Barlow tops 2012 celebrity dad poll (From Bournemouth Echo) - Daily Echo
Barlow tops 2012 celebrity dad poll
7:02pm Thursday 14th June 2012 in National Entertainment News © Press Association 2011
Gary Barlow really is top of the pops - after being named celebrity dad of the year.
The Take That star, who is also number one in the singles chart, collected the prize ahead of the birth of his fourth child.
He pipped reigning champion Peter Andre to the title, which is officially called the Premier Inn Celebrity Dad Of The Year 2012.
It comes just days after he organised the Queen's spectacular Diamond Jubilee concert outside Buckingham Palace and his track Sing, written for the jubilee, is the current chart-topper.
It is the first time Gary has won the accolade and earlier this year he posted a message on Twitter telling Andre to "stand aside".
Gary, 41, was chosen in a public vote. The X Factor panellist said winning the award felt "amazing".
"I've been waiting for it for a long time," he said. "My kids are really excited and I don't think they can quite believe it. Being a dad is a really important part of my life and it means a lot to have won this award."
Barlow already has children Daniel, Emily, Daisy and his wife Dawn is expecting another girl.
Also in the running for this year's award were rapper Jay-Z, footballer Cristiano Ronaldo and Prime Minister David Cameron, who recently left his daughter at a country pub by mistake. The award is supposed the ability to balance public life with the demands of parenting.
Reeder 3.0 for iPhone RSS reader gets a visual update, multiple-account support (hands-on) - The Verge
The "death of RSS" argument gets tossed around every few months, but let's be honest: no matter how often feed junkies argue that RSS is as strong as it's ever been, Bloglines-style feed-reading never really had a shot at breakout mainstream success to begin with. Apps like Flipboard showed us a more visual and social way to get our news, and both Facebook and Twitter are following the same path. Still, I prefer skipping the "social" Facebook feed for a finely tuned set of folders and feeds offering the daily possibility of internet gold and a way to keep up with everything from magazines to tiny blogs without having to stay glued to Twitter. One of the best RSS apps to emerge on iOS is Silvio Rizza's Reeder. The iPhone app's updating today to Version 3.0 with a brand new icon, multiple accounts, new swipeable gestures, and a fresh look. How's it hold up? Read on!
Design and UI
You can finally add RSS feeds from within the app
For first time users, Reeder offers a straightforward interface without tons of bells and whistles (above on the left is the old app, on the right the new app). The app is mostly gradations of gray, with feed favicons offering the only hint of color outside of images in individual feed items. Regular users of Reeder will appreciate many of the subtle new animations across the app like pop-over alerts, accordion bends, and tiny shakes as new feed items snap into place. Your RSS feeds are sorted by folders, and clicking through to any folder (or your entire list of items) gives you the option of viewing by starred or unread items, or broken down by feed. After two major revisions, users can finally add new RSS feeds from within the app, instead of requiring you to manage from a desktop browser.
On startup, you'll notice that your account settings, services, and more have been moved out of the iOS Settings and integrated directly into Reeder's new settings section. Reeder's always been known for its deep support for sharing services, and the 3.0 update is no slouch, with new additions like QUOTE.fm and Buffer added to the Instapaper and Evernote standbys. I've always liked Reeder's ability to pop up a share menu on nearly everything in the app, ranging from links and highlighted sections to individual articles. The sharing overlay got a subtle transparent black redesign, and it's a shame the options can't be enabled across iOS; Android really got sharing right.
Gestures!
At the top of the item feed, you'll find a Readability icon loading a cleaner "Readability view" of the page. There's also a quick access menu for adjusting type size and line height. Swiping from left to right moves you back to the full feed list view, and swiping right to left loads the web view. These gestures don't work when you're viewing a full list of feed entries, so you can't swipe all the way back to the top directory. Instead, swiping on individual items can be customized for quickly marking as read or sending the item to services like Instapaper, Pocket, and Readability. Swiping up on an item reveals an accordion card interaction that Silvio Rizza told me was inspired by the OS X Mail.app paperfold. Pulling on it past a certain point and releasing causes the next feed to load. Now, with two fingers, you can swipe up or down at any point in a feed of items and mark all as read above or below (respectively) — it's an elegant idea that should be integrated into every feed reader.
Serious news junkies now have the option to add multiple accounts, and the app now supports Shaun Inman's Fever service as well. It's nothing too special — you can dig into your folders, unread list, and the hot section — but it's good to see support for other services. Interestingly, you can also hook up your Readability account as a source account to keep your entire reading list and your RSS feeds all in one app. Hopefully, Instapaper and Pocket support will be added in future versions.
