The intelligent number plate (INP) system, along with several other IT projects, will remain on hold as the Gauteng transport department runs short on resources and turns its attention to other key projects. Bregue watches While the department says projects under the Intelligent Transport System (ITS) are key to cutting costs, most IT projects will be delayed due to a shortage of funds and skills, as well as other challenges. Gauteng roads and transport MEC Bheki Nkosi says that, despite the role the ITS initiatives play in transforming transport systems, many challenges still remained. Corum watches “The projects continue to face challenges other than resources. [But] there will be delays in some of the projects due to resource constraints,” he adds. The ITS involves the integration and supply of information through information and communication technologies. The INP system forms part of the ITS and has not made any significant progress since it was announced in 2007. The ITS is divided into several projects, including an integrated safety and security system, ATM surveillance, interoperable/integrated fair management, intelligent number plates, integrated revenue management system and document management system. Most of these projects are now expected to be delayed. Concord watches The department declined to confirm how much the INP project was costing and what additional resources for delayed projects were required. The INP was previously funded from the province's R75 million integrated safety and security budget.

TAIPEI, Aug 10: At least 12 people were confirmed dead and 52 others

were missing in Taiwan on Monday after Typhoon Morakot caused the

island’s worst flooding in half a century, the rescue services said,

reports AFP.
The military was also trying to rescue thousands of people cut off by

fallen bridges or raging rivers after the typhoon dumped a record 2.5

metres (100 inches) of rain on the island before it headed for the

coast of mainland China.
At least 32 people were also injured as Morakot, which means emerald in

Thai, lashed the island with powerful winds and rain, disrupting

railway and road traffic and bringing down bridges.
In central and southern Taiwan heavy rain caused widespread floods and

mudslides, particularly in the county of Pingtung, where thousands of

people were trapped in three coastal townships.
In Kaohsiung county, a bridge collapsed, cutting off road access to a

remote village of 1,300 residents.
Local television reported that 200 homes in the village, Hsiaolin, are

believed to have been buried in a mudslide.
Footage showed rescuers using a helicopter to pick up an elderly woman

and her son trapped in the mud.

 KABUL, Aug 9: A British soldier and three Afghan troopers have been killed in suspected insurgent bomb blasts in southern Afghanistan, the military said Sunday, as

security forces braced for the August 20 elections, reports AP.
The British soldier, who was serving with NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), was killed by an improvised explosive device (IED) Saturday, ISAF said in a

statement.
Defence officials in London confirmed the attack in the province of Helmand, a major Taliban bastion where British and US forces have been trying to flush out insurgents so that

Afghans can vote later this month.
Such homemade bombs are the main weapon used against security forces by the extremist militants.
Twenty-seven British troops have been killed since the start of July and the spike in deaths has revived debate in Britain about British involvement in Afghanistan and the

standard of equipment available to protect troops.

Speakers at a function here Friday paid rich tributes to National Professor Dr MR Khan, saying that his contribution to the field of medical science, especially

pediatrics, will be ever remembered, reports BSS.
“Some people should get long life for the need of the world, and MR Khan, an internationally reputed child specialist, is such a type of personality,” they said. The August 1,

the birthday of MR Khan, is observed as the `Child Services Day’ each year to make his birthday memorable.
Shishu Sasthya Foundation Hospital arranged the function in its office at Mirpur on the occasion of the 82nd birth anniversary of Prof Khan and the Child Services Day as well.
Vice-Chancellor of South East University Dr M Shamsher Ali attended the function as the chief, while President of Ahsania Mission Kazi Rafiqul Alam as the special guest.
Pro-Vice Chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Dr Mohammad Shahidullah, former chairman of National Board of Revenue (NBR) MA Mazid, President of Bangladesh

Paediatric Association Abdul Hannan, Professor Ekhlasur Rahman and Member-Secretary of the `Child Services Day’ Observance Committee Dr AKM Shamsuzzaman took part in the

discussion on the life and works of Prof Khan.

Latino pride swept across the city yesterday after Sonia Sotomayor's historic climb from a Bronx hous ing project to a seat on the nation's highest court was completed with her

confirmation by the US Senate.

