with a privatized electricity_market was not without problems even before the london blackout . several international companies rushed into the country after the market was restructured , only to start losing money when regulators forbade power companies from auctioning off power to the highest bidder . ''the generators were working with a rigged market , '' richard hunt , a spokesman for the office of gas and electricity markets , said . a new system went into effect in 2001 , just as new plants were coming on line , flooding the system with power . prices have fallen more than 40 percent since then , and power companies say they are being forced out of business . british_energy , the country 's biggest nuclear generator , is awaiting a government bailout . many united_states companies that invested in britain in the last five years have exited after recording large losses . just this month , aes , a united_states power company , walked away from drax , the largest coal plant in britain , after paying 3 billion for it in 1999 . the plant is now in receivership , and international power is offering a fraction of aes 's original price . in october 2002 , txu of dallas , another power company , said that it would sell its british retail electricity business and power_plants to the german operator e . on for about 2 . 1 billion . txu started its expansion into europe with a_10 billion investment in 1998 . some say that in their quest to lower prices , the british regulator has been short sighted when it comes to power generation . in fact , regulators could be setting the foundations for a power supply crisis in britain , critics say . ''between the regulators cutting prices and the companies over building , they are all in a financial pickle , '' ian fells , a professor of energy conversion at newcastle university , said . excess_capacity has fallen to 16 percent from 28 percent below the 23 percent that he estimates is necessary in case of extreme weather conditions . august 's power failure may not be london 's last , he said . this winter , professor fells said , deregulated britain still faces a_20 percent chance of blackouts . international business

has a location of britain

lead the inflation_rate in britain rose three tenths of 1 percent in december and was up 7.7 percent for the year , the government said friday . the central statistical office attributed the december rise in the retail price index to increases in food prices and housing costs . the rate was better than the 7.8 percent rise that the financial markets had been expecting and was good news for the government , which has been fighting inflation with 15 percent interest rates . the inflation_rate in britain rose three tenths of 1 percent in december and was up 7.7 percent for the year , the government said friday . the central statistical office attributed the december rise in the retail price index to increases in food prices and housing costs . the rate was better than the 7.8 percent rise that the financial markets had been expecting and was good news for the government , which has been fighting inflation with 15 percent interest rates .

has a location of britain

if the mouse roared in cyberspace , would anyone hear it ? in the annals of internet history , june 5 , 2000 , may be remembered as the date that a hardy band of true_believers tried to establish the first independent colony in cyberspace . on monday , a small international group of computer rebels plans to introduce what they are calling a data haven , perched precariously on a world_war_ii military fortress six miles off england 's coast . they are hoping that the installation , connected to the internet by high speed microwave and satellite links , will become a refuge from governments increasingly trying to tame and regulate the internet . their company , known as havenco , has struck a financial arrangement with a self proclaimed prince , roy bates , an eccentric retired british_army major who in 1968 briefly gained notoriety when he landed at the abandoned fortress and declared it a sovereign nation the principality of sealand outside the reach of british law . the havenco founders are loosely associated with a movement of american computer mavens known as ''cypherpunks , '' a largely libertarian group espousing the idea that advanced computer encryption technologies can create electronic privacy and provide liberty and freedom from potential government big brothers . the company intends to offer its data haven to a diverse clientele that may wish to operate beyond the reach of large nations for reasons of privacy or financial necessity . they expect their customers to include people who wish to keep their e mail safe from government subpoenas as well as other businesses seeking to avoid regulation , like international electronic_commerce , banking and gambling . ''technology has made it easier to move information and hide information , '' said sean hastings , a 32 year old united_states citizen who is the chief executive and co founder of havenco . ''soon it will be impossible to trace where money is and who has money , and that will eventually force governments to move away from income taxes and toward consumption taxes . '' in its bid to offer both security and sovereignty , however , havenco has a formidable task . computer security experts generally say no networked computer systems can be proven to be perfectly secure and e mail by its very nature is a two way communication . legal experts also said that while britain might have done little to assert jurisdiction over the offshore enclave in the past , any prospect of its use for digital money_laundering , gambling or tax_evasion might quickly force the issue . several years ago , as a programmer for a similar effort to create an offshore data haven on the island of anguilla in the british west indies , mr . hastings sharpened his ideas on building computer systems that offered what he calls genuine privacy and security . while there he designed an anonymous digital currency system intended to help create an efficient barter system in cyberspace safe from the world 's taxation systems . but the government of anguilla was unwilling to give the assurances mr . hastings felt were necessary to set up a secure data haven . and so last year he began his search for another sympathetic base of operations , turning to a book called ''how to start your own country , '' from which he learned about mr . bates and his principality of sealand a former antiaircraft bunker sitting in 20 feet of water . decades ago , mr . bates used the abandoned concrete fortress , east of london , as a platform for what was called pirate radio , operating without license from the british_government . he says he is struck by the parallels between pirate radio and the idea of a pirate internet . ''we 've had dozens and dozens of proposals and we 've turned them all down , '' he said . ''this is the first one that seemed to be really suited to what we are . '' sealand has had a variety of legal skirmishes with the british_government since 1968 , at one point even firing warning shots at a british naval vessel trying to reach the fortress . it has managed to maintain a semblance of legal independence , although the issue of sovereignty has never been formally tested , mr . bates acknowledged . ''i 've never had to confront them directly , '' he said . ''they 've always ducked and dodged the question . '' mr . hastings said he was in the final stages of raising 3 million to start his company , which is incorporated in anguilla . he said he believed that sealand 's sovereignty would stand up to a court challenge , but some american legal experts are skeptical . ''offshore markets have become a focus of attention recently among the g 7 , '' the conference of leading industrialized_nations , said michael d . mann , a washington lawyer who is the former director of international enforcement for the securities_and_exchange_commission . he said that the flaw in the havenco plan was that cyberspace markets must still have points of contact with the world 's conventional economies . ''you can have all the secrecy and protection in the world as long as you do n't need to write a check or wire a dollar , '' he said . the havenco executives may find their haven illusory , said mr . mann , who was involved in a number of law enforcement actions with investors who tried to establish offshore havens while he was at the s.e.c . ''what 's so ironic about the internet is , as impersonal as it is , it creates the ultimate paper_trail , '' he said . that possibility has not deterred mr . hastings and his colleagues , who have moved three power generators to the offshore site . the group is now installing the finishing touches , including a special room housing hundreds of server computers , and expects to open for business within weeks . to forestall some government alarm , havenco has established an ''acceptable use'' policy banning its customers from using the service for sending the unsolicited bulk e mail known as spam , mounting attacks on other computer systems or trafficking in child_pornography . anything else , however , mr . hastings considers fair game , and he said his tiny cybernation had stockpiled a year 's worth of food , fuel and other supplies in case of a blockade . he said he was willing to take a political stand if necessary and acknowledged that he might become an exile from united_states as a consequence . he said the company was already looking at several small nations that might shelter similar islands in cyberspace . mr . bates , the 78 year old ruler of sealand , says he does not believe that his data haven deal will lead to a confrontation with the larger island nation next door . ''i would n't do anything to offend england , '' he said . ''i 'm an englishman . ''

has a location of britain

british regulators are continuing to investigate a 250 , 000 fee paid to a brokerage_firm , bzw , by a british regional electric company , northern_electric p.l.c. , days before an american company , calenergy , succeeded in winning a majority stake in the british company , a bzw spokesman said yesterday . the spokesman , peter bailey , said in london that the inquiry was focused on the flow of information between the broker and the regulatory panel , rather than the actual payment of the fee itself . calenergy 's hostile bid for northern was declared unconditional tuesday after the american company said tuesday it had acceptances for 50 . 3 percent of northern 's share capital . northern 's board is expected to recommend that shareholders accept the 1 . 54 billion offer . ( dow_jones ) international briefs

has a location of britain

lead playground bullies in britain may be learning a lesson or two these days , thanks to an experimental program that encourages schools to set up ''bully courts . '' playground bullies in britain may be learning a lesson or two these days , thanks to an experimental program that encourages schools to set up ''bully courts . '' the idea comes from kidscape , a nonprofit london group dedicated to child safety . michele elliott , the organization 's director , considers school thuggery to be part of the prism of child_abuse . ''but kids here see it as the biggest problem'' on that continuum , she said . in a survey of 4 , 000 students that kidscape conducted not long ago , nearly 70 percent of those ages 5 to 16 said they had been victims of bullies . the courts , which typically meet once a week , consist of four students and a voting adult adviser . two pupils are elected , two are appointed by teachers ( to prevent bullies from packing the court ) . usually , the four young judges read accounts of the incident one version from the alleged bully , another from the victim . then they hold a confidential hearing to elicit details from every child involved . punishments for convicted bullies vary . the courts ca n't suspend a child , for example , but they can order an offender to stay after school each day for a few weeks or to eat lunch in a supervised setting away from other children . one court devised what it called ''the long and tedious punishment'' making a bully repeatedly tear up paper and then pick up all the pieces . other schoolyard toughs have been denied field trips . bully courts are not the answer in all cases , ms . elliott said , especially if criminal assault is involved or if an offender 's actions stem from serious abuse at home . but in some schools they can reduce the more routine instances of physical and verbal intimidation , she said . so far , tribunals have been set up in 30 schools , mostly in and around london , with students from about 7 to 16 . ''in the schools they 're in , they have certainly brought a reduction of bullying , '' ms . elliott said . but schools adopting the bully courts are likely to be those in which teachers have already taken a firm stand against bullying . many schools do not have such an ''anti bullying ethos'' in place . they may disparage a victim 's complaint as ''tale telling , '' or deny that thuggery exists . in such settings , ms . elliott warns , a bully court is likely to be ineffective . but there 's evidence that more schools may be sharpening their awareness of the bullies in their midst . after a recent bbc_television show tackled the topic , a rush of students and teachers contacted kidscape for help . ''we got 5 , 000 letters , '' ms . elliott said . blackboard

has a location of britain

britvic , one of britain 's largest soft_drink manufacturers , is for sale as part of bass p.l.c . 's strategy to focus on its hotel business , executives close to britvic said today . britvic , which owns tango and other popular british soft_drinks , is 90 percent controlled by a joint_venture of bass , allied domecq and whitbread , in which bass has a 50 . 1 percent majority stake . pepsico owns the other 10 percent as part of deal that allows britvic to manufacturer and distribute pepsi in britain . schroder_salomon_smith_barney has been hired to sell britvic , which analysts say will probably raise about 350 million pounds , or 522 million , as part of bass 's strategy to sell its noncore_assets and focus on its hotel business , the executives said . bass is one of the largest hotel operators in the world , with nearly 3 , 000 hotels under the holiday_inn , inter_continental and crowne_plaza names . in june , sir ian prosser , bass 's chairman and chief executive , sold the company 's brewery operations to interbrew , a belgian company , for 2 . 3 billion , although that deal has come under scrutiny by british antitrust authorities . a bass spokesman declined to comment . possible bidders include pepsico , although the company 's strategy of spinning off bottling assets runs counter to a purchase of britvic . company executives were not immediately available for comment . britvic has attractive operating cash_flow , which surged 36 percent in 1999 , to 41 million . for the first six months of this year , the company had an operating profit of 9 million on sales of 270 million . that compares with operating profit of 8 million on sales of 254 million in the period a year earlier . the current auction would not be the first attempt at a change of ownership for britvic . last autumn , allied domecq tried to sell its britvic stake to punch taverns , which was also buying allied 's pub business . whitbread , which lost out to punch in the bidding for allied 's pubs , used its pre_emptive rights to eliminate the britvic stake from the deal .

