Spain financial plan: Cuts to total 27bn Euros

Spain is cutting 27bn euro from its budget this year as part of one of the toughest austerity drives in its history. The government says it will raise 12.3bn euros this year, aided by an increase in tax for large companies. According to Raj Badiani, an economist at IHS Global Insight I suspect that the government could be forced to implement further austerity measures later this year, with lingering economic downturn set to place additional strains on an already perilous budget deficit reduction plan 

Last month Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy agreed with the European Commission to reduce Spain's deficit from 8.5% to 5.3% of GDP in 2012. Investors - worried about a bailout for Spain or Italy - wanted the fund to increase from its current size of about 500bn Euros to closer to 1 trillion euros. But there was resistance from Germany to an increase of that scale.

Kidney cancers: main increase connected to fatness

According to experts obesity is fuelling a main increase in the number of cases of kidney cancers diagnosed in Britain. The experts state that being overweight increases the danger of this cancer, as well as others counting breast, bowel and womb cancer, because it causes the higher levels of certain hormones to be produced, compared with those seen in healthy people.

 

 

 

 

 

Smoking rates in the UK have fallen over the last 35 years, but plump and obesity levels are rising with nearly 70% of men and almost 60% of women in the UK having a BMI of 25 or more which means they are classed as being overweight. Obesity increases kidney cancer risk by about 70%, compared with smoking which increases it by about 50%.

Dead stars: to lead spaceship

Spacecraft could one day navigate throughout the space using a exacting type of dead star as a type of GPS.According to Prof Werner Becker from the Max-Planck Institute for outer space Physics in Garching the standard is so simple that it will definitely have applications. These pulsars are everywhere in the Universe and their flashing is so unsurprising that it makes such an approach really as simple.

The future technique is much related to that working in the popular Global Positioning System, which broadcasts timing signals to the user from a constellation of satellites in orbit. Still for a probe at the reasonably short division of Mars, the positioning doubt can be about 10km. It is also a technique that is far from precise, and the errors increase the further away the probe moves.

Three US praise firms warn of safety break

Visa, MasterCard and Discover have warned that credit card holders personal information could be at risk after a security breach. None of the three companies, which are the three of the largest credit card processors, would confirm how many customers were affected. Visa echoed MasterCard’s statement, emphasizing that its customers are not responsible for fraudulent purchases.

Security blog KrebsOnSecurity, which first reported the story, said industry sources supposed more than 10 million cards, may have been compromised. Visa and Mastercard, also used for debit cards of major US banks, said they had notified banks of the breach. According to Gartner analyst Avivah Litan she believed the breach was related to a taxi garage in New York City. 

North Korea ready for satellite launch

A new satellite imagery appears to show preparations beginning for a long-range rocket launch in North Korea despite international objections.

The image from a privately operated satellite was taken on Wednesday at the Tongchang-ri site, where North Korea says it plans to launch the related stories

    * Intercept N Korea missile if needed, says Japan rocket between 12 and 16 April.

"The image shows not only that the launch is going ahead but the preparations seem to be on schedule for the planned launch dates," said Joel Wit, visiting fellow at the institute and editor of 38 North, its website on North Korea.

North Korea says the launch is to fire an observation satellite into orbit and mark the centennial of the birth of the nation's founder, Kim Il-sung. The US says it is a cover to test long-range missile technology and violates UN resolutions.

Barack Obama appealed to North Korean leaders to abandon the rocket plan but was rebuffed by the North.

If the launch does go ahead it will terminate a 29 February accord between the longtime adversaries, under which the North agreed to nuclear concessions and a moratorium on long-range missile and nuclear tests in exchange for food aid.

The US says the plans to provide the food to the impoverished communist nation are already on hold.

Harry Potter fans get ready for studio experience

Fans of Harry Potter will have an opportunity to see sets from the film contract when a studio tour opens to the public on Saturday. It has often been said about films and the Potter movies in particular, that the set designs are so intricate they feature details that will never be seen on screen. At £83 for a family of four, it isn't cheap.

So far reactions have been generally positive, although like many such attractions, people have to leave through a gift shop. And the challenge for Warner Bros is to ensure that it's seen as a worthwhile addition to the Potter brand beyond the books and films. According to Josh Berger, managing director of Warner Bros UK Like everything, there's the high end that is incredibly good quality. And it's expensive to make, and it's expensive to sell.

The UK biobank opens its door to Researchers

The UK Biobank, the most comprehensive health study in the UK, is opening its doors to researchers. The biobank began recruiting participants three years ago, and was open to people aged 40 to 69. The hope is that the UK Biobank will allow scientists to investigate why some people develop meticulous diseases in middle age while others do not, with the hope of developing new treatments and prevention strategies.

According to Professor Sir Rory Collins, principal investigator at the biobank this is without doubt an extremely exciting day for medicinal research, not just in the UK but around the world. It has enormous potential for future generations and will help us understand how our children and our children's children can live longer, better lives. The biobank is funded by the Welcome Trust, Medical Research Council, Department of Health, Scottish Government, Welsh Government and the British Heart Foundation.