21 October 2010 Last updated at 06:40 GMT

Spending Review: Osborne defends 'fairness' of cuts

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George Osborne said some call his cuts too harsh, while others say they don't go far enough

Chancellor George Osborne has defended the "fairness" of his UK spending cuts after Labour claims they were reckless and would hit the poorest hardest.

He told the BBC that including Budget measures, the top 10% of earners would be hit hardest but everyone was making a contribution to cutting deficit.

He said "the path to economic ruin" lay ahead if the deficit was not tackled.

Labour called the £81bn cuts - the biggest since the 1970s - a "reckless gamble" with the economy.

It has been estimated that the measures will lead to the loss of 490,000 public sector jobs, but Mr Osborne told BBC Breakfast that he expected many more private sector jobs to be created over the four year cuts programme.

Mr Osborne told MPs on Wednesday that he had acted to restore "sanity to our public finances" and deal "decisively" with Britain's record peacetime deficit.

The government says public debt interest repayments now total £120m a day, or £43bn a year.

Hours after Mr Osborne's speech crowds of demonstrators gathered outside Downing Street to protest against the cuts, which the TUC has said will have a devastating social impact.

Mr Osborne is currently in the midst of a round of interviews explaining his decisions in the Spending Review, which, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank, represent the deepest six-year period of cuts since the 1970s - not since World War II as previous plans implied.

The chancellor said he had been able to restrict departmental spending cuts to an average of 19% over four years - not the 20% he said Labour had planned - because of "tough but fair decisions to reform welfare, and the savings we've made on debt interest".

KEY MEASURES

• £81bn cut from public spending over four years
• 19% average departmental cuts - less than the 25% expected
• £7bn extra welfare cuts, including changes to incapacity, housing benefit and tax credits
• £3.5bn increase in public sector pension employee contributions
• Rise in state pension age brought forward
• 7% cut for local councils from April next year
• Permanent bank levy
• Rail fares to rise 3% above inflation from 2012

He unveiled plans to cut a further £7bn from the welfare budget - on top of £11bn of cuts already announced - which include putting a time limit on some incapacity benefits and changes to tax credits and housing benefit.

He also announced that the state pension would rise to 66 for both men and women in 2020 - six years earlier than planned - and there would be a £3.5bn increase in public sector employee pension contributions.

These plans were unveiled alongside other changes, including a permanent bank levy, tax changes and cuts to child benefit for higher earners.

Mr Osborne said "those with the broadest shoulders should bear the greatest burden. Those with the most should pay the most, including our banks".

Banks will find out later how a new levy on their finances will operate.

However, Labour said the Treasury's own figures showed that the poorest 10% of people would pay more to reduce the deficit than everyone other than the richest 10%.

'State retreating'

Shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Angela Eagle told BBC Two's Newsnight: "What we have got here is not actually a blueprint for recovery, it is not actually a plan for a big society.

"When you look at it, it is the state retreating. It is a blueprint for a smaller, meaner and nastier society and we think the government has got it wrong."

Shadow Chancellor Alan Johnson, who labelled the cuts a "reckless gamble with people's livelihoods", said there were "serious unanswered questions on how many jobs will be lost and how much the redundancies will cost the taxpayer".

A special BBC News season examining the approaching cuts to public sector spending

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IFS acting director Carl Emmerson told Channel 4 News: "The benefit cuts we heard about today - an extra £7bn - on average will impact those in the bottom half of the income distribution more than the top half of the income distribution. Therefore, they are regressive."

He added that the best estimate suggested that the poorest 50% would also be hit harder by public service cuts.

The IFS also suggested it was still "quite possible" that the chancellor would have to make further spending cuts or put up tax in order to meet his target for tackling the deficit - if it turns out to be larger than the official estimate.

However, the Fitch ratings agency said Mr Osborne's measures should help the UK retain its prized triple A credit rating.

Mr Osborne said the cuts were guided by fairness, reform and growth: "There have been some difficult decisions on welfare but I have sought to protect the most vulnerable and I think our overall welfare reforms will help give incentives to many in our country who currently don't have them to seek employment."

The main new welfare savings come from abolishing Employment and Support Allowance, which replaces incapacity benefit, for some categories of claimant after one year, raising £2bn.

Universal benefits for pensioners will be retained as budgeted for by the previous government and the temporary increase in the cold weather payment will be made permanent.

