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Ciberespías armed criminal associations and special programs that steal information digital businesses in 2008 generated losses of one trillion dollars, according to a study by McAfee, the Internet security firm.

"Based on the findings of the study McAfee estimated that the overall damage for loss of data reach the trillion dollars," said company president, Dave DeWalt, the Thursday before the Davos Economic Forum.


This study, the first worldwide on the safety of the information economy ", was conducted with over 800 information officers in Japan, China, India, Brazil, Britain, Dubai, Germany and the United States.

"Companies are underestimating the losses, the value of their intellectual property," said Eugene SPAFFORD, a professor at a university computer science and executive director of the Center for Education Research and Information Security.

Nearly a year has passed since the last time Todd Wilson claimed his salary for the last time. This seller of computers Kansas was not too worried at first, as it had a strong record of work, savings and a wife with decent work.


But now, with unemployment growing around it, as the new 8000 announced this week by Sprint Nextel, which is headquartered in Overland Park, Kansas, competition for the few jobs that remain are increasing and beginning to despair installed.

"Anyone looking for work now is feeling a financial tsunami," says Wilson, 48, who claims to have exhausted the savings of his family and now spends most days looking for a job center for employment in the area. "One feels as if suddenly, everything has collapsed."


Far from politicians in Washington, in communities across the United States versions of federal economic stimulus plans and bank rescues offer only a slight hope of aid. Many workers say the steady rise in unemployment augurs a long road of hardship in the future.

Only this week, U.S. companies such as Sprint, Home Depot, Caterpillar, Texas Instruments and others announced they would reduce more than 60,000 jobs.


On Tuesday announced 10,000 layoffs. Only in January were cut more than 210,000 jobs. Last Thursday, the Labor Department said the number of Americans who applied for the first time unemployment benefits last week rose unexpectedly to a record figure of 588,000.

All this adds to the 524,000 lost jobs in December and rising unemployment in all the states that led the unemployment rate to 7.2 percent versus 6.8 percent in November, according to the Department of work.


In total, more than 11 million U.S. workers are unemployed, a jump of 48 percent over the previous year.

The figures indicate that about four candidates for every job that opens in the United States, according to Heidi Shierholz, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a group of experts based in Washington. The grim employment picture is in almost all sectors, he said.


"Literally, millions of workers unemployed, without hope of finding a new job," said Shierholz. "The row is just too long," he added.

The loss of jobs contributed to that consumer confidence fell down to record levels this month, said Tuesday the economic research institute The Conference Board.


A new study by the Society for Human Resource Management also found that nearly 75 percent of human resource professionals in U.S. companies are waiting for the next few months major job cuts in the U.S. labor force.

Without quick fix?


Economists say workers alike and believe that the efforts of Barack Obama for president reinvigorate the economy will take at least a year or more to renew the contracts.

"With the right package, the economy begin to grow in 2010 and the labor market will begin to rebound after some time," said Shierholz.


That's little consolation for workers and owners of small businesses in the United States, who see their livelihoods eroded at high speed.

"Less than four months to get this job and I worried it will keep," said Anna Chung, 30, who works at a small supplier of auto parts in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan, where the state unemployment rate was 10.6 percent in December, reflecting the problems of the automotive industry. "I'm scared of being next," he added.

In Overland Park, where the headquarters of Sprint dominates the landscape of this town near Kansas City, layoffs have left many tottering.

"Behind every number is a person and a family," said Tracey Osborne, president of the local chamber of commerce.

The increasing number of job losses translate into lower corporate sales of a series of trade in services and support. Tax profits are dropping and money for schools and social services is scarce.

Kyle Witherspoon owns a sports bar located in front of the headquarters of the company's extensive Sprint, and for years has served the sustained flow of Sprint employees. But now says that sales have declined due to job cuts.

This week the bar was occupied by the reservations that were made to dismiss the now former employees of Sprint, and is preparing for the possibility of losing more customers.

"You will feel the impact when people go," said Witherspoon.

In the Regional Council of the United States in downtown Kansas City, economist Frank Lenk said that for every job lost in the companies, will be lost on average two more.

"These are bleak times. People feel a lot of uncertainty for their financial security," said Lenk.

