0,1018,qpr keeper day heads for preston queens park rangers keeper chris day is set to join preston on a month s loan. day has been displaced by the arrival of simon royce who is in his second month on loan from charlton. qpr have also signed italian generoso rossi. r s manager ian holloway said: some might say it s a risk as he can t be recalled during that month and simon royce can now be recalled by charlton. but i have other irons in the fire. i have had a yes from a couple of others should i need them. day s rangers contract expires in the summer. meanwhile holloway is hoping to complete the signing of middlesbrough defender andy davies - either permanently or again on loan - before saturday s match at ipswich. davies impressed during a recent loan spell at loftus road. holloway is also chasing bristol city midfielder tom doherty.,sport
1,1319,software watching while you work software that can not only monitor every keystroke and action performed at a pc but also be used as legally binding evidence of wrong-doing has been unveiled. worries about cyber-crime and sabotage have prompted many employers to consider monitoring employees. the developers behind the system claim it is a break-through in the way data is monitored and stored. but privacy advocates are concerned by the invasive nature of such software. the system is a joint venture between security firm 3ami and storage specialists bridgehead software. they have joined forces to create a system which can monitor computer activity store it and retrieve disputed files within minutes. more and more firms are finding themselves in deep water as a result of data misuse. sabotage and data theft are most commonly committed from within an organisation according to the national hi-tech crime unit (nhtcu) a survey conducted on its behalf by nop found evidence that more than 80% of medium and large companies have been victims of some form of cyber-crime. bridgehead software has come up with techniques to prove to a legal standard that any stored file on a pc has not been tampered with. ironically the impetus for developing the system came as a result of the freedom of information act which requires companies to store all data for a certain amount of time. the storage system has been incorporated into an application developed by security firm 3ami which allows every action on a computer to be logged. potentially it could help employers to follow the trail of stolen files and pinpoint whether they had been emailed to a third party copied printed deleted or saved to cd floppy disk memory stick or flash card. other activities the system can monitor include the downloading of pornography the use of racist or bullying language or the copying of applications for personal use. increasingly organisations that handle sensitive data such as governments are using biometric log-ins such as fingerprinting to provide conclusive proof of who was using a particular machine at any given time. privacy advocates are concerned that monitoring at work is not only damaging to employee s privacy but also to the relationship between employers and their staff. that is not the case said tim ellsmore managing director of 3ami. it is not about replacing dialogue but there are issues that you can talk through but you still need proof he said. people need to recognise that you are using a pc as a representative of a company and that employers have a legal requirement to store data he added.,tech
2,1138,d arcy injury adds to ireland woe gordon d arcy has been ruled out of the ireland team for saturday s six nations clash against scotland in murrayfield. like skipper brian o driscoll d arcy failed to recover from a hamstring injury. the side will now be led by munster lock paul o connell. shane horgan switches from wing to centre where he will be joined by ulster s kevin maggs. girvan dempsey comes into the team to take the right wing spot while gavin duffy is called up to the replacements. we gave gordon a chance but it didn t work out said ireland coach eddie o sullivan. in terms of the risk element it was a sensible precaution. he should be fine for the next game but we do not want to tempt fate. maggs who will win his 67th cap was the obvious replacement at centre while shane horgan was always likely to be moved from the wing. the only other change to the ireland side from last weekend s win in rome sees wasps flanker johnny o connor replacing denis leamy. o connor will be winning his third cap after making his debut in the victory over south africa last november. : murphy dempsey horgan maggs hickie o gara stringer corrigan byrne hayes o kelly o connell capt s easterby o connor foley. : sheahan horan o callaghan miller g easterby humphreys duffy.,sport
3,459,india s reliance family feud heats up the ongoing public spat between the two heirs of india s biggest conglomerate reliance group has spilled over to the board meeting of a leading company within the group. anil ambani vice-chairman of india petrochemicals limited (ipcl) stayed away from a gathering of senior managers on thursday. the move follows a decision earlier this month by anil - the younger brother of reliance group president mukesh ambani - to resign from his post. his resignation was not accepted by his brother who is also the boss of ipcl. the ipcl board met in mumbai to discuss the company s results for the october-to-december quarter. it is understood that the board also considered anil s resignation and asked him to reconsider his decision. however anil s demand that anand jain - another ipcl board member accused by anil of creating a rift in the ambani family - be thrown out was not met. anil has accused anand jain a confidant of his brother mukesh of playing a negative role in the ambani family and being responsible for the trouble between the brothers. on wednesday the board of reliance energy another reliance group company reaffirmed its faith in anil who is the company s chief. reliance group acquired the government s 26% stake in ipcl - india s second-largest petrochemicals company - in 2002 as part of the privatisation drive. meanwhile the group s flagship company reliance industries has its board meeting on friday to consider its financial results. mukesh is the company s chairman and anil its deputy and it is expected that both brothers will come face to face in the meeting. the ambani family controls 48% of the group which is worth $17bn (£9.1bn; 745bn indian rupees). it was founded by their father dhiru bhai ambani who died two years ago.,business
4,1020,boro suffer morrison injury blow middlesbrough midfielder james morrison has been ruled out for up to eight weeks after an operation on tuesday. the 18-year-old who has played in 13 of the club s last 14 games had surgery to repair a double hernia. a club spokesman confirmed: it is a bilateral sportsman s hernia which was operated on yesterday. morrison was sent for scans after being substituted at half-time during boro s 2-1 uefa cup win over graz ak in which he scored the equaliser. his injury is the latest blow for the teessiders who have been without gaizka mendieta george boateng and mark viduka for extended periods. meanwhile the kick-off time for boro s uefa cup match at sporting lisbon on 17 march has been brought forward from 2115 gmt to 1945 gmt.,sport
5,51,lewsey puzzle over disallowed try england s josh lewsey has claimed he was denied a late try in his side s six nations loss to ireland. the wasps wing insisted he grounded the ball when he was bundled over the line and said referee jonathan kaplan had made a wrong decision. i m positive i touched the ball down over the line lewsey told bbc sport. it certainly wasn t a turnover. i was driven over and i put the ball on the ground. the whistle went and i let go of the ball. lewsey added: one of the irish players scooped it back after the whistle and to our surprise the referee then gave a turnover. as far as i m concerned that incident and mark cueto s effort from charlie hodgson s cross-field kick that led to what looked like a good try were the two key elements in the game. cueto was also puzzled as to why his try had been disallowed by kaplan. i don t think i could have been offside for without a doubt i was behind the ball said the sale player. the move was a planned technique it was not off the cuff. we rehearse it time and time again. i wouldn t say we were robbed some decisions go with you and some go against you. today they went against us and that s tough at international level.,sport
6,2025,blair blasts tory spending plans tony blair has launched an attack on conservative spending plans saying they are a ludicrous improbability . the prime minister has told a labour party gathering that the tory policies would cause economic failure. tory leader michael howard has said his party would cut £35bn in wasteful spending to allow £4bn in tax cuts. on saturday tory shadow home secretary david davis said the tories would fund the cuts by removing inefficiencies which had burgeoned under labour. in his speech mr blair contrasted a reformed labour party which had learned to occupy the political centre ground with a hidebound tory party which he said would turn the clock back with spending cuts. mr blair said: the conservative tax and spending proposals would put at risk both britain s hard-won economic stability - the lowest mortgages inflation unemployment for decades - and the key investment in public services. i believe that the tory plans are as plain a call to return to the past as it s possible to imagine he said. it s a recipe for exactly the same boom and bust economics and cuts in public services that were their hallmark in 18 years of conservative government. mr blair added: they the conservatives have learned nothing. by contrast he said new labour had listened to its electorate and changed. mr blair went on to list his government s achievements and to issue a rallying call to the party. so now we have a choice we can defend this record and we can build on it and go on and fulfil the promise or give up and go back. and i say we have to fight. in response david davis said the tories would make cuts such as removing regional assemblies but would bring in more police officers and match labour s spending on health and education. everybody knows having lived through this government the last seven years that they faced lots of stealth tactics lots of increases in taxes but no improvement in public services he said. mr davis said labour had been responsible for huge waste huge overspending not on the frontline at all but on bureaucracy . the public face a choice between more waste and more taxes with this government less waste and lower taxes with a tory government he concluded. gordon brown has addressed the conference behind closed doors. the chancellor said the conservatives plans would see some £50bn in spending cuts by 2011 which the tories deny. mr brown also issued call for party unity and warn of the dangers of allowing themselves to be distracted or diverted . according to an advance text released by officials he told delegates: we must all show the strength and unity of purpose to take the long-term decisions necessary to meet them. mr brown warned that the tories were planning the biggest cuts ever in the history of any election manifesto . meanwhile tory shadow chancellor oliver letwin accused mr blair of misrepresenting the party s proposals and questioned how labour would fund its own plans. he still cannot accept the simple truth which is that we will spend more on what matters to people - schools hospitals and police - and that we will offer value for money and lower taxes mr letwin said. once again mr blair and his chancellor have failed to answer the question that lies at the heart of this election - which taxes will they put up to fill the £8bn shortfall in their plans,politics
7,1479,former ni minister scott dies former northern ireland minister sir nicholas scott has died at a london hospice his family has announced. the former conservative mp for kensington and chelsea died after a long illness diagnosed as alzheimer s. the 71-year-old served in northern ireland from 1981 to 1987 during the premiership of margaret thatcher. as a northern ireland minister he dealt with education and later security where he rode out the mass ira escape from the maze in 1983. in education he encountered criticism over school closures and the future of the catholic training colleges. he also merged the new university of ulster and the ulster polytechnic to create the university of ulster. sir nicholas was a strong defender of the anglo-irish agreement and was held in esteem in dublin government and sdlp circles. but he experienced hostility from unionists some of whom dubbed him minister of discord . after leaving northern ireland in a reshuffle he became a uk disability minister. sir nicholas was replaced as the member for kensington and chelsea by the flamboyant alan clark after being deselected by his constituency in december 1996. his deselection followed a series of scandals including being found slumped in the street by police during the tory party conference in bournemouth and taken back to his hotel. sir nicholas claimed strong painkillers he was taking for a back problem had reacted badly with a small amount of alcohol. after his sacking he bitterly said that despite the support of cabinet ministers and tory backbenchers the eurosceptics in his constituency were absolutely determined to get rid of me . his colourful career also included a very public disagreement with daughter victoria over civil rights for the disabled. sir nicholas admitted he misled mps when he denied his department had been involved in wrecking tactics designed to kill the disability bill in 1994. victoria a lobbyist for disabled rights denounced her father s actions and heaped insult on injury when she joined the calls for him to resign. he joined the backbenches two months later.,politics
8,27,career honour for actor dicaprio actor leonardo dicaprio s exceptional career has been honoured at the santa barbara international film festival. the star was presented with the award by martin scorsese who directed him in oscar-nominated movie the aviator. it s a lifetime achievement award which is completely and utterly surreal given i m only 30 years old dicaprio said. but what has it been almost 17 years now. i ve done quite a few films. a retrospective of his movies was shown. what s really exciting for me is that this is what i really love doing he added. it s what i want to do for the rest of my life. dicaprio began his movie career in horror film critters 3 before moving onto roles in the basketball diaries romeo and juliet titanic and gangs of new york. the achievement award was created to commemorate the california festival s 20th anniversary and coincided with dicaprio s portrayal of millionaire howard hughes in the aviator. veteran actress jane russell who starred in hughes 1943 film the outlaw said was impressed by dicaprio s quest for authenticity when he previously discussed the role with her. i was very happy that (dicaprio) came and cared to come up and find out what (hughes) was really like she said. the aviator has taken pole position in this year s oscars race with 11 nominations including nominations for best film best actor for dicaprio and best director for scorsese.,entertainment
9,397,tsunami to hit sri lanka banks sri lanka s banks face hard times following december s tsunami disaster officials have warned. the sri lanka banks association said the waves which killed more than 30 000 people also washed away huge amounts of property which was securing loans. according to its estimate as much as 13.6% of the loans made by private banks to clients in the disaster zone has been written off or damaged. state-owned lenders may be even worse hit it said. the association estimates that the private banking sector has 25bn rupees ($250m; £135m) of loans outstanding in the disaster zone. on one hand banks are dealing with the death of their customers along with damaged or destroyed collateral. on the other most are extending cheap loans for rebuilding and recovery as well as giving their clients more time to repay existing borrowing. the combination means a revenue shortfall during 2005 slba chairman - and commercial bank managing director - al gooneratne told a news conference. most banks have given moratoriums and will not be collecting interest at least in this quarter he said. in the public sector more than one in ten of the state-owned people s bank s customers in the south of sri lanka were affected a bank spokesman told reuters. he estimated the bank s loss at 3bn rupees.,business
10,1644,us economy still growing says fed most areas of the us saw their economy continue to expand in december and early january the us federal reserve said in its latest beige book report. of the 12 us regions it identifies for the study 11 showed stronger economic growth with only the cleveland area falling behind with a mixed rating. consumer spending was higher in december than november and festive sales were also up on 2003. the employment picture also improved the fed said. labour markets firmed in a number of districts but wage pressures generally remained modest the beige book said. several districts reported higher prices for building materials and manufacturing inputs but most reported steady or only slightly higher overall price levels. the report added that residential real estate activity remained strong and that commercial real estate activity strengthened in most districts. office leasing was especially brisk in washington dc and new york city two of the nation s strongest commercial markets the fed said.,business
11,263,digital uk driven by net and tv the uk s adoption of digital tv and broadband has helped make it the fourth most digitally-savvy nation in europe according a report by jupiter research. but the uk still lags in terms of broadband speeds compared to others. the most digitally sophisticated europeans in terms of use of digital goods such as mobiles tv net and cameras are the scandinavians. about 14 million households in the uk 60% have digital tv according to the communications regulator ofcom. the least digital of the european nations was greece in 17th position according to the digital life index. scandinavian countries sweden denmark and norway came out top in the report but there were some differences in technology trends. the european digital life index demonstrates that digital lifestyles are common today but across europe there is no single digital lifestyle said nate elliott jupiter analyst. consumers adopt different digital products and services in different countries. although there are differences between different european nations the gap between them is closing the report concluded. the trend for gadgets and technologies such as digital video recorders (dvr) broadband and video-on-demand will continue across europe he added. more than six million uk households now have broadband net. by the middle of 2005 it is estimated that 50% of all uk net users will be on broadband. cable company ntl is trialling faster adsl (asymmetric digital subscriber line) broadband technology using adsl2+ which can give speeds of 18mbps compared to current speeds which are usually around 1mbps or 2mbps. bt is set to trial the technology later in the year. super-fast broadband will be necessary to the delivery of services such as high-definition tv (hdtv) and video-on-demand already very popular in france and other european countries. a separate survey by gmipoll last week found that globally people s appetite for technology and gadgets continues unabated. the poll of 20 000 people in 20 countries found that 59% wanted more technology. the computer was the must-have gadget for most people (75%). the tv took second place (67%) while the mobile was ranked in third position with 54%. digital cameras were the most popular choice of gadget for 2005 said the survey with nearly 40% choosing this over wireless home printing and dvr technologies. however only 25% of britons said a digital camera would be their top gadget purchase of the year. almost a quarter 22% said they would be buying some sort of wireless device. forty-four percent said they would be buying something other . this might include digital music players or gaming devices. the nintendo ds sony s psp and gizmondo all hit the shops in 2005 and the first of the next generation of games consoles xbox 2 is set to launch later this year. jupiter research s index is calculated using 40 different variables across net users digital tv adoption wireless and mobile online activity and digital devices.,tech
12,765,blunkett tells of love and pain david blunkett has spoken of his love for married publisher kimberly quinn for the first time. the home secretary described how it affected his friends and personal life but said he was a great believer in personal responsibility. mr blunkett is taking legal action to gain access to mrs quinn s two-year-old son. she denies he is mr blunkett s. the interview with bbc radio sheffield was made before allegations he fast-tracked a visa for mrs quinn s nanny. the allegations which he has denied are being investigated by sir alan budd. mr blunkett talked about how he fell in love - but that she resisted his desire to go public. in an apparent reference to his court action to gain access to her son he says he was a great believer in responsibility and consequences even when they were painful. mr blunkett told bbc radio sheffield: i fell in love with someone and they wouldn t go public and things started to go very badly wrong in the summer and then the news of the world picked up the story. i tried for three years to make something work. i haven t spoken about it and i don t intend to. even in the biography that s being written about me i ve ensured that there s as little as possible. bbc political correspondent carole walker said the timing of the broadcast was unlikely to help his efforts to show that he is concentrating on getting on with the job of home secretary. shadow home secretary david davis says mr blunkett should quit if he is found to have influenced the visa process even indirectly. reports have claimed mr blunkett chaired a meeting to discuss delays in the visa system after he learned of nanny leoncia casalme s wait. the home office has said it would be up to sir alan s inquiry to decide if any such meeting was relevant. home office minister fiona mactaggart said she hoped mr blunkett would survive in his job. i work with him every day and i have always been surprised by how focused he is on the job in hand on working to deal with things she said. she told bbc one s breakfast with frost programme: he is just really down for the job and i hope he does (survive).,politics
13,2134,ibm puts cash behind linux push ibm is spending $100m (£52m) over the next three years beefing up its commitment to linux software. the cash injection will be used to help its customers use linux on every type of device from handheld computers and phones right up to powerful servers. ibm said the money will fund a variety of technical research and marketing initiatives to boost linux use. ibm said it had taken the step in response to greater customer demand for the open source software. in 2004 ibm said it had seen double digit growth in the number of customers using linux to help staff work together more closely. the money will be used to help this push towards greater collaboration and will add linux-based elements to ibm s workplace software. workplace is a suite of programs and tools that allow workers to get at core business applications no matter what device they use to connect to corporate networks. one of the main focuses of the initiative will be to make it easier to use linux-based desktop computers and mobile devices with workplace. even before ibm announced this latest spending boost it was one of the biggest advocates of the open source way of working. in 2001 it put $300m into a three-year linux program and has produced linux versions of many of its programs. linux and the open source software movement are based on the premise that developers should be free to tinker with the core components of software programs. they reason that more open scrutiny of software produces better programs and fuels innovation.,tech
14,297,cage film s third week at us top nicolas cage movie national treasure has topped the us and canada box office for the third week in a row. national treasure made $17.1m (£8.8m) in ticket sales from friday to sunday according to studio estimates taking its total to $110.2m (£56.7m). comedy christmas with the kranks starring tim allen and jamie lee curtis was in second place. the polar express entered in third place while jude law film closer made its debut at number six. oliver stone s big-budget epic alexander starring colin farrell followed last week s disappointing sixth-place opening with a slump to seventh place and takings of $4.7m (£2.4m). critics have savaged the three-hour epic which reportedly cost $150m (£77m) to make. national treasure which sees cage s character ben gates chase a hidden fortune has been made by disney studios. it is cage s fourth collaboration with jerry bruckheimer who is usually noted for his male-orientated action films.,entertainment
15,1712,souness backs smith for scotland graeme souness believes walter smith would be the perfect choice to succeed berti vogts as scotland manager. souness s former assistant at rangers is hot favourite to take over from vogts who resigned on monday. walter is most definitely the ideal candidate for that job. he d be perfect for it souness told bbc sport. the scottish football association has appointed tommy burns as provisional caretaker-boss for the friendly against sweden on 17 november. he fits the bill because of his knowledge and understanding of the scotland team and football. he is experienced and has been successful. souness added: walter is a real football person as i know from working with him at ibrox. on top of all that he is a proper human being who would command the instant respect of the players and everyone involved in scottish football. souness joined sir alex ferguson in backing smith s claims. the scottish football association is about to embark on the search for vogts successor after appointing tommy burns in a caretaker capacity. ferguson said: he (smith) would be the outstanding candidate as far as i m concerned. you need somebody who knows what they re doing and walter would bring a wealth of experience to the job. the man utd boss continued: i don t know what credentials are needed to do the job but it s a job that needs a lot of experience. he was my assistant with scotland and here at manchester united and he has also managed glasgow rangers. he would need to change the whole shape of scottish football and radical changes are needed. smith was assistant to ferguson at the world cup in mexico in 1986. the former everton and rangers boss has been out of the game since a spell as manchester united assistant last term. bbc sport understands that smith would be willing to discuss taking over if he was approached by the scottish fa. if he is tempted to take over it seems almost certain smith s long-time right-hand man archie knox would also play a part in the national team set-up. smith already has the backing of many pundits and fans including former scotland manager craig brown. brown said: walter is an outstanding candidate without doubt. he would be admirable choice. i spoke to him on sunday and i got the impression he would take it. he was asking me about it and i was positive. other candidates for the job include former scotland midfielders gordon strachan and gary mcallister and vogts assistant tommy burns.,sport
16,1631,ukip mep attacked german empire a uk independence party mep suggested germany saw the eu as an empire and was cheaper than using tanks a new documentary has revealed. mike nattrass ukip s deputy leader made the comments to an audience at a meeting during last september s hartlepool by-election campaign. but challenged on the remark he denied accusing germany of using the eu as cover for a 4th german reich . he says he was not german-bashing but saying peace was the eu s founding aim. the meeting was shown in a bbc 3 film on ex-ukip mep robert kilroy-silk. the former chat show host quit the party earlier this month calling it a joke. the documentary showed mr nattrass apparently talking about the eu telling the meeting: the germans are the big losers here but they don t care because to them the project is worthwhile. it s like an empire for them spreading in all directions away from germany into hungary into what they call the sudetenland - czechoslovakia places like that. so it s cheaper for them to do it this way than roll the tanks in. on tuesday he told the bbc news website he did not think the comments were offensive and worked happily with meps of different nationalities in the european parliament. he argued that peace was the only reason for having the outdated eu as there was no economic justification. pointing to germany s trade interests as a country in the centre of europe mr nattrass said: the fact is that the eu benefits germany but it does not benefit britain. i m not at all german-bashing. it s the truth. a ukip spokesman said: mike has some passionate beliefs and sometimes uses excessively colourful language with which to express them. the documentary showed some of the tensions between mr kilroy-silk and his fellow meps after ukip took third place in last year s european elections. he denied wanting to be leader until october 2004 when he told bbc one s breakfast with frost programme he aspired to the job. asked by the documentary makers why he had lied about his leadership ambitions mr kilroy-silk said: there was one thing i said that i shouldn t have said at the time. i was trying to be helpful to the party and it was the wrong thing to do i should have told the truth. the film also included footage of a row between mr kilroy-silk mep nigel farage and party leader roger knapman about rumours that he was about to resign the ukip whip in the european parliament. mr kilroy-silk told them he had not left the ukip group - a move he announced shortly after the meeting. he told mr farage: don t tell lies nigel now you ve told too many. most of the trouble had been caused by you. ukip officials claim it was in fact mr kilroy-silk not mr farage who briefed newspapers he was leaving the group of meps. later in unguarded off-air comments in a television studio mr kilroy-silk was heard saying he was irritated by defending some of these right-wing fascist nutters . mr kilroy-silk separately said he had argued against ukip working with such groups which believed homosexuality was a sin. a ukip spokesman said there were more than 40 meps in the same group in the european parliament. they were from a broad spectrum - some right-wing some left-wing - but with a shared belief in the unfeasibility of the eu as it is now . he did not defend other groups religious beliefs but argued it was their right to hold such views - just as mr kilroy-silk had a right to criticise arab states. london ukip mep gerard batten said: robert has made a variety of comments about ukip and its meps. there are of course two sides to every story. what robert does not say is that he was offered several positions which would have given him effective control of the party but not the title of leader. mr kilroy-silk is to launch his own parry veritas in westminster on wednesday.,politics
17,942,cheaper chip for mobiles a mobile phone chip which combines a modem and a computer processor on one bit of silicon instead of two could make phones cheaper and more powerful. the specially-designed chip developed by texas instruments could drive down the cost of making mobiles capable of 3d gaming and 30-frame-a-second video. currently rich multimedia features tend to be on more expensive handsets. the technology omap-vox is being tested by firms in europe and asia and could appear by the end of the year. texas which makes computer chips for more than half the world s mobile phones said it was keen to make multimedia functions like video and gaming more affordable. we re going to drive them down into meat-and-potatoes phones that have the largest market share said doug rasor a marketing vice president at texas. the chip also uses much less power than conventional chips said texas which means less strain on mobile battery life. more than 50 million people own a mobile in the uk but mobile operators are keen to encourage people to move onto more sophisticated handsets that can do more. texas is keen to cash in on the third generation (3g) of mobile technology which offers high-speed networks for video streaming and other multimedia functions. but it faces stiff competition from the likes of intel which is also looking to provide better chips for high-end mobiles. competition to get people using 3g mobiles will grow in the next year as almost all of the uk s operators have now launched third generation networks. a recent survey by sony ericsson predicted that the number of 3g handsets sold in 2005 would double from 2004 to account for 10% of all phones sold. many consumers are still to be convinced though. a further recent survey said that only 4% of mobile owners were thinking of upgrading to 3g phones. many said they were confused about the different ways to pay for phones and the vast array of features most have onboard. but there will be continued demand for better chips as the industry continues to develop new standards and future networks. earlier in january ntt docomo and vodafone joined forces to develop the next generation of high-speed networks known as super 3g intended to be 10 times faster than 3g services. the first stage of development is to be completed by 2007 but no date has been set for a commercial launch the newly-designed omap-vox chip set was announced ahead of the start of a major mobile industry conference 3gsm which takes place in cannes france this week.,tech
18,1549,usher leads soul train shortlist chart-topping r&b star usher is leading the field at this year s soul train awards with five nominations. the singer whose album confessions has sold close to eight million copies in the us alone is already in the running for eight grammy awards. newcomer ciara - who recently beat elvis presley to the uk number one spot - has four nominations while alicia keys has three. the soul train awards ceremony will take place in hollywood on 28 february. usher has already swept the board at the american music awards with four titles including two best album awards. his soul train nominations include best male r&b-soul album and best male r&b-soul single for confessions part ii. usher s work with rappers ludacris & lil jon won him nominations for best r&b-soul or rap music video and best r&b-soul or rap dance cut for the song yeah! while his duet with keys my boo earned the pair a nod for best r&b-soul single. keys album the diary of alicia keys was also up for best r&b-soul album by a female. her song if i ain t got you received a best single nomination in the female r&b-soul category. newcomer ciara s four nominations include best female r&b-soul album and best r&b-soul or rap by a new artist. beyonce prince destiny s child jill scott and new edition all received two nominations each. the soul train music awards which started 18 years ago celebrates artists in r&b hip-hop rap and gospel music.,entertainment
19,516,india to deport bollywood actress india has ordered the deportation of iranian-born model and actress negar khan to norway after saying she was working illegally on her visa. khan has had raunchy roles in music videos and bollywood films over the past two years. the distressed actress told media she was being driven straight to the airport after a routine appointment at the bombay immigration office. immigration officials said she had been warned about her visa last year. khan told an indian news channel on her mobile phone: they are not even letting me go home to get my bags. i have no clothes or money on me. they did not give me any notice. i don t know why they are taking me away like this. there is nothing wrong with my visa. it says i work here... they are not allowing me to even call a lawyer. bipin bihari deputy police chief in bombay said khan was being sent back to norway from which she holds a passport on the first available flight. she was on a visitor s visa but she has engaged in several commercial ventures he said. we issued notices last year in view of which she had gone back to norway but she has returned again this year to work. one of khan s biggest successes was the steamy hindi song chadti jawani (rising youth). khan was involved in controversy when topless photos alleged to be of her appeared in a norwegian magazine.,entertainment