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21 October 2010 Last updated at 06:03 GMT

China 'trying to block publication of UN Darfur report'

The report says bullet casings from China were found at the site of attacks against peacekeepers

Beijing is trying to prevent the release of a report which says Chinese bullets have been used against Darfur peacekeepers, unnamed UN diplomats say.

The report is being discussed by a United Nations committee which monitors sanctions against Sudan, including an arms embargo on Darfur.

Beijing says it is vaguely worded and full of flaws.

Ceasefires and peace negotiations have failed to end the conflict in the volatile western Sudanese region.

Related stories

The report says that a dozen different brands of Chinese bullet casings have been found in Darfur, some at sites where attacks on UN troops took place.

The BBC's Barbara Plett at the UN in New York says the allegations are controversial, but adds that China has the right to sell munitions to Khartoum as long as they are not used in Darfur.

The report, prepared by a panel of experts, was intended to be published after being formally presented to the UN Security Council.

The panel has previously claimed that large amounts of foreign arms and ammunition are being trafficked into Darfur and fuelling the conflict between the government and rebel groups.

After a meeting of the UN committee on Wednesday, Chinese diplomat Zhao Baogang said his government strongly objected to the report.

"Where did they get the informed sources? No evidence is given," he said, adding that the report "lacks confirmed facts".

He added: "How can we agree on those recommendations? We ask them to improve the work of the methodology."

The UN says that about 300,000 people have been killed and more than 2.6 million displaced by fighting since rebels took up arms in the region in 2003

Q&A: Sudan's Darfur conflict

As many as 300,000 people have died in the conflict

Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir could still face charges of genocide in Darfur.

International Criminal Court appeal judges have reversed an earlier ruling which said prosecutors had not provided enough evidence for such charges to be brought.

Some 2.7m people have fled their homes during the seven-year conflict in the western region of Darfur and the UN says about 300,000 have died.

How did the conflict start?

It broke out in early 2003 after the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) and Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) began attacking government targets, accusing Khartoum of oppressing black Africans in favour of Arabs.

Darfur, which means land of the Fur, has faced many years of tension over land and grazing rights between the mostly nomadic Arabs, and farmers from the Fur, Massaleet and Zaghawa communities.

How did the government respond to the rebellion?

It admits mobilising "self-defence militias" following rebel attacks.

But it denies any links to the Arab Janjaweed militia - who are accused of trying to "cleanse" black Africans from large swathes of territory.

KEY REBEL PLAYERS SLM: Minni Minnawi's faction SLM: Abdul Wahid Mohammad Ahmed al-Nur's faction Jem: Khalil Ibrahim, one of the first rebel groups

President Omar al-Bashir has called the Janjaweed "thieves and gangsters".

But refugees say air raids by government aircraft would be followed by attacks from the Janjaweed, who would ride into villages on horses and camels, slaughtering men, raping women and stealing whatever they could find.

The US and some human rights groups have said genocide is taking place - though a UN investigation team in 2005 concluded that war crimes had been committed but there had been no intent to commit genocide.

Trials have been announced in Khartoum of some members of the security forces suspected of abuses - but this is viewed as part of a campaign against attempts to get suspects tried at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.

What has happened to Darfur's civilians?

The United Nations says more than 2.7 million have fled their homes and now live in camps near Darfur's main towns.

Darfuris say the Janjaweed patrol outside the camps and men are killed and women raped if they venture too far in search of firewood or water.

Some 200,000 people have also sought safety in neighbouring Chad, but many of these are camped along a 600km (372 mile) stretch of the border and remain vulnerable to attacks from the Sudan side.

Chad's eastern areas have a similar ethnic make-up to Darfur and the violence has spilled over the border area, with the neighbours accusing one another of supporting each other's rebel groups.

Many aid agencies have been working in Darfur but they are unable to get access to vast areas because of the insecurity. Several were banned from northern Sudan after the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for President Bashir in 2009 for alleged war crimes.

How many have died?

The United Nations says up to 300,000 people have died from the combined effects of war, famine and disease.

Janjaweed gunmen are accused of prowling outside refugee camps

President Bashir puts the death toll at 10,000.

Accurate figures are difficult to research and have made no distinction between those dying as a result of violence and those dying as a result of starvation or disease in the camps.

The numbers are crucial in determining whether the deaths in Darfur are genocide or - as the Sudanese government says - the situation is being exaggerated.

Is anyone trying to stop the fighting?

