Big Brother to return to UK screens on Channel 5

Reality TV series Big Brother will return to screens in Britain this year after Channel 5 signed a two-year deal with the hit show's production company Endemol UK.

The return of the show, which was ditched by Channel 4 last year amid falling ratings, will be marked with a celebrity version in the summer followed by a regular series.

Big Brother launched in Britain in 2000 and made celebrities out of the likes of Jade Goody and "Nasty" Nick Bateman.

It was at the center of a major broadcasting scandal in 2007, when contestant Goody was accused of racist bullying of Indian housemate Shilpa Shetty, prompting tens of thousands of complaints and dominating media headlines.

Goody was evicted in a public vote and Bollywood actress Shetty went on to win the series.

Some commentators argued Big Brother never fully recovered from the race row, after which they said it was watered down.

Others believed the show had grown stale and failed to win over the "Facebook generation" of young viewers more likely to find their entertainment on the Internet. But Tim Hincks, chief executive officer of Endemol UK, said the show, which has become a hit across the globe, remained "as potent and cutting edge as ever.

"Big Brother has a passionate and loyal fan base in the UK and I'm delighted it has found a new home on Channel 5."

Endemol UK is part of Endemol, the Dutch TV production company behind the Big Brother franchise.

Source: Reuters

Provo, Boracay ranked as top beach resorts

The tiny island of Providenciales in the Turks and Caicos has been voted the top beach destination in the world, according to the travel website TripAdvisor.

It ranked above such renowned beach destinations as Honolulu and Miami Beach in the report based on travelers' reviews and ratings to select the best destinations around the world.

Myrtle Beach in South Carolina was the only U.S. destination to make the top five.

"A number of factors make these beach destinations stand out as wonderful choices," said TripAdvisor spokesman Brooke Ferencsik. "In addition to featuring remarkable stretches of sand, these hotspots offer a wide variety of quality hotels, restaurants and activities to accommodate virtually any vacation budget, and appeal to any traveler type."

Providenciales, which has experienced a boom in high-end resorts with total visitors tripling since the mid-1990s, was praised for its pristine white-sand beaches, calm, clear water and a healthy barrier reef appealing to snorkelers and divers.

Many reviewers called its Grace Bay Beach the world's best.

Rounding out the top five were Boracay, in the Philippines, Aruba's Palm/Eagle beach, Negril in Jamaica and Tulum, Mexico.

The quaint, Victorian-tinged Cape May, at the southern tip of New Jersey, was the only other U.S. beach among the top 10.

Grand Cayman's famous Seven Mile Beach and Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic placed seventh and eighth respectively.

Ayia Napra in Cyprus was the top-rated European beach destination, followed by Skiathos, Greece.

Despite its glamorous, starry reputation, the French Riviera didn't even place among Europe's top 25.

In the South Pacific, synonymous with exotic beach travel for many, Bora Bora topped the list.

The top choice in Central and South America was Santa Teresa in Costa Rica, a country that has developed a reputation for eco-travel.

Other highly rated beach destinations included the Maldives, Panama City, Florida, Miami Beach, Isla Mujeres, Mexico, Florida's Sanibel Island and Playa del Carmen on Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula.

Nearly 70 percent of U.S. respondents said they were planning a beach vacation in 2011, and just over half were opting for a U.S. destination and about one-quarter were planning to visit the Caribbean or Mexico, according to recent TripAdvisor survey.

Source: Reuters

Email theft: 5 ways to avoid phishing attacks

With the extraordinary theft of millions of email addresses collected by some of the nation's biggest companies, it's time to think about the likely result — phishing attacks — and how to avoid becoming a victim.

If you have accounts with Citigroup, Capital One, The College Board, Walgreen, HSN or TiVo there's a reasonable chance some con artist is trying to figure out how to get in touch with you — and not to be Facebook friends. They want to dupe you into giving them more information than they have right now.

Here's what they've got: Your name (maybe just your first name) and your email address. Here's what they want: The good stuff like your home address, phone number, Social Security Number and — of course — account numbers. Now they're going to release a hailstorm of somewhat targeted emails intended to get you to believe they're real, perhaps even referencing the theft itself.

