Suspected Russian spies charged in US

US strategy expert Stephen Flanagan: 'The suspects had been under surveillance by the FBI for some years'

Ten alleged members of a Russian spy-ring have been charged in the US with acting as foreign agents.

The suspects are accused of posing as ordinary citizens, some living together as couples for years.

They were charged with conspiracy to act as unlawful agents of a foreign government, a crime which carries up to five years in prison.

A Russian foreign ministry spokesman said the allegations were contradictory.

"We are studying the information. There are a lot of contradictions," spokesman Igor Lyakin-Frolov told the AFP news agency, declining further comment.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov later said Moscow expected Washington to provide an explanation over the the spying row, Russia's Interfax news agency reports.

Nine of the alleged spies also face a charge of conspiracy to launder money, which carries a 20-year prison sentence.

An 11th suspect remains at large, according to the US justice department.

'Deep cover'

Analysis

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Kim Ghattas,
BBC News, Washington

So what were the alleged spies up to? The Department of Justice has made clear that none of the information at stake was classified. Most of what the alleged spies were after seems almost anodyne.

While the incident does not look good for the Russians, the initial US reaction has been sanguine.

Russian spy stories may be a throwback to the Cold War and sound alarming but they probably don't surprise anyone in Washington, especially not in the government.

US officials who travel to Moscow routinely turn off their BlackBerries and leave them on the plane to make sure data on their phones remains out of reach of any tech-savvy Russian intelligence agents.

Cold War meets 'burger summit'

Alleged intercepted messages in court documents suggest they were asked to find information on topics including nuclear weapons, US arms control positions, Iran, White House rumours, CIA leadership turnover, and political parties.

The US Department of Justice says eight of the suspects allegedly carried out "long-term, 'deep-cover' assignments" on US soil, working in civilian jobs so as not to arouse suspicion.

They were allegedly trained by the Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) to infiltrate policy-making circles and collect information, according to court papers filed in the US court for the southern district of New York.

They were told to befriend US officials and send information using various methods to Russian government handlers.

US officials said the spy-ring was discovered in a "multi-year investigation" by FBI agents who posed as Russian handlers and gleaned information from two of the suspects.

'Invisible ink'

Investigators say some of the agents had been using false identities since the early 1990s, using codes and engaging in advanced computer operations, including posting apparently innocent pictures on the internet which contained hidden text.

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Your education, bank accounts, car, house etc - all these serve one goal: fulfil your main mission, ie to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in US and send intels

District Court complaint District Court complaint 1 [PDF] District Court complaint 2 [PDF] The FBI's 'spy novel' allegations

The FBI also reported observing older techniques, such as messages sent by invisible ink, money being buried next to a beer-bottle marker and "brush pasts" in parks, where agents swap identical bags as they pass each other.

"You were sent to USA for long-term service trip," says one purported message to two of the suspects that was intercepted by US intelligence.

"Your education, bank accounts, car, house etc - all these serve one goal: fulfil your main mission, ie to search and develop ties in policymaking circles in US and send intels."

Generally, spies were allegedly tasked with becoming "Americanised" to be able to do this, with some pursuing university degrees, holding jobs, and joining relevant professional associations, court documents said.

The group allegedly got close to a scientist involved in designing bunker-busting bombs and a top former intelligence official.

Court appearances

Five of the suspects briefly appeared in a Manhattan federal court on Monday, where a judge ordered them to remain in prison until a preliminary hearing set for 27 July.

These included a couple known as "Richard Murphy" and "Cynthia Murphy", who were arrested in Montclair, New Jersey; Vicky Pelaez and a man known as "Juan Lazaro," who were arrested in Yonkers, New York state; and Anna Chapman, who was arrested in Manhattan, New York City.

Another three - Mikhail Semenko and a couple known as "Michael Zottoli" and "Patricia Mills" - appeared in a federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, after being arrested in Arlington, Virginia.