Yes.

There are thousands of peacekeepers in the region under the auspices of a joint African Union-UN peacekeeping mission, Unamid.

Last August, the UN's outgoing military commander General Martin Agwai said the conflict was effectively over and isolated attacks and banditry were the region's main problems now.

Peace talks between Khartoum and Jem are being sponsored by Qatar, the United Nations, the African Union and Arab League.

The US envoy to Darfur, Scott Gration, is also involved in talks aimed at getting the rebel groups - of which there are many - to agree a common position so they can take part in broader peace talks.

Who is to blame?

The international community lays much of the blame on Mr Bashir.

Omar al-Bashir says ICC charges reflect Western hostility to Sudan

He has frequently been accused of supporting the pro-government militias.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant last year for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

However, he is unlikely to be detained as the African Union says it will not honour the warrant.

The Hague court's pre-trial chamber will now have to rule on whether to add three counts of genocide.

Rebel groups have also been held responsible for some atrocities.

Will peace return to Darfur?

For years, Jem fighters have presented a threat to the government in Khartoum

With the signing of a ceasefire agreement between the Justice and Equality Movement and Sudan's president, the BBC's James Copnall considers if Darfur will find real peace.

For years the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) has represented perhaps the biggest military threat from Darfur to the Sudanese government.

Jem was the only Darfuri rebel group able to strike into the Sudanese heartland around the River Nile.

In May 2008, Jem fighters launched a daring raid on Omdurman, the city just over the Nile from the capital Khartoum, and the site of the parliament.

The deal with Jem also means President Bashir will get a tremendous boost in his campaign for April's presidential election

The attack failed, but it did show the daring and ambition of Khalil Ibrahim's rebel movement.

Now this framework agreement, which includes a ceasefire, will be a tremendous relief for President Omar al-Bashir and his government.

If the ceasefire is respected - and it is a big if - a major military threat will have been neutralised.

This is particularly important in the run-up to next year's referendum on possible southern independence, following a separate civil war which ended in 2005.

Aid agencies and human rights groups have warned of a possible return to north-south conflict.

Whether or not this happens, minimising the threat in Darfur will give the north a much stronger hand.

The deal with Jem also means Mr Bashir will get a tremendous boost in his campaign for April's presidential election.

Compensation

Jem has much to gain too.

The framework agreement, which sets out the topics for the forthcoming more detailed talks, includes a provision for power-sharing.

Jem would participate in "every level of government (executive, legislative…)", according to article 3 of the provisional agreement, which the BBC has seen.

The rebel movement should turn into a political party once it signs a final deal.

There are also articles on wealth-sharing, compensation and the safe return of displaced people and refugees.

Millions still live in rough camps, usually situated on the outskirts of big towns.

Small, temporary housing has pushed up haphazardly, like pimples on an adolescent's face.

Those fleeing the Darfur fighting have seen a temporary life made permanent: there are schools, commerce, the semblance of a life, however difficult.

But this provisional deal will certainly not solve all of their - and Darfur's - problems.

Camp politics

Firstly agreements have not been respected in the past.

Some commentators are already suggesting Jem is the most likely of the rebel groups to return to the fold.

Its leadership is made up of Islamists - like President Bashir's National Congress Party (NCP) - who have elements of a common political vision with those in power in Khartoum, however much else divides them.

Secondly - and crucially - this deal is with only one of the many Darfur rebel groups.

The Abuja accord of 2006 failed because only the Sudan Liberation Army's Minni Minawi, of the major faction leaders, signed up to it.

Several of the small groups may jump on the bandwagon.

But the SLA-Abdul Wahid faction, which possibly has the most support, in the camps for the displaced at least, has refused to enter into talks with the government.

Whether it ultimately succeeds or fails, it will undoubtedly have changed the dynamic in Darfur

If the Jem fighters are integrated into the Sudanese armed forces, the military position of SLA-Abdul Wahid could worsen considerably.

Equally, the new prominence of Jem could push other rebel groups to violence, to win their place in the sun.

Thirdly, some of the insecurity in Darfur now is not down to rebel groups.

Some of those responsible for car-jackings and kidnappings are simply armed gangs; it is sometimes alleged some of these have links to the government.

Finally, the Arab militias that fought on the side of Mr Bashir will need to be included in any truly comprehensive accord.

Thousands have been displaced by the seven-year conflict

Whatever its long-term effects, the Jem-government deal has already had a profound impact on the political landscape.

