New Malaysian economic plan

Malaysians have enjoyed cheap sugar and petrol for decades. The government spent around ten billion dollars last year to keep the price of food staples and energy artificially low. Thesesubsidies have been blamed for sustaining Malaysia's high budget deficit. Nor Mohamed Yakcop is in charge of drafting the five-year economic plan. He said the subsidies will be gradually reduced over five years to save costs.

Nor Mohamed Yakcop:

"The way the subsidies work now, even those who don't need it get the same assistance. So we will target it to the needy and to the poor."

But the five-year plan doesn't address the more controversial aspects of an affirmative action policy. It gives special privileges to the Malay majority in housing, education and government jobs.

Analysts say the policy distorts the market and makes Malaysia less competitive. But the prime minister said the policy needs to berevamped rather than scrapped. He repeated his commitment to redistributing wealth into the hands of the Malays, who remain among the poorest in the country.

Old picnic new archaeology

Some people might see burying the remnants of your picnic aslittering. Daniel Spoerri called it art. In April 1983 around one hundred people sat down to eat in the grounds of a chateau near Versailles in France.

After they finished their meal, an extravagant feast of pigs' udders, ears, tripe and trotters, everything, tables and all, was placed in a pre-dug trench and buried. The gesture aimed to explore the nature of time and became known as 'Dejeuner Sous L'Herbe', or Lunch Under the Grass.

Now the site is being excavated and it is scientists who are hoping they can learn something. They will use their knowledge of the original meal to try out new archaeological techniques to see whether they match. It's a way of carrying out a controlled experiment to see just how accurate chemical analysis tests are. It's also a chance to see how different materials decompose.

Early signs show that the tables from the picnic have virtuallyvanished, whilst bottles and plates have survived.Something else that is being tested is the memory of the original guests. Those present at the dig swore that they had not used plastic cups. As it turns out, they had. Mr Spoerri has been helping oversee the excavation and has said he will make a plaster cast of what's left of the picnic and bury that for future generations.

Jonny Hogg, BBC News

Argentina's controversial coach

The media circus which follows Diego Maradona is never far from a juicy story. This is a man whose trickery on the football fielddevastated opponents. But his playing career was blighted by doping bans and the infamous 'hand of God' goal against England in a World Cup quarter-final.

After he retired Maradona suffered from drug addiction, ill health and weight gain. He became coach of Argentina with virtually no managerial experience. In his 19 months in charge he's tried out more than a hundred different players. An arduous qualifying campaign included a 6-1 defeat in Bolivia.

When Argentina beat Uruguay to eventually seal their place in South Africa Maradona let fly a stream of profanities against his critics on live television. He received another ban which meant he couldn't attend the World Cup draw.

Since then he was admitted to hospital after being bitten in the face by his pet dog. On his way to announce his World Cup squad, the car he was driving ran over a photographer. And he's promised to run naked through the centre of Buenos Aires if Argentina win the World Cup. It might not happen, but following Argentina shouldn't be boring.

Alex Capstick, BBC News

Japan's new prime minister

Naoto Kan rose to his feet and bowed to acknowledge the applause as the Diet voted him Prime Minister of Japan.

The former finance minister has made it to the top from humble beginnings. He's described his father as 'a salaryman'. His four immediate predecessors were the sons or grandsons of prime ministers.

Mr Kan has said his first priority is to revive the sluggish economy, all but certain to be overtaken by China this year as the second biggest in the world. He must also try to mend relations with Japan's main ally, the United States, strained by the row over an American military base on Okinawa which brought down the last prime minister.

His toughest task may be to recapture the optimism that accompanied the Democratic Party's rise to power just nine months ago when it ousted the conservatives who dominated the post-war era.

The new prime minister won't have long to impress. Elections to the less powerful upper house of the Diet, seen as a referendum on the government's performance, are due within weeks.

Roland Buerk, BBC News, Japan

New research on the power of smiling

There are any number of sayings about the power of the smile. 'Peace begins with a smile.' 'A smile is the universal welcome.' 'Life is short but a smile only takes a second.' All good advice. But it may not be as simple as that. According to new research, if you want to make a good impression when you meet people, it's not just that you smile. It's how you smile.

The study was carried out by the Go Group, a business support organisation based in Scotland. They looked at people's reactions to different grins. They found that responses varied considerably.

Through this they say they have found three types of smile to avoid: The first is 'The Enthusiast', very wide, all teeth showing, possible evidence that you can have too much of a good thing. Then there is the 'Big Freeze', a fixed grin that looks practised andfake. Finally comes 'The Robot', a small, thin smile, lacking in warmth.

The group also warns about smiling too quickly, saying it can make you look insincere. The best smile, they say, is slower and floodsnaturally across the whole face.

Jonny Hogg, BBC News