The programmer Larry Martel understands the meaning of uncertainty. He had served six months off last year before getting a job as a consultant firm in the area of Kansas. Now Martel, 50, is simply grateful to receive a check each month.

"There are people who are really suffering. Occurs where you look," said Martel. "Probably worse before improving," he said.

The complexity of the immigration issue has created "legal confusion" in Colorado, because the local legislators have bills that sometimes overlap or contradict existing laws, said a caucus today Denver-immigrant.

According to the Colorado Coalition for the Rights of Immigrants (CIRC, in English), legislators should "try a dialogue" with representatives of 55 organizations that form part of the coalition that way learn about the needs and contributions of the immigrant community in this state. "


The most recent case is the Bill HB09-1049, driven by the Republican bloc in the local Legislature, which sought to nullify the possibility that an undocumented person is convicted of a misdemeanor to be that way in a state prison and thus avoid deportation.

Julie Gonzalez, spokesman of CIRC and now coordinator of the political coalition, considered that the law was "unnecessary" and opined that the measure would have created "for political reasons."


For González, "is if someone is subject to deportation by federal law." Therefore, he said, no need to question the state legislature for changes in that area.

"It is a pity that the time is spent during the session of the legislature to discuss these laws as politically motivated instead of talking about policies," said the spokesman.


The proponent of the project, Mike May, a Republican from Parker and chairman of the bench of his party, said he believed that the initiative was necessary because this would prevent certain criminal aliens "walking freely through the streets of Colorado."

But this Thursday when receiving the report on his tax proposal, May found that cost two million dollars a year to implement the measure, and that the result would be to incarcerate an average of 17 illegal immigrants found guilty of certain crimes to remain in U.S. (even in prison) instead of being deported.


Because the government of Colorado has a deficit of one billion dollars, and therefore there are no resources to implement the project HB09-1049, May requested the same on Thursday that the Judicial Committee of the state legislature voted against its proposal and the legislators did so.

To Julien Ross, executive director of CIRC, the failed project of May is an example of legislators deciding on complicated issues that affect all people in Colorado, but without the necessary information. "


"It is important that our legislators know that we can provide information to enable them make good decisions," said Ross.

A dump truck loaded with gasoline exploded when hundreds of people were trying to seize fuel, in an incident which killed at least 111 people and 200 others were injured in one of the deadliest accidents in Kenya, reported Sunday the authorities.

Hundreds of people surrounded the truck overturned and blocked a road in the town of Molo on Saturday night when the fuel caught fire and caused an explosion whose blast was felt miles away, said Charles Kamau, 22, who fled his car when the flames rose to heaven.


"Everyone was screaming and ran many of them with fire in their bodies, some of them went into the woods," said Kamau to the Associated Press.

"I just ran to where there was no fire," said Kamau in a shop where the Red Cross reported Sunday on the disappearance of a friend.


The nearby hospitals were crowded full of victims, including young children, who suffered horrific burns. Many were lying on the floor, connected to the serum bottles and screaming in pain while doctors struggled to save their lives.

Through some supplies helicopters were sent to hospital, from bags for corpses and additional drugs.


Cars burned clothes and burned smudge the road, while the remains of the truck remained on the road to Molo, about 170 kilometers from Nairobi, the capital. Authorities were checking the woods in search of burned corpses.

The prime minister of Kenya, Raila Odinga told a press conference that apparently was a cigarette butt caused the explosion, but police still investigating the incident.

Jennifer Hudson completed filming their first video from the murders of her mother, brother and nephew.

The clip for "If This Is not Love" was performed in Los Angeles and is scheduled to be released the week of February 9.


Slowly, the singer and actress, 27 years is returning to work following the October murder of her mother Darnell Hudson Donerson, 57, his brother Jason Hudson, 29, and her nephew Julian King, 7. His former brother-in-law has been accused of crimes.

Jennifer Hudson will sing the national anthem on Sunday at the Super Bowl, and also at the Grammy Awards February 8, where he is nominated for four awards for the CD that bears his name.

While the singer Amy Winehouse was on vacation in the Caribbean, known for stealing seized at his home located in North London, said Friday his spokesman Chris Goodman.