20,2215,bush budget seeks deep cutbacks president bush has presented his 2006 budget cutting domestic spending in a bid to lower a record deficit projected to peak at $427bn (£230bn) this year. the $2.58 trillion (£1.38 trillion) budget submitted to congress affects 150 domestic programmes from farming to the environment education and health. but foreign aid is due to rise by 10% with more money to treat hiv/aids and reward economic and political reform. military spending is also set to rise by 4.8% to reach $419.3bn. the budget does not include the cost of running military operations in iraq and afghanistan for which the administration is expected to seek an extra $80bn from congress later this year. congress will spend several months debating george w bush s proposal. the state department s planned budget would rise to just under $23bn - a fraction of the defence department s request - including almost $6bn to assist us allies in the war on terror . however the administration is keen to highlight its global effort to tackle hiv/aids the bbc s jonathan beale reports and planned spending would almost double to $3bn with much of that money going to african nations. mr bush also wants to increase the amount given to poorer countries through his millennium challenge corporation. the scheme has been set up to reward developing countries that embrace what the us considers to be good governance and sound policies. yet mr bush s proposed spending of $3bn on that project is well below his initial promise of $5bn. a key spending line missing from proposals is the cost of funding the administration s proposed radical overhaul of social security the pensions programme on which many americans rely for their retirement income. some experts believe this could require borrowing of up to $4.5 trillion over a 20-year period. neither does the budget include any cash to purchase crude oil for the us emergency petroleum stockpile. concern over the level of the reserve created in 1970s has led to rises in oil prices over the past year. the bush administration will instead continue to fill the reserve by taking oil - rather than cash - from energy companies that drill under federal leases. the outline proposes reductions in budgets at 12 out of 23 government agencies including cuts of 9.6% at agriculture and 5.6% at the environmental protection agency. the spending plan for the year beginning 1 october is banking on a healthy us economy to boost government income by 6.1% to $2.18 trillion. spending is forecast to grow by 3.5% to $2.57 trillion. but the budget is still the tightest yet under mr bush s presidency. in order to sustain our economic expansion we must continue pro-growth policies and enforce even greater spending restraint across federal government mr bush said in his budget message to congress. mr bush has promised to halve the us s massive budget deficit within five years. the deficit partly the result of massive tax cuts early in mr bush s presidency has been a key factor in pushing the us dollar lower. the independent congressional budget office estimates that the shortfall could shrink to little more than $200bn by 2009 returning to the surpluses seen in the late 1990s by 2012. but its estimates depend on the tax cuts not being made permanent in line with the promise when they were passed that they would sunset or disappear in 2010. most republicans however want them to stay in place. and the figures also rely on the social security trust fund - the money set aside to cover the swelling costs of retirement pensions - being offset against the main budget deficit.,business
21,531,labour s core support takes stock tony blair has told labour supporters he s back and still hungry for the job of prime minister - but does that sum up the mood at the party s spring conference in gateshead the electorate are keener on the government than some labour party members is the dry assessment of graham lane leader of the labour group on newham council. the problem according to mr lane is not continuing divisions over iraq foundation hospitals or tuition fees or even voter apathy but mr blair himself. i have a new slogan. vote blair get brown. that s what i am telling people on the doorstep. don t worry he will be gone soon. his friend saxon spence leader of devon county labour group lays the blame for any lack of campaigning zeal on one issue above all others. you cannot underestimate the impact of the war in iraq. we lost people from our local party who had some key roles. but the two friends were fired up by gordon brown s speech on saturday with its appeal to core labour values on social justice health and education. there was real passion. i think we have all felt a little jaded but it reminded us why we joined the party in the first place said mrs spence. if he hadn t have walked off the stage they would still be clapping added mr lane. but for every brownite at the spring conference there was an equally ardent fan of mr blair. stephen douglas 26 from wales said after the pm s speech on sunday: i think it was a bit of a turning point given the roasting he has had on some issues. the guy still has it. tony martin of burnley said: he is the first leader who has won us two terms. this bloke has delivered for us. malcolm shipley of shipley said it was as if he is coming round to the right approach again . katrina bull a prospective parliamentary candidate said mr blair had shown he could rouse the party s grassroots: i think if every voter was able to spend time in a room with tony the way we have today we will have no problem with turnout. she had just emerged from a q&a session in which mr blair - tieless and supremely at ease - answered questions posed via the party s website. a party of councillors from nottingham agreed that there was nothing wrong with mr blair s leadership - and they were adamant that the campaigning strength of the party in their city was as strong as ever. iraq they insisted would not be a factor for most voters. the biggest problem we have got at the moment is that we keep getting all these polls saying we are going to run away with the election. it might sound great but it does create this sense of complacency among our own voters and i think that is the greater problem than iraq said nottingham city councillor brian parbutt. and even mr blair s most vocal critics seemed to agree on one thing - he is a master of the sort of glossy high-profile campaigning that has become labour s hallmark epitomised by friday s whistle-stop tour of marginal seats. a group of shop stewards from the swan hunter shipyard who said they were facing redundancy could barely suppress their anger at mr blair s failure to as they saw it shake off his tory leanings and stand up for manufacturing in the north east. they were also scathing about the alleged benefits of showpiece projects such as conference venue sage centre heralded by john prescott and others this weekend as a symbol of labour s success in urban regeneration. it is no good having the sage or baltic if you haven t got the money for the entrance fee said terry telford. but when asked about mr blair s bravura performance on friday the men agreed he was brilliant . and they would all be out on the doorstep pushing the labour message come election time. if you are not fired up about the election then what s the point there is no complacency as far as i can see in the labour party. we are fired up. we are up for this election said richie porterhouse. mr telford agreed but added it was becoming increasingly difficult to think of an answer when people asked what
22,1541,hodges announces rugby retirement scarlets and usa eagles forward dave hodges has ended his playing career to pursue a coaching role in the states. the 36-year-old who has 54 caps was llanelli s player of the season in 2001/2 but has battled injury for the last two of his seven years at stradey. he tore a pectoral muscle against the ospreys on boxing day an injury that would have kept him out for the season. realising i would be unable to play this season the club and i agreed to end my contract early said hodges. it allows me to move back to the us and pursue opportunities there and allows the scarlets to look to the next generation. the scarlets have begun to rebuild their squad for next season after a disappointing heineken cup campaign with plenty more signings and departures expected in the coming weeks. scarlets chief executive stuart gallacher confirmed that 17 of the current squad would be out of contract in the summer. we have a deliberate policy whereby around half the squad are coming out of contract and they know they won t all be re-signed it s a chance to invigorate the squad he said. i m positive about the future of the scarlets both on and off the field. gallacher was keen to pay tribute to the role back-five forward hodges has played at stradey park though. david has been a highly influential member of our squad for seven years said gallacher. he is a real professional and we thank him for the part he has played in our success. i am sure he has an enormous contribution to make to the development of rugby in the us and we wish him and his family well. hodges described his years at stradey as the best time of my life.,sport
23,1340,latin america sees strong growth latin america s economy grew by 5.5% in 2004 its best performance since 1980 while exports registered their best performance in two decades. the united nations economic commission for latin america and the caribbean said the region grew by 5.5% this year. the inter-american development bank (iadb) said regional exports reached $445.1bn (£227bn;331bn euros) in 2004. doubts about the strength of the us recovery and overheating of the chinese economy do however pose risks for 2005. both organisations also warned that high oil prices raise the risk of either inflation or recession. nevertheless the economic commission for latin america and the caribbean (eclac) still forecasts growth of 4% for 2005. strong recovery in some countries such as venezuela and uruguay boosted the overall performance of the region. eclac also said that the six largest latin american economies (argentina brazil chile colombia mexico and venezuela) grew by more than 3% for only the second time in 20 years. chinese and us economic strength helped boost exports as did strong demand for agricultural and mining products. in fact latin american exports to china grew 34% to $14bn. higher oil prices also helped boost exports as mexico and venezuela are important oil exporters. regional blocs as well as free trade agreements with the us contributed to the region s strong performance the iadb said.,business
24,56,vouchers to cut winter deaths pensioners are being promised energy savings by the liberal democrats as snow and cold temperatures continue. the party says the plans could save the average pensioner £100 every year and cut winter deaths. the government gives £200 for winter fuel to households with people over 60 or £300 where people are over 80. the tories promise to keep the payments. the lib dems would allow people to swap these winter fuel payments for discounts on home insulation. shadow local government secretary ed davey said: the current scheme has helped some older people but this new liberal democrat approach will go much further to end the scandal of tens of thousands of old people dying from the winter cold every year. the vouchers are designed to let pensioners choose from a list of approved energy supplies who would compete for business by offering discounts on home insulation schemes. the plan would boost energy conservation says the party - and insulation could save £100 every year for pensioner households so using the money more intelligently than at present.,politics
25,2138,captains lining up for aid match ireland s brian o driscoll is one of four six nations captains included in the northern hemisphere squad for the irb rugby aid match on 5 march. france s fabien pelous gordon bullock of scotland and italy s marco bortolami are also in the northern party. sir clive woodward will coach the northern team against rod macqueen s southern hemisphere team in a tsumani fund-raising match at twickenham. i m looking forward to working with such outstanding players he said. it will be a chance for woodward to assess some of his options before unveiling his british and irish lions touring party who will visit new zealand in the summer. the game promises to be a great spectacle he said. both teams are fielding top-quality sides and i really hope that the rugby public and community get behind this game to raise as much money as possible for such a deserving cause. l dallaglio (england) b cohen (england) a rougerie (france) d traille (france) f pelous (france) r ibanez (france) p de villiers (france) b o driscoll (ireland capt) p o connell (ireland) d humphreys (ireland) c paterson (scotland) c cusiter (scotland) g bullock (scotland) s taylor (scotland) a lo cicero (italy) m bortolami (italy) s parisse (italy) d peel (wales) c sweeney (wales) j thomas (wales) r williams (wales) j yapp (wales). c latham (australia); r caucaunibuca (fiji) j fourie (s africa) t umaga (new zealand) s bobo (fiji); a mehrtens (new zealand) g gregan (australia capt); t kefu (australia) p waugh (australia) s burger (s africa); i rawaqa (fiji) v matfield (s africa); k visagie (s africa) j smit (s africa) c hoeft (new zealand). reserves: b reihana (new zealand) b lima (samoa) e taukafa (tonga) o palepoi (samoa) s sititi (samoa) m rauluni (fiji) a n other.,sport
26,338,yukos heading back to us courts russian oil and gas company yukos is due in a us court on thursday as it continues to fight for its survival. the firm is in the process of being broken up by russian authorities in order to pay a $27bn (£14bn) tax bill. yukos filed for bankruptcy in the us hoping to use international business law to halt the forced sale of its key oil production unit yuganskneftegas. the unit was however sold for $9.4bn to state oil firm rosneft but only after the state auction had been disrupted. yukos lawyers now say the auction violated us bankruptcy law. the company and its main shareholders have vowed to go after any company that buys its assets using all and every legal means. the company wants damages of $20bn claiming yuganskneftegas was sold at less than market value. judge letitia clark will hear different motions including one from deutsche bank to throw out the chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. the german lender is one of six banks that were barred from providing financing to gazprom the russian state-owned company that was expected to win the auction for yuganskneftegas. deutsche bank which is also an advisor to gazprom has called on the us court to overturn its decision to provide yukos with bankruptcy protection. lifting the injunction would remove the uncertainty that surrounds the court case and clarify deutsche bank s business position analysts said. analysts are not optimistic about yukos chances in court. russian president vladimir putin and the country s legal authorities have repeatedly said that the us has no jurisdiction over yukos and its legal wranglings. on top of that the firm only has limited assets in the us. yukos has won small victories however and is bullish about its chances in court. do we have an ability to influence what happens we think we do said mike lake a yukos spokesman. the litigation risks are real said credit suisse first boston analyst vadim mitroshin the dispute with the russian authorities is partly driven by president putin s clampdown on the political ambitions of ex-yukos boss mikhail khodorkovsky. mr khodorkovsky is in jail on charges of fraud and tax evasion.,business
27,133,wales get williams fitness boost wales are hopeful that openside flanker martyn williams could be fit for saturday s rbs 6 nations championship opener against england in cardiff. williams was expected to miss the match with a disc problem in his neck but has been making a speedy recovery. he will have tests in the next 48 hours and we are pretty optimistic he is getting there wales team physiotherapist mark davies said. it has been frustrating but he is on the mend he has made good progress. last week williams along with fellow flanker colin charvis - who is unlikely to play for at least a month while he recovers from a foot injury - was all but ruled out of the millennium stadium clash. with williams initially thought to be struggling the signs pointed towards wales coach mike ruddock handing a first cap to former wales under-21 skipper richie pugh. cardiff blues flanker williams 29 offers considerable experience and if he is declared fit then ruddock might be tempted to include him in the back row. charvis will be reviewed by the wales medical staff next monday but davies admitted that there was only an outside chance of him being fit to face france in wales third championship game on 26 february. wales other injury concern is pugh s fellow neath-swansea ospreys player sonny parker as the centre has a trapped nerve in his neck. sonny s injury is still an issue davies said. it is still painful and irritable. we will run the rule of thumb over him in the next couple of days. ruddock will name his starting line-up for the england game at 1830 gmt on tuesday evening as wales target their first victory in cardiff over the world champions since 1993.,sport
28,215,ireland v usa (sat) saturday 20 november lansdowne road dublin 1300 gmt the irish coach knows a repeat of the record 83-3 victory over the states in 2000 is not on the agenda and expects a real test at lansdowne road. their coach tom billups will have them very organised said o sullivan. they ran five tries past the french in the summer so we will not take them for granted. we have guys coming into the team who are chomping at the bit. the irish line-up shows nine changes from the team which started against south africa with winger tommy bowe and flanker denis leamy making their international debuts. the other changes see recalls for backs david humphreys kevin maggs and guy easterby with eric miller marcus horan donnacha o callaghan and frank sheehan all returning to the pack. o sullivan said the players coming in had the opportunity to stake claims for inclusion against argentina on 27 november. easterby gets a rare start at scrum-half while humphreys now effectively ronan o gara s deputy at fly-half wins his 65th cap. we have got to get the focus right on the day said ulster man humphreys. the us may be classed as weaker opposition but we will treat them with the respect they deserve. the states lost 39-31 against france in their last international and are ranked 16th in world rugby. the americans have made three changes plus one positional switch from the game in july against the french. lock alec parker blind-side flanker brian surgener and right wing al lakomskis return and captain kort schubert of the cardiff blues shifts to number eight. schubert is the only eagles player remaining from the sides meeting four years ago. g murphy; s horgan b o driscoll (capt) k maggs t bowe; d humphreys g easterby; m horan. f sheahan j hayes d o callaghan p o connell s easterby d leamy e miller. s byrne s best l cullen a foley p stringer r o gara g dempsey. viljoen; lakomskis emerick sika fee hercus timoteo; macdonald wyatt waasdorp parker klerck surgener petruzzella schubert (capt). hobson osentowski gouws mo unga williams sherman tuipulotu.,sport
29,521,fiat chief takes steering wheel the chief executive of the fiat conglomerate has taken day-to-day control of its struggling car business in an effort to turn it around. sergio marchionne has replaced herbert demel as chief executive of fiat auto with mr demel leaving the company. mr marchionne becomes the fourth head of the business - which is expected to make a 800m euro ($1bn) loss in 2004 - in as many years. fiat underperformed the market in europe last year seeing flat sales. the car business has made an operating loss in five of the last six years and was forced to push back its break-even target from 2005 to 2006. the management changes are part of a wider shake-up of the business following fiat s resolution of its dispute with general motors. as part of a major restructuring fiat is to integrate the maserati car company - currently owned by ferrari - within its own operations. ferrari in which fiat owns a majority stake could be separately floated on the stock market in either 2006 or 2007. mr marchionne who only joined the company last year said fiat auto was now the principal focus of his attention. i have made the decision to take on the post of chief executive of the auto unit to speed up the company s recovery he said. a profound cultural transformation is underway following a management reorganisation that has delivered a more agile and efficient structure he added. although mr marchionne does not have a background in the car industry he has been playing an increasing role in the group s activities. last year he said that a series of new models launched as part of the group s recovery plan had not boosted revenues as much as hoped. the car business best known for its alfa romeo marque is expected to make a loss of about 800m euros in 2004. sales are expected to fall in 2005 fiat said this week as it exits unprofitable areas such as the rental car market. mr demel a car industry veteran took the helm in november 2003 after being recruited by former fiat chief executive giuseppe morchio. mr morchio made a bid last year to become chairman after the death of president umberto agnelli. however this was rejected by the founding agnelli family and mr morchio subsequently resigned. earlier this week fiat reached an agreement with gm to dissolve an alliance which could have obliged gm to buy the italian firm outright. gm will pay fiat $2bn as part of the settlement.,business
30,1777,labour accused of eu propaganda a taxpayer subsidised propaganda exercise on the eu is being used to lull the british public into a false sense of security say the tories. shadow foreign secretary michael ancram told mps a new white paper was part of trying to soften up opinion ahead of the referendum on the eu constitution. his claims were denied by foreign secretary jack straw who accused the tories of running scared of debate. eu cooperation would help get better uk immigration controls he argued. mr straw used thursday s commons debate to launch the new white paper on the prospects for the eu in 2005. security stability and prosperity would be the key themes when the uk took over the chairmanship of the eu in july said mr straw. africa and climate change would also feature highly. he said the uk was trying to ensure future eu budgets were limited to 1% of europe s economic output and were spent where it adds most value . mr straw promised to continue to ensure the uk s budget rebate secured in 1984 by margaret thatcher was fully justified . we like all other countries have a veto on any changes proposed in this area he said. mr ancram condemned the document which the foreign office says has cost about £2 500 to design print and deliver. isn t the reason that the government is now involved in a taxpayer subsidised propaganda exercise to try to sell the new eu to the country in advance of the forthcoming referendum and general election he asked. the tory spokesman also criticised the government for claiming the eu constitution would make europe easier to understand. the government last week had to publish a commentary of 500 pages to try and explain this easy and simple constitution to the british people he said. who are they trying to kid the proposed question for the constitution referendum is: should the united kingdom approve the treaty establishing a constitution for the european union the electoral commission on thursday said it was satisfied the question was easy to understand. the government has suggested the referendum on the constitution could take place in spring 2006 with the tories set to campaign for a no vote. mr ancram said ministers were prolonging uncertainty by putting the vote off until the latest date possible. the foreign secretary hit back by saying tory attitudes to europe had helped keep the party out of power for more than a decade. mr straw argued cooperation with european partners could bring a level playing field on immigration and asylum controls. you are setting your face against all of these things he added. for the liberal democrats sir menzies campbell said the uk should not ignore the need to reform the eu common agricultural policy. change was particularly important for developing countries wanting access to markets he argued. sir menzies was among those worried about plans backed by the uk to lift the arms embargo imposed on china after the tiananmen square massacre. mr straw said no decisions had been taken - chinese human rights had improved but not by enough.,politics
31,185,sony wares win innovation award sony has taken the prize for top innovator at the annual awards of pc pro magazine. it won the award for taking risks with products and for its brave commitment to good design. conferring the award pc pro s staff picked out sony s pcg-x505/p vaio laptop as a stunning piece of engineering . the electronics giant beat off strong competition from toshiba and chip makers amd and intel to take the gong. paul trotter news and features editor of pc pro said several sony products helped it to take the innovation award. he said sony s clie peg ux50 media player with its swivel screen and qwerty keyboard broke the design rules yet again . other sony products that helped included the vaio w1 desktop computer and the ra-104 media server. mr trotter said sony s combining of computer screen and keyboard in the w1 was likely to be widely copied in future home pcs. the company has also become one of the first to use organic leds in its products. while not always inventing new technology itself sony was never afraid to innovate around various formats said mr trotter. other awards decided by pc pro s staff and contributors included one for canon s eos 300d digital camera in the most wanted hardware category. microsoft s media player 10 took the award for most wanted software. this year was the 10th anniversary of the pc pro awards which splits its prizes into two sections. the first are chosen by the magazine s writers and consultants the second are voted for by readers. mr trotter said more than 13 000 people voted for the reliability and service awards twice as many as in 2003. net-based memory and video card shop crucial shared the award for online vendor of the year with novatech.,tech
32,2105,house prices rebound says halifax uk house prices increased by 1.1% in december the first monthly rise since september the halifax has said. the uk s biggest mortgage lender said prices rose 15.1% over the whole of 2004 but by only 2.8% in the second half of the year. the average price of a house in the uk now stands at £162 086 halifax said. the survey seems to fly in the face of recent evidence that the uk housing market has been slowing substantially in response to interest rate rises. last week the nationwide said that house prices fell 0.2% in december with annual inflation running at a three year low. on tuesday figures from the bank of england showed that the number of mortgages approved in the uk has fallen to the lowest level for nearly a decade. new loans in november fell to 77 000 from 85 000 in october the lowest rate since september 1995 the bank of england said. growth in unsecured lending such as personal loans and credit cards also slowed last month. capital economics which has in the past predicted a sharp fall in uk house prices branded halifax s findings a temporary surprise which would be reversed over the coming months. the month by month volatility of the halifax house price data should not distract from the fact that there is a clear downward trend in house prices a capital economics statement said. experts believe five interest rate rises since november 2003 are cutting borrowers appetite for debt. despite recording a price rise in december the halifax survey concluded that there was continuing signs of a genuine slowdown in the housing market. martin ellis halifax chief economist said that there was no need to revise the bank s prediction made last month that prices would fall by 2% in 2005. sound housing market fundamentals will continue to underpin the market in 2005 ensuring that the market remains healthy and that house prices fall only slightly mr ellis said. if the bank s prediction of a 2% price drop comes true it will be the first annual fall in nine years. the bank said that the recent pattern of house prices rising the fastest in the north of england continued in december. in the north west and yorkshire and the humber halifax said prices rose by 3% and 1.2% in the two regions respectively during the month. at the other send of the scale prices in the south east and london fell by 1.6% and 0.5% respectively. the biggest decline was seen in wales where prices fell by 6.2% an area that had experienced strong house price growth during most of 2004. overall halifax said prices in the final quarter of 2004 were 0.1% higher than in the previous quarter. this was the smallest quarterly rise since the second quarter of 2000 the bank said. as a result annual house price inflation dipped below 20% during the final few months of 2004.,business
33,1556,us bank in $515m sec settlement five bank of america subsidiaries have agreed to pay a total of $515m (£277m) to settle an investigation into fraudulent trading share practices. the us securities and exchange commission announced the settlements the latest in an industry-wide clean-up of us mutual funds. the sec also said it had brought fraud charges against two ex-senior executives of columbia distributor. columbia distributor was part of fleetboston bought by boa last year. three other ex-columbia executives agreed settlements with the sec. the sec has set itself the task of stamping out the mutual funds use of market-timing a form of quick-fire short-term share trading that harms the interests of small investors with whom mutual funds are particularly popular. in the last two years it has imposed penalties totalling nearly $2bn on 15 funds. the sec unveiled two separate settlements one covering boa s direct subsidiaries and another for businesses that were part of fleetboston at the time. in both cases it said there had been secret deals to engage in market timing in mutual fund shares. the sec agreed a deal totalling $375m with banc of america capital management bacap distributors and banc of america securities. it was made up of $250m to pay back gains from market timing and $125m in penalties. it is to be paid to the damaged funds and their shareholders. separately the sec said it had reached a $140m deal - equally split between penalties and compensation - in its probe into columbia management advisors (cam) and columbia funds distributor (cfd) and three ex-columbia executives. these businesses became part of boa when it snapped up rival bank fleetboston in a $47bn merger last march. the sec filed civil fraud charges in a boston federal court against james tambone who it says headed cfd s sales operations and his alleged second in command robert hussey. the sec is pressing for the highest tier of financial penalties against the pair for multiple violations repayment of any personal gains and an injunction to prevent future breaches a spokeswoman for the sec s boston office told the bbc. there was no immediate comment from the men s lawyers. the sec s settlement with cam and cfd included agreements with three other ex-managers peter martin erik gustafson and joseph palombo who paid personal financial penalties of between $50-100 000.,business
34,659,kirwan demands italy consistency italy coach john kirwan has challenged his side to match the performance they produced in pushing ireland close when they meet wales on saturday. despite losing 28-17 in sunday s six nations encounter the italians confirmed their continuing improvement. our goal is to match every side we face and against ireland we showed we could do that said kirwan. but the most important thing is that we build on that performance when we play wales on saturday. italy s half-backs had a mixed afternoon with recalled scrum-half alessandro troncon impressing but fly-half luciano orquera having an off-day with the boot. kirwan said: i was very happy with troncon. he had an incredible game - he was very good in attack and defence. orquera s kicking was off but he showed great courage in defence. he also followed the game plan. we have to give him confidence because he has the capability to do well.,sport
35,1837,saint-andre anger at absent stars sale sharks director of rugby philippe saint-andre has re-opened rugby s club-versus-country debate. sale host bath in the powergen cup on friday but the frenchman has endured a difficult week with six players away on england s six nations training camp. it s an important game but we ve just the one full session. it s the same for everyone but we need to manage it. if five players or more are picked for your country they should move the date of the game he told bbc sport. unless the authorities agree to make changes saint-andre believes england s national team will suffer as clubs opt to sign foreigners and retired internationals. that s not good for the politics of the english team or for english rugby he argues. it is an issue he has taken up before most notably during the autumn internationals when sale lost all three zurich premiership matches they played. now he fears it could derail the club s hopes of cup silverware after eight players including captain jason robinson and fly-half charlie hodgson were away with their countries. we re in the quarter-finals it s always better to play at home than away and it s a great opportunity he added. but we have to be careful. bath have just been knocked out of europe and will make it a tough game. it also comes at the end of a very very difficult week. sebastien bruno s been with france jason white with scotland and there are six with england that s eight players plus injuries - 13 players out of a squad of 31. we ll have just one session together and will have to do our best to make that a good one on thursday afternoon. gloucester have also been caught in a club-versus-country conflict after england sought a second medical opinion on james simpson-daniel s fitness. the winger is carrying a shoulder injury and the national team management believe he requires time on the sidelines. as a result he misses the cherry and white s quarter-final at home to bristol. under the elite player squad agreement england wanted a second opinion which they can do director of rugby nigel melville told the gloucester citizen. they obviously want him for international rugby and we want him for club rugby in what is a very important game for us. there is a conflict of interests. the surgeon who carried out his operation said he was fine for us but england say he is still vulnerable to be damaged again and want him on a full rehab programme. simpson-daniel added: i ve said to nigel i want to be back playing and that means if everything goes well this week i can target the worcester game (on 29 january) for a return.,sport