has a location of britain

british and united_states agencies are investigating a possible conspiracy to illegally fix the amounts of fuel surcharges imposed on passengers on long distance flights to and from britain . most major airlines flying between the united_states and heathrow , london 's main international airport , charge passengers about 35 ( 64 ) each way in fuel surcharges . the justice_department and the office of fair_trade in britain have contacted british_airways , virgin_atlantic_airways , united_airlines and american_airlines and may be talking to others in connection with the investigation . violation of price_fixing laws could carry civil and criminal_penalties . the office of fair_trade announced the investigation on thursday but said that it was ''at an early stage'' and that ''no assumption should be made that there has been an infringement of competition law . '' gina talamona , a spokeswoman for the justice_department , said , ''the antitrust_division is investigating the possibility of anticompetitive practices involving surcharges and rates for passenger fares and air cargo shipments . '' british_airways confirmed the investigation and said it was cooperating . the airline also said that its commercial director , martin george , and its head of communications , iain burns , had been given leaves of absence during the investigation but did not elaborate . american_airlines , a unit of amr , said it had received a ''federal grand_jury subpoena in connection with a government investigation into alleged price_fixing in the air passenger industry'' but said it was not the target of the inquiry . united_airlines , owned by ual , said it had received an inquiry and was cooperating with investigators but that it also was not a target . virgin_atlantic said it was ''aware of the investigation'' and was ''assisting . '' airlines , struggling to make profits because of high oil prices , have been adding fuel surcharges to passenger tickets in recent years . the price of jet_fuel has increased 21 . 3 percent over the last year , the international air transport association said on june 16 . so far in 2006 , the fuel bill for airlines is estimated to be 22 billion higher than it was last year , the association said , and double what it was in 2004 . consumer advocates say fuel surcharges can be a deceptive way for airlines to increase their fares beyond what they are paying for fuel . price_fixing occurs when companies combine or conspire to raise , lower or stabilize prices . officials would need concrete evidence that airlines discussed keeping their fuel surcharges at a similar level to prove price_fixing . fuel surcharges for some large airlines that fly between the united_states and britain are similar . in april , british_airways increased the fuel surcharge for its long haul flights to 35 , a 5 increase , for each one way ticket . virgin_atlantic 's fuel surcharge for flights in and out of britain is also 35 each way . united_airlines' fuel surcharges from britain vary from flight to flight and by day , a reservation agent said . a one way flight to kennedy international airport in new york on july 6 carries a_37 fuel surcharge , for example . american_airlines charges 37 in fuel surcharges each way between britain and the united_states . continental_airlines , which said it had not been contacted in the investigation , charges a_37 . 50 fuel surcharge for each flight in and out of britain . though the surcharges seem high to many passengers , industry groups say they are still not enough to cover the cost of fuel increases . in 2005 , ''only 50 percent of the increase in fuel charges was passed through'' into higher ticket prices , said brian pearce , chief economist for the transport association . airlines made up the difference by cutting costs , including increasing their self service check in and online ticketing facilities to trim labor costs . established carriers like british_airways and american_airlines have been losing customers on short haul flights to new , cheaper upstarts like easyjet and ryanair in europe , putting even more pressure on them to make up the difference in long distance air fares . the european_commission , which started an air cargo price_fixing investigation earlier this year with the justice_department , said it was not involved in this investigation .

has a location of britain

the brewer wolverhampton dudley said it had rejected a 1 . 4 billion bid by the pubmaster group for its 1 , 750 pubs in britain . pubmaster , a unit of westdeutsche_landesbank girozentrale , already owns 2 , 000 british pubs . it offered 480 pence ( 6 . 83 ) a share in cash and assumed debt . wolverhampton said the price was too low . its shares closed at 472 . 5 pence ( 6 . 72 ) , unchanged . alan_cowell ( nyt )

has a location of britain

the american electric power company is expected to announce as early as today that it plans to acquire yorkshire electricity p.l.c . of britain . american electric , which is based in columbus , ohio , has scheduled a news conference today to make ''a major announcement . '' it did not disclose the details , but people in the industry said that the company would announce that it had reached a deal with yorkshire . few details of the expected deal were available last night . in london , the financial_times reported today that american electric would bid as much as 2 . 4 billion for yorkshire the daily_telegraph reported that yorkshire had accepted a bid for that amount from american electric and another united_states power company that was not identified . yesterday , yorkshire described as speculative a report in the sunday_telegraph that a deal had been reached . american electric declined to comment . if a deal is completed , yorkshire would be the seventh british electric_utility to be taken over by an american company in recent years . yorkshire , which provides electricity in parts of northern_england , and southern electric p.l.c . are the last two independent regional electricity companies in britain , of the 12 that had been privatized by the british_government in 1995 . in december , calenergy inc . claimed victory in its 1 . 5 billion hostile_takeover bid for northern_electric p.l.c . faced with the coming deregulation of its markets in the united_states , american utilities have been acquiring british electricity companies because they are growing fast and have learned how to cope with deregulation . britain already allows many customers to choose their electric suppliers , as american customers will be able to do in the next few years in some states . american electric is one of the largest power companies in the united_states , serving nearly three million customers in ohio , indiana , michigan , virginia and kentucky .

has a location of britain

queen_elizabeth_ii conferred an honorary knighthood on bill gates , the chairman of microsoft , in a private ceremony at buckingham_palace in recognition of his role in business and philanthropy . the honor will not permit mr . gates to use the title sir a form of address restricted to british and commonwealth residents . mr . gates said he was ''humbled and delighted . '' other americans who have received the honor include former presidents ronald_reagan and george h.w . bush the federal_reserve chairman , alan_greenspan former mayor rudolph w . giuliani of new york the filmmaker steven_spielberg and bob hope . alan_cowell ( nyt )

has a location of britain

one of the more interesting debates within the federal_reserve has been the one between alan_greenspan , the chairman , and laurence h . meyer , a fed governor with a reputation as a doctrinaire inflation fighter . in recent speeches , on the same day but thousands of miles apart , they went at it again , in their indirect way . in doing so , they provided a glimpse into issues with which the fed is wrestling as it tries to determine what the 2001 slowdown says about forces that reshaped the economy for the better in the late 1990 's . and they illustrated that for all the deference shown to mr . greenspan on monetary_policy , his voice is not the only one at the table . mr . meyer is known for his belief in rule based forecasting that assumes predictable interplay among economic_growth , unemployment and inflation . mr . greenspan has a more pragmatic , intuitive approach . mr . meyer has been skeptical of the notion that the economy 's capacity for noninflationary growth has been permanently improved by productivity increases . mr . greenspan has been an advocate of the idea that the economy is just beginning to reap the benefits of technological_advances . mr . meyer 's belief that strong growth and unemployment in the 4 percent range would inevitably generate inflation was tested by a long period in which that combination did not put much upward pressure on prices . mr . greenspan 's optimism about technology and productivity is being tested even now , as the late 1990 's boom has given way to a slowdown . neither man seems to have changed his view substantially . in an address to a financial seminar on may 24 in scotland , mr . meyer acknowledged that productivity growth accelerated sharply starting around 1995 , from an annual rate of 1.5 percent the preceding two decades to 2.5 percent to 3 percent . at first , enhanced productivity growth stimulated demand by spurring both consumption and investment booms , mr . meyer said . technological_innovation promised high returns to businesses willing to invest in equipment . surging stock prices themselves in part a response to higher profit expectations left consumers feeling wealthier and more willing to spend . at the same time , mr . meyer said , the surge in productivity growth had a disinflationary effect . because workers did not immediately demand higher wages as their payoff for improved productivity , ''unit labor costs fell , profits rose , and then competitive pressures passed along the lower costs to lower prices , '' mr . meyer said . the effect was to reduce the level of unemployment at which strong growth would ignite inflation , he said . but the benefits were ''temporary bonuses , '' he said . ''once productivity growth stabilizes , even at a much elevated level , these forces dissipate , growth slows , and pressures on prices might intensify , '' mr . meyer said . there is reason for optimism , he said . still , he added , ' 'some will have confidence in the productivity story only when it is tested by a cyclical decline , '' suggesting that he remained unsure whether the productivity gains would fully survive a downturn . mr . greenspan , by contrast , appears confident that technology driven improvements in productivity will yield long term benefits . and while mr . meyer remains nervous about inflation , mr . greenspan made clear that it is hardly on his radar screen . there is ''ample evidence that we are experiencing only a pause in the investment in a broad set of innovations that has elevated the underlying growth rate in productivity , '' mr . greenspan said in a speech to the economic club of new york , a few hours after mr . meyer 's remarks across the atlantic . mr . greenspan emphasized that the economy faced many risks , including a drop in demand for capital equipment . but he said inflation was not one of those risks . while some inflation measures have been creeping up , the broadest ones have been relatively stable , and ''the lack of pricing power reported overwhelmingly by business people underscores an absence of inflationary zest , '' he said . for all their differences , mr . greenspan and mr . meyer often agree on monetary_policy . and both have signaled that they might support one or two more rate cuts . they agreed on one other thing the current slowdown is not the fed 's fault . the central_bank , mr . meyer said , got it just right over the last two years , until the economy was blindsided by ''a coincidence of adverse shocks , '' like rising energy prices and jittery financial markets . not raising rates in 1999 and the first half of 2000 ''would have added fuel to an economy that was already threatening to overheat , '' mr . greenspan said , and cutting rates too soon ''would have risked cutting short the adjustments needed to sustain long term economic_growth . '' economic view

has a location of britain

lead as the summer tourist season nears its peak weekend here , britain 's air_traffic_control system has been hit with computer failures , serious morale problems and a dispute over evidence that many near collisions are going unreported . as the summer tourist season nears its peak weekend here , britain 's air_traffic_control system has been hit with computer failures , serious morale problems and a dispute over evidence that many near collisions are going unreported . the civil_aviation authority has hired outside consultants to investigate a series of nine breakdowns in the new computer system that monitors all flights between the united_states and britain . the 10 . 8 million computer , at prestwick , scotland , malfunctioned sunday and again monday , causing delays of up to two hours in flights bound for the united_states from london 's two major airports , heathrow and gatwick . the computer , made by digital_equipment_corporation , a massachusetts company , automatically tracks 500 airplanes daily as they fly the atlantic and has a ''conflict alert'' system to warn of potential collisions . a spokesman for digital_equipment said the problems were caused by the software program provided by a british firm , rather than by the computer itself . no safety threat seen officials of both the civil_aviation authority and the guild of air_traffic_controllers said that the nine computer failures since march 31 have posed no immediate safety threat for passengers , since the north_atlantic air lanes are not crowded . but christopher tugendhat , the c.a.a . chairman , and steve hall , spokesman of the air_traffic_controllers' guild , are in conflict about how much traffic the oceanic area control center at prestwick should handle while the computer malfunction is being investigated . mr . hall wants the c.a.a . to institute ''flow control , '' or reduced traffic , throughout the study period , so that fewer planes will be in the air if the computer malfunctions again and controllers at prestwick are forced to revert to old fashioned manual tracking using cardboard progress strips on a map . mr . hall said ''there 's been only one total outage , but there have been times when the information from the computer has been so corrupt that you ca n't use it . in our business , we do n't take chances . '' mr . tugendhat said in an interview today that permanent reduction in intercontinental flights was not warranted by the sporadic computer problem . ''if a computer goes down , you have flow control of a rather stringent sort introduced as a consequence of that . our belief is that you should have this system at the ready , not that you have it in permanent operation , '' he said , noting that the problem of potential collisions is less pressing here than in the united_states . ''in the states , the peak times problem is far worse than it is here , '' mr . tugendhat said . ''one of the problems you have in the states , which mercifully we do n't have here , you have an awful lot of private planes flying on visual flight rules . '' worry is increased nonetheless , a collection of reports from pilots and controllers by the royal_air_force institute of aviation medicine has increased worry about collisions and near misses of the sort that have dogged american aviation recently . by inviting controllers to file confidential reports , the institute turned up 13 unreported near misses , 11 of which were serious enough to have warranted official investigations . the civil_aviation authority is upset by the ''hair raising anonymous reports , '' and the institute 's refusal to provide further details from its confidential records , according to anne noonan , a press officer at the civil_aviation authority . ''we feel that it is undermining flight safety to a certain extent , '' she said . ''the controllers are reporting incidents to the institute that by law they are required to report to the civil_aviation authority . '' this loggerhead between the two agencies is unusual in a nation that thinks of itself as running an aviation system much safer and saner than that of the united_states . heathrow , the world 's busiest international airport , handles 26 . 4 million international passsengers a year . gatwick , handles 15 . 8 million such passengers each year and recently replaced kennedy airport in new york as the world 's second busiest international airport . to avoid the mingling of private planes and commercial jets typical at american airports , britain has banned all private craft from heathrow . ''the freedom that private pilots have in the states , which is now being questioned there , we do n't have in the united_kingdom , '' said mr . hall . ''it might be an infringement of liberty , but so is being hit in mid air . '' backlog of flights to spain but in britain , as elsewhere , the increase in passengers and problems elsewhere in the international air control system have made air travel a grinding experience . this past saturday , a 24 hour strike by air_traffic_controllers in spain caused chaotic delays at gatwick , where 5 , 000 people were stranded overnight . the backlog of flights to spain was not cleared until today . on saturday , a three day weekend begins that is traditionally britain 's busiest travel period , with 100 , 000 passengers a day expected at gatwick . airport officials are readying for another mess , as the spanish controllers plan another strike at 7 a.m . on saturday .