The interpreter of "Rehab" reported that several guitars and recording equipment, among other things, was taken from his home.


According to the spokesman, the robbers left the house empty while Winehouse was in its well-known hotel in the island of St. Lucia.

The man said that the neighbors came to see the thieves on Thursday and called the police. Officers found the front door of the residence broken, but there have been no arrests.


Winehouse rose to fame in 2006 with his album multi-Grammy winner "Back to Black" and has a fortune estimated by the Sunday Times newspaper at 10 million pounds (15 million dollars).

The Japanese industrial group Hitachi announced Friday the elimination of 7,000 jobs at its electronic sections of the crisis, which has an expected annual net loss exorbitant 700,000 million yen (7,830 million dollars, 5,600 million euros ).

Hitachi said it has found "a huge drop in demand from the month of November" in numerous activities (compounds and electronic materials, telecommunications and automotive equipment, materials, etc.)..


Just three months ago, Hitachi expected to end the year with a net profit of 15.000 billion yen, although initially advocated an annual profit of 40,000 million, having made a net profit of 58,120 million yen last year.

Spain wants the upcoming International Congress of the Spanish language, to be held in Chile in 2010, promotes "the presence of Spanish on the Internet," still inadequate, despite the current economic crisis and recovery taking advantage of this language the world.

"We must make an effort to encourage the presence of Spanish on the Internet, which, although growing, still does not match the force that holds in other areas," the president encouraged the Spanish Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, in the presentation V Congress in Madrid, to be held in Valparaiso, from 2 to 5 March 2010.


"Despite the economic difficulties that we went through, there is a growing interest in the possibilities of the Spanish" shown by the proliferation of studies on the economic value of our language and its importance as a source of wealth, "he said.

Thus encouraged to take advantage in such areas as education, knowledge society, research, development and innovation.


"It will give a qualitative leap in promoting the use of information technology (...) to enrich the wealth of our language," also affected the director of the Instituto Cervantes, Carmen Caffarel.

This would explore "ways in the field of new digital media" and enhance "the Hispanic publishing industry, for its part said the director of the Royal Spanish Language Academy, Victor Garcia de la Concha.


In times of economic crisis, Zapatero called on the publishing companies that do not leave "one of the strongest cultural industries."

Spanish is the third most spoken language in the world, with more than 500 million people, behind the Chinese and English, with a growth rate of 10% annually.


It is the official language in over 20 countries and the second in the U.S., where the middle of this century, 130 million people speak.

'America in the Spanish language,' title of the congress, which will examine the influence of American language in Spanish, "reverses the usual perspective of the 'Spanish America'," according to De la Concha.


America is "call to expand the mapping of our language" and "will be the laboratory and the Spanish driver of the future," said Zapatero.

The Congress, which coincides with the bicentennial of the independence of Chile, Argentina, Colombia and Mexico, will be presented the "New Grammar of the Spanish language, 'new' Spelling 'panhispánica and' Dictionary of Americanisms academic.


This latest book is "an old dream" that the association of 22 academies of Spanish is becoming a reality, "said De la Concha, and collected nearly 100,000 entries in the Spanish American.

Latin American poetry and their representatives, Chilean Pablo Neruda, Gabriela Mistral, Vicente Huidobro, Nicanor Parra and Gonzalo Rojas-occupy a central place in the conference, which will reach its fifth edition after its inception in 1997 in Zacatecas (Mexico), and the last one, held in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia in 2007).


Neruda and Mistral protagonizarán two commemorative editions including "unpublished materials," said the Chilean minister Paulina Urrutia.

European markets showed mixed Friday after sharp falls in Tokyo and an increasing number of bad economic reports and quarterly results from companies such as Sony and Honda, which suffered a drop in profits.

In Europe, banking and mining shares were stronger, but the day was marked by reports of unemployment in the euro area, where the rate increased by 8% during December, and information on the Gross Domestic Product U.S. the fourth quarter of last year, expected during the day and that could bring their worst fall in more than 25 years.


By midday in Europe, the British FTSE 100 index had an increase of 0.21%. Meanwhile, the German DAX fell 0.39% and the French CAC 40 fell 0.31%.