36,59,scotland v italy (sat) murrayfield edinburgh saturday 26 february 1400 gmt bbc1 five live and this website victory for the azzurri in rome last year saw scotland end their campaign without a victory. and the pressure is on scotland coach matt williams as he seeks a first six nations victory at the eighth attempt. italy have lost both their opening games at home to ireland and wales but travel to edinburgh with high hopes. their coach john kirwan has warned his side they must eradicate the errors that blighted their loss to wales however or risk suffering a third successive defeat. if the defeat against wales has taught us anything it s that at this level we can t make any mistakes kirwan said. in the six nations every error you make will come at a high price. we have to be aggressive for 80 minutes keep calm in every situation and display great maturity on the pitch. it will be fundamental to keep cool in the difficult moments - in the key situations of the game. kirwan has recalled the experienced cristian stoica at centre and drafted in david dal maso at open-side after star flanker mauro bergamasco was ruled out for the rest of the tournament. scotland have also made two changes simon webster replacing simon danielli on the wing and simon taylor returning for his first test in a year for injured flanker jason white. taylor s recovery from a serious knee injury is a major boost to scottish hopes. he is one of the world-class players in the tournament and you want them in your team acknowledged williams. despite a record of only two victories from 14 tests williams insists he is revelling in the pressure. i actually really enjoy seeing how you cope with such pressure as a coach he said optimistic despite opening defeats to france and ireland. we were confident for those two first games and we are confident we can beat italy too he added. : c paterson; s webster a craig h southwell s lamont; d parks c cusiter; t smith g bulloch (capt) g kerr; s grimes s murray; s taylor j petrie a hogg. r russell b douglas n hines j dunbar m blair g ross b hinshelwood. r de marigny; mirco bergamasco c stoica a masi l nitoglia; l orquera a troncon; a lo cicero f ongaro m castrogiovanni; s dellape m bortolami (capt); a persico d dal maso s parisse. g intoppa s perugini ca del fava s orlando p griffen r pedrazzi kp robertson.,sport
37,383,argentina venezuela in oil deal argentina and venezuela have extended a food-for-oil deal which helped the former to overcome a severe energy crisis last year. argentine president nestor kirchner and venezuelan president hugo chavez signed the deal in buenos aires on tuesday. last april argentina signed a $240m agreement to import venezuelan fuel in exchange for agricultural goods and this deal has now been extended. venezuela will now import cattle medicines and medical equipment. last year argentina s severe energy crisis forced president kirchner to suspend gas exports to chile. argentina fears that rising demand could spark another crisis and wants to prevent it by signing this deal. the two countries also formalised a co-operation deal between venezuelan energy firm pdvsa and argentina s enarsa. under this deal the argentine market will be opened to venezuelan investment. president chavez added that brazil s petrobras could join soon the co-operation deal. president chavez is an ardent promoter of the concept of a south american oil company which could include the state-owned companies of venezuela argentina brazil and bolivia. the two presidents also agreed to create television sur a latin american network of state-owned television channels.,business
38,1581,bookmakers back aviator for oscar the aviator has been tipped by uk bookmakers as the favourite to win the best film award at this year s oscars. ray star jamie foxx is clear favourite in the best actor category while million dollar baby s hilary swank is tipped to win the best actress prize. bookmakers predict cate blanchett will be named best supporting actress. william hill and ladbrokes have given the aviator 4/9 and 8/13 odds of winning best film with million dollar baby in second place at 9/4. bet direct and bet 365 also tip the aviator with the majority of bookmakers regarding finding neverland as the outsider. the aviator is also widely tipped to win the best director prize for martin scorsese. british star clive owen is second favourite at william hill to take the best supporting actor award for his performance in closer. the favourite in that category is sideways star thomas hayden church. vera drake star imelda staunton has 5/1 odds of winning the best actress oscar at bet 365 and william hill ahead of fellow uk star kate winslet who has odds of 25/1 at william hill. mike leigh is the outsider in the best director category for vera drake a position he holds jointly with ray s taylor hackford at bookmakers vc bet. this year s academy awards will be handed out in hollywood on 27 february. x factor judge sharon osbourne will present sky television s live coverage of the event. meanwhile clive owen s best supporting actor nomination has led a bookmaker to shorten his odds of becoming the next james bond. he has moved from 4/1 to 5/2 favourite to play 007 with hugh jackman and ewan mcgregor joint second favourite. clive owen s nomination has sparked a betting frenzy from james bond fans who feel that his heightened global recognition will have done his chances of becoming the next bond a world of good said william hill spokesman rupert adams.,entertainment
39,2167,us to raise tv indecency fines us politicians are proposing a tough new law aimed at cracking down on indecency and bad language on us tv. fines of up to $500 000 (£266 582) could be imposed each time broadcasters transmit nudity or profanities. the proposal unveiled in the house of representatives also seeks to revoke a broadcaster s licence after three violations have been committed. the exposure of janet jackson s breast at last year s superbowl landed cbs with a $550 000 (£293 264) fine. entertainers could also be liable for fines under the proposed legisation from both us politcians and officials from the federal communications commission (fcc). a republican senator from kansas sam brownbeck is set to call for a maximum $3 million (£1.6 million) fine for repeated violations. the current maximum fine stands at $32 500 (£17 320) - 20 of the stations in the cbs network were each penalised these lesser amounts for the jackson incident. republican politician fred upton who chairs the committee responsible for broadcasting said current fines are more of a cost of doing business rather than a deterrent . last year s janet jackson wardrobe malfunction encouraged the fcc to impose tougher rules but the us congress adjourned last year without agreeing on a new level of fines. new figures have to be decided before new legislation can be put before president bush. certain broadcasters like fox claim the material they carry does not violate indecency laws and is protected under the right to free speech.,entertainment
40,1593,iran jails blogger for 14 years an iranian weblogger has been jailed for 14 years on charges of spying and aiding foreign counter-revolutionaries. arash sigarchi was arrested last month after using his blog to criticise the arrest of other online journalists. mr sigarchi who also edits a newspaper in northern iran was sentenced by a revolutionary court in the gilan area. his sentence criticised by human rights watchdog reporters without borders comes a day after an online day of action to secure his release. iranian authorities have recently clamped down on the growing popularity of weblogs restricting access to major blogging sites from within iran. a second iranian blogger motjaba saminejad who also used his website to report on bloggers arrests is still being held. a spokesman for reporters without borders which tracks press freedom across the globe described mr sigarchi s sentence as harsh and called on iranian president mohammed khatami to work to secure his immediate release. the authorities are trying to make an example of him the organisation said in a statement. by handing down this harsh sentence against a weblogger their aim is to dissuade journalists and internet-users from expressing themselves online or contacting foreign media. in the days before his arrest mr sigarchi gave interviews to the bbc persian service and the us-funded radio farda. iranian authorities have arrested about 20 online journalists during the current crackdown. they accused mr sigarchi of a string of crimes against iranian state including espionage insulting the founder of iran s islamic republic ayatollah ruhollah khomenei and current supreme leader ayatollah ali khamenei. mr sigarchi s lawyer labelled the revolutionary court illegal and incompetent and called for a retrial in a public court. mr sigarchi was sentenced one day after an online campaign highlighted his case in a day of action in defence of bloggers around the world. the committee to protect bloggers designated 22 february 2005 as free mojtaba and arash day. around 10 000 people visited the campaign s website during the day. about 12% of users were based in iran the campaign s director told the bbc news website. curt hopkins said mr sigarchi s sentence would not dent the resolve of bloggers joining the campaign to help highlight the case. the eyes of 8 million bloggers are going to be more focused on iran since sigarchi s sentence not less. the mullahs won t be able to make a move without it be spread across the blogosphere.,tech
41,1849,mps murder sentence concern murder sentences should not be reduced automatically simply because of a guilty plea says a new mps report. the influential commons home affairs committee was responding to sentencing guidelines issued this summer. the mps also call for tougher sentences for crimes committed under the influence of drink or drugs. they say the influence of drugs and alcohol should be introduced as an aggravating factor when judges and magistrates sentence offenders. committee chairman john denham said drugs of alcohol were sometimes used as an excuse. the committee believes that these arguments should be rejected by sentencers and that being under their influence should instead be an aggravating factor. at present judges when sentencing murderers to the mandatory life sentence can reduce the tariff - the minimum term they must serve - if the defendant pleads guilty. but although they are spared the ordeal of a trial many murder victims relatives are unhappy. in july this year amanda champion s killer james ford pleaded guilty to her murder and was jailed for at least 15 years - it would have been longer had he denied the charge. amanda s uncle lewis champion told the bbc news website ford did not deserve any credit for his plea saying: nothing at all is worth taking five years off a murder sentence. mps criticised home secretary david blunkett last year for introducing last-minute rules allowing reduced sentences for murderers who pleaded guilty. the measures passed into law virtually unnoticed after mr blunkett introduced them at a late stage of the criminal justice bill. as a result says the committee the government may need to re-legislate to remove ambiguity over how murderers should be sentenced. it is also calling on the senior judge in england and wales lord woolf to abandon draft guidelines he proposed in september to reduce sentences of murderers who plead guilty. the committee said the plans had not reflected the public disquiet expressed over the possibility of significantly reduced prison terms for murderers. lord woolf s sentencing guidelines council (sgc) caused further controversy by suggesting a one third discount off sentences for early guilty pleas in all types of crime. as a result murderers who face a 15-year tariff could get five years knocked off if they give themselves up to the police. mr denham believes the sgc should reconsider its proposals to reflect parliament s wish that murder should be treated as a separate and especially grave category of offence. he said: we want to see sentencers advised that in the case of murder reduction in sentence for a guilty plea should not normally be granted in addition to reductions for other mitigating circumstances. but a spokesman for the home office defended the proposals. he said: by making express provision for murder tariffs in the criminal justice act parliament sent a clear signal that it expects murder to be treated differently to other offences. we stand by the provisions in the act that cover guilty plea discounts which have potential benefits for victims and witnesses of avoiding the trauma of a trial. shadow home secretary david davis echoed criticisms of the way mr blunkett introduced the murder tariff rules. there is genuine concern about potential reductions in murder sentences - such action sends out the wrong signals to violent criminals and completely undermines the government s claim to be tough on crime he said. but liberal democrat spokesman mark oaten warned the mps committee that binding judges too much might look like political interference. the danger of having a prescriptive approach is that whilst every murder is awful it is also different he told bbc news.,politics
42,1691,rapper 50 cent scores chart first rapper 50 cent has become the first solo artist to have three singles in the us top five in the same week. his track candy shop remained at the top of the charts while disco inferno crept up from six to five. 50 cent also appears on rap protege the game s song how we do number four in the us but now outside the uk top ten. the pair had a recent dispute which saw the game thrown out of 50 cent s rap collective g-unit accusing him of disloyalty in an ongoing feud. 50 cent who burst onto the music scene in 2003 has had less success in the uk charts with three singles making the top ten. his debut album get rich and die tryin narrowly missed out on becoming a uk chart topper. but in the us he headed the 2003 end of year charts for the album and r&b and hip hop artists. newcomer the game s debut reached the top of the charts five weeks ago while 50 cent s second collection the masscre was released in the us at the end of last week. last may r&b star usher scored a chart first with three concurrent singles in the us top 10 a feat which was previously matched only by the bee gees and the beatles. the hit songs were taken from the 24-year-old s confessions album which topped the american chart for eight weeks.,entertainment
43,2033,search sites get closer to users search sites want to get to know you better. not content with providing access to the millions of websites many now offer ways that do a better job of remembering cataloguing and managing all the information you come across. some of the latest to update their search systems are ask jeeves and blinkx which have both released a series of utilities that try to help people get more from the web. the future is all about developing your own personal web said tony macklin spokesman for ask jeeves. mr macklin said that too often when people use a search engine it was like the first time they ever used it because there was no memory of what they had searched for before. each time you go back in you have to start all over again he said. the series of updates to its service collected under the my ask jeeves banner would help people remember where they had been before. ask jeeves has added the ability to save websites of interest so the next time a users visits the site they can search through the sites they have previously found. sites saved in this way can be arranged in folders and have notes attached to them to explain why they were saved. mr macklin said many people wanted to save sites they had seen but did not want to add them to their bookmarks or favourites not least because such lists cannot be easily searched. on average said mr macklin users conduct between five and 10 searches per day and the tools in my ask jeeves should stop them having to do searches twice and get to what they want much more easily. under my ask jeeves users can search the web or through the results they have already noted as interesting. it s about finding again what you found before he said. the my ask jeeves service lets people store up to a 1000 web links or 5000 if they sign up to the free service. by way of comparison google s desktop search tool catalogues search histories informally and lets people look through the sites they have visited. at the same time search start-up blinkx has released a second version of its eponymous software. blinkx is desktop search software that watches what someone is working on be it a document or e-mail and suggests websites video clips blogs or documents on a pc that are relevant to it. since blinkx launched it has faced increased competition from firms such as google copernic enfish x1 and apple all of whom now have programs that let people search their pc as well as the web. the competition has validated the problem we tackle said suranga chandratillake co-founder of blinkx. in the latest release of blinkx the company has added what it calls smart folders. once created the folders act as persistent queries that automatically sweep the web for pages related to their subject and catalogues relevant information documents or incoming e-mails on hard drives too. what users do with blinkx and other desktop search engines shows that people tend to be very promiscuous in their use of search engines. blinkx users do not stop using other web search systems he said. they might use google to look up a company or yahoo for travel because they know they are good at that he said. the classic thing we have seen recently is people using blinkx to look at the things they have searched on he said. the variety of ways to search data was only helping users said mr chandratillake and that it was likely that in the future people would use different ones for different tasks.,tech
44,2092,collins named uk athletics chief uk athletics has ended its search for a new performance director by appointing psychologist dave collins. collins who worked with the british teams at the 2000 and 2004 olympics takes over from max jones. six candidates were interviewed for the job including denise lewis coach charles van commenee and former british triple jumper keith connor. we ve searched long and hard to ensure we have found the right person said uka chief executive david moorcroft. we have thoroughly tested the candidates. i believe david will make a great leader and i have great faith in what he will achieve. collins said: it s a great challenge. over the next few months i will spend time listening to those who already make a significant contribution to athletics and other elite sports in the uk. collins who has worked with javelin thrower steve backley in the past started his career as a royal marine before becoming a pe teacher. he is currently professor of physical education and sport performance at edinburgh university where he helps competitors across many sports including rugby athletics judo and football. he has specialised in helping competitors fulfil their potential through psychology and has worked with the great britain women s curling team who won gold at the 2002 winter olympics. mark lewis-francis sought collins advice in athens when he was looking for inspiration before he ran the final leg of britain s surprise triumph in the 4x100m relay. collins has played rugby at regional level was captain of the great britain american football team and competed at national level in judo and karate. he arrives with british athletics at a crossroads. despite kelly holmes golden double and the success of the sprint relay squad the gb team failed to live up to expectations in athens. many older competitors have retired or are coming to the end of their careers and britain failed to win a single medal at the world junior championships in italy this year. collins will not have day-to-day coaching contact with the athletes but will be expected to make changes to the system and coaching set-up in order to secure medals at the beijing olympics in 2008. the appointment of a new performance director was one of the main recommendations in sir andrew foster s review of the sport which was published in may. it was commissioned by uk sport and sport england which wanted uk athletics to justify funding of more than £40m from the government following the failure to hang on to the 2005 world championships which are now being held in helsinki. van commenee dropped out of the selection process to take on the same role with the dutch olympic committee while connor s application was rejected after an arduous interview process. foster however declared himself satisfied with how the appointment was made. the appointment of david collins with his strong mix of leadership skills and managerial experience is testament to the professional and detailed recruitment process he said.,sport
45,849,slimmer playstation triple sales sony playstation 2 s slimmer shape has proved popular with uk gamers with 50 000 sold in its first week on sale. sales have tripled since launch outstripping microsoft s xbox said market analysts chart-track. the numbers were also boosted by the release of the ps2-only game grand theft auto: san andreas. the title broke the uk sales record for video games in its first weekend of release. latest figures suggest it has sold more than 677 000 copies. it is obviously very very encouraging for sony because microsoft briefly outsold them last week john houlihan editor of computerandvideogames.com told bbc news. and with halo 2 [for xbox] out next week it really is a head-to-head contest between them and xbox. although xbox sales over the last week also climbed ps2 sales were more than double that. the figures mean sony is reaching the seven million barrier for uk sales of the console. edinburgh-based developer rockstar which is behind the gta titles has seen san andreas pull in an estimated £24m in gross revenues over the weekend. in comparison blockbuster films like harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban took £11.5m in its first three days at the uk box office. the lord of the rings: the return of the king took nearly £10m over its opening weekend although games titles are four to five times more expensive than cinema tickets. gangster-themed gta san andreas is the sequel to grand theft auto vice city which previously held the record for the fastest-selling video game ever. the xbox game halo 2 released on 11 november in the uk is also widely tipped to be one of the best-selling games of the year. the original title won universal acclaim in 2001 and sold more than four million copies. mr houlihan added that sony had done well with the ps2 but it definitely helped that the release of san andreas coincided with the slimline ps2 hitting the shelves. the run-up to christmas is a huge battlefield for games consoles and titles. microsoft s xbox had been winning the race up until last week in sales. the sales figures also suggest that it may be a largely adult audience driving demand since gta san andreas has an 18 certificate. sony and microsoft have both reduced console prices recently and are preparing the way for the launches of their next generation consoles in 2005. both have hit crucial price points at around £100 and that really does open up new consoles to new audience plus the release of two really important games in terms of development are also driving those sales said mr houlihan.,tech
46,1780,tv presenter deeley drops cd:uk cat deeley has resigned as host of itv1 s saturday morning children s music show cd:uk after six years. the 28-year-old host who also presents stars in their eyes said she wanted to concentrate on new television projects. i ve had a great few years met some really incredible people and been given some wonderful opportunities the presenter said. deeley will host her last show on 5 march and guest presenters will stand in until a replacement is found. the long-running presenter said: i would like to take this opportunity to thank the cd:uk team and all the viewers that have watched supported the show and let me gate crash their saturday morning. whilst obviously i am really sad to say goodbye i m immensely excited about the future. deeley formerly co-hosted sm:tv the children s show which airs before cd:uk on a saturday morning alongside hit presenters ant and dec. she won a children s bafta award for best presenter in december 2001 and also fronted bbc one s fame academy series.,entertainment
47,1747,french consumer spending rising french consumers increased their spending by 1.5% in january a figure which bodes well for the country s economic growth figures revealed. the national statistic institute (insee) added that consumer spending in january rose 3.8% on a year-on-year basis. rising sales of household equipment were behind the increase. the insee also said that french consumer prices fell 0.6% in january but were up 1.6% on an annual basis. despite the general increase in spending in january french households bought fewer cars in january. according to the insee car sales fell 2.8% in january following a fall of 0.6% in december. but on a year-on-year basis the sector still saw a sales increase of 6.5%. consumer spending fuelled france s economic growth in the last quarter of 2004 and analysts expect that it will continue to support the economy. it s a growth that will remain fragile and vulnerable to risks like a strong rise in long-term interest rates tension in the oil price emmanuel ferry from exane bnp paribas told reuters news agency. meanwhile in italy consumer confidence rose to its highest level since october 2004. economic research group isae has said that italian consumer confidence rose to 104.4 from 103.3 despite a slight deterioration in short-term sentiment.,business
48,1509,kennedy s cautious optimism charles kennedy is far too canny to make any grand claims about how his party may fare at the general election. in his 22 years in the commons he has seen his fair share of such claims dashed on the rocks of bitter experience and he might say the uk s political and electoral system. but even his caution cannot hide the fact that this is a party and a leader that believes it may well be on the way to something special in a few months time. look i have already said i am not going to put any artificial limits on our ambitions this time around he said. he still seems to accept that the most likely outcome is another labour victory of some sort. and his general election pitch is designed around the notion of the lib dems as the real opposition. but doesn t that lead to the jibe that his is a party actively bidding to come second he is prepared to go this far: a clear conclusion has been reached including by conservatives that the conservatives are not going to win this election. therefore the potential is there for the liberal democrat advance to be one of the big stories of the election given that we have the capacity to take on labour and win as well as take on the conservatives and win. this is really going to be the first modern three party uk election that we have all experienced . but haven t we been here before with suggestions in the 1980s that labour was finished. won t voters looking for an alternative to labour still naturally gravitate to the conservatives the problem is that geographically the conservative party has melted away in about a third of britain. we have supplanted them as the main alternative to labour in whole tracts of mainland britain. and they are a party with an ageing and declining membership base and they just do not look vibrant or vital or in touch any longer with contemporary britain . mr kennedy is also eager to dispel any impression his party is the new party of the left and is likely to attract mostly disillusioned labour voters. he insists his three headline commitments to be financed from a 1% tax increase on those earning over £100 000 a year will appeal right across the political spectrum. they are to replace the council tax with a local income tax provide free long term care for the elderly and scrap student fees. he also believes being the only major party promising to increases taxes will not land him in the same trouble a similar policy did to old labour. i think the tax argument has moved on a lot in british politics particularly in the context of the forthcoming general election he said. under a labour government the tax burden would have to rise while the tories plans to increase spending in some areas while also reducing taxes is just incredible he claims. we are being straightforward with people saying you know there is likely to be an increase in the tax burden we are only recommending one specific tax rise for the top end of income scale earners to fund three specific policies . that is a clear cut choice for people one i am very comfortable with and i think will distinguish us from the others . as to his own future he is clear. if as expected his party increases its showing at the election he intends to go into the next parliament on the front foot with a view to leading it right through that parliament into the next election because i see that as the decisive opportunity for us . that last remark reflects a view gaining ground in westminster that if the tories do as badly as some fear the election after next might really see that historic breakthrough by the third party. perhaps then mr kennedy will be ready to put some of the caution to one side.,politics
49,1305,uk homes hit £3.3 trillion total the value of the uk s housing stock reached the £3.3 trillion mark in 2004 - triple the value 10 years earlier a report indicates. research from halifax the country s biggest mortgage lender suggests the value of private housing stock is continuing to rise steadily. all regions saw at least a doubling in their assets during the past decade. but northern ireland led the way with a 262% rise while scotland saw the smallest increase of just 112%. the core retail price index rose by just 28% in the same period underlining how effective an investment in housing has been for most people during the past decade. more than a third of the uk s private housing assets - representing more than a trillion pounds in value - are concentrated in london and the south east the halifax s figures indicate. tim crawford group economist at halifax said: the value of the private housing stock continues to grow and the family home remains by a large margin the most valuable asset of the majority of households in the uk. halifax s own monthly figures on house sales - issued on thursday - suggest the average price of a british property now stands at £163 748 after a 0.8% rise in january. housing experts are split on prospects for the market with some saying price growth will slow but not fall while others predict a sharp drop in values.,business
50,2055,tories leave door open for archer the conservative party would deal sympathetically with any application by disgraced peer lord archer to rejoin its ranks its co-chairman has said. dr liam fox told bbc one s breakfast with frost programme there was no place for vindictiveness in politics. lord archer spent two years in prison after being convicted of perjury and perverting the course of justice. the former tory deputy chairman s five-year suspension from the party has just elapsed. a jury ruled that lord archer lied during a libel trial against the daily star at the high court in london in 1987. he won damages after the newspaper printed allegations about involvement with a prostitute. dr fox was asked if he would say yes or no if lord archer applied to rejoin. i m sure that in line with people having served their sentence and having done some reparations for what they did wrong we would look at that sympathetically. i don t believe in vindictiveness i don t think that has any place in politics unlike the prime minister and alastair campbell. tory peer lord tebbit said he agreed with dr fox s view and said the case should be looked at on its merits. after all he is far from being the worst perjurer in the world he added. meanwhile senior conservative mp sir teddy taylor warned that moves bring lord archer back into the fold could be controversial. he said: i suppose on a sunday in particular we should always make provision for forgiving sinners. but there is no doubt it would be controversial. lord archer who was not available for comment remains a popular figure among constituency tory parties and is a successful fundraiser. he has not been seen in the house of lords since his release from prison in july 2003 although there is nothing in the rules to prevent him from attending.,politics
51,2139,libya takes $1bn in unfrozen funds libya has withdrawn $1bn in assets from the us assets which had previously been frozen for almost 20 years the libyan central bank has said. the move came after the us lifted a trade ban to reward tripoli for giving up weapons of mass destruction and vowing to compensate lockerbie victims. the original size of libya s funds was $400m the central bank told reuters. however the withdrawal did not mean that libya had cut its ties with the us he added. we are in the process of opening accounts in banks in the united states the central bank s vice president farhat omar ben gadaravice said. the previously frozen assets had been invested in various countries and are believed to have included equity holdings in banks. the us ban on trade and economic activity with tripoli - imposed by then president ronald regan in 1986 after a series of what the us deemed terrorist acts including the 1988 lockerbie air crash - was suspended in april. bankers from the two country s had been working on how to unfreeze libya s assets.,business
52,57,ukraine trims privatisation check ukraine is to review dozens of state asset sales as the country s new administration tackles corruption. the figure announced by president viktor yushchenko is less than the 3 000 cases mentioned last week but will cover many of the biggest deals. ukraine recently ousted long-serving leader leonid kuchma and has said it wants closer european union links. in a separate statement the eu said that the us should back ukraine s entry into the world trade organisation. the comments came as viktor yushchenko prepared to head to brussels to meet with us president george w bush and other north atlantic treaty organisation (nato) leaders. he is the only non-nato member leader invited to attend the summit. mr yushchenko recently defeated moscow-backed presidential candidate and prime minister viktor yanukovych at the polls and has made no secret of his wish to fight corruption and make ukraine more transparent. earlier this month new prime minister yulia tymoshenko said as many as 3 000 firms may have their privatisations put under the spotlight. her comments raised concerns among a number of investors and mr yushchenko was seen on monday as trying to soothe their frayed nerves. we acknowledge that business in ukraine is now shaped and 98% of privatisations were carried out according to the law mr yushchenko said on monday. we have trust in this business and want to defend it by law he continued adding that any review would focus on dozens of companies not hundreds or thousands . he cited last year s sale of ukrainian steel producer krivorizhstal as one that had raised concerns. it was sold in june 2004 to a consortium that included viktor pinchuk son-in-law of former-president kuchma and rinat akhmetov the country s richest man for $800m (£424m) - despite other higher offers. vice-prime minister oleg rybachuk called on the eu to recognise the steps that ukraine was taking fearing that should the country not be rewarded for its efforts there may be a backlash against closer relations with brussels. he said that while he understood that ukraine was not ready for eu membership the country needed to see progress on topics such as trade and visa requirements. we deserve an honest response mr rybachuk told the associated press in an interview. we understand the difficulties. we refuse to understand double standards. ukraine may find it has a sympathetic ear in brussels the eu has reiterated that we support (ukraine s) fast accession to the wto and if possible we would like that to happen some time during the year said claude veron-reville a spokesman for eu trade commissioner peter mandelson. we have said as much to the americans. we feel that it is important for us all to pull together for ukraine to be allowed into the wto. mr yushchenko was careful not to turn his back on russia which borders the country to the east saying it was important to maintain pragmatic ties with moscow. russia is ukraine s eternal strategic partner mr yushchenko said.,business
