Cern collider ready for power-up
September 10, 2008
Cern collider ready for power-up
Three decades after it was conceived, the world’s most powerful physics experiment is ready to be powered up.
Engineers will attempt to circulate a beam of particles around the 27km-long underground tunnel which houses the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).
The £5bn machine is designed to smash particles together with cataclysmic force, revealing signs of new physics in the wreckage.
This will re-create conditions in the Universe moments after the Big Bang.
But it has not been plain sailing; the project has been hit by cost overruns, equipment trouble and construction problems. The switch-on itself is two years late.
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 We will be looking at what the Universe was made of billionths of a second after the Big Bang  Dr Tara Shears, University of Liverpool
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The collider is operated by the European Organization for Nuclear Research - better known by its French acronym Cern.
The vast circular tunnel - the “ring” - which runs under the French-Swiss border contains more than 1,000 cylindrical magnets arranged end-to-end.
The magnets are there to steer the beam - made up of particles called protons - around this 27km-long ring.
Eventually, two proton beams will be steered in opposite directions around the LHC at close to the speed of light, completing about 11,000 laps each second.
At allotted points around the tunnel, the beams will cross paths, smashing together near four massive “detectors” that monitor the collisions for interesting events.
Scientists are hoping that new sub-atomic particles will emerge, revealing fundamental insights into the nature of the cosmos.
Major effort
“We will be able to see deeper into matter than ever before,” said Dr Tara Shears, a particle physicist at the University of Liverpool.
“We will be looking at what the Universe was made of billionths of a second after the Big Bang. That is amazing, that really is fantastic.”
The LHC should answer one very simple question: What is mass?
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LHC DETECTORS
ATLAS - one of two so-called general purpose detectors. Atlas will be used to look for signs of new physics, including the origins of mass and extra dimensions
CMS - the second general purpose detector will, like ATLAS, hunt for the Higgs boson and look for clues to the nature of dark matter
ALICE - will study a “liquid” form of matter called quark-gluon plasma that existed shortly after the Big Bang
LHCb - Equal amounts of matter and anti-matter were created in the Big Bang. LHCb will try to investigate what happened to the “missing” anti-matter
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“We know the answer will be found at the LHC,” said Jim Virdee, a particle physicist at Imperial College London.
The currently favoured model involves a particle called the Higgs boson - dubbed the “God Particle”. According to the theory, particles acquire their mass through interactions with an all-pervading field carried by the Higgs.
The latest astronomical observations suggest ordinary matter - such as the galaxies, gas, stars and planets - makes up just 4% of the Universe.
The rest is dark matter (23%) and dark energy (73%). Physicists think the LHC could provide clues about the nature of this mysterious “stuff”.
But Professor Virdee told BBC News: “Nature can surprise us… we have to be ready to detect anything it throws at us.”
Full beam ahead
Engineers injected the first low-intensity proton beams into the LHC in August. But they did not go all the way around the ring.
Now they will attempt to pass a proton beam around the full circumference of the LHC tunnel.
“We see how far the beam will go,” said Steve Myers, head of the accelerator and beams department at Cern, “we will try and make it go round the full 27km sometime on Wednesday morning.”
Engineers will be on the lookout for any potential problems: “There are on the order of 2,000 magnetic circuits in the machine. This means there are 2,000 power supplies which generate the current which flows in the coils of the magnets,” he told BBC News.
“If any single one of them has got the wrong polarity, or has the wrong calibration constant, or whatever, then the beam will not go round.
“If, in any of the channels [in the magnets], there is any piece of debris - it is a very small channel - then the beam will not go round.”
Grabbing protons
Mr Myers has experience of the latter problem. While working on the LHC’s predecessor, a machine called the Large-Electron Positron Collider, engineers found two beer bottles wedged into the beam pipe - a deliberate, one-off act of sabotage.
The culprits - who were drinking a particular brand which advertising once claimed would “refresh the parts other beers cannot reach” - were never found.
If all goes well, and the beam makes one turn, engineers will “close the orbit”, allowing the beam to circulate continuously around the LHC.
Engineers will then try to “capture” it. The beam which circles the LHC is not continuous; it is composed of several packets - each about a metre long - containing billions of protons.
The protons would disperse if left to their own devices, so engineers use electrical forces to “grab” them, keeping the particles tightly huddled in packets.