Don't just assume you're too smart to become a victim. Thousands of consumers every month fall victim. These are not just people who are gullible or lack web savvy.

All sorts of people fall victim because the crooks have gotten very sophisticated, perfectly (sometimes) mimicking real communications from companies you do business with.

The big difference — and what you need to watch out for — is that the phishing emails are going to be angling for information from you. The real companies would never ask you for that kind of information in an email. Sometimes their attempts to con you will be well masked, like asking you to click on a link to go to their site to "update" your account information or some such rouse. Here are five ways to avoid phishing attacks.

Don't click links in your emails. In most browsers, you can run your mouse over a link to see where it really goes. The crooks will often create URLs intended to confuse you — instead of yourbank.com/accounts they might use yourbank/accounts/and hide the real URL somewhere way over to the right.

Get a good virus protection program installed and then make sure to update it regularly.

DO NOT call phone numbers in the emails and DO NOT click the links in them. If you have a question about a credit card communication, for instance, call the customer service number on your card or bill. If you need to update to account information online, do that only by logging into an established site that you've already used.

NEVER email personal or financial information. Be sure to read your credit card and bank statements immediately. Fraud protections on cards, in particular, are good but are time-limited. So raise a red flag as soon as you see suspicious charges. You've typically got 60 days from the time the fraudulent charge appears on your bill.

If you get a phishing email, notify the company or agency that was being impersonated and forward the email to this federal government email address: spam@uce.gov. That's the Federal Trade Commission, which collects the complaints to determine whether action can be taken, but does not deal with an individual consumer's situation. You should also complain to the Internet Crime Complaint Center, an anti-internet crime venture involving the FBI, the Bureau of Justice Statistics and the National White Collar Crime Center.

Source: Reuters

Diamond-rich Botswana woos jewellery makers

AFP, GABORONE, April 5: Botswana, the world's largest producer of diamonds, told international jewellery makers Monday it was ready to create conditions to entice them to set up shop in the country.

Botswana is committed to slashing red tape for cutting, polishing and manufacturing jewellery, acting minerals minister Ponatshego Kedikilwe told a meeting of the International Diamond Manufacturing Association.

'Our aspirations are to see as much beneficiation as possible done locally and on a sustainable basis,' he said. 'We are willing to do what it takes to ensure that an environment that enables beneficiation is created.'

'Beneficiation' has long been part of government efforts to diversify the economy by encouraging the growth of businesses that add value to diamonds, rather than simply exporting uncut stones.

Investors have complained about landlocked Botswana's infrastructure, including weak Internet access, and a shortage of skilled labour for the jewellery trade.

Kedikilwe said government was working to simplify the visa process for foreigners seeking to open jewellery businesses.

A new factory is expected to open in December, once final government clearance is received, operated by Shrenuj, an Indian company that is one of the 16 polishing and cutting firms already working in Botswana.

The firm says it will employ 70 people to start, with plans to grow to 300 employees, mainly making jewellery for the United States. Botswana has preferential access to the US market under an African trade deal.

Botswana's downstream diamond industry currently employs nearly 3,000 people.

The country's economy was hard-hit by the global recession as diamond demand plunged. The economy shrank by 4.9 per cent in 2009, but turned around with 7.6 per cent growth last year.

Eurozone economic activity survey gives mixed signals

AFP, BRUSSELS, April 5: A closely-watched survey indicating the pace of growth across the eurozone logged a 43-month high for the services sector in March, upwardly-revised EU data showed on Tuesday.

The composite eurozone index for manufacturing and services output compiled by the London-based Markit research firm fell 0.6 points from February to 57.6 points in March, a slight improvement from a previous estimate of 57.5 points.

Any reading above 50 indicates activity is expanding.

Markit said the latest reading signalled an expansion in economic activity for the 20^th consecutive month and emphasised that the acceleration in services sector activity was the strongest since August 2007.

Manufacturing output growth, however, eased to a three-month low and once again sharp divergences in economic performance could be seen between France and Germany, and the rest.

'Signs of weakness remained very much in evidence' outside the big two, with Spain falling back into a 'services-led contraction and the downturn in Greek manufacturing continued,' the survey said.

