The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, has said he pities Nigel Farage, the British MEP who called him a “damp rag” last month.

Mr Van Rompuy said his popularity had soared in Belgium, following the tirade from the Eurosceptic Mr Farage.

“I found it so ridiculous that I was not even really angry… I feel pity for that kind of behaviour and that kind of man, that’s all,” he said.

Mr Van Rompuy said voters appreciated politicians who kept their cool.

Mr Farage, of the UK Independence Party, compared the former Belgian prime minister to a “low-grade bank clerk” and accused him of being a “quiet assassin of European democracy and of European nation states”.

He also referred to Belgium as a “non-country”.

Mr Van Rompuy told the BBC he never got angry.

“When I was in the Belgian parliament as prime minister, if people said nasty things or insulted me I stayed very calm and that was very well received by the public,” he said.

“I can assure you that I am now at the height of my popularity in Flanders, after the incident in the European Parliament… A lot of people feel themselves confident when they are governed by people who don’t get nervous and angry at every incident.”

Earlier Mr Van Rompuy told the Flemish broadcaster VRT that he had reacted “like the British at their best, phlegmatically”.

In his writings, he has quoted the saying “Forgive your enemies, but don’t forget their names,” adding that it is one he has applied in practice.

In the case of Mr Farage’s outburst, he said, the question of forgiveness did not arise, because it had not deeply affected him.

Mr Farage was reprimanded by the European Parliament president for his “insulting” tirade and was fined just under 3,000 euros (

1157 Not long to go now. It’s still Cabinet Office questions and Speaker John Bercow is telling off MPs for being too loud.

1156 Ex-Home Secretary Jacqui Smith tells Daily Politics that the government’s decision, announced earlier today, to freeze pay for top public sector employees is “fair”.

1154 On BBC Two’s Daily Politics former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith says a key concern of the government is to find an affordable solution to the costs of caring for the UK’s ageing population. This follows a fall-out by the main three parties on the issue. It’s an outside bet for a question to the prime minister today.1152 Thoughts of sunny holidays are far away, though, as the cold winds of early spring rattle through Westminster, chilling the bones of the civil servants sneaking outside for a crafty fag. In the warmth of the Commons chamber, Cabinet Office questions are going on. It’s pretty busy – about half full.

1150 From BBC political correspondent Peter Hunt: After last week’s absence, the main players are back for this weekly performance of political theatre. Two issues have the potential to dominate. David Cameron may well question Gordon Brown’s assertion that he has the “character” to lead Britain through to economic recovery. And, once again, he could challenge the Government’s record on the provision of resources for the armed forces. The Tory leader has ammunition including yesterday’s inquest verdict that training was “inadequate” and the critical response of several former military chiefs to the prime minister’s appearance at the Iraq Inquiry.1149 Among those on the ballot to ask questions of Mr Brown are Conservatives Richard Benyon and Richard Bacon, Labour’s David Drew and Lib Dem Paul Burstow.1148 The decision to freeze the pay of senior civil servants could arise too. But, given the fact MPs are to get an extra 1.5%, it might not…1146 What else is on the radar this week Gordon Brown’s appearance before the Iraq inquiry last Friday might well feature. So might the situation in Afghanistan, given Foreign Secretary David Miliband’s call for the country’s government to work harder to find a political solution to the conflict with the Taliban. And, of course, there is the Northern Ireland Assembly’s vote in favour of devolving justice powers.

1145 Hello and welcome to our coverage of prime minister’s questions, on the day that the Budget date – of 24 March – was announced. With the economy set to be the key issue in the run-up to the election, we can expect some lively exchanges on the subject today. It’s all about the money. Joining me with his instant analysis will be the BBC’s Peter Hunt. And, courtesy of BBC 2’s Daily Politics, we will have the opinions of those partial namesakes former Tory leader Iain Duncan Smith and Labour’s ex-Home Secretary Jacqui Smith. Plus we’ll have the views of other BBC correspondents and guests on events as they happen.

This article is from the BBC News website.

The world’s largest social network has thrown down the gauntlet to game developers to design an iconic social game like Mario or Halo for Facebook.

Research suggests around three quarters of Facebook’s 400m users play social games on the site.

The challenge came on the opening day of the Game Developers Conference.

“The next killer game is still out there and this game will come from you,” Gareth Davis told a room of designers in San Francisco.

“When we look at every major game platform, we see that there is an iconic defining game on that platform whether it’s Sonic or Mario or Halo.

“And while there are some great games on Facebook today, no one has yet produced the iconic game for [it]. The Facebook Mario is still out there,” said Mr Davis.

Vital ingredients

Bu some developers questioned what exactly constitutes an iconic game.

“If I knew that, I wouldn’t tell you the answer. I would go out and make it,” said Pete Morrish of developer Waterfront Entertainment.

Dasha Kobzeva of Playrix Entertainment was a little more forthcoming.

“I think a good strategy game might be a winner but at the moment what we are seeing is a lot of games that are pretty similar to each other like farm games and aquarium games,” he said.

“So far nothing really stands out.”

