Warning of data ticking time bomb

Microsoft UK Managing Director Gordon Frazer running Windows 3.1 on a Vista PC

The growing problem of accessing old digital file formats is a "ticking time bomb", the chief executive of the UK National Archives has warned.

Natalie Ceeney said society faced the possibility of "losing years of critical knowledge" because modern PCs could not always open old file formats.

She was speaking at the launch of a partnership with Microsoft to ensure the Archives could read old formats.

Microsoft's UK head Gordon Frazer warned of a looming "digital dark age".

ZIMBABWE CRISIS
Inflation: 3,714%
Unemployment: 80%
4m need food aid
Life expectancy: 37 (men), 34 (women)


Mr Mugabe

Zimbabwe rivals in crisis talks

Zimbabwe's opposition and ruling parties are holding talks aimed at solving the country's economic and political crisis, officials say.

The first talks since South African President Thabo Mbeki was tasked with mediating between the rivals began in South Africa at the weekend.
Both sides have confirmed the talks but neither would give any details. The economy is in meltdown, with the world highest inflation rate - 3,700% - and just one adult in five in work. Last week, a report said the economy would collapse within six months.

Free elections

"I can only confirm that we have representatives in South Africa attending roundtable discussions with the country's other political players," Nelson Chamisa spokesman for the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) told the AFP news agency.

"In the interest of diplomacy, I am under instructions not to comment or give any more detail until such a time when both parties have agreed to make a statement."

Didymus Mutasa, from Mr Mugabe's Zanu-PF party, told Reuters news agency that the talks were at a preliminary stage - to set the agenda for more substantive issues.

Justice Minister Patrick Chinamasa and Social Welfare Minister Nicholas Goche are attending on behalf of the government, while the MDC is represented by top officials from its two factions - Tendai Biti and Welshman Ncube. South Africa's Local Government Minister Sydney Mufumadi is chairing the discussions, The MDC is demanding that elections due next year be free and fair.

Their demands include:
• International control of the elections
• The millions of Zimbabweans abroad be allowed to vote
• No voters' roll - anyone with an identity card to vote

Previous talks between Zanu-PF and the MDC have failed to make any headway and some analysts say there is still little chance of a breakthrough.

One of the MDC faction leaders, Arthur Mutambara, is outraged that Zimbabwe officials have seized his passport, leaving him stranded in South Africa. He had sent his travel document to Zimbabwe with a colleague to apply for a UK visa when it was confiscated, he says.

He says it is a deliberate attempt to block moves to reunite the opposition, as he was due to travel with the leader of the other group, Morgan Tsvangirai. The MDC split two years ago. This was supposed to be the first time the two MDC leaders had travelled to Europe together.
Mr Mutambara's colleague, Nqabutho Dube, is reported to still be in custody in Harare.

The MDC has also condemned proposed constitutional changes, which would create 60 new seats in parliament and let parliament choose a new leader in the event of a sitting president leaving office for whatever reason. At present, new elections would be called if the presidential office became vacant.

Mr Mugabe, 83, has said he wants to stand in next year's polls.

Coup plot

Meanwhile, there are unconfirmed reports that the bodies of two MDC activists have been found in the south-western Matobo area.

The two were apparently abducted by armed men last month.
The MDC accuses the government of President Robert Mugabe of routinely intimidating and assaulting its members.

Scores of activists, including both Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Mutambara, were arrested and beaten by police in March. Mr Mugabe said they had deserved their treatment because they had ignored police warnings not to hold a banned meeting.

But pictures of Mr Tsvangirai's injuries sparked international outrage, leading to Mr Mbeki's appointment as mediator. Late on Friday, details emerged of an alleged coup plot in Zimbabwe.

Six men, including an army officer, are due to appear in court on 22 June. They have pleaded not guilty. They are alleged to have planned to carry out a coup against Mr Mugabe and replace him with Rural Housing Minister Emmerson Mnangagwa. Mr Mnangagwa, long seen as one of the candidates to replace Mr Mugabe, has denied any involvement.