'Although the debt crisis in the periphery was affecting confidence, there was no evidence that the crisis in Japan had affected business materially,' said Markit chief economist Chris Williamson.

'The unrest in the Middle East and North Africa, on the other hand, continued to have an impact via higher oil prices,' he warned, highlighting rising input costs 'at a rate approaching the near eight-year highs seen in 2008.'

According to London-based IHS Global Insight analyst Howard Archer 'the key question is can the Eurozone sustain this apparent improved growth in the early months of 2011 as fiscal tightening increasingly kicks in across the region?'

He added: 'There can be little doubt that the European Central Bank will deliver a 25 basis point interest rate hike from 1.00 per cent to 1.25 per cent on Thursday—even though higher interest rates threaten to add to the problems of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and, even Spain.'

China’s central bank raises interest rates

AFP, Beijing, April 5: China's central bank said Tuesday it would raise one-year deposit and lending rates by 25 basis points in its latest effort to curb rampant lending and bring inflation under control.

The People's Bank of China said the interest rate hikes—the fourth since late last year—would take effect Wednesday.

The latest move takes the one-year deposit and lending rates to 3.25 per cent and 6.31 per cent respectively.

Authorities have been pulling on a variety of policy levers to rein in consumer prices and housing costs but inflation remains stubbornly high.

The country's consumer price index rose 4.9 per cent in February, well above the government's full-year target of four per cent, despite persistent efforts to reduce household costs and ease growing consumer anxiety.

Premier Wen Jiabao told the country's legislature last month that reining in prices was the government's 'top priority' in 2011, as China strives for a more balanced eight per cent growth rate.

Two guilty pleas in $880 mln US Ponzi scheme

AFP, Washington, April 4: A father and son who created fake earnings documents to dupe clients in an $880 million Ponzi scheme both pleaded guilty Monday to one count of securities fraud, US prosecutors said.

Roberto Torres, 76, and his son, Alejandro Torres, 39, both face up to 20 years in prison for helping Nevin Shapiro, the former chief executive of Capitol Investments USA, who pleaded guilty last September to one count of securities fraud and one count of money laundering.

Roberto Torres was Capitol's chief financial officer and his son was an accountant with the company—their sentencing is scheduled for July 12.

Shapiro ran a fake wholesale grocery distribution business in Florida, taking in $880 million between 2005 and 2009, using new investor funds to make principal and interest payments to existing investors, authorities said.

The father and son admitted to creating false documents including profit and loss reports, invoices for Capitol transactions and tax returns for Shapiro, who spent millions of dollars on a 'lavish lifestyle,' prosecutors said.

They admitted that more than 50 investors lost a total of between $50 million to $100 million, prosecutors said.

The Torres father and son pleaded guilty in a federal court in Newark, in the eastern state of New Jersey.

Japan seen heading into recession: survey

AFP, Tokyo, April 5: The economic fallout from Japan's biggest ever recorded earthquake, a tsunami and a nuclear crisis will push the nation into recession in the coming months, a survey of economists said Tuesday.

The triple disaster has lanced business confidence, reduced exports and discouraged consumer spending, the Nikkei business newspaper said after reviewing analysis from 11 major private economic institutions.

Recovery is not expected until the July-September quarter, the Nikkei said.

On average, the world's number three economy was seen shrinking 0.6 per cent in the January-March quarter from the previous three months, it said.

For the following three months to June, the economy was seen contracting 2.6 per cent on average, with the most pessimistic economist expecting a 7.1 per cent drop, the daily said.

'Most believe that personal consumption and exports will fall (in April-June) from the previous quarter,' the Nikkei said.

The Japanese economy shrank 0.3 per cent in October-December 2010, according to the Cabinet Office. A recession is commonly defined as two consecutive quarters of contraction.

Exports of automobiles and IT products are seen falling especially sharply due to decreased production, according to SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., the Nikkei said. Power shortages and supply chain disruptions have hit production.

Before the March natural disaster, economists believed the Japanese economy was going to enjoy a moderate upswing in the January-March quarter, as exports were likely to be lifted by a gradual rebound of the global economy.

