Massive solar storm to hit Earth in 2012 with 'force of 100m bombs'

Astronomers are predicting that a massive solar storm, much bigger in potential than the one that caused spectacular light shows on Earth earlier this month, is to strike our planet in 2012 with a force of 100 million hydrogen bombs.

Several US media outlets have reported that NASA was warning the massive flare this month was just a precursor to a massive solar storm building that had the potential to wipe out the entire planet's power grid.

Despite its rebuttal, NASA's been watching out for this storm since 2006 and reports from the US this week claim the storms could hit on that most Hollywood of disaster dates - 2012.

Similar storms back in 1859 and 1921 caused worldwide chaos, wiping out telegraph wires on a massive scale. The 2012 storm has the potential to be even more disruptive.

"The general consensus among general astronomers (and certainly solar astronomers) is that this coming Solar maximum (2012 but possibly later into 2013) will be the most violent in 100 years," News.com.au quoted astronomy lecturer and columnist Dave Reneke as saying.

"A bold statement and one taken seriously by those it will affect most, namely airline companies, communications companies and anyone working with modern GPS systems.

"They can even trip circuit breakers and knock out orbiting satellites, as has already been done this year," added Reneke.

No one really knows what effect the 2012-2013 Solar Max will have on today's digital-reliant society.

Dr Richard Fisher, director of NASA's Heliophysics division, told Reneke the super storm would hit like "a bolt of lightning", causing catastrophic consequences for the world's health, emergency services and national security unless precautions are taken.

NASA said that a recent report by the National Academy of Sciences found that if a similar storm occurred today, it could cause "1 to 2 trillion dollars in damages to society's high-tech infrastructure and require four to 10 years for complete recovery".

The reason for the concern comes as the sun enters a phase known as Solar Cycle 24.

Most experts agree, although those who put the date of Solar Max in 2012 are getting the most press.

They claim satellites will be aged by 50 years, rendering GPS even more useless than ever, and the blast will have the equivalent energy of 100 million hydrogen bombs.

"We know it is coming but we don't know how bad it is going to be," Fisher told Reneke.

"Systems will just not work. The flares change the magnetic field on the Earth and it's rapid, just like a lightning bolt. That's the solar effect," he added.

The findings are published in the most recent issue of Australasian Science.

Vishy Anand’s ‘Nationality’: Check, Mate!

“Pardes”, accuses one!

“Phir bhi dil hai Hindustani”, pleads another.

No, these are not 2 SRK fans arguing about which the better movie was. This is an exchange between the HRD ministry of India and a certain foreigner, Vishwanathan Anand.

Now, you may remember Anand as that unassuming lad who plays, what’s it called? Ah yes, chess! You may remember him representing a certain former British colony and bringing laurels to it. You may remember him as being this former colony’s single most successful individual champion, bar none. You may also remember that not long ago, when he won a tournament to become the undisputed champion of world chess, he was lauded and praised in all quarters and by all politicians, political allegiances notwithstanding.

You may remember him receive an Arjuna award way back in 1985, a Padma Shri in ’87, a Padma Bhushan in 2000 and a Padma Vibhushan in 2007. Oh! And there was the small matter of the first ever Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna, the highest sporting honor in the land, in 1992. You do? Of course you do! But wait; the folks who conferred these awards clearly don’t.

Here’s a quick run-down of what happened: Four years ago, the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) invited Anand to play against mathematicians in the ICM meet to be held in Hyderabad in 2010. Anand accepted. About a year ago, the Executive Organizing Committee (EOC) decided to honor Anand with a doctorate. This proposal was accepted by the Central University of Hyderabad (UoH). This was then sent to the Chancellor of the UoH for approval. This approval was obtained 3 months ago. It was then sent to the ministry of HRD (MHRD) for approval. Normally, this is not much more than a formality but no, not this time.

