During the Polis seminar last week on whether the media can do development, Julius Mucunguzi spoke of the increasing realisation by journalists in Uganda that they can report on "the unsexy" issues and still capture readers' attention.

Mucunguzi, a communications officer at the Commonwealth Secretariat, was a respected political reporter in Uganda before quitting the newsroom for his current job, so he knows how uninterested journalists were, and still largely are, in reporting development, preferring instead to cover the big political stories.

But Mucunguzi said the way in which a series of articles on the millennium development goals (MDGs), published in Uganda in The Weekly Observer newspaper in 2006, were received and recognised in and outside the country, had led journalists to take another look at reporting development issues.

The articles won six Ugandan and international awards, including the 2006 UN Foundation Award for Development Reporting and the 2007 CNN Multichoice African Journalist of the Year award.

The MDG series may have inspired a surge of interest in reporting on development, but how this is realised depends on the editors, and how challenged they feel to do more to address the big questions facing the country.

The MDG series was assigned by one such editor and edited by others after him at The Weekly Observer. Handing me the assignment, Kevin Aliro, who died in November 2005, before the articles were published, had lamented that achieving the MDGs was critically important to the majority of impoverished Ugandans, but we in the media had not covered them comprehensively. This meant any debate on the goals was kept in the meeting rooms of UN agencies and government offices.

But it is not easy for editors, as The Weekly Observer managing editor, James Tumusiime, told me on the phone from Kampala this week.

"I think newspapers are torn between giving people what they want and what they need to know, because the readership here tends to prefer political stories," he said. However, he added that development stories are finding more space in the papers, even if they don't make the front pages.

I would agree. Compared to when I wrote my first newspaper article 13 years ago next month, I would say there are more stories about poverty, public health, the environment and other development issues in the Ugandan press. Of course, the outlets have increased, but so has the focus on these issues.

According to Tumusiime, one reason for this change is the frustration with government on issues such as poverty reduction and public services. There is also increasing focus on the non-governmental sector, which gets a lot of money from donors and carries out work that is, arguably, the job of the government. It, therefore, attracts attention. More editors are now ready to publish a piece exploring these issues, even if they do not think it will sell any more papers.

"I keep telling people that the most prominent set of articles The Weekly Observer has done were those MDG pieces, but they were never on the front pages. So there are those things that will not necessarily sell more copies, but are satisfying to do as journalists."

It is a point shared ? with some scepticism ? by Daniel Kalinaki, managing editor at the Daily Monitor, Kampala's leading independent daily. In a country accustomed to corruption and neglect by those in power, it is not only cheaper, it also generates more interest for a newspaper to report about a musician's latest car, as opposed to hard issues like poverty. And with the pressure to increase circulation, Kalinaki says, it takes a strong editor to try not to worry about the figures.

But he believes that in a country like Uganda, development issues might benefit from the threat the newspaper industry is under from the internet, radio and television. Papers will need to think more about how they tell the bigger stories that affect people's lives.

"It is now clear to the newspapers that business as usual has not brought them the necessary credibility and relevance they want," says Kalinaki, whose paper recently ran a series on Uganda's ailing public health facilities. "So they have to be innovative. And in a third world country like Uganda where development is still the issue, we have to find ways to engage with the readers."

He says he is seeing more reports on development, but he hopes the reporting can become more systematic to allow the issues to be put into context. The benefits of this would be twofold: the articles would focus on the people, which would make the coverage more engaging, and it would reduce the apparent gap between development issues and high politics.

If we capture the imagination of the audience and highlight the responsibility ? or lack of it ? of the politicians, then we will be on the right track.

Flying to Frankfurt in British Airways' business class, I am called late to the aircraft from the lounge. I am led to my well-appointed and spacious seat, an attendant takes my jacket and offers me a choice of water, orange juice and champagne as well as complimentary newspapers while the economy passengers cram on board. Ah yes, economy. Best illustrated by the all economy layout of the budget carriers, say, easyJet, where you have to run to the plane so you don't get lumped with the middle seat, you pay through the nose for food and drink, the seats don't recline and there's one toilet shared between 140.

If it was a choice between BA's short-haul business product, ClubEurope, versus easyJet, and someone else was paying, there'd be no contest. But as business travellers know, just because you're on business, doesn't mean you're in business. The companies that had that sort of generous travel policy are precisely the ones that are now being nationalised. Travel and expenditure is one of the largest controlling costs of a business, and boy is it being controlled right now. Short-haul business class is really the preserve of travellers who have booked a long-haul segment and are connecting to and from that long-haul segment. The rest of us are in economy.