Once the beam has been captured, the same system of electrical forces is used to give the particles an energetic kick, accelerating them to greater and greater speeds.
After Wednesday’s test, engineers will need to get two beams running in opposite directions around the LHC. They can then carry out collisions by smashing them together.
Long haul
The idea of the Large Hadron Collider emerged in the early 1980s. The project was eventually approved in 1996 at a cost of SFr2.6bn.
However, Cern underestimated equipment and engineering costs when it set out its original budget, plunging the lab into a cash crisis.
Cern had to borrow hundreds of millions of euros in bank loans to get the LHC completed. The current price is nearly four times that originally envisaged.
During winter, the LHC will be shut down, allowing equipment to be fine-tuned for collisions at full energy.
“What’s so exciting is that we haven’t had a large new facility starting up for years,” explained Dr Shears.
“Our experiments are so huge, so complex and so expensive that they don’t come along very often. When they do, we get all the physics out of them that we can.”
Steve Myers said engineers would break out the champagne if all went to plan. But a particular brand of beer will not be on the menu, he said.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Ferdinand to miss England opener
September 6, 2008
Rio Ferdinand will miss England’s opening World Cup qualifier against Andorra on Saturday.
The Manchester United defender has a back injury but manager Fabio Capello expects him to be fit for the key game against Croatia on Wednesday.
Joleon Lescott, Wes Brown or Matthew Upson could step in to partner skipper John Terry in central defence.
Chelsea midfielders Frank Lampard and Joe Cole are both likely to shake off minor knocks.
England are expected to get their qualification campaign off to a winning start against the Group Six minnows in Barcelona on Saturday, Capello’s first competitive game as manager.
Some newspaper reports on Friday claimed Arsenal youngster Theo Walcott could make a surprise start with David Beckham being saved for the match against Croatia.
The last time England played Andorra at the Olympic Stadium, in March 2007, a goalless first half led to a torrent of verbal abuse being directed at then England boss Steve McClaren.
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FOOTBALL BLOG
This may be a pressure point for Capello, but if he feels the strain he does not show it
BBC Sport’s Phil McNulty with the England team in Barcelona
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England eventually won 3-0 in far from convincing fashion, and Wayne Rooney had to be substituted for fear he would get a second yellow card.
“The players who were there will have learnt from that experience. It was hostile,” said Barry, who was a non-playing substitute that day, but is expected to partner Lampard in midfield on Saturday.
Andorra go into the match seeking damage limitation after suffering a miserable Euro 2008 qualifying campaign in which they lost all 12 of their games, scoring two goals and conceding 42.
Coach David Rodrigo, who has been in his post since 1999, had a bad start to his campaign in Kazakhstan two weeks ago, when they lost 3-0 in Almaty, conceding three first-half goals.
Andorra (probable): Koldo; Jordi Escura, Toni Lima, Ildefons Lima, Oscar Sonejee; Marcio Vieira, Marc Vales, Josep Ayala, Marc Pujol, Xavi Andorra; Fernando Silva.
England squad: Paul Robinson, David James, Robert Green, Wes Brown, Glen Johnson, Wayne Bridge, Ashley Cole, John Terry (capt), Rio Ferdinand, Joleon Lescott, Matthew Upson, Gareth Barry, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard, Jimmy Bullard, David Beckham, Stewart Downing, David Bentley, Jermaine Jenas, Theo Walcott, Wayne Rooney, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Protests shut down Thai airports, rail services
August 29, 2008
Protesters with the People
Anti-government protesters closed down three airports in Thailand Friday in an effort to force the prime minister to step down, airport officials said.
Protesters also regained control of the Government House compound, where demonstrations have been taking place for months, the state-run news agency Thai News Agency (TNA) said.
The chief of the country’s armed forces, Supreme Commander Gen. Boonsang Niempradit, said the military was “adhering to a democratic way and peaceful means,” because violence won’t “solve the problem,” TNA reported.
Effects of the protests spread nationwide. Rail services in much of Thailand ground to a halt as union workers went on strike to support anti-government protests in the capital, TNA said.
According to The Associated Press, Thai police have used tear gas to disperse a crowd of protesters besieging the capital’s police headquarters.
Associated Press journalists said police threw dozens of canisters of gas at the crowd of at least 2,000 people.
Phuket airport, a gateway for vacationing Westerners, closed down when the protest prevented airplanes from taking off, airport officials said.