Almost all of the economists said the economy will start to grow again in the July-September quarter on public works spending in response to reconstruction demand and a recovery in exports.

They project that the economy will expand 1.2 per cent in the July-September quarter and 5.6 per cent the following quarter, the Nikkei said.

Japan has said the cost of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami could hit 25 trillion yen ($297 billion).

The total cost from collapsed or damaged houses, factories and infrastructure such as roads and bridges is estimated at 16-25 trillion yen over the next three fiscal years, according to the Cabinet Office.

The estimate does not account for wider issues such as how radiation from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant will affect food and water supply, amid an ongoing food scare.

The upper estimate would put the disaster's financial impact at more than double the 9.6 trillion yen of the 1995 Kobe earthquake, which killed more than 6,400 people.

Australia posts first trade deficit in a year

AFP, Sydney, April 5: Australia posted its first monthly trade deficit in almost a year in February as exports fell after floods hurt coal production and imports rose steeply, figures showed Tuesday.

Seasonally adjusted figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed a deficit of Aus$205 million from a downwardly revised surplus of $1.433 billion in January.

Exports fell two per cent while imports jumped five per cent as the country posted its first deficit since March 2010.

Key factors influencing the change between January and February were a fall of $543 million in exports of metal ores and minerals and a bounce of $561 million in imports of fuels and lubricants, economists said.

Analysts had expected a drop off in exports due to the wild weather in coal-producing Queensland state in January, but were caught out by the spike in imports.

'It's a bit of surprise with the first deficit in nearly one year,' St George Bank chief economist Besa Deda said.

'We've been recording very large trade surpluses for some time and we did think that surpluses would narrow in coming months, but we weren't predicting the deficit.'

The floods that hit Queensland caused significant damage, halting mining and cutting key transport infrastructure, with business forecasting the disaster could cost the economy up to $8.3 billion in lost coal production.

Economists, though, said the trade balance should quickly swing back into surplus once coal exports are restored.

'The impact of the disasters in Queensland will be temporary, and temporary on the impact on the trade balance and the impact on the (economic) growth numbers of first quarter GDP,' said JP Morgan's Helen Kevans.

Father provides clue to Yuvraj Singh’s mystery inspiration

Reuters, New Delhi, Mar 27: Yuvraj Singh has plunged an entire cricket-crazy nation into a stifling suspense with his reference to a mystery person he attributes his red hot form to.

His father reckons it could well be Sachin Tendulkar.

The southpaw collected his fourth man-of-the-match award in the World Cup after scripting India's quarter-final victory against four-time champions Australia on Thursday.

In the post-match press conference, Yuvraj said he was playing the tournament for a 'special person', whose identity he would only reveal if India reached next Saturday's final.

The speculation has not stopped since and his father Yograj, a former India player, hinted it could be Tendulkar.

'I would not be surprised if he meant Sachin,' Yograj told Reuters by phone from Chandigargh on Sunday as India counted down the hours for the highly-anticipated semi-final against Pakistan on Wednesday.

'Sachin has been a huge influence in his life over the last 11 years or so. He has always been there when Yuvraj was going through a difficult phase in his career.

'Sachin is not just a great cricketer but also a great human being. He has been Yuvraj's guiding angel. My son is very close to him and shares things he would not share with anyone else.'

Poor form and injuries blighted the career of one of India's most exciting cricket talents but Yuvraj, architect of India's 2007 Twenty20 World Cup victory, once again showed his impeccable sense of occasion in the tournament.

Yograj said his son owes the turnaround to Tendulkar.

'Sachin must have been my son in previous life or some other close relation. He has been the best thing to happen to Indian cricket and also to Yuvraj,' said Yograj, a former medium pacer who played his only test against New Zealand in 1981 at Wellington.

'He advised Yuvraj to keep working hard and maintain focus. There was lot of scepticism in the air but only his mother and Sachin had an unflinching trust in my son.

'Frankly speaking, any cricketer who has listened to Sachin has benefitted.

'When he eventually retires, the cricket board should appoint Sachin the mentor of the Indian cricket team. He can turn any ordinary player into a phenomenal cricketer.'