Scores of Indian soldiers killed in Maoist ambushes

Maoist rebels have killed at least 75 Indian soldiers in a series of attacks on security convoys in the central state of Chhattisgarh, officials say.

A large patrol of federal paramilitary troops was ambushed at dawn by hundreds of heavily armed insurgents in a remote part of Dantewada district.

Rescue teams were later ambushed in attacks using landmines and gunfire.

Correspondents say it is the worst attack on security forces by the rebels since their insurgency began.

India's Home Affairs Minister P Chidambaram said the attack showed the brutality and savagery that the rebel army was capable of.

But he suggested lessons had to be learnt quickly by the security forces.

"Something has gone very wrong. They seem to have walked into a trap set by the Naxalites [Maoists]. Casualties are quite high and I am deeply shocked," he said.

Home Secretary Gopal K Pillai said that the rebels had booby-trapped the area of the ambush.

"Preliminary reports indicate that the Maoists planted pressure bombs in surrounding areas at places where the security forces might take cover," he said.

"As a result of this, the bulk of the casualties have arisen from the pressure bomb blasts."

The Maoists have stepped up attacks in recent weeks in response to a big government offensive along what is known as the "red corridor", a broad swathe of territory in rural eastern and central India where the Maoist rebellion has been gathering strength.

Nearly 50,000 federal paramilitary troops and tens of thousands of policemen are taking part in the operation in several states.

The rebels have tapped into rural and tribal anger among those who have seen no benefits from India's economic development and this attack is another chilling reminder of the growing threat they pose, says the news channel in Delhi.

Talks call

Thousands of people have died during the rebels' 20-year fight for communist rule.

The latest attacks come two days after rebels killed at least 10 policemen and injured 10 more in a landmine attack on a police bus in the eastern state of Orissa.

The rebels say they will step up attacks unless the government halts its offensive against them.

Mr Chidambaram has said troops will intensify the offensive if the rebels do not renounce violence and enter peace talks.

The Maoists want four senior leaders freed from jail and the offensive halted before any talks.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has described the Maoist insurgency as India's "greatest internal security challenge".

The Maoists say they are fighting for the rights of the rural poor who they say have been neglected by governments for decades.

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Anti-psychotic drugs link to pneumonia warning

The use of anti-psychotic drugs in the elderly doubles the risk of potentially fatal pneumonia, say Dutch researchers.

A study of almost 2,000 patients found the increased risk starts soon after treatment begins and concluded that patients should be closely monitored.

An expert review published in 2009 found the drugs are overused in many cases and are responsible for up to 1,800 deaths in the UK every year.

Ministers have said they want to see a significant cut in their use.

The latest research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine compared the health records of 258 over-65s with pneumonia with 1,686 patients without the infection.

Of those with pneumonia, a quarter died within a month.

When they looked at prescribed drugs, they found current use of anti-psychotics was associated with a roughly two-fold increase in the risk of pneumonia.

Those on the newer types of anti-psychotic drugs were slightly less likely to have the infection than those on the older class of drugs but were still at significant increased risk.

The risk was found to start soon after treatment and increased the higher the dose of drugs the patient was prescribed.

Evidence

The researchers from Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam said: "Clinicians who start treatment with anti-psychotic drugs should closely monitor patients, particularly at the start of therapy and if high doses are given."

Last year's UK review found that around 180,000 dementia patients a year are given the drugs in care homes, hospitals and their own homes to manage aggression but only around 36,000 would actually benefit from them.

Measures suggested in the report and accepted by the government included better monitoring of prescribing practices and ensuring that, where necessary, they were prescribed for short periods of time.

Professor Steve Field, chair of the Royal College of GPs said: "Anti-psychotics are prescribed too frequently without doctors thinking about the consequences.

"This paper yet again gives us evidence why we should not prescribe them unless absolutely necessary and if you do you should closely monitor the patient."

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Digital Economy bill faces further scrutiny

Controversial elements of the Digital Economy Bill will face further scrutiny even if the bill is passed later, Commons Leader Harriet Harman has said.

Part of the bill, which refers to how copyright holders can block access to websites hosting pirated content, will be subject to further consultation.

Several MPs called for the whole bill to be delayed until after the election.

The Tories say "big questions" have been left unanswered while the Lib Dems seek greater scrutiny of some aspects.

Ms Harman revealed to Parliament that one element, known as Clause 18, will be subject to "a super-affirmative procedure" - meaning the details of it will require further Parliamentary scrutiny.

Clause 18 was hastily rewritten by the government. It was intended to future-proof the law against new methods of accessing pirated materials.

It grants rights-holders the power to force service providers to block access to websites hosting pirated content.