has a location of britain

the united_states has appealed a world_trade_organization ruling that it erred in imposing countervailing duties on lead and steel products from a british company that had been subsidized by the government . united_states officials argued that duties were necessary to compensate for government subsidies that skewed the competitive_advantage of british companies . elizabeth_olson world business briefing world trade

has a location of britain

pound sputters . sterling rallied against the dollar after the bank of england surprised the market and raised an interest rate . but it finished the day lower . in new york , the pound eased to 1 . 6369 , from 1 . 6399 on wednesday .

has a location of britain

lead in britain , new national tests will be a key tool in the government 's effort to enact the most far reaching changes in that nation 's education system in 40 years . introduced in parliament last november , the education_reform bill calls for a unified national_curriculum backed up with a series of tests administered to children at the ages of 7 , 11 , 14 and 16 . in britain , new national tests will be a key tool in the government 's effort to enact the most far reaching changes in that nation 's education system in 40 years . introduced in parliament last november , the education_reform bill calls for a unified national_curriculum backed up with a series of tests administered to children at the ages of 7 , 11 , 14 and 16 . the overhaul of the system reflects prime_minister margaret_thatcher 's free_market philosophy and her commitment to modernizing british classrooms to strengthen the national economy . under the reform legislation , the national_curriculum and testing regime will be set up by 1992 . the test results of individual schools will be publicly reported . parents will be free to place their children in the nearby school of their choice , effectively forcing a school to bid for students by improving its test rated performance . the aim , says kenneth baker , britain 's education secretary , is to ''introduce competition into the provision of public education . this competition will introduce a new dynamic in our schools system which will stimulate better standards all round . '' the thatcher_government already has taken a step toward reshaping education standards with tests . this year , a new general certificate of secondary education exam is being introduced in england and wales , replacing the traditional ordinary , or o level , examination . because it includes questions on such subjects as technology , business studies and design , the new test has required many secondary_schools to broaden their course offerings . greater emphasis is placed on analysis and everyday skills the old exam mainly gauged students' ability to memorize facts . in addition , more than 20 percent of a student 's grade under the new system will be determined not by a one time written test but by continuous assessment by teachers of course work and oral presentations an effort to take account of communications skills . according to educators , this represents a shift away from the narrower academic orientation of the past , often skewed to producing university scholars , and toward developing students as ''competent citizens . '' the call for school reform has come from observers of every political persuasion , left and right . it has been based on a recognition that the well intentioned drive of the 1960 's and 1970 's to make schools more egalitarian , pulling away from class patterns and abolishing state ''grammar'' schools for high achievers in favor of all inclusive ''comprehensive'' schools , also resulted in an erosion of standards . recent international comparisons between british students and their counterparts in economically competing nations have caused alarm . according to one study , the average 14 year old in britain is a year behind a german contemporary in mathematics , while the bottom 40 percent are two years behind . some critics view the reform package as an effort by the government to take power from local education authorities often controlled by the labor_party to tighten the conservative_party 's grip on the nation . others worry that national competitive tests could classify some students as slow learners at an early age , undoing the long term trend toward more egalitarian schools . yet the debate in britain is not about the need for reform and national testing but mostly about how those tests are to be instituted , and about the resources for increased testing . even the national union of teachers , which backs the labor_party , is not opposed to the reform plan . ''to be effective , '' explained douglas mcavoy , a senior union official , ''the introduction of the tests must be linked to better support for the profession , including an increase in the number of teachers employed . ''

has a location of britain

with britain 's exporters growing increasingly worried about the strength of the pound , the bank of england 's monetary_policy_committee left the benchmark interest rate unchanged at 6 percent . an increase would have further strengthened the pound against key european currencies , making british exports even more expensive , analysts said . sterling has increased by 18 percent against the euro since the creation of the single european currency in january 1999 . eddie_george , the bank of england governor , said last week that the pound 's strength should be reflected in interest rate policy . alan_cowell world business briefing europe

has a location of britain

prime_minister tony_blair joined a passionate and increasingly contentious debate on tuesday over the full face veils worn by some british muslim women , calling it a ' 'mark of separation . '' it was the first time mr . blair had so explicitly backed jack_straw , the leader of the house of commons , who raised muslim ire this month by saying he did not believe that women should wear the full face veil , a headdress with only a narrow slit for the eyes . mr . straw had asked muslim women meeting with him to remove their veils , arguing that it prevented communication and set the wearer apart . ''it is a mark of separation , and that is why it makes other people from outside the community feel uncomfortable , '' mr . blair said at a regular news conference , echoing some of mr . straw 's sentiments . his remarks reflected a sense that british society is heading toward ever deeper fissures between muslims and non muslims , evoking questions about the nation 's readiness to embrace muslims , and muslims' willingness to adapt . the discussion mirrors earlier public disputes in france , turkey and elsewhere about head_scarves , though in britain it is largely limited to the use of the full face veil , the niqab . ''no one wants to say that people do n't have the right to do it , '' mr . blair said . ''that is to take it too far . but i think we need to confront this issue about how we integrate people properly into our society . '' there were signs that the dispute had spread farther across europe . in an interview in italy , prime_minister romano_prodi was quoted tuesday as saying that women should not be hidden behind veils . ''you ca n't cover your face you must be seen , '' mr . prodi told reuters . ''this is common_sense , i think . it is important for our society . '' in muslim societies , the full veil is sometimes worn to shield a woman from the view of men outside her immediate family . the debate about its use among a small number of british muslims has crystallized around aishah azmi , a teaching assistant suspended by a local council for refusing to remove her full face veil during class in the presence of male teachers . mr . blair said he could ' 'see the reason'' for mrs . azmi to be suspended from her job at a church of england school in dewsbury , yorkshire , where there is a substantial muslim minority . within hours , her lawyers issued a statement accusing mr . blair of interfering in a labor tribunal case and demanding a retraction . ''we have to deal with the debate , '' mr . blair said . ''people want to know that the muslim community in particular , but actually all minority communities , have got the balance right between integration and multi culturalism . '' the debate is characterized by muslims as a symbol of the stigma they face among the non muslim majority . muhammad abdul bari , the secretary general of the muslim council of britain , said in an open_letter that some muslims had been considering changing their names ''to avoid anti muslim remarks . '' ''this is what happens when a community is singled out by those at the helm of affairs , '' he said . non muslims say the veil wearing shows a reluctance among the estimated 1.6 million muslims 3 percent of the population to compromise for the sake of social harmony . david davis , the conservative opposition spokesman on home affairs , said last weekend that british muslims risked ''voluntary apartheid'' by displays of separateness like the full veil . the gulf has been widening since the london bombings by four british muslims on july 7 , 2005 , but the argument has sharpened in recent weeks . after mr . straw questioned the wearing of the niqab in early october , a government education minister , phil woolas , went further last weekend , calling for mrs . azmi , the teaching assistant , to be dismissed . other government ministers , now including mr . blair , have joined the debate . the discussion spills over into britain 's broader embroilment in the campaign against terrorism and the war in iraq . mr . blair and others say muslims must do more to police their own ranks , while some muslims say britain 's deployment in iraq and afghanistan accelerates the radicalization of young muslims like the london bombers . last week britain 's new army commander , gen . sir richard dannatt , said british_troops should be pulled out from iraq ' 'some time soon . '' but mr . blair said tuesday ''if we walk away before the job is done from either of those two countries , we will leave a situation in which the very people we are fighting everywhere , including the extremism in our own country , are heartened and emboldened , and we ca n't afford that to happen . so we have got to see that job through . ''

has a location of britain

lead britain 's annual inflation_rate remained steady at 4.4 percent in august , the government said today . the annual inflation_rate reflects the rise in the government 's retail price index , a measure of the costs of consumer goods , over the previous 12 months . britain 's annual inflation_rate remained steady at 4.4 percent in august , the government said today . the annual inflation_rate reflects the rise in the government 's retail price index , a measure of the costs of consumer goods , over the previous 12 months .

has a location of britain

britain reported today that its trade_deficit narrowed slightly in september , but economists said a sharp fall in exports dented hopes of an export led recovery from recession . the deficit in the balance of payments , covering trade as well as international transactions in invisible goods or services , fell to 529 million , or 904 . 7 million , in september from a revised 596 million ( 1 . 02 billion ) in august . unsettling to economists , however , was the steep 4.5 percent plunge in exports . imports fell by 4.8 percent . economists said the decline showed that domestic demand remained in the doldrums . britain 's ruling conservative government has been hoping a recovery in consumer_spending will help carry the economy out of a recession . the trade figures are only one of a string of recent indications that consumer demand remains weak . government figures released on monday showed that retail sales a litmus test of consumer confidence remained flat in september .

has a location of britain

this winter a 50 foot_wide strip of roger middleditch 's sugar beet field fell into the north_sea , his rich east anglian lands reduced by a large fraction of their acreage . the adjacent potato field , once 23 acres , is now less than 3 too small to plant at all , he said . each spring mr . middleditch , a tenant farmer on the vast benacre estate here , meets with its managers to recalculate his rent , depending on how much land has been eaten up by encroaching water . as he stood in a muddy field by the roaring sea recently , he tried to estimate how close he dared to plant this season . ''we 've lost so much these last few years , '' he said . ''you plant , and by harvest it 's fallen into the water . '' coastal erosion has been a fact of life here for a century , because the land under east anglia is slowly sinking . but the erosion has never been as quick and cataclysmic as it has been in recent years , an effect of climate_change and global_warming , many scientists say . to make matters worse for coastal farmers , the government has stopped maintaining large parts of the network of seawalls that once protected the area . under a new policy that scientists have labeled ' 'managed retreat , '' governments around the globe are concluding that it is not worth taxpayer money to fight every inevitable effect of climate_change . land loss at benacre ''has accelerated dramatically , '' said mark venmore roland , the estate 's manager . ''at first it was like a chap losing his hair bit by bit , so you 'd get used to it . '' but in the past few years , he said , ''it 's been really frightening . '' a report this year from the intergovernmental panel on climate change estimates that rising seas will force 60 million people away from their coastal homes and jobs by the year 2080 . another study , the stern report , released last december by the british_government , projected hundreds of millions of ''environmental refugees'' by 2050 . that category includes people whose land is ruined by floods and those whose pastures are parched by drought . most are expected to be poor people in developing_countries , like fishermen in asia or shepherds in africa . mr . middleditch , a grizzled , balding man in wellington boots , and mr . venmore roland , with his upper_class accent , plush yellow corduroy trousers and walking stick , are certainly not typical of this group . but their plight shows that even here in europe , livelihoods are being affected , particularly in rural areas . walkers and birders who frequent these famous broads , or salt marshes , will find that the hiking path through benacre that once gently declined from a low grassy plateau toward the beach , now ends in a precipitous drop of 16 feet to the water the rest fell into the sea in february . the 6 , 000 acre benacre estate is losing swaths of land 30 feet wide along its entire two miles of coastline each year . inland trees that were once sold for timber are dying or no longer commercially valuable , because the proximity to the salty sea air has left them stunted . farmers like mr . middleditch are losing fields and trying to adjust crops to an unpredictable climate . mr . middleditch is now planting hemp . in cornwall , in southwestern england , warmer and wetter weather has led farmers to experiment with growing jalape o peppers . as climate_change has accelerated erosion on the east_coast of britain , many scientists and politicians have decided that it no longer makes sense to defend the land . under the policy of managed retreat , farms , nature preserves and villages are surrendered to the sea . ''this land is very sensitive to climate_change because it is very low lying and does n't tolerate high temperatures like we 've had the last few summers , '' said david viner , a climate expert at the university of east anglia . ''the government will only protect land it thinks of as economically important , and on an economic level you can say that makes sense , but of course that 's not the whole picture . '' a landmark scientific report by the intergovernmental panel on climate change , released in february , predicted that warming caused by human activities could produce rises in sea_level of 7 to 23 inches , accompanied by much stormier weather , by the end of the century . in indonesia , the environment minister predicted that 2 , 000 of the country 's islands could be swallowed by the seas in 30 years and said that little can be done to defend them . in wealthier regions , vast engineering projects can often prevent the sea 's encroachment , mr . viner said , but the cost is often so high that it becomes politically unacceptable . here in the broads , there are conflicts about who deserves to be spared the effects of climate_change , and what should be sacrificed to the advancing water . local council meetings have pitted conservation groups against farmers landowners against environmentalists national politicians against villagers . then there is the question of who , if anyone , should compensate people for the land and income lost . farmers and landowner groups are calling for government payments and for a voice in deciding what must be saved . they would also like permission to build their own private sea defenses . last year , peter boggis , a farmer whose land abuts benacre , paid a contractor to add dirt to the bottom of the sea cliff that abuts his land . he was ordered to stop , after conservation groups said he was tampering with a site of scientific interest . farther up the coast , four or five homes from the village of happisburgh fall into the sea each year , as the cliff beneath them crumbles . while they appeal for help , the north norfolk district council and coastal concern action limited have started to shore up happisburgh 's cliff with rocks , financed in part by an internet campaign , ''buy a rock for happisburgh . '' ''the u.k . wo n't let london flood , '' mr . viner said , ''but the national government 's not going to worry about an odd village or farm . '' beccles journal