The final two people - a couple known as "Donald Howard Heathfield" and "Tracey Lee Ann Foley" - were arrested in Boston, Massachusetts, and appeared in a federal court in the city.

A suspect known as "Christopher R Metsos" remains at large.

All the suspects except Ms Chapman and Mr Semenko have also been charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Relations between Washington and Moscow have warmed in recent months.

Last week, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was in Washington having lunch with President Barack Obama.

A senior government official told the BBC that it was unfortunate that such activity was taking place in the US, but that it should not affect the momentum established in the relationship with Russia.

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Wikileaks - Iceland

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US to cut $4bn in Afghan aid over corruption fears

Mr Karzai's government has faced numerous allegations of corruption

US lawmakers have voted to cut almost $4bn (£2.7bn) in aid to the government of Afghanistan, after allegations of corruption.

It comes after the Wall Street Journal reported that huge sums of cash had allegedly been flown out of Kabul international airport in recent years.

Military operations and humanitarian aid will not be affected by the cuts.

But critics fear the move could threaten crucial infrastructure projects in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, Gen David Petraeus, who has replaced Gen Stanley McChrystal as the commander of US forces in Afghanistan, is on his way to brief US allies at Nato headquarters in Brussels.

He will then travel to Afghanistan to take up his new post, after he was confirmed by the US Senate on Wednesday.

'Lining pockets'

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I do not intend to appropriate one more dime... until I have confidence that US taxpayer money is not being abused to line the pockets of corrupt Afghan government officials, drug lords and terrorists

Nita Lowey US Congresswoman

US Congresswoman Nita Lowey, chair of the subcommittee responsible for aid appropriations, has demanded that an audit is carried out of billions of dollars of past funds.

She said that alleged corruption in the Afghan government made taxpayer money hard to justify.

"I do not intend to appropriate one more dime for assistance to Afghanistan until I have confidence that US taxpayer money is not being abused to line the pockets of corrupt Afghan government officials, drug lords and terrorists," Ms Lowey said.

The money could be reinstated in a few months after a review of Kabul's efforts to tackle the issue.

Republican lawmaker Mark Kirk, however, expressed concern that the slashing of funds could put important projects at risk and would not help the war effort.

He cited the example of Kandahar's electrical system, which he said was an important step to winning over the residents of the area to the US mission.

President Hamid Karzai has denied allegations of corruption by government officials, and has pledged to take a firm stance on the issue.

On Monday, the Wall Street Journal claimed that US investigators believed that "Afghan officials and their associates were sending billions of diverted US aid and logistics dollars and drug money to financial safe havens abroad".

The BBC's Jane O'Brien in Washington says that the aid cuts will send a very strong message to the Karzai government that they need to do more about corruption.

Our correspondent says that the issue is yet another blow to diplomatic relations.

Kabul has meanwhile said that international partners should shoulder some of the blame for failing to provide oversight for contracts, our correspondent adds.

The subcommittee has not cut military funds, which are to be debated in a separate bill.

Lawmakers are due to vote as early as Thursday on President Barack Obama's request for $33bn in military aid to support a surge of 30,000 troops.

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Manchester historian deciphers hidden 'Plato Code'

Manchester historian deciphers hidden 'Plato Code'

A science historian in Manchester claims to have deciphered secret messages hidden in the ancient writings of the philosopher Plato.

Dr Jay Kennedy from the University of Manchester has revealed that the legendary Greek philosopher Plato used a regular pattern of symbols to give his books a musical structure.

Plato's books had a key role in establishing the foundations of Western culture. But the existence of a so-called 'Plato Code' has long been disputed.

By unravelling Plato's 'hidden' messages, Dr Kennedy believes he has thrown a new light on the origins of science, mathematics, music, and philosophy.

Einstein

Like all great discoveries, Dr Kennedy said his own Eureka moment was partly due to 'luck.'