The Bronx-born, Ivy League-educated Soto mayor, a federal ap peals-court judge be fore yesterday's highly partisan 68-to-31 vote, be comes the first His panic and just the third

woman to serve on the Su preme Court.

"This is incred ible -- a historic moment not just for Puerto Ricans and Hispanics, but for all Ameri cans," Rep. Nydia Velazquez (D- Brooklyn and Manhattan) said.

At the Bronx dale Houses, where Sotomayor, a daughter of Puerto Rican par ents, was raised, residents rejoiced over her success.

"Praise God. That is beautiful. It's so nice to know someone from this area made it," said Audrey Donely, 74, whose children grew up with Sotomayor.

A few blocks away, at the Blessed Sacrament Catholic School, where Sotomayor once attended, 13-year-old Jordan Bruno Swan said, "If she can do it, we can do it."

Monsignor James White was in a neighborhood pharmacy when customers erupted into cheers of "Viva Puerto Rico" after the vote was announced.

President Obama praised the Senate for "breaking another barrier and moving us yet another step closer to a more perfect union."

He called Sotomayor 10 minutes after the vote and, when she picked up, he asked, "Is this Madame Justice?"

Then he congratulated her.

Sotomayor, along with hundreds of fellow judges and court employees -- many wearing buttons saying, "Justice Sonia" -- watched the vote in a conference room at the Manhattan

federal courthouse, where she has been working.

A round of applause erupted after her confirmation. Moments later, Sotomayor got a call on her cellphone from her mother, Celina.

"Mami, I have people here, she said.

She continued speaking briefly in Spanish before hanging up.

She also got a call from her brother, Juan, a doctor in Syracuse, who said, "Congratulations, big sister, I love you. I'm proud of you."

Last night, at a party in her Greenwich Village home, the jurist told about 20 close friends, "I feel like the luckiest woman in the world."

At one point, Sotomayor -- who's credited with saving baseball with a decision that ended the 1994 players' strike -- announced she wanted to know the Yankee score, turned on

her TV for a while and clearly enjoyed watching her team crush the Red Sox.

She vowed the first time she gets a break from her new job, "I'm going to go to a Yankee game."

The 55-year-old Sotomayor was educated at Princeton University and Yale Law School before spending 17 years as a federal judge.

Facing a blistering attack from Mayor Bloomberg over Ground Zero

delays, Port Authority officials yesterday insisted that they've met

virtually all of their rebuilding milestones for the second quarter of

the year, including work on the Freedom Tower.

Also known as 1 WTC, the Freedom Tower is on schedule for its 2013

completion, officials from the PA and builder, Tishman Construction,

said yesterday, despite claims earlier this week that the tower is

years behind schedule.

"One World Trade Center will be completed by 2013 in accordance with

the current schedule that Tishman assisted the Port Authority in

creating. Steel is already rising above street level and is visible

along West Street," said Tishman spokesman John Gallagher.

The storm shut down the University of Louisville, where about a dozen buildings were without power and a dozen more had some flooding on the main campus, said university

spokesman Mark Hebert. Dozens of university of employees were evacuated, he said.
Floodwaters gushed over guardrails on Interstate 65, bringing traffic to a standstill in Clark County, Ind., across the Ohio River from Louisville.
National Weather Service hydrologist Mike Callahan said the Rubbertown area in western Louisville was swamped by more than 6 inches of rain in three hours Tuesday morning.

Callahan said the slow-moving storm "went right into Louisville and just sat there."
Craig Buthod, director of Louisville's public library system, said 3 1/2 feet of water inundated the main library's lower level. He said tens of thousands of books were lost and

the library was forced to close. He said staff vehicles and bookmobiles were also flooded.
In Indiana, police and state conservation officers rescued several people, mostly stranded motorists caught in high waters, said spokesman John Erickson of the Indiana

Department of Homeland Security.
Duke Energy reported more than 24,000 customers without power just after noon, including nearly 14,000 in western Indiana.
A flash flood warning was in effect into the afternoon for Louisville and other parts of the metro area, and forecasters said the region could be hit by more thunderstorms in

the afternoon.

