A British rig is due to begin drilling for oil in the territorial waters of the Falkland Islands, despite strong opposition from Argentina.

The platform has been towed to a Mbt 

 point 100km (62 miles) north of the islands. Drilling is set to start at 0600 GMT.

Argentina says the move violates its sovereignty and has imposed shipping restrictions around the islands.

It is estimated the Falklands have the equivalent of 60 billion barrels of oil in total.

But a spokesman for Desire Petroleum, which is carrying out the drilling, told the BBC the amount which could be exploited commercially would probably be a fraction of that.

Argentina has threatened to take “adequate measures” to stop British oil exploration in contested waters around mbt sale  the islands”, and is seeking support from Latin American countries at a regional meeting in Mexico.

It wants its neighbours to also impose restrictions on shipping in the area.

It can already count on support from President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela, who said Britain was being irrational and had to realise the “time for empires was over”.

Argentina has long claimed the islands, which it calls the Malvinas.

It invaded the Falklands in 1982, before a UK taskforce seized back control in a short war that claimed the lives of 649 Argentine and 255 British service personnel.

But it has ruled out military action and is trying to pressure Britain into negotiations on sovereignty.

International law

Last year Argentina submitted a claim to the United Nations for a vast expanse of ocean, based on research into the extent of the continental shelf, stretching to the Antarctic and including the island chains governed by the UK.

It is due to raise the issue at the UN later MBT Shoes  this week.

Desire Petroleum spokesman David Willie said: “Desire is an oil company and it’s exploring for oil and not getting involved in what Argentina is saying about going to the UN. The rig is sitting firmly inside UK waters.”

He added that Argentina was beginning its own discount Mbt shoes  oil exploration programme in the waters west of the islands.

Mr Willie said oil exploration in the Falklands was at an early stage, and even if commercially viable amounts were found it would be many years before the oil would start to flow.

The rig, the Ocean Guardian, has been towed 8,000 miles from the Cromarty Firth in Scotland.

Last week the Falklands Legislative Assembly, which  Mbt shoes

   sold the licence to explore for oil to Desire, said it had “every right” to develop “legitimate business” in hydrocarbons.

UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband said British oil exploration in the area was “completely in accordance with international law”.

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown also said the Mbt shoes  government had “made all the preparations that are necessary to make sure the Falkland islanders are properly protected”.

The Israeli version Mbt shoes  

of The Office has been unveiled and it features an Arab character described as “intelligent and gentle”.

Israeli actor Avi Meshulam takes over the David Brent character, first portrayed by Ricky Gervais.

The show, created by Gervais and Stephen Merchant, will be named Super Office and set in Yahud, near Tel Aviv.

The Office has been ghd hair straighteners 

remade in France, Russia and the United States, where it was a big hit, starring Steve Carell.

In the Israeli version Gareth becomes Yariv, and Tim and Dawn become Yossi and Dana.

The show also includes Abed, described MBT Shoes

as “an intellectual Arab with a gentle soul”, and Abba, who is a member of the Ethiopian Jewish community.

Gervais said: “I am thrilled and amazed  discount Mbt shoes 

that Israel are making The Office with local writers, directors and actors.

“I mean, who ever heard of Jewish entertainers?” he joked.

The original version of The Office has been shown in more than 70 countries.

The latest incarnation of The Office coincides with the annual BBC Showcase event, which sees more than 500 international  ghd straighteners  television buyers come to Brighton to view the cream of British television.

The process of decommissioning the Corus steel plant on Teesside is beginning in earnest.

More than 150 years of ghd straighteners 

steelmaking in the area ended on Friday when the giant Redcar blast furnace was shut down.

The move will mean the loss of at least 1,600 jobs, with unions preparing to take industrial action.

Decommissioning is likely to take  Mbt 

 about six months, with any potential buyer expected to have to spend up to £50m to restart the furnace.

Over the weekend the last liquid iron will be removed from the blast furnace at the Teesside Cast Products (TCP) site.

Then holes will be drilled into the hearth to remove all residual metal from the blast furnace – a process called tapping the  mbt sale

salamander.

The first job losses will take place at the end of February, with about 300 posts going. The remainder will go over the course of the following three months.

Union leaders have threatened to cause “maximum damage” to Corus over the way they claim the firm has handled the situation.

The Community Union – the biggest representative of Corus workers – said any industrial action would be planned to severely  Mbt shoes

 damage the Indian owners Tata.

It said up to 8,000 jobs would be lost in the wider community as a result of the mothballing.

General Secretary Michael Leahy said: “Tata Corus have walked away from Teesside.