The MHRD director, R.D.Sahay apparently questioned Anand’s nationality (him being based in Spain was the bone of contention there) and said that clearance from the HRD and the external affairs ministries was needed. On hearing this, Aruna, Anand’s wife even faxed a copy of Anand’s passport to the EOC who promptly forwarded this to the MHRD. Clearly, this should have solved any issue (not that there was one in the first place). No, apparently not. This seems to have been the end of the communication channel.

The MHRD apparently did not push the papers through to the President in time. Why they were stalling is anyone’s guess but I have a theory; maybe it was the President’s packed schedule that the MHRD took into consideration and thus did not want to burden her over such trivial issues. And what was the President’s schedule? Why, attending the ICM, of course!

In what can only be described as a comedy (read tragedy) of errors, Vishwanathan Anand, perhaps the only truly great sportsman in India to have been seemingly untouched by controversy, had been dragged into one; and for what? A doctorate degree that he was offered?! Something went seriously fundamentally wrong. To err is indeed human but this, frankly, is not an error. It is beyond. The HRD ministry obviously smelt something fishy in this whole Vishy business.

Kapil Sibal, HRD minister, has indeed come out and said that there was a misunderstanding and that he urged Anand to accept the award but since Anand was not free that night, it would be conferred on a later date. So it’s almost Anand’s fault now? The line has to be drawn. Somewhere.

India seems to be one of those countries where, if there is no controversy, someone does not sleep properly. No one seems untouchable. When even the high and mighty ‘God’, Sachin Tendulkar has not been spared, what chance does a chessman have? Clearly, in a country now with a caste census, Anand has been cast aside by some unheard of consensus. We are a country that clutches onto straws; we hail a Bobby Jindal for being a beacon of hope for Indian Americans. We hail the likes of Lord Swraj Paul for being a leading light in Britain. We laud such other eminent ‘global Indians’ for doing us proud. Yet when it comes to honoring one of our own, well, we cause a stir.

The rain in Spain mainly falls in the plains is a saying. Anand probably lives somewhere in a rain-shadow area. ‘Give me my country back’, Anand was overheard saying. I bet he feels as invisible as Mr. India now. Somewhere, someone is reading this, shaking his head and saying, ‘we are like that only.’

I-T to kick in at Rs 2 lakh, 30% tax for income over Rs 10 lakh

Individual taxpayers are in for a bonanza with the Direct Tax Code (DTC) Bill approved by the Union Cabinet today raising the income tax exemption limit to Rs 2 lakh a year from Rs 1.6 lakh now.

It has retained the tax benefit on home loan interest payments up to Rs 1.5 lakh and continued with the tax-free status on long-term savings instruments such as provident funds through their entire life cycle.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee confirmed to reporters that the personal income tax will kick in at Rs 2 lakh once the DTC is enacted.

The DTC will replace the archaic Income Tax Act and simplify the direct tax regime in the country. The Bill will be introduced in Parliament on Monday and is likely to be referred to a select committee of the two Houses.

Ministry sources, however, expected that the new DTC will come into force from April 1, 2011.

"The whole objective is that a plethora of exemptions will be limited. (Income) tax slabs will be three. Rate of taxes will be taken in the schedule so that they need not be changed every year," Mukherjee told reporters.

Asked about the new tax slabs, he said, "That will be discussed in Parliament."

The Bill proposes to levy corporate tax at the present rate of 30 per cent, but India Inc can expect relief on two counts. One, it is likely that the surcharge and cess on taxes are eliminated.

Besides, the Ministry also has acceded to the industry's demand that the minimum alternate tax (MAT) be imposed only on book profits and not on gross assets as proposed in the draft DTC. It will, however, be levied at 20 per cent of the book profit compared with the existing 18 per cent.

Sources said that the three slabs are likely to be: 10 per cent for Rs 2-5 lakh income, 20 per cent for Rs 5-10 lakh and 30 per cent for those earning over Rs 10 lakh a year.

At present, the tax kicks in at an annual income of 1.65 lakh. The three slabs are 10 per cent for Rs 1.65 lakh to Rs 5 lakh, 20 per cent for Rs 5-8 lakh and 30 per cent for over Rs 8 lakh.