I've got hundreds of feeds in my personal Google Reader account, so I'm greeted most mornings by a couple thousand unread items. The old app handled these just fine, but the 3.0 update is just slightly more sluggish in testing when moving between folders, lists, and individual feed items on an iPhone 4S. More importantly, there's still no in-app search function for quickly digging into your feeds, and there aren't any feed management tools. Unfortunately, there's still no Notification Center support, so you can't set up alerts for specific feeds in case of breaking news or cat videos.
Wrap-up
RSS readers are in a weird place these days. Algorithms and social networks have popped up since the early days of RSS to give us more "relevant" news and links, but there's still something satisfying and useful about diving into your own feeds, and a quality feedreading tool is as essential as ever. Reeder's clean design and no-nonsense approach to feedreading won't make it the next billion dollar app, but it's not trying to be that. For anyone that needs to keep up with RSS feeds on their phone, Reeder is well worth checking out. It's available now as a free upgrade in the App Store.
Welsh Cavalry campaign goes to Downing Street (From South Wales Argus) - South Wales Argus
Welsh Cavalry campaign goes to Downing Street
4:12pm Thursday 14th June 2012 in News 
DEFIANT supporters of the Welsh Cavalry took their fight to save the regiment to Downing Street today.
Armed with a petition with more than 3,000 signatures, supporters of the regiment, officially known as the 1st Queen’s Dragoon Guards, attended a rally and photo call in Parliament Square, before advancing to No.10.
The regiment, which traces its history back for more than 300 years, is under threat of disbandment or amalgamation with another regiment as part of the upcoming strategic defence review, with job cuts possible as the army is cut from 102,000 to 82,000 by 2020.
Chris Gibbons, 54, from Magor, served in the Queen’s Dragoon Guards for 22 years, seeing active service in Northerrn Ireland, Bosnia and Iraq during the first Gulf war.
Speaking to the Argus from Parliament Square, Mr Gibbons, said: "Fifty-five of us came down on the coach from Cardiff and there was another 50 or so who made their own way down here.
"I want the Prime Minister and the Defence Secretary to think again about disbanding this historic regiment. They are putting a lot of people’s jobs and their families under huge pressure.
"I am proud to have served this regiment and I am not prepared to see it become part of history."
Jessica Morden, MP for Newport East who attended the rally , said: "A lot of people have contacted me who are very concerned about the future of the regiment and the strength of feeling has been obvious."
Chris Evans, MP for Islwyn, said: “Any plans to destroy the identity and proud history of one of Wales’ oldest army regiments due to the Tory-led government’s cuts would be a massive blow to Wales.
“I met with Guards from Gwent during today’s rally at Westminster and I stand full-square behind them.”
UPDATE 2-Hollande urges common euro debt, greater ECB role - Reuters UK
* Hollande says imagination needed for new instruments
* Says debt redemption fund, join euro bonds are options
* Monti says more progress needed on euro zone governance (Adds details from French source)
By Elizabeth Pineau and Steve Scherer
ROME, June 14 (Reuters) - French President Francois Hollande called on Thursday for the euro zone to adopt bold new mechanisms to insulate member states and their banks from market turmoil, such as a joint fund to pay down debt, putting him on a collision course with Berlin.
After a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti in Rome, Hollande said he would urge EU leaders at an end-June summit to adopt a series of measures to strengthen economic growth and financial stability in the euro zone and deepen economic integration.
Hollande said he had submitted details of his proposals to European Council President Herman Van Rompuy.
"We need imagination and creativity to find new financial instruments," Hollande told a joint news conference with Monti.
"To deepen financial union, there are many options such as a financial transactions tax and joint debt issuance, including euro bonds, euro bills or a debt redemption fund," he said.
The French leader, who took office last month calling for a change of direction in Europe away from German-inspired austerity, urged closer cooperation between member states on financial regulation to break the link between struggling euro zone states and their weakened banking systems.
He called for the bloc's ESM permanent rescue fund, which is due to start operation next month, to be given a banking licence to allow it to borrow money from the ECB to bolster its firepower.
Hollande's bold proposals appeared to place him at odds with German Chancellor Angela Merkel who on Thursday rebuffed pressure for Europe's largest economy to underwrite debt or guarantee bank deposits in the euro zone, despite soaring borrowing costs in Italy and Spain.