In Hat Yai, demonstrators kept departing passengers from reaching the airport, effectively halting air traffic, an official said.
The tarmac was blocked at the Krabi airport, keeping planes from taxing, an airport official said.
Protesters seized several government buildings in Bangkok this week, including the prime minister’s office and the state-run television station. Thai judges issued warrants for their arrest, but the prime minister has said authorities will not use force to evict them.
The protesters want Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej to resign. 
Watch protesters block the PM’s office compound »
On Friday, rail service in southern Thailand was suspended indefinitely, the news agency said, quoting Pichet Suwanchatree, railway union chief at the State Railway of Thailand. The action “forces at least a temporary halt to all trains into Bangkok, effective Friday,” the agency said. It warned that some commuters “might be left stranded.”
The union called for a nationwide suspension of railway service “to press the government to resign,” the news agency said. The action was meant to support protesters with the People’s Alliance for Democracy, who are demanding the prime minister’s resignation.
Don’t Miss
Their protests outside Government House have been going on for months, but the demonstrations grew Tuesday, when hundreds of protesters took to nearby streets and later seized buildings.
The have prevented Sundaravej from getting inside his official residence and prevented other government ministers from attending a weekly Cabinet meeting.
The People’s Alliance for Democracy says Samak’s administration is a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in 2006.
The alliance contends Samak was trying to amend the constitution so that Thaksin would not have to face charges — Thaksin returned to England this month, just as he was to appear in court in a corruption case.
No charges have been filed against Samak.
The People’s Alliance for Democracy is well-supported among the middle-class and traditional elite of Bangkok. Yet many outside the city — especially in northeastern Thailand — many despise the group.
That leaves a powerful minority in the capital that doesn’t agree with the government that a vast majority outside Bangkok have elected, and Thaksin and Samak both remain popular.
Though the protesters want Samak gone, those who spoke with CNN’s Dan Rivers seem unsure who they would want to take his place.
“They told me they know they want to get rid of Samak, Thaksin, and all their cronies, but the problem is they don’t seem to know what will happen if they do,” Rivers said.
“The leader of the PAD, Sondhi Limthongkul, has told me that the entire political system needs to be changed and says that perhaps Thailand isn’t ready for full democracy because of the endemic corruption.”
Source: cnn.com
European Grand Prix
August 25, 2008
Ferrari’s Felipe Massa became Lewis Hamilton’s closest championship challenger with a copybook victory in the European Grand Prix at Valencia.
The Brazilian held off the challenge from Hamilton’s McLaren throughout the race on the new Spanish street track.
Massa survived a stewards’ inquiry after being released into the path of another car after his second pit stop.
BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica was third, while Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen saw his title hopes dented with retirement.
Hamilton’s lead is a point bigger than it was at the start of the race - he now leads by six points from Massa, while Raikkonen’s deficit following his engine failure has grown from five points to 13.
Massa’s victory was allowed to stand after an inquiry into an incident at his pit stop on lap 37, when he was released illegally into the path of Force India’s Adrian Sutil.
Unusually, the stewards decided they would investigate at the end of the race - a move that will be met with cynicism in the F1 paddock given the potential impact on the title battle.
Officials eventually chose to reprimand and fine Ferrari 10,000 euros (£7, 981), ruling that the incident was unsafe but that Massa had not gained a sporting advantage.
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I thought we would keep a certain gap and maintain it but he just stretched it
Lewis Hamilton
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Massa’s near-miss with Sutil may have been influenced by Ferrari’s pit-stop system, in which the team do not have a “lollipop man” controlling the driver.
Instead, they use a system of lights, which are operated by the crew doing the pit stop.
Out on the track, Massa and Hamilton staged their own private battle at the front of the field, but the Ferrari driver was always just that bit too fast for his rival.
Massa consolidated his pole position into a lead on the first lap as Hamilton, starting on the dirty side of the track, was forced to defend his second place from Kubica.
Massa then proceeded to edge away from Hamilton until he had a lead of nearly five seconds by the time of his first pit stop on lap 15, two laps earlier than Hamilton’s first stop.
But despite two superbly quick laps from the McLaren driver before he came into the pits, the margin between the two was reduced by only a second when Hamilton rejoined.
And Massa was even stronger in the second stint, pulling away from Hamilton in a more convincing fashion to be more than eight seconds in front by the time of his second stop on lap 37.