53,1496,asian quake hits european shares shares in europe s leading reinsurers and travel firms have fallen as the scale of the damage wrought by tsunamis across south asia has become apparent. more than 23 000 people have been killed following a massive underwater earthquake and many of the worst hit areas are popular tourist destinations. reisurance firms such as swiss re and munich re lost value as investors worried about rebuilding costs. but the disaster has little impact on stock markets in the us and asia. currencies including the thai baht and indonesian rupiah weakened as analysts warned that economic growth may slow. it came at the worst possible time said hans goetti a singapore-based fund manager. the impact on the tourist industry is pretty devastating especially in thailand. travel-related shares dropped in europe with companies such as germany s tui and lufthansa and france s club mediterranne sliding. insurers and reinsurance firms were also under pressure in europe. shares in munich re and swiss re - the world s two biggest reinsurers - both fell 1.7% as the market speculated about the cost of rebuilding in asia. zurich financial allianz and axa also suffered a decline in value. however their losses were much smaller reflecting the market s view that reinsurers were likely to pick up the bulk of the costs. worries about the size of insurance liabilities dragged european shares down although the impact was exacerbated by light post-christmas trading. germany s benchmark dax index closed the day 16.29 points lower at 3.817.69 while france s cac index of leading shares fell 5.07 points to 3.817.69. investors pointed out however that declines probably would be industry specific with the travel and insurance firms hit hardest. it s still too early for concrete damage figures swiss re s spokesman floiran woest told associated press. that also has to do with the fact that the damage is very widely spread geographically. the unfolding scale of the disaster in south asia had little immediate impact on us shares however. the dow jones index had risen 20.54 points or 0.2% to 10 847.66 by late morning as analsyts were cheered by more encouraging reports from retailers about post-christmas sales. in asian markets adjustments were made quickly to account for lower earnings and the cost of repairs. thai airways shed almost 4%. the country relies on tourism for about 6% of its total economy. singapore airlines dropped 2.6%. about 5% of singapore s annual gross domestic product (gdp) comes from tourism. malaysia s budget airline airasia fell 2.9%. resort operator tanco holdings slumped 5%. travel companies also took a hit with japan s kinki nippon sliding 1.5% and his dropping 3.3%. however the overall impact on asia s largest stock market japan s nikkei was slight. shares fell just 0.03%. concerns about the strength of economic growth going forward weighed on the currency markets. the indonesian rupiah lost as much as 0.6% against the us dollar before bouncing back slightly to trade at 9 300. the thai baht lost 0.3% against the us currency trading at 39.10. in india where more than 2 000 people are thought to have died the rupee shed 0.1% against the dollar analysts said that it was difficult to predict the total cost of the disaster and warned that share prices and currencies would come under increasing pressure as the bills mounted.,business
54,671,dvd copy protection strengthened dvds will be harder to copy thanks to new anti-piracy measures devised by copy protection firm macrovision. the pirated dvd market is enormous because current copy protection was hacked more than five years ago. macrovision says its new ripguard technology will thwart most but not all of the current dvd ripping (copying) programs used to pirate dvds. ripguard is designed to... reduce dvd ripping and the resulting supply of illegal peer to peer said the firm. macrovision said the new technology will work in nearly all current dvd players when applied to the discs but it did not specify how many machines could have a problem with ripguard. the new technology will be welcomed by hollywood film studios which are increasingly relying on revenue from dvd sales. the film industry has stepped up efforts to fight dvd piracy in the last 12 months taking legal action against websites which offer pirated copies of dvd movies for download. ultimately we see ripguard dvd... evolving beyond anti-piracy and towards enablement of legitimate online transactions interoperability in tomorrow s digital home and the upcoming high-definition formats said steve weinstein executive vice president and general manager of macrovision s entertainment technologies group. macrovision said ripguard was designed to plug the digital hole that was created by so-called decss ripper software. it circumvents content scrambling system measures placed on dvds and let people make perfect digital copies of copyrighted dvds in minutes. those copies could then be burned onto a blank dvd or uploaded for exchange to a peer-to-peer network. macrovision said ripguard would also prevent against rent rip and return - where people would rent a dvd copy it and then return the original. ripguard is expected to be rolled out on dvds from the middle of 2005 the company said. the new system works specifically to block most ripping programs - if used those programs will now most likely crash the company said. macrovision has said that rip guard can be updated if hackers find a way around the new anti-copying measures.,tech
55,1193,eu rules won t stop uk spending the shape of the uk s economy in graphics but he denied that he was ruling out british membership of the euro despite saying there would be no assessment of the five economic tests this year. mr brown said that it was vital the uk continued to invest in infrastructure science and education in the future. otherwise it would be overtaken by the likes of china he told mps. the chancellor said that the eu s planned changes in the growth and stability pact - designed to ensure that countries in the euro zone do not borrow too much - would force britain to run a budget surplus of 1% over the economic cycle. under mr brown s rules the uk current budget must be in balance over the economic cycle but public investment is not counted as part of that deficit. he told the house of commons treasury select committee that the eu rules make it difficult for a low debt country to run the investment programmes that are necessary to improve its infrastructure . but he argued that the eu was moving in the direction of the uk principles and would eventually recognise the need to consider budget deficits over a longer period than one year to include investment and to take more account of the total size of government debt as well as the balance each year. under mr brown s sustainable investment rule government debt should be under 40% - in contrast to the 60% allowed under the growth and stability pact. mr brown vigorously denied conservative claims that he had in effect fiddled the figures to ensure that he met his own fiscal rules. in march the office of national statistics (ons) reclassified £3.4bn of spending on road repairs as public investment - shortly before the chancellor announced in the budget that he would meet his own fiscal budget rule by only £6bn. conservative michael fallon asked mr brown whether the treasury had leaned on ons to make this change and said that the ons had received a written paper from the treasury on this matter. but the chancellor said mr fallon was impugning the integrity of the office of national statistics and said the decision had been made completely independently. mr brown also denied that he was increasing taxes to fund his spending gap. he told the treasury select committee that a growing economy meant more people in work and more profits for companies which would boost treasury coffers. earlier ex-conservative chancellor ken clarke welcomed a relaxation of the rules governing the euro zone. speaking on radio 4 s today programme mr clarke said political give and take would replace more rigid rules. but fellow tory david heathcoat-amory said the folly of the system was in trying to run europe s varied economies on one set of rules. the essential point here is that the stability and growth pact has turned out to be a fake he said. the warning is about the european constitution which we are going to have a vote on in a year or two and that centralises and entrenches these rules in a constitution. it gives more powers to brussels to co-ordinate things like employment and economic policy. but speaking to the treasury select committee gordon brown said that the new stability pact rules were not part of a binding treaty and could be changed again the future - potentially opening the way for future euro membership. the conditions for euro entry are unchanged by this new decision about the stability and growth pact mr. brown said.,politics
56,2104,ds aims to touch gamers the mobile gaming industry is set to explode in 2005 with a number of high-profile devices offering a range of gaming and other features such as movie and music playback. market leader nintendo however is releasing a handheld console that it says will revolutionise the way games are played. the first striking thing about the ds is how retro it looks. far from looking like a mould-breaking handheld it looks more like nintendo dug out a mould from a 1980s handheld prototype. the lightweight clam shell device opens up to reveal two screens and when switched on it instantly reveals its pedigree. both screens are crisp and clear while the bottom of the two is touch sensitive. nintendo has given developers free rein to utilise the dual screens and ability to control the action by simply touching the screen. the japanese gaming giant hopes the ds will maintain the firm s pre-eminence in an increasingly-competitive mobile gaming market. nintendo first launched its gameboy console in 1989 and has dominated the market ever since. but its lead can no longer be taken for granted. sony will enter the market later this year with its playstation portable while start-up companies gizmondo and tapwave zodiac are also offering hybrid devices. we believe the ds will appeal to all ages both genders and gamers of any skill said david yarnton nintendo europe s general manager said at the recent press launch for the handheld. with its two screens wireless connectivity and backwards compatibility with the gameboy advance the ds certainly has a number of unique selling points. it went on sale in the us in mid-november priced $150 and nintendo says sales have exceeded expectations without giving detailed figures. japan and europe will have to wait until the first quarter of 2005 to get the device. with more than two million pre-orders for the device in japan nintendo is confident it will keep its number one spot. but will the device prove to be as revolutionary as claimed the game ships with a demo of metroid hunters - a 3d action title which can be played alone or with a group of friends using the machine s wireless capabilities. it certainly looks impressive on the small machine and plays smoothly even with a group of people. the game can be controlled by using the supplied stylus to aim. the top screen is used to navigate the action while the bottom screen offers a top-down map and the ability to switch weapons. it is certainly a unique control method and while it makes aiming more controlled it can be a little disorientating. super mario 64 ds is a faithful re-creation of the nintendo 64 classic with a host of new mini-games and new levels. the game looks stunning on the portable machine and the sound too is impressive for such a small machine. one thing is for certain. hardened gamers will have to learn to adapt to a new way of playing while it could prove to be an accessible way in to gaming for novices ultimately the success or failure of the device lies in the hands of developers. if they manage to create titles which use the nintendo ds s key features then a whole new market of gamers could open up. the fear is that the touch screen and voice recognition are treated as little more than gimmicks.,tech
57,872,dvd review: spider-man 2 it s a universal rule that a film can either be a superhero special effects extravaganza or it can be good. but spider-man 2 breaks that rule in two. it s not fantastically deep but you get quickly drawn into the tale of spidey versus doc ock and more so into the fate of poor peter parker. gigantic action set pieces seamlessly work with more brooding personal torment and it all looks stunning. a few effects look false but tobey maguire kirsten dunst and alfred molina make this compelling. the other universal rule is that dvds of superhero films will have making of features only about the effects. this disc covers those special effects enough but as just one part of a detailed look at the film. then there are commentaries trailers and a blooper reel. sometimes quality comes in bulk: this set contains no less than 34 john wayne films ranging from the westerns and war movies to the quiet man. now is that a christmas present or what give this to someone on 24 december and you won t see them again until early in the new year. it s not truly a complete collection and leans more toward wayne s earlier films: there s no true grit for instance though there is hellraisers. the films look well transferred to dvd though none has extras. it was very daft but it knew it was and somehow this famous 1979 series became a cult favourite that s been long awaited on dvd. this set has the first season of buck (gil gerard) and wilma s (erin gray) tongue-in-cheek adventures and it s all as camp and gaudy as you remember. but it s also a disappointment. the us dvd has this and the more po-faced second season - and you can import it for just about the same price. the bigger omission though is that there are no extras. that s particularly disappointing because originally there were meant to be commentaries and stars gerard and gray had agreed to do them.,entertainment
58,606,parry firm over gerrard listen to the full interview on sport on five and the bbc sport website from 1900 gmt. but parry speaking exclusively to bbc sport also admits gerrard who has been constantly linked with chelsea will have the final say on his future. he told bbc five live: steven is above money. he is the future of liverpool. it doesn t matter if it s £30m £40m or £50m we will not accept offers. but we are also realistic enough to know we can t keep steven against his will. on the subject of liverpool s finances parry also revealed the club is ready to explore the possibility of a sponsorship deal for its proposed new stadium. and responding to criticism from bbc sport pundit and former liverpool stalwart alan hansen he insisted talks on new investment are ongoing but added the door has not closed on shareholder and lifelong fan steve morgan. parry joined liverpool as chief executive in july 1998 from a similar role at the premier league. there have been several highs and lows during his time in charge at anfield - and he had a busy summer overseeing the arrival of new manager rafael benitez and managing to hold on to steven gerrard. on the subject of liverpool s captain and prize asset parry revealed real madrid did ask for an option on the england midfield man during negotiations for striker fernando morientes. he said: they were looking for ways of saying they got more out of the deal for fernando morientes but the response to real madrid was the same - steven is not for sale. but when asked if gerrard would be a liverpool player on the first day of next season parry said: i sincerely hope he will be. steven knows my views. he knows rafa s views. we have re-affirmed recently to steven that we are trying to build a team around him. we crave success as much as he does. we know he s ambitious and nobody can argue with that. i think steven would dearly love to win things with liverpool more than he d like to do anything else. we all want to see progress by next season. he s not alone in that. there are a lot of other players who feel the same so we all have a common aim. it is expected chelsea will test liverpool with a £30m-plus bid in the summer - but parry claims he will be in no mood to listen. there have been a lot of open secrets about steven most of which have been complete myths. it is suggested we had a deal tied up last summer. we didn t had an offer last summer parry explained. we had told chelsea that as far as we were concerned he was not for sale and we didn t want to sell him. in reality it didn t go beyond that. maybe there will be an offer in the summer. maybe there won t. our position is we want steven to stay but we are also realistic enough and have enough respect for steven - and he has enough respect for us - to know that it is his decision that will be crucial. you are not going to keep a player like steven against his will. that just doesn t work but any idea we are going to accept offers for steven and then tell him by the way we ve decided to sell you is not on the agenda. you can forget that. parry is currently in the process of finalising funding for liverpool s new stadium in stanley park which is set to open in 2007. and he confessed arsenal s £100m deal with emirates to sponsor their new ground - complete with naming rights - has given the anfield club serious food for thought. he said: i have to say historically it is something i have been against and i have been on record as saying that but i think the size of the arsenal deal is a real eye-opener. i would say in the past deals have been done frankly far too cheaply and it just hasn t even been worth contemplating. but the arsenal deal is the sort of deal that causes you to draw breath and say wow - that s interesting. my personal point of view is that i would find it a hell of a lot more palatable than a shared stadium. some liverpool fans would find such a move highly controversial but parry countered: i recognise it would be an emotive issue for many supporters
59,1502,broadband soars in 2004 if broadband were a jumbo jet then 2003 would have seen it taxiing down the runway firing up its engines and preparing for take-off. but this year has seen it soar. in the spring it literally took to the skies as lufthansa and british airways trialled it on flights. this perhaps said more about how indispensable people were beginning to perceive the technology rather than how useful sky-high broadband would actually be. it was flying high and by the autumn five million britons had signed up for high-speed net access at home. such enthusiasm is unlikely to dampen any time soon and experts predict that by the end of next year the numbers will have risen to more than eight million or more than 30% of homes. the two key factors in whetting people s appetite were falling prices and a huge marketing push. when operators such as bt and telewest offered standard 512k broadband for less than £20 at the beginning of the year it was as if an invisible barrier had been breached - broadband had truly gone mass market. a feeding frenzy followed as firms vied for eyeballs in a price war reminiscent of that following the mass market take-up of dial-up. broadband for less than £10 was even touted by some firms although such a low price raised eyebrows among more established companies questioning how they are able to sustain such business models. for those who became broadbanders in 2004 there was no turning back and the days of waiting for the modem to kick in began to seem as outdated an idea as a jungle without celebrities. the rest of the world was also falling in love with the benefits of fast internet access to the tune of 100 million connections worldwide by april prompting research firm point topic to declare it one of the fastest growing technologies ever. by september the number of broadband connections in the uk finally overtook dial-up and in december bt announced that it was making a new broadband connection every 10 seconds. broadband was being mentioned on the 10 o clock news and in the tabloids; the sun even carried a cartoon joke about it. but two of the most significant pieces of news for broadband were items that did not make the headlines. in may bt quietly announced that it was shaving 70% off the cost of allowing other operators access to its telephone exchanges so-called local loop unbundling. the vital local loop is the crucial link between telephone exchanges and homes. at the moment bt has a stranglehold on more than 80% of these lines making it the key voice in deciding what adsl products get into homes. with cheaper local loop unbundling rivals to bt can offer faster services that will leave the broadband of today looking positively tortoise-like. it will mean the uk will finally catch up with countries such as france and the netherlands where homes are routinely enjoying speeds of up to 15mb (megabits per second). and the major price fall means that rather than just talk about it companies are actually starting to get their own equipment into bt s exchanges. it may not seem that exciting but it is a remarkable transition given that just a few years ago the arguments over local loop unbundling bore more than a passing resemblance to the northern ireland peace talks - fraught bitter and with no end in sight. another big piece of news for broadband users in 2004 was the extension of bt s reach meaning more than 95% of the population could get broadband regardless of how far away from the exchange they lived. there was a slight caveat for those wanting to upgrade to 1mbps broadband they still have to live within six kilometres of a broadband-enabled exchange. for thousands frustrated by their inability to get the technology the news meant they could finally join in. broadband is not just about fast access over the telephone and cable operators ntl and telewest also had a bumper year. the biggest news for them was increased speeds introducing 2mb and 3mb services for users and offering a free upgrade to those on 512k. the cable operators are limited in
60,244,tindall wants second opinion england centre mike tindall is to seek a second opinion before having surgery on a foot injury that could force him to miss the entire six nations. the bath player was already out of the opener against wales on 5 february because of a hand problem. mike had a specialist review on a fracture in his right mid foot said england doctor simon kemp. before a final decision is made on surgery... medical teams have decided he should see a second specialist. england coach andy robinson is already without centre will greenwood and flanker richard hill while fly-half jonny wilkinson is certain to miss at least the first two games. robinson is expected to announce his new-look england line-up on monday for the match at the millennium stadium. and newcastle s 18-year-old centre mathew tait is set to stand in for tindall alongside club team-mate jamie noon. meanwhile tindall is targeting a return to action before the end of the regular zurich premiership season on 30 april. he will also aim to be back to full fitness before the lions tour to new zealand this summer.,sport
61,381,stallone evicted from big brother jackie stallone mother of actor sylvester has become the first star to be evicted from celebrity big brother. she and john mccririck faced the public vote on friday - 67% of people voted to keep the racing pundit in the house. stallone 71 appeared not to have enjoyed her time in the house saying: i m a total wreck i need a vacation this was a nightmare . but she was pleased to have patched things up with actress brigitte nielsen her former daughter-in-law. that alone was worth $1m she said. stallone joined the channel 4 show on monday as a surprise for nielsen. she was hot favourite to be evicted first with odds of 1/4 to leave. but mccririck has made some enemies with his outspoken views about women. ladbrokes spokesman warren lush said: we may have underestimated the power of the anti-mccririck brigade but it s so hard to call with him there are people out there who either love him or hate him there is no middle ground. the bookmakers have made former happy mondays dancer bez favourite to win the show at 7/4 while blazin squad singer kenzie is second at 2/1. bez has wooed the viewers and looks the one to beat he s kept his nose clean and doesn t take anything too seriously mr lush said. earlier on friday 15 protesters from the fathers 4 justice campaign group were arrested after entering the big brother compound at 0300 gmt and throwing fireworks. feminist icon germaine greer quit the show earlier in the week over what she called bullying tactics used by the programme s producers. the show is currently attracting an average audience of about 4.2 million viewers a night.,entertainment
62,1944,apple sues to stop product leaks computer firm apple has issued a lawsuit to prevent online leaks of information about future products. the lawsuit against an unidentified individual comes just weeks before the macworld conference in san francisco used to showcase new products. the complaint said an unidentified individual... has recently misappropriated and disseminated confidential information . the lawsuit was filed with the santa clara california superior court. apple is famously secretive about its future product launches while apple users are equally famous for speculating about new technology from the company. fans have speculated in recent weeks about the possibility of a new type of ipod being announced at the macworld conference. apple said in the seven-page complaint filed on 13 december that it did not know the true names or capacities whether individual associate corporate or otherwise of the defendants. the company said it would amend the complaint once they had discovered the names of those who had allegedly leaked information. it is not the first time apple has sued people who have posted information about future products on the internet. in december 2002 apple sued a former contractor who allegedly posted online drawings images and engineering details of the company s powermac g4 computer. in a statement apple said of the current lawsuit: apple has filed a civil complaint against unnamed individuals who we believe stole our trade secrets and posted detailed information about an unannounced apple product on the internet.,tech
63,725,tory expert denies defeat warning the conservatives campaign director has denied a report claiming he warned michael howard the party could not win the next general election. the times on monday said australian lynton crosby told the party leader to focus on trying to increase the tories commons presence by 25 to 30 seats. but mr crosby said in a statement: i have never had any such conversation... and i do not hold that view. mr howard later added there was not one iota of truth in the report. the strategist helped australia s pm john howard win four elections. mr howard appointed mr crosby as his elections chief last october. mr crosby s statement said: the conservative party has been making an impact on the issues of lower tax and controlled immigration over the past week. it added: the labour party will be wanting to do all they can to distract attention away from the issues that really matter to people.,politics
64,369,emi shares hit by profit warning shares in music giant emi have sunk by more than 16% after the firm issued a profit warning following disappointing sales and delays to two album releases. emi said music sales for the year to march will fall 8-9% from the year before with profits set to be 15% lower than analysts had expected. it blamed poor sales since christmas and delays to the releases of new albums by coldplay and gorillaz. by 1200 gmt on monday emi shares were down 16.2% at 235.75 pence. emi said two major albums scheduled for release before the end of the financial year in march - one by coldplay and one by gorillaz - have now had their release dates put back. emi music s sales particularly re-orders in january have also been lower than anticipated and this is expected to continue through february and march the company added. therefore for the full year at constant currency emi music s sales are now expected to be 8% to 9% lower than the prior year. the company said it expected profits to be about £138m ($259.8m). alain levy chairman and chief executive of emi music described the performance as disappointing but added that he remained optimistic over future trends in the industry. the physical music market is showing signs of stabilisation in many parts of the world and digital music in all its forms continues to develop at a rapid pace he said. commenting on the delay to the release of the coldplay and gorillaz albums mr levy said that creating and marketing music is not an exact science and cannot always coincide with our reporting periods . while this rescheduling and recent softness is disappointing it does not change my views of the improving health of the global recorded music industry he added. paul richards an analyst at numis securities said the market would be focusing on the slump in music sales rather than the timing of the two albums. it s unusual to see this much of a downgrade just because of phasing he said.,business
65,211,lost doors frontman movie found historians in florida have discovered a 40-year-old clip of a clean-cut jim morrison appearing in a promotional film for his university. the 1964 film shows the doors frontman who died aged 27 in 1971 playing the part of a young man who had been rejected by florida state university. morrison is seen quizzing a college administrator on why he was refused. but what happened how come my parents and the state and the university didn t look ahead he is seen asking. it s incredible. he s so clean cut and soft-spoken said florida state archivist jody norman. we know he was at florida state university for a period of time and he did some acting when he was there norman added. the doors were one of the most influential bands of the 1960s with hits including light my fire and riders on the storm. morrison was notorious for his wild lifestyle - and was accused of exposing himself and simulating a sex act at a miami concert in 1969. he was found dead in the bath of his paris apartment and died from heart problems aggravated by alcohol. a coroner recorded a verdict of death by natural causes and his grave at the city s pere lachaise ceremony has become a shrine for fans.,entertainment
66,1861,leeds v saracens (fri) headingley friday 25 february 2000 gmt the tykes have brought in newcastle prop ed kalman and tom mcgee from the borders on loan while fly-half craig mcmullen has joined from narbonne. raphael ibanez is named at hooker for saracens in one of four changes. simon raiwalui and ben russell are also selected in the pack while kevin sorrell comes in at outside centre. - friday s game at headingley got the go-ahead on friday after passing an early pitch inspection. leeds: balshaw; rees christophers bell doherty; mcmullen dickens; mcgee rawlinson gerber; murphy palmer (capt) morgan parks popham. replacements: kalman regan hyde rigney mcmillan rock vickerman. saracens: bartholomeusz; castaignede sorrell harris vaikona; jackson bracken; yates ibanez visagie; raiwalui fullarton; randell russell vyvyan (capt). replacements: cairns lloyd broster chesney johnston rauluni little.,sport
67,1044,video phones act as dating tools technologies from e-mail to net chatrooms instant messaging and mobiles have proved to be a big pull with those looking for love. the lure once was that you could hide behind the technology but now video phones are in on the act to add vision. hundreds have submitted a mobile video profile to win a place at the world s first video mobile dating event. the top 100 meet their match on 30 november at london s institute of contemporary arts (ica). the event organised by the 3g network 3 could catch on as the trend for unusual dating events like speed dating continues. it s the beginning of the end of the blind date as we know it said graeme oxby 3 s marketing director. the response has been so promising that 3 says it is planning to launch a proper commercial dating service soon. hundreds of hopefuls submitted their profiles and special booths were set up in a major london department store for two weeks where expert tips were given on how to visually improve their chances. the 100 most popular contestants voted by the public will gather at the ica in separate rooms and meet by phone. dating services and other more adult match-making services are proving to be a strong stream of revenue worth millions for mobile companies. whether it does actually provide an interesting match for video phone technologies remains to be seen. flic everett journalist and dating expert for company magazine and the daily express thinks technology has been liberating for some nervous soul-mate seekers. there are currently about 1.3 million video phones in use in the uk and three times more single people in britain than there were 30 years ago with more people buying video mobiles 3g dating could be the basis for a successful and safe way to meet people. one of the problems with video phones is people don t really know what to video. it is a weird technology. we have not quite worked out what it is for. this gives it a focus and a useful one she told bbc news. i would never have thought online dating would take off the way it did she said. lots of people find it easier to be honest writing e-mail or text than face-to-face. lots people are quite shy and they feel vulnerable. when you are writing it comes directly onto the page so they tend to be more honest. but the barrier that comes with sms chat and online match-making is that the person behind the profile may not be who they really are. scare stories have put people off as a result according to ms everett. many physical clues body language odd twitches are obviously missing with sms and online dating services. still images do not necessarily provide all those necessary cues. it could really take off because you do get the whole package. with a static e-mail picture you don t know who the person is behind it is. so checking out a potential date by video phone also gives singletons a different kind of barrier an extra layer of protection; a case of wlts before wltm. if you are trapped in real-life blind date context you can t get away and you feel embarrassed. with a video meeting you really have the barrier of the phone so if you don t like them you don t have to suffer the embarrassment. there is a more serious side to this new use of technology though. with money being made through more adult-themes content and services which let people meet and chat the revenue streams for mobile carriers will grow with 3g thinks paolo pescatore mobile industry specialist for analysts idc. wireless is a medium that is being exploited with a number of features and services. one is chatting and the dating element is key there he said. the foundation has been set by sms and companies are using media like mms and video to grow the market further. but carriers need to be wary and ensure that if they do launch such 3g dating services they ensure mechanism are in place to monitor and be aware who is registers and accesses these services on regular basis he cautioned. in july vodafone introduced a content control system
68,976,zambia confident and cautious zambia s technical director kalusha bwalya is confident and cautious ahead of the cosafa cup final against angola on saturday in lusaka. bwalya said: nothing short of victory will do. however bwalya warned his side not to be too complacent. i don t want my team to be too comfortable or too sure of victory as it is going to be a difficult game. for me the main aim of the game is to enjoy and to win. zambia have shown their determination to win this final by recalling nine of their foreign-based players. however the 41 year-old bwalya who became the oldest player to appear in the competition when he played and scored against mauritius is uncertain whether he will take to the field or not. the chipolopolo fans however are not being so cautious with a victory concert already scheduled for after the match featuring some of the country s top musicians. both sides are hoping to win the competition for a record third time and so keep the trophy for good. the chipolopolo won the first two editions of the regional tournament for southern african nations in 1997 and 1998. they were prevented from a third straight win by angola who knocked out the zambians at the semi-final stage in 1999. that victory for angola also marked a first defeat in 14 years for zambia at lusaka s independence stadium where saturday s game is being played. angola named just four overseas-based players in their preliminary squad. the palancas negras have been unable to secure the release of many of their portugal-based players.,sport
