British Composer Geoffrey Burgon Dead

British Composer Geoffrey Burgon Dies at 69.

Geoffrey Burgon News Updates! Geoffrey Burgon, the British composer whose soundtrack for the television production of "Brideshead Revisited" became a hit recording, has died at age 69, his publisher said.

Burgon also contributed to Monty Python's "Life of Brian" and produced music for "Dr. Who," ''Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," ''The Chronicles of Narnia" and other productions.

Burgon died Tuesday after a short illness, according to an announcement from his publisher, Chester Music.

Burgon's score for the television adaptation of "Brideshead" sold 100,000 copies.

He first gained attention in 1976 when his "Requiem" was performed at the Three Choirs Festival in western England.

Burgon won an Ivor Novello award in 1979 for "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy," which included a memorable version of the "Nunc Dimittis"; and another two years later for "Brideshead." He also won BAFTA awards more recently for his music for "The Forsyte Saga" and "Longitude."

Other works included church music, settings of words by John Donne and St. John of the Cross, a piano concerto for Joanna MacGregor in 1997 and an opera, "Hard Times," based on the Charles Dickens novel.

He is survived by his wife, their son and a son and a daughter from a previous marriage.

ELO cellist dead

ELO cellist killed by hay bale in freak van Devon crash

An early member of British rock group ELO was killed when his van was crushed by a bale of hay, police said.

Cellist Mike Edwards, 62, died instantly in the accident on the A381 in Halwell, Devon, on Friday.

Police are investigating if the 600kg bale fell from a tractor on nearby farmland before rolling on to the road.

Mr Edwards was identified using photographs and YouTube footage but police are trying to contact his family to carry out a formal identification.

Officers believe the musician swerved into another vehicle as he was struck at about 1230 BST. The other driver was not hurt.

Sgt Steve Walker, of Devon and Cornwall police traffic unit, said: "This was a tragic accident and we have now identified the victim as Michael Edwards, a founder member of ELO.

"We have used photographs and YouTube footage to identify him but we now need help contacting his family for formal identification.

"We don't believe he was ever married and we have identified an ex-girlfriend but she is currently abroad."

Officers are trying to contact a man named David in the Yorkshire area who is believed to be Mr Edwards' brother.

Mr Edwards is understood to have no immediate family but may have taught cello in Devon.

He was with the Birmingham band from 1972 to 1975.

London Film Festival Special

Carey Mulligan drama to open London Film Festival.

Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley's new film Never Let Me Go will launch this year's BFI London Film Festival on 13 October.

The drama, directed by Mark Romanek, tells the tale of former boarding school pupils who confront their sheltered pasts.

It co-stars new Spider-Man star Andrew Garfield and is based on the novel by Kazuo Ishiguro.

The full festival programme will be announced on 8 September.

Never Let Me Go was adapted for the screen by Alex Garland - previously known for his novels The Beach and The Tesseract, and his screenplays for Danny Boyle's films Sunshine and 28 Days Later.

Its main characters Kathy (Mulligan), Tommy (Garfield) and Ruth (Knightley) spend their childhood at Hailsham, a seemingly idyllic English boarding school, where they discover a dark secret about their future.

The stars of the film are expected to attend the opening night screening, which will be the film's European premiere.

Sandra Hebron, the festival's artistic director, said Never Let Me Go combined "impeccable film making, outstanding performances and a deeply moving story".

Director Mark Romanek added: "I think I can speak for the entire cast and crew when I say that we are deeply honoured and excited to have been selected to open this year's festival.

"For me personally, it seems the perfect way to celebrate the conclusion of an incredible filmmaking experience in the UK."

The film will be released in the UK on 14 January, 2011.

The London Film Festival runs from 13-28 October, 2010.

Cameron and Zardari holding talks

Cameron and Zardari holding talks at Chequers.

Prime Minister David Cameron and President Zardari of Pakistan are trying to patch up their differences in formal talks at Chequers.

They will try to smooth tensions after the PM's recent comments that elements in Pakistan promoted terrorism.

On Thursday night, Mr Zardari was Mr Cameron's guest at a private dinner at the country residence.

Topics for discussion will include counter-terrorism co-operation, the Nato campaign in Afghanistan and trade.

The prime minister caused anger in Pakistan last week when, during a trip to India, he said elements in Pakistan should not be allowed to "promote the export of terror whether to India, whether to Afghanistan or to anywhere else in the world".

Mr Cameron continues to stand by his comments but Mr Zardari said he would personally challenge him over the remarks during his visit.

On Tuesday, Mr Zardari told French newspaper Le Monde the battle for the hearts and minds of ordinary Afghan people had already been lost.

He is also under intense pressure to show he can talk tough to the British prime minister and justify his absence from his country, at a time when devastating floods have caused a national tragedy.

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Pak, terrorism dominate Indo-UK talks

British Prime Minister David Cameron ended his India visit after some serious Pakistan bashing along with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh.

The UK-India talks in New Delhi on Thursday ended with Pakistan and terrorism topping the agenda. The Indian Prime Minister also commented on Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi's statements during the recent Indo-Pak talks in Islamabad. At the joint briefing withCameron, the focus was Pakistan where Singh slammed Qureshi for the disastrous manner in which the last Indo-Pak foreign ministers' dialogue ended.

