A 16 billion pixel image of Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper has been posted on the internet, giving art lovers a detailed view of the 15th Century work.

The image is 1,600 times stronger than a typical digital camera image

The image is 1,600 times more detailed than those taken with a typical 10 million pixel digital camera.

Experts will be able to see segments as though just centimetres away and examine otherwise unavailable details.

The posting comes amid claims a new system aimed at protecting the piece from Milan's pollution is not working.

The work is displayed in the Italian city's Church of Santa Maria delle Grazie.

Peeled off

Art curator Alberto Artioli told Associated Press news agency the new resolution avoided the graininess when zooming in to regular photographs.

It is visible at www.haltadefinizione.com.

"You can see how Leonardo made the cups transparent, something you can't ordinarily see," he said. "You can also note the state of degradation the painting is in."

That degradation has been the subject of controversy this week.

An Italian newspaper, Corriere della Sera, reported that a sophisticated monitoring and filtration system introduced during a restoration of the chapel in the late 1990s was not preventing particles or substances that could damage the work being brought in by visitors.

The Last Supper was painted by Leonardo da Vinci at the end of the 15th Century and, because of the experimental techniques he used, parts of the masterpiece subsequently peeled off and were badly damaged.

The BBC's Frances Kennedy says the paper reported that equipment monitoring air quality inside the refectory showed that levels of fine particle pollution had tripled in the past two years.

It quoted experts suggesting these particles could settle on the work, eventually creating a dark misty layer.

However, Milan's cultural commissioner said the threat was non-existent.

More than 350,000 people visit the painting each year.

Police and ambulance crews were called to an alleyway near Mayer Street and Potteries Way, Hanley, at 0355 BST on Saturday, Staffordshire Police said.

They found the 17-year-old stabbing victim who was taken to hospital where he underwent surgery for his injuries.

Two men who were arrested were bailed pending further inquiries. A third man was released with no further action.

Staffordshire Police are appealing for information over the "very serious assault".

Detectives have charged a man with the murder of a couple whose bodies were found at a scrapyard in Staffordshire.

Bill and Joyce Barlow were found dead at a scrapyard

Richard John Barlow, 29, was charged with the murders of George Barlow, 77, and his wife Joyce, who was 65.

The couple were found dead at Barlows scrapyard in Uttoxeter on Friday night. Police confirmed they both died from head injuries.

Mr Barlow has been remanded in custody and will appear before Tamworth Magistrates' Court on Monday morning.

Police were granted a 12-hour extension to question Mr Barlow on Saturday.

Forensic examination of the crime scene is expected to finish later on Sunday, police added.

This week it is his belief that badgers should be culled that is in the news, but the government's chief scientific adviser Sir David King has always been a controversial figure.

Badger lovers may not like him much

Sir David may have made enemies of the 95% of the population who surveys say are against a cull of badgers, but his career suggests he is unlikely to be swayed from his path.

The chief scientific adviser's recommendation that large numbers of badgers should be culled to control bovine TB appeared to contradict a previous 10-year study by the Independent Study Group.

Chairman John Bourne dismissed Sir David's advice as "clearly hastily written" and "very superficial".

During the past seven years Sir David has advised the government on everything from GM foods to stem cell research, and foot-and-mouth disease to nuclear power.

Science has never been higher up the political or media agenda, and Sir David has often been in the maelstrom where science meets politics.

Mum was pretty shocked, but I wanted to see how it worked - always had that childish curiosity Sir David King on cutting up a dead guinea pig aged four Hear Radio 4's Profile

Perhaps his most controversial moment came in 2004 when he said climate change was a far greater threat to the world than international terrorism.

As the statement reverberated in headlines around the world, Sir David went on to berate the US for failing to tackle greenhouse gas emissions.

Friend and veteran former MP Tam Dalyell said many appreciated the scientist's stance.

"It went down jolly well with many of us, who knew that he was right. It wasn't a question of sticking his head out a little bit, it was sticking his head well above the parapet."

Born in Durban, South Africa, in 1939, it was perhaps obvious that he would one day be a scientist. At the age of four a dead guinea pig piqued his scientific curiosity. So he cut it up.

" think mum was pretty shocked, but I wanted to see how it worked - always had that childish curiosity."

Apartheid interrogation

By the time he started university, he was also developing a keen sense of justice. In the early 1960s he was writing letters to newspapers and attending anti-apartheid meetings.

But his activities soon attracted the attention of the authorities and he was called in for questioning.

Later he recalled: "I was interrogated on the 7th floor of a police building - notorious place, had been lots of alleged suicides under interrogation there, I was interrogated in fairly aggressive fashion with window open behind me, was accused of being a communist - at that time the Ministry of Justice could incarcerate communists."

