Debates: Arts funding: Statements Reuters Institute Digital Report 2012 We are excited to announce our newest Reuters Institute Digital Report for 2012 , revealing insights about digital news consumption across Europe and the United States. The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism (RISJ) , based out of the University of Oxford , was established in fall 2006 and heavily supported by the Thomson Reuters Foundation . The Institute is a testament to Oxford University’s commitment to recognizing the role of independent media in the world, and bringing the depth of academic journalism to the field. The report is based on a survey of online news companies in five countries – UK, US, Germany, France, and Denmark – and is part of an ambitions endeavor to track digital news behavior over the next decade. Some of the key findings in the report range from the significant differences in how people of different nations access their news, how frequently news is switching from print to digital, the rise of smartphone usage, and digital news and the age gap.
Turkey Fires Back After Syria Shelling Why Turkey Is Responding Cautiously Updated: 3:15pm UK, Thursday 04 October 2012 By Tim Marshall, Foreign Affairs Editor The cross border shelling between Syria and Turkey has brought the two countries closer to conflict, but neither side wants to go to war with the other and are seeking ways to de-escalate the situation. On Wednesday at least one shell fell inside a Turkish town, just a few hundred yards from a border post taken by Syrian rebels last month which the Syrian army is trying to take back. Five civilians were killed, a women, her three children and a friend. It is not yet proven if the shell was fired by Syrian Army forces or Syrian rebels, but the Turkish government held the Syrian Army responsible and began firing at army positions. This might seem an odd way to de-escalate tensions, but the Turkish government is playing a difficult and dangerous balancing act. Ankara has to balance public opinion which is both outraged at the deaths of civilians, but does not want war.
Syria | Page 4 OIL RISES ABOVE $106 ON MIDDLE EAST TENSION - Alex Lawler Oil rose above $106 a barrel on Thursday to hit a seven-week high as violence in Syria and an attack on Israeli tourists increased tension in the Middle East, bringing supply concerns back into focus. The killing of top Syrian security chiefs on Wednesday, and the attack on Israeli tourists in Bulgaria, which Israel accused Iran of carrying out, worsened the crisis in the Middle East, the source of more than a quarter of the world's oil. Brent crude gained for a seventh straight day, rising $1.33 to $106.49 a barrel by 1017 GMT and hitting $106.63 earlier, the highest since May 30. U.S. oil gained 98 cents to $90.85. "Within just a week, prices have climbed by more than 8 percent, primarily on the back of geopolitical risks," said Carsten Fritsch, analyst at Commerzbank. Read on...
How the Poor Die In the year 1929 I spent several weeks in the Hôpital X, in the fifteenth arrondissement of Paris. The clerks put me through the usual third-degree at the reception desk, and indeed I was kept answering questions for some twenty minutes before they would let me in. If you have ever had to fill up forms in a Latin country you will know the kind of questions I mean. After the questioning came the bath — a compulsory routine for all newcomers, apparently, just as in prison or the workhouse. The cold air outside had probably lowered my temperature, and I watched this barbarous remedy with detachment and even a certain amount of amusement. During my first hour in the Hôpital X I had had a whole series of different and contradictory treatments, but this was misleading, for in general you got very little treatment at all, either good or bad, unless you were ill in some interesting and instructive way. After some days I grew well enough to sit up and study the surrounding patients.
Could deja vu be explained by grid cells? Could déjà vu be explained by grid cells?—Robyn Ganeles, San Francisco Neuroscientist Edvard I. Moser of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology responds: THIS IS A GREAT QUESTION, because grid cells, which are involved in processing spatial information about our surroundings, are located in a brain region that is part of a larger memory system thought to be responsible for the feeling of familiarity. In any environment, the brain must keep track of the distinct locations within the surrounding area (say, at the kitchen table versus in front of the refrigerator). In contrast, grid cells work in a network to produce a kind of internal coordinate system, noting information about distance and direction. Grid cells are located in the entorhinal cortex, a brain region that processes information before sending it to the hippocampus, the area where place cells are located. Michael V.
Q&A: Rich Brown of Thomson Reuters Takes The Pulse of Machine Readable News, Social Media and Sentiment | Low-Latency.com As pointed to in our recent coverage, machine readable news is expanding its asset scope and geographical delivery. A good time, then, for IntelligentTradingTechnology.com to get an inside view on the topic from Rich Brown, head of Elektron Analytics at Thomson Reuters. Q: What's your assessment on the current state of play re. trading firms using machine readable news services as part of their trading strategies? A: The use of machine readable news in trading strategies has been growing dramatically over the last few years, but its widespread adoption is still in its early stages. Q: And the same question but about trading firms using social media sources? A: The use of social media in trading strategies is in its infancy. Q: How much is sentiment analysis playing into trading decisions? A: Sentiment is one of many useful ways to make trading on news and social media more viable. Q: What's the near/mid-term future hold for news/social/sentiment driven trading?