Massa led comfortably from Hamilton throughout the race
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The Ferrari driver regained his lead when Hamilton stopped two laps later and cruised to his fourth victory of the year - the same number as Hamilton.
“I can’t complain with second place,” Hamilton said.
“We’ve had quite a strong weekend. I’ve had a traumatised weekend - I’ve had a problem health-wise.
“But we got some good points this weekend and so it was solid for us.
“I got a reasonably decent start but I just had to try and hold my spot but after that I was able to relax and try and attack and keep up with Massa.
“I thought we would keep a certain gap and maintain it but he just stretched it.”
Massa was thrilled to make up for the disappointment of losing a win in the last race in Hungary when his engine failed with three laps to go.
“It’s amazing after such a bad result,” Massa said. “We’ve come here to a new track and did a fantastic job; preparing the car in the sessions and choosing the right tyres, which was pretty difficult.
“Then making the pole and winning the race and making the fastest lap there is nothing more we can ask for.”
Ferrari’s pit stop system also came under the spotlight when Raikkonen made his final stop - the Finn left while the refuelling hose was still attached.
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606: DEBATE
Those incidents have happened before and unless real danger is created forcing the likes of Sutil today to have an emergency stop to prevent an accident I really don’t see why more than a penalty and a reprimend are needed
carlotoone
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He had pitted at the same time as McLaren’s Heikki Kovalainen, who he had been attempting to pass for fourth place.
But in his keenness to get out of the pits ahead of his fellow Finn, Raikkonen knocked over one of the two men holding the refuelling hose, and had to stop again and he lost a place to Toyota’s Jarno Trulli.
A Ferrari spokesman said he thought Raikkonen had left the pits before being given the green light by the pit system.
The mechanic was taken to the circuit’s medical centre for attention.
There was worse to come for Raikkonen, when his engine failed a couple of laps later.
In the race, Raikkonen, who has not won since the Spanish Grand Prix in April, suffered again for his inability to string a competitive lap together in qualifying.
The Finn was held up behind Kovalainen in the first stint of the race, but had a particularly poor second stint, when he lapped the best part of a second slower than Massa despite being on a clear track.
It was a disastrous race for Raikkonen, who retired with engine failure
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Kubica drove a lonely race, unable to challenge the leaders, but comfortably clear of the pursuing Kovalainen and Raikkonen.
Following Raikkonen’s retirement, Kovalainen was comfortable in fourth, ahead of Toyota’s Jarno Trulli and Toro Rosso’s Sebastien Vettel, who lost out to the Italian during the first pit stops.
Toyota’s Timo Glock and Williams’s Nico Rosberg took the final points positions.
Home favourite Fernando Alonso, the reason Spain has landed a second race, had a miserable weekend in his Renault.
After qualifying a lowly 12th, the double world champion was hit from behind by Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima on the opening lap.
The incident knocked off Alonso’s rear wing and damaged his suspension and gearbox, forcing him into retirement.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Big Brother star Goody has cancer
August 19, 2008
Reality TV star Jade Goody has been diagnosed with cervical cancer, her publicist has confirmed.
The 27-year-old had been appearing in an Indian version of Big Brother, called Bigg Boss.
Max Clifford told BBC Radio 1’s Newsbeat Goody was “extremely upset and frightened and will be back as soon as they can get her on a plane”.
Show producers confirmed Goody had left the house for “medical reasons”. She is due to arrive back in the UK later.
“Jade had some tests recently, then she went off to India to appear in the Indian Big Brother,” Mr Clifford said.
“Yesterday we got a call from her consultant to say she had cancer of the cervix and so she has to come back straight away.”
‘Shocked’
Goody says goodbye to her Big Brother housemates
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He added: “We put the consultant in touch with the programme maker in India and because of the circumstances was allowed to speak to her and explain the results of her tests.”
When asked if the result was a positive smear test or a confirmed diagnosis of cancer, Mr Clifford said: “No, it is cancer.”
“The important thing is to get her back as soon as possible and get this treated.
“Obviously there were some problems - that’s why she had tests. But she had no idea that would be the diagnosis - she was shocked.”
No further details regarding Goody’s diagnosis or treatment were given.
Goody had undergone tests earlier this month after collapsing and losing blood at her Essex home.
But she had decided fly to Mumbai to appear in Bigg Boss to make amends after being accused of racism towards Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother in the UK.