The Liberal Democrats have called for a similar procedure to be applied to the issue of how public wi-fi will be affected by the bill.

Currently, if the bill passes into law, the owners of publicly-accessed wi-fi will be held responsible for content that is illegally downloaded by individuals using the hotspot.

'Digital disappointment'

The second reading of the bill was somewhat overshadowed by the earlier announcement of the general election and few MPs gathered in the Commons to hear Culture Secretary Ben Bradshaw introduce it.

However, a heated debate followed with several MPs, including Labour MP Tom Watson, calling for the more controversial elements of the bill to be removed.

Shadow culture secretary Jeremy Hunt branded the bill a "digital disappointment of colossal proportions".

For the Liberal Democrats, culture spokesman Don Foster condemned the government for allowing a "totally inappropriate" amount of time for debate on such a major piece of legislation.

He said "large chunks" of the Bill were not controversial and needed to become law.

Earlier Ms Harman said the bill had already been subject to "considerable scrutiny" in the House of Lords, with seven days in committee, "longer than any other bill in this Parliamentary session".

But Mr Watson, a long-standing Labour opponent of the bill, urged the government to rethink rushing through the legislation.

"In the last seven days, 20,000 people have taken the time to e-mail their MPs. They are extremely upset that it won't have proper scrutiny," he said.

Internet piracy

Mr Bradshaw countered that "hundreds of thousands of people in the creative industries feel equally strongly that they need the legislation now".

He told MPs that a framework for dealing with those who pirated content was essential if alternative legal ways of distributing content were to get off the ground.

"It is not ideal that the bill will not enjoy full debate," he acknowledged but said that it had enjoyed "cross-party support".

There has been mounting public opposition to the bill, particularly the plans to give Ofcom the power to cut off the internet connections of persistent pirates.

Mr Bradshaw moved to reassure MPs that such measures would not be introduced for another year, and said he hoped a letter campaign to persistent net pirates would prove sufficient.

If suspensions of net accounts are necessary they will only be "temporary" he added.

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Ingushetia hit by suicide attack

suicide attacker has killed at least two police officers in the Russian republic of Ingushetia, in the latest in a series of such bombings.
Shortly after the first attack, a car bomb was detonated in the same place in the town of Karabulak, officials said.
Forty were killed by a twin attack on Moscow's Metro system last week, and another North Caucasus republic, Dagestan, has also been targeted.
The Kremlin blamed Islamists from the North Caucasus for the earlier attacks.
Russian media reports have published images of a woman they say carried out one of the attacks in Moscow, saying she was from Dagestan.

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Pregnancy exercise 'slims babies'

Light exercise during pregnancy may improve the future health of a child by controlling weight in the womb, New Zealand and US researchers say.

Overweight or obese mums are more likely to have larger babies which could be at higher risk of health problems later in life.

A study of 84 first-time mothers found exercise was associated with slightly lighter babies.
UK guidelines recommend regular light exercise for pregnant women.
The rising weight of the UK population over the years has led to a rise in the number of overweight mothers.
There is increasing evidence that the future metabolism of a child may be influenced by its environment in the womb, and that babies who are relatively heavy for their length may be more likely to be obese in future years.

Official guidance in the UK tells doctors to encourage women not to overeat during pregnancy, and to, wherever possible, take light exercise on a regular basis.
The joint study between the University of Auckland and Northern Arizona University recruited pregnant women, half of whom were asked to use exercise bikes for five 40 minute sessions each week.
They were asked to maintain the programme until at least the 36th week of pregnancy.

Extra fat
On average, the exercising women had babies who were no shorter than their non-exercising counterparts, but who were 0.32 lb (143 grams) lighter on average.
This suggested that the regime did not stunt growth in the womb, but reduced the amount of extra fat laid down by the babies.
In addition, the exercise did not appear to interfere with the natural changes in the mother's response to the hormone insulin, a necessary mechanism in pregnancy to make sure the foetus is properly nourished.
The findings are published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.
Dr Paul Hofman, who led the study, said: "Given that large birth size is associated with increased risk of obesity, a modest reduction in birth weight may have long-term health benefits for offspring by lowering this risk later in life."

Dr Anne Dornhorst, who specialises in research into the metabolism of pregnant women, said that it was becoming clear that exercise during pregnancy could aid the health of mother and child.

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Oil price up amid jobs joy in US

Oil prices have risen amid growing optimism that improved US job creation will boost economic recovery and lead to higher demand for crude.

