Interactive journalist, BBC News
MG Road development
MG Road is now a building site for the metro development
Bangalore is an Indian city where high tech and crippling poverty live side by side.
As the rate of development in Bangalore gathers pace, some fear that the many impoverished communities that also call the city home may be left behind.
Bangalore contrast
The famous Infosys glass pyramid seen above temporary dwellings
Since the liberalisation of the Indian economy in the 1990s, the Indian tech sector has expanded rapidly.
The major players - including Microsoft, Infosys, Cisco and Google - exist in enormous "tech parks" crammed with tall, shiny office buildings.
Meanwhile on the same block, piles of rotting rubbish, beggars and stray dogs surround traffic that is heavy with pollution and often locked in a loud and aggressive jam.
Contrast in this city is not new; the levels of poverty are growing faster than the tech industry as migrant workers from other states join the population to aid the development.
There are concerns that this impoverished population could be left behind in the city of the future, unless big businesses acknowledge that the local infrastructure is under a great deal of pressure.
Ethical business offline
Many foreign businesses have set up outsourcing hubs in Bangalore and beyond - India is a leader in this type of business.
Meanwhile non-governmental organisations and aid workers struggle to support the poorer aspects of society, and many believe that big businesses could have a more influential hand in helping those who are not doing so well out of the tech boom.
Azim Premji is the chairman of Wipro, one of the largest companies in India. He recognised the issues of his local communities and created the Azim Premji foundation.
It is a separate venture to his corporation and privately funded. It addresses methods of education in the hope that supporting youth will mean creating a better society in the long run.
If corporations accept that their employees have a life beyond the work place then they should take some responsibility and reach out to that life.
Dileep Ranjekar
CEO, Azim Premji Foundation
Foundation chief executive Dileep Ranjekar believes that large corporations could be making more effort to invest in their communities.
"Many corporate efforts are fairly myopic, narrow minded and self centred. These are strong words but they are realities," he argues.
"If corporations accept that their employees have a life beyond the workplace then they should take some responsibility and reach out to that life."
Bangalore is not the only tech city in India. Hyderabad was initially seen as a forerunner in the race for a technology capital.
Nishant Shah is the director of research at the Centre for Internet and Society. He says that the problems Bangalore faces are not unique.
"People only look at the IT industry and economy in Bangalore. But there are questions of culture, language and communities which also constitute this city."
Culture change
However winds of political change may begin blow in the favour of smaller businesses, as India's bureaucrats are starting to emerge from more diverse backgrounds.
Some live themselves in neighbourhoods that are officially designated as slum areas, and so have first-hand knowledge of the infrastructure problems that need to be addressed.
I think the argument about Bangalore changing too fast and growing too fast is a false argument.
Solomon Benjamin
National Institute for Advanced Studies
"It's these political conflicts and upheavals that show what democracy is all about," said Dr Solomon Benjamin, associate professor at the National Institute for Advanced studies.
"I think the argument about Bangalore changing too fast and growing too fast is a false argument."
New order
On the surface it may look as though big business, outsourcing and technology have brought about a socio-economic catastrophe.
Along the Mahatma Gandhi Road, couples used to walk, people used to meet.
Today it is a muddy area where the already crazed traffic struggles to get around the metro site construction. People don't tend to want to spend time there.
Bangalore feels like a city in planning where too many people turned up to populate it too soon. But it's those people who will hopefully build and restructure their city to make it work for them.
Dileep Ranjekar believes that they will pull together.
"When the pride of a society is challenged, people unite. Change comes when there is an acceptance that it is in the self interest of every individual. Everyone sees the benefit of that. You must create the right conditions."
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
My love is like a blue, blue rose
My love is like a blue, blue rose
Blue roses named Suntory blue rose Applause
The "blue" rose required 20 years of research
by Kathryn Westcott
BBC News
The blue rose has long been referred to by horticulturalists as the "Holy Grail" of the plant breeding world.
Now what is being described as the world's first genetically-modified blue rose will soon hit flower shops in Japan.
A Japanese firm has announced that it will be the first to put the unique flower on sale to the public - at a not-to-be-sniffed-at 2,000 and 3,000 yen (US$22 and US$33) per stem, about 10 times more expensive than normal.
Genetically, there is no natural blue pigmentation in the rose to allow a true blue rose to be bred by conventional methods.
ARE RED BEST?
A single genetically modified blue rose
Blue Roses, Rudyard Kipling
Roses red and roses white
Plucked I for my love's delight.
She would none of all my posies -
Bade me gather her blue roses.
Half the world I wandered through,
Seeking where such flowers grew;
Half the world unto my quest
Answered me with laugh and jest.
Home I came at wintertide,
But my silly love had died,
Seeking with her latest breath
Roses from the arms of Death.
It may be beyond the grave
She shall find what she would have.
Mine was but an idle quest -
Roses white and red are best.
But in 2004 whisky distiller Suntory said it had succeeded in developing natural blue roses.
With Australian biotech company Florigene, it said it spliced into roses the gene that leads to the synthesis of the blue pigment Delphinidin in petunias.
The fruits of that 20-year research project will be delivered to the public next month.
Talk of blue roses is not new. Faux blue roses were traditionally created by dyeing white roses.
And nominal "blue roses" have been bred by conventional hybridisation methods. But, according to experts, these are more accurately described as light purple in colour.
In 1847 American nurseryman Samuel Parsons wrote in his book The Rose that progress in science and technology might, indeed, enable gardeners to cultivate blue roses.
If so, he said, they would be worth the effort.
Rosebreeder Bernard Mehring says that as far back as the 1900s there was a German variety of "blue" rose known as the Veilchenblau. But the petals are, again, more a "mauvey-grey", he says, and it only flowers once.