Jem will presumably be awarded some sort of political power in Darfur at the end of the talks this framework agreement ushers in.

Jem is already suggesting the elections should be pushed back.

Some opposition politicians, perhaps worried about the power-sharing arrangements, or the electoral shot in the arm President Bashir will get from the agreement, are calling for this too.

The NCP has already said the polls should be held on time.

The next few weeks and months should prove fascinating.

Negotiations on a final settlement between Jem and the government are due to end by mid-March, an ambitious target.

The first real test of the value of this provisional deal will come on the ground, as the displaced, peacekeepers, humanitarian workers and ordinary Darfuris wait to see if the security situation improves at all.

Few people saw this deal coming.

Whether it ultimately succeeds or fails, it will undoubtedly have changed the dynamic in Darfur.

.

21 October 2010 Last updated at 01:06 GMT

Stone Age door unearthed by archaeologists in Zurich

The door was damaged when Neolithic villagers built a stilt house on top of it

Archaeologists have found a "fantastically preserved" 5100-year-old door in the Swiss city of Zurich.

The door could have been made in the year 3063 BC, chief archaeologist Niels Bleicher said.

The find is one of the oldest doors ever found in Europe and remarkable "because of the way the planks were held together", Mr Bleicher said.

The find was made at a dig preceding the construction of an underground car park for Zurich's opera house.

The door, which is 153cm (5ft) high and 88cm wide, was among the traces of at least five Neolithic villages believed to have existed at the site.

It is made of poplar wood and "solid and elegant" with well-preserved hinges, Mr Bleicher said.

The door would have been part of a wooden stilt house designed to keep out the cold winds blowing across Lake Zurich, the archaeologist added.

"It's a clever design that even looks good," he said.

The archaeologists plan to exhibit the door once it has been carefully removed from the ground and soaked in a special solution to prevent it from rotting.

21 October 2010 Last updated at 00:53 GMT

Belgian skydiver who killed love rival to be sentenced

Els Clottemans denied all the charges

A Belgian woman convicted of murdering her fellow skydiver and love rival by sabotaging her parachute is due to be sentenced.

Els Clottemans, aged 26, faces between three years and life in prison.

On Wednesday, a jury heard how she cut key parts of the parachutes of Els Van Doren, 38, because she was jealous of her relationship with a male skydiver.

Ms Van Doren fell 1,000m (3,200ft) to her death in November 2006. Clottemans denied the charges.

The four-week trial in the north-eastern Flemish town of Tongeren (French: Tongres) gripped the nation.

Circumstantial evidence

The guilty verdict was announced by Judge Michel Jordans on Wednesday.

He said the 12-member jury replied "Yes" to the question of Clottemans' guilt and as to whether the crime was premeditated.

However, the evidence against her was mainly circumstantial, the BBC's Jonty Bloom in Brussels reports.

Els Van Doren was 38 at the time of her death

It rested on the fact that Clottemans had the opportunity and skill to sabotage Ms Van Doren's parachute and a motive because she wanted to remove a rival for the affections of Marcel Somers - the man both women had had a relationship with.

No forensic evidence linked Clottemans to the crime and she strongly denied the charge.

Ms Van Doren died on 18 November 2006, crashing into a garden in the village of Opglabbeek after both of her parachutes failed to open.

Her fall was captured by her own helmet video camera, which only stopped recording at the moment of impact.

She had jumped over the Zwartberg area at 4,000m along with Marcel Somers and a second man from a Cessna plane. All three were experienced parachutists.

The three took each other's hands for a formation freefall they had rehearsed on the ground earlier along with Clottemans. But Clottemans missed them, having jumped a fraction too late.

A parachute bag was used as evidence in court

Clottemans was reportedly able to watch as her three fellow jumpers separated at 1,000m to open their parachutes, with Ms Van Doren trying in vain to activate hers.

"Els tried to do everything to try to save herself," Luc Deijgers, who piloted the Cessna plane, told Belgian TV.

"She tried to open the reserve parachute but it wouldn't open. That never happens."

After establishing that the victim's cords had been cut, police arrested Clottemans in January 2007.

Night together

Laying out details of the love triangle during the trial, prosecutor Patrick Boyen said that Mr Somers had entertained Ms Van Doren, a married mother-of-two, most Saturdays while often seeing Clottemans on Fridays.