For senior citizens and females, the tax slabs are likely to be relaxed further.

In the first draft, the Ministry had suggested 10 per cent tax for income between Rs 1.60 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, 20 per cent on Rs 10-25 lakh and 30 per cent beyond that. The Ministry had, however, clarified that the slabs were illustrative.

Island up for sale in Australia

Owning a private island on Tasmania's east cost may be affordable for many affluent people in Australia costing equivalent of a house worth USD 500,000.

The Picnic Island - resting in Freycinet National Park's Hazard Range in the middle of Coles Bay - is up for sale by expression of interest, according to 'Sydney Morning Herald'.
"You can't really value it as a normal block of land because it's so unique," Paul Whytcross, from Roberts Real Estate in Coles Bay said.
The island in southeastern state of Australia, is expected to sell for between USD 500,000 and USD 1 million. It has permits for a 10-person eco-lodge.
"If someone came along with a plan for a long-term lease to develop the eco-tourism side of things, that would be an option," Whytcross said.
The island's rugged sandstone rocks accommodate a large colony of little penguins and a nesting ground for short-tailed shear waters.
There are abalone, oysters and mussels, too. Despite being within 500 metres of the Tasmanian shoreline, it remains relatively untouched.
"The key thing is the conservation and preservation of the sea bird colony and that limits what you can do with it," Whytcross said.Picnic Island is within sight of the upmarket Saffire resort and has a convict history.The original landowner of the Coles Bay area forced his convicts to quarry sandstone on the island during downturns in the whaling season.
The vendor, a Queensland property developer, bought the island for USD 65,000 in 2005.
A planning application stipulates that the only development allowed is basic camping-style accommodation.
However, it has the unique selling feature of penguins and shear waters nesting near your campsite.

Angel of Death - most lethal flying artillery against terrorists

The 'Angel of Death' is the world's biggest flying artillery gun - the latest weapon being used by the British and US Special Forces to defeat Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

From a distance the Hercules AC-130 plane - nicknamed the 'Angel of Death' because of the shape that its anti-missile flares take when they are fired - looks like a normal troop carrier.

But the aircraft, which is rarely deployed in daylight, carries a powerful 105 mm field gun which can 'vapourise' targets at a range of 1,200 yards, reports the Daily Mail.

As the Hercules drops from 2,000 feet to as low as 80 feet above the battlefield, the howitzer - normally used by ground troops - fires 10 rounds a minute and has a back-up of three 25 mm Gatling cannons spewing out 7,500 rounds every 60 seconds to produce the ultimate gunship.

Once a camera sighted under the fuselage has fixed on the target, it sends the co-ordinates to an onboard computer - and the 'Angel of Death' is ready to unleash its deadly load.

To dampen the recoil and avoid pushing the Hercules off course as the howitzer is fired, the gun is set on rollers which run on a small track fixed to the aircraft's superstructure.

After the fire controller shouts 'Fire' the howitzer leaps back on the track and hits a hydraulic buffer that sends it back to be reloaded.

The high explosive 105 mm shells, each packed with 2.5 kg of TNT, rocket towards their target at 1,548 feet per second.

On contact, the shells can destroy buildings and spread shrapnel over a 'kill' area of up to 1,500 yards.

Codenamed 'Spectre' by the British Army's Special Air Service and and its navy's Special Boat Serivce in southern Afghanistan, the lethal war machines have been deployed to spread fear among the enemy.

During recent operations, British Special Forces troops have flown alongside American comrades to help pinpoint enemy targets and, in the words of one officer, 'unleash hell' against the Taliban.

The gunship is used against what intelligence chiefs list as 'Tier 1 Taliban' - top-level fighters, who are constantly hunted down by British Special Forces units codenamed 'Task Force 42' and 'Task Force 444'.

A Special Forces officer said: 'When a group of key Taliban fighters are taken out it is referred to as 'splashing the target' - a crude description, but it works for us.'

'The AC-130 really is the ultimate weapon. It is very accurate and simply vapourises the target and sends a powerful psychological message to the enemy.