According to the Victorians, who promoted floriography - the language of flowers - blue roses were believed to signify mystery or the attempt to attain the impossible.
Since those times the colour of a rose has represented a different sentiment or feeling.
Red roses still imply passionate, romantic love and pink roses a lesser affection. White roses suggest virtue and chastity and yellow roses still stand for friendship or devotion.
A natural blue rose would signify something that is expensive and rare
Royal Horticultural Society
Sarah Holland from the Flowers and Plants Association in the UK says she believes natural blue roses "would be hugely in demand".
Dyed-blue roses, which are also a soft purple colour, sell well in the UK, she says.
"They don't appeal to everyone because they are unnatural, but there is definitely a place for them. They are, for example, popular for weddings."
Her association receives lots of inquiries about black or blue roses every year ahead of Valentines Day, she adds.
"Roses may be ubiquitous nowadays. But they haven't lost their meaning, and people are always looking for something that is unique."
Standing out
Helen Bostock, a horticulture advisor at the UK's Royal Horticultural Society, says that while a true-blue rose sounds fabulous, it could stand out like a "sore thumb".
"A natural blue rose would signify something that is expensive and rare. It would signify exclusivity.
"It has been the Holy Grail to rose breeders, but, personally, I think it would look odd - a bit like a plate of blue chips."
Red roses
Red roses are associated with passionate love
She is doubtful that any blue rose would be anything other than a novelty.
"A red rose signifies passion, but blue is a bit cold, in my book."
Breeder Bernard Mehring is also unimpressed by the news of the blue rose.
He has managed to breed a black rose, but says that if you tried to grow it in the garden the sunlight would cause the petals to shrivel up.
He thinks the blue rose would, for different reasons, would be no good in the garden. "I can't see that a natural blue rose would be easy to grow."
It would also not be allowed to be cultivated in some countries, such as the UK, because of the controls imposed on genetically-modified plants.
Feeling blue
Roses have been the subject of many myths, legends, poems and paintings. Our fascination with them stretches back centuries.
The Romans loved roses. The Emperor Nero was believed to have had an extravagant rotating banquet hall in which rose petals were said to have cascaded from the ceiling.
And Napoleon Bonaparte's Empress Josephine instructed collectors to send her roses from around the known world, even during the Napoleonic Wars.
In Japan, where the act of present-giving is highly ritualistic, the new blue variety, Applause, will be marketed as a "luxurious gift for special occasions such as wedding anniversaries".
There are no current plans to sell the new variety overseas, which might not be a bad thing, according to Mr Mehring. He warns that in some countries blue is not a popular colour for flowers.
"In Italy, the blue is associated with mistrust or bereavement," he says.
In China, however, according to one Chinese folk tale, the blue rose signifies hope against unattainable love.
Blue roses named Suntory blue rose Applause
The "blue" rose required 20 years of research
by Kathryn Westcott
BBC News
The blue rose has long been referred to by horticulturalists as the "Holy Grail" of the plant breeding world.
Now what is being described as the world's first genetically-modified blue rose will soon hit flower shops in Japan.
A Japanese firm has announced that it will be the first to put the unique flower on sale to the public - at a not-to-be-sniffed-at 2,000 and 3,000 yen (US$22 and US$33) per stem, about 10 times more expensive than normal.
Genetically, there is no natural blue pigmentation in the rose to allow a true blue rose to be bred by conventional methods.
ARE RED BEST?
A single genetically modified blue rose
Blue Roses, Rudyard Kipling
Roses red and roses white
Plucked I for my love's delight.
She would none of all my posies -
Bade me gather her blue roses.
Half the world I wandered through,
Seeking where such flowers grew;
Half the world unto my quest
Answered me with laugh and jest.
Home I came at wintertide,
But my silly love had died,
Seeking with her latest breath
Roses from the arms of Death.
It may be beyond the grave
She shall find what she would have.
Mine was but an idle quest -
Roses white and red are best.
But in 2004 whisky distiller Suntory said it had succeeded in developing natural blue roses.
With Australian biotech company Florigene, it said it spliced into roses the gene that leads to the synthesis of the blue pigment Delphinidin in petunias.
The fruits of that 20-year research project will be delivered to the public next month.
Talk of blue roses is not new. Faux blue roses were traditionally created by dyeing white roses.
And nominal "blue roses" have been bred by conventional hybridisation methods. But, according to experts, these are more accurately described as light purple in colour.
In 1847 American nurseryman Samuel Parsons wrote in his book The Rose that progress in science and technology might, indeed, enable gardeners to cultivate blue roses.
If so, he said, they would be worth the effort.
Rosebreeder Bernard Mehring says that as far back as the 1900s there was a German variety of "blue" rose known as the Veilchenblau. But the petals are, again, more a "mauvey-grey", he says, and it only flowers once.
According to the Victorians, who promoted floriography - the language of flowers - blue roses were believed to signify mystery or the attempt to attain the impossible.
Since those times the colour of a rose has represented a different sentiment or feeling.
Red roses still imply passionate, romantic love and pink roses a lesser affection. White roses suggest virtue and chastity and yellow roses still stand for friendship or devotion.
A natural blue rose would signify something that is expensive and rare
Royal Horticultural Society
Sarah Holland from the Flowers and Plants Association in the UK says she believes natural blue roses "would be hugely in demand".
Dyed-blue roses, which are also a soft purple colour, sell well in the UK, she says.
"They don't appeal to everyone because they are unnatural, but there is definitely a place for them. They are, for example, popular for weddings."
Her association receives lots of inquiries about black or blue roses every year ahead of Valentines Day, she adds.
"Roses may be ubiquitous nowadays. But they haven't lost their meaning, and people are always looking for something that is unique."
