from the bbc:

"Blair 'secretly advising Brown'

Tony Blair is giving advice to Prime Minister Gordon Brown and has told him how to win the next election, Cherie Blair has said.

Her disclosure is made in an interview with the Times newspaper to coincide with its serialisation of her autobiography, Speaking for Myself.

In one extract from the book, she reveals how her husband suffered a crisis of confidence over the Iraq war.

But she writes he decided to stay on as PM to fight for his domestic legacy."

I love these kind of headlines, i don't think it's too secret now, and I gues that was Cherie Blair's aim all the time, and it would appear the advice is not working too well right now...I suspect it is only a 'coincidence' that she is saying this now, and revealing her book now, along with the Labour government suffering terrible polls....as i said, probably coincidence...

As for Tony staying on to fight for his domestic legacy....I probably should say nothing about that.

Some aid is reaching Burma, but not the aid workers

A constitutional referendum is being held in Burma despite calls from the outside world for a postponement after last week's devastating cyclone.

Voting is under way in most of the country - but has been delayed in the worst-hit areas, including Rangoon.

The poll comes amid mounting international criticism of Burma's military rulers for their handling of the response to the crisis.

They say they will welcome overseas aid but not foreign relief workers.

The UN fears the death toll from the cyclone could reach 100,000.

The referendum has been postponed for two weeks in Rangoon, the country's main city, and the Irrawaddy delta, which took the full force of Cyclone Nargis.

The country's ruling generals say the referendum will pave the way for democratic elections in 2010, while the opposition says it is intended to tighten the generals' rule.

Why vote trumps storm for junta Burmese anger grows World wrestles with aid issue

Correspondents say many people in Burma are cynical about the vote.

"They take your name and ID number. Then they know if you give them a tick or a cross," an unnamed businessman told Reuters news agency.

Reporting on the referendum from Hlegu, 48km (30 miles) north of Rangoon, the Associated Press says turnout has been very light.

One voter, retired soldier Nyo Aye, said he had voted Yes even though he had not read the constitution.

"The government would not do anything inappropriate or bad for the country," the 65-year-old said.

Incommunicado

The Burmese generals have been criticised for their handling of the crisis in which officially 23,335 people were killed and 37,019 are missing.

Groups involved in last year's pro-democracy protests accused the junta of concentrating on a "sham constitutional referendum" instead of "putting all resources toward saving the lives" of cyclone victims.

The UN has launched a $187m (£96m) appeal for aid.

This is more an attempt at a discussion, but it is always interesting to find out who uses what and how they use it, and why they use it.

I'll start by saying i use a Nikon Coolpix E5700. It's an old digital 'prosumer' model (i bought it towards the end of its shelf life in 2005) with 5 MP sensor and 8x Zoom-Nikkor lens, with an 8.9-71.2mm (equivalent to 35-280mm in 35mm [135] format) focal range, and two ED (Extra-low Dispersion) lens elements. It is not an SLR but at the time this was the bridge between point and shoot and DSLR which a little raw. Talking of RAW this does shoot RAW and tiff as well as standard JPEG. I bought it on the strength of some very good reviews and it just feels so right to use. It has a sturdy magnesium body which i like and the buttons, whilst there are many and it takes a while to get used to them all, are well positioned which means the many options can be quickly used without going through fiddly menus. I love the wheel which allows me to move between 4 customised modes, which allows much quicker shooting between colour, video and black and white (although normally it stays on black and white!).

it took me two years before i felt i was using all the features i needed to, and using them well. I phased each feature in bit by bit so that i still enjoyed the photography, and as such I have felt that my photos and my technical side have been improving during this time. I have to say, the camera was money well spent, and although i would like a DSLR, i still love this camera and i am constantly surprised and just how well made it was and how well set up for photographers. The only downsides are battery life, focusing in low light, and the speed between shots (unless on dedicated high speed shooting).

for more info go here

pciture from digital photography review www.dpreview.com