In the first day of trading after the Easter break, US light crude added 0.4% to reach $85.31 a barrel.
London Brent crude also went up 0.4% to $84.37 a barrel.
On Friday, the US Labor Department said employers had created 162,000 new jobs in March, the highest monthly number since March 2007.
However, the country's unemployment rate remained at 9.7% for the third month in a row.
World oil prices have been on an upward trend in recent weeks - partly because of signs of improvement in the US economy, but also because of a weak dollar, which tends to increase the price of commodities priced in that currency.
However, oil prices are still a long way from the record highs above $147 a barrel that they reached in July 2008.

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Buzz social network

Google has said that it will begin to roll out a privacy reset for its controversial social network Buzz.

The search giant will ask all its users to confirm or change their privacy settings, starting on 5 April.
The firm was forced to make a series of changes to Buzz just days after launch, following a backlash from users worried about privacy intrusions.
Last month, US Congress members urged regulators to investigate the service and the private information it exposed.
The latest tweaks will also show every aspect of a user's profile, from public settings to the websites users are connected to, and who they are following or being followed by.
"Shortly after launching Google Buzz, we quickly realised we didn't get everything right and moved as fast as possible to improve the Buzz experience," said Buzz product manager Todd Jackson in a blog post.
"Offering everyone who uses our products transparency and control is very important to us."
'Consumer trust'
Google launched Buzz at the beginning of February and integrated it with the company's e-mail product Gmail, which is said to have over 170m account holders.
The service allows users to post status updates, share content and read and comment on posts in much the same way as those who have signed on to Facebook and Twitter do.

Amid concern over how much personal information was being made public, Google made changes to Buzz to make it more clear how information was being shared as well as simplifying the process for blocking or following other users.
Those early fixes did not go far enough for some critics.
Last month, nearly a dozen members of Congress signed a letter asking the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to investigate privacy concerns associated with Google's social networking tool.
"We are writing to express our concern over claims that Google Buzz... breaches online consumer privacy and trust," said the signatories, led by Representative John Barrow, a Georgia Democrat.
The service is also the subject of a class action lawsuit, and a leading privacy group has called for action from the FTC.
The Electronic Privacy Information Centre has alleged that Buzz is "deceptive" and breaks consumer protection law.
'Heartening'
The blogosphere has reacted positively to the proposed changes.
"While we can say that this is what we wanted at launch, it is heartening to see it now," said Alex Wilhelm, of TheNextWeb.
Ben Parr, associate editor at social media blog Mashable, said that while the changes could not fix the damage already done, they might "help get Congress off [Google's] back".
"If it can appease critics on the privacy issues, then it can tackle the bigger challenge: making Google Buzz into a competitive threat to Twitter and Facebook."
The Google Buzz team has promised more updates in the future.

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Pakistan: Attack on US consulate in Peshawar,

At least ten people have died after militants attacked the US consulate in the north-western Pakistani city of Peshawar.

There were several explosions in the area near the consulate and buildings collapsed. A gun battle between police and the attackers followed.
Pakistan's main Taliban faction said it had carried out the raid.
The raid came hours after 43 people died in a suicide attack about 80 km (50 miles) north-east of Peshawar.
The bomber targeted a crowded rally held by a Pashtun nationalist party in Timergara, Lower Dir.
'Great concern'
Investigators suspect it was co-ordinated with the Peshawar attack, in which police said four militants and three security personnel died.
 There were no reported US casualties and it is not clear if the US consulate building suffered any damage.
The White House condemned the attack and expressed "great concern".
Officials said the attack was well organised, but order had been restored.
The militants struck near Shama Square, a major crossroads at the northern end of Peshawar's cantonment area, near the US consulate.
There are also some army barracks and offices of the army's Military Intelligence in the vicinity.
'Miscreants'
An Associated Press reporter at the scene said two of the explosions were just 20m from the consulate, which is in a heavily fortified area.
Pakistani police officer Ghulam Hussain told AFP news agency: "The target was certainly the American consulate but they didn't succeed in getting there.
 "One of the suicide bombers blew himself up close to the gate. Police guarding the US consulate started retaliatory fire.
"More blasts took place. We have recovered unexploded material from four different points," he said.
Taliban spokesman Azam Tariq said his group had carried out the raid.
"Americans are our enemies. We carried out the attack on their consulate in Peshawar. We plan more such attacks," he told Reuters news agency.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani condemned the bombers as "miscreants trying to spread panic", reports AFP.
TV footage showed army soldiers taking battle positions on the main Khyber Road where the blasts took place.
Witnesses told a news channel,  a couple of armoured vehicles parked outside the consulate caught fire.
"I saw attackers in two vehicles. Some of them carried rocket-propelled grenades," Peshawar resident Siraj Afridi told Reuters.
The news channel in Islamabad says that this attack is the first against a US target in four years.
In 2006, a US diplomat was killed by a suicide car bomber near the US consulate in Karachi, days before a visit to Pakistan by then US President George W Bush.
Peshawar, which is on the edge of Pakistan's tribal areas, has been frequently targeted by Islamist militants.
An official of the ruling ANP party, Hashim Khan Babar, told the media the attacks appeared to be in response to a major security operation launched in the Orakzai tribal region near Peshawar last week

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Obama and China's Hu discuss nuclear Iran in phone call

President Obama has made a direct appeal to Chinese President Hu Jintao for the two countries to co-operate on the Iranian nuclear issue.