Standing out
Helen Bostock, a horticulture advisor at the UK's Royal Horticultural Society, says that while a true-blue rose sounds fabulous, it could stand out like a "sore thumb".
"A natural blue rose would signify something that is expensive and rare. It would signify exclusivity.
"It has been the Holy Grail to rose breeders, but, personally, I think it would look odd - a bit like a plate of blue chips."
Red roses
Red roses are associated with passionate love
She is doubtful that any blue rose would be anything other than a novelty.
"A red rose signifies passion, but blue is a bit cold, in my book."
Breeder Bernard Mehring is also unimpressed by the news of the blue rose.
He has managed to breed a black rose, but says that if you tried to grow it in the garden the sunlight would cause the petals to shrivel up.
He thinks the blue rose would, for different reasons, would be no good in the garden. "I can't see that a natural blue rose would be easy to grow."
It would also not be allowed to be cultivated in some countries, such as the UK, because of the controls imposed on genetically-modified plants.
Feeling blue
Roses have been the subject of many myths, legends, poems and paintings. Our fascination with them stretches back centuries.
The Romans loved roses. The Emperor Nero was believed to have had an extravagant rotating banquet hall in which rose petals were said to have cascaded from the ceiling.
And Napoleon Bonaparte's Empress Josephine instructed collectors to send her roses from around the known world, even during the Napoleonic Wars.
In Japan, where the act of present-giving is highly ritualistic, the new blue variety, Applause, will be marketed as a "luxurious gift for special occasions such as wedding anniversaries".
There are no current plans to sell the new variety overseas, which might not be a bad thing, according to Mr Mehring. He warns that in some countries blue is not a popular colour for flowers.
"In Italy, the blue is associated with mistrust or bereavement," he says.
In China, however, according to one Chinese folk tale, the blue rose signifies hope against unattainable love.
Giant' orb web spider discovered
Orb-weaving spiders can spin webs of up to 1m (3ft 3in) in diameter
A new and rare species of "giant" orb web spider has been discovered in Africa and Madagascar.
In the journal Plos One, researchers describe Nephila komaci as the largest web spinning spider known to science.
Only the females of this groups of species are giants, with a leg span of up to 12cm (4.7in); the male spiders are tiny by comparison.
Scientists say the female spiders are capable of spinning webs that reach up to 1m (3ft 3in) in diameter.
Orb-weaving spiders are a widespread group which take their name from the round webs they typically spin.
The few preserved female specimens had bodies almost 4cm (1.5in) long
The new spider was identified by Matjaz Kuntner, a biologist from the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts, and his colleague Jonathan Coddington, from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC.
Dr Kuntner told BBC News that the discovery was "very unusual" because Nephila spiders were so well-studied and so large.
But this species is so elusive that even Dr Kuntner has not seen one live. He was able to identify the species from a specimen he first examined in 2000.
The giant female was in a collection belonging to the Plant Protection Research Institute in Pretoria, South Africa.
"It did not match any described species," said Dr Kuntner.
In his search through more than 2,500 samples from 37 museums, no further specimens turned up and he assumed the spider must be extinct.
But when a colleague in South Africa found three more of the spiders, it became apparent that they belonged to this same new species.
 Nephila komaci" border="0" height="220" hspace="0" vspace="0" width="226"> Male Nephila spiders look tiny in comparison to "giant" females |
The discovery will enable scientists to study the evolution of the dramatic size difference between male and female Nephila spiders.
Dr Kuntner explained that the widely accepted theory was that evolutionary pressure was causing female "gigantism", with the females increasing in size in order to produce larger numbers of offspring.
He and his colleague, Jonathan Coddington, from the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of Natural History in Washington DC, fear the rare spider might be endangered.
"Its range is restricted and all known localities lie within two endangered biodiversity hotspots: Maputaland and Madagascar," said Dr Coddington.
Dr Kuntner named the species in honour of his best friend and fellow scientist Andrej Komac, who recently died in an accident.
Microsoft bets on Windows success
Microsoft is hoping that its newly-launched operating system will be one that "doesn't let you down".
Speaking at the official launch of Windows 7 in London, Microsoft executives said they had listened to consumers and delivered a more streamlined, feature-packed system.
It follows widespread criticism of predecessor Vista.
Windows 7 faces stiff competition from rival operating systems and new ways of storing applications.
Microsoft is hoping Windows 7 will reinvigorate its plans to be at the centre of the home with features that make it easy to connect to other machines in the house and stream movies and music to them.
The BBC's Jason Palmer investigates Windows 7's pros and cons
In the UK, the software giant will tie up with Sky to offer its on-demand Sky Player service.
It will allow consumers to watch a range of live and on-demand TV programmes via the Windows Media Center, which is included in most editions of Windows 7.
New dawn
Microsoft's UK managing director Ashley Highfield said Windows 7 marked a "new dawn in Microsoft's relationship with the consumer".
"Windows 7 is much more than a collection of new features. We have listened to what consumers want and they want something that makes their lives easier," said Mr Highfield.
The operating system has already been in beta testing among eight million official users, and a farther seven million unofficial testers have also used it.
 |   |
The software giant used one billion data sessions to find out how people navigate with Windows; information such as how many times people visit the start menu - around 12 times per session - and how many windows they have open at any one time - between two and seven is the average.
So far Windows 7 seems to have had a good reception.
According to electrical retailer DSGi, which includes UK high street brands PC World and Currys, there have been more people buying pre-ordered copies of Windows 7 in the last three weeks than for the whole first year of Vista sales.
"It hasn't taken Microsoft to hype it up, the blogosphere is saying it is a good product," said Jeremy Fennel, a director at DSGi.
Some 60% of consumers surveyed by DSGi said they were holding off buying a new PC or laptop until Windows 7 was launched.