So, as that's the case, it comes down to which is best between BA's or easyJet's economy seating? The statistics - size of seat, angle of recline, leg room and so on won't help you too much - there's a website called www.seatplans.com dedicated to this subject - but it's really on long-haul flights where, over the hours, the differences make themselves felt.

Instead, the decision comes down to destination (the airline has to be flying to where you want to go), frequency (I need to be there early for a meeting and get home the same day) and price. And here, on this crucial last point, the differences aren't as large as they once were.

You could spend days comparing prices, but what's certain is the hidden extras are growing every year. Both airlines charge you a fee simply for booking the flight. EasyJet also charges for every bag you check in - £6 per one-way trip, and if you don't de-select the option, you'll also pay £8.99 for one-way travel insurance, something most business travellers will have because of company policies. In addition, if you want speedy boarding with easyJet (ie: a dedicated check-in and first in the queue for the aircraft, then add another £9). Remember, this is only worth it if you are not bussed to the aircraft. If you are, you'll find you've paid quite a lot of money to be first on the bus.

What might also influence a decision is whether you have flown a lot with BA and so have a silver and gold card giving you access to the lounges - it's lovely to get a bite to eat before an early flight, or a drink on the way back.

That said, business travellers tend to fly with both. In the Business Traveller awards - voted for by our readers, easyJet has consistently won Best Low Cost airline with BA winning best short haul airline. So less of an "either/or", more of a "both".

? Tom Otley is the editor of Business Traveller

Ministers are to call an emergency summit to tackle the first significant rise in burglaries in seven years, as the latest Home Office figures show that the effects of the economic recession are beginning to have an impact on the crime rate.

The quarterly crime figures show that the overall crime rate remained stable, according to the authoritative British Crime Survey, and dropped by 3%, according to the separate police-recorded crime figures.

Overall violent crime fell by 6% - or by 15,000 fewer incidents, according to the police, and was stable, according to the British Crime Survey, with significant falls in gun crime (down 29%), car thefts (10%) and criminal damage (8%).

But the detailed figures seem to show that the underlying trend in the crime rate, which has seen a sustained fall since 1995, is now beginning to bottom out.

A 4% rise in domestic burglary, a 16% increase in fraud and forgery and an 18% rise in street robberies committed at knifepoint led Liberal Democrat and Conservative politicians to claim yesterday that there was now clear evidence of rising crime as the recession bites.

A 9% rise in drug offences was attributed to a rise in police activity as officers issued more formal warnings as a result of the downgrading of cannabis.

Last July Home Office statisticians said they expected the economic downturn to lead to "upward pressure" on the crime rate but both Gordon Brown and the home secretary, Jacqui Smith, denied that it would necessarily lead to an increase in crime: "There will be a small minority of criminals who think they can take advantage in tough times. Let me tell them now, they can't and they won't," said the home secretary.

The last sustained rise in the burglary rate was seen in the mid-1990s in the aftermath of the 1991-92 recession, although there were "blips" in 2000-01. The police recorded crime figures yesterday showed a rise of 4% in domestic burglary and 3% increases in "other burglaries" on businesses and other premises in the 12 months to September.

The home secretary said yesterday that the summit, to be held in the next fortnight, would include DIY stores, Age Concern and Neighbourhood Watch, and would be backed by a new Home Office fund to "help people in hard times" by funding extra locks and alarms, and a new burglary prevention campaign starting next month.

The 18% increase in robberies involving knives and sharp instruments covers a rise from 3,551 attacks in the third quarter of 2007, compared with 4,207 in the third quarter of 2008. But these street robberies at knifepoint only account for 22% of all robberies, which actually fell by 3% to 19,500.

Although this was the first set of crime figures to be released with the home secretary given only 24 hours' notice of their contents, the rise in street robberies at knifepoint may help explain why Downing Street was anxious to get more recent data showing positive results from the 10 priority knife-crime hotspots out into the public domain despite censure from the Whitehall statistical watchdog.

The British Crime Survey shows that the risk of becoming a victim of crime remains at a historically low level, yet it also shows increasing concern about people being drunk or rowdy in public places and about rubbish on the streets.

Only 46% feel that their local police or council are tackling the antisocial behaviour and crime issues that matter to them locally. At the same time only a third of the public are confident that the criminal justice system is effective in dealing with crime.

The Liberal Democrats' home affairs spokesman, Chris Huhne, said there was now clear evidence of rising crime as the recession took hold. "Ministers have been too complacent about crime rates falling," he said. "Crime has been dropping in every western European country except Belgium over the last 10 years, mainly because of better security and declining numbers of young men."

The Conservatives' new shadow home secretary, Chris Grayling, was also quick to blame "Gordon Brown's credit crunch" for a new "crime wave".