According to The Sun newspaper, scenes showing Goody being told of her diagnosis were not broadcast at the time and will not be shown in India.
Show bosses have yet to decide whether she will be replaced on the programme.
Shetty, who hosts the Indian show, said: “It is unbelievable, how life is so unpredictable and finds a way to distract and derail you from your plans.
“My prayers are with Jade, her family in this hour, when they face one of the biggest tests of their life in times ahead.
“I pray she comes out of this soon and stronger with happy memories from this country.”
Cervical cancer develops from cells lining the neck of the womb.
It is the second most common cancer in women under the age of 35 in the UK. There are around 2,700 new cases each year.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Nadal takes Federer’s top ranking
August 18, 2008
Spain’s Rafael Nadal has replaced Roger Federer as the new world number one in the latest ATP rankings.
Federer had held the top spot for a record 237 weeks but has struggled this year while Nadal has won eight titles.
The 22-year-old, who had been number two since 25 July 2005, beat the Swiss in the French Open and Wimbledon finals and added the Olympic title on Sunday.
“I’m very happy but the feeling doesn’t change much because the last years I did well too,” said Nadal.
“For sure there’s satisfaction, but at the same time I don’t have time to celebrate. I play New York in one week,” added Nadal, who is now heading to New York for the US Open, which starts on 25 August.
He is seeking his third major in a row after thrashing Federer in Paris and beating the Swiss again in an epic Wimbledon final.
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606: DEBATE
There can be no doubt now that Rafael Nadal is by far and a way the best player in the world.
Northbank_Upper
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Federer was beaten by James Blake in the quarter-finals of the Olympic singles but then went on to win the doubles tournament with Stanislas Wawrinka.
And the 27-year-old said Nadal deserved to take the number one spot after performing at such a high level.
“That’s what I expected and hoped for many years ago when I got to number one, that if ever somebody were to take it away from me, he would have to play an incredible tennis schedule, win the biggest tournaments, dominate the game basically, and then like this he can take number one,” Federer said.
“I didn’t want it to happen that I would play completely bad and somebody would pick up number one in the world. So I think Rafa totally deserves it.”
Ana Ivanovic regained her position as the top women’s player by replacing fellow Serbian Jelena Jankovic, who held the number one spot for just one week.
French Open champion Ivanovic, who pulled out of the Olympics with a thumb injury, will hold the position for at least three weeks, according to the WTA, the governing body of women’s tennis.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
FC Twente 0-2 Arsenal
August 14, 2008
A scrappy goal from William Gallas and a late Emmanuel Adebayor tap-in put Arsenal in control of their Champions League qualifier with FC Twente.
Arsenal were second best for much of a poor game in the Netherlands and both Marko Arnautovic and Romano Denneboom had chances to put FC Twente ahead.
But Arsenal got a break when Robin van Persie’s free-kick deceived the home defence and Gallas bundled home.
Theo Walcott squared for Adebayor to put them firmly in control of the tie.
The two goals and a clean sheet should be enough to see Arsene Wenger’s men through their second leg at the Emirates in a couple of weeks and into the lucrative group stages of the competition.
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606: DEBATE
Dreadful game, great result
Theatre_of_Teens
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With Cesc Fabregas missing, Wenger handed a competitive debut to teenager Aaron Ramsey in midfield alongside Denilson and the youngsters struggled to make an impact in the game.
Worryingly the backline looked suspect as ex-England boss Steve McClaren had his FC Twente side fired up.
Eljero Elia and Denneboom caused plenty of problems for a reshaped defence in the absence of Kolo Toure.
Denneboom headed over the bar in the opening minutes and then went even closer with a rising shot just off target after busting into the box unchallenged.
The Dutchman slipped a delightfully-timed pass through to Arnautovic to send him clean through, but a poor first touch allowed Manuel Almunia to come out and block his effort.
Ramsey showed the confidence of youth with a shot from way outside the box that failed to trouble Sander Boschker.
FC Twente boss McClaren embraces Wenger before the game
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The Dutch side’s keeper was beaten to the ball in a rare sight on goal for Van Persie, but the Arsenal forward could only knock a square ball into a danger area devoid of team-mates.
There was more urgency from Arsenal after the break but Gallas’s goal still came as a surprise, not least to the defender as Van Persie’s inswinger landed at his feet a few yards out.
Gallas managed to deflect the ball on target and Boschker could not react quickly enough to keep it out.