Hollande has long advocated a growth pact for Europe including a financial transactions tax and joint bonds to finance infrastructure projects, more lending by the European Investment Bank (EIB) and more effective use of structural funds.
Hollande is due to present his a position at a four-way meeting with Monti, Merkel and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on June 22, a week ahead of the summit, and is hoping to make progress towards a consensus.
"The aim of June 22 is to have a four-way contribution and an agreement between at least two parties on a joint position. A four-way agreement would be fantastic," a French source said.
France believes at least 100 billion euros, preferably more, are needed in structural funds, project bonds and new capital for the EIB, the source said.
The source also said there was no deadlock between Germany and France on the issue of mutualised debt in the form of euro bonds, which France wants to be implemented in the next few years.
Monti, whose government has found itself in the market's sights despite undertaking reforms, voiced support for Hollande's growth agenda and said bolder steps toward integration were required in Europe.
"We both agreed that the progressive improvements made to euro zone governance are not enough to shield the euro from market turbulence," he told the news conference.
"We discussed some proposals for common bonds and we were very much in agreement on the need to increase investments that are productive for the economy - from the private sector, from the public sector, and from private-public partnerships."
Three days ahead of Greece's elections, Monti said that both he and Hollande wanted the country to remain in the euro zone. (Additional reporting by Vicky Buffery and Daniel Flynn in Paris; Writing by Daniel Flynn; Editing by Ron Askew; Editing by Andrew Heavens)
Mickelson struggles from the start again (From York Press) - The Press in York
Mickelson struggles from the start again
7:30pm Thursday 14th June 2012 in National Sport News © Press Association 2011
Phil Mickelson struggled from the off for a second straight year at the US Open as his opening drive was lost high up in the branches of a tree.
Mickelson began by losing a ball in the water last year, and his hopes of winning a US Open title took another early hit as he was made to make the long walk back to the tee. The Olympic Club is tough enough without that happening and, although he made birdie with his second ball, the left-hander started with three successive bogeys and was soon four over par.
Mickelson was playing with Tiger Woods and Bubba Watson and while Woods impressed with his ball-striking again to be level par after 12 holes, Masters champion Watson was another really struggling as he slipped to five over and eight behind the early leader, fellow American Jason Bohn.
Bohn, twice a winner on the PGA Tour and with a round of 58 to his name on the Canadian circuit, birdied the first, seventh and 11th in a dream start to only his second US Open.
That put him one ahead of another qualifier, Michael Thompson, and Spain's Dubai Desert Classic winner Rafael Cabrera-Bello.
Scot Marc Warren - playing in his first major at the age of 31 - kicked off with a birdie on the 449-yard ninth and remained part of the group on one under after seven holes.
Dubliner Padraig Harrington was alongside him, but then ran up a double bogey seven at the monstrous 670-yard 16th, the longest hole in major history.
Harrington did hit straight back with his third birdie of the day, however, and at level par was on the same mark as not only Woods, but also England's Robert Rock.
Defending champion Rory McIlroy, Luke Donald and Lee Westwood were among the later starters, with organisers having decided to put the world's top three in the same group for the second year running.
UPDATE 4-RIM shares drop after minor board shuffle - Reuters UK
* Dattels is a senior partner at major private equity firm
* Former Telefonica exec not standing for re-election
* New CEO Heins was paid $10.2 mln in last fiscal year
* Shares drop more than 4 pct to near $10 (Adds comment from RIM's chairman; updates share price move)
TORONTO, June 14 (Reuters) - Shares of Research In Motion fell 2.5 percent on Thursday after the struggling BlackBerry maker named a financier to replace a telecom executive on its board, disappointing investors looking for more sweeping changes.
The company, whose share price has tumbled alongside its once-dominant share of the smartphone market, also said it paid its new CEO more than $10 million in the company's last fiscal year and gave him hundreds of thousands of stock options to take the top job in January.
It also revealed millions of dollars in payments to former co-CEO Jim Balsillie, when he parted ways with RIM.
"There may be some tough questions asked or some shareholder backlash if the change at the top is just this," said Sameet Kanade, an analyst at Northern Securities, referring to the announcements, made in a filing ahead of RIM's annual meeting next month.
Kanade said the filing suggested the company was making little progress toward the broad changes investors are seeking.
RIM has lost favor as the email-centric BlackBerry falls behind in a fast-changing smartphone market now dominated by Apple Inc's iPhone and devices using Google Inc's Android software.
