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The internet is among a record 237 individuals and organisations nominated for this year's Nobel Peace Prize.
Mobile technology that could allow prying bosses to monitor every movement of their staff is developed in Japan.
Facebook calls on game designers to make an iconic title, such as Mario or Halo, specifically for the social network.
Illegal file-sharers should be fined, rather than have their internet connection cut off, says the boss of BT.
Hard drives are about to undergo one of the biggest format shifts in 30 years but it could cause problems for Windows XP users.
Neat little clipping and saving service works on Web and iPhone.
Notorious as a malware ghetto, LimeWire takes its first steps to integrate authoritative threat protection by signing on AVG to provide premium users with download scanning and blocking.
But Microsoft is telling game developers to concentrate on the phones.
The PlayStation maker gives those gathered at a press conference during the Game Developers Conference a sneak peek at its motion-sensitive controller.
roundup This week's Game Developers Conference brings together designers, programmers, publishers, and others for the latest from the world of video play.
Authorities apologise over missed warnings of incest as report reveals culture of 'quiet word' rather than action
A series of failures by child protection professionals were detailed today in a withering report that described how a father was allowed to continually rape and abuse two of his daughters over a 35-year period.
The executive summary into the case described how the family had been in contact with 28 different agencies between 1973 and 2008, and that they had been seen by more than 100 professionals including social workers, police and housing officials.
Sixteen case conferences were held and ambulance workers, a headteacher and hospital staff had all expressed concern about non-accidental injuries and the children's poor hygiene. Yet nothing was done.
Seven allegations of sexual abuse were made by family members – but they were not followed up.
Instead of swift intervention, a culture of having "a quiet word" was found to exist among professionals.
Today Sheffield and Lincolnshire safeguarding children boards apologised for their failings. Chris Cook, independent chair of Lincolnshire Safeguarding Children Board, said: "We are genuinely sorry. We should have protected you. People's lives were devastated both by a controlling, power-obsessed and deviant father and our failure to act."
Sue Fiennes, independent chair of Sheffield Safeguarding Children Board, admitted they had failed the family and "nothing should shield us from that fact".
The nature of the failures were disclosed today, 18 months after the father was sentenced to 25 life sentences for raping his daughters in one of the worst cases of incest ever put before a British court.
The women had finally come forward in June 2008 when their father was arrested. The judge in the case, Alan Goldack QC, demanded to know what professionals "had been doing for the last 20 years."
Today's report was an attempt to answer the question.
It described how the man abused and intimidated his family, and how he moved them 67 times to avoid being detected by the authorities. During that time, two of his daughters, referred to as M and N, had become pregnant 18 times after being raped by him.
Yet despite increasing suspicion that sexual abuse was taking place, none of the episodes was investigated effectively. On 23 separate occasions the women were specifically asked by the authorities about paternity of their children. They refused genetic counselling and there was concern that the father had become violent and aggressive towards them.
Yet because professionals believed "there was no evidence" to prove incest, they took no action. They were also fearful of potential litigation, the report noted.
The girls and a brother, who suffered physical abuse, were on the child protection register for a decade.
Speaking at a press conference, Professor Pat Cantrill, author of the report, said the abuse could have been stopped. "It only really needed one person with tenacity to keep pushing this and pushing this and we might have had a much earlier recognition and action being taken.
"There were people in the community that came forward and attempted to get the agencies to react in relation to this family and they were not listened to the way that they should."
She said a culture of "having a quiet word" had developed, and some professionals simply did not know how to handle the situation.
She said opportunities were missed individually and collectively. "The inquiries that were identified should have resulted in the children being taken to a place of safety – but that did not occur."
Some professionals got "quite stuck" around the situation of incest. "You are aware, as I am aware, that there are a number of these serious case reviews that happen and we always don't seem to learn from them."
The report found the father intimidated and frightened his wife and children using physical violence and bullying.
His wife left in 1992, leaving the children with him. "Professionals failed to listen and consider the situation from the child's perspective," the summary concluded. "They did not see the children and, where possible, talk to them and find out what they thought and felt about the issues. Too often the professionals took the word of parents at face value without considering the effects on the child."