69,1673,real will finish abandoned match real madrid and real socieded will play the final six minutes of their match which was abandoned on sunday because of a bomb scare. the bernabeu was evacuated with the score at 1-1 and two minutes of normal time remaining in the game. the teams will now play the final two minutes plus four minutes of injury time on 5 january. brazilian ronaldo and england captain david beckham had to wait in the street in their kit after the abandonment. real sociedad president jose luis astiazaran said: we thought the best thing was to play the time remaining. hundreds of fans streamed across the pitch on their way to the exits after the game was called off. tourists and fans took advantage of the opportunity for a photograph between the famous stadium s goalposts. the two clubs met the spanish fa on monday and astiazaran added: we thought about giving the game as concluded but after talking with the fa we decided there was no precedent for that and the best thing was to play the time that was remaining. real madrid director of sport emilio butragueno praised the spectators inside the ground for their conduct. i d like to highlight the behaviour of the fans who showed great maturity and it was an example of good citizenship he said. butragueno confirned before confirming that tuesday s charity match - which has been billed as ronaldo s friends against zidane s friends - will go ahead as planned. i d also like to take the chance to say that tomorrow s game will take place butragueno declared of the partido contra la pobreza (game against poverty). he added: football is important for society and we want to show that. we also think that football should be a fiesta we had programmed and people deserve to enjoy the game.,sport
70,442,news corp eyes video games market news corp the media company controlled by australian billionaire rupert murdoch is eyeing a move into the video games market. according to the financial times chief operating officer peter chernin said that news corp is kicking the tires of pretty much all video games companies . santa monica-based activison is said to be one firm on its takeover list. video games are big business the paper quoted mr chernin as saying. we would like to get into it . the success of products such as sony s playstation microsoft s x-box and nintendo s game cube have boosted demand for video games. the days of arcade classics such as space invaders pac-man and donkey kong are long gone. today games often have budgets big enough for feature films and look to give gamers as real an experience as possible. and with their price tags reflecting the heavy investment by development companies video games are proving almost as profitable as they are fun. mr chernin however told the ft that news corp was finding it difficult to identify a suitable target. we are struggling with the gap between companies like electronic arts which comes with a high price tag and the next tier of companies he explained during a conference in phoenix arizona. these may be too focused on one or two product lines.,business
71,144,greene sets sights on world title maurice greene aims to wipe out the pain of losing his olympic 100m title in athens by winning a fourth world championship crown this summer. he had to settle for bronze in greece behind fellow american justin gatlin and francis obikwelu of portugal. it really hurts to look at that medal. it was my mistake. i lost because of the things i did said greene who races in birmingham on friday. it s never going to happen again. my goal - i m going to win the worlds. greene crossed the line just 0.02 seconds behind gatlin who won in 9.87 seconds in one of the closest and fastest sprints of all time. but greene believes he lost the race and his title in the semi-finals. in my semi-final race i should have won the race but i was conserving energy. that s when francis obikwelu came up and i took third because i didn t know he was there. i believe that s what put me in lane seven in the final and while i was in lane seven i couldn t feel anything in the race. i just felt like i was running all alone. i believe if i was in the middle of the race i would have been able to react to people that came ahead of me. greene was also denied olympic gold in the 4x100m men s relay when he could not catch britain s mark lewis-francis on the final leg. the kansas star is set to go head-to-head with lewis-francis again at friday s norwich union grand prix. the pair contest the 60m the distance over which greene currently holds the world record of 6.39 seconds. he then has another indoor meeting in france before resuming training for the outdoor season and the task of recapturing his world title in helsinki in august. greene believes gatlin will again prove the biggest threat to his ambitions in finland. but he also admits he faces more than one rival for the world crown. there s always someone else coming. i think when i was coming up i would say there was me and ato (boldon) in the young crowd greene said. now you ve got about five or six young guys coming up at the same time.,sport
72,1954,business confidence dips in japan business confidence among japanese manufacturers has weakened for the first time since march 2003 the quarterly tankan survey has found. slower economic growth rising oil prices a stronger yen and weaker exports were blamed for the fall. december s confidence level was below that seen in september the bank of japan said. however september s reading was the strongest for 13 years. the economy is at a pause but unlikely to fall the economy minister said. it will feel a bit slower (next year) than this year and growth may be a bit more gentle but the situation is that the recovery will continue said economy minister heizo takenaka. in the bank of japan s december survey the balance of big manufacturers saying business conditions are better minus those saying they are worse was 22 down from 26 in september. japan s economy grew by just 0.1% in the three months to september according revised data issued this month. with the recovery slowing the world s second biggest economy is now expected grow by 0.2% in 2004. the tankan index is based on a survey of 10 227 firms. big manufacturers were even more pessimistic about the first quarter of 2005; their views suggest the march reading could go as low as 15 - still in positive territory but weaker. the dollar s decline has strengthened the yen making japanese exports more expensive in the us. china s attempts to cool down its fast-growing economy have also hit japanese industry s sales abroad. confidence among non-manufacturers was unchanged in the final quarter of 2004 but it is forecast to drop one point in the march survey. nonetheless japanese firms have been stepping up capital investment and the survey found the pace is quickening. companies reported they expect to invest 7.7% more in the year to march 2005 than the previous year - up from expectations of 6.1% increase in the september tankan.,business
73,48,campaign cold calls questioned labour and the conservatives are still telephoning the millions of people who have signed up to make sure they do not get marketing cold calls . the parties say they can stick to the rules by ensuring that their calls are not marketing - for instance by asking about people s voting intentions. the lib dems are asking the watchdog overseeing the rules to stop the calls. the information commissioner s office says surveys are allowed but people had to be told if personal data was kept. telephone call centres are expected to be used as never before by all the three major parties in the run-up to the general election. but seven million telephone numbers are on the telephone preference service (tps) lists which ban unsolicited sales and marketing calls. both schemes are run by the direct marketing association and backed by eu directives on privacy and electronic communications. the rules on marketing calls apply as much to politicians as to private sector companies. but that does not mean labour and the tories are not calling people signed up to the tps. a labour party spokesman told the bbc news website the party avoided those on tps lists when telephoning people about membership or fundraising. but that did not happen for voter identification calls. when we ask which party they will vote for that is not marketing and we have very clear legal advice that it is not he said. so it is not covered by the telephone preference service. he said the party always asked people if they would be happy to be contacted again and if they said no they were not rung again. a conservative spokeswoman said the party stuck to the rules when it rang tps subscribers. she said: we do apply tps but in line with the law. we would not do things that are not allowed in the law. assistant information commissioner phil jones said it was classed as marketing if political parties telephoned people to encourage them to vote for them. but classic market research such as a poll of voter intentions did not constitute direct marketing he said. if a party is calling someone who is registered on tps and records their voting intention with a view to using this information in the future this should be clear to the voter concerned said mr jones. if a party rings a person who is registered on tps to ask about their voting intention and goes on to encourage that voter to support them the party may well be in breach of the regulations. in summary whether a party calling tps registered voters to check their voting intentions will breach regulations will depend on the script used and whether the script is followed. mr jones said the watchdog received very few complaints on the issue. earlier lib dem chairman matthew taylor wrote to the watchdog saying: the advice we have received on several previous occasions is that such phone calls are illegal. he says evidence from local lib dem parties around the country suggests there are significant numbers of such calls. i hope you can therefore take swift and efficient action to ensure that this ceases he tells the commissioner. mr taylor argues there should be new guidelines so all parties can act in the same way if the watchdog believes the rules allow parties to ring tps numbers about voting intentions and later urge those people to vote for them.,politics
74,608,swap offer for pirated windows xp computer giant microsoft has launched a pilot scheme to replace counterfeit versions of windows xp with legal ones. the first-time initiative is restricted to the uk and to users with pre-installed copies of the operating system in pcs bought before november. until december microsoft said software can be sent to it for analysis if there are doubts about its legitimacy. the company aims to detect illegal traders and turn users of fake versions of windows into legitimate ones. the windows xp counterfeit project will mean that software that is found to be counterfeit will be replaced for free subject to certain conditions until the end of the year. it is the first time microsoft has launched a counterfeit product replacement scheme in the world the company told the bbc news website. in june the software giant said that the major security update to windows xp service pack 2 would not work with the most widely pirated versions of its operating system. the upgrade closed security loopholes in xp and added features that made it easier to keep machines safe from viruses and other types of malicious computer code. the us company invited anyone who had suspicions about their version of windows xp to submit it for testing as soon as possible. the procedure consists of a series of computer checks collating documents and filling out a witness statement. this is a great opportunity for users to confirm the authenticity of windows xp software whilst helping gather vital information about illegal traders said alex hilton licence compliance manager at microsoft. the scheme has also been welcomed by the technology and commerce industry. it is important that users ensure that they are legally licensed to avoid the risks of purchasing and using counterfeit products said david frost director general of the british chambers of commerce. the plan would enable microsoft to gather intelligence about illegal traders in a prompt way which would allow it to take action against software pirates. microsoft said it would evaluate the results of the uk programme before setting up similar schemes in other countries.,tech
75,2165,murray to make cup history andrew murray will become britain s youngest-ever davis cup player after it was confirmed he will play in the doubles against israel on saturday. the 17-year-old will play alongside fellow debutant david sherwood against israel s jonathan erlich and andy ram. murray will eclipse the record set by roger becker back in 1952. greg rusedski takes tim henman s place as first choice in the singles while alex bogdanovic will play in the second singles clash. rusedski will take on former world number 30 harel levy and bogdanovic - who has previously played in two singles rubbers against australia - will face noam okun. murray is the brightest young hope in british tennis after winning the us open junior title last year and the bbc young sports personality of the year. british number one tim henman who announced his davis cup retirement earlier this year believes britain can win the tie in tel aviv. it s going to be as really tough match. israel have some really good players - and their doubles pair of andy ram and jonathan erlich are among the top eight in the world - but i fancy our chances he said. but henman urged bogdanovic who has had run-ins with british tennis officials in the past to seize his chance. alex is a quality player - he s young but he s got to keep pushing forward. he s got to be stronger he s got a lot of ability but he s got to be more disciplined mentally and physically and if he does that he s got a good chance.,sport
76,913,confusion over high-definition tv now that a critical mass of people have embraced digital tv dvds and digital video recorders the next revolution for tv is being prepared for our sets. in most corners of tv and technology industries high-definition (hdtv) is being heralded as the biggest thing to happen to the television since colour. hd essentially makes tv picture quality at least four times better than now. but there is real concern that people are not getting the right information about hd on the high street. thousands of flat panel screens - lcds (liquid crystal displays) plasma screens and dlp rear-projection tv sets - have already been sold as hd but are in fact not able to display hd. the uk is the largest display market in europe according to john binks director of gfk which monitors global consumer markets. but he added: of all the flat panel screens sold just 1.3% in the uk are capable of getting high-definition. there are 74 different devices that are being sold as hd but are not hd-ready according to alexander oudendijk senior vice president of marketing for satellite giant astra. they may be fantastic quality tvs but many do not have adaptors in them - called dvi or hdmi (high-definition multimedia interface) connectors - which let the set handle the higher resolution digital images. part of this is down to lack of understanding and training on the high street say industry experts who gathered at bafta in london for the 2nd european hdtv summit last week. we have to be careful about consumer confusion. there is a massive education process to go through said mr binks. the industry already recognised that it would be a challenge to get the right information about it across to those of us who will be watching it. eventually that will be everyone. the bbc is currently developing plans to produce all its tv output to meet hdtv standards by 2010. preparations for the analogue switch-off are already underway in some areas and programmes are being filmed with hd cameras. bskyb plans to ship its first generation set-top boxes to receive hdtv broadcasts in time for christmas. like its sky+ boxes they will also be personal video recorders (pvrs). the company will start broadcasts of hdtv programmes offering them as premium channel packages concentrating to start with on sports big events and films in early 2006. but the set-top box which receives hdtv broadcasts has to plug into a display - tv set - that can show the images at the much higher resolution that hd demands if hdtv is to be real . by 2010 20% of homes in the uk will have some sort of tv set or display that can show hd in its full glory. but it is all getting rather confusing for people who have only just taken to being digital . as a result all the key players those who make flat panel displays as well as the satellite companies and broadcasters formed a hd forum in 2004 to make sure they were all talking to each other. part of the forum has been concerned with issues like industry standards and content protection. but it has also been preoccupied with how to help the paying public know exactly what they are paying for. from next month all devices that have the right connectors and resolution required will carry a hd-ready sticker. this also means they are equipped to cope with both analogue and hdtv signals and so comply with the minimum specification set out by the industry. the logo is absolutely the way forward said david mercer analysts with strategy analytics. but it is still not appearing on many retail products. the industry is upbeat that the sticker will help but it is only a start. we can only do so much with the position we are in today with manufacturers said mr oudendijk. there may well be a number of dissatisfied customers in the next few months. the european broadcast union (ebu) is testing different flavours of hd formats to prepare for even better hdtv further down the line. it is similarly concerned that people get the right information on hdtv formats as wel
77,1580,voters flock to blog awards site voting is under way for the annual bloggies which recognise the best web blogs - online spaces where people publish their thoughts - of the year. nominations were announced on sunday but traffic to the official site was so heavy that the website was temporarily closed because of too many visitors. weblogs have been nominated in 30 categories from the top regional blog to the best-kept-secret blog. blogs had a huge year with a top us dictionary naming blog word of 2004. technorati a blog search engine tracks about six million blogs and says that more than 12 000 are added daily. a blog is created every 5.8 seconds according to us research think-tank pew internet and american life but less than 40% of the total are updated at least once every two months. nikolai nolan who has run the bloggies for the past five years told the bbc news website he was not too surprised by the amount of voters who crowded the site. the awards always get a lot of traffic; this was just my first year on a server with a bandwidth limit so i had to guess how much i d need he said. there were many new finalists this year he added and a few that had won bloggies before. several entries reflected specific news events. there are four nominations for the south-east asia earthquake and tsunami blog which is a pretty timely one for 2005 said mr nolan. the big bloggies battle will be for the ultimate prize of blog of the year. the nominated blogs are wide-ranging covering what is in the news to quirky sites of interest. fighting it out for the coveted award are gawker this fish needs a bicycle wonkette boing boing and gothamist. in a sign that blogs are playing an increasingly key part in spreading news and current affairs the south-east asia earthquake and tsunami blog is also nominated in the best overall category. greenfairydotcom londonist hicksdesign plasticbag and london underground tube blog are the nominees in the best british or irish weblog. included in the other categories is best meme . this is for the top replicating idea that spread about weblogs . nominations include flickr a web photo album which lets people upload tag share and publish their images to blogs. podcasting has also made an appearance in the category. it is an increasingly popular idea that makes use of rss (really simple syndication) and audio technology to let people easily make their own radio shows and distribute them automatically onto portable devices. many are done by those who already have text-based blogs so they are almost like audio blogs. three new categories have been added to the list this year including best food best entertainment and best writing of a weblog. one of the categories that was scrapped though was best music blog. the winners of the fifth annual bloggies are chosen by the public. public voting closes on 3 february and the winners will be announced sometime between 13 and 15 march.,tech
78,1061,apple ipod family expands market apple has expanded its ipod family with the release of its next generation of the digital music players. its latest challenges to the growing digital music gadget market include an ipod mini model which can hold 6gb compared to a previous 4gb. the company which hopes to keep its dominant place in the digital music market also said the gold coloured version of the mini would be dropped. a 30gb version has also been added to the ipod photo family. the latest models have a longer battery life and their prices have been cut by an average of £40. the original ipod took an early lead in the digital music player market thanks to its large storage capacity and simple design. during 2004 about 25 million portable players were sold 10 million of which were apple ipods. but analysts agree that the success is also down to its integration with the itunes online store which has given the company a 70% share of the legal download music market. mike mcguire a research director at analyst gartner told the bbc news website that apple had done a good job in sealing off the market from competition so far. they have created a very seamless package which i think is the idea of the product - the design function and the software are very impressive he said. he added that the threat from others was always present however. creative other microsoft-partnered devices real sony and so on are ratcheting up the marketing message and advertising he said. creative was very upbeat about how many of its creative zen players it had shipped by the end of last year he said. its second-generation models like the creative zen micro photo is due out in the summer. it will have 5gb of memory on board. digital music players are now the gadget of choice among young americans according to recent research by the pew internet and american life project. one in 10 us adults - 22 million people - now owns a digital music player of some sort. sales of legally downloaded songs also rose more than tenfold in 2004 according to the record industry with 200 million tracks bought online in the us and europe in 12 months. the ifpi industry body said that the popularity of portable music players was behind the growth. analysts say that the ease of use and growth of music services available on the net will continue to drive the trend towards portable music players. people are also starting to use them in novel ways. some are combining automatic syncing functions many of them have with other net functions to automatically distribute diy radio shows called podcasts. but 2005 will also see more competition from mobile phone operators who are keen to offer streaming services on much more powerful and sophisticated handsets. according to mr mcguire research suggests that people like the idea of building up huge libraries of music which they can do with high-capacity storage devices like ipods and creative zens. mobiles do not yet have this capacity though and there are issues about the ease of portability of mobile music. mr mcguire said apple was ensuring it kept a foot in the mobile music door with its recent deal with motorola to produce a version of itunes for motorola phones.,tech
79,529,us charity anthem is re-released we are the world the american charity anthem inspired by the success of band aid has been re-issued to raise money for aids research and tsunami victims. more than 40 stars sang as group usa for africa including lionel richie diana ross ray charles bob dylan michael jackson and bruce springsteen. it topped the charts in the us and uk raising millions of dollars for african famine relief. the re-release also marks the 20th anniversary of the original recording. it has been re-issued as part of a two-disc dvd set which will also feature footage from the recording session of the track in january 1985. the single was originally released in the us on 7 march 1985 and sold 800 000 copies in its first week. it went on to win grammys for song of the year and record of the year.,entertainment
80,2137,fido to be taken off vote lists the risk of pets and children being given votes could be cut by changing how people register to vote the uk elections watchdog has said. those are some of the mistakes found under the current system where one person in each household applies for voting forms for the other occupants. the electoral commission says enabling people to register individually could cut some errors and combat fraud. voters need to register by 11 march if the next poll is on 5 may as expected. but any individual registration scheme would not be introduced in britain before that general election. the proposed scheme would mean voters using individual identifiers when they vote - such as their own voting number date of birth and signature. the electoral commission says having voters register individually rather than the head of household do it for them fits better with human rights laws. chairman sam younger told mps on tuesday care was needed to ensure that people were not lost off the register in the process - which happened when northern ireland switched to a similar system. there have been rare cases when household pets have been put on the electoral roll the mps heard. and some people have registered all their family regardless of their age - birth dates are not included on the forms so election officers cannot easily check. non-british citizens who are not entitled to vote have also been registered in some cases. mr younger said there was anecdotal evidence of inaccuracies in the register the vast majority of which were caused by genuine mistakes. he argued local councils could look harder at promoting targeted campaigns at hard to reach voters for example. some authorities already run such programmes but in others councillors worry about the party political impact of encouraging particular areas to turn out. mr younger said using the royal mail s postal redirection service had already helped election officers retrace about 50 000 voters. he argued individual registration would also increase security for postal ballots and other new ways of voting. there have been fears there are too few checks to ensure current postal votes are cast by the person on the voting form. he said it might also help register students in halls of residences where the hall warden often has to do the job for everybody. the mps on the office of the deputy prime minister and constitutional affairs select committees pressed mr younger on how to avoid losing voters in any changeover. he said the northern ireland example illustrated real difficulties to be confronted. currently british voters have to re-register to vote every year or face being removed from the electoral rolls if they fail to do so two years running. mr younger suggested the re-registration could happen less frequently but argued efforts were needed to check the electoral rolls were up-to-date.,politics
81,1284,wales critical of clumsy grewcock wales coach mike ruddock says england lock danny grewcock needs to review his actions after he kicked dwayne peel. trouble flared at a ruck in the first half of wales 11-9 win in cardiff as grewcock came recklessly over the top with his boot leaving peel bloodied. grewcock was sin-binned with wales captain gareth thomas for retaliation. it s up to the citing commissioner said ruddock. i m not saying it s deliberate but grewcock did a similar thing for bath against leinster. last june grewcock was banned from rugby for two months for reckless use of a boot in a match against new zealand. six years earlier also in new zealand grewcock became only the second england player to be sent off in tests. the player himself and his captain jason robinson have both said that the clash with peel was accidental. if the ball is at the back of the ruck and i feel i can step over and disrupt it then i will do that said grewcock. but ruddock feels that the england man should be more careful. the boy himself should look at his actions it was a clumsy piece of footwork he said. he s a great player and i don t want to knock him we won t be calling for the match commissioner to review the incident. i m not going to go too far with the lad. it could just be a clumsy action and dwayne had just a minor cut. the referee s interpretation was that grewcock was attempting to step over the ruck. ruddock also warned his rbs 6 nations championship rivals that his team can make massive improvements. we created more opportunities and also squandered them by taking more contact and playing more individually said the coach. we ve looked through things on the video debrief and there were definitely a lot of chances that we wasted. in the forthcoming games ruddock may use penalty hero gavin henson as his first-choice kicker in place of stephen jones. our first aim was to get gavin settled into the team but it s something we ll talk about in selection this week said ruddock.,sport
82,2040,russian film wins bbc world prize russian drama the return (vozvrashchenie) has been named winner of the bbc four world cinema award. the film tells the story of two adolescent boys who are subjected to a harsh regime when their strict father returns after a 10-year absence. directed by andrey zvyagintsev the return previously won the 2003 golden lion award at the venice film festival. the prize was presented at an awards ceremony held in london on thursday and hosted by jonathan ross. the winner was chosen by a panel which included x files actress gillian anderson critic roger clarke and touching the void director kevin mcdonald. ross who is the presenter of bbc one s film 2005 was also involved in the deliberations. a shortlist of six films from around the world had been drawn up from which the panel chose. other nominees included the motorcycle diaries zatoichi and hero. a viewer poll saw director zhang yimou s martial arts epic hero emerge as the favourite with 32% of votes cast. tragedy struck the production of the return when one of the young stars 15-year-old vladimir girin drowned in a lake. the winner of the world cinema award last year was the french animated feature belleville rendezvous,entertainment
83,349,rapper 50 cent ends protege feud rapper 50 cent has ended his public feud with his protege the game as the pair said they wanted to be good role models for their communities. the row blew up when 50 cent threw the game out of his g-unit crew and accused him of being disloyal. a member of the game s entourage was reportedly shot outside a radio station where 50 cent was being interviewed. but the pair shook hands as they handed over money to music projects for new york s deprived areas on wednesday. the game whose real name is jayceon taylor told a news conference: i want to apologise. i m almost ashamed to have participated in the things that went on over the last few weeks. chart-topper 50 cent real name curtis jackson said the truce came on the anniversary of the death of the notorious big in 1997 who was part of a volatile feud between the east and west coast rap scenes. we re here today to show that people can rise above the most difficult circumstances and together we can put negativity behind us 50 cent said. a lot of people don t want to see it happen but we re responding to the two most important groups - our family and our fans. the boys choir of harlem got a cheque for $150 000 (£77 800) from 50 cent while the game handed over $103 500 (£53 400). the game also made a contribution to the compton schools music programme. 50 cent announced he has launched the g-unity foundation to help people overcome obstacles and make a chance for the better in their lives . i realised that if i m going to be effective at that i have to overcome some of my own he said. game and i need to set an example in the community. 50 cent is no stranger to feuds with rapper ja rule among the targets for ridicule in his songs. on his latest album released earlier this month he turned his attentions to fat joe and nas who have both worked with ja rule. both he and the game have admitted drug dealing in the past and have both been shot.,entertainment
84,1385,air passengers win new eu rights air passengers who are unable to board their flights because of overbooking cancellations or flight delays can now demand greater compensation. new eu rules set compensation at between 250 euros (£173) and 600 euros depending on the length of the flight. the new rules will apply to all scheduled and charter flights including budget airlines. airlines have attacked the legislation saying they could be forced to push prices higher to cover the extra cost. the european commission is facing two legal challenges - one from the european low-fare airlines association (elaa) and the other from the international air transport association (iata) which has attacked the package as a bad piece of legislation . previously passengers could claim between 150 euros and 300 euros if they had been stopped from boarding. however only scheduled flight operators were obliged to offer compensation in cases of overbooking and they did not have to offer compensation for flight cancellations. the eu decided to increase passenger compensation in a bid to deter airlines from deliberately overbooking flights. overbooking can often lead to bumping - when a passenger is moved to a later flight. when this happens against a passenger s will airlines will now have to offer compensation. in addition if a flight is cancelled or delayed for more than two hours through the fault of the airline all passengers must be paid compensation. however airlines do not have to offer compensation if flights are cancelled or delayed due to extraordinary circumstances . airlines fear that extraordinary circumstances may not include bad weather security alerts or strikes - events which are outside of their control. all eu-based airlines and operators of flights which take off from the eu will have to adhere to the new compensation regime which came into force on thursday. low-cost airlines have criticised the new compensation levels arguing that the pay-out could be worth more than the ticket. it s a preposterous piece of legislation we among all airlines are fighting this ryanair deputy chief executive michael cawley told radio 4 s today programme. the european regions airline association (eraa) claims that neither airlines nor consumers were consulted over the changes. andy clarke eraa director of air transport said that the ec advice misleads customers as it leads them to believe that airlines could be liable for payouts if flights are delayed because of bad weather. ec spokeswoman marja quillinan-meiland conceded there were grey areas but said these are not as big as the airlines are making out . in cases of dispute national enforcement bodies would decide whether the passenger had a case she said. new technology means it is easier for airlines to take off and land in bad weather she added. the eraa s mr clarke also warned that while airlines would comply with the new rules the extra costs would be passed onto passengers. we reckon it s going to cost european air passengers - not the airlines the airlines have no money it has to be paid by passengers - 1.5bn euros that s over £1bn a year loaded onto european passengers mr clarke said. that s basically a transfer of money from passengers whose journeys are not disrupted to passengers whose journeys are disrupted. on wednesday jacques barrot vice president of the european commission and also commissioner for transport said that the changes were necessary. the boom in air travel needs to be accompanied by proper protection of passengers right. this is a concrete example of how the union benefits people s daily lives he added. the ec has launched an information campaign in airports and travel agencies to inform airline passengers of their new rights.,business