Microsoft has introduced a range of new features, some of which will already be familiar to users of the Mac operating system.
|  It hasn't taken Microsoft to hype it up, the blogosphere is saying it is a good product  Jeremy Fennel, DSGi |
Often-used applications can be dragged into the taskbar and users can view a thumbnail shot of all the windows they have open.
Microsoft has acknowledged that the Windows pop-ups that interrupt users are "rude". With Windows 7 users can customise how and when they view such pop-ups.
There is also a feature that allows users to "snap" two windows together to make reading and comparing easier and a facility that allows all open windows to be minimised at the shake of a mouse.
The software giant has decreased the amount of time the system takes to boot up and has improved battery life and reduced memory - an acknowledgment that many people will want to use Windows on laptops rather than desktops.
For Internet Explorer 8, which is installed in the new operating system, there are improved security features including Smart Screen Filtering, which intercepts suspicious downloads and warns users that they are unsafe.
There are also offered improved services in add-ons such as Windows Live Photo Gallery and Movie Maker.
Cloud computing
 Has cloud computing made operating systems irrelevant? |
Windows still runs on 90% of the world's computers but it is a internet-dominated landscape that Windows 7 enters.
It has led commentators to suggest that Windows is becoming an irrelevance.
More and more applications are being written for so-called cloud computing - which supports popular apps such as web-based email and social networks in data centres rather than on individual computers.
It is an area Microsoft is keen to exploit and last year it unveiled its own cloud computing service called Azure, dubbed "Windows for the cloud".
Windows also faces stiff competition from free operating systems, such as the Linux-based Ubuntu system which launches its newest version next week and arch-rival Google's Chrome OS.
Windows 7's planning is 'better than Vista' says Microsoft executive
Many though remain loyal to the Microsoft universe and for those wishing to upgrade from Vista, the software giant has promised a "seamless" experience.
It acknowledged that upgrades from older operating systems might be "more difficult."
"XP has been on the market for ten years so we recommend that people wait until they are ready to purchase a new PC or do a clean install," said Julie Larson-Green, Microsoft's vice president of user experience.
Some experts cautioned against rushing out and buying it.
John Bogue, from Which? Computing, said: "Software bugs are par the course for newly released programs, and operating systems are no exception. Unless you like downloading patches and updates, we recommend waiting a year."
The home edition of Windows 7 is available in the UK for £79.99 until 1 January. After that it will cost £99.99.
Leaping wolf snatches photo prize
By Victoria Gill
Science reporter, BBC news
Science reporter, BBC news
Jose Luis Rodriguez's haunting portrait of an Iberian wolf won over the judges
A picture of a hunting wolf has won the prestigious Veolia Environment Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009 award.
Jose Luis Rodriguez captured the imaginations of the judges with a photograph that he had planned for years, and even sketched out on a piece of paper.
"I wanted to capture a photo in which you would see a wolf in an act of hunting - or predation - but without blood," he told BBC News. "I didn't want a cruel image."
With a great deal of patience and careful observation of the wolves' movements, he succeeded in taking the award-winning photograph.
Mr Rodriguez used a custom-built infrared trap to snap the the wolf as it leapt into the air.
The competition, now in its 45th year, is owned by BBC Wildlife magazine and London's Natural History Museum.
The panel of judges looked through more than 43,000 entries to this year's competition.
This is the fifth year that wildlife photographer Mark Carwardine has been on the judging panel. He said of the winning photo: "It's captured thousands of years of human-wolf interaction in just one moment."
STORYBOOK WOLF
|  The image of a photographer's dreams  |
Enlarge ImageMr Rodriguez won the Animal Portraits category and went on to win the top prize with this haunting image that the judges said captured the character of the wolf.
When he started planning the photograph, he feared that he might not be able to get close enough to the Iberian wolves.
This subspecies of the grey wolf lives close to human habitation in northern Spain. They are often persecuted by people who see them as a threat to livestock, and are consequently very wary of people.
Watching the animals as they returned to the same spot to collect food night, Mr Rodriguez decided on his dream shot.
He eventually captured using a photographic trap that included a motion sensor and an infrared barrier to operate the camera.
He hopes is that his picture, "showing the wolf's great agility and strength", will become an image that can be used to show just how beautiful the Iberian wolf is and how the Spanish can be proud to have such an emblematic animal.
Hasselblad 503CW with a 6x6 Fujichrome backing + Planar 80mm lens; 1/30 sec at f11; ISO 50; purpose-made Ficap infrared camera trap
CLASH OF THE YELLOWHAMMERS
|  The yellowhammer males fought over ownership of the oats |
Fergus Gill, who was 17 years old when he entered the competition, won this year's Young Photographer of the Year award for his picture of a brief but dramatic clash between two of the colourful UK songbirds.
He started planning the image in summer, collecting oat sheaves from a local farmer specifically as winter food for the yellowhammers.
One evening in February, hearing that snow was forecast for the next morning, Fergus set up his hide in the garden of his home in Scotland and hung out feeders for the birds.
"At one point I counted 32 yellowhammers feeding on the ground," he said.
When the snow fell, the birds jumped up on to the feeders and the males would occasionally fight over the oats.
"The spats were incredibly fast," he said. It took Fergus two days to capture the dramatic clash that earned him his award.
Nikon D300 + Nikon 200-400mm f4 lens at 220mm; 1/1000 sec at f5.6; ISO 500
RESPECT
|  Ryska the cat fiercely guarded her property |
With the help of his feisty cat, Igor Shpilenok won the Urban and Garden Wildlife category with this shot.
He spent five months as a ranger in the Kronotsky Nature Reserve in Kamchatka in the east of Russia, and took his cat Ryska with him for company.
"It's a very remote place and there were lots of animals - bears, foxes, wolverines - living near my cabin," he told BBC News.