'We have called in Spectre many times and you know the minute it starts to unleash its fury the enemy melt away.

'We have taken out several high-value targets on the border with Pakistan thanks to the support of the AC-130 crews.'

The 'Angel of Death' is operated by 12 crew members. There are five officers - the pilot, co-pilot, navigator, fire control officer and electronic warfare officer.

They are aided by seven enlisted staff - a flight engineer, TV operator, infra-red detection set operator, loadmaster and three aerial gunners. Their specially converted aircraft can stay in the skies for 12 hours at a time and is the largest airborne gun in the world

Men Love These Men!

Some people are adored by both men and women alike. Gender plays no role when it comes to admiring these hunks. This time Hollywood heartthrob Brad Pitt has topped the ‘Men Who Men Love’ poll. Beckham made it to the second place while third place went to Bruce Willis. What makes these guys special?

Brad Pitt (No: 1)

Brad Pitt manages to get the best always, be it success or women. Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie no wonder he is envied by our men. But once you shrug off that feeling of jealousy, there are many reasons to look up to him. He looks incredibly cool for a 46-year-old guy (thanks to botox), and of course him not tying the knot with Jolie is another reason that draws our commitment-phobic men to him. Aren’t these reasons enough to adore him?

David Beckham (No: 2)

Beckham is no shocker here! But why second place? The sexiest sportsman of the era has conquered the hearts of guys and gals alike with his charm and brilliance on the field. He wins the whole world with his smile and is equally appealing when pensive. The kick-ass attitude, funky hairdo, wild tattoos and that perfect framec- this pin-up guy is every man’s inspiration when it comes to looks and attitude.

George Clooney (No: 6)

Clooney is getting older, but who cares? Grey hair and crow’s feet become a surefire turn-on when it comes to Hollywood’s permabachelor! Sigh. The hunk’s league of pretty women is long and noticeably young. Wine and Clooney get better with age, I say. Definitely a role-model for our men.

Johnny Depp (No: 4)

Captain Jack Sparrow or John Dillinger, Johnny rocks whenever he dons the outlaw’s role. The kind of ones who says ‘I make my own rules’. Johnny makes you feel that breaking the rules is cool. Is he the savviest of the lot?

Barack Obama (No: 10)

President Barack Obama made it to the list by securing the 10th place. So it’s not just the looks that qualify here.  He is a self-made man who lived the dream of Martin Luther King with hard work and determination. A real fighter who wrote his own destiny is a role model for all. The tech-savvy Prez is inseparable from his Blackberry and once gifted Queen Elizabeth of England an iPod! Life is all about breaking conventions, and this makes Obama the thinking guy’s choice.

Here is the complete list ...........

First look: Predators 2010

When a group of humans battle against alien predators in a vast jungle, it’s a question of survival. The predators are back

Solar tsunami from Sun may hit Earth on Tuesday

The Earth is in the path to be hit by a wave of violent space weather as early as Tuesday after a massive explosion of the sun, scientists have warned.

Astronomers witnessed the huge flare above a giant sunspot the size of the Earth, the explosion aimed directly towards Earth.

It sent a "solar tsunami" racing 93 million miles across space, which is likely to hit the planet on Tuesday.

The wave of supercharged gas is likely to spark spectacular displays of the aurora or northern and southern lights.

However, a really big solar eruption could shut down global communication grids and destroy satellites, if it reaches today.

A recent warning by NASA said that Britain could be at the receiving end of widespread power blackouts for a long time after the earth is hit by a once-in-a-generation "space storm".

"It looks like the first eruption was so large that it changed the magnetic fields throughout half the Sun's visible atmosphere and provided the right conditions for the second eruption," said Dr Lucie Green, of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, Surrey.

"This means we have a very good chance of seeing major and prolonged effects, such as the northern lights at low latitudes," she added.

40,000 Indians 'disappear' in Malaysia, visa on arrival scrapped

Malaysia revoked its visa on arrival (VOA) facility for Indians after 40,000 visitors from that country 'abused' it and 'disappeared', Deputy Prime Minister Muhyideein Yassin has said.