Jonathan Blow's Braid is widely regarded as one of the best games of 2008, an accomplishment made all the more significant by the fact that it saw first run as a downloadable title through Xbox Live. Having since expanded to the PC and Mac desktop platforms, it appears as if Blow's story-driven puzzle-platformer will also see release on the PlayStation 3, courtesy of Penny Arcade Adventures developer Hothead Games.
The news comes by way of the Unterhaltungssoftware Selbstkontrolle (USK), otherwise known as Germany's game software rating board. According to a listing in the USK's online database, Hothead Games will serve as the game's publisher on the PlayStation 3. (Microsoft Game Studios published the game on Xbox Live.) The game was also given the most inclusive age ranking possible in the USK's system, indicating Braid was not submit in playable form.

Responding to requests for comment, a Hothead Games representative confirmed that the studio is indeed prepping Braid for release through the PlayStation Network in North America and Europe. Unfortunately, the rep also noted that Hothead has yet to determine when the game when be available.

The rating comes as the industry gears up for GamesCom, Europe's newest industry event sponsored by Germany's Bundesverband Interaktive Unterhaltungssoftware (German Federal Association for Entertainment Software). In 2007, the BIU announced that it would be pulling its support from the Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany, dooming that show and in the process establishing GamesCom in the more cosmopolitan city of Cologne. GamesCom is set to run August 19-23.

SHANGHAI, Aug 3 (Reuters) - Everbright Securities Co, which is raising as much as $1.6 billion in an initial public offering in Shanghai, plans to expand overseas and diversify businesses to support growth, its president said on Monday.

Everbright Securities may consolidate securities businesses within its parent Everbright Group, China's second-biggest financial conglomerate, and will set up a subsidiary in Hong Kong as soon as possible, Xu Haoming said.

"Everbright Group has rich securities resources in Hong Kong, so it's an option for us to consolidate brokerage, asset management and underwriting businesses within the group," Xu said during a road show to retail investors.

Affiliate and shareholder China Everbright Ltd (0165.HK) currently operates investment banking and asset management business in Hong Kong.

Everbright, China's 10th biggest brokerage by market share, is raising funds to compete more effectively with bigger rivals such as China International Capital Corp (CICC) and Citic Securities Co.

The Shanghai-based brokerage will use the proceeds to grow its nascent private equity unit, add brokerage outlets and expand its underwriting market share to more than 5 percent. It is also preparing for financial innovations such as index futures.

Broadening revenue streams is important for Everbright, as fiercer competition erodes margins for brokerage businesses while CICC and Citic dominate the underwriting market for big IPOs.

"We will use the proceeds...to fully transform our growth models," Chairman Tang Shuangning said during the same event. "We will consolidate and expand our traditional businesses while fully embracing innovation and exploring overseas opportunities."

Everbright Securities, which controls a venture with Prudential Financial Inc (PRU.N), and owns stakes in Dacheng Fund Management Co, aims to have its fully-owned asset management business, President Xu said.

The brokerage said late on Sunday that it plans to sell up to 520 million shares, or 15.21 percent of its enlarged capital, at 19 to 21.08 yuan apiece, pricing its IPO at 52.78 to 58.56 times the company's 2008 earnings.

When asked if the ratio was too high, Gui Shuifa, president of underwriter Oriental Securities said: "2008 is the most difficult year for brokerages. If we look back at the end of 2009, the price/earnings ratio for Everbright Securities should be reasonable." (US$1=6.832 Yuan)

Former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her husband, Todd, rushed to deny stories of marital strife today after bloggers ignited an Internet firestorm over divorce rumors.

Two Alaska bloggers posted items attributed to unnamed sources that the couple would divorce.

Divorce was expected after infidelities on both sides, the bloggers claimed. Palin has been the subject of gossip since abruptly stepping down from office last month, said one

local source.

Palin attorney Thomas Van Flein blasted the "vicious" rumor as totally false.

"I spoke to Sarah and Todd this morning. They are not getting a divorce," he said in a press release.