We now understand our roots. Plato was a key founder of Western culture. So the birth of Western thought and science looks different Dr Jay Kennedy, University of Manchester

At the University of Manchester, he happened to be teaching one course on Plato's Republic while teaching another on music and mathematics of the Ancient Greeks, when he began to see a connection.

"It was a combustible mixture," he said. "Insights fed on each other, a cascade of discoveries: it was the most exciting time of my life."

Working from the original scripts, he observed that Plato used a regular pattern of symbols, inherited from the ancient followers of Pythagoras, to give his books a structure hidden beneath the surface.

Fascinatingly, it's a musical code," he said. "Plato and the Greeks believed music was the key to mathematics and the cosmos.

"What we didn't know was that he used Greek musical scales to give his works a hidden structure and then built layers of hidden meanings beneath that."

The hidden codes reveal that Plato anticipated the Scientific Revolution 2,000 years before Isaac Newton, discovering its most important idea - the book of nature is written in the language of mathematics.

"In ancient times, many of his followers said his writings were written in symbols; in modern times that was denied," he said.

"So I've rediscovered that the Ancients were correct."

Heresy

Plato was the Einstein of Greece's Golden Age and his work founded Western culture and science.

PLATO - FATHER OF PHILOSOPHY born Athens, lived 427-347 BC founded the first 'university' called the Academy was a student of Socrates and teacher of Aristotle most famous work is The Republic laid the foundations of Western philosophy and science once said: "Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something"

But his views challenged the accepted view of the world and would have been considered a threat to Greek religion, explained Dr Kennedy, so there was good reason to conceal his views in a hidden Code.

"Plato's own teacher was executed for religious heresy," he said. "And Plato and the other followers of Pythagoras were known for hiding their doctrines.

"They wanted to replace the Olympic Gods with science and mathematics. These were dangerous views.

"So Plato wrote his stories with a fascinatingly rich and seductive surface story then, underneath, hid the messages he really wanted to convey to future generations."

So how significant is it that Plato concealed his message in code?

It's very significant," he said. "It not only changes our understanding of the past but it changes, I think, where we're heading in the future.

"We now understand our roots. Plato was a key founder of Western culture. So the birth of Western thought and science looks different.

"Today, we're having a battle with other cultures about what kind of country we're going to be. And it matters very much that we understand how we got to be a democratic country with human rights.

But it will take a generation to work out the implications," he added. "All 2,000 pages contain undetected symbols."

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Prank leaves Justin Bieber facing tour of North Korea

Page last updated at 10:31 GMT, Monday, 5 July 2010 11:31 UK

By Daniel Emery
Technology reporter, BBC News It is highly unlikely Bieber would be given permission to enter North Korea

Justin Bieber's tour page has become the target of an internet joke.

A public vote on the Canadian singer's My World Tour page asked users which country he should tour next, with no restrictions on the nations that could be voted on.

This spurred users of imageboard website 4chan to nominate North Korea, with the vote now turning viral.

There are now almost half a million votes to send Bieber to the secretive communist nation.

The contest, which ends at 0600 on 7 July, saw North Korea move from 24th to 1st place in less than two days, several thousand votes ahead of Israel.

Given the fact that almost all citizens of North Korea are denied internet access and there are restrictive controls over all media, it is unlikely that any of the votes have actually come from within the country.

A spokesman for the North Korean Embassy in London told BBC News that any application for 16-year-old Bieber to tour would be dealt with by its mission to the United Nations, although the matter would be referred to Pyongyang.

Hate campaign

Justin Bieber has been target of a number of internet pranks in recent weeks.

Last month, a post on 4chan urged users to all search for the term "Justin Bieber Syphilis" pushing it to the top of Google Trend's Hot Searches list.

It is not known if Kim Jong-il is a fan of Justin Bieber's music

And over the weekend, Justin Bieber videos on YouTube were the target for internet hackers, redirecting users to adult websites or triggering pop-up messages saying that the Canadian singer had died in a car crash.

Google temporarily suspended commenting on videos and issued a statement saying: "We took swift action to fix a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability." The vulnerability hole was patched a few hours later.

