Survey says one in 10 is victim of online fraud, One in 10 Internet users fell victim to online fraud last year, losing an average of 875 pounds each, according to a survey on Monday.
Many failed to take basic steps to protect themselves online and fewer than half felt they were wholly responsible for their safety while using the Internet.

Six percent had suffered fraud while shopping online, four percent had experienced general fraud and three percent were subject to bank or credit card crime.

The survey of 2,400 people was carried out by YouGov for Get Safe Online, a campaign group set up by the government, police and private companies.

"We need users to take the same basic precautions in using the Internet as they would when making transactions in the high street, such as not sharing your bank details or passwords," said Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden.

Nearly half said they did not have protection from spyware, computer software that secretly collects personal information when people use the Internet.

A fifth of those polled said they had replied to spam messages and 10 percent had clicked on an Internet link within a spam e-mail.

Nearly a quarter said most of their online security passwords were the same. Five percent used the same password for every site.

Tony Neate, managing director of Get Safe Online, said people must do more to help prevent fraud.

"If we all take greater care to protect our personal information online, we can reduce the majority of these criminal activities," he said. "Our message is that each one of us has to take greater personal responsibility for our own online security."

Fewer than half of those polled felt responsible for their online safety. One in six said it was down to their bank to protect their details and 13 percent said their Internet service provider must shoulder the burden.

More than three-quarters felt there should be lessons in schools to help children to stay safe on the Internet.

Former governor says he saw UFO,It's not everyday a former governor tells you he witnessed a UFO that he believes came from another world. Ok, that's an understatement. I don't believe a person who has served as a governor has ever uttered such words on camera. But that's what Fife Symington, who served as governor of Arizona for six years in the 1990s, just did.

Symington took me to a park in Phoenix where he says he saw what is now referred to as the "Phoenix Lights." Exactly 10 years ago, thousands of Arizonans saw an object in the sky described by witnesses as larger than a football field with brilliant lights. It was also videotaped by many. Witnesses say it made no noise.

Symington was governor at the time, and not only did he never publicly mention that he saw it, but there are many who feel he ridiculed those who did. The governor held a news conference after the sightings in which he claimed the case had been solved. At that point, a man in an alien costume walked into the room. That "alien" was his chief of staff.

The former governor told me he held the news conference (which in all fairness, many found very amusing) to create some levity in a state where many people might have been getting panicked. Fast forward a decade.

The creators of a film about UFOs called "Out of the Blue" contacted Symington because they are updating their documentary. After being asked questions about the 1997 episode, Symington told the filmmakers that he did indeed see the UFO but said nothing publicly, in part, because he didn't want to scare Arizonans.

Symington told me that what he saw in the sky that night was "otherworldly" and he believes it was an "alien spacecraft." He is a U.S. Air Force veteran who served in Vietnam and is highly doubtful it was some secret military craft.

Symington said he did privately try to have people investigate the sightings, but got nowhere. But for the first time, he is talking about it publicly, and saying that not only was he not concerned, but he would love to see a sight like this again.

What was it? Frankly, I have no idea and wouldn't hazard a guess. But Symington's revelation a decade later only adds to the mystery surrounding this event.

Study shows fruit juice benefits, Grape juice was found to be one of the most beneficial juices
A diet rich in fruit juice could cut the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other diseases, according to research. A team at Glasgow University has carried out one of the first studies into the benefits of antioxidants.

The study found that grape, apple and cranberry juices contained high amounts of the beneficial chemicals.

Antioxidants are natural chemicals which reduce cell damage caused by free radicals, a major cause of disease and ageing.

Researchers from the Human Nutrition group at Glasgow University examined different juices and how much antioxidant they contained as well as the different chemical compounds.

Polyphenols are a very strong antioxidant that get rid of free radicals in the body.

It is believed they can maintain and improve health and also protect against chronic diseases.


Dietary polyphenols through their antioxidant properties, and possibly other mechanisms, are believed to play a role in protecting against chronic diseases

Results showed purple grape juice made with Concord grapes contains the highest and broadest range of polyphenols as well as having the highest antioxidant capacity, equal to those found in a Beaujolais red wine.

Alan Crozier, Professor of Plant Biochemistry and Human Nutrition, said: "Not all fruit juices are the same.

"Supplementing a healthy diet with a regular intake of a variety of fruit juices such as purple grape juice, grapefruit juice, cloudy apple juice and cranberry juice, will, without major dietary changes, increase the consumer's intake of phenolic antioxidants.

"Dietary polyphenols through their antioxidant properties, and possibly other mechanisms, are believed to play a role in protecting against chronic diseases."

The study will be featured in the Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry.

Burying democracy further in Egypt,The Mubarak regime in Egypt is staging a major crackdown on the Muslim Brotherhood, the country's main Islamist opposition movement and largest opposition group. About 300 Brotherhood members have been detained over the last three months under accusations of money laundering and terrorism, in addition to the usual charge of belonging to a banned organization.