has a location of britain

the labor_government today unveiled plans to change the way higher_education is financed , proposing that universities be allowed to charge students higher tuition fees and that students in turn be allowed to delay paying until after graduation . the government said the plan would make it easier for poorer students to go to college and would help raise revenue for ailing british universities , which still rely on government aid for the bulk of their financing . but critics including opposition politicians , legislators from the left_wing of the labor_party , and student groups denounced the proposals as a sure way to discourage young people from attending college because of fears of amassing huge , american style student debts . ''the student funding review was called in order to address the balance of contribution between the student and the state , '' mandy telford , president of the national union of students , said in a statement . ''that balance has certainly been addressed today , with students footing the bill . '' under the plan , she added , medical students in six year programs could be left with post university bills of almost 90 , 000 . university education was free to britons until 1998 , and the new decision to impose higher fees rather than scrapping them altogether , as some members of the labor_party have proposed is a tacit_acknowledgment that free higher_education , one of the tenets of the oldtime welfare_state , is now irrevocably dead . under the proposals , universities that met various criteria for attracting students from less privileged backgrounds would be allowed to charge annual tuition as high as 3 , 000 almost 4 , 900 at current exchange_rates starting in 2006 . universities now charge about 1 , 800 per student per year . students would not be required to pay the money until after they graduated and began making at least 15 , 000 ( about 24 , 000 ) a year , after which annual payments would be made as a percentage of income . currently , any student loans must be repaid after the graduate 's annual salary reaches 10 , 000 ( about 16 , 000 ) . the government estimates that most students would graduate with debts of 24 , 000 to 34 , 000 . the proposals are now to be subject to a comment period , after which they will be translated into legislation likely to be voted on in the current parliamentary session . laying out the government 's long awaited and much debated plan , the education secretary , charles clarke , said a thorough overhaul of financing was essential if colleges were to achieve their goals of attracting more students and maintaining budgetary health . since 1990 , the number of students attending colleges and universities has increased to 43 percent of the college age population , from just 20 percent the government wants that to increase to 50 percent . ''if they have to rely_solely or mainly on public_sector resources , '' mr . clarke said , speaking of universities , ''the result is pressure on staff student ratios , capital investment and innovation . we cannot risk slipping into that sort of decline . '' damian green , the education spokesman for the conservative_party , condemned the plan as a mishmash , and said that labor 's bitter internal debate before the announcement detracted from its impact . ''many of us have followed with fascination the leaks and counterleaks of the rows within the cabinet that has led to today 's half baked compromise , '' he said .

has a location of britain

the crest electronic share settlement system began operating yesterday in britain , bringing paperless settlement of stock trades to europe 's largest equity market . the crest system , developed by the bank of england in the last three years , is owned by 69 financial_institutions . the new system will begin processing trades on aug . 19 . the system will initially shorten the time it takes to settle trades in britain to three days from five days . ( bloomberg business news ) international briefs

has a location of britain

if there is an institution that the fictional james_bond made famous with all his derring do it was , to quote from the thriller and movie of the same name , her majesty 's secret_service . as of thursday , the service was not quite as secret as it had been . at midnight , britain 's secret intelligence service , or mi6 the equivalent of the central_intelligence_agency introduced its first publicly accessible web_site , raising the hem of its cloak ( if not its dagger ) to just a modicum of scrutiny . so intense was the interest in this move by an intelligence service once so secret that it denied its own existence that the site recorded 3.5 million hits in its first few hours , slowing access to a crawl , said nev johnson , a british_foreign_office press officer who speaks on behalf of the secret intelligence service . ''it 's been pretty astronomical , '' he said . girding for the fight against global terrorism , the agency developed the site primarily to recruit agents , operatives and analysts from a much broader academic and social background than in the past and to let would be spies know how to join . so wide is the net that the site has versions in spanish , french , arabic , chinese and russian hardly the kind of overture that would have been expected in the cold_war heyday of writers like john le carr , or double agents like kim philby and guy burgess , when the point was to keep foes at bay by the most devious of means . but times have changed . in literary espionage , le carr 's george smiley hunted for ''gerald the mole'' in the british_intelligence services , bond reported to an anonymous spymaster called m and heroes crossed cold_war frontiers in dire peril and great discomfort . now , the head of the s.i.s. , once known only as c ( the final initial in the name of the first s.i.s . chief , capt . sir mansfield smith cumming ) , is identified by name on the web_site . the incumbent is john scarlett . these days , too , s.i.s . headquarters , called the circus in le carr 's world and never identified to the outside world as a nest of spies , is a huge and prominent building on the river thames where , the web_site says , there is a ''family atmosphere'' and ''facilities include squash and basketball courts , a gym , coffee lounge and bar . '' in the mythology of british espionage , moreover , an agent might once have been recruited by a sharp eyed oxford or cambridge don , harvesting likely operatives from undergraduate sherry parties . recruitment , so it was said , came with a discreet tap on the shoulder and a whispered introduction to a diffident spymaster in some anonymous office . the new web_site , by contrast , cites what it calls three case studies of graduates from universities in bristol , durham and edinburgh who joined the service in their 20 's , doing other jobs before turning to espionage as a career change . ''i 've already been in some pretty testing situations abroad , '' says one supposed 28 year old spy , identified only as andrew . another , identified as peter , 24 , is just as bullish about his newly adopted tradecraft . ''yes , there are mundane parts to it , especially the paperwork , '' the agent is quoted as saying . ''but the feeling of achievement when you persuade a contact to trust you is what does it for me . '' there is , too , a woman from what seems an ethnic minority background . ''it is a much more diverse and down to earth place than anyone might think , '' said naheed , a 27 year old lawyer whose family moved to britain from kenya in the 1970 's according to her web_site ''legend , '' as spies in novels call cover stories . ''and my background has been a professional bonus . '' the targets , too , have changed . ''after the fall of the berlin_wall in 1989 , s.i.s . developed its already emerging response to the challenges which are now so dominant regional instability , terrorism , the proliferation of weapons_of_mass_destruction and serious international crime , '' reads a section of the web_site chronicling the organization 's history since its founding in 1909 . in some ways , the secret intelligence service is playing catch up to mi5 , britain 's domestic intelligence agency , whose web_site draws in the bulk of its recruits . mi5 has already said it wants to increase its officers by 50 percent to 3 , 000 by 2008 , while the s.i.s . has not made known its targets . ''it would be counterproductive to talk about target numbers of staff or anything like that , '' said mr . johnson , the spokesman . indeed , while its advertising is web based ( www . mi6 . gov . uk or www . sis . gov . uk ) , anyone wishing to either join or offer a snippet of intelligence is urged to do so by regular mail . that , in itself , might seem an advance on the thriller writer 's world of microfilm and ' 'dead letter drops'' marked by chalk marks on crumbling walls in the dingier parts of berlin or moscow . but the s.i.s . is not prepared to go so far as to make its web_site interactive . indeed , the host of the site is a server outside london that has no links to the s.i.s . 's own computer systems , mr . johnson said . of course , the leap into cyberspace has already inspired a number of metaphors . the service has ''come in from the cold'' and the web_site is ''for millions of eyes only , '' the daily_mail reported . ''licensed to surf , '' was the headline of an editorial in the times of london , linking 007 's license to kill with would be operatives surfing the web . but the crucial question remained might a modern spy expect the aston martin and martini adventures of ian fleming 's james_bond ? the answer lay somewhere between coy and inscrutable . ''by the time the filmmakers focused on bond , the gap between truth and fiction had already widened , '' the web_site observed . ''nevertheless , staff who join s.i.s . can look forward to a career that will have moments when the gap narrows just a little and the certainty of a stimulating and rewarding career which , like bond 's , will be in the service of their country . '' london journal