BSE provided an early challenge

Deciding to leave the country, and with a doctorate in chemistry from the University of Witwatersrand, he moved to London's Imperial College before securing a post as a lecturer at the University of East Anglia in Norwich. There he continued his interest in politics with involvement in trade unionism.

In 1974 he moved straight from being a lecturer to a professorship at Liverpool University. At the age of 34, to gain this sort of appointment was extraordinary, says Michael Bowker, who had been Sir David's first Phd student.

"Liverpool recognised at that point that they had really a star on their hands and grabbed him as quickly as they could."

Dubbed the "king of catalysis", his research on how atoms and molecules behave on metal surfaces formed part of the science underpinning catalytic converters in car exhausts.

In 1988, he was appointed 1920 Professor of Physical Chemistry at the University of Cambridge, but his regular sojourn in the public eye really came with his appointment as the chief scientific adviser in 2000, in time for the fall out from the BSE inquiry report. He had to quickly master the field of neurological disease.

Sir David's work was crucial in communicating complicated ideas to politicians and the public, then science minister Lord Sainsbury says.

"He can master almost any subject very quickly and then also explain it in layman's language very clearly."

But he has also been criticised over his backing for nuclear power and his targets to reduce the UK's carbon emissions.

Keith Allott, head of climate change at the World Wildlife Fund, says: "There have been some concerns that some of the advice that he's been giving is actually veering on the political rather than the scientific."

He cites a "growing consensus" about the need to cut domestic emissions by 80% by the middle of the century, adding: "The government is still wedded to a 50-60% reduction and Sir David is going along with that line."

Sir David is set to remain a controversial figure but he's likely to be remembered more for climate change than his views on badgers.

A man wrongly accused of being an illegal immigrant may have been singled out just for being black, an Equality Commission spokeswoman has said.

Frank Kakopa said he was worried about his wife and children

Frank Kakopa has been paid £7,500 after the Immigration Service wrongly held him in prison for two days.

Mr Kakopa, originally from Zimbabwe, was on a short break with his wife and young children in 2005, when he was stopped at Belfast City Airport.

He had proof he lived in England but was still strip-searched and jailed.

His work manager had also confirmed both his legal residency and employment position.

Eileen Lavery from the Equality Commission said she had concerns over why Mr Kakopa was singled out and held in Maghaberry Prison near Lisburn, as he had "an enormous amount of documentation".

"Why pick on him? Other than I think because he is black," she said.

My wife and young children were left abandoned at the airport of a strange country worrying about where I was and how I was being treated Frank Kakopa

His family were left at the airport and Mr Kakopa said he had no idea what had happened to them.

"They wouldn't allow me to make phone calls - I was actually detached from the world," he said.

"I did not know where my kids were taken to.

"It is still difficult to believe that what was supposed to be a relaxing break for my family turned out to be our worst nightmare.

"I was locked up with convicted criminals, having committed no crime, while my wife and young children were left abandoned at the airport of a strange country worrying about where I was and how I was being treated."

The Equality Commission took on the case alleging false imprisonment and discrimination.

In an out-of-court settlement, the Immigration Service admitted false imprisonment and apologised to Mr Kakopa and his family.

They also agreed to discuss their practices with the Equality Commission.

The Home Office said in a statement that it did not comment on individual cases.

Some of the world's most famous meteorites are going under the hammer at a New York auction house in what is said to be the first sale of its kind.

This piece of a meteorite found in the Gobi Desert near Fukang, China, is a pallasite, studded with space gems.

The pieces are drawn from collections across the world and many examples are richly coloured and intricately patterned.

Price estimates range from $1.1m (£0.53m) for a 13-kilo (29-pound) piece to pebbles worth a few hundred dollars.

Some of the lots for sale at Bonham's fell to Earth thousands of years ago.

Only one is documented as having made a fatal impact.

The fatality, in the case of the Valera Meteorite which hit a field in Venezuela in 1972, was a cow.

SPARKLING STONES In pictures: Meteorite auction

"It's very rare to have a meteorite actually impact a living being... so now that particular meteorite is considered to be collectible," Bonhams meteorite specialist Claudia Florian told the BBC's Radio Five Live.

Another piece in the 54-lot auction of "fine meteorites" comes from the l'Aigle Shower of 1803 in Normandy, France - a find which helped convince European scientists that rocks could, indeed, fall out of the sky.

Crown jewel

Some of the lots originated in the UK's Natural History Museum or the US Smithsonian Institution but many come from the Macovich collection in New York, built up by enthusiasts whose interest in the stones was as much aesthetic as scientific.

With a price estimate of $1.1m, the piece de resistance for Sunday's sale appears to be the "Crown Section" of America's famous Willamette Meteorite, discovered in Oregon in 1902.