His Last FM page was also hit, with photos of the singer replaced by pornographic images.

There have also been false rumours circulating that Bieber had died, that he had joined a cult, and that his mother was offered $50,000 to pose topless in Playboy magazine.

"Let's take some time to answer some crazy (rumours)... I'm not dead," Bieber wrote in just one of his Twitter postings.

And last week he posted that "My mum is a moral woman... let's just leave that one for what it is... because that rumour just grossed and weirded me out."

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Snake bursts after gobbling gator

The predators died in the clash Enlarge Image

An unusual clash between a 6-foot (1.8m) alligator and a 13-foot (3.9m) python has left two of the deadliest predators dead in Florida's swamps.

The Burmese python tried to swallow its fearsome rival whole but then exploded.

The remains of the two giant reptiles were found by astonished rangers in the Everglades National Park.

The rangers say the find suggests that non-native Burmese pythons might even challenge alligators' leading position in the food chain in the swamps.

Clearly, if they can kill an alligator they can kill other species Prof Frank Mazzotti

The python's remains were found with the victim's tail protruding from its burst midsection. The head of the python was missing.

"Encounters like that are almost never seen in the wild... And here we are," Frank Mazzotti, a University of Florida wildlife professor, was quoted as saying by the Associated Press news agency.

"They were probably evenly matched in size. If the python got a good grip on the alligator before the alligator got a good grip on him, he could win," Professor Mazzotti said.

He said the alligator may have clawed at the python's stomach, leading it to burst.

"Clearly, if they can kill an alligator they can kill other species," Prof Mazzotti said.

He said that there had been four known encounters between the two species in the past. In the other cases, the alligator won or the battle was an apparent draw.

Burmese pythons - many of whom have been dumped by their owners - have thrived in the wet and hot climate of Florida's swamps over the past 20 years.

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Turkey threatens diplomatic break with Israel over raid

Israeli spokesman Mark Regev: "I don't want to get into a public shouting match"

Turkey has for the first time threatened to break diplomatic ties with Israel over its raid on a Gaza-bound aid flotilla in May.

Turkey's foreign minister said a break could only be averted if Israel either apologised or accepted the outcome of an international inquiry into the raid.

The Israeli government said it had nothing to apologise for.

Ankara curtailed diplomatic relations with Israel after the naval raid, in which nine Turks were killed.

Turkey - which until recently was Israel's most important Muslim ally - withdrew its ambassador and demanded that the Israelis issue an apology, agree to a United Nations inquiry and compensate the victims' families.

ANALYSIS

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Jonathan Head,
BBC News, Istanbul

Emotions are still raw enough over this incident for both sides to maintain the hardest possible line, even if behind the scenes they say they want to salvage the relationship.

Although Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu made a hardline statement, it doesn't look like a fundamental change in position.

Turkey's demands for an apology, compensation and an international inquiry have been unflinching. But Mr Davutoglu said Turkey would be satisfied if Israel's inquiry found them at fault and if Israel apologised. That seems unlikely.

The Obama administration is pushing these key US allies to make up. But there is no realistic way of this happening for some time.

A Turkish foreign ministry official told the BBC relations with Israel had hit rock bottom, but Ankara would not rush into cutting ties.

Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Turkey would be satisfied with the ongoing Israeli inquiry if that found Israel to be at fault.

Mr Davutoglu told Hurriyet newspaper: "[The Israelis] will either apologise or acknowledge an international, impartial inquiry and its conclusion. Otherwise, our diplomatic ties will be cut off."

He also said there was now a blanket ban in place on all Israeli military aircraft using Turkish airspace, not just on a case-by-case basis.

It comes just five days after a surprise meeting between Mr Davutoglu and Israeli Trade Minister Benjamin Ben Eliezer in Switzerland.

Reacting to the Turkish stance, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said: "We don't have any intention to apologise."

Foreign ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor told AFP news agency: "When you want want an apology, you don't use threats or ultimatums."