The cases of Indians abusing the scheme topped the list of unauthorised immigrants from eight South Asian nations and China to whom the VOA was offered.

The facility has now been 'scrapped permanently', The Star newspaper reported Tuesday quoting the deputy prime minister.

The Cabinet Committee on Foreign Workers and Illegal Immigrants felt that it needed to be revoked as it brought certain problems for the country.

'In the past, we gave flexibility to several nations. If their citizens came to this country and they didn't have a visa, one could be issued at the entry point.

'We have noticed that this was being abused. We (the Cabinet committee) agreed that the VOA facility be revoked or discontinued,' he said after chairing the committee meeting here Monday.

Apart from Indians, the facility was extended to tourists from China, Bhutan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Myan-mar, Taiwan and Comoros.

It has been reported that thousands of tourists have abused their VOA, which was introduced in 2006 in conjunction with Visit Malay-sia Year 2007, by overstaying.

In February, the government suspended the facility for visitors from India following reports that the highest number of VOA abuse involved citizens from that country.

Last January, prior to his India visit, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak had also expressed concern over the 'disappearance' of almost 40,000 Indians who had entered the country through the VOA.

Multi-ethnic Malaysia is home to 1.7 million ethnic Indians. Many have problems registering themselves as voters. They are denied the Mykad, the national identity card.

In a related development, Election Commission deputy chairman Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said online registration was 'risky, costly and unnecessary'.

'It is not easy to set up online registration because there will be many loopholes for people to cheat and it's difficult to check who is registering for whom,' he said.

Twitter user sends world's 20 billionth tweet

Twitter, the social networking site which lets users say something in up to 140 characters, has had its 20 billionth message posted.

The landmark and rather opaque tweet was sent at 1544 GMT Saturday byGGGGGGo_Lets_Go, a Tokyo graphic designer for an advertising agency.

It said: "So that means the barrage might come back later all at once."

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

Is it more amazing than winning the lottery?”

GGGGGGo_Lets_Go

Twitter took four years to reach its 10 billionth tweet, in March this year, and less than five months to double it.GGGGGGo_Lets_Go was inundated with congratulatory messages from around the world for hitting the milestone with a tweet which appeared to have been part of a longer conversation with another user.

He later posted another message, saying: "Looks like I posted the 20 billionth tweet. I'm getting replies from people all over the world. It's scary. What are the chances? Maybe I'm going to die.

"Is it more amazing than winning the lottery? I thought it was a joke."

The self-declared fan of Tokyo Yakult Swallows baseball team also warned any would-be followers that he tweets a lot about the sport.

The Japanese send nearly 8m tweets a day, about 12% of the global total and second only to the US, according to the San Francisco-based micro-blogging service.

Evan Williams, Twitter's 38-year-old chief executive, travelled to Tokyo last month to celebrate the service's success in Japan.

Twitter is expected this year to open its first dedicated data centre, in the US state of Utah.

The company hopes the data centre will help prevent service overloads, which have been a particular problem during major sporting events like the recent football World Cup.

Facebook makes move into search with Questions

Facebook has made its first steps into the search market.

The social network has launched a trial of a feature called Questions, which allows people to pose queries to the site's 500 million users.

The service has been rolled out to a select group of Facebook members and will "evolve over time", the site said.

It will go head-to-head with other services such as Yahoo Answers, Twitter and search engines such as ask.com.

"The core of search is a question," said Danny Sullivan, editor-in-chief of the blog Search Engine Land."For thousands of years we asked questions of people that we trusted.

"Then around 15 years ago we underwent an incredible revolution with the arrival of search engines."

Mr Sullivan said Questions was a return to this age of more personalised search.

"You can now put questions out there in a way we used to do before everyone was online," he said.

Expensive business

Earlier this year, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg said that the future of the web was one where friends, or what he called "your social graph", guide you online.

Many interpreted this as a direct challenge to the dominance of Google's automated search.

However, said Mr Sullivan, Questions was not going "to kill Google"."It's very difficult to challenge Google as general search leader," he said.