“We know that there are a number of good faith offers on the table, yet Tata Corus are not interested.

“A redundancy from a mothballed plant is the same as a redundancy from a closed plant.

“We will be seeking to make surgical strikes  ghd hair straighteners that will cause maximum damage to Tata Corus and minimum damage to our members.”

Meanwhile, the GMB said Corus staff across the UK, including those at Port Talbot, Scunthorpe and Rotherham, would also be balloted.

Some workers attended a rally on Friday, where family members and well-wishers joined them in an emotional protest outside the site.

A brass band played as around 300 people gathered to mark the end of an era.

TCP has been under threat since last May, when an international consortium pulled out of a 10-year contract.

The mothballing was confirmed earlier this month, despite hopes that a buyer could be found in the meantime.

Some workers have accused the government of  Mbt talking “platitudes” over the future of the plant, despite £60m being pledged to the area by Business Secretary Lord Mandelson.

Stephen Readman, a 46-year-old fabricator from Middlesbrough, said: “The atmosphere here is devastating. You just feel as if you are going to a funeral.

“It’s as if there has been a long illness and now there’s some finality.

“We hope it is a proper mothball and that the company are genuine and that this plant can be restarted because we do believe that there are credible people out there who want to take this plant over.”

Redcar Labour MP Vera Baird said she was aware of three potential buyers, although she admitted there was only a “30% chance” of a deal being sealed.

Electrician Bob Stainthorpe, 59, from Eston, Middlesbrough, has had 39 years’ service at Corus.

He said: “A lot of people are stood on the brink of an abyss wondering what’s going to happen to them in the future.”

Speaking on Thursday, Business Secretary Lord Mandelson maintained the plant would be protected by the company, with a view to reopening once a buyer has been found.

Chelsea jumped to the defence of John Mbt Terry last night after the deposed England captain’s blunders had cost his team vital points in the Barclays Premier League title race.

However, the centre half will miss the FA Cup fifth-round tie at home to Cardiff City on Saturday after Carlo Ancelotti, the Chelsea manager, agreed to give him time off.

Louis Saha twice took advantage of errors by Terry to give Manchester United, the French striker’s former club, a huge helping hand as Mbt shoes Everton came from behind to beat Chelsea 2-1 at Goodison Park.

Despite playing with ten men for more than an hour, United moved to within a point of the leaders after a 1-1 draw away to Aston Villa Ray Wilkins, the Chelsea assistant manager, dismissed suggestions that the controversy surrounding Terry’s affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the former partner of Wayne Bridge, his England team-mate, had contributed to his lapses in concentration.

Asked if Terry’s performance was evidence  mbt sale of the first signs of strain from the intense scrutiny he is under, Wilkins said: “No, not at all. I think you have to give Louis Saha some credit because he is a tough opponent to play against.

“John got caught under the ball for the second goal and that’s because he was probably thinking Saha was going to go over the top of him to win it. John has been outstanding for us all season. If it was a mistake, I’m sure it will just be the slightest of blips.

“He won’t play this weekend. Carlo  MBT Shoe has given him some time off. He will come back and prepare for our game against Wolves on February 20. They have just had a little chat, John and Carlo, and decided that would be the best for all concerned.”

Chelsea had taken the lead through Florent Malouda, but Everton equalised when Saha stole a yard on Terry to head home a corner midway through the first half. Saha had a penalty saved on the stroke of half-time, but made amends with a volleyed winner 15 minutes from time after Terry had misjudged the flight of the ball.

Chelsea could also be without Ashley Cole against Cardiff. The left back was forced off with an ankle injury last night and will be assessed today.

United’s draw came at considerable cost. Nani discount Mbt shoes will miss the Carling Cup final against Villa after being sent off for a lunge at Stiliyan Petrov, while the champions are awaiting the results of an X-ray on Ryan Giggs’s right arm after the winger was injured in an accidental collision with Steve Sidwell.

Sir Alex Ferguson had no complaints about Nani’s 29th-minute red card. “He went in double-footed and he can’t do that,” the United manager  Mbt  said. “It was a naive tackle and the referee had no option.”

Arsène Wenger hailed Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium as a “massive result”. Abou Diaby scored the decisive goal with a 72nd-minute header as Arsenal reduced their deficit to Chelsea to six points and opened up an eight-point gap over Liverpool in fourth place.

More than 70 leaders of social care throughout England are warning that the Government’s plans to provide free home care are flawed, unfunded and will force cuts to current services.

Writing in a letter MBT Shoe to The Times, the councillors, representing all three major parties and every geographical region, describe Gordon Brown’s key electoral pledge as ill conceived and likely to put considerable pressure on the social services system.