Arnautovic gave Arsenal another fright but the young striker, who has yet to break his duck for the first-team, poked into the side-netting.
With both sides tiring, Walcott’s pace allowed him to get on the end of a hopeful through ball and he squared for an unmarked Adebayor, whose effort just squeezed under the body of Boschker.
It was anything but a textbook Arsenal victory, but for once Wenger will be happy to have won ugly.
FC Twente manager Steve McClaren:
“I think we should have scored in the first half. You don’t get many chances and you have to take them. We didn’t do that. We lost concentration on two occasions and got punished.
“That’s what happens in Europe against the top teams. The inexperience in the dressing room showed and we have to learn from it.
“But I can’t fault the performance. We had Arsenal rattled, especially in the first half.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger:
“We expected a very physical game and we were not disappointed.
“We needed to be patient and not make mistakes at the back.
“They dropped their level but to do what they did in the first half is very difficult and from then on we looked more comfortable.
“We were so young in the middle of the park for a game of that level and you could be worried but I have confidence in them.”
FC Twente: Boschker, Wielaert, Tiote, Franco, Braafheid, Wilkshire, Brama, Arnautovic (Gerritsen 90), Janssen (Heubach 90), Elia (Huysegems 86), Denneboom.
Subs Not Used: Paauwe, Zomer, Wellenberg, Chery.
Booked: Janssen.
Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Djourou, Gallas, Clichy, Eboue, Ramsey, Denilson, Walcott (Randall 84), Adebayor, Van Persie (Bendtner 88).
Subs Not Used: Fabianski, Vela, Wilshere, Hoyte, Gibbs.
Booked: Denilson, Van Persie.
Goals: Gallas 63, Adebayor 82.
Att: 20,000.
Ref: Alberto Undiano Mallenco (Spain).
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Argentine leader ‘has no regrets’
August 3, 2008
Argentine President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner has defended her policies in her first news conference since taking office eight months ago.
Ms Fernandez, who was forced to abandon tax increases on farm exports, said she would not change any of her decisions.
Her only mistake was to underestimate the power of the opposition, she said.
She added that she would make no further changes to her cabinet, which was reshuffled after the reforms were defeated in the Senate last month.
The left-wing Argentine president also dismissed claims that her husband, former President Nestor Kirchner, was running her admnistration.
“Comments of that nature come from a biased reading of reality,” she said.
“We’re simply a political team that has worked for a long time with the same vision and common ideas about the society we want.”
About her defeated plan to increase taxes on agricultural exports, she said she had no regrets.
She added that high agricultural profits in the face of soaring world food prices “should be taken up as an instrument of economic policy”.
The proposals provoked months of protest by farmers.
Farmers said the taxes would be crippling, but the government said they were needed to fight poverty.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Zimbabwe to resume crisis talks
July 31, 2008
South African President Thabo Mbeki has said crisis talks between Zimbabwe’s government and opposition will resume on Sunday.
He was speaking after meeting Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe, who has said he wants the talks to succeed.
Mr Mbeki’s visit followed the halting last week of crisis talks between the ruling and opposition parties.
Meanwhile, Zimbabwe’s central bank has said it will revalue its currency on 1 August to fight hyperinflation.
Compromise ‘hard’
After an hour-long meeting with Mr Mugabe, Mr Mbeki, who has been mediating in the crisis talks, told reporters that they were “work in progress”.
“The negotiators are working hard and have committed themselves to the time-frame. They will resume on Sunday,” he said.
The negotiations began last week after Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai met for the first time in a decade.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) has accused Mr Mugabe of stealing the election earlier this year.
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We would like to see the speedy conclusion of the talks… so that we can focus in the future our attention around our economy President Robert Mugabe
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Mr Tsvangirai pushed Mr Mugabe into second place in the first round of voting on 29 March but he pulled out of a 27 June run-off election after a wave of deadly attacks against his supporters.
Mr Mugabe has said he wants the talks to succeed, but warned that “sometimes compromise is difficult”.
The BBC’s Peter Biles in Johannesburg says it has emerged that President Mbeki held a meeting in the South African capital, Pretoria, on Tuesday with the MDC’s Morgan Tsvangirai.
Mr Mbeki, the lead mediator on the Zimbabwe crisis, has said the two sides are determined to reach an agreement within a two-week time-frame at the talks in a secret location near Pretoria.
But opposition sources said the talks had reached deadlock.