has a location of britain

in a damp and windy corner of eastern england , a large run down victorian mansion stands as an unlikely monument to a revolutionary idea in education . it was here in the 1920 's that a scottish teacher founded summerhill as the first modern ''free school , '' where classes were not compulsory and key decisions were made by an assembly of pupils and teachers . the objective was even more unorthodox that children should be happy at school . it proved to be a powerful idea that challenged the authoritarian tradition of british schooling and appealed to anti_establishment intellectuals . in the 1960 's , summerhill became a role model for alternative education in the united_states , and to this day , the prolific and passionate writings of its founder , a . s . neill , are studied widely by progressive educators . yet , 26 years after neill 's death , the school is largely forgotten in britain . or , rather , it was until last spring , when the british_government threaten ed to close it after inspectors from the office for standards in education , or ofsted , concluded that ''summerhill is not providing an adequate education for its pupils . '' suddenly it was back in the news . it had last been featured in london tabloids in 1992 , when a television documentary showed teachers and pupils swimming naked together . this year , newspapers have had fun with headlines like ''kool skools rool o.k . ? '' and references to ''lord of the flies'' aplenty . but if summerhill is used to controversy , the recent ofsted report was cause for particular alarm , because it attacked the school 's defining policy of allowing children to decide whether they wanted an education . ''the school has drifted into confusing educational freedom with the negative right not to be taught , '' the report said . ''as a result , many pupils have been allowed to mistake the pursuit of idleness for the exercise of personal liberty . '' this verdict did not come out of the blue . ofsted inspectors have been dissatisfied since at least 1990 . traditionally , british schools have been reviewed every five years or so , but inspections as a whole have become tougher and more frequent since 1997 , when prime_minister tony_blair 's labor_government took office , pledging to raise educational standards across britain . a spokeswoman for britain 's department for education and employment said that the secretary of state , david blunkett , had a duty to ensure that children were safe and being educated . she added , ''he has said that he cannot allow what is happening at summerhill to continue . '' now summerhill is fighting for its life under the command of zo readhead , neill 's daughter , a lanky farmer 's wife of 53 who attended summerhill in her father 's day . ms . readhead has turned her modest office at the school into battle headquarters , where she sells t shirts and coffee mugs to raise money for the cause , and lobbies parents , alumni and politicians for support . she has appealed three of the government 's six complaints to an autonomous government_agency , the independent schools tribunal , which is to meet in february . if she loses , she plans to carry the fight to england 's courts . if frustrated again , she says she will turn to the european_commission for human_rights . the perils of defying the government are very real . a formal letter from the registrar of independent schools addressed to ms . readhead as the proprietor warned that summerhill might be struck off the official register if her appeal is rejected and she fails to carry out the ' 'remedies'' improved accommodation and ''efficient and suitable instruction'' that have been demanded by the government . ''the penalties for conducting an independent school which is not on the register , '' the letter added darkly , ''are set out in section 39 of the criminal justice act 1982 . '' still , for the moment , daily school life seems largely unaffected . one drizzly morning in late september , the pupils , in their baggy jeans and loose sweaters , were doing what they normally did hammering in the woodworking room , playing with computers , even going to class . set in four acres of woodland a few miles from the north_sea , the school has a main building surrounded by cabins and one mobile_home , which are used as classrooms and sleeping quarters , and which the inspectors complained were ' 'very basic . '' ( the report also noted that sharing toilets by boys , girls and staff members contravened government regulations , and that some floors had ' 'dangerous'' holes in them . the holes , it turned out , were not too large . ) despite the somewhat crude conditions , the children seemed cheerful enough . ''i hated state_school , '' said alexander coad , a boisterous 14 year old whose home is in ipswich nearby . ''at first , i was really scared here . but once you get settled , it 's very friendly . '' his sentiment was echoed by john benneworth , 11 , who came here last year after he received a diagnosis of dyslexia . ''in primary_school , they did things i did n't want to do , like tests , '' he said softly . ''here they do n't make you do things . i like that . '' many of the children seem remarkably self assured perhaps because of the twice weekly gatherings of students and teachers one a democratic assembly , the other a ''tribunal'' to deal with disciplinary questions where they learn to speak up . at one recent hourlong assembly , sternly presided over by daniel kaburger , a 14 year old german student , debates were followed repeatedly by votes on whether machetes could be carried around the school , on whether a classroom and teacher should be assigned for late evening homework , on whether everyone should be obliged to see an antismoking video . young daniel even chastised a teacher for being late . considering its fame , the school seems small , with just 59 boys and girls ranging in age from 6 to 17 , all but 11 boarders well below what ms . readhead considers the ideal 75 . but summerhill may well be britain 's most international school there are 18 british pupils , 14 germans , 10 japanese , 6 taiwanese , 4 koreans , 3 americans , 2 swiss , 1 french and 1 israeli . a japanese edition of neill 's most influential book , ''summerhill school a new view of childhood , '' and at least four summerhill inspired schools in japan explain why , at one time , half the pupils came from there . although summerhill has a japanese teacher and offers classes in french and german , english is the lingua franca . the school 's nationality breakdown clearly underlines the lack of interest in alternative education in britain . that is not surprising . when neill founded summerhill in 1921 , teaching in britain was infamously repressive . in fact , it was neill 's own unhappy childhood and early teaching experience in scotland under the tutelage of his father , a stern , puritanical schoolmaster in the village of forfar that inspired him to find a way of ''liberating'' children . but today , neill 's philosophy is overpowered by the marketplace , in which the aim is to raise standards by stimulating competition among schools . to do so , the government issues school performance tables based on results in annual nationwide examinations , which newspapers publish in order of excellence . all of which leads to the prevailing equation good results equal good colleges equal good jobs . few parents , it seems , are ready to experiment with their children 's education . in contrast , alternative education has always stirred interest in the united_states , where there has been a sharp increase in home_schooling and even ''unschooling , '' in which home schooled children can choose their own curriculum . dozens of ''free schools , '' like the sudbury valley school in framingham , mass . , have adapted neill 's ideas . ''the british have always been the least interested in summerhill , '' said ms . readhead , who took over the school when her mother , ena , retired in 1985 . ( her father died in 1973 . ) ''i think the ideal for many people is a school with summerhill 's philosophy but one where kids have to attend classes . but this is the raw edge of our approach . you have to be prepared to stand back and watch a kid take another path . '' neill himself set little store in formal education . ''personally , i do not know what type of teaching is carried on , for i never visit lessons , and have no interest in how children learn , '' he wrote in a typically provocative vein . the freedom to skip classes , though , was a consequence of his fundamental view that , left to their own devices , children find their own ways of learning , and eventually derive pleasure from doing so . it is that view that ms . readhead is unwilling to abandon . ''you 're free to do as you like as long as it does n't interfere with anyone else 's freedom , '' she said . ''neill 's basic idea was that kids should be treated as human beings , that their emotional and social life was as important as their education . '' the ofsted report , which was based on a five day visit in march by eight of her majesty 's inspectors of schools , nonetheless zeroed in on the lack of regular class attendance . ''whether the pupils make sufficient progress and achieve the standards of which they are capable is left to each child 's inclination , '' the report stated . ''as a result , those willing to work achieve satisfactory or even good standards , while the rest are allowed to drift and fall behind . '' but the remarks follow a disclaimer ''this report cannot and does not pass judgment on the unique philosophy on which summerhill is founded . '' similarly , in response to protest letters about the threat to summerhill from the school 's defenders , mr . blunkett , the secretary of state , has stated that ''we are not requiring summerhill to abandon its educational philosophy and force children to attend all lessons and follow particular educational courses . '' but for ms . readhead and her supporters , this is precisely the government 's objective . in a heated response , which was posted on the school 's web_site and will serve as the basis of the appeal in february , ms . readhead called the report 's style and language ''emotive and unprofessional'' and its contents ''biased and prejudicial . '' ''ofsted has its role and place in the educational system , '' she wrote . ''it should not be allowed to bully those who do not agree with it . '' nonattendance , she said , generally occurs at what neill called ''the gang stage'' of early adolescence , when children tend to rebel . but as the children 's interests become more defined , she noted , they are eager to sign up for classes . ''at summerhill , we have been observing this process for 78 years and find that students do return to learning with fresh interest and enthusiasm as they get older and mature . '' summerhill charges about 10 , 500 a year , far less than the average 24 , 000 other private boarding_schools in britain charge . one side effect of its lower fees , however , is high staff turnover because teachers are paid poorly about 15 , 000 a year , as well as board and lodging . those who stay on , on the other hand , are true_believers in the school 's philosophy of social and emotional development over formal education , and the report found that 75 percent of the teachers were ' 'satisfactory or better . '' paradoxically , the school follows a traditional government approved curriculum . ''we have no new methods of teaching , '' neill wrote in a book , ''because we do not think that teaching very much matters . '' thus , students at a school built around the notion of personal freedom , even to the detriment of learning , must sit for the same examinations as students in more conventional schools . it is by these results that summerhill is judged by the government . the school does not prepare pupils for college entry , which in britain usually requires 18 year olds to take the so called ''a'' level examinations in at least three subjects . rather , the curriculum here ends with the general certificate of secondary education exams , taken by everyone at age 16 and , in the best schools , involving 9 or 10 subjects . at summerhill , since students are usually drawn only to the subjects they enjoy , they are more likely to test in only three or four subjects . thus , if they continue studying with a view to attending college , they have to try to catch up . it is therefore not surprising that summerhill does not feature in the performance tables , which tend to list the 500 to 1 , 000 schools with the best results . because of insufficient data from the school , the government says it cannot compare summerhill test scores with the national average , but in 1998 , 75 percent of the students who took certificate qualification exams passed . ''we do n't pay attention to the league tables , '' ms . readhead said . ''everyone recognizes that in a school of 60 children , they do n't tell you anything . also , in a school where only one third of students are british , two thirds are sitting exams in their second language . '' more important to summerhill , when pupils pursue further studies it is because they are motivated to do so , and therefore have an advantage over their peers . the evidence supporting this is mostly anecdotal . but , with a view to answering ofsted 's criticism , the school is now collecting information on the activities of alumni who have left summerhill in the last 12 years . ms . readhead herself seems to give little importance to higher_education she dropped out of art school and became a horseback_riding instructor before returning to summerhill . despite her title as head teacher , she does not teach . ''for me , what 's important is who you are , how you feel about yourself , how you feel about your fellow man , '' she said . ''i can put you in touch with a doctor who was here who is no happier than another man doing a part time job and playing music . '' and yet there appears to be no shortage of former summerhillians who have successful careers , from the actress rebecca de mornay to john burningham , the children 's book author and illustrator . alex ruhle umlaut on u , a 29 year old equity analyst for a hedge_fund in new york , was sent to summerhill at age 9 by his german diplomat parents , who worked in paris then . ''the school in paris was so strict that i no longer wanted to go , '' he recalled . ''once i got to summerhill , i definitely enjoyed it . you have a real sense of freedom to develop what you want . '' he left with only two general certificate qualifications , but he promptly collected five more and passed four a_level exams . ''i was very motivated , much more than the others , '' he said . he then attended the university of sussex and completed an m.b.a . at baruch_college of the city_university of new york . when martha neighbor , 39 , returned to the united_states at age 14 after five years at summerhill , she had difficulty adjusting to more orthodox schooling , and even dropped out after two years at the university of arizona . but she has no regrets . ''i think academically neill 's theories were right , '' she said . ''once i found my motivation , i finished well and was very disciplined . '' today , with a degree from hunter_college in new york and a master 's in art_history and museum studies from the university_of_southern_california , in los_angeles , she is the managing director of risa jaroslow and dancers , a modern_dance troupe in new york . still , the experience of these and other alumni may not be considered relevant when the independent schools tribunal hears summerhill 's appeal . by demanding that ''the school ensure that all pupils engage regularly in learning , '' the government seems more intent on attacking the very idea behind summerhill . perhaps the only real surprise is the timing of the attack . summerhill survived the conservative orthodoxy of margaret_thatcher 's long rule . now , under a labor_government , its days may be numbered . alan riding is the european cultural correspondent for the times .