The letter marks an intensification of the revolt over the Personal Care at Home Bill, the Government’s controversial policy unveiled last year. Critics have accused the Prime Minister of introducing it as a “back-ofthe-envelope” piece of electioneering, underestimating both its cost and how many Ghd  people would use it.

“We fully support the principle of providing additional support to those with the most critical care needs,” the signatories write. “What we cannot support, however, is a piece of legislation that has major weaknesses ghd straighteners  and which risks adding further strain to an existing system already under considerable financial pressure.”

 It concludes: “It is also wrong to raise expectations among many of the most vulnerable in our society and their families that they may be in a position to benefit from these proposals when the reality may be significantly different.”

The annual cost of the Bill is put at £670 million, which ministers say will allow 400,000 people with the highest needs to stay in their own homes. Of this total, £420 million is to come from existing Department of Health budgets, with  Mbt shoes     local authorities told that they must provide the remaining £250 million from efficiency savings.

It has provoked fierce criticism over the way it was sprung on Parliament and the public midway through consultations over the development of a major legislative programme on long-term care. It is understood that the Treasury also has private concerns about how the Bill would be paid for.

Local authorities, which are already facing multimillion-pound annual efficiency savings, say that it will require each social care provider to find a further £3 million to £10 million.

David Finch, the Conservative chairman of social care at Essex County Council, said that all councillors were in agreement about the impact this would have on current services, including programmes already running to help people ghd hair straighteners to live independently for as long as possible.

“I haven’t heard a single differing voice,” he said. “It’s not that the idea is not valid. It is that the way it is being implemented has not been thought through in any way. This is going to mean funds are diverted from needy adult social care services in order to finance this package.

“[The Government] is providing the public with all sorts of goodies. It comes as no coincidence that a general election is just around the corner and then suddenly all these promises are appearing,” Mr Finch said.

Home care for those with critical needs, such as the elderly and cancer sufferers, has already been marked out as a key battleground for   Mbt the general election. This week the Prime Minister, his Health Secretary Andy Burnham and Andrew Lansley, the Conservative health spokesman, have all held press conferences on the issue.

The Care Quality Commission, the health and social care regulator, is expected to call for more co-ordinated reform and integration when it publishes its annual report this morning.

The 78 signatories represented in the letter to The Times cover almost every county. Three of the five Labour-controlled councils represented on the list contacted The Times last night to request that names be removed. Mr Burnham’s office denied that any pressure had been placed on the authorities.

Phil Hope, the Care Services Minister, said that it was “extremely disappointing” that councillors supported the principles of the Bill, but would “quibble and complain and find reasons not to make it happen”.

“Care recipients in these council areas will be shocked that local authorities are apparently unable to find efficiencies to deliver this priority when significant funding is being provided by the Government,” he said.

Experts fear older women are ditching contraception in the mistaken belief that they cannot get pregnant past a certain age.

The Family Planning Association (FPA) believes the message on infertility and age has gone “too far”.

Although fertility does wane, women Mbt  can still fall pregnant well into their thirties, forties and even fifties.

Abortion rates for women aged 40 to 44 match those for the under 16s, figures for England and Wales show.

In 2008, both of these groups had an abortion rate of four per 1,000 women.

There are many reasons why some women opt for an abortion – including birth abnormalities in the baby, which are more common when the mothers are older.

But FPA says its anecdotal evidence Mbt shoes  suggests some of the abortions are because women wrongly assumed they could not get pregnant because they were too old.

Aimed at women aged 35 and over, the FPA’s new campaign ‘Conceivable?’ reminds women to stay vigilant about unplanned pregnancy and to keep using contraception until after the menopause if they do MBT Shoes not wish to become pregnant.

Chief executive of the FPA Julie Bentley said: “Whilst the message about fertility declining with age is an important one, it is often overplayed, alongside disproportionate messaging about unplanned teenage pregnancies.

“It sends an inaccurate message to  MBT Shoe  women and society that only the oung fall pregnant and is leading older women to believe their fertility has gone long before it actually has.”

Once is enough

She said women should realise it is entirely conceivable that just one night of unprotected sex in your late 30s, 40s and even 50s can end in an unplanned pregnancy.

“Our helpline receives calls from such women, discount Mbt shoes shocked this has happened to them.

“They thought their age would protect them from becoming pregnant.”

She said in general all methods of contraception were suitable for the over-35s.

Women aged 30 to 34 continue to have the highest fertility rate – 113.1 live births per 1,000 women.

But the rate among women aged 40 and over has more than doubled since 1988, from 5.1 to 12.6 per 1,000 women, and there Mbt  were more than 26,000 live births to women in this age group in 2008, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.

