CYBER CELL TO FIGHT ONLINE ATTACKS
A cyber cell of British and American intelligence and security agents is being created to defeat online attacks in an "unprecedented" deal to be struck by David Cameron and Barack Obama in talks at the White House today.
A rolling programme of war games will be staged across the Atlantic starting with attacks on the City and Wall Street to test their resilience.
It comes as a report by government listening post GCHQ warns the computer networks of British companies are under attack on a daily basis by hackers, criminal gangs, commercial rivals and foreign intelligence services.
IMAGES TO REVEAL BEAGLE 2'S FATE
Images showing that the British Beagle 2 space probe landed successfully on Mars 12 years ago are set to be revealed, a scientists who worked on the project has said.
David Rothery, professor of planetary geosciences at the Open University, said he believed pictures will be published today proving that the spacecraft's lander successfully touched down on the Red Planet in 2003 but that a malfunction prevented it from beaming information back to Earth.
The UK Space Agency says it will provide an "update" on the ill-fated craft, which vanished while attempting a Christmas Day landing on the planet, but will not discuss in advance what will be revealed.
CLEGG FACES FRESH 'BETRAYAL' CLAIMS
Ed Miliband will accuse Nick Clegg of a fresh "betrayal" of students today after the Liberal Democrat leader's broken pledge at the last general election to oppose any increase in tuition fees.
In a calculated incursion onto Mr Clegg's political home turf in Sheffield, the Labour leader will denounce the coalition for allowing hundreds of thousands of young people to "fall off" the electoral register in the run-up to this year's election.
In a speech to students at Sheffield Hallam University- in the next door constituency to the Deputy Prime Minister's - Mr Miliband will describe the loss of voting rights as a democratic "scandal" and call on ministers to ensure young people are not denied a voice on polling day in May.
HEALTH ALERT AS FREEZE TAKES HOLD
The Met Office has issued a severe weather alert across large swathes of the country, prompting warnings of health risks to the young, old and ill.
Social and healthcare services had been put on high alert, the forecaster said, as the UK faces no let-up in the winter conditions which claimed one life and caused chaos on roads and rail yesterday.
Yorkshire and Humber, the North East and the North West are subject to a level three amber alert, the second highest, with average temperatures set to fall below 2C, while the West Midlands, the East Midlands and the east of England are on a yellow warning.
EBOLA FEAR NURSE IS AIRLIFTED TO UK
An Australian nurse treating Ebola patients in Sierra Leone has been airlifted to the UK for observation, her government has said.
The nurse, reported to be a woman, has not been diagnosed with Ebola and was transferred to Britain following what the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said was a "low risk clinical incident".
It comes as a patient admitted to hospital in Scotland after returning from Ebola-hit west Africa has tested negative for the killer virus.
ARMY RECRUITS WITH VIRTUAL REALITY
The Army has launched a new recruitment campaign for the reserves that involves an immersive experience involving the Oculus Rift virtual reality headset.
The wraparound headset will enable wearers to experience some of the tasks carried out by reservists, and is being used for the first time at recruitment events in London and Manchester today.
The first "experience" being launched by the Army will drop the wearer into a live fire exercise with the Army Reserve on Salisbury Plain.
CARE HOME PATIENTS FOUND DEHYDRATED
Elderly care home patients are at least five times more likely to be dehydrated when admitted to hospital than those living independently, putting them at greater risk of death, according to new research.
Doctors monitored the sodium levels in more than 21,000 patients over 65 admitted to leading London hospitals during a two-year period and compared those who had come from care homes with those who lived in their own home.
Their findings, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, suggested 12% of nursing home residents presented with hypernatraemia - high sodium levels associated with a lack of fluids - against 1.3% of others.
'DRUG DEATH' MEN INQUESTS TO OPEN
Inquests into three men whose deaths may be linked to a rogue batch of ecstasy are expected to be opened today.
Suffolk Police issued a warning over the red triangular pills with a Superman logo on them after two men died in Ipswich on Christmas Eve and New Year's Day. The death of a third man in Rendlesham is also being investigated in connection with the pills.
Suffolk Police confirmed the man who died on Christmas Day was Justas Ropas, 23, of Bramford Lane, Ipswich.
TWO KILLED IN TERROR RAID SHOOT-OUT
Two suspected terrorists have been killed and a third arrested in a shoot-out with police in Belgium, prosecutors have said.
The fire-fight - in the town of Verviers close to the German border - broke out as police mounted a series of raids amid fears an "operational cell" was about to mount a major terrorist attack.
A spokesman for the Belgian Federal Prosecutor said that they had been investigating a group involving individuals who had recently returned from Syria.
ISA 'ROLLOVER' BOOST URGED
Savers should be allowed to roll over any portions of their Isa allowance that they do not manage to use up in any one year, a think-tank has argued.
Policy Exchange said that instead of losing any Isa allowance that goes unused in any particular year, people should instead have the power to transfer any of their annual allowance that they do not manage to use into a "bonus Isa" or Bisa - which they can then top up at a later date.
There could be a cap, initially set at £10,000, on the total amount that savers could roll over into their Bisa, which would act as a "flexible add-on" to their main annual allowance the think-tank suggested. The cap would help to control the cost of introducing the scheme.
No comments:
Post a Comment