News Headlines - 03 February 2011

▽Fry's Japan visit axed over QI row - The Press Association
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5gtafzu2dmWMCfJ7lFkRIiSxFiE6Q?docId=N0539761296759004333A
Stephen Fry has dropped plans to film in Japan for a new BBC series following a furore caused by his panel show QI.
The broadcaster and wit was due to visit the country for his forthcoming series Planet Word about language.
But the backlash created by a light-hearted discussion of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki - which led to a BBC apology - has meant the planned trip has now been shelved.

▽Supreme Court says tweeting is okay - Techwatch
http://www.techwatch.co.uk/2011/02/03/supreme-court-says-tweeting-is-okay/
The Supreme Court doesn’t use witnesses or jurors, so there isn’t really any reason why what is said in court can’t immediately be placed in the public domain via a swift tweet from a journalist or member of the public’s handset (or indeed any other type of instant message).

▽Liverpool pulls out of Cameron's Big Society - Reuters
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/02/03/uk-britain-bigsociety-idUKTRE7127KK20110203
Liverpool City Council said on Thursday it was withdrawing from Prime Minister David Cameron's flagship Big Society project after losing 100 million pounds of central government funding.

▽Vodafone: We were forced to send pro-Mubarak texts - Wireless Week
http://www.wirelessweek.com/News/Feeds/2011/02/wireless-vodafone-we-were-forced-to-send-pro-mubarak-texts/
The Egyptian government of President Hosni Mubarak forced Vodafone to send out prescripted, propagandistic text messages during the country's recent unrest, the carrier said today in a statement on its Web site.

▽Italian MPs block search request in Berlusconi sex case - BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-12361443
Italy's parliament has rejected a search request by prosecutors looking into allegations that Silvio Berlusconi had sex with an under-age prostitute.