85,1307,us afflicted with awards fatigue the film world and media may be wild about the oscars but cinema-goers and the tv-viewing public are sick of watching award ceremonies according to some la film critics. bob strauss from the la daily news thinks there are just too many televised gatherings of stars showering praise on each other. he came up with a colourful but unprintable description for these glitzy events which roughly translates a celebrity love-in . this echoed the views of oscars host and comedian chris rock who whipped up a media storm for saying he rarely watched them calling award shows idiotic . as chris rock accurately said they re about celebrity and fashion mr strauss said. the recent grammy music awards proved to be a ratings loser and it seems oscars organisers are determined not to go the same way. recently announced changes to the ceremony include lining up all five nominees on stage before announcing the winner. unsurprisingly this prompted press speculation that the changes were aimed at boosting flagging advertising revenue. but entertainment weekly s dave karger maintained the oscars only generated excitement outside the industry when a blockbuster such as titanic or lord of the rings was nominated. the near constant flow of us film awards representing directors actors and producers guilds also means few surprises are left by the time the oscar ceremony is upon us he said. a quick scan of the los angeles times and los angeles daily news bears this out - speculation about who will win seems to have ground to a halt. on thursday the times simply printed a picture of the plastic tents going up outside the kodak theatre to protect the red carpet from rain. variety and the hollywood reporter have also kept their focus firmly on industry-related news while in the uk bets have closed on the best actor category with ray star jamie foxx a dead cert to win. screen international s us editor mike goodridge thinks 2004 s films have simply not grabbed the public s imagination. film-makers haven t produced films that people adore this year he said. they adored saving private ryan for example - people loved it and it made a ton of money. 2004 s films could be a reaction to 9/11 - there was a realisation in america that things might not be so rosy after all. audiences don t necessarily want to see darker films such as million dollar baby aviator and finding neverland which end with casualty. as to whether rock could pep up the awards the critics were not hopeful. mr strauss doubted whether rock would make an impact but added: i m all for lower ratings though - there are far more important things going on than the oscars. mr karger said the comic might boost younger viewers but mike goodridge thought rock s humour could prompt america s conservative states to switch off. so despite all this did the critics have any views on who would win clint eastwood s million dollar baby affected people emotionally which is why it will beat aviator which was about technical artistry not feelings mr karger said. eastwood has it in the bag added mr strauss. oscar voters often vote with their hearts not their heads. and mr goodridge said best film and director were between martin scorsese s aviator and million dollar baby. mr karger whose favourite film of the year was mike leigh s abortion drama vera drake stayed upbeat about the awards despite his other comments. i hope this is the year for small films to triumph he said. after all it s still one of the biggest tv events of the year.,entertainment
86,807,china keeps tight rein on credit china s efforts to stop the economy from overheating by clamping down on credit will continue into 2005 state media report. the curbs were introduced earlier this year to ward off the risk that rapid expansion might lead to soaring prices. there were also fears that too much stress might be placed on the fragile banking system. growth in china remains at a breakneck 9.1% and corporate investment is growing at more than 25% a year. the breakneck pace of economic expansion has kept growth above 9% for more than a year. rapid tooling-up of china s manufacturing sector means a massive demand for energy - one of the factors which has kept world oil prices sky-high for most of this year. in theory the government has a 7% growth target but continues to insist that the overshoot does not mean a hard landing in the shape of an overbalancing economy. a low exchange rate - china s yuan is pegged to a rate of 8.28 to the dollar which seems to be in relentless decline - means chinese exports are cheap on world markets. china has thus far resisted international pressure to break the link or at least to shift the level of its peg. to some extent the credit controls do seem to be taking effect. industrial output grew 15.7% in the year to october down from 23% in february and inflation slowed to 4.3% - although retail sales are still booming.,business
87,333,jarre joins fairytale celebration french musician jean-michel jarre is to perform at a concert in copenhagen to mark the bicentennial of the birth of writer hans christian andersen. denmark is holding a three-day celebration of the life of the fairy-tale author with a concert at parken stadium on 2 april. other stars are expected to join the line-up in the coming months and the danish royal family will attend. christian andersen s fairy tales are timeless and universal said jarre. for all of us at any age there is always - beyond the pure enjoyment of the tale - a message to learn. there are year-long celebrations planned across the world to celebrate andersen and his work which includes the emperor s new clothes and the little mermaid. denmark s crown prince frederik and crown princess mary visited new york on monday to help promote the festivities. the pair were at a manhattan library to honour us literary critic harold bloom the international icon we thought we knew so well . bloom recognizes the darker aspects of andersen s authorship prince frederik said. bloom is to be formally presented with the hans christian andersen award this spring in anderson s hometown of odense. the royal couple also visited the hans christian anderson school complex where queen mary read the ugly duckling to the young audience. later at a gala dinner danish supermodel helena christensen was named a hans christian andersen ambassador. other ambassadors include actors harvey keitel and sir roger moore athlete cathy freeman and brazilian soccer legend pele.,entertainment
88,786,fresh hope after argentine crisis three years after argentina was hit by a deadly economic crisis there is fresh hope. the country s economy is set to grow about 8% this year after seeing 9% growth last year a sharp turnaround from 2002 when output fell 11%. the unemployment rate is improving too: it is set to slip below 13% by the end of the year down from 20% in may 2002. true problems remain but the overall picture is one of vast improvement. even the international monetary fund (imf) admits this. the argentine authorities are proud should be proud of the strong performance of the economy thomas dawson an imf director said earlier this month. argentina has made a remarkable recovery from a hideous and lengthy recession which in 2001 culminated in the government halting debt repayments to its private creditors. the debt default sparked a deep and prolonged economic crisis which at least initially was made worse by the government s decisions. pension payments were halted and bank accounts frozen as part of austerity measures introduced by the government to deal with the country s massive debts. in response angry crowds of ordinary argentines took to the streets where dozens of lives were lost in clashes with the police. two presidents and at least three finance minister resigned in less than a month. argentina was on the brink of collapse. the fix was found in the currency markets with the abandonment of the peso s decade-long peg to the us dollar in february 2002. the subsequent devaluation saw thousands of people s life savings disappear. scathes of companies went bust. three years ago every sector [of the economy] was hit by the crisis said entrepreneur drayton valentine. it really was dire. but since then the general mood on the ground has improved dramatically in part because the devaluation helped attract fresh direct investment from abroad and stimulate business within brazil. agriculture and tourism are helping said entrepreneur drayton valentine. mr valentine who was born in the united states but grew up in argentina was fortunate: at the time of the crisis his savings were held in dollar accounts abroad. but now he is using his money to help with the start-up a trading company. he explained that initially his firm is going to export building materials to spain and united states. then he would like to diversify to other areas depending on the market. locally there is a sense of recovery many companies are exporting now he said noting that a lot of firms which were closed during the crisis are re-opening. but not all that shines is gold. argentina is still burdened by its failure to pay private creditors at the end of 2001. president nestor kirchner s administration is still trying to hammer out an agreement with the creditors but with the debts nominal value standing at around $100bn it is not proving easy. debt defaults make further lending agreements both difficult and expensive to negotiate. argentina s current offer implies that the creditors would get just 25 cents for each dollar they are owed according to the creditors. understandably they want more and until they do both they and others are loath to continue lending. for president kirchner this proves a hopeless challenge. real losses have been suffered and somebody has to pay observed jack boorman adviser to imf s managing director rodrigo rato. everyone needs to keep in mind the enormous cost on the part of both creditors and the argentine society and people that will have been endured by the time a settlement is reached he said. the cost is enormous and continues to be paid and will not be reversed by any restructuring. with the international negotiations being troubled it is of little help to president kirchner that the domestic situation remains strained as well. this is partly because there are still bank account holders who are waiting to recover some of their deposits. the situation is bad for those who had previously chosen to save in argentina said carlos baez silva pre
89,1775,warning over tsunami aid website net users are being told to avoid a scam website that claims to collect cash on behalf of tsunami victims. the site looks plausible because it uses an old version of the official disasters emergency committee webpage. however dec has no connection with the fake site and says it has contacted the police about it. the site is just the latest in a long list of scams that try to cash in on the goodwill generated by the tsunami disaster. the link to the website is contained in a spam e-mail that is currently circulating. the message s subject line reads urgent tsunami earthquake appeal and its text bears all the poor grammar and bad spelling that characterises many other phishing attempts. the web address of the fake site is decuk.org which could be close enough to the official www.dec.org.uk address to confuse some people keen to donate. patricia sanders spokeswoman for the disaster emergency committee said it was aware of the site and had contacted the computer crime unit at scotland yard to help get it shut down. she said the spam e-mails directing people to the site started circulating two days ago shortly after the domain name of the site was registered. it is thought that the fake site is being run from romania. ms sanders said dec had contacted us net registrars who handle domain ownership and the net hosting firm that is keeping the site on the web. dec was going to push for all cash donated via the site to be handed over to the official organisation. bt and dec s hosting company were also making efforts to get the site shut down she said. ms sanders said sending out spam e-mail to solicit donations was not dec s style and that it would never canvass support in this way. she said that dec hoped to get the fake site shut down as soon as possible. all attempts by the bbc news website to contact the people behind the site have failed. none of the e-mail addresses supplied on the site work and the real owner of the domain is obscured in publicly available net records. this is not the first attempt to cash in on the outpouring of goodwill that has accompanied appeals for tsunami aid. one e-mail sent out in early january came from someone who claimed that he had lost his parents in the disaster and was asking for help moving an inheritance from a bank account in the netherlands. the con was very similar to the familiar nigerian forward fee fraud e-mails that milk money out of people by promising them a cut of a much larger cash pile. other scam e-mails included a link to a website that supposedly let people donate money but instead loaded spyware on their computers that grabbed confidential information. in a monthly report anti-virus firm sophos said that two e-mail messages about the tsunami made it to the top 10 hoax list during january. another tsunami-related e-mail is also circulating that carries the zar worm which tries to spread via the familiar route of microsoft s outlook e-mail program. anyone opening the attachment of the mail will have their contact list plundered by the worm keen to find new addresses to send itself to.,tech
90,558,us bank boss hails genius smith us federal reserve chairman alan greenspan has given a speech at a scottish church in honour of the pioneering economist adam smith. he delivered the 14th adam smith lecture in kirkcaldy fife. the adam smith lecture celebrates the author of 1776 s wealth of nations which became a bible of capitalism. dr greenspan was invited by chancellor gordon brown whose minister father john used to preach at the st bryce kirk church. mr brown introduced dr greenspan to the 400 invited guests as the the world s greatest economist . dr greenspan 79 who has been in the uk to attend the g7 meeting in london said the world could never repay the debt of gratitude it owed to smith whose genius he compared to that of mozart. he said the philosopher was a towering contributor to the modern world . kirkcaldy the birthplace in 1723 of adam smith and by extension of modern economics is also of course where your chancellor was reared. i am led to ponder to what extent the chancellor s renowned economic and financial skills are the result of exposure to the subliminal intellect-enhancing emanation in this area. he continued: smith reached far beyond the insights of his predecessors to frame a global view of how market economics just then emerging worked. in so doing he supported changes in societal organisation that were to measurably enhance standards of living. dr greenspan said smith s revolutionary philosophy on human self-interest laissez-faire economics and competition had been a force for good in the world. the incredible insights of a handful of intellectuals of the enlightenment - especially with smith toiling in the environs of kirkcaldy - created the modern vision of people free to choose and to act according to their individual self-interest he said. following his lecture dr greenspan - who received an honorary knighthood from the queen at balmoral in 2002 - was awarded an honorary fellowship of the royal society of edinburgh. he later opened an exhibition dedicated to smith in the atrium of fife college of further and higher education. joyce johnston principal of the college said: it is very fitting that the world s premier economist delivered this lecture in tribute to the world s first economist. dr greenspan - who became chairman of the federal reserve for an unprecedented fifth term in june 2004 - will step down in january next year. he has served under presidents george w bush bill clinton george bush and ronald reagan. he was also chairman of the council of economic advisors to gerald ford.,business
91,592,david blunkett in quotes david blunkett - who has resigned as home secretary - built his reputation as a plain-speaking yorkshire man. i fell in love with someone and they wouldn t go public and things started to go very badly wrong in the summer and then the news of the world picked up the story. i tried for three years to make something work. trust plain-speaking and straight talking is something which matters so much to me as a politician and as a man that i have decided of my own volition to request an independent review of the allegations that i misused my position. i don t think anyone can say i have said one thing in public and done another in private. it would be dangerous territory if i wasn t practising what i preach which is to always accept responsibility always accept the consequences of your actions. none of us believe countering terrorism is about party politics. i accepted by necessity we have to have prevention under a new category which is to intervene before the act is committed rather than do so by due process after the act is committed when it s too late he said in reference to new anti-terrorism measures. our work with the french government...has been hugely successful said mr blunkett. the number of illegal immigrants detected in dover has dropped dramatically. strengthening our identity is one way or reinforcing people s confidence and sense of citizenship and well-being. i foolishly thought as this was a celebrity edition it would be more relaxed than normal. you wake up and you receive a phone call - shipman s topped himself. you have just got to think for a minute: is it too early to open a bottle,politics
92,2172,palace threat over cantona masks manchester united fans wearing eric cantona masks will not be allowed in selhurst park on saturday. united fans are planning to mark the 10th anniversary of cantona s infamous kung-fu kick on crystal palace fan matthew simmons by wearing the masks. but palace stadium manager kevin corner has warned: if they wear them inside selhurst park they will be immediately rejected on safety grounds. and no fans wearing cantona masks will be allowed entry to the stadium. united fans had declared saturday as cantona day and had planned to wear masks that were popular during the frenchman s time as a player at the old trafford club. cantona received a nine-month ban following the incident and palace are keen to avoid an incident that would stir up ill feeling between the two sets of supporters. four months after the cantona incident a palace fan paul nixon was killed prior to an fa cup semi-final at villa park.,sport
93,1735,disney backs sony dvd technology a next generation dvd technology backed by sony has received a major boost. film giant disney says it will produce its future dvds using sony s blu-ray disc technology but has not ruled out a rival format developed by toshiba. the two competing dvd formats blu-ray developed by sony and others and toshiba s hd-dvd have been courting top film studios for several months. the next generation of dvds promise very high quality pictures and sound as well as a lot of data. both technologies use a blue laser to write information. it has a shorter wavelength so more data can be stored. disney is the latest studio to announce which technology it is backing in a format battle which mirrors the 1980s betamax versus vhs war. sony lost out to jvc in that fight. the current battle for hollywood s hearts and minds is a crucial one because high-definition films will bring in billions of revenue and the studios would prefer to use one standard. last month paramount universal and warner brothers said they were opting for the toshiba and nec-backed format hd-dvd high-definition discs. those studios currently produce about 45% of dvd content. sony pictures entertainment and mgm studios have already staked their allegiance with the blu-ray disc association whose members also include technology companies dell samsung and matsushita. twentieth century fox is still to announce which technology it will be supporting. if fox decided to go with blu-ray too it would mean the format would have a 47% share of dvd content. disney said its films would be available on the blu-ray format when dvd players for the standard went on sale on north america and japan expected in 2006. universal is to start producing films on the hd-dvd format in 2005 and paramount will start releasing titles using the standard in 2006. toshiba expects sales of hd-dvds to reach 300bn yen ($2.9bn £1.5bn) by 2010.,tech
94,1188,newcastle to join morientes race newcastle have joined the race to sign real madrid striker fernando morientes and scupper liverpool s bid to snap up the player according to reports. liverpool were reported to have bid £3.5m for the 28-year-old spanish international this week. but the liverpool echo newspaper has said anfield boss rafa benitez will avoid a bidding war and instead turn his attentions to nicolas anelka. real are believed to still want £7m before selling morientes. monaco are also in the race for the player they had on loan last season. reports suggest liverpool will lift their offer to £5m - the highest they are willing to go before bowing out of any deal. on tuesday morientes had said: i like liverpool and i am pleased that a club of their stature want to buy me. i have told madrid that i want it to happen. madrid know my situation and they know they must do something about me. they must sort out the situation by being sensible. i am in a position where i want to play and i will have to look elsewhere to do that. if madrid do not want me then it s in the best interests of everyone that they are realistic. i haven t spoken to rafa benitez but i have always appreciated his work and i would like to play for him. but benitez could yet turn his attentions to the younger anelka should morientes be reluctant to pledge his future to liverpool. anelka previously played at anfield under gerard houllier before sealing his permanent switch to manchester city.,sport
95,511,davenport hits out at wimbledon world number one lindsay davenport has criticised wimbledon over the issue of equal prize money for women. reacting to a disputed comment by all england club chairman tim phillips the american said: i think it is highly insulting if prize money is taken away. somebody i think it was mr phillips said they won t have money for flowers at wimbledon. that s insulting. an all england club spokesperson denied phillips made the remark insisting: he definitely didn t say it. the statement added: it was said by someone else and was a humorous aside at the end of a radio interview when the conversation had moved to talking about the wimbledon grounds. davenport was speaking following the announcement that this week s dubai duty free event will join the us and australian opens in offering equal prize money for women. you hear about women playing only three sets while men play five said daveport. and the best women are never going to beat the best men. but it s a different game you go to watch with the women - it doesn t make it better or worse. hopefully we will be able to change people s minds. serena williams who is also in dubai added: i m obviously for equal prize money. women s tennis is exciting. men s tennis is exciting as well but the women have it right now. if you are bringing in the spectators you should be able to reap what everyone else is able to reap.,sport
96,157,lomu relishing return to action former all black star jonah lomu says he cannot wait to run out on the pitch for former england rugby union captain martin johnson s testimonial on 4 june. the 29-year-old had a kidney transplant in july 2004 but will play his first full match for three years leading a southern hemisphere side at twickenham. i actually started training three weeks after my operation but i was very limited until a few months ago. now it s basically bring it on! said the giant winger. the match on 4 june will be my first 15-man game but i have a training schedule which is quite testing and combines with sevens and a whole lot of things said lomu. i have got so much energy since my operation that i train three times a day six days a week. mohammed ali has always been my ideal. coming back to rugby people said you are dreaming but it always starts off with a dream. it s up to you whether you want to make it a reality. opinion has been divided on whether lomu should attempt to return to the game after such a major operation. but when lomu was asked whether he was taking a risk he replied: as much as someone going down the road being hit by a bus. there are a lot of people in the world with one kidney who just don t know it. i have talked this over had a chat with the donor and this is to set my soul at peace and finish something i started in 1994 [when he made his all blacks debut]. at his lowest ebb lomu was so ill he could barely walk but he says he is now getting stronger every day and his long-term target is to play for new zealand again. the only person who saw me at my worst was my wife he added. i used to take two steps and fall over but now i can run and it is all coming back and a lot more quickly than i ever thought it would. to play for the all blacks would be the highest honour i could get. that is the long-term goal and you have to start somewhere.,sport
97,646,mcclaren targets champions league middlesbrough boss steve mcclaren believes his side can clinch a top-four spot in the premiership and secure qualification for the champions league. after their 3-2 win over manchester city mcclaren said: we are playing exciting football it s a magnificent result to keep us in the top five. but how well we do depends how often we can get our best team out. once we got the third goal it should have been four or five but we nearly paid for it in the end. mcclaren also praised winger stewart downing and strikers jimmy floyd hasselbaink and mark viduka who both ended barren runs in front of goal. he added: if stewart keeps playing like this sven-goran eriksson has got to pick him. and the strikers scored great goals the combination play between them shows they want to play with each other and they are trying.,sport
98,8,henman hopes ended in dubai third seed tim henman slumped to a straight sets defeat in his rain-interrupted dubai open quarter-final against ivan ljubicic. the croatian eighth seed booked his place in the last four with a 7-5 6-4 victory over the british number one. henman had looked on course to level the match after going 2-0 up in the second set but his progress was halted as the rain intervened again. ljubicic hit back after the break to seal a fourth straight win over henman. earlier in the day spanish fifth seed tommy robredo secured his semi-final place when he beat nicolas kiefer of germany 6-4 6-4. afterwards henman was left cursing the weather and the umpire after seven breaks for rain during the match. it was incredibly frustrating henman said. it s raining and the umpire doesn t take control. he kept telling us to play till the end of the game. but if it s raining you come off - the score s irrelevant. it couldn t be more frustrating as i was very happy with my form until now. you don t expect this in the desert.,sport
99,821,hantuchova in dubai last eight daniela hantuchova moved into the quarter-finals of the dubai open after beating elene likhotseva of russia 7-5 6-4 and now faces serena williams. australian open champion williams survived an early scare to beat russia s elena bovina 1-6 6-1 6-4. world number one lindsay davenport and anastasia myskina also progressed. davenport defeated china s jie zheng 6-2 7-5 while french open champion myskina sailed through after her opponent marion bartoli retired hurt. american davenport will now face fellow former wimbledon champion conchita martinez of spain who ousted seventh-seeded nathalie dechy of france 6-1 6-2. myskina will face eighth-seed patty schnyder from switzerland who defeated china s li na 6-3 7-6 (10-8). the other quarter final pits wild card sania mirza of india against jelena jankovic of serbia and montenegro who both won on tuesday. before her meeting with martinez davenport believes there is some room for improvement in her game. i started well and finished well but played some so-so games in the middle she said. williams was also far from content. i don t know what i was doing there she said. it was really windy and i hadn t played in the wind. all my shots were going out of here. but hantuchova is in upbeat mood ahead of her clash with the younger williams sister who was handed a first-round bye. i feel i have an advantage (over serena) because i have already played two matches on these courts she said. it is a difficult court to play on. very fast and sometimes you feel you have no control over the ball.,sport
100,1001,parties warned over grey vote political parties cannot afford to take older uk voters for granted in the coming election says age concern. a survey for the charity suggests 69% of over-55s say they always vote in a general election compared with just 17% of 18 to 24 year olds. charity boss gordon lishman said if a decisive blow was struck at the election it would be by older voters who could be relied on to turn out. a total of 3 028 adults aged 18 or over were interviewed for the study. mr lishman urged the next government to boost state pension. he also called for measures to combat ageism and build effective public services to support us all in an ageing society . older people want to see manifesto commitments that will make a difference to their lives mr lishman said. political parties must wake up to the fact that unless they address the demands and concerns of older people they will not keep or attract their vote. in the survey carried out by icm research 14% of people aged between 18 and 34 said they never voted in general elections. among the over-65s 70% said they would be certain to vote in an immediate election compared with 39% of people under 55. age concern says the over-55s are united around key areas of policy they want the government to focus on. for 57% pensions and the nhs were key issues while the economy was important for a third and tax was a crucial area for 25%.,politics
101,309,ruddock backs yapp s credentials wales coach mike ruddock says john yapp has what it takes as an international. the 21-year-old blues prop is the only uncapped player in wales six nations squad gaining a chance in the absence of ospreys loose-head duncan jones. john is a young man with a big future. he has been playing with the blues for two years and has racked up mileage on his playing clock said ruddock. he has international size is a big physical lad and a good ball-carrier with a high tackle-count. ruddock s assessment was backed up by yapp s coach at the blues former wales and lions prop dai young. john s been on an upward curve all season and is going from strength to strength young told bbc sport wales. his ball carrying gives us good go-forward he impresses in defence and his work-rate is excellent. he s working hard on his scrummaging technique which he is keen to improve to become a destroyer on the loose-head. to be fair to him he s not quite there with the scrummaging yet but nobody can fault his effort commitment and attitude. john s a very strong man and is eager for the challenge if he s pitched in he won t let anyone down. he s developing quickly but i hope he isn t pushed too quickly in a way that would hurt his development. ruddock hopes that the selection of yapp and dragons lock ian gough - out of the international reckoning since falling out with former coach steve hansen - will send a message to other players in wales. john and ian have been rewarded for impressing during the heineken cup competition said ruddock. both of them have played well and we want to send a message out that consistently playing well gets you in the squad. we believe this is an exciting squad representing traditional values of welsh rugby and based on the performances in the november internationals. we have strength and experience up front and well-recognised talent pace and skill behind. the management team just want to get hold of the players and get out on the training pitch at the moment. they are all due in on sunday and that s when the hard work starts.,sport
102,1732,crossrail link to get go-ahead the £10bn crossrail transport plan backed by business groups is to get the go-ahead this month according to the mail on sunday. it says the uk treasury has allocated £7.5bn ($13.99bn) for the project and that talks with business groups on raising the rest will begin shortly. the much delayed crossrail link bill would provide for a fast cross-london rail link. the paper says it will go before the house of commons on 23 february. a second reading could follow on 16 or 17 march. we ve always said we are going to introduce a hybrid bill for crossrail in the spring and this remains the case the department for transport said on sunday. jeremy de souza a spokesman for crossrail said on sunday he could not confirm whether the treasury was planning to invest £7.5bn or when the bill would go before parliament. however he said some impetus may have been provided by the proximity of an election. the new line would go out as far as maidenhead berkshire to the west of london and link heathrow to canary wharf via the city. heathrow to the city would take 40 minutes dramatically cutting journey times for business travellers and reducing overcrowding on the tube. the line has the support of the mayor of london ken livingstone business groups and the government but there have been three years of arguments over how it should be funded. the mail on sunday s financial mail said the £7.5bn of treasury money was earmarked for spending in £2.5bn instalments in 2010 2011 and 2012.,business
103,1291,hanks greeted at wintry premiere hollywood star tom hanks was in london s leicester square for the uk premiere of polar express. the west end landmark was turned into a festive landscape complete with snow and carol singers to celebrate the arrival of the animated film. this is leicester square like you ve never seen it before said hanks who plays five roles in the movie. polar express is based on a children s book which tells the story of a young boy s journey to meet santa claus. the 48-year-old actor crossed a three-metre high bridge built in the square which he said was almost impossible to get across . hundreds of fans greeted the star all wearing santa hats and mince pies were on offer. hanks said that the new film has an elegant message . christmas is a special time of the year and you get out of it what you put into it added the two-time academy award winner. i believe in the spirit of christmas and i think that s embodied in santa claus he said. polar express uses technology similar to that used in lord of the rings to bring gollum to life. the performance capture technique enables hanks to play a number of roles including the eight-year-old boy who is at the centre of the story and father christmas. it is directed by robert zemeckis who has previously worked with hanks on forrest gump and castaway.,entertainment
104,2136,boeing secures giant japan order boeing is to supply japan airlines with up to 50 of its forthcoming 7e7 planes in a deal that could be worth as much as $6bn (£3.1bn) for the us giant. japan airlines has made a firm order for 30 of the aircraft at $120m each with the option to buy 20 more. asia s biggest airline joins japanese rival all nippon as one of the first carriers to order the mid-size 7e7 which boeing says is super-economical. airbus this week announced the first pre-sale of its 7e7 rival - the a350. boeing s great european competitor is to sell 10 of its forthcoming a350 to spanish carrier air europe which has the option to buy two more in a deal that could be worth more than $1.8bn. both the 7e7 and the a350 are being designed to be as fuel-efficient as possible in the 200- to 300-seat sector and each will be available in both short and long range versions. japan airlines said it had looked at both aircraft before choosing the 7e7 also known as the dreamliner. we chose the 7e7 after carefully considering both it and airbus aircraft said a japan airlines spokesman. the 7e7 fits better for what we needed and it could be delivered when we hoped to get it. boeing continues to enjoy a dominance over airbus in japan and japanese companies are taking key roles in building the 7e7. the first 7e7s will be delivered to japan airlines in april 2008. boeing has set itself a target of getting 200 firm commitments for the 7e7 by the end of this year and has orders for 56 so far. airbus hopes to have 50 orders in place for the a350 by mid-2005.,business