"The cat was really jealous about me. If I started to look at the animals she would attack them. Just like woman," he smiled.
"Maybe she thought I was her pet."
But the animals were curious about the area's new residents, and drawn by cooking smells from the cabin. The foxes in particular would visit every day. "When they came within 20m, that was her boundary and chased them. It was really funny - foxes were climbing trees to get away from the cat."
Mr Shpilenok's wife, Laura Williams, selected the category-winning image. "It's ironic," she said. "He photographs the wilderness, but the two times he's won a category [in this competition] it's been the urban wildlife one. Because the wilderness is his back yard." Nikon D3 + 300mm lens; 1/500 sec at f4.5; ISO 640
SPRINGTAIL ON A SNOWFLAKE
|  Snowflakes make difficult terrain for tiny springtails |
Urmas Tartes won the Animals in their Environment category for this image of a springtail, otherwise known as a "snow flea" navigating its way through delicate snowflakes.
When the temperature drops below freezing, the insects climb down through the frosty crevasses to the warmer soil below.
"But they're only active a few degrees below zero," Mr Tartes told BBC News. "I had to 'ambush' the weather for just the right temperature and conditions."
"I was travelling with my wife and it started snowing slightly," he recalled. "We came to a place where we thought it might be possible [to see the insects] and the thermometer in the car said it was just the right temperature."
Mr Tartes had waited for the perfect weather in which the snow fleas would be active, but the snowflakes would remain frozen.
His patience paid off, and he managed to take over 100 shots while the insects negotiated their way through the tricky terrain.
He believes he captured something truly unique and that this was largely thanks to his knowledge of his country and its climate.
"I think the best of the photos I take are in my homeland," he told BBC News.
"There's a saying in Estonia that in order to see new things, you have to follow common paths - paths you know."
Canon EOS-5D Mark II + Canon MP-E65 f2.5 1-5x Macro lens; 1/200 sec at f14; ISO 400
THE LOOK OF THE JAGUAR
The male jaguar sat on the riverbank calmly staring at the photographer for an hour
Tom Schandy won the Gerald Durrell Award for Endangered Wildlife for this image, which he took while working on a book project in Brazil.
"We spent a few days on a boat along Rio Paraguay and saw four jaguars in the space of three days.
"It was really amazing, because it is such a difficult animal to find.
"This one was very relaxed - it just lay on the river bank staring at us for more than an hour.
"It was a glimpse into the eye of the wilderness."
At sunset, the jaguar rose, yawned and scent-marked. Then he faded back into the dense forest.
Canon EOS-ID Mark III + 500mm f4 lens; 1/250 sec at f4; ISO 400; beanbag
An exhibition of the best images from this year's competition opens to visitors of the Natural History Museum, London, on Friday, 23 October 2009
Afghan opium fuels 'global chaos'
Afghanistan has a monopoly on illegal opium production that has devastating global consequences, a UN report says.
UN findings say an opium market worth $65bn (£39bn) funds global terrorism, caters to 15 million addicts, and kills 100,000 people every year.
The UN says corruption, lawlessness and uncontrolled borders result in only 2% of Afghan opiates being seized locally.
The UN says more Russians die annually from Afghan drugs than Soviet soldiers were killed during its Afghan conflict.
Afghanistan produces 92% of the world's opium, with the equivalent of 3,500 tonnes leaving the country each year.
Most of the opium that leaves Afghanistan makes its way through Pakistan, Central Asia and Iran, leaving a trail of addiction, criminality and death in its wake, according to the report by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
It says more people die globally from Afghan opium than any other drug but just a tiny percentage of what is produced is seized on route.
Antonio Maria Costa, head of the UNODC, said Afghanistan's opium production could create a "perfect storm" in the region.
"The Afghanistan/Pakistan border region has turned into the world's largest free-trade zone in anything and everything that is illicit - drugs of course, but also weapons, bomb-making equipment, chemical precursors, drug money, even people and migrants," he said.
"We have identified the global consequences of the Afghan opium trade.
"Some are devastating but expected; others seem surprising, yet they are very real.
He also had some difficult words for those nations currently involved in Afghanistan: "I urge the friends of Afghanistan to recognise that, to a large extent, these uncomfortable truths may be the result of benign neglect."
Insignificant seizures
The report highlights a number of key factors as to why Afghanistan's illegal drugs trade has such an impact around the world.
| The Taliban's direct involvement in the opium trade allows them to fund a war machine that is becoming technologically more complex Antonio Maria Costa Executive Director, UNODC |
One significant reason is that "lawlessness, corruption and uncontrolled borders" are resulting in very limited seizures by the Afghan authorities. Just 2% of drugs are seized per annum, as compared with Colombia's 36% annually, the report says.
Seizure rates are thought to decline as the drugs move closer to more lucrative key markets, with the value of the drugs doubling with every border crossed.
For example, Iran intercepts about 20% of the opium entering its territory and Pakistan 17% - but Russia and some European countries are seizing less than 5%.
One gram of heroin worth $3 in Kabul is worth up to $100 on the streets of London, Milan or Moscow, it is estimated.
The UNODC is calling for more international resources to tackle the problem at source - in Afghanistan and surrounding areas - where law enforcement costs are cheaper.
Another significant factor includes the vastly increased revenues made by the Taliban and other insurgent groups in taxing opium production in Afghanistan.
An estimated $160m of drug money per year is now available to support terrorists activities, the report suggests.
"The Taliban's direct involvement in the opium trade allows them to fund a war machine that is becoming technologically more complex and increasingly widespread," said Antonia Maria Costa.
"Some profiteers in the heroin trade wear suits and white collars, others wear black turbans."