The 13-kilo piece was cut from the rock as part of a meteorite exchange between the museum and collectors.

But that still leaves the American Museum of Natural History with about 15.5 tons (32,000 pounds) of the original.

Another US meteorite up for auction features naturally occurring gemstones, olivine and peridot. It was found outside Greensburg, Kansas, in 2005.

An altogether more humble offering are the tiny stones from a shower which hit Holbrook, Arizona, in 1912.

The smallest of these weighs just a gram with an estimated price of $350.

The target of an alleged blackmail plot against the Royal Family was not a senior figure, the BBC understands.

Buckingham Palace has refused to confirm reports of a blackmail bid

Buckingham Palace has refused to discuss the report in the Sunday Times, which said the case involved allegations of drugs and sex.

But the BBC understands the claims relate to a member of the family with a low public profile.

Police said two men appeared before magistrates on 13 September accused of blackmail and were remanded in custody.

The men, aged 30 and 40, appeared before City of Westminster magistrates They will appear at the Old Bailey in December.

A Palace spokesperson would only say it was a police matter and Scotland Yard was investigating.

'Cocaine envelope'

The Sunday Times says two men contacted a member of the royal staff and demanded £50,000, threatening to go public with video recordings involving sex and drugs if their demand was not met.

It's taken six weeks for it to come to light, so how serious is the allegation? Dickie Arbiter Former Palace spokesman

The paper alleges that the extortion attempt was launched on 2 August when a man telephoned the Royal Family member's office and said he had evidence that they had supplied an aide with an envelope containing cocaine.

According to the Sunday Times, the caller then claimed that he had a video tape showing the aide performing oral sex on someone, whom the alleged blackmailer indicated was the Royal Family member.

During further calls, one of the men said that he had footage of an aide snorting cocaine, the paper adds.

The report alleges that a detective posing as a member of the royal's staff arranged a meeting at the Hilton hotel on London's Park Lane on 11 September, where parts of the video were shown.

But Scotland Yard detectives who had been secretly filming the meeting from an adjacent room then arrested the two suspects, it continues.

A Scotland Yard spokeswoman said the magistrates' hearing had been held "in camera", or in private, and that reporting restrictions had been imposed to prevent the victim or witnesses from being identified.

'Vast family'

Former Palace spokesman Dickie Arbiter said royal officials would have carried out their own inquiry into the validity of the Sunday Times story, but that it was unlikely that the name of the Royal Family member would be revealed.

"It's a vast family, there are nearly 40 members... We don't know, we won't know, until the case comes to trial at the Old Bailey in December, and we might not even know then, which member of the Royal Family [it is]."

Mr Arbiter added that he was surprised by how long it had taken for the story to break.

"It's taken six weeks for it to come to light, so how serious is the allegation?

"It's interesting too, that it's come out in the Sunday Times and not one of the usual tabloid scoops.

"So it's going to take the due process of the law to determine was this true or was this just another fake sting?"

Only MPs representing constituencies in England would be allowed to legislate on English matters, under proposals being considered by the Conservatives.

Sir Malcolm Rifkind

The plan aims to address a perceived constitutional imbalance caused by Scottish and Welsh devolution.

The blueprint, drawn up by Tory ex-minister Sir Malcolm Rifkind, would involve a "grand committee" voting on areas such as education and health.

The government said such moves would threaten the existence of the UK.

Sir Malcolm told BBC Radio Five Live his plans were the unfinished business of devolution.

HAVE YOUR SAY The feelings of disenfranchisement are growing in England Michael Lincoln, Lincoln Send us your comments

They would allow MPs from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to continue to sit together in the Commons to vote on UK-wide matters such as taxation, foreign policy and defence, he said.

"But when the House of Commons is purely discussing English housing or English health or English transport, then why should that not just be left to the English Members of Parliament to decide upon?

"When these matters are being discussed in Northern Ireland or in Scotland, it's the Scots and the Northern Irish who decide these matters - that's what devolution's all about."

It would be up to the Commons speaker to decide which matters should be referred to the English Grand Committee, which would sit in the House of Commons chamber.

A Conservative spokesman confirmed the plan was being considered but said no decision had yet been taken on whether it would be adopted as party policy.

Conservative party chairwoman, Caroline Spelman, told BBC One's The Politics Show that while the proposal had "merit", it required proper consultation.

West Lothian question

Sir Malcolm's idea is being considered by party leader David Cameron's democracy taskforce, led by former Chancellor Kenneth Clarke, which is due to report back some time in the next few months.

The taskforce hopes to address the so-called "West Lothian question", raised by the former West Lothian - and later Linlithgow - Labour MP Tam Dalyell.