105,999,dawson wins england squad recall wasps scrum-half matt dawson has been recalled to england s training squad ahead of the rbs six nations and been reinstated in the elite player squad. coach andy robinson dropped dawson for the autumn tests after he missed training to film a question of sport. i always said i would consider bringing matt back if i felt he was playing well robinson said. he merits his return on current form. newcastle s 18-year-old centre mathew tait is also in the training squad. it s obviously an honour to be asked to train with england said tait who has burst into contention recently. i look forward to going down and doing the sessions but the most important thing at the moment is sunday s game against newport so i m not looking any further than that. robinson has invited 42 players to attend a three-day session in leeds next week in which his squad will train in part with the leeds rhinos rugby league squad. with mike tindall ruled out of the opening two matches and will greenwood sidelined for the entire six nations tait is one of six or seven contenders for the two centre berths. stuart abbott jamie noon ollie smith olly barkley and henry paul - who retains his place despite his early substitution against australia - are also in the mix. ben cohen could also be considered after switching from the wing for his club northampton recently. prop phil vickery and lock simon shaw both return to the squad after missing the autumn tests through injury while wasps wing tom voyce is recalled. the group also includes bath flanker andy beattie and leicester hooker george chuter. beattie has matured greatly as a player these past two seasons robinson said. jonny wilkinson tindall and martin corry have all been included despite their unavailability for the opening two matches against wales and france. the revised 56-man elite squad includes wasps hooker phil greening who replaces the retired mark regan and sale wing mark cueto. cueto was selected for the november internationals despite not being part of the group but scored four tries in three england appearances. leicester scrum-half harry ellis has also been promoted from the senior national academy and will contest the number nine jersey with dawson and gloucester s andy gomarsall. the players in robinson s elite squad can only play 32 matches for club and country. they can be called up for a total of 16 training days in addition to the recognised international weeks for each of the years leading up to the next world cup. balshaw cohen cueto lewsey robinson simpson-daniel voyce abbott noon paul smith tait tindall barkley hodgson king wilkinson dawson ellis gomarsall. chuter thompson titterrell rowntree sheridan stevens vickery white borthwick brown l deacon grewcock kay shaw beattie corry forrester hazell jones moody vyvyan j worsley. abbott balshaw borthwick a brown chuter cohen corry cueto dawson ellis flatman gomarsall greening greenwood grewcock hazell hill hodgson kay king lewsey moody noon paul robinson rowntree shaw simpson-daniel thompson tindall titterrell vickery vyvyan white wilkinson j worsley m worsley. barkley beattie christophers l deacon forrester c jones palmer rees sheridan skinner smith stevens tait voyce. dowson haughton monye roques p sanderson.,sport
106,1258,blair to face mps amid feud talk tony blair faces his first prime minister s questions of 2005 after a week of renewed speculation about his relationship with gordon brown. meanwhile the chancellor is leaving britain on a high-profile tour of africa to highlight poverty issues. but before doing so he insisted he still trusted mr blair despite claims to the contrary in a new book. labour mps have warned against disunity and tory leader michael howard may well take up the theme in the commons. the tories have already accused the prime minister and his chancellor of behaving like schoolboys squabbling in a playground . michael howard is likely to want to capitalise further on the spat when he goes head-to-head with the prime minister in the commons. at a campaign poster launch on tuesday mr brown was joined by alan milburn who mr blair controversially put in charge of election planning in place of the chancellor. later this week the prime minister is due to set out the themes of his party s next election manifesto which for the past two polls have been drawn up by the chancellor. mr brown meanwhile is visiting tanzania mozambique and kenya to highlight the plight of many africans hit by aids war and famine - issues which mr blair has also spoken out on. the prime minister and chancellor faced backbench discontent at monday s meeting of the parliamentary labour party over claims made in journalist robert peston s new book. mr blair told mps and peers: i know from everyone here in cabinet and government nothing is going to get in the way of a unified labour party with a unified position and winning the third term people desperately need. labour s paul flynn said the pair had had a scorching from mps. on tuesday deputy prime minister mr prescott told bbc news: they told us very clearly it was the troops telling the leaders: get in line. the new book claims mr prescott hosted a dinner in november 2003 where the prime minister told mr brown he would stand down before the next election because he had lost trust over the iraq war. mr blair then changed his mind in june 2004 after cabinet allies intervened and amid suspicion the chancellor was manoeuvring against him writes mr peston. in mr peston s book mr brown is alleged to have told the prime minister: there is nothing you could ever say to me now that i could ever believe.,politics
107,721,hansen delays return until 2006 british triple jumper ashia hansen has ruled out a comeback this year after a setback in her recovery from a bad knee injury according to reports. hansen the commonwealth and european champion has been sidelined since the european cup in poland in june 2004. it was hoped she would be able to return this summer but the wound from the injury has been very slow to heal. her coach aston moore told the times: we re not looking at any sooner than 2006 not as a triple jumper. moore said hansen may be able to return to sprinting and long jumping sooner but there is no short-term prospect of her being involved again in her specialist event. there was a problem with the wound healing and it set back her rehabilitation by about two months but that has been solved and we can push ahead now he said. the aim is for her to get fit as an athlete - then we will start looking at sprinting and the long jump as an introduction back to the competitive arena. moore said he is confident hansen can make it back to top-level competition though it is unclear if that will be in time for the commonwealth games in melbourne next march when she will be 34. it s been a frustrating time for her but it has not fazed her determination he added.,sport
108,1922,talks held on gibraltar s future two days of talks on the future of gibraltar begin at jack straw s country residence later on wednesday. officials at the two-day summit at the foreign secretary s official kent house chevening will plan a new forum on the rock s future. in october mr straw and his spanish counterpart miguel moratinos agreed to establish a body that would give gibraltarians a voice in their future. most gibraltarians said in a referendum they wanted to remain british. gibraltar s chief minister peter caruana will represent the british citizens living on the rock while britain s europe director dominick chilcott will represent the uk. madrid is being represented by spain s director general for europe jose maria pons. the initiative follows spain s socialist government s decision to put its long-standing sovereignty ambitions on hold. gibraltarians rejected plans for the rock s sovereignty to be shared between britain and spain in a referendum organised by gibraltar government.,politics
109,954,hollywood hunts hits at sundance the sundance film festival the movie industry s top destination for uncovering the next independent hits and new talent opens on thursday. the event will see screen executives decamp from hollywood to park city utah for 11 days to search for low-key movies that could make it big in 2005. open water napoleon dynamite garden state and super-size me were all snapped up at last year s festival. but stars like keanu reeves and pierce brosnan also have films showing there. the festival is being opened by a screening of quirky comedy happy endings starring former friends actress lisa kudrow and maggie gyllenhaal on thursday. kudrow s friends co-star david schwimmer plays a divorced drunkard in duane hopwood while brosnan stars as a hit man in comedy the matador. keanu reeves appears in coming-of-age tale thumbsucker while kevin costner and michael keaton are among the other big names whose films are involved. robert redford founded sundance in 1981 and it has gone on to showcase future successes such as reservoir dogs the blair witch project and the full monty. but it has received criticism that it has become more commercial and mainstream over the years. as much as the press argues that sundance has completely changed it hasn t changed that much festival director geoffrey gilmore said. it s still a place for discovery. it s a place for common ground among film-makers and audiences more than it is the celebrity stuff. other films generating interest before this year s festival include hustle & flow about an aspiring rapper the squid and the whale an autobiographical film by writer-director noah baumbach and comedy/drama pretty persuasion. it also has two new international cinema competitions.,entertainment
110,847,slovakia seal hopman cup success slovakia clinched the hopman cup for the second time by beating argentina 3-0 in saturday s final in perth. daniela hantuchova put the third seeds ahead recovering from a terrible start to beat gisela dulko 1-6 6-4 6-4. dominik hrbaty who had not lost a set in his three singles matches in the group stages then upset world number seven guillermo coria 6-4 6-1. hantuchova and hrbaty then won the mixed doubles after coria was forced to withdraw because of a sore back. slovakia s win made up for last year s final defeat to the united states. i would like to congratulate daniela hrbaty said. i was so nervous watching her today i almost had a heart attack. i also feel a little sorry for guillermo because i get very excited whenever i play for my country. i show lots of emotions and played such good tennis. world number 31 hantuchova ranked two places above dulko looked nervous as she dropped the first four games of the match. dulko who had lost all three of her singles matches in the group stages grew in confidence and took the opening set in just 27 minutes. but hantuchova hit back to take the next two and the match. i was so nervous because i really wanted to win for the team and for dominik as he played so well all week she said. i didn t think i was playing my best but i just tried to hang in there and fight hard for every point for my country. slovakia won the cup on their first appearance in 1998 when karol kucera and karina habsudova beat france.,sport
111,846,brazil jobless rate hits new low brazil s unemployment rate fell to its lowest level in three years in december according to the government. the brazilian institute for geography and statistics (ibge) said it fell to 9.6% in december from 10.6% in november and 10.9% in december 2003. ibge also said that average monthly salaries grew 1.9% in december 2004 from december 2003. however average monthly wages fell 1.8% in december to 895.4 reais ($332; £179.3) from november. tuesday s figures represent the first time that the unemployment rate has fallen to a single digit since new measurement rules were introduced in 2001. the unemployment rate has been falling gradually since april 2004 when it reached a peak of 13.1%. the jobless rate average for the whole of 2004 was 11.5% down from 12.3% in 2003 the ibge said. this improvement can be attributed to the country s strong economic growth with the economy registering growth of 5.2% in 2004 the government said. the economy is expected to grow by about 4% this year. president luiz inacio lula da silva promised to reduce unemployment when he was elected two years ago. nevertheless some analysts say that unemployment could increase in the next months. the data is favourable but a lot of jobs are temporary for the (christmas) holiday season so we may see slightly higher joblessness in january and february julio hegedus chief economist with lopes filho & associates consultancy in rio de janeir told reuters news agency. despite his leftist background president lula has pursued a surprisingly conservative economic policy arguing that in order to meet its social promises the government needs to first reach a sustained economic growth. the unemployment rate is measured in the six main metropolitan areas of brazil (sao paolo rio de janeiro belo horizonte recife salvador and porto alegre) where most of the population is concentrated.,business
112,313,incredibles win animation awards the incredibles movie has beaten shrek 2 to the main prizes at hollywood s animation awards the annies. the superhero film was named best animated feature while brad bird won best director writer and voice actor for his role as designer edna mode. the incredibles won a total of 10 awards - but shrek 2 which had seven nominations went home empty-handed. the two movies will compete with shark tale in the best animated film category of the oscars at the end of february. the incredibles awards came despite shrek 2 s greater box office success. shrek 2 took $881m (£468m) around the world compared with $576m (£306m) for the incredibles. spongebob squarepants was named best animated tv show while tv comedy king of the hill picked up two prizes including one for actress brittany murphy s voice work. tom kenny who provides the voice for spongebob squarepants hosted sunday s ceremony at the alex theater los angeles. the awards are handed out by the international animated film society. finding nemo won nine annies last year.,entertainment
113,1997,brentford v southampton griffin park tuesday 1 march 1945 gmt barry knight (kent) home to manchester united in the quarter-finals midfielder andrew frampton and striker deon burton are both slight doubts with hamstring injuries but should be fit saints are missing their entire first-choice midfield of jamie redknapp graeme le saux nigel quashie and david prutton. anders svensson and matt oakley are likely replacements with kevin phillips also scheduled to start with henri camara rested. - brentford boss martin allen: after conceding eight goals in our last three matches i have to admit i m not very confident. there s no doubt we re the underdogs and after defending so poorly recently it s not looking good. southampton have just drawn with the premiership champions and that makes our task harder than it was already. - southampton boss harry redknapp: we know they can give us problems. brentford have done well but we are the premiership side and should have the better players. staying in the premiership is our priority. we want to win of course we do. we ll battle but if it comes to a football match i think we ll win. key match stats - brentford are the lowest ranked club left in the fa cup. they re on their best run in the competition since reaching the quarter-finals for the fourth time in their history 16 years ago. now they have the carrot of the plum draw in the last eight dangling before them. victory over premiership strugglers southampton would bring the mighty manchester united to griffin park and a gigantic pay day for the sole league one survivors. - martin allen s brave side came back from two goals down at st mary s to earn a deserved replay. southampton striker henri camara scored twice from close range to put the saints in command but isaiah rankin hit back just before half time and sam sodje headed past a creaky defence on 58 minutes. - the londoners have conceded six goals in their two subsequent league outings - three each in losing away to hartlepool and drawing at home to sheffield wednesday. but they haven t lost in six league and cup games on home turf - winning three and drawing three since the reverse to torquay on boxing day. - southampton go into this tie on the back of an eventful premiership match with arsenal on saturday. an angry david prutton pushed referee alan wiley after being shown the red card but his side still came back to draw 1-1. it was saints fourth stalemate in succession in all competitions but didn t lift them out of the relegation zone. the retention of their ever present premier league status must be the number one priority irrespective of the rewards that success against brentford would bring. - victory here would set up a repeat of the 1976 final when saints astounded the football world by defeating tommy docherty s manchester united courtesy of bobby stokes famous winner. they also knocked out the red devils in 1991 on penalties in the fourth round. but to write another chapter in their fa cup history the solent side must avoid succumbing to lower division opposition for the first time since rotherham from the second level beat them 2-1 in a third round tie at millmoor on 16 january 2002. southampton were last humbled by a club from the third tier six years ago. fulham were then in the second division when they won a third round replay at craven cottage 1-0 on 13 january 1999. - to get to within two matches of a second visit to the millennium stadium in three years for the final harry redknapp must guide his side past a club 36 places inferior on the league ladder and a manager 19 years his junior who played under him at west ham. head to head 10th league one quarter-finals (four times) 18th prem winners (once),sport
114,322,blair says mayor should apologise tony blair has urged london mayor ken livingstone to apologise for his nazi comment to a jewish reporter. labour s mr livingstone who says he is standing by his remarks had accused an evening standard journalist of being like a concentration camp guard . mr blair told five s wright stuff show: let s just apologise and move on. mr livingstone has said the remarks may have been offensive but were not racist and said he would not apologise even if the prime minister asked. mr blair who was instrumental in returning mr livingstone to the labour party insisted on wednesday it was time for the london mayor to say sorry. a lot of us in politics get angry with journalists from time to time but in the circumstances and to the journalist because he was a jewish journalist yes he should apologise he said. let s just apologise and move on - that s the sensible thing. tory leader michael howard asked about mr livingstone s remark by reporters said it was important for politicians to be mindful about the language they use. it s particularly important that as we get close to the election that politicians talk with civility and courtesy about issues that we all face he said. i think it s a matter of sadness that we are not seeing that from the labour party. we had what ken livingstone said we had what alastair campbell has said and we have what others have said. i think that s a matter of great regret. the row blew up after mr livingstone was approached by evening standard reporter oliver finegold following a party marking the 20th anniversary of former culture secretary chris smith coming out as britain s first gay mp. on tape mr livingstone who once worked as a freelance restaurant critic on the paper is heard asking mr finegold if he is a german war criminal . mr finegold replies: no i m jewish i wasn t a german war criminal. i m quite offended by that. the mayor then says: ah right well you might be but actually you are like a concentration camp guard you are just doing it because you are paid to aren t you at his weekly press conference on tuesday mr livingstone said his comments were not racist and refused to apologise. if you think they are racist i think you are wrong he told reporters. the dispute comes as an inspection team from the international olympic committee began a four-day tour to assess london s bid for the 2012 games. an official complaint has been made to local government watchdogs by the british jews demanding an investigation by the standards board of england. it has the power to suspend or bar mr livingstone from public office.,politics
115,1221,mccall earns tannadice reprieve dundee united manager ian mccall has won a reprieve from the sack with chairman eddie thompson calling for an end to speculation over his future. it is understood that mccall would have been sacked if sheffield wednesday manager paul sturrock had been willing to return to tannadice. but sturrock has distanced himself from the position. we re in a difficult situation. we must get out of it through the efforts of current personnel said thompson. ian mccall and i have had a long and detailed talk about a number of areas including the current league position and the manner of the exit from the league cup he added. however the continuing speculation is doing no one any good especially as we have several crucial games coming up. the minds of the coaching staff and the players have to be on those games and those games only. our season would of course improve considerably if in the next few weeks we achieved some improved league results and there is also the potential of another cup semi-final subject to the draw. all that matters at the present time - is us all having a total focus on the games ahead and a positive series of results being achieved. dundee united players had expressed their solidarity with mccall after their side s 3-0 scottish cup win over queen of the south. we want the boss to stay we don t want someone else coming in said jim mcintyre. hopefully now he gets the chance to stay. keeper tony bullock echoed mcintyre s sentiments. i think all the boys are behind ian mccall he added. at the moment it is all speculation and we have got to rise above all that and do a job on the pitch. on saturday sturrock insisted that he had unfinished business with wednesday who are fourth in league one. i ve only been here five months and i don t expect to be leaving very very soon he said. i can appreciate the rumours because i ve emphasised my thoughts and ambitions to go back to dundee united. i can assure you the timescale is not the right one. it (dundee united) is my team. i had five years there as a coach six as a player two years as a manager - once you ve done that kind of thing it s the result you look for. the important thing now is i ve come here to do a job and i m going to try to finish it.,sport
116,129,csa could close says minister ministers would not rule out scrapping the child support agency if it failed to improve work and pensions secretary alan johnson has warned. but he said replacing the controversial csa would be the nuclear option . a report by the commons work and pensions committee called for the agency to be wound up unless it improved its service within weeks. chairman sir archy kirkwood said: if the agency cannot be rescued then it must be replaced. the committee reached its conclusions after it found that nearly 250 000 cases have yet to be processed. it warned that it could be five years before the csa was fit for purpose describing it as a failing organisation and in crisis with parents facing payment delays and inaccurate maintenance calculations. the report urged the csa to draw up contingency plans including the abandonment option to be presented to parliament by easter in case the cs2 computer system could not be made to work. and responding to calls for the agency to be scrapped mr johnson told bbc radio 4 s today programme: i certainly wouldn t rule out the nuclear option of moving to a completely new system. but i think the select committee would agree with me we would only do that when we were absolutely convinced that this system just isn t going to work. the mps launched their inquiry into the csa s performance after it became clear that despite the introduction of a simpler system of calculating maintenance payments for new cases in 2003 a backlog of claims was building up. the mps found the £456m system from american it giant eds was nowhere near being fully functional and the number of dissatisfied disenchanted and angry customers continues to escalate . faced with the committee s criticism the government has suspended its plan to cut the agency s staff by 25%. the csa has been surrounded in controversy since its introduction in 1993 to assess and enforce child support payments by absent parents. it is currently chasing outstanding payments of more than £720m while a further £947m has been designated as unrecoverable . michelle a mother of twins said she had not received a penny of the £57 a week she should be receiving from her ex-partner and had faced an on-going battle with the csa. her forms have twice been lost in the post she said. i don t receive correspondence i don t receive phone calls i have to chase them all the time she said. theresa may tory shadow work and pensions secretary said: we have got to find a way that s going to ensure those payments get through to the people who are due them. the agency s former chief executive doug smith quit last autumn claiming he was seriously disappointed with its performance. the committee said the national audit office should investigate why the eds system had gone so badly wrong. it blamed the agency s senior management for a multitude of problems within the agency including for an apparent lack of training of frontline staff.,politics
117,981,claxton hunting first major medal british hurdler sarah claxton is confident she can win her first major medal at next month s european indoor championships in madrid. the 25-year-old has already smashed the british record over 60m hurdles twice this season setting a new mark of 7.96 seconds to win the aaas title. i am quite confident said claxton. but i take each race as it comes. as long as i keep up my training but not do too much i think there is a chance of a medal. claxton has won the national 60m hurdles title for the past three years but has struggled to translate her domestic success to the international stage. now the scotland-born athlete owns the equal fifth-fastest time in the world this year. and at last week s birmingham grand prix claxton left european medal favourite russian irina shevchenko trailing in sixth spot. for the first time claxton has only been preparing for a campaign over the hurdles - which could explain her leap in form. in previous seasons the 25-year-old also contested the long jump but since moving from colchester to london she has re-focused her attentions. claxton will see if her new training regime pays dividends at the european indoors which take place on 5-6 march.,sport
118,330,blair up for it ahead of poll tony blair says his personal standing in the eyes of voters will be an issue in the general election. the prime minister said he was up for it as the country waits to go to the polls possibly in a matter of weeks. he told the observer government life was a constant barrage of attack but said he would not stay in charge if he felt unable to contribute. mr blair also spoke of meeting many people across the country with concerns about the compensation culture. he said britain was in danger of needless panic over public safety issues. speaking amid a flurry of pre-election campaigning the prime minister said: i am an issue i always will be. whoever is the prime minister will be. he added: if you are afraid to take criticism you should go and do another job. asked if he would quit as leader if he felt like a liability to labour he said: it s important always not to do the job unless you feel you have something to contribute. whether he still had something to offer he said was a judgement for people to make. mr blair s assessment is likely to be seen as a signal that replacing him would not bring an upsurge in fortunes for the labour administration. his comments come as the co-chairman of the conservative party liam fox on saturday called him a disappointment of historic proportions as a prime minister. mr blair said he had learned from a series of at times tough encounters with members of the public during question and answer sessions across the country in recent weeks. he pledged to clamp down on britain s growing compensation culture which has brought concerns that doctors teachers and other professionals are being hampered in their work by the fear of frivolous lawsuits. i was quite shocked to be told by people who were running a nursery that they were worried about letting the kids out into the playground when it was wet in case one of them slipped and fell and they ended up having a legal case [against them] he said. we have got to look at a way of getting people protection on that. mr blair said the government was also looking at how to make sure that legal aid is not abused with actions against doctors and others as part of a review being carried out by the lord chancellor s department. and there should be real debate about the risk posed by public safety threats he said. we are in danger of - depending on whatever is the media campaign of the day - ending up spending literally hundreds sometimes millions of pounds meeting quite a small risk. his comments come after the government announced it is to spend £200m on drugs to treat a possible outbreak of bird flu and the sudan 1 food scare. meanwhile commons leader peter hain has warned that on the campaign trail he has seen dangerous complacency being displayed by labour voters convinced of a general election victory. if labour voters stayed at home in marginal seats they could see tory leader michael howard coming in the back door to number 10 with the tradesman s key to number 10 getting into power he added.,politics
119,1172,euronext poised to make lse bid pan-european group euronext is poised to launch a bid for the london stock exchange uk media reports say. last week the lse rejected a takeover proposal from german rival deutsche boerse - the 530 pence-a-share offer valued the exchange at about £1.35bn. the lse which saw its shares rise 25% said the bid undervalued the business. euronext - formed after the brussels paris and amsterdam exchanges merged - is reportedly working with three investment banks on a possible offer. the lse europe s biggest stock market is a key prize listing stocks with a total capitalisation of £1.4 trillion. euronext already has a presence in london due to its 2001 acquisition of london-based options and futures exchange liffe. trades on the lse are cleared via clearnet in which euronext has a quarter stake. euronext which also operates an exchange in lisbon last week appointed ubs and abn amro as additional advisors. it is also working with morgan stanley. despite the rejection of the deutsche boerse bid last week werner seifert chief executive of the frankfurt-based exchange may well come back with an improved offer. it has long wanted to link up with london and the two tried and failed to seal a merger in 2000. responding to the lse s rebuff deutsche boerse - whose market capitalisation is more than £3bn - said it believed it could show its proposal offered benefits and that it still hoped to make a cash bid. last week the lse said not only was the bid undervalued but that it had been advised that there can be no assurance that any transaction could be successfully implemented . however it has indicated it is open for further talks. meanwhile german magazine der spiegel said part of mr seifert s negotiations with the lse were about where to base the future board of any merged exchange. while mr seifert has suggested a merged company would be run out of london the mayor of frankfurt has raised concerns that such a move could cost german jobs. many analysts believe german boerse has more financial firepower than euronext if it came to a bidding war.,business
120,2123,spider-man creator wins profits spider-man creator stan lee is to get a multi-million dollar windfall after winning a court battle with comic book company marvel. a judge has upheld lee s demand for 10% of marvel s profits from the hugely successful spider-man films. spider-man and its sequel made $1.6bn (£857m) at box offices worldwide. of the cut now due to lee 82 who created spider-man in 1962 his lawyer said: it could be tens of millions of dollars that s no exaggeration. us district court judge robert w sweet ruled lee should get a tenth of profits generated since november 1998 by marvel tv and movie productions involving the company s characters. lee took legal action in 2002 saying marvel shut him out of jackpot profits from the first blockbuster film. he said the company - where he worked for more than 60 years - had gone back on agreement to give him the 10%. as well as spider-man lee co-created the incredible hulk x-men daredevil and fantastic four characters. he said: i am gratified by the judge s decision although since i am deeply fond of marvel and the people there i sincerely regret that the situation had to come to this. the ruling also means he is entitled to a slice of profits from dvd sales and certain merchandise. marvel said it would appeal and did not expect the decision to impact on financial forecasts for 2004 and beyond. the new york court did not rule on lee s claims to a share of profits from some spider-man and hulk movie merchandise which will be decided at a future trial marvel said.,entertainment
121,1165,cactus diet deal for phytopharm a slimming aid made from a southern african cactus is set to be developed by uk firm phytopharm and unilever. anglo-dutch food giant unilever will help the pharmaceutical firm develop the snacks containing hoodia extract. phytopharm shares jumped 10.7% on the news with analysts saying sales of $600m (£309m) a year were possible. the plant licensed to phytopharm in 1997 has been used for thousands of years by the sans bushmen of the kalahari desert to stave off hunger. studies have reportedly shown the plant curbs appetite instead of reducing calorific intake like many existing products. phytopharm will receive an initial fee of £6.5m from unilever - out of a potential total of £21m - as well as future royalties on product sales. under the deal production of the hoodia cactus at phytopharm s nursery in south africa will also rise from eight million plants to potentially hundreds of millions said phytopharm chief executive richard dixey. the firm had initially hoped to market a slimming drug from hoodia with pfizer. but the research collaboration came to an end in 2003. analysts said unilever could launch the new products in 2007. this deal goes a long way to restoring the market faith in phytopharm s pipeline after the pfizer exit said analyst erling refsum at nomura.,business
122,1592,gervais writing simpsons episode the office s ricky gervais is writing an episode of hit us cartoon the simpsons following an invitation from its creator matt groening. gervais has already begun writing the script but is keeping its subject matter a closely guarded secret. he will also write a part for himself in the episode. i ve got the rough idea but this is the most intimidating project of my career. the simpsons is the greatest tv show of all time he said. groening recently heaped praise on the office saying: everybody on the simpsons is a fan of the office - it s one of the best shows on tv in the last decade. gervais has already said he would not guest star in the show as his office character david having left him behind for good in the christmas specials. the office became a surprise us success when it was screened on cable channel bbc america. the first series won two golden globes in 2004 for best comedy and best tv actor for gervais. in winning it beat the likes of sex and the city and will and grace. an american version was produced but so far only a pilot has been broadcast - to much criticism that it failed to live up to the original. at the british comedy awards on wednesday gervais was handed a special achievement award for writing. but the office missed out in the best comedy show category to little britain. matt groening was also at the awards to collect the award for best international comedy for the simpsons.,entertainment