But veteran games developer Brenda Brathwaite, creative director of the online social entertainment company Slide, disagrees.

“I think the killer game for me at the moment is Farmville. It is the biggest game that is out there and I would have to give respect to that.”

Farmville, which is a virtual farming game, took five weeks to develop and attracts over 80m monthly users.

Mr Davis said while he cannot pinpoint exactly what the iconic game will look like, he knows it will have to have some key ingredients.

“We know it’s going to be built on real identity and around real friends. It is a game that will appeal to everybody across the board and tap into social emotions and generate feelings you have never felt before.

“It will probably be personal to you because it will tap into all that information you have about you on Facebook.”

‘Mass market’

Social games, where users play with friends and family, is a relatively new industry. Despite that, the sector has attracted hundreds of millions of users who do not consider themselves gamers and have eschewed the traditional off-the-shelf games.

“It has grown to $1bn from nothing nearly three years ago. It is definitely a mass market phenomenon across the board and represents a change in the way people play games and interact with their friends,” Justin Smith of research firm Inside Network told BBC News.

For many in the industry, Farmville has set something of a gold standard with its user base.

Mr Davis however predicted that in the very near future that number will be soon be dwarfed.

“We are going to see multiple games with more than 100m people playing each one. That is as many people as watched the recent superbowl, the most watched TV programme in American history.

“The growth we are seeing is amazing and in a short space of time we have developed a brand new mass market audience for gaming,” Mr Davis told BBC News.

This article is from the BBC News website.

By Jane O’Brien
BBC News

Thirty per cent of Americans are getting fewer than six hours sleep a night, far short of the recommended eight hours that doctors say are optimal for good health.

Now a new survey reveals that sleep times vary among different ethnic groups, with African-Americans getting at least 34 minutes less sleep than Asians, Hispanics or Caucasians.

The National Sleep Foundation’s 2010 Sleep in America poll is the first to study sleep patterns among ethnic groups. It raises some important questions about why different sections of society are sleeping less than others.

One of America’s leading sleep experts, Dr Allan Pack, says that there are genetic variations that determine the amount of sleep people need, which may go some way towards explaining why some groups sleep less than others.

Money worries

But the University of Pennsylvania professor says a more likely explanation involves socio-economic factors.

The study found that African-Americans and Hispanics were much more likely than Asians and Caucasians to lose sleep every night worrying about money and employment.

“It is possible, for example, that somebody has a child sleeping in their bed at night because their culture says that’s a good thing to do“

Dr Meir Kryger, Gaylord Sleep Medicine

Seventeen per cent of African-Americans also reported doing job-related tasks in the hour before bedtime, more so than Asians (16%), Caucasians (9%) and Hispanics (13%).

“Many of these people are sleeping short, not because they don’t understand the importance of sleep, but because of the pressures of their lives, having two jobs and all that type of stuff”, says Dr Pack. He thinks it is economic pressure that is forcing them to cut back on their sleep.

“There is no question that the percentage of people who sleep less than six hours a night is increasing. But whether the recession has made an acute blip in that, I don’t know,” he says.

Overall, at least a third of Hispanics and African-Americans say they are kept awake at least a few nights a week by financial, relationship or health concerns. That is compared with a little over a quarter of Caucasians and Asians.

Dr Meir Kryger, director of research and education at Gaylord Sleep Medicine in Connecticut, thinks the data needs to be considered in a wider social context.

“There can be a lot of other things that impact your life, such as your education, whether you have a job, your socio-economic status and so forth.

“It is possible, for example, that somebody has a child sleeping in their bed at night because their culture says that’s a good thing to do. But it could also be that they do that because they’re poor and can’t afford an extra bedroom for the child,” Mr Kryger explains.

Busy bed-time routines

Among those with children, Asians (28%) and Hispanics (22%) were most likely to sleep in the same room as their children, compared with African-Americans (15%) and Caucasians (8%).

However, Caucasians were much more likely (16%) to share their bed with their pets than other ethnic groups.

“Pets don’t just lie there for eight hours. They have the ability to disrupt your sleep,” says Dr Kryger.

The survey shows that African-Americans have the busiest bedtime routines. Experts say the hour before bed is an important time to relax to help ensure a good night’s sleep. But while African-Americans get less sleep than other ethnic groups, they also say they do not need it.

The poll also found that 20-30% of all those questioned said they missed work or family functions because they were too tired.

About 24% of Asians, 22% of African-Americans and Hispanics and 19% of Caucasians missed an event at least once a month because of sleep problems.

This article is from the BBC News website.

Exploration and production firm Tullow oil says profits for 2009 were down 93% but it has made oil discoveries and upgraded prospects in Ghana and Uganda.

Pre-tax profits for the year ending in December 2009 were

Thousands of top-earning public sector workers, including judges, GPs and senior civil servants, are to have their pay frozen in 2010/11.

The Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) has backed a freeze as recommended by Chancellor Alastair Darling.

The SSRB suggested a rise of 2.25% for NHS managers, but that was rejected by the government. Senior military ranks will have their pay scale restructured.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the moves would save