The men were arrested last month but their initial court appearances had been kept secret.

Palestinian rivals: Fatah & Hamas

Two parties dominate Palestinian politics: Fatah which has been at the head of the Palestinian national movement since the 1950s, and the Islamist movement, Hamas, which won the parliamentary elections in January 2006.

FATAH

Full name: Reverse acronym of Harakat al-Tahrir al-Filistiniya (Palestinian Liberation Movement) meaning "conquest" in Arabic.

Origins and development: Founded by Yasser Arafat in the 1950s to promote the armed struggle to liberate all Palestine from Israeli control.
It developed into the largest Palestinian political faction and, after recognising Israel's right to exist, led efforts towards a two-state solution with Israel under the 1990s Oslo peace accords.

Fatah members formed the backbone of the Oslo-inspired administration, the Palestinian Authority (PA), especially its bureaucrats and security forces.

The party lost power in the 2006 parliamentary elections to Hamas, after Fatah officials came to be perceived as corrupt and incompetent. The shift in power heralded a period of violence on the streets of Gaza.

Attitude to Israel: PA President Mahmoud Abbas advocates restarting the peace process and is a strong critic of armed "resistance" and attacks on Israeli civilians. His goal is to establish a Palestinian state in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as capital.
The Fatah-affiliated al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades has participated, along with Hamas, in an informal militant ceasefire since 2005, but conducts what it calls retaliatory attacks against Israel.

Current status: The 2006 election defeat put Fatah on the defensive and subsequent events raised fears it would try using its political influence and military power to maintain predominance. The PA's 70,000 police and security forces are mainly Fatah loyalists.

After months of factional street fighting in which hundreds of Palestinians were killed, Fatah struck a deal with Hamas to join a unity government as a junior partner.

Palestinian Authority President and Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas dismissed the Hamas-led government in June 2007 in the wake of some of the worst fighting that resulted in the Gaza Strip being seized by the Hamas armed forces in what the movement described as a "liberation".
A new emergency cabinet has been sworn in in the West Bank, led by Prime Minister Salam Fayyad.

HAMAS

Full name: Acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiya (Islamic Resistance Movement) and means "zeal" in Arabic.

Origins and development: Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, committed to establishing an Islamic state in the whole of what it terms Palestine (post-1948 Israel, the West Bank and Gaza).

Since its formation 1987 it has pursued a dual function: social welfare and what it calls armed resistance. This earned respect and gratitude among Palestinians suffering under Israeli occupation, but a string of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians meant it was designated a terrorist organisation by Israel, the US and the European Union.

Its 2006 landslide win thrust on Hamas the responsibility of power and international scrutiny for the first time, but the government was not recognised by Israel or the main international mediators.

Attitude to Israel: Hamas's charter uncompromisingly seeks Israel's destruction. However, Hamas's Ismail Haniya, the prime minister of the unity government until it was dissolved in June 2007, has spoken of a long-term truce with Israel if Israel withdraws from territory occupied in 1967.
The Hamas armed wing, the Izzedine al-Qassam brigades, has participated in an informal ceasefire since 2005, but claims the right to retaliate against what it calls Israeli attacks.

Current status: Designated a terrorist group by PA donors, outside funds to the Hamas-led Palestinian Authority dried up. Banks refused to handle emergency donations fearing US penalties.

After months of wrangling with Fatah, Hamas became the senior partner in a national unity government in March 2007.

But separately, it deployed a 3,000-strong shadow security force including its supporters to tackle lawlessness in Gaza. The move exacerbated tensions with pro-Fatah security agencies sparking a major show-down with Fatah.

Mr Haniya appears to be in charge in Gaza - Mr Abbas in the West Bank. The ousted prime minister insists his sacking is illegal - as is the Fayyad cabinet, which cannot get approval in the Hamas-dominated Palestinian parliament but which is to rule by decree.