A significant degree of the current political frictions between China and Russia on the one hand and the United States on the other has arisen due to the conquest of space. NASA’s ‘Satellite Situation Report‘ estimates that there are roughly 25,000 man made objects currently orbiting our planet. Very recently both the United States and China have launched missiles into space that have subsequently destroyed satellites. Despite varying degrees of international condemnation both countries confirm that they are committed to the peaceful development of outer space.

Britain’s entrance into the furore of space politics was not without controversy. Previously Britain had relied heavily upon the American satellite system for intelligence but during the Falkland’s war Britain realised that this system was not sufficient for their needs. Consequently the country planned to launch it’s first spy satellite to intercept radio signals from Russia and Europe, codenamed Zircon. The Zircon project was eventually canceled in 1987 due to spiraling costs. However a journalist named Duncan Campbell that was working for both New Statesman Magazine and the BBC unearthed some information that the Zircon project had been hidden from Parliament, and estimated it was costing the government £100 million a year. The BBC became increasingly nervous about the content of a documentary that Campbell was producing regarding Zircon and after consultation with the government shelved the project on the grounds of national security. Despite this fact Campbell went on to publish the documentary’s findings in New Statesman and the secret Zircon project then became public knowledge.

Special Branch and the Police raided BBC offices in Glasgow and Duncan Campbell’s home. The contents of the documentary were obtained by opposition MP Robin Cook who planned to show the video to MPs in the House of Commons. The Attorney General managed to place an injunction on the showing of the video and public interest in the whole affair began to disappear. The whole debacle serves to illustrate how sensitive the issue of civil rights and space politics can be.

The Spoken Word has two programmes on the Zircon Project:

• The Nine O’Clock News - The Zircon Affair

This programme contains highlights from an intense Prime Minister’s Question Time in which Margaret Thatcher is attacked by opposition parties for her role in the Zircon Affair.

• The Zircon Affair

This is a video programme that shows the beginning of the original Zircon documentary that was banned under the Official Secrets Act on the grounds of National Security.

Photographs Courtesy of: picadillywilson and Huzhead

China, The United States, The United Kingdom and the rest of the world simply watch the horrific situation in Zimbabwe unfold from a distance. They seem to do little but release statements of condemnation or increase sanctions. The political world remains silent but the army of bloggers within Zimbabwe are constantly fighting against President Mugabe’s actions by posting their comments, experiences and stories from within the Southern African country.

These African bloggers illustrate the power that a blog can have and the power that an individual can wield against a nation that has a government run press and media and has banned international news organisations such as the BBC from entering the country.

Some of the Zimbabwean blogs include:

The Zimbabwean Pundit

The Kubatana Blog

The Radical Soldier of Zimbabwe

These blogs offer an interesting insight into Zimbabwe and illustrate the importance that new media is playing in our web 2.0 world.

Photo: Courtesy of Sokwanele - Zimbabwe

This link is straight from the pages of Ofcom. It highlights an assessment of the market impact of the BBC’s proposals for an on demand service.  Many of the BBC’s commercial rivals are weary of the corporation’s plans and are lobbying for Ofcom to take on the role of regulating BBC activity. The link can be found by clicking here.

The 3rd International Conference on Open Repositories takes place in Southampton between the 1st - 4th April 2008. The Conference will be hosted by the School of Electronics and Computer Science at the University of Southampton, which has a long history of research into the technological aspects of open repositories. The conference will provide focused workshops and tutorials and will also use general conference sessions as a platform to debate and bring together all the issues raised over the four days.

The BBC trust has given initial approval to the BBC to proceed with it’s plans for an ‘on demand’ service that allows viewers to watch programmes online or download and keep them on their computer for up to thirty days after they were first broadcast. This story can be found on the BBC website by clicking here.

BBC NEWS | World | Americas | Bloggers go mainstream at US conventions

Journalists will outnumber delegates three-to-one at the Democratic Party convention in Boston this week with 15,000 reporters of various stripes aiming to cover every angle.

But this year there is a new kid on the news block, with bloggers - those irreverent internet commentators - at the conventions for the first time.