Rosie O'Donnell, spouse having 'issues'
CNN) -- Rosie O'Donnell and spouse Kelli Carpenter "are working through their issues" and "nothing else will be said" about rumors the couple is splitting, according to O'Donnell's publicist. 
Rumors have been swirling that Kelli Carpenter, left, and Rosie O'Donnell are splitting.
Online buzz about the Carpenter-O'Donnell marriage grew louder this week after O'Donnell did not give a clear-cut denial in a USA Today interview on Tuesday.
The former talk show host's publicist echoed her non-denial in a statement to CNN Wednesday.
"They are a family and will remain a family forever and are working through their issues," publicist Cindi Berger said in an e-mailed response. "Nothing else will be said."
O'Donnell and Carpenter were married in a private ceremony in San Francisco, California, Mayor Gavin Newsom's office in February 2004.
The city of San Francisco issued the couple a marriage license two weeks after Newsom said his mayoral responsibility not to discriminate trumped a state law banning such marriages.
O'Donnell said on her wedding day that she was inspired to make her longtime relationship with Carpenter official by "vile and vicious and hateful comments" made by President George W. Bush that week.
Then-President Bush announced that week that he would seek a Constitutional amendment to mandate that same-sex couples not be allowed to marry.
O'Donnell and Carpenter are also business partners. They started R Family Vacations, which organizes cruises tailored for gay couples.
Their family includes four children. The three oldest -- Parker, 14, Chelsea, 12 and Blake, 9 -- are adopted. Six-year-old Vivienne -- conceived through a sperm donation -- was born to Carpenter.
New black Barbies get mixed reviews
(CNN) -- Grace, Kara and Trichelle were created to fill a void for young black girls who for so long have been playing with dolls that don't look like them.
Stacy McBride-Irby, creator of the new Barbie, poses with the dolls.
The new black Barbies released by Mattel have fuller lips, curlier hair and other features that the company says more accurately represent African-American women.
Some have cheered the new dolls. Others jeered them, saying they're not black enough.
"I love the black Barbie. It's about time," Jua Simpson said on CNN's iReport, a user-generated news community. "But the hair is still a step backwards, since most of our hair is not straight and light brown."
Others disagree with critics who say the dolls should have had more natural black hairstyles, such as afros or braids.
"Many people have criticized the dolls for either having hair that's too long or too straight, but I have long, straight hair that I straightened. But it's my hair and a part of me," said Tanisa Zoe Samuel, an African-American iReporter from the Turks and Caicos, in the Caribbean. "Black women come in all shades, shapes and varieties that there is just no way to capture everyone with three dolls." iReport.com: Samuel shares her thoughts on the new Barbie
The dolls were created by Stacy McBride-Irby, an African-American who watched her daughter play with dolls and wanted to create a doll that looked more like her.
McBride-Irby said she has heard the criticism, but she also has received many kudos.
"They mean so much to me because they did come from a positive place," McBride-Irby said. "My daughter loves the dolls. I've had dads thank me for creating this line of dolls that represent their little girls. These dolls are for girls all over the world."
This is not the first time Mattel has released an ethnic doll that drew criticism. 
See photos of the black Barbie dolls »
In 1997, Mattel collaborated with cookie maker Nabisco to create Oreo Fun Barbie. The black version of the doll, which sported an Oreo-shaped purse, was criticized by some who noted that "Oreo" is a derogatory term in the black community. The word is used to describe someone who is perceived as black on the outside and white on the inside.
For some, the talk about dolls is not just child's play. Some think early play with dolls can affect a girl's self-esteem later in life.
Actress Nia Long, who appears in comedian Chris Rock's new documentary, "Good Hair," recently talked about the issue on CNN.
"Historically, the Afrocentric features have not been celebrated," Long said. "This makes us question the integrity of our beauty standard for ourselvesNicole Richie, Joel Madden show off baby
(People.com) -- Six weeks after welcoming their first son, Nicole Richie and Joel Madden -- along with their 21-month-old daughter Harlow -- are showing off the latest addition to their family, Sparrow James Midnight Madden.
Nicole Richie and Joel Madden became parents to their first son, Sparrow, six weeks ago.
"I couldn't be happier," Richie told PEOPLE. "The only thing you want is for your kids to be healthy and happy, and they are. I'm right where I belong."
In an interview at their home in Laurel Canyon in Los Angeles, Richie, 28, and Madden, 30, her boyfriend and front man of the band Good Charlotte, said they are deprived of sleep, but grateful their daughter Harlow is now fawning over a baby brother.
PEOPLE.com: Tweet, Tweet: A clue to how Sparrow got his name
"I'm glad I had a girl before I had a boy," said Richie. "She just loves him so much." Adds the children's proud papa, "She's very gentle with him."
For much more on Richie and Madden's expanding family -- including the decision to name their baby boy Sparrow, how Richie's second pregnancy was different from her first, and how she's losing her baby weight -- pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands FridayRangers investigate alleged Edu racist abuse
(CNN) -- Scottish Premier League club Rangers have confirmed they are investigating alleged racist abuse towards United States international midfielder Maurice Edu after their Champions League defeat to Unirea Urziceni on Tuesday.
U.S. international Maurice Edu allegedly suffered racist abuse from his own Rangers fans.
The 23-year-old played no part in the 4-1 Group G defeat to the Romania side but watched the match at Ibrox and said on social networking site Twitter that he was targeted by his own club's supporters as he left the stadium.
Edu had written a message on his Twitter feed which said: "Not sure what hurt more: result last nite or being racially abused by couple of our own fans as I'm getting in my car."
Rangers have condemned the behavior of a section of supporters alleged to have abused Edu, who had missed the match through injury, and have urged anyone who witnessed the event to come forward.
"Rangers Football Club condemns out of hand this moronic behavior," a statement on the official Rangers club Web site said.
