Thus the six old-timers, for example, have agreed to accord one another's citizens the same rights as domestic investors by 2010, but will not grant outsiders equivalent treatment until 2020.

ECONOMIST: Free trade in South-East Asia

But that grant is only equivalent to about a 1% council tax rise and only lasts a year, so many forces will recoup more money by refusing the government aid and charging local taxpayers extra.

BBC: New police commissioners defy council tax freeze appeal

Most have taken the government grant which is worth the equivalent of a 2.5% increase in council tax and in return agreed to freeze bills for a year from April 2012.

BBC: York refuses Pickles' gift horse and puts up tax bills

"The object of California's establishment of the legal relationship of domestic partnership is to grant committed same-sex couples rights equivalent to those accorded a married couple. but Proposition 8, by depriving same-sex couples of the right to marry, denies them the dignity, respect, and stature accorded similarly situated opposite-sex couples under state law, " the court brief said.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

For one thing, while there is a federal statute empowering judges to grant immunity at the request of prosecutors, there is no equivalent for defense-requested witness immunity.

FORBES: Leveling the playing field: Immunized Witnesses for the Defense

This collaboration services seems to be the British equivalent of the US secure collaboration environment described by Grant Schneider, Deputy Director of Information Management and CIO at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA).

FORBES: UK Uses Cloud Computing for Secure Collaboration