ISRAEL'S GAZA BLOCKADE

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• Banned items:
• Weapons and ammunition
• Goods with civilian/military use
• Chemicals and fertilisers
• Restricted items:
• Cement, steel and lumber more than 2cm thick

Source: Israeli ministry of foreign affairs

Israel confirms new Gaza policy

Israel says its commandos acted in self-defence after being attacked by activists wielding clubs and knives as the troops boarded one of the aid convoy ships.

Activists on board the Mavi Marmara say lethal force was used from the start of the raid by Israeli forces.

The vessel was part of a flotilla trying to break Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Amid mounting international pressure following the raid, Israel last month announced it would ease its four-year blockade of the territory.

Blockade blacklist

On Monday, Israel published a revamped blacklist of items barred from entry into the Gaza Strip.

Long-standing restrictions on allowing consumer goods into Gaza are being dropped.

Construction materials, badly needed in Gaza, will only be permitted in under supervision for use by organisations such as the UN.

The Islamist group Hamas, which controls Gaza, said the measures were "worthless" and of no use to the Palestinians living there.

TURKEY-ISRAEL FALL-OUT

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• Ankara recognises Israel in 1949
• Strong traditional military and trade ties
• Tense relations since Israel's Gaza offensive in late 2008
• Jan 2009: Turkish PM storms out of Davos forum after clash with Israeli president
• Jan 2010: Israel apologises after Israeli officials seat Turkish envoy in a lower chair as they rebuke him over portrayal of Israelis in a fictional Turkish TV series
• May 2010: Gaza raid sparks recall of Turkish envoy in Israel
• June 2010: Military flight bans considered on case-by-case basis
• July 2010: Turkey threatens to break off diplomatic ties

Has Israel lost lone Muslim ally?

Israel says its blockade is needed to prevent the supply of weapons to Hamas.

Turkey and Israel forged strong military and trade ties following Ankara's recognition of Israel in 1949.

But relations have cooled in recent years. The Turkish government headed by the AK Party - which has Islamist roots - strongly criticised the raid launched by Israel in Gaza in December 2008.

In January 2009, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan stormed out of the World Economic Forum in Davos, after a clash with Israeli President Shimon Peres.

In January this year, Israel was forced to apologise over the way its deputy foreign minister treated the Turkish ambassador.

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Should we trust the wisdom of crowds?

By Tom de Castella

A problem shared is a problem halved, goes the old saying. But what happens if you share a problem with millions of people? Are you left with a millionth of a problem? Or just lots of rubbish suggestions?

Both the British government and BP have recently called on the public to help them sort out a mess. Chancellor George Osborne asked for tips on programmes to be cut to trim the huge budget deficit, while deputy prime minister Nick Clegg wants us to suggest "silly" laws that can be repealed.

And the ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico prompted BP to call on Joe Public for ideas to stem the flow of oil after its in-house solutions failed. So far BP's corporate Mayday has elicited more than 20,000 suggestions.

This is the most ambitious online crowd sourcing exercise ever attempted by any British government. It is an entirely new way for government to engage with people. Nick Clegg Clegg calls for law repeal ideas Public 'want quangos and aid cut'

In trendy parlance, such appeals for outside help are known as crowdsourcing, a term that Mr Clegg made sure to name check in his appeal.

So what is crowdsourcing? Anthony Williams, co-author of Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changed Everything, says examples are everywhere.

Open source computer operating systems, such as Linux and Google's Android, the big rival to Apple's iPhone, are written and refined by members of the public.

Another good example of such collaboration is Wikipedia, which allows users to write and edit entries for its online encyclopaedia: "For the first time millions of people can aggregate their talent and expertise," says Williams.

"Previously the assumption had been you had to create a company. Here is something completely different."

There are numerous modern examples of how collaboration has transformed businesses, Williams says. One good recent example is that of the Canadian mining company Goldcorp, which was struggling financially and unable to find gold on its land in northern Ontario.