Emily James of Marie Stopes International said: “Many older women facing an unplanned pregnancy are completely shocked to find themselves in this position – many assume that their irregular periods are due to menopause, and are surprised to learn that they are in fact pregnant.

“It is vital that women of all ages are provided MBT Shoes  with the information, support and advice they need when deciding whether or not to continue with an unplanned pregnancy.”

A huge explosion has rocked a power plant in the US state of Connecticut, killing at least five people and injuring 12, the local mayor has said.

Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano said it was caused by a gas explosion.

People living up to 50km (30 miles) away reported that their homes were shaken by the blast at the Kleen Energy plant, being built outside Middletown.

There are reports of people trapped under the remains of a plant building, and a rescue operation is under way.

Search experts and specialist dog teams were at the site combing through the wreckage, the mayor said.

Speaking at a news Mbt conference on Sunday evening, Mr Giuliano said that the identities of the dead had not yet been released as some of the victim’s families had not yet been informed.

Mr Giuliano said the plant, which was only 95% complete and due to open fully in the summer, was undergoing a series of gas tests when the explosion occurred.

He said between 100 and 200 people worked on the massive site, and were employed by multiple contracting companies.

“How many people were here today – that’s the number they can’t really nail down. They were purging gas lines all night long, most people were evacuated from the building when they ran the tests,” Mr Giuliano said.

The plant is located to the south of  ghd hair straighteners the town, on the Connecticut River.

Earlier, deputy fire marshall Al Santostefano said there were some 50 construction workers on the site at the time of the explosion.

At least 100 firefighters were sent to the scene and it had taken them an hour to contain the fire caused by the blast, he said.

Officials say there is no further danger to the public, and have not evacuated the area. The plant, however, remains cordoned off.

The nearby Middlesex Hospital told the Associated Press it had received 11 victims, while the hospital in the state capital, Hartford, has treated  mbt sale  three others.

‘Gas line test’

Mr Santostefano said a natural gas pipeline running near the plant had exploded at 1117 (1617 GMT) sending a shockwave that one local resident compared to an earthquake.

“We heard such a loud explosion and the dog was outside and I heard her bark. And then when we went outside we saw a very big explosion of bright orange flame between the two smoke stacks,” Lynn Townsend told the Associated Press.

“It really shook the house and everybody was scared and the kids started to cry because they did not know if the house was going to  Ghd  catch fire.”

Fighting through tears, plant worker Paul Venti said: “It’s just horrible. All I know is I lost some union brothers. They are some close close personal friends. It’s horrible. They were working. They were testing.”

“I just heard there was a gas explosion and I’m getting all kinds of phone calls from union brothers. We got some people up there they MBT Shoes got l

Teenage Harry Potter actress Emma Watson has been named Hollywood’s highest-paid female star in a poll compiled by US magazine Vanity Fair.

Watson, 19, who fronts high-profile fashion campaigns, is said to have made more than $30m (£19m) last year.

The star, who came 14th in the overall list, beat actress Cameron Diaz, the only other woman in the top 20. Mbt shoes  Watson’s Potter co-stars Daniel Radcliffe and Rupert Grint appear sixth and 15th respectively.

Record-breaking

It is thought Radcliffe, best known  ghd hair straighteners for playing wizard Harry Potter in the blockbuster movies, made $41m (£26m) and Grint earned the same amount as Watson.

Transformers film-maker Michael Bay topped the survey, with his income thought to be more than $125m (£78m), followed by director Steven Spielberg.

James Cameron, whose record-breaking sci-fi blockbuster Avatar is a front runner in this year’s Oscar nominations, MBT Shoes was placed fourth.

Actors Ben Stiller, Tom Hanks, Adam Sandler, Denzel Washington, Owen Wilson, Nicolas Cage and Russell Crowe were all included in the list of Hollywood’s highest earners.

The Vanity Fair list takes discount Mbt shoes into account activities other than film-making, such as modelling contracts and sponsorships.

According to the annual Forbes rich list, published last July, Angelina Jolie was the highest-paid actress in Hollywood, making  ghd straighteners 

$27m (£17.2m) between June 2008 and June 2009

The father and grandfather of a Turkish teenager are to face trial for burying her alive because they were concerned that her friendship with boys had brought dishonour on their family.

Although honour killings are not infrequent in Turkey, MBT Shoes  he especially gruesome manner of Medine Memi’s death has shocked the nation.

A coroner said that Medine had been discovered bound and lifeless in sitting position in a 2m hole dug beneath a chicken coop outside the family’s house in the town of Kahta in Southeastern Turkey, 40 days after she had disappeared. The hole had been cemented over.