It found professionals were often on the back foot because some were afraid of the father. "There is also an issue of professionals stereotyping and being judgmental of adults M and N and failing to see the growing pressure on the women of the frequent pregnancies." It found agencies were waiting for M and N to disclose abuse, yet research finds that 40% of victims of serious sexual assault don't tell.
"There was evidence of practitioners working in narrow silos," the report found. "There is an individual and collective community responsibility on us as members of society to protect children. Members of the family and community tried to play their part in safeguarding the children … with a frustrating outcome."
Cantrill said by 1997 there was a substantial picture in place that should have reflected in action being taken. "Even though some professionals were afraid of the father they left the children with him," she added.
Mahmoud Abbas 'not ready to negotiate' after Israel announces 1,600 new homes for East Jerusalem
The Palestinians pulled out of a new round of indirect peace talks last night, even before they had begun, as a protest at Israel's decision to announce approval for hundreds of new homes in a Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem.
The decision to pull out, announced in Cairo by Amr Moussa, head of the Arab League, represents a major setback to months of diplomacy by the US administration and comes after the US vice-president, Joe Biden, delivered an unusually strong rebuke to Israel.
Amr Moussa said he had been told by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, that even this low-key process of so-called "proximity talks" could not start unless Israel stopped expanding its settlements.
"The Palestinian side is not ready to negotiate under the present circumstances," Moussa said.
Israeli and Palestinian leaders have not held direct negotiations since Israel's war in Gaza last year. The White House had won agreement on Monday from the two sides to begin the indirect talks, hoping they would lead to face-to-face meetings.
The Palestinians had insisted there would be no direct talks unless Israel halted all settlement expansion, in line with the demands of the US administration and the roadmap, which remains the framework of peace talks.
But Israel's prime minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, leading a rightwing coalition government, offered only a temporary, partial curb to new building.
Then, on Tuesday, hours after Biden met Israeli leaders, the Israeli interior ministry announced approval for 1,600 new apartments in Ramat Shlomo, an ultra-Orthodox Jewish settlement in East Jerusalem. All settlements on occupied land are illegal under international law.
Israel's opposition Kadima party said it is planning a no-confidence vote in the prime minister in parliament for "destroying" the Biden visit.
Yesterday, Biden emerged from talks with Abbas in Ramallah, on the occupied West Bank, and repeated his criticisms of the timing and substance of Israel's announcement. "It is incumbent on both parties to build an atmosphere of support for negotiations and not to complicate them," he said.
"The decision by the Israeli government to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem undermines that very trust, the trust that we need right now in order to begin … profitable negotiations."
Palestinian prime minister Salam Fayyad said the Palestinians appreciated "the strong statement of condemnation" by the US administration.
Eli Yishai, Israel's interior minister, apologised for the timing of the announcement, admitting that it had caused Biden "real embarrassment".
Arrest of 'cat lady', suspected of plot to kill Prophet cartoonist, linked to terror suspects held in Ireland
She lived in Main Street, Pennsburg, which in hindsight is about as rich a paradox as could be. Her apartment on the second floor of a block of flats in the Pennsylvania town was nondescript, except for some wind chimes and a star hanging from the balcony.
But today the world learned of Colleen LaRose's alleged second life, one quite out of keeping with the low-key figure she presented. She was blonde, blue-eyed, 5ft 2ins tall and wholly unassuming, according to a former boyfriend, Kurt Gorman. "She seemed normal to me. She was a good person," he told the Philadelphia Daily News.
But to the FBI agents who had been tracking her every move from at least as early as July last year, she was potentially a dangerous would-be terrorist intent on martyrdom and using the aliases Jihad Jane and Fatima LaRose.
Today, an indictment was unsealed accusing her of plotting to murder a Swedish man in order to frighten "the whole Kufar (nonbeliever) world".
Although the indictment does not name him, her intended victim is reported to have been Lars Vilks, a cartoonist who drew a satirical picture of the head of the prophet Muhammad on top of a dog's body.
US media have reported that LaRose's case is linked to the arrest in Ireland on Tuesday of seven suspected plotters from Algeria, Croatia, Palestine, Libya and the US. Al-Qaida had placed a $100,000 (£67,000) bounty on Vilks's head.
The arrest of LaRose, 46, has been seized on by US national security officials as a warning that terrorist groups want to recruit white Americans to circumvent tight travel controls.