"Indexing and ranking the web is very expensive and Facebook has no skills in doing that.

"But what they do have is social connections, which allows users to put out those questions to others who they trust."

The new feature allows people to quiz the entire Facebook community by clicking on the "Ask Question" button.

"Keep in mind that all questions and answers posted using the Questions application are public and visible to everyone on the internet," said Blake Ross of the firm in a blog post.

"If you only want to ask a question to your friends or a specific group of people, you can still pose it as a status update on your profile targeted to those people."

Users can also create polls, add photos to questions and tag them with a specific topic.

"The questions you ask will be shown to people who have expressed interest in the particular topics you tag, as well as to your friends and friends of friends," Mr Ross wrote.

However, Nate Elliott, Principal Analyst at research firm Forrester, said he did not think that entering the search market was Facebook's main motivation for launching the feature.

"It is looking to generate more data on its users," he told BBC News.

"The more they can get people to raise their hands and say 'I want to know more about a subject' or 'I am an expert in a topic', the more it allows them to target marketing and advertising.

"Whenever it does anything new these days, you have to ask how does it help them collect more data and learn more about its users."

Two Gulf states to ban some Blackberry functions

Two Gulf states have announced bans on some functions of the Blackberry mobile phone, claiming security concerns.

The United Arab Emirates is to block sending e-mails, accessing the internet, and delivering instant messages to other Blackberry handsets.

Saudi Arabia is to prevent the use of the Blackberry-to-Blackberry instant messaging service.

Both nations are unhappy that they are unable to monitor such communications via the handsets.

This is because the Blackberry handsets automatically send the encrypted data to computer servers outside the two countries.

Related stories

• Blackberrys pose 'security risk'
• UAE Blackberry update was spyware

The UAE ban is to start in October, while the Saudi move will begin later this month.Abdulrahman Mazi, a board member of state-controlled Saudi Telecom, has admitted that the decision is intended to put pressure on Blackberry's Canadian owner, Research in Motion (RIM), to release data from users' communications "when needed".

The UAE's telecoms regulator, TRA, said the lack of compliance with local laws raised "judicial, social and national security concerns".

RIM said in a statement that it "does not disclose confidential regulatory discussions that take place with any government".

"However, RIM assures its customers that it is committed to continue delivering highly secure and innovative products that satisfy the needs of both customers and governments."

There are an estimated 500,000 Blackberry users in the UAE, and 400,000 in Saudi Arabia.Censorship denial

TRA said some Blackberry services would be suspended from 11 October "until a solution compatible with local laws is reached".

"It's a final decision but we are continuing discussions with them," said TRA director general Mohammed al-Ghanem.

"Censorship has got nothing to do with this. What we are talking about is suspension due to the lack of compliance with UAE telecommunications regulations."

It follows an alleged attempt by TRA last year to install spyware on Blackberry handsets.

And in 2007 RIM refused TRA access to the code for RIM's encrypted networks so it could monitor email and other data.

Power play?

Media freedom watchdog Reporters Without Borders told the BBC last week that while the UAE was playing a "technological leadership role in the Arab world", this was backed by "repressive laws" and a "general trend of intensified surveillance".

BBC Middle East business reporter Ben Thompson said the threat by the UAE was likely to be an attempt to wring concessions out of RIM.

"Many here see this as little more than a power play from the UAE authorities - an attempt to force RIM to handover the security codes or face losing a lucrative market," he said.

India has also raised security concerns over Blackberry data services, saying they could be exploited by militants.

iPhone 4 jailbreak app goes live

An iPhone utility that lets iPhone 4 owners run non-Apple approved applications, has been released.

Jailbreakme 2.0 works on all iPhones and iPod touches running iOS4, its developers say.

However, there are reports that iPhone owners are losing FaceTime and multimedia messaging services, as well as problems for iPad users.

The utility was launched a week after US regulators announced it was lawful to hack or jailbreak an iPhone.