Mr Somers later reportedly tried to "shake off" Clottemans.

A week before the fatal jump, the two women spent the night in his flat, Ms Van Doren sharing his bed while Clottemans slept on a mattress or sofa.

Clottemans would have had the opportunity of sabotaging the other woman's parachutes, which were in the flat at the time, prosecutors said.

Experts said it would have taken just 30 seconds to do so with scissors.

20 October 2010 Last updated at 19:53 GMT

Belgian skydiver convicted of murdering love rival

Els Clottemans strongly denied all the charges

A Belgian woman has been found guilty of murdering her love rival by sabotaging her parachute on a sky dive four years ago.

Els Clottemans, 26, was convicted after a four-week trial that gripped Belgium.

A jury heard how she cut through key parts of the parachutes of Els Van Doren, 38, because she was jealous of her relationship with a male skydiver.

Ms Van Doren fell 1,000m (3,200 ft) to her death in November 2006. Clottemans denied the charges.

Judge Michel Jordans said at the end of the trial in the north-eastern Flemish town of Tongeren (French: Tongres) that Clottemans would be sentenced in a separate hearing on Thursday.

She could now face life in prison.

No forensic evidence

Judge Jordans said that the 12-member jury replied "Yes" to the question of Clottemans' guilt and as to whether the crime was premeditated.

The evidence against her was mainly circumstantial, the BBC's Jonty Bloom in Brussels reports.

Els Van Doren was 38 at the time of her death

It rested on the fact that Clottemans had the opportunity and skill to sabotage Ms Van Doren's parachute and a motive because she wanted to remove a rival for the affections of Marcel Somers - the man both women had a relationship with.

No forensic evidence linked Clottemans to the crime and she strongly denied the charge.

Ms Van Doren died on 18 November 2006, crashing into a garden in the village of Opglabbeek after both of her parachutes failed to open.

Her fall was captured by her own helmet video camera, which only stopped recording at the moment of impact.

She had jumped over the Zwartberg area at 4,000m (13,000 ft) along with Marcel Somers and a second man from a Cessna plane. All three were experienced parachutists.

The three took each other's hands for a formation free fall they had rehearsed on the ground earlier along with Clottemans. But Clottemans missed them, having jumped a fraction too late.

A parachute bag was used as evidence in court

Clottemans was reportedly able to watch as her three fellow jumpers separated at 1,000m to open their parachutes, with Ms Van Doren trying in vain to activate hers.

"Els tried to do everything to try to save herself," Luc Deijgers, who piloted the Cessna plane, told Belgian TV.

"She tried to open the reserve parachute but it wouldn't open. That never happens."

After establishing that the victim's cords had been cut, police arrested Clottemans in January 2007.

Investigators piecing together the events leading up to the death believe Ms Clottemans wrote an anonymous letter and made anonymous phone calls to Ms Van Doren.

Laying out details of the love triangle during the trial, prosecutor Patrick Boyen said that Mr Somers had entertained Ms Van Doren, a married mother of two, most Saturdays while often seeing Clottemans on Fridays.

Mr Somers later reportedly tried to "shake off" Clottemans.

A week before the fatal jump, the two women spent the night in his flat, Ms Van Doren sharing his bed while Clottemans slept on a mattress or sofa.

Clottemans would have had the opportunity of sabotaging the other woman's parachutes, which were in the flat at the time, prosecutors said.

Experts said it would have taken just 30 seconds to do so with scissors.

24 September 2010 Last updated at 15:53 GMT

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Belgian skydiver 'murdered love rival' during jump

Els Clottemans appeared nervous as her trial got under way

A Belgian court has begun trying a woman accused of murdering her love rival by sabotaging her parachute on a sky dive four years ago.

Els Clottemans is accused of murdering Els Van Doren who fell 1,000m (3,200 ft) to her death while jumping with her and the man they both loved.

Ms Van Doren held hands in formation with her lover seconds before finding her parachute cords had been cut.

Ms Clottemans, 26, denies the charges laid against her.

Related stories

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The elementary school teacher showed no sign of emotion as prosecutor Patrick Boyen read the 68-page indictment in the courtroom in the Flemish town of Tongeren (French: Tongres).

She only spoke to confirm basic details such as her date of birth and profession while her lawyers issued a statement expressing their firm belief that their client had not killed a woman she regarded as a friend.