In an hour-long phone call Mr Obama stressed "the importance of working together to ensure that Iran lives up to its... obligations," the US said.
Their talks came as Iran's top nuclear official, Saeed Jalili, was in China for talks.
Beijing agreed that sanctions were "not effective", Mr Jalili said.
"In our talks with China it was agreed that tools such as sanctions have lost their effectiveness,"
International sanctions would not prevent Iran from pursuing its nuclear activities, he told reporters in Beijing.
Chinese officials have not commented after the talks.

China's foreign minister has said he still hopes the nuclear issue can be resolved through negotiations.
Serious talks
China's President Hu called for "healthy and stable" relations with the US during the telephone call with Mr Obama.
The two leaders also discussed Taiwan and the importance of implementing G20 agreements to boost economic growth.
The exchange capped a week of easing tensions between the two big powers who have recently had high-profile disagreements over Tibet, trade and Taiwan.

But in the brewing confrontation between the west and Iran over its nuclear programme, China is now key to what happens next, says a local news channel, in Beijing.
Earlier this week President Obama said he wanted to see new UN sanctions on Iran "within weeks".
China, a veto-wielding UN Security Council member with strong ties to Iran, has in the past expressed reluctance to see new sanctions imposed.
However the US ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, said on Thursday that China had indicated it was ready to hold "serious" talks with Western powers on a new UN resolution.
Western powers claim Iran seeks nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.
Strained ties
The US and China have disagreed recently over Tibet and Taiwan.
Mr Hu warned Mr Obama not to antagonise Beijing on the issues, China's foreign ministry said.

"Hu stressed the Taiwan and Tibet issues concern China's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and China's core interests, and properly dealing with these issues is key to ensuring the healthy and stable development of Sino-US relations," said a ministry statement.
China was upset when Mr Obama met Tibet's spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, in February. It was also angered by Taiwan securing a weapons deal from the US.
The US has supported the internet search company Google in its concerns over censorship in China, and other trade rows persist.
However, Beijing did allow the visit of the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz to Hong Kong in February.
One issue where China and US are in agreement is the need to bring North Korea back to the negotiating table over plans to end its nuclear programmes.

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Facebook claimants vow to continue legal action

The two Americans who were awarded millions of dollars after claiming they had come up with the idea for Facebook say their legal battle isn't over.

Cameron and Tyler Winkelvoss studied at Harvard University alongside Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, where they started a site called ConnectU.
In 2008 a protracted legal battle between the two sides ended with the payment of an undisclosed sum.
Facebook said that that it now considers "the matter concluded".
The Winkelvoss twins spoke to the a TV channel on the eve of the Boat Race, in which they will both row for Oxford.
Cameron Winkelvoss refused to confirm the extent of the 2008 settlement - thought to be $65m - but said: "I think it is safe to say the chapter is not closed on the matter."
Social network shock
His brother Tyler said: "It's our duty to stand for principles. We're willing to wait around and make sure that's what right has been made right."

The two brothers started work on ConnectU in 2003. They thought that computer science student Mark Zuckerberg was working with them, until he launched a similar site called thefacebook.com.
Mr Zuckerberg's site became hugely popular on the Harvard campus and then, under the name Facebook, turned into a global success.
"It was really just a sense of shock, " said Tyler Winkelvoss. "It turned into how can we right this wrong."
The settlement of the battle between Facebook and ConnectU involved the award of Facebook shares to the Winkelvoss twins.
The continuing dispute appears to centre on the value of those shares in a company which has not been publicly floated.
In a statement about the dispute Facebook told the local news channel:
"The settlement has been enforced by the courts and attempts to delay that decision have been denied twice.
"We hope that discussion of spurious and false allegations and other matters that were concluded years ago are not distracting anyone from their preparations for the race. We consider the matter concluded."
The brothers also revealed that after years of avoiding the social network they themselves have joined Facebook.
"We weren't on it for a long period of time," said Cameron Winkelvoss. "But it's a utility and we're deserving to take part in that. It's a great way to keep in touch with people back home."

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