Unlike previous Jailbreak applications, which required the user to be connected to an external computer before they could install it, this latest version can be accessed and installed using the iPhone's own web browser, Safari.

In a posting on Twitter, one of the developers behind Jailbreakme - who uses the handle "comex" - described the new tool as "exciting" but warned that the server was struggling to cope with demand.

"Please don't e-mail me if the site doesn't load, because I know that," he wrote.

The concept of unlocking an iPhone and using unofficial applications ended up in a legal case in the United States, with the country'sCopyright Office ruling that "the practice of removing restrictions on third-party applications fell under fair use guidelines".

The case looked specifically at Apple's iPhone, which has had a number of jailbreaking and cracking applications developed for it.

Apple had argued that the use of these utilities broke American copyright law.

"The user is not engaging in any commercial exploitation of the firmware," the US Copyright Office decision read, "at least not when the jailbreaking is done for the user's own private use of the device."

Officially approved iPhone applications, available from Apple's online store, make the firm 30% of all sales. Unofficial applications, downloaded and installed "below the radar" make Apple nothing in revenue.

Warranty warning

Last week, Apple released a statement warning users against using jailbreaking utilities.

"Apple's goal has always been to ensure that our customers have a great experience with their iPhone and we know that jailbreaking can severely degrade the experience," the statement read.

"As we've said before, the vast majority of customers do not jailbreak their iPhones as this can violate the warranty and can cause the iPhone to become unstable and not work reliably."

There are a number of non-approved applications on the market, many of which are accessible through Cydia - the jailbreak interface that works in a similar way to Apple's Apps Store. However, unlike official products, they are not limited by digital rights management (DRM) software.

Apple has yet to make an official comment on the release of the new Jailbreak application.

Microsoft to releases security patch for shortcut bug

Microsoft is issuing an urgent security update to fix a flaw in the way Windows handles shortcuts.

The bug means that attackers can craft booby-trapped shortcuts that allow them to take over a target computer.

Many users set up shortcuts to get to programs and places in Windows that they use regularly.

Microsoft said it was releasing the patch because it had seen an increase in the number of attacks on the vulnerability.

The patch will be released on 2 August at 1800 BST (1000 PDT). The fix will be sent out to those that automatically update their machines. It will also be available via the Windows Update site.

Related stories

• Hackers target XP support system
• Microsoft debuts 'fix it' program

The flaw was found in mid-July and allows malicious hackers to embed commands in shortcuts that are executed when that quick link is used. Every version of Windows is vulnerable to the flaw.The first exploits of the flaw were seeded via infected USB drives and network connections. While exploitation of the flaw was limited initially, the tempo of attacks via the bug have escalated since it was discovered and publicised.

Early attacks using the bug were aimed at the software control systems for critical infrastructure such as power stations.

Microsoft is signalling the severity of the problem by releasing an update outside its usual patch cycle. Security fixes are usually issued on the second Tuesday of every month.

Christopher Budd, senior security response manager at Microsoft, wrote on the company's security blog: "We're able to confirm that, in the past few days, we've seen an increase in attempts to exploit the vulnerability".

World stock markets lifted by banking shares

World stock markets are trading higher, lifted by banking shares after HSBC and BNP Paribas both reported profits ahead of expectations.

The UK's biggest bank HSBC saw first-half profits more than double to $11.1bn (£7bn), while second-quarter profits at France's BNP rose 31%.

In London, the FTSE 100 was up 2.5% to 5,391. Shares in HSBC, Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland were all 5% higher.

France's Cac 40 was up 2%, while the Dow Jones was up 1.5%.BNP led the way up in Paris, gaining 5.5%. On Wall Street, Bank of America was among the biggest risers, up 2.4%.

Germany's Dax index was also up 2.4%.

Rising oil price

Manufacturing data also helped boost sentiment.

The Markit Eurozone Manufacturing PMI rose to a three-month high in July.

The stock market rally also gave crude traders optimism, with oil rising above $80 a barrel.

Benchmark crude for September delivery was up $1.95 to $80.90 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

In London, Brent crude was up $1.99 to $80.17.