"It is particularly alarming that robberies involving knives have soared and that fatal stabbings are at an all-time high. The government's complacency in this area is proving fatal," said Grayling, ignoring the fact that fatal stabbings have been at this level now for four out of the last six years and increased by one, from 269 to 270, in the latest set of figures.

The quarterly crime figures published yesterday were issued without the violent crime figures being sub-divided by "most serious violent crime" and "less serious" after the national statistician, Karen Dunnell, warned the Home Office that there were doubts about the accuracy of the data.

The decision did not affect the figures for violent crime overall.

The victims: when it happens to you

Paul Guise, 40, a teacher from Leeds, whose home was burgled late last year, on the night he and his wife returned from hospital with their first child.

"Fiona had spent two days in labour, so by the time we eventually got home with Ruby at about seven that evening we were all really tired, but happy to be back. First thing in the morning I came downstairs and saw my car wasn't there. I went to the back and saw that the locks on the patio doors had been smashed. The burglars mainly seemed to be interested in the car keys, but they took some cash and an iPod. It was a terrible feeling. We'd wanted to be home, safe with our daughter, and then that happened. Worse still, I had to go upstairs and tell my wife, who was still in quite an emotional state anyway, that there had been people in the house while we slept. I don't think days get much more stressful than that."

Rachel Cleland, 31, a university worker from Chorlton, Greater Manchester, and her partner were asleep when burglars broke into their terrace house.

"We were upstairs. It was the day after New Year's Day. They came in through the back door - there's an alley at the back and so people can get into the garden. They mainly stole electrical stuff, like laptops, and took the car keys. The car was found crashed in the early hours of the morning. We didn't get anything back. The burglars also took a knife from a kitchen drawer and left it at the front door. I suppose I don't mind so much being burgled - it's happened before - but you don't want to get stabbed with your own knife in your own home. I'm just glad we didn't go downstairs. I suppose there's more anti-burglary things we could do, like put some lights at the back, but it's left us feeling a lot less safe."

Internet giant Google bucked the economic downturn to outperform Wall Street's expectations, according to its latest financial results.

The company reported revenues of $5.7bn for the three months ending in December, up 18% year-on-year, but an increase of just 3% on the previous quarter's figures.

Profit was down significantly to $382m, compared with $1.2bn a year ago ? however, this was largely the result of investments in internet rival AOL and wireless broadband provider Clearwire.

Google chief executive Eric Schmidt said the company had performed well given the grim circumstances in the advertising industry. But he said he could not predict whether things would get easier in the future.

"Google performed well in the fourth quarter, despite an increasingly difficult economic environment," he said. "It's unclear how long the global downturn will last, but our focus remains on the long term."

In recent years Google has become more reliant on money generated by advertising on its own websites, rather than through its advertising networks ? and that pattern continues to be the case.

Google's own sites generated $3.8bn of the quarter's overall revenues, making up 67% of its income, compared to a far smaller proportion of 45% just a year ago.

Although this means the company's famously efficient advertising network is now less powerful, it may have helped insulate the company from some aspects of the financial crisis.

Google has also become more reliant on its international business, with the rest of the world now responsible for 50% of income. It said revenue would have been $334 million higher had it not been for currency slides ? particularly in Britain.

The figures were welcomed by Wall St analysts , who had expected tougher results, and by investors,who pushed Google shares up by as much as 2%.

"The quarter was pretty solid in light of the broader economic perspective ? earnings were fine, revenues were fine," said Jason Avilio, an analyst with Kaufman Bros. "People didn't have high expectations."

Over the past week Google has made a series of moves to demonstrate that it is focused on its central products. Several services have been shut and a number of engineering offices are being closed down. But despite making 100 recruiters redundant as a result of slowing growth, the company said it would continue hiring new staff through the downturn.

Avilio said that although Wall Street believed Google had too many employees, it would not benefit shareholders to cut jobs like Yahoo, which has shed 2,500 in the past year, or Microsoft, which had earlier announced it was shedding 5,000 positions.

"There is a lot of fat to trim operationally, but nothing like the thousands of layoffs at other tech companies," he said.

The renegade Tutsi general Laurent Nkunda, who led a rebel offensive in eastern Congo that caused a humanitarian crisis last October, has been arrested in a joint operation by Rwandan and Congolese troops, it was announced today.

Troops converged yesterday on Nkunda's base in the town of Bunagana, in North Kivu province. Nkunda then fled south, crossing the border into Rwanda, where he was captured.

"Ex-general Laurent Nkunda was arrested on Thursday, 22 January at 2230 hours while he was fleeing on Rwandan territory after he had resisted our troops at Bunagana with three battalions," Congolese and Rwandan military commanders said in a statement.