"The press conference by Pakistani Foreign Minister could have been avoided because it detracts from a large number of agreements reached between our foreign ministers. Invitation to Mr Qureshi to visit India will be taken and we will sooner or later be able to restore the dialogue to a proper sense," said Singh.

He also kept the focus on terrorism and Pakistan's perfidy in backing terror groups.

"There is agreement that no cause is good enough to justify the resort to terrorism. I hope that the Government of Pakistan will honour its commitment to not allow its territory to be used for acts of terrorism against India," he added.

Cameron, too, said that terrorism was the biggest threat to the world.

"Reality of terrorism is there in the enormous losses in Mumbai and London, and we see every week in Afghanistan. In Pakistan the existence of terror groups is there. Need to work within Pakistan to crack down on terror groups that cause so much suffering," said Cameron.

Cameron's backing away ever so subtly from Wednesday's broadside against Islamabad is also a signal of his determination to involve Pakistan in plans that would see the withdrawal of all British troops from Afghanistan by 2014. The plan evidently has US President Barack Obama's approval.

Pakistan was definitely the elephant in the root as the Indian and British prime ministers came out for the press conference. It wasn't just the rap Singh administered to Qureshi but also the reiteration byCameron that it is not acceptable for Pakistan to have terror groups operating on its soil.

BP puts oil spill cost at $32.2bn

BP to set aside $32.2bn to cover oil spill costs.

BP says it has set aside $32.2bn (£20.8bn) to cover the costs linked to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The company said the charge gave it a loss of $17bn for the three months between April and June - a UK record.

BP's chairman said the costs estimate was based on the company's belief that it was not grossly negligent, and added the bill could be higher. BP also said Bob Dudley, head of the Gulf clean-up operation, will replace Tony Hayward as chief executive

Mr Hayward will leave his post by mutual agreement in October. He is likely to retain a role within the company. BP plans to nominate him as a non-executive director of its Russian joint venture, TNK-BP.

BP also announced it would increase its asset sales over the next 18 months to $30bn, a total that includes the $7bn-worth earmarked for sale last week. The $32.2bn cost of the clean-up includes the $20bn already set aside in an escrow account for compensation claims.

"That estimate is also based on our belief that we are not grossly negligent," BP chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg told the BBC's business editor Robert Peston.

"Of course we will not know precisely because it depends on how many claims are coming in and [other] things that could happen."

But he insisted that the company was in good financial shape, with strong cashflow. "It's of course a huge loss that overshadows everything else, but the underlying performance of the company is actually strong," he told the BBC.

"There is no worry about our financial position and our ability to get through this. It's of course a tragedy and it has large consequences, but we have no doubt that we will be able to rebuild the company," he said.

Stripping out the oil spill costs, BP made a second quarter profit, on a replacement cost basis, of $5bn, compared with $2.9bn for the second quarter of 2009. Bob Dudley, currently managing director and a US citizen, told ABC's Good Morning America programme, that BP would become a leaner organisation.

"It will be smaller and financially, it will grow. We're going to learn a lot from this incident and this accident... There's no question that we will change as a company."

The announcements were welcomed by most investors for their clear-cut approach. Peter Hitchens, of Panmure Gordon stockbrokers, said: "It's basically a kitchen sink job...

"I think it's the board trying to wipe the slate clean."

News Credit : bbc.co.uk/news/business

David Cameron Is New British Prime Minister

Cameron is new British PM after big concessions to Lib Dems

Conservative David Cameron tonight became Britain's new prime minister, bringing to an end days of tense political negotiations and 13 years of a Labour Party government.

"Her Majesty the Queen has asked me to form a new government and I have accepted," Cameron told reporters outside his new home in Downing Street.

This news was greeted warmly by the White House. President Obama phoned Cameron promptly saying, "The United States has no closer friend and ally than the United Kingdom, and I reiterated my deep and personal commitment to the special relationship between our two countries."

Obama said he had invited the Camerons to the White House this summer.

At 43 the Conservative party leader will be the country's youngest prime minister in almost two centuries, and, as he acknowledges, has a daunting task ahead.

"This is going to be hard and difficult work," he told reporters as he laid out his plan to form a coalition with Britain's third party, the Liberal Democrats.

"I aim to form a proper and full coalition between the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats," he said. "I believe that is the right way to provide this country with the strong, the stable, the good and decent government that I think we need so badly."

Cameron's statement came shortly after Prime Minister Gordon Brown travelled to Buckingham Palace to submit his resignation to the queen, and in effect acknowledged defeat.

The announcement brings to an end five fraught days of negotiating among Britain's three main parties, after last week's elections yielded no clear winner and Britain's first hung parliament for 36 years.

Nick Clegg will act as Cameron's deputy prime minister. "It has been agreed that five Cabinet posts will be filled by Liberal Democrats, including the appointment of Nick Clegg" Downing Street confirmed tonight.

This will be the first coalition government in the U.K. since 1945.

"I think the last couple of days have been an incredible couple of days. It's been a roller-coaster. I can't remember anything like this in British politics since World War Two. This is new, uncharted territory for British politics," Wyn Grant, politics professor at Warwick University, told Reuters.

The markets and the electorate were both growing restless at the lack of agreement between the parties.

"I'm as impatient as anybody else to get on with this, to resolve matters one way or another," Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrat leader and kingmaker, told reporters outside his house this morning.