has a location of britain

despite the best efforts of the druids who performed sun dances barefoot among magic stones for the past several days , rain clouds , so often the spoiler of england 's summer , eclipsed the eclipse here today . at 11 minutes past 11 , the hundreds of thousands of people who journeyed here to the duchy of cornwall , breathlessly waiting in the gray morning to see the last total eclipse of the sun in this millennium , saw little more than dark rain clouds under a sky that got , well , darker . and the residents of cornwall , one of the poorest english counties , where much of the land is owned by prince_charles , were left with nothing to do but grumble over their pasties about an event that was supposed to benefit the local economy and instead left vacancy signs hanging from hotels and campsites . scare stories about traffic_congestion , lack of food and water and health concerns kept paying customers away . the cosmic event instead attracted a throng of new age travelers , pagans , druids and solar worshipers who offered little in the way of money and were left groping for meaning . ''it feels freaky , '' lucie mortimer , a coca cola company representative , said during the brief darkness . ''it 's like god left to go to the toilet for two minutes . '' most people here staring into the sky directly in the path of the 70 mile wide track of totality , the complete blotting out of the sun by the moon , had to face the fact that the weather forecasters were actually right . in typical british understatement , michael heys , who had driven 800 miles from the north of scotland with his wife and three boys , said , ''this is a little disappointing . '' his wife , sue , added ''i heard about the eclipse as a child and always wanted to go . but missing it is o.k . '' this being the 1990 's and another shot being unlikely because the next total eclipse in britain will not come until 2090 teresa feton , 18 , a student from lancastershire , was prepared . she had hedged her bets by setting her video recorder at home to tape the event on television . ''it 's our british weather , but it did n't put me off coming here , '' she said , huddling in her tent in the rain . many were still struck by the view they did have . ''it 's like one minute someone pulled the curtain down . '' said brian bennett , a high_school science teacher from warwickshire . ''it 's totally bizarre . '' soon after the moon interposed itself between the sun and earth here for a little over two minutes , the shadow of the eclipse whisked over the english channel at 1 , 800 miles an hour , beginning its journey across europe , the middle_east and asia . in paris , several hundred people popped open champagne bottles in front of the fashion_designer paco rabanne 's store to celebrate the city 's survival . mr . rabanne had predicted that the russian space_station mir would smash into paris during the eclipse . europeans , who had been hearing about the eclipse for weeks through a relentless series of newspaper articles , radio and television reports and plenty of commercial spinoffs , put special viewing glasses on cats and dogs . in kosovo , nato peacekeepers watched from their armored_personnel_carriers . and the pope , the prime minister of israel and the president of iran paused to be photographed watching the eclipse . but even the celestial majesty of the moment could not help undo the losses local businesses suffered from the lack of visitors to the cornish countryside . ''there is no question the media and the local authorities scared people off , '' said claude bennetts , who invested 150 , 000 , or 242 , 000 , in two campsites designed to accommodate 10 , 000 campers . fewer than 500 showed up . ''you could n't have created a worse problem if you actually tried . it 's happening all over cornwall . it 's not just me . '' eighteen months ago the county hired gage williams , a retired senior army officer , to oversee the logistics of the event , which mr . williams predicted would bring 1.2 million people to cornwall . now the local business community , in search of a scapegoat , is pointing at him . ''he has a lot to answer for , '' said john wells , a local mayor . ''he was a cannon ball that was n't programmed right . '' mr . williams , who could not be reached today for comment , told the cornish guardian , ''had we not highlighted the implications of unprecedented numbers coming to the county for the eclipse , we would not have galvanized those responsible into insuring that there will be sufficient food , nor would we have implemented the major improvements to the road network , which have now been put in place and from which we will all benefit in the future . '' traffic surveillance cameras , 250 extra police officers on motorcycles and coast guards on horseback patrolling the cliffs and beaches were part of the vast investment to monitor the hordes of visitors expected to come by road and water . supermarkets stocked up with extra food and supplies and extended their hours to accommodate . but just as the turnout failed to justify or repay all the advance work , no amount of planning could guarantee good weather . still , as a representative of the faithful , edward prynn , the selfappointed arch druid of cornwall , was surrendering no ground to the weather or the weather forecasters ''i had a vision last night that it was n't going to be a blue sky , but it was going to be a beautiful , silver majestic atmosphere . ''

has a location of britain

in granting more independence to the bank of england , the new british_government is a late entrant in a trend that has seen nations give increasing autonomy to their central_banks , distancing monetary_policy from direct political control . the practice has spread across the globe in response to demands from investors in financial markets for proof that governments will remain committed to inflation fighting . japan , whose central_bank long operated under the direct authority of the finance ministry , is enacting legislation to give its bank of japan more autonomy , though not complete independence . france has removed its central_bank from direct government control in recent years . even developing nations like chile and smaller countries like new zealand that were once plagued with inflation have set up independent central_banks as they battle to bring upward price spirals under control and stabilize their economies . ''it 's all about credibility , '' said c . fred_bergsten , the director of the institute for international_economics , a research group in washington . ''there are a lot of studies that show that independence of central_banks correlates very closely with achieving price stability . '' the bundesbank in germany is generally considered the most independent of all central_banks , and the model for nations seeking to insulate monetary_policy from politics . the federal_reserve also ranks high , although unlike the bundesbank , which by law is focused solely on price stability , the fed 's mandate extends to supporting full employment as well . new zealand has won considerable attention for setting up an independent central_bank where the governor is bound through a public contract with the government to meet specified inflation goals , an innovation that has largely succeeded . the trend toward independence is rapidly eroding the practice , common only a few years ago in nearly all nations except the united_states and germany , of regarding monetary_policy as the responsibility and right of the government of the day . and it is accelerating at a time when global investors are also insisting on fiscal_austerity , effectively stripping governments of their other traditional economic tool , using deficit_spending to stimulate expansion . the impetus for the change comes in part from a recognition that allowing politicians to set interest rates can yield bad policy , undermining efforts to keep inflation under control by avoiding the short term pain that higher interest rates can cause . it also stems from a growing consensus among experts that low inflation is a precondition to achieving low unemployment and not necessarily an obstacle to that goal . in the ''imperfect world in which most central bankers ply their trade , political systems tend to behave myopically , favoring inflationary policies with short run benefits and discounting excessively their long run costs , '' stanley_fischer , the first deputy managing director of the international_monetary_fund , wrote in an article several months ago . ''an independent central_bank , given responsibility for price stability , can overcome this inflationary bias . '' in europe , the move toward central_bank independence is being speeded by plans for monetary_union among members of the european_union . the nations that would enter a monetary_union , which encompasses a single_currency and a single monetary_policy to be set by a european_central_bank , are loosening government control of their central_banks some faster than others . france , which along with germany would be at the core of a single_currency , has severed many of the ties between the government and the bank of france , although economists said the bank had yet to develop a completely independent culture . italy has moved more slowly . the planned european_central_bank , scheduled to begin operation in 1999 , will perform its duties with no direct control from any of the member nations . while the central bankers would be appointed by political leaders , the degree of power that would be ceded to the institution is so great that there are questions about whether citizens will ultimately get cold_feet and postpone the move . as they grant more independence to their central_banks , more nations are setting explicit inflation targets , or encouraging monetary_policy makers to do so . canada , sweden and britain as well as new zealand now set annual goals and expect monetary_policy to be adjusted to keep inflation within those bounds . in britain , for example , the current goal is 2.5 percent inflation . ''the setting of explicit goals promotes accountability , making it more likely that the central_bank will come close to the target , '' mr . fischer said . ''accountability and the need to explain deviations from targets should promote transparency , allowing the public to understand the basis for monetary_policy decisions and thus to form more accurate expectations . '' britain's new tack a global trend

has a location of britain

lead running the length of the original wing of stapleford_park , a stately home near this leiscestershire village , is an inscription that reads ''william lord sherard , baron of letrym , repayred this building , anno domini 1633 . '' running the length of the original wing of stapleford_park , a stately home near this leiscestershire village , is an inscription that reads ''william lord sherard , baron of letrym , repayred this building , anno domini 1633 . '' the current owner of stapleford_park is having a modest stone tablet cut , to be mounted on the side of the limestone edifice , when the current renovation is complete . the new inscription reads ''and bob payton did his bit , anno domini 1988 . '' it is the sort of exuberant american gesture that sometimes sets british teeth on edge . but it is typical of the rah rah approach that has made mr . payton , a native of miami who once worked on shampoo accounts for the j . walter_thompson company in chicago , one of the best known foreign entreprenuers in london . ''you 've got to do this stuff , '' said mr . payton , who likes to tweak residents of his adopted country for their lack of drive and imagination . ''this guy did this 350 years ago and got away with it , and why should n't i ? another 350 years from now , they 'll say , 'wow . ' '' mr . payton is hoping for a lot of ''wows'' when stapleford_park , about 110 miles north of london , opens as a luxury hotel on april 29 with 23 rooms and suites priced from 160 to 600 a day . starting 10 years ago when he opened a restaurant called the chicago pizza pie factory , mr . payton has made a fortune selling yank food to londoners . the restaurateur , now 43 years old , has decided to gamble a large chunk of that fortune on the proposition that he can sell english country life in a part of england that has never been a mecca for affluent international tourists . moreover , mr . payton also believes that he can blend the traditional setting of a government registered historic building with the informal style of entertaining that prevails at american resort hotels . ''it 's not going to be pretentious , '' said mr . payton , a beefy but energetic man who likes to drape his six foot , four inch frame in bold british plaids . ''my thing is going to be a big fraternity party 'come on out and hang out with us . ' '' preservationists , including some who doubt that tourists go to the english countryside for american style hospitality , are watching mr . payton 's experiment with interest . his 8 . 3 million project is part of a broader pattern of commercialization that represents britain 's best chance of preserving its dwindling heritage of stately homes . at one point in the 1960 's , according to the historical houses association , the houses were being knocked down at the rate of four a day , victims of high inheritance taxes and agricultural decline . today only about half of the 4 , 000 major houses that existed a century ago are in private hands . the national trust , britain 's main conservation agency , maintains 86 of the best country houses . but as the remaining houses become more dilapidated , chances of saving them decline . ''in my experience , most of these buildings are n't worth anything , '' said bob weighton , mr . payton 's architect and a specialist in country_house conversions for the last 15 years . ''the cost of putting it back puts it out of reach . '' for hundreds of homes , the choice has become abandonment and eventual demolition or a search for new uses . even hard core preservationists have come to regard commercialization as the better alternative . in the 70 's and early 80 's , a number of the big houses were converted to schools or prestige office centers or partitioned into upscale condominiums . but now , most preservationists favor hotel conversions . ''a hotel is quite a good use because it keeps all those wonderful entertaining rooms as open rooms , '' mr . weighton said . ''it fits the use of the house as it was originally intended . '' sarah greenwood of the historic houses association added that the last three years had brought a boom in hotel conversions , because of a growing demand among tourists for an english country experience . ''traditional owners are either bringing in hotel companies and setting up partnerships or selling out to hoteliers , '' she said . she added that preservationists are particularly pleased by the growing number of ''live in owners . '' ''that 's what bob payton is doing , '' she said . ''we 've got perhaps 25 to 50 owners doing that now . that simply did n't exist three years ago . '' although precise figures on hotel conversions are not available , mr . payton 's project is probably the most ambitious yet undertaken by a live in owner in terms of cost and size , according to preservation experts . that is partly because mr . payton has developed big appetites since resigning his job at the london office of j . walter_thompson in 1977 in favor of what was regarded as an oddball plan to bring midwestern pizza to london . last year , his chain of american style restaurants the chicago pizza pie factory , the chicago rib shack , henry j . beans , the windy city bar grill and chicago meat packers turned over 23 million and made a profit of 2 . 7 million . but the struggle to raise his 75 , 000 start up money for his first pizza shop left him with a lasting irritation for what he regards as the undue timidity of british investors . that irritation still shows when mr . payton talks about his love affair with stapleford_park and his decision to become less active in his restaurant company , my kinda town ltd . , in order to try to renovate the grand house and its 55 acre estate . he first saw the place while riding to hounds in the leiscestershire hunt country , a late blooming enthusiasm for someone who worked his way through the university_of_north_carolina in a rock and roll band . ''as i walked around the house i thought , 'it 's too easy i can see how this makes up into bedrooms with bathrooms , ' '' mr . payton recalled . it was n't as easy as it looked . an initial effort to raise 11 million under the government 's business expansion scheme , which gives tax breaks to investors , came a cropper . mr . payton , an ebullient man regarded as a colorful character by the london press , had to put up with headlines that referred to ''payton 's stately flop . '' he also had to suffer the doubts of an estimated 150 investment bankers he visited . ''the image of english financiers is , 'well , he 's in the pizza business . what does he know about country life ? he 's just trying to live out his fantasies and we 're not going to pay for that kind of thing . ' '' the property that mr . payton bought with 1 . 4 million of his own money began to look like a ''huge albatross around my neck , '' he said . giving up on the banks , mr . payton turned to venture_capitalists with a private offering of stock in his restaurant company for those who would also invest in stapleford_park . he raised about 7 million . venture_capitalists were also more receptive to mr . payton 's notion about running a country place devoted to recreations other than the afternoon nap . ''when i decided to do stapleford , i had either eaten at or stayed at 55 country_house hotels , so i pretty much know the market , '' he said . ''generally speaking , all these guys treat these places as religious shrines . what i 'm going to give people is a terrific time . '' ''i think our market is younger , the affluent young . i hate to say yuppies . but i think yuppies are a real market , '' he went on , ''and i think i will appeal to people like myself who made a success of themselves in the last 10 or 15 years and want to enjoy all the good bits in life . '' the area around stapleford_park is better known for fox hunting than tourist sites . the belvoir , quorn and cottesmore hunts are among the most famous in england , and by tradition , the prince of wales , including the present one , often visits during the season . some important buildings , notably burghley hall , a magnificant elizabethan mansion with a deer park designed by capability brown , are in the area . by car , stapleford_park is about two hours from heathrow_airport . by train , it is an hour and a half from london to the nearest station at grantham and another half hour by car to the hotel . mr . payton said his guests should expect to be met at the grantham train_station by a land rover with a beer cooler in the back rather than a rolls_royce . and there will be a basketball goal , minature golf and horseshoe pitching in addition to tennis courts , shooting and riding . to those who say he is violating the rule book on english country hotels , mr . payton responds that his vision is of a hotel as ''the ultimate party , '' in which , if the mood strikes him , he can personally carry guests' bags up the stairs while giving them a lecture on the stone mullioned windows in the hotel 's best suite . despite his aggressive devotion to american style hospitality , mr . payton is carrying out a by the book restoration required by british law , lovingly preserving the marble mantles and intricate 18th_century wood carvings that adorn the 500 year old house , which he bought in 1986 from lord gretton , heir to the bass brewing fortune . british designers also applaud his innovative approach to interior decoration . mr . payton went to 16 firms and individuals who had never done interior decoration but worked in the fields of fashion , design or merchandising . each was invited to take on a single bedroom on budgets between 9 , 000 and 16 , 500 . as a result , stapleford_park will have rooms done by wedgewood , the china firm turnbull asser , the shirtmakers liberty , the london department_store noted for fine fabrics , and by individual designers such as lindka cierach , who made the duchess of york 's wedding dress , and michael szell , holder of a royal warrant as a supplier of fabrics for the queen . much of the coordination of the design work has fallen to the former wendy becker , a chicago businesswoman who had been running the construction firm owned by her late husband , h . kirke becker . introduced several years ago by mutual friends , she and mr . payton were married on new year 's day . an energetic woman of 38 , mrs . payton arrived with a prejudice against chintz and a passionate eye for detail . ''we 're going to sleep in all the bedrooms'' before the opening , she said . ''it 's the only way to really see from a guest 's point of view what 's wrong . '' a less universally acclaimed design move was the decision to include a portrait of gunther , mrs . payton 's giant schnauzer , in the trompe_l'oeil colonnade painted on the wall of the tea room . the paytons ordered their reluctant british artist to paint in gunther in february to celebrate the huge dog 's release from the six month quarantine imposed on all pets brought into britain . ''i guess people perceive me as a bit of an eccentric , '' mr . payton said . ''that 's what makes it fun . if you looked at the rule book about how to do country_house hotels , i 'm sure it would not say , 'put a picture of your dog up there with an american bandana , ' and yet i reckon thousands of people will flock in there and it will become a very famous picture . '' in a sense , the portrait of gunther has already become a test for whether early visitors regard mr . payton 's blend of a class british setting and american rambunctiousness as successful or strained . he professes not to be sensitive about doubters . ''unless i 'm the biggest jerk in the whole world , we 're going to make it work , '' he asserted . ''i 've got some track record on hospitality . i know how to look after people . '' anyway , he added ''i 'm doing this for me , i 'm not doing it for anybody else , and nobody enjoys this more than i do . when they say , 'what are the financial projections ? ' i do n't know . i just think if it 's good enough , they 'll come and if they come i 'll find a way to make a living out of it . '' mr . payton is not quite as blind to the figures as that suggests . mr . weighton predicted country hotel conversions as large and expensive as stapleford_park would begin to attract the attention of hotel chains as buyout targets . ''i have got a piece of real_estate that you ca n't build again , that can only get more valuable , '' said mr . payton , predicting that the hotel will quadruple in value if it is a success . to the familiar observation that it has never been done before in britain , he added , ''english pizza was never done before either . i 've just done a project with a few more digits on the end . ''