"The action of this individual is disgusting and completely unacceptable. It is extremely disappointing that people such as this attach themselves to the wider Rangers support and tarnish the image of the club and its fans.
"The club will now undertake a full investigation to identify the individual in question and take appropriate action.
"We would urge anyone who has information on the identity of the individual responsible to contact the club immediately.
"Everyone associated with Rangers will once again demonstrate their ongoing commitment to Show Racism the Red Card as we support the Weekend of Action at the Hibernian game at Ibrox on Saturday."
Edu, who was born in Fontana, California joined the Glasgow club in August 2008 after he played for Major League Soccer outfit Toronto FC and has made 11 appearances for the U.S. national teamGeorge W. Bush wants to help people 'Get Motivated!'
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former President George W. Bush has a new speaking gig.
Bush will be featured as the "special guest speaker" at an October 26 "Get Motivated!" business seminar in Fort Worth, Texas, according to an announcement on the organization's Web site.
Tamara Lowe, the Co-Founder and Executive Vice President of Get Motivated Seminars, Inc., said in a phone interview that the former president will appear live and in person at the upcoming event. Lowe estimated that Bush will speak for roughly 20 minutes. Lowe also said that the company has all the necessary safety precautions in place to host a former president.
Bush's former Secretary of State Colin Powell and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani are set to join Bush at the October 26 event.
The former president is also scheduled to participate in another "Get Motivated!" seminar in San Antonio, Texas on December 2, according to the company's Web site.
"For a limited time only," the Web site says, tickets are available to the October and December events for $4.95 per person or $19 for a group.
CNN is awaiting confirmation from a representative of the former president about the scheduled appearances at the seminars.
'Dance' judge Murphy says she was abused wife
LOS ANGELES, California (CNN) -- TV dance judge Mary Murphy said singer Chris Brown's attack on his girlfriend, Rihanna, prompted her to talk publicly about spousal abuse that she says she suffered first as a teenage bride three decades ago.
Mary Murphy says she was abused by her ex-husband during their nine-year marriage.
Murphy -- the vivacious judge on Fox TV's "So You Think You Can Dance" -- told CNN's Larry King that she wants other victims to learn from how she endured, but escaped, domestic violence.
Discovering her talent with dance eventually changed her life and helped her flee the relationship after nine years, she said.
Her ex-husband strongly denied that he ever physically or mentally abused Murphy, whom he married in 1978 soon after they met as teenagers in college.
"I did just tuck it away and just buried it and went on with my life and I thought that, you know, I could leave it there and I wanted to leave it there until my father died a couple years ago," Murphy said. 
Watch Murphy discuss abuse in her marriage »
Discussions with her dying father led to him apologizing for not being "my knight in shining armor" by intervening, she said.
But Murphy said seeing a photo of singer Rihanna's bruised face, taken soon after Brown's admitted attack last February, convinced her to go public with the story.
"I still had no intention to talk to anybody until I saw Rihanna's face and seeing that just brought it all up."
"Abuse, it just survives and thrives in silence," Murphy said.
US Weekly magazine's current issue offers a detailed version of Murphy's revelations in its cover story.
Don't Miss
Murphy tells the magazine about a whirlwind romance that began in 1977 when she was a 19-year-old Ohio State University student -- swept off her feet by an 18-year-old who was "extraordinarily handsome."
She told King that the marriage began "getting out of control" after just three months when her husband's jealously triggered fights.
"It increased until we started to have just horrible fights," she said. "And then at the time, after a fight in which I didn't want to have sex, it just escalated to the point that he literally had to rape me in order for me to have sex."
When a neighbor called police to her home, Murphy said she was too frightened to press charges.
"I looked at him and with the look on his face, I said 'absolutely not' and went back in my room and just laid there and cried," she said.
Murphy said she left her husband several times over the nine-year marriage, but "there weren't the shelters that there are today."
"I did try to leave, and I was having a hard time making it, and he would sweet talk me and I would go back" she said. "It was back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. And I don't feel really proud of that."
Murphy discovered her talent and love of dance several years into the marriage when she took a summer job at a dance studio while her husband was away for several months running the family's business in the Middle East, she said.
"It made me feel beautiful instead of how I was probably really feeling inside, totally ashamed and dirty," she said.
Their marriage ended only after she and her husband renewed their vows in a wedding ceremony in front of his family and friends in Amman, Jordan, in 1985.
She learned he had a girlfriend -- to whom he was engaged -- in the Middle East. It was his infidelity that convinced her to divorce him, she said.
Her former husband -- who spoke to Larry King off the air -- said he was "totally shocked" by Murphy's account of their marriage. "I never harmed her," he said.
"If all of these allegations are true, she could have had me deported," he said. He is not a U.S. citizen.
He questioned if her motivation was "more fame or sympathy."
Still, he said he is "very, very proud" of her.
Murphy told King his response is what she expected.
"I think a lot of men out there, by the way, that when they do get married they feel like this is their right to do whatever they want to do, and it's not," she said. "And I was a scared, frightened person."
Murphy said she is still afraid of her former husband.
"I'm not going to lie to you that he still scares me," she said. "I still live in fear that he will do something to me, that I will go missing."
Fear of not being able to make it on her own still drives her today, she said.
"I put this behind me, went out and worked like I've never worked before," she said. "And I still work today like I could still be homeless."Police: Man ran down 'too Westernized' daughter
(CNN) -- Arizona police are looking for an Iraqi man who they allege ran down his daughter and her friend because he believed his daughter had become "too Westernized."
Police say they're looking for Faleh Hassan Almaleki, who they say struck two people with a vehicle Tuesday.
Peoria, Arizona, police said Wednesday that Faleh Hassan Almaleki, 48, struck his 20-year-old daughter, Noor Faleh Almaleki, and her friend Amal Edan Khalaf with a vehicle he was driving in a parking lot Tuesday afternoon.