I think the right solution is to have a Scottish Parliament and an English Parliament Alex Salmond Scottish First Minister

Mr Dalyell said devolution would fuel resentment if Scottish MPs continued to vote on matters which affected only England.

Scotland has had its own Parliament, with powers over education, health, the environment, home affairs and to alter income tax, since 1999.

The National Assembly for Wales, which was first elected in the same year, has more limited functions, and the power-sharing Northern Ireland Assembly was restored in May 2007.

'Threat to Union'

Regional assemblies were set up in England but voters rejected making them elected by the public and they are to be scrapped in 2010.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond told BBC One's The Andrew Marr Show that he backed the idea of English votes for English laws, but that a grand committee did not go far enough.

I think this is a very, very dangerous line of argument that the Conservatives are pushing Harriet Harman Labour deputy leader

"I think the right solution is to have a Scottish Parliament and an English Parliament - I believe independent parliaments - and to do the job properly as opposed to having some sort of spatchcocked solution to appeal for votes in middle England."

But Labour deputy leader Harriet Harman told the BBC the government would not support plans that threatened the UK and that what people really wanted was more "regional accountability".

She added: "I think this is a very, very dangerous line of argument that the Conservatives are pushing.

"They used to be the Conservative and Unionist Party and now they are making proposals which wouldn't help strengthen regional accountability in England but would actually, I think, threaten the Union."

Sir Malcolm later denied his proposals threatened the existence of the UK, telling ITV1's Sunday Edition that they "would actually strengthen the Union because there is unfinished business".

Hi,

I'm dougall and im the voice of the Eggstra team as we welcome you to the blog.  This is the first post and therefor will not state much.  Only that we wish you an enjoyable time on the blog.  You con post comments about absolutely anything.  'Just want a chat' comments right through to 'specified meaning' comments.  Just go ahead and enjoy yourself!!

Dougall

1ST POST - HOORAH 

Cesc Fabregas toe-poked a late goal to cancel out Steven Gerrard's first-half free-kick as Arsenal moved back to the top of the Premier League.

Fabregas scored his 10th goal of the season

Gerrard struck on seven minutes, while Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina saved from Emmanuel Adebayor and Tomas Rosicky's lob was cleared off the line.

After the break Emmanuel Eboue hit the post and Fabregas fluffed the rebound.

But Fabregas equalised on 80 minutes and later hit the post as both sides remained unbeaten in the league.

Interview: Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger

Interview: Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard

The result means Arsenal reclaim top spot in the table from Manchester United, having scored more goals than their rivals, after an absorbing encounter at Anfield.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez opted for a three-pronged attack with Fernando Torres back after a thigh injury and lining up alongside Dirk Kuyt and Andriy Voronin.

But it was soon apparent that Torres was not going to last the game and he quickly became a passenger in an ineffective front line.

Liverpool's saving grace was the driving force of skipper Gerrard and it was his right boot that delivered a crushing blow, when his ferocious free-kick rocketed past Manuel Almunia.

606: DEBATE I think the draw is the right outcome for both teams HO

Gerrard was playing like a man out to prove a point, after a perceived dip in form, and he had already tested Almunia with a fizzing low drive.

His harrying denied Arsenal's midfield any time on the ball, but gradually Arsenal regained their composure and played their way into the game to dominate territory and possession.

Yet some breathtaking passing movements between the recalled Tomas Rosicky, Alex Hleb and Fabregas, in particular, could not carve out an equaliser.

Adebayor raced through on goal only for keeper Reina to superbly close him down and save with his chest.

And when Reina was beaten by a deft Rosicky lob, Sami Hyypia was on hand to hook the ball off the line.

Liverpool almost punished Arsenal when Gerrard - who else - thundered in a volley that Almunia pushed over the bar.

Inevitably Liverpool replaced the struggling Torres with Peter Crouch at half-time.

And it did not take long for the substitute striker, who scored a hat-trick against Arsenal last year, to make his presence felt as his powerful drive brought a superb flying save out of Almunia.

Arsenal should have equalised when a slick move crafted a chance for Eboue and his shot cannoned back off the post straight to Fabregas, who made a hash of his effort with the goal gaping.

Instead the visitors could have found themselves two goals down. Crouch latched on to a through ball but dragged his low shot across goal.

Then Arsenal had another scare when John Arne Riise's volley from the edge of the box dipped late but found the roof of the net.

Fabregas eventually made up for his earlier miss when he got on the end of a Hleb through ball to nudge the ball beyond Reina and ensure Arsenal have scored in every game this season.

It could have been even better for Fabregas and Arsenal, but the Spaniard saw a late shot come back off the post and Nicklas Bendtner hit his first-time shot over when he had time to take a touch.