Helmet camera

Els Van Doren, then 38, died on 18 November 2006, crashing into a garden in the village of Opglabbeek after both of her parachutes failed to open.

Els Van Doren was 38 at the time of her death

Her horrific death fall was captured by her own helmet video camera, which only stopped recording at the moment of impact.

She had jumped over the Zwartberg area at 4,000m (13,000 ft) along with Marcel Somers and a second man. All three were experienced parachutists.

The three took each other's hands for a formation free fall they had rehearsed on the ground earlier along with Ms Clottemans, Belgium's Le Soir newspaper reports.

But Ms Clottemans missed them, having jumped a fraction too late.

The alleged murderer was reportedly able to watch as her three fellow jumpers separated at 1,000m to open their parachutes, with Ms Van Doren trying in vain to activate hers.

"Els tried to do everything to try to save herself," Luc Deijgers, who piloted the Cessna plane, told Belgian TV.

"She tried to open the reserve parachute but it wouldn't open. That never happens."

After establishing that the victim's cords had been cut, police arrested Ms Clottemans in January 2007.

Night together

A parachute bag being used as evidence was displayed in court

Investigators piecing together the events leading up to the death believe Ms Clottemans wrote an anonymous letter and made anonymous phone calls to Ms Van Doren.

Laying out details of the love triangle, Mr Boyen said for the prosecution that Mr Somers had entertained Ms Van Doren, a married mother of two, most Saturdays while often seeing Ms Clottemans on Fridays.

According to Mr Somers, quoted in the UK's Independent newspaper, he had been trying to "shake off" Ms Clottemans.

A week before the fatal jump, the two women spent the night in his flat, Ms Van Doren sharing his bed while Ms Clottemans slept on a mattress or sofa.

Ms Clottemans would have had the opportunity of sabotaging the other woman's parachutes, which were in the flat at the time, investigators say.

Experts said it would have taken just 30 seconds to do so with scissors.

More than 200 witnesses are expected to be called to the trial, due to last four weeks.

Galaxy is most distant object yet

The faintest of faint dots - a signal from the edge of the observable Universe

A tiny faint dot in a Hubble picture has been confirmed as the most distant galaxy ever detected in the Universe.

Continue reading the main story

“Start Quote

If you look at the object in the Hubble image, it really isn't much”

End Quote Matt Lehnert Observatoire de Paris

This collection of stars is so far away its light has taken more than 13 billion years to arrive at Earth.

Astronomers used the Very Large Telescope in Chile to follow up the Hubble observation and make the necessary detailed measurements.

They tell the journal Nature that we are seeing the galaxy as it was just 600 million years after the Big Bang.

"If you look at the object in the Hubble image, it really isn't much," said Dr Matt Lehnert of the Observatoire de Paris, France, and lead author on the Nature paper

"We really don't know much about it, but it looks like it is quite small - much, much smaller than our own Milky Way Galaxy. It's probably got only a tenth to a hundredth of the stars in the Milky Way. And that's part of the difficulty in observing it - if it's not big, it's not bright," he told BBC News.

The Wide Field Camera 3 was fitted to Hubble during its last servicing mission

Scientists are very keen to probe these great distances because they will learn how the early Universe evolved, and that will help them explain why the cosmos looks the way it does now.

In particular, they want to see more evidence for the very first populations of stars. These hot, blue giants would have grown out of the cold neutral gas that pervaded the young cosmos.

These behemoths would have burnt brilliant but brief lives, producing the very first heavy elements.

They would also have "fried" the neutral gas around them - ripping electrons off atoms - to produce the diffuse intergalactic plasma we still detect between nearby stars today.

So, apart from its status as a record-breaker, the newly discovered Hubble galaxy, classified as UDFy-38135539, is of keen interest because it is embedded directly in this time period - the "epoch of re-ionisation", as astronomers call it.

The galaxy was one of several interesting candidates identified in the Hubble Ultra Deep Field (UDF) image of the Fornax Constellation acquired with the telescope's new Wide Field Camera 3 last year.

As a source of light, it barely registers on the Hubble picture which was made from an exposure lasting 48 hours.

The four 8.2m telescopes of the VLT. Yepun is the far-right unit. Sinfoni is circled at its base in the inset

Astronomers knew from the UDF data that the galaxy must be very far away, but it took some exquisite measurements using the Yepun Very Large Telescope unit on Mount Paranal in the Atacama Desert to determine the precise distance.