Faleh Hassan Almaleki was angry with his daughter "as she had become too 'Westernized' and was not living according to [the family's] traditional Iraq[i] values," Peoria police said in a statement released Wednesday.
Noor Faleh Almaleki is hospitalized with life-threatening injuries, according to the statement. Khalaf, 43, received injuries that are not life-threatening but is still in the hospital, police said.
Noor Faleh Almaleki lives with Khalaf, police said but did not elaborate on how the two women knew each other.
Faleh Hassan Almaleki was last seen in a gray or silver Jeep Grand Cherokee, police said.
No further details were immediately available.
Peoria is about 13 miles northwest of Phoenix.World failing to dent heroin trade, U.N. warns
(CNN) -- Afghan opium kills 100,000 people every year worldwide -- more than any other drug -- and the opiate heroin kills five times as many people in NATO countries each year than the eight-year total of NATO troops killed in Afghan combat, the United Nations said Wednesday.
An Afghan police officer digs up a field of opium poppies in April.
About 15 million people around the world use heroin, opium or morphine, fueling a $65 billion market for the drug and also fueling terrorism and insurgencies: The Taliban raised $450 million to $600 million over the past four years by "taxing" opium farmers and traffickers, Antonio Maria Costa, head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime, said in a report.
Not all the money is going into the pockets of rebels or drug dealers; some Afghan officials are making money off the trade as well, he said.
"The Afghan drug economy generates several hundred million dollars per year into evil hands: some with black turbans, some with white collars," Costa said.
The latter reference is "to officials in the Afghan administration, federal government of Kabul or the provinces or the army or the police," Costa told CNN's Christiane Amanpour. Watch Costa talk about the problems »
And the problem is spreading, he added.
Drug money is funding insurgencies in Central Asia, which has huge energy reserves, Costa said.
"The Silk Route, turned into a heroin route, is carving out a path of death and violence through one of the world's most strategic yet volatile regions," he said.
Don't Miss
Authorities are seizing too little heroin, intercepting only about 20 percent of opiate traffic around the world, according to the U.N. report, "Addiction, Crime and Insurgency: the Transnational Threat of Afghan Opium."
It comes on the heels of a U.N. warning last month that two years' worth of opium is effectively "missing," probably stockpiled by the Taliban and criminal gangs.
More than 12,000 tons of opium, which can be consumed as a narcotic itself or turned into heroin, is unaccounted for, the United Nations estimated in September.
It is not clear who has it or why, but the United Nations speculates that criminals could be holding it as a hedge against falling prices or that insurgents or terrorists could be stockpiling it to fund attacks.
The latest report claims to be the first systematic attempt to track where Afghan opium ends up. 
See how Afghan heroin reaches Europe and the West »
Europe and Russia together consume just under half of the heroin coming out of Afghanistan, the United Nations concluded, and Iran is by far the single largest consumer of Afghan opium.
Afghanistan is also probably supplying an increasing share of the heroin in China -- perhaps as much as a quarter, the report said.
Afghanistan is by far the world's largest producer of opium, although Laos, Myanmar and Latin America produce small quantities, it said.
The United Nations found that Afghanistan may be supplying more heroin to the United States and Canada than had been suspected.
The two North American countries consume more than twice as much heroin as Latin America produces. That means either that more Afghan heroin is making its way to North America than had been known or that Mexico and Columbia are producing more than was realized, the United Nations said.
The report confirmed an estimate that $400 million in drug profits goes to the Taliban, Costa said.
The Taliban "are deeply involved" in processing, in protecting farmers and in exporting, he said.
The solution "is very clear," he said. "We need a much greater effort and commitment by governments to prevent drug addiction, to take care of drug addicts ... to reduce demand."
But the popular will for change needs to increase, he said, noting that the Security Council in 2006 and 2007 passed resolutions inviting member states to give the names of drug traffickers to authorities so that their ability to travel can be curtailed and their assets seized.
"So far, much to my dismay, not a single name was provided to the Security Council," he said.
The report offered little new in the way of possible solutions, said Ethan Nadelmann, founding executive director of the Drug Policy Alliance, which promotes alternatives to the war on drugs.
"It's very good at describing a problem," he said. "But it truly is devoid of any kind of pragmatic solution, and it essentially suggests that the answer is to keep doing more of what's failed us in the past."
So long as there is a global demand for opium, there will be a supply, he said.
"If Afghanistan were suddenly wiped out as a producer of opium -- by bad weather or a blight or eradication efforts -- other parts of the world would simply emerge as new producers, "creating all sorts of new problems," he said.
And Afghanistan itself would not be helped either, he said.
"You would see in Afghanistan millions of people probably flocking to the cities unable to make a living and probably turning more to the Taliban than they are now," he said.
He listed three possible options. The first, global legalization and control, "is not happening, not any time soon," he said.
The second option is to increase drug treatment for addicts who want it and to provide legal access to the drug, as Switzerland, Germany, the Netherlands, England, Spain and Canada have done, he said.
"In all of these places, there are small, growing programs of heroin maintenance that allow addicts to obtain pharmaceutical-grade heroin from legal sources rather than from the black market," he said.
But Nadelmann added that more people died of opiate overdose last year involving pharmaceutical opiates than died from illegal heroin.
A third possibility, he said, would be to view Afghanistan as essentially a red-light zone of global opium production and to think about the solution as a vice-control challenge, "which means acknowledge that Afghanistan is going to continue to be the world's supplier of illegal opium for the foreseeable future and then focus on manipulating and regulating the market participants, even though it is still illegal."
He added, "That, I think, is in some respects the de facto strategy, even though it cannot be stated openly, for political reasons."
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