british

Data on 84,000 U.K. prisoners is lost

Unencrypted data on all 84,000 prisoners in England and Wales has gone missing after a Home Office contractor lost a USB stick on which it had been stored.

Contractor PA Consulting alerted the Home Office to the loss last Monday evening--and by midday Tuesday, the contractor confirmed "rigorous" searches had failed to uncover the whereabouts of the memory stick and its cachet of sensitive information.

According to a Home Office statement, the missing USB stick contains:

Data relating to all prisoners in England and Wales, including names, birth dates, and, in some cases, expected prison release data … Read more

Video: Electric car roundup

Brian Cooley looks at a pavilion full of electric cars at the 2008 British International Motor Show. He checks out a Gem, a G-Wiz, a Smart concept, a Think, and a Nice.

Video: Ford Fiesta Eco-netic

Ford launches a high-mileage eco version of its Fiesta model in England. This car uses a diesel engine and aerodynamic modifications to maximize mileage. The Fiesta joins the Mondeo and the Focus in the Eco-netic line.

Video: Toyota Aygo Crazy

Toyota brings a little something for the tuner crowd to the 2008 British International Motor Show with its Aygo Crazy concept. Toyota started by removing the 68 horsepower, 1.0-liter three-cylinder and dropping in a 200hp 2.0-liter four-cylinder, but not where you'd expect it. Instead of under the hood, the motor has been moved to the hatch, creating a rear-engined rear-driven powertrain.

With almost four times as many ponies as in stock trim and an unorthodox drivetrain conversion, it's no wonder that Toyota calls this concept "Crazy."

Video: Lightning GT

With a 0-60 time of around 4 seconds and electric motors in all four wheels, the Lightning GT may be among the fastest electric cars--as well as the best looking.

Video: Alfa Romeo Mi.To

Could Alfa Romeo's first all-new compact car in 40 years be their ticket back into the U.S. auto market?

The Alfa Romeo Mi.To features Blue&Me (a Microsoft technology similar to Ford's SYNC) and a 1.4-liter turbocharged 4-cylinder gasoline engine.

Video: Bentley Flying Spur Speed

The Speed version of Bentley's Flying Spur uses twin turbochargers to pump the horsepower up to 600, getting it to 60 miles per hour in about 4.5 seconds. This is the first car we've seen with the Naim audio system, a super high quality stereo with 15 speakers and an output of 1,100 watts.

Video: Lotus Evora

Lotus launches its family car, with 2+2 seating, a V-6 engine, and an Alpine touch-screen navigation stereo unit. Lotus purists will be horrified.

Video: The ultimate collection of supercars

At the British International Motor Show, we find a room full of supercars. Get ready to drool as we show you a Pagani, an Aston Martin, and a Bugatti, along with less well-known cars such as the Invicta and Gumpert.

Ford shows off 76 mpg Fiesta

Working hard to improve fuel economy, Ford showed off one result of its efforts at the British International auto show this week. The Ford Fiesta Econetic uses a 1.6-liter turbo diesel engine that gives it a combined fuel economy, under the EU test cycle, of 76.3 mpg.

Along with the diesel engine, the Fiesta Econetic has other tricks up its wheel well to achieve this fuel economy. Ford made aerodynamic changes to the standard Fiesta, such as adding rear air deflectors, lowering the suspensions, and putting the car on low rolling resistance tires. The engine uses low friction … Read more