This was done using the Sinfoni instrument attached to Yepun. The spectrograph was able to pick apart the weak infrared light and establish the degree to which it had been stretched on its long journey through space and time by the expansion of the Universe.

Using this measure, known as redshift, the astronomers could confirm that UDFy-38135539 was more than 13 billion light-years distant (a redshift of 8.55).

Dr Andy Bunker from Oxford University, UK, worked with one of the Hubble teams that first spotted the galaxy. He said Lehnert and colleagues had made a compelling case for the object's great distance.

"These things are incredibly faint and far away," he commented. "You're talking about an emission line that's a small fraction of the brightness of the night sky and you have to be very careful in your measurement; but this group is careful. The result looks convincing," he said.

It required the exquisite capabilities of the Sinfoni instrument to confirm the galaxy's great distance

A redshift of 8.55 puts the galaxy firmly within the epoch of re-ionisation.

At this early time, theory indicates, the Universe would not have been fully transparent. Much of it would have been filled with a hydrogen "fog" that absorbed the fierce ultraviolet light coming off the young galaxies.

Only as these galaxies ionised this neutral gas filling the space between them did their light sweep out across the cosmos.

One of the more puzzling aspects of the discovery is that the glow from UDFy-38135539 would not have been strong enough on its own to burrow a path through the opaque hydrogen fog.

This means there must be fainter, less massive galaxies - unseen in the Hubble UDF - helping to clear out the neighbourhood.

Professor Malcolm Bremer of Bristol University, UK, is a co-author on the Nature paper. He explained the importance of these distant objects to astronomy:

"They're beautiful probes of our understanding of galaxy formation because we're seeing them at their earliest stages and therefore, hopefully, at their simplest," he said.

"If we want to believe we understand galaxy formation and evolution, then we would want to be able to say that the observed properties in these early galaxies are what we've been predicting. We want to see the start of the process," he told BBC News.

These observations on both Hubble and the VLT push current technology to the limit.

Astronomers have other candidates of similar distance in the UDF they hope to confirm soon. However, the real breakthrough in observing the epoch of re-ionisation is probably going to have to wait until more powerful telescopes and techniques are established.

This next-generation astronomy will include Hubble's successor (the James Webb Space Telescope) and the Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) to be built near the VLT in Chile.

The ELT will catch the faintest starlight with a mirror some 42m across. That is five times the diameter of Yepun's primary mirror.

Date Krumm fails in bid to make history

October 17, 2010 -- Updated 1516 GMT (2316 HKT)

Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn took over three hours to secure her fourth WTA final victory in Japan.

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• Kimiko Date Krumm fails in her bid to become the oldest winner of a WTA Tour event
• The 40-year-old beaten by Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn in the Japan Open final
• Ana Ivanovic defeats Switzerland's Patty Schnyder to win the WTA event in Linz

(CNN) -- Japan's Kimiko Date Krumm has failed in her bid to become the oldest-ever winner of a WTA Tour event, losing in the final of the Japan Open to Thailand's Tamarine Tanasugarn.

Date Krumm, who at 40 would have beaten the record set by Billie Jean King who won a tournament in Birmingham, England, aged 39 years, seven months and 23 days, was defeated 7-5 6-7 6-1 in a marathon match lasting over three hours.

The Osaka victory gave 33-year-old Tanasugarn her fourth career title, following her victories in 2008 and 2009 at 's-Hertogenbosch in the Netherlands and in 2003 in Hyderabad, India.

Date Krumm, who had beaten top seed Samantha Stosur and third seed Shahar Peer en route to the final, told the official WTA Tour website: "I just tried my best and fought as hard as I could.

"Nobody wants to lose, so I tried everything. Now I will play some ITF events followed by the Asian Games -- so I will be continuing to play tennis for the rest of the year."

I just tried my best and fought as hard as I could.
--Kimiko Date Krumm

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Meanwhile, former French Open champion Ana Ivanovic claimed her first title in two years after defeating Patty Schnyder to win the Austrian Open in Linz.

The seventh-seeded Serb, who had failed to win a tournament since she triumphed at the same event in 2008, proved a class above the Swiss to claim a 6-1 6-2 win in just 47 minutes.

Schnyder has also now gone two years without a tournament victory -- and this defeat means she has now lost three finals in Linz following reverses in 2005 and 2007.