'The Cartel' Are Britain's Biggest Drug Gang A dozen convicted members of The Cartel. Long-time tabloid hack and some-time VICE contributor, Graham Johnson, has written a new book – The Cartel – exploring the behind-the-scenes nefariousness carried out by The Cartel, the UK’s biggest drug gang. Sure, "The Cartel" isn't exactly the most original name for a drug gang, so that's kind of disappointing, but I suppose names don't really matter when you have a firm grip over the European drug trade. I called Graham up to chat about The Cartel, disaster capitalism and what the gangs of the future might look like. VICE: Hi Graham. Where's it based? How's it been going on for so long without any major knocks to the organisation? Did the most recent economic crisis affect the drugs trade again? Some of Liverpool's gang kids, from a previous project about Merseyside gangs by Stuart Griffiths. Do you think the unemployed youth of today who are getting sucked into that world are going to be tomorrow’s kingpins? Graham Johnson. Ah, that’s nice.
Robin Walker MP, Worcester Voting Summary More Here How Robin Walker voted Randomly generated selection of topics. See full list. Voted moderately for reducing housing benefit for social tenants deemed to have excess bedrooms (which Labour describe as the "bedroom tax")Details Voted moderately against raising welfare benefits at least in line with pricesDetails Voted very strongly against a wholly elected House of LordsDetails Voted very strongly for an equal number of electors per parliamentary constituencyDetails Voted very strongly for greater restrictions on campaigning by third parties, such as charities, during electionsDetails Voted very strongly against paying higher benefits over longer periods for those unable to work due to illness or disabilityDetails See our much more detailed, easier-to-read analysis of votes on health, welfare, foreign policy, social issues, taxation and more. Robin Walker hardly ever rebelled against their party in this parliament Numerology Register of Members’ Interests 4.
Marijuana backers courting conservatives DENVER (AP) — It's not all hippies backing November's marijuana legalization votes in Colorado, Oregon and Washington. Appealing to Western individualism and a mistrust of federal government, activists have lined up some prominent conservatives, from one-time presidential hopefuls Tom Tancredo and Ron Paul to Republican-turned-Libertarian presidential candidate and former New Mexico Gov. Gary Johnson. "This is truly a nonpartisan issue," said Mark Slaugh, a volunteer for the Colorado initiative who is based in Colorado Springs, which has more Republicans than anywhere else in the state. "States' rights! "It's fiscally prudent. Most Republicans still oppose legalization. When activists make their appeal, it goes like this: States should dictate drug law. "What is the law against marijuana if it isn't the Nanny State telling you what you can do and what you can't do to your body and with your body?" In Washington state, Republican U.S. Republican Colorado state Sen.
German Press Review of New Berlin Reform Plans for Euro Zone Three days before the next European Union summit, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble presented a major proposal on Tuesday for permanently shoring up the euro. At the core of his proposal is a plan to strengthen the role of the European commissioner for monetary and currency affairs. The post, currently held by Olli Rehn of Finland, would be upgraded to become a sort of super austerity commissioner who would have the right to reject national budgets -- even after they have been approved by parliaments. The idea isn't new, but it is certainly packs some heat. There is also considerable skepticism over whether the necessary changes to the European treaties could be made in a timely manner. British Opposition Certain But Britain would surely reject any change to the treaties, just as it did last year with the European fiscal pact, which establishes the framework for an economic government in most EU countries. Britain isn't the only challenge, though.
Leveson inquiry: David Cameron spurns questions on 'missing' letters | Media David Cameron said he would not answer any of Chris Bryant's questions until he had apologised for 'releasing embargoed information' about the PM. Photograph: PA David Cameron has refused to answer whether he held back dozens of communications between himself and Rebekah Brooks from the Leveson inquiry because they were "too salacious or embarrassing" for him to reveal. Cameron was challenged during prime minister's questions (PMQs) after it emerged this week that he did not hand over texts and emails of a social nature with the former News of the World editor after seeking legal advice, since they did not fall within Lord Justice Leveson's remit. Chris Bryant, shadow Home Office minister and himself a victim of phone hacking, urged Cameron during PMQs to publish all the correspondence. He went on: "And he has never apologised.