And a statement on Palin's Facebook page said the Palins "remain married [and] committed to each other and their family."

It looks like there won't be a browserless version of Windows 7, after all.

Microsoft said late Friday that it won't ship the Windows 7 "E" version of Windows even though Europe has yet to sign off on its revised plan. The plan calls for the company to ship Windows 7 with Internet Explorer, but present a ballot screen in which users in Europe can decide whether they want Internet Explorer or another browser.

The software maker had originally proposed shipping Windows 7 in Europe without a browser at all--the so-called "E" version of the operating system. However, European regulators indicated that might not satisfy its concerns.

Microsoft announced last week that it was open to the "ballot screen," but said that it would wait to can the browserless "E" version until European regulators approved its plan.

The software maker said late Friday that it decided to ship the same version of Windows 7 for Europe after PC makers complained that having to use the browserless version of Windows 7 for a short period of time would be a pain.

"In the wake of last week's developments, as well as continuing feedback on Windows 7 E that we have received from computer manufacturers and other business partners, I'm pleased to report that we will ship the same version of Windows 7 in Europe in October that we will ship in the rest of the world," deputy general counsel Dave Heiner said in a statement.

The commission had said it "welcomed" Microsoft's move, also giving the software maker some confidence that it could ship Windows 7 with the browser included. If the commission accepts Microsoft's proposal, it will fully implement that proposed ballot screen to Windows 7 buyers in Europe.

"One reason we decided not to ship Windows 7 'E' is concerns raised by computer manufacturers and partners," Heiner said. "Several worried about the complexity of changing the version of Windows that we ship in Europe if our ballot screen proposal is ultimately accepted by the Commission and we stop selling Windows 7 'E'. Computer manufacturers and our partners also warned that introducing Windows 7 'E', only to later replace it with a version of Windows 7 that includes IE, could confuse consumers about what version of Windows to buy with their PCs."

The move also solved a challenge for Vista users in Europe, who under the previous plan would have had to do a clean install to move to Windows 7. It also allows Microsoft to sell an "upgrade version" of Windows 7 in Europe. Microsoft had previously said it would only sell a full version of the OS, though it had said it would sell that at the upgrade price, at least for a time.

Those who pre-ordered Windows 7 "E" through a recent discount offer will get the full version, as Microsoft had promised. However, Microsoft plans to now sell Windows 7 upgrades in Europe and also offer a higher-priced full version (for those without an earlier copy of Windows)--similar to what it is doing in the rest of the world.

- (HealthDay News) -- Hemorrhoids are often painful swollen veins near

the anus, the U.S. National Digestive Diseases Information

Clearinghouse (NDDIC) says.

Related Articles
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They commonly are triggered by straining during bowel movements, the

effects of pregnancy or childbirth, or constipation.

To relieve the pain of hemorrhoids, the NDDIC suggests soaking in a

bathtub of warm water for about 10 minutes, several times daily. Use of

a hemorrhoid cream or a suppository also can help relieve symptoms.

You can help lower your risk of hemorrhoids by drinking plenty of water

and eating lots of fiber. Regular exercise can also help soften stools

and make bowel movements easier.

The release of Michael Jackson's autopsy results have been delayed

until next week, the Los Angeles County coroner's office has said.

The results were due to be revealed this week, amid speculation about

the possible role prescription drugs played in the singer's death.

County coroner assistant chief Ed Winter did not discuss the reasons

for the delay.

Jackson died at his rented home in Los Angeles on 25 June, aged 50.

Manslaughter investigation

Following the singer's death, coroner spokesman Craig Harvey said

preliminary results showed there was no indication of any external

trauma or foul play, but said the cause of death had been deferred.

He confirmed Jackson had been taking some prescription medication, but

did not give any further details.

Reports suggest the investigation around the star's death is focusing

on his use of powerful painkilling drugs.

On Tuesday, police searched the Las Vegas home and offices of Jackson's

doctor, Conrad Murray, as part of a manslaughter investigation into the

singer's death.

Dr Murray's lawyer said officials, who were looking for Jackson's

medical records, seized mobile phones and a computer hard drive.