U.S. walks tightrope in China-Japan dispute

From Elise Labott, CNN Senior State Department Producer

September 24, 2010 -- Updated 0739 GMT (1539 HKT)

STORY HIGHLIGHTS

• NEW: Japan says it will free the captain of a Chinese fishing boat
• His vessel rammed two Japanese boats, Japan says
• China demands the captain's release, and has cut off some economic talks with Japan
• The U.S. is confronted with standing by its close ally, Japan, while not irritating China

New York (CNN) -- The Obama administration is walking a tightrope over a diplomatic dispute between China and Japan, as it seeks to curb aggressive Chinese behavior on the high seas while not alienating the Asian giant.

The latest controversy over the simmering dispute erupted when Japanese patrol officers arrested the captain and crew of a Chinese fishing boat earlier this month near disputed islands -- known as Diaoyu in China and Senkaku in Japan.

The crew was released. But the Chinese captain remains in custody, accused of ramming two Japanese boats with his vessel.

On Friday, Japan said it will release the captain, but did not offer a time frame.

The economic repercussions have been immediate. The Chinese government cut off high-level talks with Japan on coal and increased commercial flights between the countries.

The dispute also threatens planned talks on a 2008 agreement to jointly develop gas fields located near the disputed islands and in other parts of the East China Sea.

While the United States hasn't taken an official position on the claims to the islands, they are considered part of Japan based on U.S.-Japan security treaties.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters Thursday the United States "would fulfill our alliance responsibility" if the conflict escalated.

Though analysts don't think the current tension will escalate and draw in the U.S. military treaty obligations, the agreements add murkiness to an already muddy territorial dispute.

It also puts the United States in the uncomfortable position of trying to stand by its closest ally in the region, Japan, while not irritating China, a growing power that the U.S. needs for a variety of political and economic issues.

"We're watching that tension very, very carefully," Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff told reporters at the Pentagon ."Obviously we're very, very strongly in support of our ally in that region, Japan.

Both China and Japan have raised the issue with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during meetings on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly. On Thursday, during talks with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara, Clinton urged Japan to resolve the dispute through dialogue, State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley said.

The United States urges "both sides to work aggressively to resolve" their differences "as quickly as possible," Crowley told reporters in New York after the meeting.

President Barack Obama's special assistant, Jeffrey Bader, said while the U.S. government was not playing a mediating role, it was talking with both sides about the need to resolve the dispute "soon."

"These two countries have a history with each and there are nationalist sentiments in both countries that can be stirred up and could be a problem should it stagnate," he said. "We want to see China and Japan have a good relationship, a relationship with reduced friction."

Bader said the issue did not come up during President Obama's meeting Thursday with Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, where the agenda was dominated by the global economy.

After the meeting Obama called China an "outstanding partner" and said its work is "absolutely critical" in resolving the financial crisis. Obama met later Thursday with Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan.

The China-Japan dispute parallel's U.S. efforts to curb Chinese claims for territory in the South China Sea, out of fear the increasingly powerful Chinese military could seek to dominate Asian waters.

At a regional security forum in Vietnam in July, Secretary Clinton waded into thorny territorial disputes in the area, saying Washington was concerned competing claims to the territory undermined international maritime law and commerce.

While China has sought to negotiate territorial rights to the South China Sea individually with countries in the region, the nations of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the United States have called for a collaborative resolution. China maintains the disputes should not be "internationalized."

In addition to rich areas for fishing, the islands in the South China Sea are believed to have large oil and gas reserves and surround busy sea lanes shuttling resources for China's fast-growing economy. Beijing has warned America that foreign interference in the waters off its southeastern coast constitute an affront on its sovereignty.

Obama is meeting Friday with the leaders of Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Brunei, Cambodia and Laos. Along with Indonesia and Malaysia, they make up the ASEAN nations.

Bader said the United States hoped the leaders would endorse comments Clinton made in Vietnam, including recognizing the fact that peaceful resolution of the South China Sea issue was "in the interests of the entire international community," including the U.S.

Asian diplomats told CNN the United States wanted the ASEAN leaders to issue a communique after the meeting echoing Clinton's strong stand that the South China Sea issue was in the interests of the U.S., but the leaders do not want to do so, fearing it will anger China. Beijing has been working through some ASEAN countries it has better relations with to soften the document, the sources said.

"The fact so many ASEAN leaders came to New York to meet with President Obama is evidence we need America," one senior ASEAN diplomat said. "We don't need a communique to say this. That is not the Asian way."