Still, the nomination of financier Timothy Dattels to the board could indicate RIM is more seriously considering going private, or mulling a leveraged buyout for the company.
Dattels, a senior partner at private equity firm TPG Capital LP, previously served as Goldman Sachs' head of investment banking for Asia excluding Japan.
He replaces Antonio Viana-Baptista, a former Telefonica SA executive who had been a RIM director since September 2009. RIM said Viana-Baptista opted out so he could spend more time in his role as CEO of Credit Suisse in Iberia.
RIM is proposing the re-election of the remainder of its board at an annual meeting on July 10. It said it would look to add one or more new board members in the current fiscal year.
RIM's Nasdaq-listed shares closed 2.5 percent lower at $10.40 on Thursday. The stock has lost more than 70 percent of its value over the past year.
COMPENSATION ISSUES
The company said Thorsten Heins, who was promoted to chief executive earlier this year, received total compensation of $10.2 million in fiscal 2012, which ended late in March. He received an award of 400,000 restricted stock units, which vest over a three-year period, for taking the top job.
"It didn't excite anyone," Fred Ketchen, director of equity trading at ScotiaMcLeod, said of the filing. "I think the money aspect is a factor" in the stock decline, he said.
A year ago, RIM narrowly avoided a vote of confidence on its management when an investor withdrew a motion to split the CEO and chairman roles after the company promised to study the issue. The roles were shared at the time by Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie.
Some watchers were hoping for more agitation this year.
"It would be nice to see an activist make a play but they would have to believe that it could be fixed and they don't," said Eric Jackson, a fund manager at Ironfire Capital.
Lazaridis and Balsillie stepped down from their roles in January, though Lazaridis remains an influential member of the board, serving as vice-chairman. When Heins took over as CEO in January, board member Barbara Stymiest became chairwoman.
"Over the past six months, the board and Thorsten have been proactively working together to introduce significant changes in the company as we move towards the launch of our next generation BlackBerry platform," said Stymiest in a statement.
"We are actively exploring new partnerships and other opportunities to extend the reach of BlackBerry and enhance long-term value for all RIM stakeholders," she added.
In its filing, RIM said Balsillie was paid $4.8 million in relation to his resignation, while Lazaridis was paid more than $850,000. Both had agreed to cut their base salary to $1 in their last days in the top job.
Balsillie's stock options, which he will be able to access quicker since he left the board in March, takes the total value of his entitlements to $7.9 million. Lazaridis would receive entitlements totaling $3.9 million should he leave the board, and would retain an office, company car and driver.
The smartphone maker, headquartered in Waterloo, Ontario, has warned it expects to post an operating loss in the quarter just ended. Those numbers are due to be released on June 28.
That latest warning follows a stream of lowered earnings forecasts, product delays, writedowns and an embarrassing global network outage that left millions of people without email on their BlackBerry phones for several days.
A string of senior staff have left - including RIM's top salesman and chief lawyer last month - and it has hired bankers for a strategic review that could lead to an overhaul of its business model or less drastic moves such as partnerships and licensing deals. It has not ruled out a sale of the company. (Additional reporting by Euan Rocha and Jon Cook in Toronto; Editing by Frank McGurty)
Cassano thrilled to share in EURO carnival - UEFA
In a season in which his career almost came to a sudden and premature end, Italy striker Antonio Cassano is thrilled to be contesting a UEFA European Championship he once thought beyond him, telling UEFA.com: "I want to make the most of it."
Antonio Cassano has come a long way in eight months. In October last year, while flying back from a Serie A match against AS Roma, the AC Milan striker suffered an ischemic stroke. He was subsequently told he would have to undergo heart surgery and that his career might be over, so to find himself returning to the Rossoneri lineup in April and subsequently earning a place in Cesare Prandelli's UEFA EURO 2012 squad is not something he took for granted.
"I'll tell you the truth – at first I thought I would quit football for good," Cassano told UEFA.com. "Then, slowly but surely, I began to see the light at the end of the tunnel and I hoped until the very end that I would make it to this EURO. It came true and now I want to really make the most of it. I'm going to give it everything I've got."
As Italy's top scorer with six goals during their unbeaten qualification campaign, Cassano has become a key player in a side committed to a more free-flowing brand of football, and 'Fant'Antonio' believes he is flourishing under Prandelli's tutelage. The Azzurri coach stuck by the former AS Bari and Real Madrid CF forward through the dark days, insisting he would wait as late as possible to give him every chance of coming to Poland and Ukraine.