In London, shares of mining giant Rio Tinto climbed 4.3% after it announced an agreement to sell an iron mine in South America and other projects worth its rival, for $ 1,600 million.


Shares of banks Lloyds Banking Group, Royal Bank of Scotland and Barclays rose 7.1%, 6.2% and 5.4%. In Frankfurt, Commerzbank rose 5.8% and 1.4% Deutsche Bank.

The U.S. government reported an economic contraction of 3.8% in the fourth quarter, a decline much faster than the decrease of 0.5% the previous quarter and increased from the low of 6.4% annualized in the first quarter of 1982 when the country was experiencing a severe recession.


Investors also reacted to news from the European Union, about 230,000 people in the euro area have lost their jobs in December, reflecting a deteriorating economic situation in the bloc of 16 countries with a common currency.

Asian stock markets were also mixed on Friday. The main indicator of the Hong Kong stock market rose marginally to speculation of a cut in interest rates in China or other measures of encouragement. European stock exchanges opened up to the future strengthening of shares on Wall Street.


The markets had made some gains at the start of the week, boosted by a positive earnings outlook from British lender Barclays and a package of incentives by 819,000 million dollars which was entering the U.S. Congress, but the confidence Asia spoiled due to bad economic and corporate news, especially in Japan, the largest economy in the region.

"Investors are looking for a magic cure, but it is not. There is a solution by itself can solve all the complex problems facing the world economy," said Arjuna Mahendran, head of investment strategy at HSBC Private Bank Asia in Singapore.


"In a typical short-sighted, the markets are alternating between despair and hope," he said. "The problem is that there is no real clarity on profits and the economic situation, and perhaps did not until the second half of this year or at the very end of the year," he added.

In Japan, the Nikkei 225 index fell 257.19 points, or 3.1%, to 7994.05 as investors recovered from an accumulation of bad reports on earnings and the latest economic report, which showed that industrial production plummeted to a record pace, and increased unemployment.


In Hong Kong, the Hang Seng Index recovered from early losses to close the session with a gain of 0.9%, to 13,278.21 units. Sudcoreano KOSPI index fell 0.4%, while markets in Singapore and the Philippines also lost ground. The main stock market index gained 0.4% in Australia. The markets in China closed all week for the Lunar New Year.

The economy registered a contraction of 3.8% at the end of 2008, the highest in a quarter century, as the recession forced consumers and businesses to reduce spending, the government reported Friday.

The Commerce Department report indicated that the rate in October-December by far surpassed the 0.5% recorded in the previous quarter.


While economists forecast a further contraction of 5.4%, the results did not fail to reflect the impact of mortgage crisis, credit and financial.

The contraction of 3.8% annual pace was the worst since the 6.4% in the first quarter of 1982, when the country suffered a severe recession.


In 2008, the economy grew just 1.3%, compared to 2% in 2007, the slowest expansion since the last recession in 2001.

To revive the economy, the president Barack Obama and Democratic lawmakers devised a program of 819,000 million dollars, approved on Wednesday by the House of Representatives, which must be investigated now _ _ certainly changed in the Senate.


The White House predicted the bad news. The previous day, press secretary Robert Gibbs said that the results of the fourth quarter would be "materially adverse."

The GDP is the sum of all goods and services produced within a country, and is considered the most accurate barometer of economic health.


The fourth quarter was the weakest of 2008 and the contraction of 3.8% will increase further once the government finishes analyzing the statistics. The economy remains in a state of weakness in most of this year, analysts predicted, and some believe that the contraction in the first quarter is 4% or more.

Consumers reduced their spending by 3.5% in late 2008, after a 3.8% in the third quarter. The last time I did it in two consecutive quarters was in late 1990 and early 1991.


In the fourth quarter of 2008, Americans reduced their spending especially on durable goods, those high prices and a lifespan of at least three years, including automobiles, appliances and furniture. Spending on durable goods fell to annual rate of 22.4%, the largest since 1987.

A reduction of 7.1% annually in the cost of goods "not sustainable" as food and clothing was the highest since 1950.


The new frugality of Americans was patentizada on increasing savings, which rose to 2.9% in the fourth quarter, compared to 1.2% in the third.