When a new chief executive arrived he put all its geological data online, asked for help on where the gold was located and put up $500,000 in prize money for accurate suggestions.

Striking $3bn of gold

"They got submissions from people all over the world, including people using 3D computer modelling techniques. They found $3bn worth of gold on the property and Goldcorp became one of Canada's biggest mining companies."

PERFECT MATCH Is crowdsourcing just the old employees' suggestions box reinvented? One famous legendary business story - which may be urban myth - relates how an employee suggested to the matchmaker Swan Vestas that they could have one instead of two sandpaper strips on the matchbox The company listened to the lateral thinking and reaped the benefits in lower costs

It's just one of a number of examples of how opening a problem out to the public and away from a small pool of workers can lead to huge gains, Williams says.

"These things happen a lot. You're making a problem accessible to a large range of people with a diverse range of skills. And it turns out it's not just for companies it applies to government as well."

The idea is gaining traction in the normally more conservative corridors of the public sector, says Natalie Evans, deputy director of think tank Policy Exchange.

"We now have the technology to reach a huge pool of talent and ideas from the general public in way that simply wasn't possible before. Done properly, this means we can leverage mass collaboration in a way that fosters a sense of 'public buy-in'.

"This can be particularly important where - say in the case of deciding where the axe must fall in terms of cutting public spending - there are difficult decisions to be made."

Seeking ideas is one thing? But how willing are those in power to act on the public's suggestions?

The point is neatly made in the findings of a survey published on Monday about where spending cuts should be. Some 2,000 members of the public were asked for their suggestions and one of the most popular targets was Britain's overseas aid budget. Yet this, along with healthcare, is an area the government has pledged not to touch.

Perry Walker, head of participation at the New Economics Foundation, believes crowdsourcing works well for ideas, less well for how you develop them.

PR is consultative clothing

"Brain storming works best when people don't talk to each other because people inhibit each other. But then what happens when you've got the ideas? You could have 30,000 ideas on what laws to repeal."

At this point smaller groups of committed citizens must be given a chance to filter and discuss the ideas, he says. Transparency and feedback are also crucial if the public is not to become cynical, he warns.

Geoff Mulgan, commentator and director of thinktank the Young Foundation 'Crowdsourcing is already being used extensively - the World Bank used it in Haiti, the firm Innocentive now has hundreds of thousands of scientists on tap to solve problems for a fee, and New Zealand briefly tried it for police legislation. So far reality hasn't caught up with the promise - and good strategic policy making involves deliberation, which the existing crowd-sourcing models aren't suitable for. But for more discrete and practical problem-solving it undoubtedly has a lot to offer.'

In fact, there is a question about whether what Mr Clegg and BP have done is genuine crowdsourcing at all.

Crowdsourcing, says Stephen Overell, associate director of the Work Foundation, is really about using looser, freelance forms of commissioning tasks, allowing an organisation to tap into a much wider pool of knowledge or specialist skills.

BP's effort is more about public relations - appearing to be responsive, says Overell.

"BP has handled the oil leak atrociously. So its priority is public relations first and the need for high quality information second, in that order. 20,000 ideas is unmanageable, you'll need all sorts of procedures for sorting through them. Solving this sort of issue is a profoundly technical issue that the vast majority of people are ill equipped for."

And asking for ideas in this way is not new - the employee suggestion box has been around for years and is actually far more useful than what either the government or BP is up to, he argues.

"The best ideas of how to solve a problem usually come from employees, although it's probably best done through technology now rather than a box."

But it only works if there is a genuine interest from management - "too often over time it becomes a silly gimmick that you feel you have to do."

Another sceptic is Peter Kellner, who as president of polling company YouGov, is well used to listening to the views of ordinary members of the public.

Embarrassment

He doubts Nick Clegg's call to arms will elicit anything civil servants couldn't have come up with. And what's worse, the government will end up with egg on its face.

Populist open-ended gestures like this normally end in embarrassment, says Kellner.