David Kris of the justice department said the allegation "that a woman from suburban America agreed to carry out murder overseas ... underscores the evolving nature of the threat we face".
The US prosecutor for Pennsylvania, Michael Levy, said: "The case demonstrates that terrorists are looking for Americans to join them in their cause, and it shatters any lingering thought that we can spot a terrorist based on appearance."
LaRose was arrested on 15 October as she returned to the US from a trip to Europe, but details have only now been released to allow international agents to track her contacts. She is being held at a federal prison in Philadelphia.
She grew up in Texas but moved to Philadelphia in 2004. Neighbours in Pennsburg told the Los Angeles Times she had a reputation for eccentricity. "She was the weird, weird, weird lady who lived across the hall. We always called her the crazy lady," said Eric Newell, adding that despite that he never thought she was dangerous. His wife, Kristy, said LaRose used to talk a lot to her cats.
Why and when LaRose converted to Islam is not known, but the indictment pinpoints her involvement in jihadist conspiracy to June 2008, when she allegedly posted a comment on YouTube under the alias Jihad Jane, saying she was "desperate to do something somehow to help" the suffering Muslim people.
The charges detail how over the next few months she came into contact through the internet with five separate unnamed but known jihadists in Europe and south Asia. The first connection was allegedly in December 2008 with a south Asian resident who wanted to "wage jihad and become a 'shaheed' (martyr)".
LaRose replied she too wanted to martyr herself, the indictment says. On 20 February last year she sent an email saying that her physical appearance would allow her to "blend in with many people", which "may be a way to achieve what is in my heart", the indictment says.
The following month one of her contacts suggests she "can get access to many places due to ur nationality". LaRose is also alleged to have used the internet to recruit women with passports and easy travel access around Europe in support of violent jihad.
The FBI questioned her about soliciting funds for terrorism and posting on terrorist websites under the username Jihad Jane in July last year. But LaRose showed considerable naivety.
On 23 August she suddenly disappeared from her apartment, to her boyfriend's amazement. "I came home and she's gone," he said, adding that she stole his passport, for which she has also been charged.
That day she travelled to Europe and by September, the indictment says, she was actively searching for her Swedish target, becoming a "citizen" of the artist's cyber community. On 30 September she sent an email saying it was "an honour & great pleasure to die or kill" and pledging that "only death will stop me here that i am so close to the target!"
It is not clear why, but she did not go through with the attack and returned to the US on 15 October, when she was arrested.
If convicted she faces life in prison and fines of up to $1m.
News of the existence of "Jihad Jane" comes at a time of mounting anxiety in the US about the incidence of American citizens engaging in jihadist activities. It is a phenomenon of homegrown terrorism that has previously been considered rare in the country.
In December last year FBI agents and their Pakistani colleagues interrogated five young American Muslims who were suspected of being on their way to Afghanistan to fight with the Taliban, against US-led forces. The five, aged 19 to 25, had formed a close-knit social group in the Alexandria area of Virginia. They had all disappeared from their family homes in late November, reportedly leaving behind a video featuring war scenes and statements about the defence of Muslims.
Earlier in December, another US citizen, David Headley, was charged with helping to plan the Mumbai attacks that killed 166 people in 2008. Headley, 49, who lived in Chicago, is accused of conspiracy to bomb public places in India, to murder and maim people, and to provide material support to a foreign terrorist group. Headley was born in Washington DC to a Pakistani diplomat based at the country's embassy and an American mother. He adopted his mother's surname in 2006, which investigators claim allowed him to move more easily across borders.
Moves aims to restore public confidence in science of global warming after mistake over melting rates of glaciers
The UN called in the world's top scientists today to review a report by its climate body, four months after public confidence in the science of global warming was shaken by the discovery of a mistake about the melting rates of Himalayan glaciers.
In an announcement at the UN in New York Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, and Rajendra Pachauri, the much-criticised head of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, said the InterAcademy Council, which represents 15 national academies of science, would conduct the independent review.
The announcement follows months of controversy which, while not altering the scientific consensus on climate change, has given fresh ammunition to opponents of action on global warming.
Pachauri has faced calls for his resignation, a controversy he acknowledged obliquely today. "We have received some criticism. We are receptive and sensitive to that and we are doing something about it," he said.