Emergency threat
Meanwhile, the governor of Zimbabwe’s central bank, Gideon Gono, has announced than 10 zeros will be lopped off the Zimbabwe dollar, making 10bn dollars equal to one dollar.
Only last week, the government introduced the Z$100bn note.
After the currency announcement, Mr Mugabe warned the country’s businessmen in a televised address to stop profiteering or face “emergency measures”.
“If you drive us more than you have done we will impose emergency measures, and we don’t want to place our country in a situation of emergency rules, they can be tough rules you know,” Reuters news agency reports him as saying.
Mr Mugabe blames Zimbabwe’s economic problems on white businessmen and Western sanctions, rather than his own policies.
The latest currency announcement is another desperate attempt by Mr Gono to stabilise Zimbabwe’s collapsing economy, our correspondent says.
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ZIMBABWE TALKS
What MDC wants:
Mugabe to step down
“Transitional authority” to organise new elections
What Zanu-PF wants:
Mugabe to be accepted as president
MDC to take a few minor ministries
International community to drop sanctions and help kick-start economy
 Full text of the Memorandum of Understanding[39KB]
Bitter hope in Harare
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“The Zimbabwe dollar will be redenominated by a factor of one to 10, which means we are removing 10 zeros from our monetary value. Ten billion dollars today will be reduced to Z$1… effective from 1 August,” Mr Gono said in a television broadcast.
The high rate constrained the operations of the country’s computer systems, with computers, calculators and banks’ cash machines not able to handle transactions in billions and trillions of dollars, he added.
The new Z$100bn (under $2, £1) note introduced last week is not enough to buy a loaf of bread.
Inflation is officially running at more than 2,000,000%, but many analysts believe the true inflation figure is at least 9,000,000%.
A BBC reporter in Harare said that on the day he recently went shopping, a tray of 24 eggs went up from Z$375bn to Z$600bn.
So far this year, Zimbabwe has been forced to print Z$100m, Z$250m and Z$500m notes in rapid succession, now mostly worthless.
Source: bbc.co.uk/
Cuban leader warns of austerity
July 27, 2008
Cuban President Raul Castro has warned that Cubans must be prepared for the consequences of the current global economic crisis.
He said that developing countries had already felt the effects of rising fuel and food prices.
The speech was part of the celebrations marking the 55th anniversary of the beginning of the communist revolution.
President Castro had been expected to announce new economic policies, but in the event did not do so.
He has already introduced significant changes in the country since succeeding his ailing brother, Fidel, in February.
The president recently announced a move to allow some private farming and relaxed limits on mobile phones and computers.
‘Excessive prohibitions’
Speaking for 48 minutes, President Castro warned the crowds that the economic austerity suffered in recent years would not be helped by increases in world food prices.
“The revolution has done and will continue to do whatever is possible to continue to advance and reduce to the bare minimum the inevitable consequences of international crises to our people,” he said.
“But we must explain to our people the difficulties and thus prepare them to deal with them.”
Raul Castro also had a message for Cuba’s ideological enemy, the United States.
“We shall continue paying special attention to defence, regardless of the results of the next presidential elections in the United States,” said the president.
Since taking over from his elder brother, Raul Castro has made available more unused state land to private farmers, eased restrictions on mobile phones for ordinary citizens and allowed some workers to seek legal titles for their homes.
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RAUL CASTRO’S REFORMS 2008
February - signs two human rights agreements at the UN
March - lifts ban on Cubans staying in tourist hotels
May - lifts ban on private ownership of mobile phones
June - announces plans to abandon salary equality
July - decrees state-controlled farm land can be leased to private farmers and co-operatives
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He has also signed UN human rights accords and announced that workers can earn productivity bonuses, doing away with the egalitarian concept that everyone must earn the same.
Mr Castro delivered his speech to a crowd of some 10,000 people at the parade grounds of Santiago’s historic Moncada army barracks, where he and his brother led a fruitless rebel assault exactly 55 years ago.
Both men were jailed for the attack, but did of course eventually go on to seize power from the then Cuban leader, Fulgencio Batista, on 1 January 1959.
“When we attacked the Moncada, none of us dreamed of being here today,” the president told the crowd.
The Rebellion Day celebrations two years ago were the last public event at which Fidel Castro was seen before he underwent emergency intestinal surgery. He has since appeared only in official videos and photographs.
Source: BBC News (Internet)