has a location of britain

sir john bond 's message to british investors today was unapologetic executives are paid more in america . get used to it . speaking at the annual shareholders' meeting of hsbc , the london based global bank where he is chairman , sir john defended the compensation package offered to william f . aldinger , who became executive director of the bank 's american operations this year . ''the heart of this issue is how and whether an international company , headquartered in london , can acquire a business in the u.s.a. , where remuneration practices and scales are different , '' sir john said . mr . aldinger joined hsbc last november when the bank bought household international , the consumer loan company based in prospect_heights , ill . , for 14 . 2 billion . as part of the deal , hsbc agreed to give mr . aldinger a new three year contract as chief executive of household and 20 . 3 million in severance for tearing up the old one . counting that payment and the roughly 36 million he is to get under the new contract , mr . aldinger will be one of the highest paid executives at any company based in britain . hsbc shareholders used the meeting today to express their displeasure with mr . aldinger 's pay , saying that ''these american style remuneration packages'' had no place in britain and that they exemplified the kind of corporate greed that had brought down enron , tyco and other companies . ''we do n't want to see that happen in britain , do we ? '' one shareholder asked . alan macdougall , managing director of pensions investment research consultants , a london based group that advises institutional shareholders , said at the meeting that if hsbc does not draw the line against such pay , other leading british companies could drift toward american size compensation . ''this is a structural debate , '' sir john responded . ''our policy is to pay the going rate , wherever we operate . '' executive pay packages at british companies have come under new scrutiny since the beginning of the year , when an amendment to the corporate_governance act gave shareholders the opportunity to vote on whether to approve them . the votes are not binding , but analysts said corporate boards would feel intense pressure to respect the results . though mr . aldinger 's contract drew the most criticism , it was not among the executive pay packages put to a vote at today 's meeting . about 22 percent of shareholders voted against approving the pay of sir keith whitson , the bank 's chief executive , and other officers . shareholders did get to vote today on mr . aldinger 's candidacy for a seat on hsbc 's board some 15 percent abstained or voted no . sir john credited mr . aldinger with helping bring household ' 'safely'' to hsbc . successful acquisitions overseas are especially important to the bank because there is probably no significant purchase it could make in britain without running into antitrust problems , he said . household will contribute 20 percent of hsbc 's net_income and make the bank one of the biggest credit_card issuers in the world , he added . in general , sir john told shareholders , the global economic picture for the year ahead is grim . ''we continue to see the world_economy characterized by weak growth , excess_capacity and subdued revenues for corporates , '' he said . sir john said he foresaw continued erosion of employment in europe and the united_states as companies seek to cut costs by moving both manufacturing and service functions to low wage countries , a trend that he said might make international friction , trade_barriers and trade disputes ''a more common part of the international scene . '' international business

has a location of britain

reeling from an ill starred push into corporate lending that left it saddled with a big portfolio of bad_loans , abbey national , britain 's second largest mortgage bank , said today that it now expected to lose money for the full fiscal year . under its former chief executive , ian harley , abbey national expanded away from its roots as a retail bank that provided financial_services to consumers . searching for faster growth and profits , the bank began to make more and more risky loans to large corporations like enron and worldcom , in competition with giant banks like barclays and hsbc . mr . harley resigned in july . last month , abbey national named luqman arnold , a former president of ubs , the major swiss bank , to replace him . mr . luqman is currently conducting a wide_ranging review of abbey national 's businesses , and has said he plans to sell the ones that are not essential to its strategy , to eliminate jobs and to refocus abbey national 's resources and attention on consumer banking . abbey national said today that new provisions for bad_loans this year would be ' 'materially above the previous guidance . '' it also said that it expected to take a charge of 500 million ( 776 million ) related to its insurance unit , scottish mutual , which like many competitors has suffered from the weak performance of its investment portfolio this year , especially in the stock_market . the bank 's share of new mortgage lending slipped to 7 percent in the first half from 9.6 percent in 2001 , according to bloomberg_news . though abbey national 's credit_rating remains strong , it is starting to erode standard_poor 's lowered it one notch in june and said on monday that it had reduced its outlook on abbey national to negative from stable , while fitch_ratings lowered it by one notch today . british bank stocks generally have fallen in price this year , but abbey national 's shares have been among the worst , losing more than one third of their value since peaking at 11 . 32 ( 17 . 57 ) in early may . the stock closed at 6 . 675 today , a gain of 4.5 percent . the bank 's weakened position has made it an attractive takeover_target , analysts say . in october , abbey national rejected an approach from the bank of ireland . it has also spurned overtures from the national australia bank and the lloyds tsb group .

has a location of britain

the sports hall doubles as a prayer room and dining hall for male teenagers , at other times for young women , but never the two together . in the kindergarten , female teachers , warned of an impending visit by a man , draw full facial veils before receiving their guest . when the guest arrives , the children offer a chorus in arabic ''as salaam aleikum'' peace be upon you . ''here we can keep ourselves on the path of religion , '' said nasir nathalia , a 15 year old student at the leicester islamic academy . his friend mohammed seedat agrees . ''there is less chance here of going off the track , '' he said . this is the piety that britain 's expanding islamic schools seek to project , casting themselves as typical of the thousands of faith schools , mainly christian , that make up roughly one third of all publicly financed british schools . but the visible differences the way female teenagers wear the full length dress and head covering and the boys wear black robes and skullcaps play into a ferocious debate about the sense of separateness or readiness to integrate britain 's estimated 1.8 million muslims , about 3 percent of the population . and the discussion touches on a much wider theme of ethnic segregation across the british state financed educational system . ''segregation is now so extreme in some schools that there is not much further it can go , '' trevor phillips , the chairman of the commission for racial equality , told a parliamentary panel . ''it does n't help to prepare children in these schools for the real world . '' neither , some believe , does it bridge the gap between a largely secular society and a profound commitment to a single faith . ''if you are going to have islamic schools , the question is whether they are going to embrace western values , '' said patrick sookhdeo , a pakistan born anglican priest who converted from islam and who runs a not for profit institute committed to maintaining christian values . ''i would argue that islamic values are not compatible with western values . '' others disagree just as boldly . ''if you think faith schools are divisive , it would help a great deal to know why is there empirical evidence ? '' said mohamed mukadam , the principal of the leicester islamic academy . students from islamic schools , mr . mukadam said in an interview , were not associated with either the religious and racial riots in northern_england in the early 2000 's or in any of the recent terrorism conspiracies . ''if you want to examine the northern riots , or the terrorism , '' he said , ''i have not come across a single person from faith schools or who went to faith schools . '' it is a debate shot through with fear and resentment after terrorist attacks by muslims and alleged plots in london , leaving the british_government to ponder how it can properly deny state financing to islamic schools that teach the core subjects of the national_curriculum when it provides money for much more numerous schools of christian , jewish or other faiths . only 7 islamic schools receive public financing , compared with 36 jewish schools , and about 7 , 000 christian schools . the parents of just 3 percent of muslim students enroll them in islamic schools , where the education is generally rigorous and there is a code to nurture their islamic identity , shield them from discrimination and provide moral guidance . the bulk of the 140 islamic schools charge tuition . at leicester , for instance , tuition is 2 , 700 a year . ''muslim children in this country tend to live separate lives anyhow , '' said mark halstead , a professor of education at the university of huddersfield in northern_england . ''whether they go to muslim school does not make much difference to their segregation . they are concentrated in the inner cities . they could be attending a state_school that is 90 percent muslim anyway . '' a report by simon burgess , a professor of economics , discovered that , for instance , in the blue_collar tower hamlets district of east_london , where ethnic minorities form 48 percent of the population , nearly half the schools were ''exclusively nonwhite . '' the issue of islamic separateness is magnified by a recent debate about a full face veil that shows only the eyes and is known as the niqab . some non muslims , most notably foreign_secretary jack_straw , have said the veil illustrates that muslims are rejecting british norms others say simply that britons are discriminating against muslims . the debate cuts to the heart of britain 's stated philosophy on multiculturalism , defined 40 years ago by the labor politician roy jenkins when he was home_secretary . in laying out a new immigration_policy , he said immigration should not lead to a ''flattening process of assimilation'' but instead should provide ''equal_opportunity accompanied by cultural_diversity . '' but now , as the country is struggling so publicly with muslim assimilation , some analysts like mr . phillips of the commission for racial equality fear that a premium on cultural separateness has britain ' 'sleepwalking into segregation . '' on another level , the debate over islamic schools here also involves equity in the use of tax money . according to the department of education in london , private schools must meet laborious and detailed criteria to gain access to state financing , and many islamic schools have failed to do so . since 1997 , according to government figures , only 25 ' 'minority faith'' schools have qualified for government financing 15 of them jewish and the rest muslim , sikh , greek orthodox and seventh day adventist schools . islamic schools typically teach the same basic subjects as in other faith or state run schools . all private and public are subject to inspections . but there are differences . while christian schools say 25 percent of their seats are open to non christians , mr . mukadam said there were so few islamic schools that it would be impractical to offer admission to non muslims . in leicester , many students attend koranic recitation and memorization lessons at separate madrasas schools run by mosques without regulation outside normal school hours . still , a survey by the islamic human rights commission last year said that muslims in several categories people who are older , wealthier and more secular , and students in their late teens placed academic success ahead of religious affiliation in choosing a school . according to the most recent government inspection of the leicester islamic academy educational standards in 2002 , most of its teenage students achieved twice the national average grades in the examinations that high_school students take around the age of 16 . but that does not necessarily immunize students from the broader pressures of life as british muslims , even in leicester . this city in the english midlands , once known as a center for manufacturing shoes and textiles , prides itself on diversity . more than one third of the 300 , 000 residents are members of britain 's ethnic minorities , and leicester is expected to become britain 's first city with a nonwhite majority in less than a decade . but it has not been protected from the threat of terrorism in early 2002 , the police rounded up what they called an al_qaeda cell here . the sight of muslims under attack in palestinian areas or iraq , said nasir , the student at the academy here , ' 'makes us want to help , through giving or charity . '' yusuf parekh , a 15 year old classmate , said some people felt the pain and anger particularly because ''their people are being killed back home . '' but is violence justified ? ''only as a last resort , '' he said . but mr . mukadam , who is also chairman of the association of muslim schools , insisted that his school taught loyalty to britain as a land that offered religious and other freedoms . if an islamic school were found to be ''fomenting radicalism , '' he said , ''it is my first duty to say this school should not exist . '' he acknowledged that some students might feel passionately about the plight of fellow muslims elsewhere . ''my job , '' he said , ''is to understand their deep hurt but get them away from the radicals that promote violence . ''