They said rebels were being urged to disarm, but did not say why Nkunda had been arrested.

Rwanda, which has backed Nkunda until now, was expected to hand him over to authorities in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

Speaking to the BBC, the DRC's agriculture minister, Norbert Kantitima, said: "We are very happy with the arrest of General Laurent Nkunda. We ask the Rwandan government to respect international law and extradite General Nkunda to Congo."

In a significant switch of alliance earlier this week, around 4,000 Rwandan soldiers entered the DRC at the invitation of the Congolese government. Both nations have said the Rwandans were in Congo as part of an operation to hunt down and disarm thousands of mostly Hutu fighters who fled to Congo in the wake of Rwanda's 1994 genocide.

Nkunda has led a Tutsi rebellion in eastern DRC since 2004 and launched a fresh offensive last October which displaced hundreds of thousands of people.

Nkunda claimed he needed to protect minority Tutsis from the Hutu militias.

Analysts say Rwanda and Nkunda's own commanders have grown irritated by Nkunda, viewing him as flippant, power-crazed and corrupt.

Earlier this month, Nkunda's former chief of staff, Bosco Ntaganda, formed a splinter movement and last week announced his forces would work together with Congo's army to fight the Hutu militias and eventually integrate into the army.

Ntaganda may have turned on his former boss because he was afraid months of growing distrust might have prompted Nkunda to turn him over to the international criminal court in The Hague, Netherlands, where he is wanted for the alleged forced conscription of child soldiers in the northern Ituri region five years ago.

Though details of the agreement to allow Rwandan troops on to Congolese soil have not been made public, analysts speculated that the government may have promised not to hand Ntaganda over for extradition in exchange for his co-operation.

Rwanda has been under international pressure for months to use its influence over Tutsi rebels to end the conflict, and the breakthrough agreement may have been borne out of the split within Nkunda's movement.

One of London's most successful hedge funds has made £12m in just four days by betting on a fall in the Barclays share price, a move that will heighten the controversy over so-called short-selling strategies.

Lansdowne Partners, which also profited from the fall in the share price of Northern Rock at the height of its problems, sold Barclays shares last Friday - when the bank lost almost a quarter of its value in frenzied trading - and bought them back again on Wednesday after they had fallen by almost £1.

The disclosure is likely to fuel the row between politicians and the Financial Services Authority which lifted a ban on short-selling last Friday. The ban was introduced last September to try to protect the share price of HBOS which was in the throes of a rescue takeover by Lloyds.

While bank shares, particularly those of Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland and the newly formed Lloyds Banking Group, have been savaged since the ban was lifted, the FSA insisted yesterday that short-sellers were not to blame.

But the FSA is demanding that short-sellers, who borrow shares they do not own to sell them with a view to buying them back at a lower price, disclose any such positions. Lansdowne is the only hedge fund to admit to such a trading strategy in Barclays. It revealed yesterday it had started to buy back the shares it began to sell on Friday, generating a profit of around £12m.

The lifting of the ban has infuriated the chancellor, Alistair Darling, who thought it should have remained in place. He was given just an hour's notice of the FSA's decision. Lord Turner, FSA chairman, told Radio 4's Today programme yesterday: "I do think this issue of whether or not there was a minor hiccup in communications is less important than the substance. The substance is that so far we are seeing no signs that short selling, or abusive short-selling, has a major role."

Lansdowne stressed that it managed money for pension funds, university endowments and charities. "Lansdowne is a very substantial investor in the UK banking sector. As an insurance against falling markets the firm had a very small short position in Barclays. The position represented less than 0.25% of the firm's funds under management," a spokesman said.

Barclays was also defending its position after its shares fell another 10% to 59.2p on fears about a clause in a recent fundraising document that might make it difficult to accept a government bail-out. John Varley, the Barclays chief executive, tried to address market worries that the bank will need to match the £8bn of credit crunch write-downs that RBS has warned it will need to report. "Risk isn't generic and risk management isn't generic," Varley said.

The bank is trying to accelerate the publication of its 2008 figures which it promises will show a profit of at least £5.3bn - more than its current stock market value of £4.8bn.

Barclays is facing an uphill struggle to convince the City it has not made the mistakes that have caused RBS to receive a £20bn cash injection from the taxpayer and the combined Lloyds Banking Group to take £12bn. The bank insists it will not need to raise fresh funds, while the government tried to reassure the City and taxpayers yesterday that it did not want to nationalise any more banks.

Turner stressed yesterday he could reintroduce the short-selling ban without warning if he found evidence of market abuse.

The Treasury subcommittee of MPs will today call on the government to "quantify and disclose the liabilities involved in the extensive public funding" of the banks bailed out by the taxpayer.