Although President Hosni Mubarak has resorted to repeated repression and intimidation in dealing with Islamists since the 1980s, the current crackdown is different in two ways. First, it comes after a period of political reform between 2002 and 2005 that enabled the Brotherhood to participate openly in the 2005 parliamentary elections and win almost 20 percent of parliamentary seats. Second, this time the regime is targeting the Brotherhood's business leaders, who are responsible for managing the movement's finances. On February 28, a Cairo criminal court upheld a decision by the state prosecutor to freeze the assets of 29 Brotherhood leaders, worth an estimated $300 million. In a constitutionally questionable move, Mubarak used his powers under the Emergency Law to transfer the cases of 41 Brotherhood leaders to a military tribunal, after they had already been acquitted by a criminal court.

The regime's escalation comes at a critical time in Egyptian politics. On the political stage are Mubarak's proposed constitutional amendments and succession plans for his son, Gamal. In December 2006, Mubarak asked Parliament to amend 34 articles of the Egyptian Constitution. The amendments are designed carefully to set the stage for succession as Mubarak's son emerges as a prominent figure in the ruling National Democratic Party. They also aim to limit the power of the emboldened Muslim Brotherhood by enshrining the ban on religious-based political activity in the Constitution and introducing a party list electoral system instead of the current candidate-centered system. The former change would render the electoral participation of the legally banned Brotherhood subject to the whims of legal parties.

The Mubarak regime is taking advantage of an opportune international moment. With Washington's attention diverted from the democracy agenda, the regime can resort to outright repression of the opposition without risking its close ties with the West. The regime's treatment of the Muslim Brotherhood has historically been of no concern to the United States. However, repressive measures, even against the
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Brotherhood, became more costly for the Egyptian regime as the Bush administration heightened its scrutiny of Egyptian politics in recent years as part of its push for democracy in the Middle East. Today, the situation is different. Sunni Arab autocrats such as Mubarak have seized upon the American preoccupation with Iraq and Iran to reposition themselves as America's allies. In exchange, the US has adopted a no-interference policy in domestic Egyptian politics.

Although the Brotherhood is accustomed to state repression, it has received a harsher blow this time around and the movement is taking different measures in response. It is trying to raise public awareness about the hollowness of the charges against its members while exposing the real authoritarian motives of the regime. In Parliament, Muslim Brotherhood deputies staged a fierce battle against Mubarak's constitutional amendments. They pointed to the regime's intention to strip the reform process of any meaning by abolishing judicial oversight of the elections and targeting independent candidates.

The Mubarak regime's current crackdown will serve neither Egyptian nor American interests. Notwithstanding its success in taming the Brotherhood, the regime risks its own stability by slamming the political door in the face of a popular force that has grown increasingly committed to peaceful political opposition. Disaffected members may find an outlet in militant activism against the government as they did in the 1980s and 1990s, following similar blows. The assassination of Mubarak's predecessor, Anwar al-Sadat, is a stark reminder of the tragic repercussions of domestic unrest.

By resorting to outright repression of the Brotherhood, Mubarak is making a mockery of the American push for democracy in the Middle East. Turning a blind eye toward the ongoing crackdown undermines the credibility of an already shaky American commitment to democratization in the Middle East. It also cements the perception among Egyptians that Washington blesses autocratic regimes.

Amr Hamzawy is a senior associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP). Dina Bishara is a research assistant at CEIP and the assistant editor of Carnegie's Arab Reform Bulletin. They wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR.

Part of the Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran will become operational on Tuesday, the country’s official news agency IRNA reported on Monday. The facilities containing the pumping equipment and the 400-kilovolt power station will be declared operational at an on-site ceremony.

“The industrial parts and the systems for the transfer of sea water to the Bushehr power plant will start operation this week,” Iran’s Gholam Reza Aghazadeh said on Sunday, according to the Iranian Fars news agency.

Tehran intends pushing ahead with its nuclear program despite a decision by the International Atomic Energy Agency to cut off 40 percent of its aid package to Iran.

A Russian delegation is scheduled to visit Bushehr over the next week. Russian officials have spent considerable time in recent days reminding Russian companies contracted to aid the nuclear program of their legal commitments. Tehran fears pressure will be brought to bear on Russia at the United Nations Security Council to force its domestic companies to cut off ties with Iran.

“The Bushehr power plant is among the projects for which the Iranian side has paid all its dues even before the agreed dates,” Aghazadeh said.

“Iranian officials have done their utmost to resolve the issue through dialogue and the irrational demands of the West have no effects on the peaceful nuclear program of the Islamic Republic, other than complicating things,” said Iran’s Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyed Mohammad Ali Hosseini.

Iran appears to be speeding up its nuclear activities in the face of, and probably because of, international pressure, said an analyst at The Media Line.