According to a post-mortem examination the large amount of soil in her lungs and stomach showed that she had been buried while conscious and suffered a slow and agonising death.

“The report is blood curdling. According to our findings the girl —Mbt  who had no bruises on her body and no sign of narcotics or poison in her blood — was alive and fully conscious when she was buried,” said one official involved in the case.

It also emerged that Medine had repeatedly tried to report to police that she had been beaten by her father and grandfather days before she was killed. ghd  ghd hair straighteners “She tried to take refuge at the police station three times, and she was sent home three times,” her mother, Immihan, said after the body was discovered in December.

Medine’s father is reported as saying at the time: “She has male friends. We are uneasy about that.”

Turkish media reports said that her grandfather,     MBT Shoe Fethi, had been under investigation after Medine’s attempt to seek refuge at the police station.

Medine’s burial appears to have taken place inches from the wall of the family’s breeze-block house. Planks of wood had been removedaround a narrow hole adjacent to the property.

Video footage also showed police escorting Fethi, a bulky old man with an Islamic-style skullcap and beard, and Medine’s father Ayhan Memi, who was clean shaven and wearing a jacket and trousers. Her mother was also initially detained but has not been charged.

Suspicion that her murder had been especially brutal led to the commissioning of a scientific report at a university to follow the original post-mortem examination.

The public response to the killing has been one of shocked outrage.

“The punishment for whosoever should kill with intent is the hell where he will languish forever. Allah has cursed him and prepared great pain for him,” wrote Seyid Ahmet Kayar on the website of the religious Samanyolu television.

“You named your daughter after the holy city of Medina but your mind is left over from the earlier Age of Ignorance,” wrote Vicdan, on the same website.

Honour killings happen mainly in Turkey’s predominantly Kurdish southeast but have spread to cities and even abroad through migration.

In December, Ghd a British court convicted a Turkish man for the murder of his daughter, Tulay Goren, whose body has still not been found after ten years. He was convicted after his wife gave evidence against him in court.

Plans for a £200 million flotation of Walton & Co, a start-up bank, have been pulled because of a lack of support from investors.

Sandy  MBT Shoes  Chen, a Panmure Gordon banking analyst, who has been working on the project for months, has been forced to abandon the initial public offering next month after intensive marketing with fund managers did not yield sufficient funds.

Mr Chen, who is working with several former senior HSBC bankers and Sir Peter Middleton, the former Barclays chairman, still hopes to go ahead with the new bank, but will keep it in private hands.

In an attempt to save the project, Mr Chen is talking to the investors that did pledge support for the project, Invesco Perpetual and M&G, part of Prudential, as well as to private equity groups. It is unclear whether Invesco and M&G, which together had committed up to £95 million, could invest in the project as a private entity.

The new plan will Ghd involve raising considerably less than £200 million, which will mean that if Walton & Co does get off the ground it will have to return to investors for more cash at a later stage. Mr Chen, the chief executive of the business, said: “We remain committed to the Walton & Co proposition. We are looking at a number of alternative options of financing the company.”

He insisted that there was still a place for the business, which is being marketed as a return to old-fashioned banking of taking deposits and lending money. He said: “We are driven by a belief that Britain’s bank customers are looking for integrity in their banks, MBT Shoe that British businesses need more lending support and that Britain deserves increased banking competition.”

Walton & Co faces a crowded field of start-ups wanting to get into banking, to challenge the high street giants when they are struggling with a legacy of bad loans, high cost bases and disaffection among their customers and the public at large after the taxpayer-funded bailout of the sector.

Metro Bank, a start-up Mbt shoes  founded by Vernon Hill, the American entrepreneur, is seeking a banking licence and has its first branch ready to go in Holborn, Central London. Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Money secured a licence by buying Church House Trust, a tiny bank in Somerset, last month.

Tesco is considering increasing its presence in the banking market, and Handelsbanken, of Sweden, known for its approach of making decisions at a local branch level, already has 80 branches in the UK and regards it as a key growth market.

Walton & Co is applying for a banking licence and aims to open two branches in the South East next year with a couple more to follow in 2012.

Critics have said that on such a small scale, ghd hair straighteners Walton & Co will struggle to attract sufficient deposits to turn them into loans on which they can make a decent profit.

A concern for investors in their discussions with Mr Chen was that they would have their cash tied up for too long before seeing a return.

There is a feeling that weak stock markets and growing investor unease about government finances is hitting Europe’s IPOs more widely. Taminco, the Belgian chemicals company, cancelled its flotation last night and there were jitters about several other planned floats.