"The last government allowed people to put up petitions on the Number 10 website and it quickly got out of hand with Jeremy Clarkson for prime minister. It's an invitation to idiocy and madness and an opportunity for lobby groups."

Surprisingly, Anthony Williams, whose follow up to Wikinomics is published later this year, agrees.

"The White House tried crowdsourcing when Obama first came in. They asked the public what its main priorities should be. Legalising marijuana came up number one."

For that reason, the term crowdsourcing has become unpopular with some of those like Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales who one would expect to support it.

"The problem with the term is the notion of a crowd - this amorphous crowd has no individual perspective. There's value in mass participation but where possible the people need some expertise. We just call it collaboration frankly."

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Malaria: a major global killer

Anopheles mosquitoes spread malaria

Malaria - the disease that singer Cheryl Cole has been admitted to hospital with - kills more than a million people a year and is second only to tuberculosis in its impact on world health.

The parasitic disease is present in 90 countries and infects one in 10 of the world's population - mainly people living in Africa, India, Brazil, Sri Lanka, Vietnam, Colombia and the Solomon Islands. There are four main types of malaria, all spread via mosquitoes.

Ninety per cent of all malaria cases are in sub-Saharan Africa where it is the main cause of death and a major threat to child health. Worldwide, a child dies of malaria every 30 seconds. Pregnant women are also particularly vulnerable to the disease, which is curable if diagnosed early.

The economic impact of the disease is immense, causing many lost days of work and loss of tourism and investment.

Around 2,000 people a year in the UK get infected with malaria when abroad.

But it is preventable and curable.

What are the symptoms?

Most people survive a bout of malaria after a 10-20 day illness, but it is important to spot the symptoms early. The first symptoms include a headache, aching muscles and weakness or a lack of energy. This means it can be confused for other conditions like exhaustion or flu.

The classic sign of the infection is a high fever, followed a few hours later by chills. Two to four days later, this cycle is repeated.

Symptoms can appear any time from six days after being bitten by a mosquito carrying the malaria parasite. The time it takes symptoms to appear - the incubation period - can vary with the type of parasite that the mosquito was carrying.

The type of parasite will also determine whether the disease will be mild or severe.

Anyone can catch malaria and even the young and fit can die from a serious infection.

The most serious forms of the disease can affect the kidneys and brain and can cause anaemia, coma and death.

Why has malaria increased?

After years spent bringing the disease under control, the number of people dying from malaria is now higher than it was 30 years ago and it has spread to new countries.

Although it is mainly a disease of tropical and sub-tropical countries, malaria has been identified in eastern European countries such as Russia and Turkey and recently a handful of cases were diagnosed in the US.

The increase in cases is due to a number of factors:

• the disease is becoming resistant to traditional treatments. In some areas of Asia, none of the major drugs is effective in fighting malaria.
• mosquitoes are developing resistance to the main insecticides which have been used to control the spread of the disease.
• political and social upheaval has led to large numbers of people moving into new areas where disease is spread more easily.
• changes to the environment, caused by road-building, mining and irrigation projects, have created a good breeding ground for malaria.

In many countries, budget restraints have led to malaria control programmes being cut back or abandoned.

How can malaria be contained?

A great deal has been spent on malaria research. The main thrust of study is towards developing a cheap vaccine.

None has yet been developed which is approved for general use.

Continue reading the main story

When I mentioned the Solomon Islands, it was a Eureka moment. As someone who had spent a number of years in Africa, she spotted the malarial signs

Katie Fraser BBC News Anti-malarial pills didn't stop me getting the disease

The spread of the disease can be reduced by cutting down the mosquito population, for example by filling ditches where mosquitoes breed.

Early diagnosis can lead to successful treatment so education in spotting the symptoms of malaria is important. The spread of the disease can also be tracked and preparations made.

Bednets coated in insecticide have also reduced the incidence of the disease by up to 35%, according to the World Health Organization.

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