"I like Prandelli a lot both as a coach and a person," said the 29-year-old. "He loves talking to you; he explains everything. He's a very well-prepared and well-organised coach and right from the start he made me feel a very important part of the team. When the person who is in charge places such great trust in you, it boosts your confidence and you always try to give your best."
Cassano gave his all for the 65 minutes he was allocated against Spain, coming close with a shot across goal in the first half, but with Antonio Di Natale coming on for Mario Balotelli and scoring, will the Cassano-Balotelli partnership be broken up Afor the match against Croatia? "The hierarchy is not decided in the press or anywhere else," said Cassano. "It's decided by the coach. Against Spain we played well, but the whole team did. Me, Mario, 'Totò' [Di Natale], even [Sebastian] Giovinco when he came on.
"We have five strikers who are important to the cause. Whoever plays must play well. Hierarchies mean nothing. Obviously, I always want to play for as many minutes as possible. But the coach is the one who decides and he is very good at seeing who is in good condition and who isn't."
With nine international goals, 30 Italy caps to his name and his 30th birthday less than a month away, Cassano is one of the elder statesmen of the side, but playing for Italy clearly remains a huge honour for the man who made his Azzurri debut in 2003 and whose wife and son were spotted in the crowd in Gdansk sporting Italy shirts and cheering him on.
"If I'm more mature now, it's because I'm [nearly] 30, but I still feel like a child inside," he said. "It's normal that things that happen to you along the way, like what happened to me at the end of October, leave a little mark, but they also really make you appreciate what's important in life."
For now, though, what is most important to Cassano is Thursday's Group C test against Croatia. Indeed, despite his recent travails, it is clear that the Milan striker has lost none of his competitive edge. "The match against Croatia is crucial for us, and it is for them too. We must try to find a way to win and continue the good work we started against Spain. After that match, we have realised we can take on anyone and go all the way."
Hodgson calls for ruthless England - Football
Published: 14 Jun 2012 - 19:19:14
Roy Hodgson urged England to show a ruthless attacking streak here Thursday as they prepared for their Group D meeting with perennial bogey team Sweden.
England have never beaten Sweden in a competitive fixture but head into Friday's Euro 2012 game at the Olympic Stadium as favourites to take all three points following a 1-1 draw with France.
But while England's defensive display against the French on Monday earned plaudits, Hodgson admitted his side will have to present more of an attacking dimension if they want to defeat the Swedes.
England's solitary goal against France came from a set-piece, and clear-cut goalscoring chances from open play were few -- something Hodgson feels England must improve on Friday.
"I was happy with the start. We played quite well, certain aspects of our game were good," Hodgson told a press conference.
"We must maintain that and, if we are going to win matches, we've got to continue to work hard on the attacking side of the game.
"We have to try to make certain when we do get these good counter-attacking opportunities that we maximise them and take advantage to the full.
"When we win the ball back and break out, we've got to make certain the last pass, cross or actual finish is very clinical.
"It is hard to get good goal chances at this level of football. You are not going to get many during the course of a game and you have to be very effective when the chances come your way.
"I am not talking about the clear-cut one versus ones with the goalkeeper but the situations where you've got behind the defence and it's a question of making certain the last pass gives someone the chance to score a goal.
"That is something we've been working on consistently."
Despite his acknowledgement of England's problems in the final third against France, Hodgson bristled when asked if he felt England were technically inferior to other sides. "No, I don't (think that)," he replied bluntly.
"You work with teams to try and get yourself into a position to deliver the right ball and it all depends on how good that delivery or final pass is.
"But I would definitely question any suggestion that we are lacking in any way and our players are not technically good enough," he said.
"The Premier League is regarded quite widely as being a very good league, a very technical league and we have some of the best players playing in it."
Hodgson admitted his side would be wary of the threat posed by a physical Sweden side from set-pieces.
"We all agree in today's football set-pieces are very important and it is rare not to have respect or concern over the quality of the opponents set-plays," he said.
"All you can do is prepare in the best possible way and make it clear to your team what threat the opponents pose.
"France posed a lot of threats from their set-plays and Sweden will be the same."
England captain Steven Gerrard is confident his side will get the win they need if they are able to reproduce the form shown against France.
"With all due respect to Sweden who are a good strong team -- they're not France," he said. "So I think we can be a little bit more bold, a little bit more ambitious and get at the Swedes a bit more.
"We're confident that if we reach the same level of performance it will be good enough to get the victory."
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