The review, which is to complete its work by August, will not undertake a dissection of the 2007 report, which has been pored over by climate sceptics, or re-examine the scientific consensus that human activity is causing climate change, said Robert Dijksgraaf, the head of the InterAcademy Council.
"It will definitely not go over vast amounts of data," he told reporters. "Our goal will be to assure nations around the world that they will receive sound scientific advice on climate science."
Instead, he said it would focus on putting in place better quality control procedures for the next report, which is due in 2014.
These would include guidelines for dealing with material that has not undergone peer review such as the item on Himalayan glaciers.
One focus of the review would be the role played by Pachauri who has been criticised for his handling of the error when it first came to light.
Djiksgraaf also said the panel, likely to be made up of 10 experts, would also look at procedures for making corrections in a timely and transparent manner.
The report has been pored over by climate sceptics for errors since last November when it emerged that the IPCC had stated, wrongly, that Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035. As Pachauri and Ban noted today, the solid body of the 3,000 page report remained unchallenged.
The discovery of the error goes to the core of criticism of Pachauri whose first response to questions about the accuracy of the IPCC's prediction on the melting of the Himalayan glaciers was to dismiss it as "voodoo science".
Pachauri had also rankled critics by refusing to apologise for the mistakes.
But a spokesman for Pachauri today said the IPCC had initiated the independent review, and had pressed the UN to call in the scientists.
In his brief comments, Pachauri said the work of the IPCC, which shared a Nobel prize with Al Gore in 2007, remained the gold standard of climate science. "We believe the conclusions of that report are really beyond any reasonable doubt," Pachauri said.
Environmental and science organisations supported the UN's decision.
"This is the right move," said Peter Frumhoff, the science director for the Union of Concerned Scientist and a lead author on the IPCC report.
"If this independent review is carried out with rigour and transparency, it will help strengthen the IPCC's commitment to robust scientific assessments and restore public confidence that has been shaken by an aggressive campaign to sow confusion about climate science."
Investigations will focus on how the MP, who is standing down at the general election, wrongly claimed the second-home allowance for four years
Police have launched an investigation into the expenses claims of the Labour MP Harry Cohen who received more than £70,000 in a second home allowance for a house he rarely visited, it was reported last night.
Cohen, who was severely criticised last month for a "particularly serious breach of the rules" by a Commons committee, is the fifth Labour MP to be subject to a Scotland Yard inquiry.
Officers will focus their investigations on how the MP, who is standing down at the general election, wrongly claimed the second-home allowance for four years.
Cohen received money for a second home when he was renting out the property designated as his main home, the standards and privileges committee said last month.
Over the past few weeks, the Metropolitan police are understood to have approached Commons authorities seeking documents relating to claims made by Cohen, the Daily Telegraph reported.
Today, three MPs, Elliot Morley, David Chaytor and Jim Devine, are due to appear before the courts after being charged last month with multiple offences under the Theft Act.
Another MP, Eric Illsley, is also being investigated over claims he allegedly made "phantom" claims for council tax.
The Commons committee last month called for the Leyton and Wanstead MP to become the first MP to lose a £65,000 retirement payoff to claw back the wrongly claimed money.
Attention has focussed on a Colchester home bought by Cohen in 1998 which he told the Commons authorities was his main residence. He used his second-home allowance to fund a home in his north-east London constituency, which was in accordance with the rules.
In 2003 Cohen's wife fell ill and the couple began to spend more time in the constituency home so that Cohen could look after her while still carrying out his parliamentary duties.
As the Cohens were not using their Colchester house, they began to rent it out. From early 2004 until August 2008 they periodically let the house on six-month leases.
But Cohen continued to tell the Commons authorities that the Colchester house was his main home, thus enabling him to use the second home allowance to claim for the home in the constituency.
The parliamentary commissioner for standards, John Lyon, found that Cohen was in breach of the rule saying that an MP's main home should normally be the one where he or she spends the most nights.
As an outer-London MP, Cohen could have claimed the London supplement, instead of the second-home allowance, if he had designated his constituency home as his main home.
But the committee said Cohen claimed more than £70,000 between April 2004 and August 2008. If he had claimed the London supplement instead, he would only have been able to claim about £9,000.