has a location of britain

for the first time since her marriage to prince_charles on saturday , camilla , the duchess of cornwall , took part in a royal event , cutting a ceremonial ribbon with gold plated scissors to open a school playground at ballater , scotland . the couple , who are known as the duke and duchess of rothesay in scotland , interrupted their honeymoon at the nearby royal estate of balmoral for the occasion . the prince wore a kilt and the duchess wore a crimson coat with a tartan trim . alan_cowell ( nyt )

has a location of britain

to the editor i too gave birth to my first child in britain and found it a wonderful experience ( ''so lucky to give birth in england'' ) . the visits from the home midwife and health visitor provided this first time mother with welcome support and reassurance , particularly as i was 3 , 000 miles away from my own mother . not mentioned were the baby and child clinics , which were the center for routine checkups and immunizations . if a scheduled appointment was missed , the health visitor would make a home visit to make sure all was well and to ensure that appointments for checkups and immunizations were kept . in britain , the midwives tend to view childbirth as a natural experience and not as a high tech medical_procedure . having had the privilege of a midwife assisted delivery there and an obstetrician assisted delivery here , i fully understand why american women are turning increasingly to midwives . holly h . cheeseman niantic , conn .

has a location of britain

lead the morning after he was denounced in the house of commons as the ' 'most hated minister of education there has ever been , '' kenneth baker brushed aside suggestions that his headlong push for a new education policy could backfire politically against his boss , prime_minister margaret_thatcher . the morning after he was denounced in the house of commons as the ' 'most hated minister of education there has ever been , '' kenneth baker brushed aside suggestions that his headlong push for a new education policy could backfire politically against his boss , prime_minister margaret_thatcher . throughout their weeklong post easter meetings , the unions representing 410 , 000 teachers have threatened to mar the spring examinations and presumably the campaign season with strikes , ''clockwatching'' and other protests . ''there will be a small number of fairly sporadic half day strikes in a variety of regions for the next fortnight , '' mr . baker , the secretary of state for education and science , predicted friday , the day after the attack in the house of commons . ''i suspect when it comes to an election they 'll call it off , and i doubt whether they 'll resume after it . '' in any event , he said the teacher protests would not halt the preparation of an election manifesto containing the ' 'most radical'' educational changes in four decades . that kind of tough talk has made mr . baker a rising star of the conservative_party and , despite his suspect background as a tory moderate , one of mrs . thatcher 's seeming favorites in a cabinet generally short of dashing public figures . the education secretary 's comments were also significant in other ways . a glimpse of their cards since he is slated for a key campaign role , his offhand references to an election during the current school year seemed intended to underscore signals from 10 downing_street and the conservative central office that mrs . thatcher is leaning toward calling an election for june 4 , 11 or 18 provided her lead in the polls holds up and the conservatives do well in the local elections on may 7 . moreover , mr . baker 's combative response to threats of the union leaders coupled with a quieter effort to placate the rank and file provided another glimpse of the tories' election cards . after emphasizing economics in 1979 and 1983 , mrs . thatcher 's campaign team would like to make social_policy , including education_reform , the center piece of the re election effort . mr . baker , education secretary since mid 1986 , singled out education and housing as the two most important social_policy areas to watch . conservative strategists added three others urban_renewal , health_care and unemployment changes such as workfare to the list . in part , this approach is intended to patch up mrs . thatcher 's key vulnerabilities an unemployment figure over three million and a widespread perception that she is hostile to the national_health_service . but no one questions that education will be the main plank in the social_policy platform and that it can represent an offensive weapon for the conservatives . ''in education , we are producing probably the most radical set of proposals for reform since 1944 , '' said mr . baker , citing the year of the butler act , which established the basic framework of britain 's ' 'state'' schools . ''the system that was set up has largely not changed for the better , and there is a need now for major educational reform . '' these proposals include several measures to increase the authority of the central government at the expense of professional educators , such as the establishing of a national core_curriculum , nationwide testing of children at 7 , 11 and 14 , and the forming of new secondary_schools that would be financed by ' 'direct grants'' from the national education authority . target is union power there are also measures clearly intended to break the power of the teachers' unions and the local_governments . these include increased authority over pay and performance of ''head teachers , '' the formation of parental advisory units , and the formation of 20 new ''technology colleges'' with financing from the central government and private industry . the politics of these moves are clear , and mr . baker makes no effort to disguise them . the unions and local government are labor strongholds . the baker changes are devised to appeal over the heads of the ''educational hierarchy , teachers , the professionals'' to the 10 million parents of state_school children british education , mr . baker said , ''has been run as a producer operated service , and i do n't think the consumers got too much of a voice in edgeways . '' ''what i 'm trying to do is to find ways of enhancing the voice of the consumer , which is the parent , the student , '' he said . mr . baker 's skill at applying to schools mrs . thatcher 's view of government services that they should be run for the convenience of the ''consumers , '' or taxpayers , rather than the government employees helped his rise . so did his monthslong battle with the teachers over pay , which he won by getting parliament to approve legislation giving him the authority to bypass the bargaining process with unions and impose a pay settlement on teachers , as he did in march . but he almost overplayed his hand , and last week he was forced to back away from an earlier position that he would retain his power to set teacher pay for the three years allowed by the new law . elitism called the object this move was clearly an effort to contain teacher unrest in the election season , and it seemed to have a fair chance of success , if only because labor fears widespread protests in the schools , too . giles radice , the labor spokesman on education , warned the teachers' conventions that strikes would hurt labor 's chances . whatever happens to the protests , labor and union leaders plan to continue accusations that mr . baker 's call for testing and more ''rigorous'' new schools are codeword appeals for a return to elitism . they want to remind voters that in the early 70 's the labor_government abolished highly_selective ''grammar schools'' in favor of ''comprehensive'' schools open to all . in the campaign , labor officials plan a broad counterattack built around the idea that the conservatives' move to social issues was part of an effort to undermine free education , the public_health_service and other elements of the welfare_state . london journal

has a location of britain

an embittered former british spy has used the internet to make public the names of a large number of secret agents , but officials in london said today that the web_site had been shut down and that no duplicates had surfaced . the foreign_office said british security and the lives of more than 100 people were put in jeopardy by the action , which it attributed to richard tomlinson , 35 , an agent of the secret intelligence service , formerly known as m.i . 6 , who was let go in 1995 and later served a jail term for violating britain 's official secrets act . a spokesman for the foreign_office said this afternoon that the offending site , based in the united_states , had been taken off the internet ''apparently at the initiative of the provider . '' it first appeared on wednesday night , setting off frantic official efforts to silence it . foreign_office experts were no longer able to gain access to the site today , the spokesman said , convincing them that it had been fully removed . the internet is feared by intelligence agencies as a particularly dangerous and untrackable threat to national_security because it is virtually beyond the control of national laws and authorities . even with the tomlinson web_site shut down , british officials faced the problem that once a page has appeared on the internet , it is simple for other users to copy it onto their own web pages , a process known as mirroring . foreign_secretary robin_cook said that the list , reportedly including 116 names , was ''riddled with inaccuracies'' but that ''nevertheless , the release of any such list , however inaccurate it may be , is a deeply irresponsible and dangerous act . '' some were names of people with no connection to the security services and some were retired agents . but some were indeed names of current operatives , the foreign_office spokesman said . earlier this month , britain obtained an injunction in switzerland to shut down another web_site based there and operated by mr . tomlinson , on which he had threatened to publish intelligence information . mr . tomlinson lives in geneva . late today , a previously removed tomlinson site reappeared in the ' 'mirror'' form that officials fear might lead to the resurfacing of the new list . containing 10 names of government people asserted to have links to the death in 1997 of diana , princess of wales , it had been taken down last week by its california based provider , geocities , after a notice from the british treasury called the company 's attention to it . the foreign_office is not in contact with mr . tomlinson , but an e mail said to be from the former agent arrived at bbc offices in london today asserting that british officials were ''overreacting for public effect to stigmatize my efforts . '' speaking of the former agent , who served six months of a one year sentence in 1997 after pleading_guilty to trying to publish a book disclosing his knowledge of agency activities , mr . cook said , ''i regret mr . tomlinson appears to nurse an irrational , deep_seated sense of grievance . '' he had been arrested after showing a seven page synopsis of his intended book to an australian publisher . he was charged under section 1 of the official secrets act , which forbids any unauthorized disclosure by a current or former officer of the security services . his conviction was the first under the act since 1961 . released from prison last may , he went to france , spain and then on to switzerland . he asserted that british security officials followed and harassed him on his travels . he repeatedly complained about the british_government 's decision in 1995 to bar him from appealing his firing . mr . cook said today ''i can report that when mr . tomlinson left the service , he was assisted to find employment and did himself say it was the job of his dreams . he did also receive appropriate settlement from the service . '' the british press today complied with a foreign_office request not to publish the web address or the name of the american provider . a foreign_office spokesman said he could not comment on contacts between british and american officials over the matter , but said early apprehension over the difficulty of shutting down a web_site in the united_states , compared with the same task in europe , had subsided . ''given the first amendment and the open freedom of information there , you would have thought it would be more difficult , '' he said . born in new zealand and educated at cambridge , mr . tomlinson joined m.i.6 in 1991 and served in bosnia , russia and the middle_east . he has made a number of assertions since his dismissal , including accusations that m.i.6 tried to assassinate the yugoslav leader , slobodan_milosevic , in 1992 that british_intelligence was involved in the death of diana , and that britain had a highly placed spy in germany 's central_bank who leaked secrets over a_12 year period . ''in the past , he has been very prone to fantasy , '' the spokesman said . one of his taunting web_sites carried a partly obscured photo of himself against the backdrop of the thames side m.i.6 headquarters , whose fanciful architecture has given the building the nickname the circus . the site switched on to the sounds of the theme music from ''monty_python 's flying circus . ''

has a location of britain

the pound slumps . the british_pound fell amid expectations the bank of england may have finished driving borrowing costs higher for now . in new york , the pound settled at 1 . 5022 , down from 1 . 5115 on wednesday .

has a location of britain