123,2094,download chart debut is delayed the inclusion of downloaded music in the official singles chart has been delayed for a month. the british phonographic industry (bpi) had planned to include download formats in the chart from 20 march. but the date has been put back to 17 april to create a level playing field for independent labels. the bpi is concerned that independent repertoire is not adequately represented online and said they were looking at ways of rectifying it. bpi chairman peter jamieson said: the inclusion of download formats in the official uk singles chart is the most significant development in the charts for 20 years. but for a multitude of reasons the current chart representation of independent repertoire at the major download outlets is poor. i am very pleased we have secured this delay on behalf of independents. we have to try and establish a realistic level playing field of opportunity. the official uk charts are run by the official uk charts company (occ) - a joint venture between the bpi and the british association of record dealers (bard). at an occ board meeting on wednesday the occ board agreed with bpi members that the 20 march start date be postponed. download formats will now be included in the official uk singles chart for the first time in the chart published on 17 april - the sales week beginning 10 april. the us has already merged downloaded singles into its billboard hot 100 chart.,entertainment
124,841,ban hits half-life 2 pirates hard about 20 000 people have been banned from playing the half-life 2 game. game maker valve shut down the online accounts of the players because it had evidence that their copy of the game had been obtained illegally. copies of half-life 2 had been circulating on file-sharing systems soon after it was officially released. experts said the success of the half-life 2 anti-piracy system might tempt other game makers into creating their own version. half-life 2 was officially released on 16 november but before gamers could get to grips with the long-awaited title they were forced to authenticate their copy of the game online. authentication involved setting up an account with valve s gaming community system called steam and letting that check which copy of the game was being run. in a statement detailing the banning of the accounts valve said this system helped identify who had got hold of pirated copies. the method used was extremely easy for valve to trace and confirm and so there is no question that the accounts disabled were used to try and illegally obtain half-life 2 read the statement. valve spokesman doug lombardi said that the company had not yet released sales figures for the game and would not say what proportion of all steam players the 20 000 represented. one effect of steam s popularity has been to limit the copies of the game sold in shops and artificially depress the game s ranking in the top ten. even so the title debuted at no 3 in the uk charts. valve also said that a small number of accounts were closed because people were using stolen credit cards to buy copies of the game or were using stolen steam accounts. some of those who have been banned by the move protested their innocence in the online forums on the main steam site and said they were being punished for what other people did with their account. some contributors to the forums wondered if the action might force more piracy as people tried to get hold of successive copies of the game to keep ahead of valve s anti-piracy actions. in its statement valve also said that rumours that it distributed fake half-life 2 keys copies of the game or instructions on how to hack the game just to catch pirates and cheats were false. the company said: the hack came from the community as do they all. it added that most of those banned simply tried to use copies of half-life 2 circulating on file-swapping systems such as bit torrent rather than use hacks to get around the need for cd keys. rob fahey editor of online news site gamesindustry.biz said the mass banning showed off the power of the steam system. before now he said it has been hard for game makers to do anything about piracy once the game was being played. but with this valve is taking really effective steps against people using illegitimate copies of half-life 2 he said. if steam proves effective at cutting the piracy of games to a minimum said mr fahey other game makers may be tempted to set up copycat systems. it s not hard to see a point in the near future when every publisher wants you to run an application on your system purely to allow you to play their games he said. this could mean that computers get cluttered with poorly written steam-type systems that are used to batter people with adverts. unless game firms were careful he said they could face a backlash from consumers who soon get tired of maintaining different accounts for every game they play.,tech
125,1224,fit-again betsen in france squad france have brought flanker serge betsen back into their squad to face england at twickenham on sunday. but the player who missed the victory over scotland through injury must attend a disciplinary hearing on wednesday after being cited by wasps. serge has a good case so we are confident he will play said france coach bernard laporte. the inexperienced nicolas mas jimmy marlu and jean-philippe grandclaude are also included in a 22-man squad. the trio have been called up after pieter de villiers ludovic valbon and aurelien rougerie all picked up injuries in france s 16-9 win on saturday. laporte said he was confident that betsen would be cleared by the panel investigating his alleged trip that broke wasps centre stuart abbott s leg. if he was to be suspended we would call up imanol harinordoquy or thomas lievremont said laporte who has dropped patrick tabacco. we missed serge badly against scotland. he has now recovered from his thigh injury and played on saturday with biarritz. france s regular back-row combination of betsen harinordoquy and olivier magne were all missing from france s side at the weekend because of injury. laporte is expected to announce france s starting line-up on wednesday. forwards: nicolas mas sylvain marconnet olivier milloud william servat sebastien bruno fabien pelous jerome thion gregory lamboley serge betsen julien bonnaire sebastien chabal yannick nyanga. backs: dimitri yachvili pierre mignoni frederic michalak yann delaigue damien traille brian liebenberg jean-philippe grandclaude christophe dominici jimmy marlu pepito elhorga.,sport
126,72,singapore growth at 8.1% in 2004 singapore s economy grew by 8.1% in 2004 its best performance since 2000 figures from the trade ministry show. the advance the second-fastest in asia after china was led by growth of 13.1% in the key manufacturing sector. however a slower-than-expected fourth quarter points to more modest growth for the trade-driven economy in 2005 as global technology demand falls back. slowdowns in the us and china could hit electronics exports while the tsunami disaster may effect the service sector. economic growth is set to halve in singapore this year to between 3% and 5%. in the fourth quarter the city state s gross domestic product (gdp) rose at an annual rate of 2.4%. that was up from the third quarter when it fell 3.0% but was well below analyst forecasts. i am surprised at the weak fourth quarter number. the main drag came from electronics said lian chia liang economist at jp morgan chase. singapore s economy had contracted over the summer weighed down by soaring oil prices. the economy s poor performance in the july to september period followed four consecutive quarters of double-digit growth as singapore bounced back strongly from the effects of the deadly sars virus in 2003.,business
127,1176,director nair s vanity project indian film director mira nair has said she was thrilled to be given the chance to make william makepeace thackeray s novel vanity fair - as the book has been a favourite through her life. the book is one of the classics of english literature - the story of scheming 19th century social climber becky sharp played in the film by reese witherspoon. nair said that she jumped at the chance to work on the film which she has - controversially - made in a bollywood style including two song-and-dance routines in the film s second half. it was serendipity really - i was offered vanity fair by the studio focus features who had distributed monsoon wedding nair told bbc world service s masterpiece programme. they offered me their next-best thing not realising that vanity fair had actually been one of my favourite novels since i was 16 years old in an irish catholic boarding school in india. since her 1988 debut feature salaam bombay! - nominated for the best foreign language oscar and winner of best first feature at cannes - nair has become one of india s most famous and respected directors. she is not restricted to bollywood however - she followed salaam bombay! with mississippi masala starring denzel washington and the perez family her first hollywood film. her career peaked with monsoon wedding in 2001 which won the golden lion award at venice. nair s indian-style adaptation of vanity fair however has been attacked by critics in the us - where it only reached number eight at the box office in its opening week - who described the bollywood elements as jarring. the film has a new ending with becky sharp running off for a new life in india. but nair said that her film had picked up on the way thackeray - who was born in india but moved to england as a young man - had seen the world. first when i was 16 it was becky sharp who is a completely memorable character because i recognised myself in her - i recognised all the ladies who did not want to be ladies who wanted to buck the system that they were in she said. but it was the sort of novel i somehow kept at the side of my bed for many years and i would dip into every now and then and suddenly get completely mesmerised again. as i got older and read it i think it was thackeray s clarity - his clear-sightedness about his own society the fact that he was born in india but came to england as a young man - that gave him the eyes of an outsider and yet he was an insider. that perspective was something i really loved. nair also defended her decision to cast an american actress - reese witherspoon - as becky sharp despite the fact that all the rest of the cast are british or irish. i cast intuitively - in my films i cast as many non-actors as i cast actors she said. for me it is intuition - i have to fall in love with an actor. it is a visceral response. thackeray describes becky sharp as a minx. also she s described as someone who s tiny red-headed and thin. reese had that completely minx-like irresistibility about her. having won the role because she seemed physically perfectly suited to the part however witherspoon then became pregnant. but nair said that though this had created the need for some filming tricks it had in fact also helped the film. it was a self-fulfilling prophesy - when i first met her husband [actor ryan philippe] i said knock her up won t you i need some flesh on the girl she joked. i m not a fan of the underfed los angeles actor at all. this was for me about becky sharp being eventually a full-blown woman through the course of the film. i love the luminosity that pregnancy brings i love the fleshiness i love the ample bosom - it gave me much more to play with. nair explained how camera tricks had been used to disguise witherspoon s bump in various scenes - including hiring a number of young boys in costumes to stand in front of her. she runs she gets off coal carts she jumps off horses - she does everything nair said. but there s also a certain carria
128,1285,deutsche boerse boosts dividend deutsche boerse the german stock exchange that is trying to buy its london rival has said it will boost its 2004 dividend payment by 27%. analysts said that the move is aimed at winning over investors opposed to its bid for the london stock exchange. critics of the takeover have complained that the money could be better used by returning cash to shareholders. deutsche boerse also said profit in the three months to 31 december was 120.7m euros ($158.8m; £83.3m). sales climbed to 364.4m euros lifting revenue for the year to a record 1.45bn euros. frankfurt-based deutsche boerse has offered £1.3bn ($2.48bn; 1.88bn euros) for the london stock exchange. rival pan-european bourse euronext is working also on a bid. late on monday deutsche boerse said it would lift its 2004 dividend payment to 70 euro cents (£0.48; $0.98) from 55 euro cents a year earlier. there is a whiff of a sweetener in there anais faraj an analyst at nomura told the bbc s world business report. most of the disgruntled shareholders of deutsche boerse are complaining that the money that is being used for the bid could be better placed in their hands paid out in dividends mr faraj continued. deutsche boerse is trying to buy them off in a sense he said.,business
129,1671,glasgow hosts tsunami benefit gig the top names in scottish music are taking part in a benefit concert in aid of the victims of the asian tsunami. all 10 000 tickets for saturday s concert featuring franz ferdinand belle and sebastian and travis at glasgow s secc sold out in 36 hours. mull historical society deacon blue idlewild texas mogwai and teenage fanclub are among the other acts performing at the concert. organisers hope to raise at least £250 000 from the show. it follows a cardiff gig starring eric clapton keane and jools holland which raised more than £1.25m. and it is taking place on the same night as a tsunami benefit show in bristol which will see massive attack and portishead share a stage for the first time. colin macintyre of mull historical society was playing another gig on the same day but said he was determined to make the glasgow benefit. he said: i think we were all affected by seeing the reports coming from the far east. we all know somebody who was there but more than that it was that we had never seen a wave of destruction a natural disaster like this in my generation. i m lucky as an artist to be able to perform at something like this.,entertainment
130,67,deadline nears for fiat-gm deal fiat and general motors (gm) have until midnight on 1 february to settle a disagreement over a potential takeover. the deadline marks the point at which fiat will gain the right to sell its car division to gm part of an alliance agreed in 2000. gm whose own european operations are losing money no longer wants to own the unprofitable fiat unit. reports of deadlocked talks sent fiat shares down 1.2% on tuesday after monday s 4% gain on hopes of a payoff. the us firm is thought to be offering about $2bn (£1.06bn) to extricate itself from the arrangement. it has argued the deal was voided by fiat s decision to sell off fiat s finance arm and halve gm s stake via a capital-raising effort. the 2000 deal resulted from a race between gm and daimlerchrysler to ally with fiat. the german firm wanted to buy fiat outright. but gianni agnelli the godfather of the group wanted to keep control and preferred gm s offer to buy a 20% stake and give fiat the right to sell in the future known as a put option . since then however fiat cars have lost market share and the firm has piled up losses while a plan to raise new money in 2003 cut gm s stake in half to 10%. for its part gm s european units opel and saab have both had trouble with opel management threatening to cut 12 000 jobs. the last thing they need is additional production capacity in europe said patrick juchemich auto analyst at sal oppenheim bank.,business
131,952,csa chief who quit still in job the head of the failing child support agency widely reported to have resigned three months ago is still at the helm of the troubled organisation. doug smith s departure was announced by work secretary alan johnson on 17 november as mps grilled him over the agency s poor performance. his resignation was referred to by both tory and lib dem leaders during that day s prime ministers questions. officials now say he did not resign but will move on under civil service rules. mr smith s departure was reported widely at the time as his shouldering the blame for the failings of the child support agency. in january the mps who make up the commons work and pensions committee published a highly critical report into the failing agency noting the chief executive has now left and hoping the new leadership will bring a fresh approach to what is a failing organisation . on that day s today programme mr johnson was asked why mr smith had been allowed to resign rather than be sacked. he replied: the chief executive decided it was time to move on there is a new chief executive coming in. it now emerges that the widespread belief mr smith made commander of the order of the bath in the new year honours had left was wrong. a department for work and pensions spokeswoman confirmed mr smith was still in post and that he would continue in the job until a replacement was found. no date was ever given for doug smith s departure she said adding that the post had been advertised. tory work and pensions spokesman david willetts said families affected by csa failings would wonder why mr smith was still in his job three months after his departure was announced. the csa has been surrounded by controversy since its introduction in 1993 to assess and enforce child support payments by absent parents. the work and pensions committee launched their inquiry into the csa s performance after it became clear that despite the introduction of a simpler system of calculating maintenance payments for new cases in 2003 a backlog of claims was still building up. it is currently chasing outstanding payments of more than £720m while a further £947m has been designated as unrecoverable . the mps found american it giant eds £456m system was nowhere near being fully functional and the number of dissatisfied disenchanted and angry customers continues to escalate . in november when he surprised mps and the watching media by announcing mr smith s departure mr johnson said: i should tell you that doug has decided that now is the time to stand aside and to allow a new chief executive to tackle the challenges ahead. doug has exceeded the four years that senior civil servants are now expected to remain in a particular post. so doug believes that we have reached the natural breakpoint at which he can hand over the reins. lib dem sir archy kirkwood who chairs the commons work and pensions committee said that when mr johnson had announced mr smith was going he got the clear impression the csa chief was retiring though it had since emerged that was not the case and he may be seeking new employment opportunities. he added his committee was duty bound to allow the work and pensions secretary to get new management into place in the csa and it would be premature to say anything further on the issue at the moment. but committee member and tory mp nigel waterson said he was amazed mr smith was still in his job. when mr smith and the secretary of state came to give evidence we were led to believe he was going shortly he said. even if he was working out three months notice he should have been clearing his desk by now. asked on thursday about mr smith s position mr johnson told bbc radio 4 s world at one he thought it was a non-story . he added that he had been absolutely open when he announced mr smith s departure to the select committee and how people chose to interpret it was a different thing . the major issue is have we got a new chief executive coming into this very important agency as
132,884,brown in appeal for labour unity gordon brown has made an appeal for unity after reports claimed mr blair went back on a pledge to stand down before the next general election. the chancellor would not comment on the reports but insisted he would not be diverted or distracted from tackling the challenges faced by the country. his only motivation was to ensure labour was re-elected he insisted. mr blair earlier dismissed the claim he had reneged on a promise to stand aside for gordon brown as old news. according to a new book brown s britain by sunday telegraph journalist robert peston mr blair went back on a pledge to make way for mr brown after cabinet allies intervened in june 2004. in an interview with bbc one s breakfast with frost mr blair said: i ve dealt with this six months ago. i said then you don t do deals over jobs like this - you don t. what both of us are actually concentrating on are the issues that concern the country. in a separate interview with bbc political editor andrew marr mr brown said: it s very important that we all do what we can in a unified way to ensure the election of a labour government. i think it is very important to stress that that is the motivation that i have. that is my purpose in politics and that is what every day i seek to do. and i am not going to be diverted or distracted nor is tony blair by newspaper stories or books or rumours or gossip. the only reason why we are in government is to get on with the job in a unified way to deal with the challenges facing this country. mr brown also said he had discussed the general election campaign with the prime minister on saturday and pledged to play his part as he had been asked to do. but mr peston said the pair had mutual animosity and contempt for each other and that mr blair had decided in november 2003 he would quit because he felt he had lost voters trust because of the iraq war. he then changed his mind in june 2004 following intervention from allies in the cabinet and the suspicion that the chancellor was deliberately manoeuvring against him according to the book. andrew marr said: this is enormously damaging. gordon brown knows it as well as tony blair. i think the relationship is genuinely privately very poor indeed. things are very difficult. he added: lots of ministers believe tony blair will attempt to move gordon brown out of the treasury after the election. that depends on whether there s still a labour government and their majority. senior mps are expected to raise concerns about the latest reports of infighting at the regular meeting of labour backbenchers on monday. health secretary john reid said those fuelling such reports were damaging labour s re-election chances and would not be easily forgiven. fresh speculation of a rift recently followed mr blair and mr brown s separate responses to the asian tsunami. these rumours were fuelled by mr blair s decision to hold his monthly media conference at the same time as a long-planned speech by mr brown on uk plans to tackle global poverty with a new marshall plan for africa. there was speculation the pair were trying to outdo each other s response to the disaster. but the prime minister said he had discussed these claims with the chancellor and dismissed them as a load of nonsense . tory leader michael howard accused the prime minister and mr brown of squabbling like schoolboys . liberal democrat parliamentary chairman matthew taylor said the personal ambition of mr blair and mr brown was getting in the way of good government .,politics
133,2011,fast moving phone bugs appear security firms are warning about several mobile phone viruses that can spread much faster than similar bugs. the new strains of the cabir mobile phone virus use short-range radio technology to leap to any vulnerable phone as soon as it is in range. the cabir virus only affects high-end handsets running the symbian series 60 phone operating system. despite the warnings there are so far no reports of any phones being infected by the new variants of cabir. the original cabir worm came to light in mid-june 2004 when it was sent to anti-virus firms as a proof-of-concept program. a mistake in the way the original cabir was written meant that even if it escaped from the laboratory the bug would only have been able to infect one phone at a time. however the new cabir strains have this mistake corrected and will spread via short range bluetooth technology to any vulnerable phone in range. bluetooth has an effective range of a few tens of metres. the risk of being infected by cabir is low because users must give the malicious program permission to download on to their handset and then must manually install it. users can protect themselves by altering a setting on symbian phones that conceals the handset from other bluetooth using devices. finnish security firm f-secure issued a warning about the new strains of cabir but said that the viruses do not do any damage to a phone. all they do is block normal bluetooth activity and drain the phone s battery. anti-virus firm sophos said the source code for cabir had been posted on the net by a brazilian programmer which might lead to even more variants of the program being created. so far seven versions of cabir are know to exist one of which was inside the malicious skulls program that was found in late november. symbian s series 60 software is licenced by nokia lg electronics lenovo panasonic samsung sendo and siemens.,tech
134,1979,venezuela reviews foreign deals venezuela is to review all foreign investment in its mining industries in an effort to strengthen its indigenous industrial output. president hugo chavez has ordered all existing contracts with foreign firms to be examined to see if they provide maximum benefits to the country. the review will cover production of gold aluminium and iron ore although it excludes the country s oil sector. chavez has sought to extend the state s role in all sectors of the economy. the left-wing president is conducting a controversial review of land ownership in the country while also seeking to create a state-run telecoms firm to compete with foreign-owned businesses. he has argued that major economic reforms are vital to improve the lives of venezuela s poorest citizens. announcing the review of raw material production minister victor alvarez said the government would seek to transfer technology training capability and content from projects with foreign partners. we are defending our national sovereignty over the use of our national resources which must serve the endogenous development of the nation mr alvarez said. for this reason we are reviewing all memorandums of understanding all letters of intent all agreements that have been signed all contracts to check which of these comply with these directives. everything absolutely everything has to be reviewed. venezuela has previously assured foreign companies with operations in the mineral rich country that it respects existing contracts. however the government insisted that it needed to develop its own industrial infrastructure in order to create new jobs and lessen its reliance on foreign partners. if we don t do this we are just going to carry on being slaves suppliers of raw materials all our lives and we will never develop our own productive capacity mr alvarez added. companies from the united states canada france and switzerland all have substantial investments in venezuela s mining sector.,business
135,519,yukos drops banks from court bid russian oil company yukos has dropped the threat of legal action against five banks it had accused of involvement in the sale of its key yugansk unit. state-owned rosneft bought the unit for $9.3bn (£5bn) after yukos was forced to sell assets to meet a $27.5bn tax bill. yukos says the sale was illegal and is pursuing damages in a us court. its lawyers now accept abn amro bnp paribas calyon jp morgan chase bank and dresdner kleinwort wasserstein were not involved in the sale financing. however yukos still has an outstanding complaint against deutsche bank which it alleges to be the leader of a consortium that was behind a bid for yugansk by state gas monopoly gazprom. the company has also accused gazprom the russian federation and two other russian firms. gazprom had been expected to win the december auction but ended up not bidding. yugansk was sold to a little-known shell company which in turn was bought by rosneft. yukos claims its downfall was punishment for the political ambitions of its founder mikhail khodorkovsky. the firm whose finance chief is now based in the us filed for bankruptcy in houston texas and sought a court injunction against the sale. but deutsche bank has suggested yukos artificially manufactured a legal case to stop the sale of its main asset. a hearing scheduled for february 16 and 17 will rule on whether the us court has jurisdiction in the case.,business
136,1132,ministers lose slopping out case the scottish executive has lost an appeal against an inmate s compensation for being forced to slop out in prison. armed robber robert napier 25 won £2 450 after he claimed he suffered an outbreak of the skin complaint eczema when slopping out at barlinnie prison. napier said that the practice where prisoners use buckets in their cells as toilets breached his human rights. on thursday the court of session threw out a move by the executive to apply a more rigorous standard of proof. the executive faces more than 1 000 similar claims for damages from prisoners and former inmates. more than 310 actions have already been raised in the court of session and sheriff courts in scotland. an executive spokesman said: we will study this judgement in detail. much has changed to address the issues raised in the napier case for example slopping out has ended at barlinnie and work in other prisons is being accelerated. today s judgement does not affect the outcome of other cases. napier a remand prisoner at the time raised a legal challenge in 2001 under the european convention on human rights in which he sought £5 000. he was awarded compensation last april after winning his case. executive ministers raised an appeal arguing that the standard of proof to be applied in cases alleging a breach of the european convention on human rights through degrading and inhumane treatment should be beyond reasonable doubt . this is the standard normally applied in criminal trials in scotland. however civil litigation is settled on the test of a balance of probabilities . judge lord cullen sitting with lord osborne and lord hamilton ruled that alleged human rights breaches involving degrading treatment should be dealt with on the normal civil standard. napier s lawyer tony kelly believes the action will soon be followed by others. mr kelly said: there are hundreds of people still undergoing slopping out overcrowding and poor regime and those people will certainly be heartened by today s judgement. scottish national party justice minister kenny macaskill said that the slopping out case had been a fiasco from start to finish . he said: ministers were fully aware of the state of scotland s jails. funds were available but they chose to ignore the problem and after this ruling i suspect we will be faced with even more claims and no doubt more payouts. a short term executive saving has resulted in a long term public cost.,politics
137,1782,game firm holds cast auditions video game firm bioware is to hold open auditions for people to become cast members for future games. the company which makes role playing games such as knights of the old republic and neverwinter nights is seeking people aged 18 to 99. the canada-based company says it was looking for a wide variety of people to use as face models for characters . everyone chosen to appear in a video game will receive a performer s fee for the use of their image. the company is inviting people to come along to a shopping mall in west edmonton alberta on friday and saturday bringing along a piece of photo identification. there are hundreds and hundreds of characters in a typical bioware game said shauna perry bioware s audio and external resources producer. those people live in any city and village and so we need ordinary people people with interesting faces. she added: not everyone is a model in the world so we don t want just models in our games. people chosen to appear in a game will have their head scanned in three dimensions. hundreds of photos of the person s head are taken so that a model of the head can be generated in 3d. the 3d model will look exactly like the person - it s really quite incredible how detailed they are said ms perry. she said chosen participants will have no control over how the image is used in a computer game. we cannot give people any control over how the images are used. but their face could be used in multiple games - so they could be the hero in one the villain in another and just a merchant in a third.,tech
138,112,rapper jay-z becomes label boss rap star jay-z is to become a record company executive after being put in charge of one of hip-hop s most influential labels def jam. jay-z who said he would make no more music after 2003 s the black album will become the company s president and chief executive from january. def jam s parent company universal made the appointment after buying jay-z s roc-a-fella label. def jam s artists include ll cool j dmx ludacris ja rule and ashanti. jay-z will continue to run roc-a-fella which he founded with damon dash in 1995 and has kanye west and beanie sigel on its roster. universal said on wednesday it had bought the 50% of roc-a-fella it did not already own. antonio la reid chairman of the island def jam music group said: i can think of no-one more relevant and credible in the hip-hop community to build upon def jam s fantastic legacy. he hoped jay-z would move the company into its next groundbreaking era he added. jay-z real name shawn carter said: i have inherited two of the most important brands in hip-hop def jam and roc-a-fella. i feel this is a giant step for me and the entire artist community. one of the most successful and respected rap stars of the last eight years jay-z s hits have included hard knock life dirt off your shoulder and 03 bonnie and clyde with his girlfriend beyonce knowles. he said he would retire after the black album but has just released an album and been on an ill-fated tour with r kelly. def jam was founded in 1984 by russell simmons and producer rick rubin and signed artists including run-dmc the beastie boys and public enemy.,entertainment
139,1996,cole refuses to blame van persie ashley cole has refused to blame robin van persie for leaving arsenal with no fully-fit strikers for the fa cup fifth round replay at sheffield united. van persie is suspended alongside dennis bergkamp and jose antonio reyes after being sent off at southampton when arsenal had a numerical advantage. thierry henry is ruled out with an achilles tendon injury but cole said: no-one is putting the blame on robin. it s just something that happens on the spur of the moment. cole added: i ve done it before and i hope they didn t blame me for anything. of course he ll learn. i ve been sent off a couple of times now and it s just one of those things when you go a bit crazy for one or two seconds. freddie ljungberg is likely to be used in an emergency striking role and will be partnered by either arturo lupoli quincy owusu-abeyie or jeremie aliadiere. gunners boss arsene wenger said: freddie is an option but we need a second striker. i have to decide whether it will be aliadiere quincy or lupoli who will start with him up front. those three will be involved. arsenal are also without winger robert pires who sustained an ankle injury at st mary s. wenger added: it doesn t look like anything is fractured but it is a good ankle sprain. it does not look like pires will be ready for two to three weeks.,sport
140,683,europe blames us over weak dollar european leaders have openly blamed the us for the sharp rise in the value of the euro. us officials were talking up the dollar they said but failing to take action to back up their words. meeting in brussels finance ministers of the 12 eurozone countries voiced their concern that the rise of the european currency was harming exports. the dollar is within touching distance of an all-time low reached earlier in november. at 0619 gmt on tuesday the dollar was up slightly at just above $1.29 to the euro and buying 105.6 yen in tokyo. it rallied briefly on monday amid signs that oil prices are easing. but analysts said the respite was likely to be only temporary. the european ministers comments said junya tanase of jpmorgan chase bank in tokyo were generally too weak to produce a market reaction . still by the standards of diplomacy the european ministers were forthright. nicolas sarkozy of france said he and his colleagues were unanimous in their worry that the decline of the dollar would hit europe s economies by eating into their exports. we are concerned about these developments which are destabilising and which are linked to the accumulation of deficits by our american friends he said. the comments come a day after us treasury secretary john snow said a strong dollar was in america s interest . but that was not enough for mr sarkozy. if the americans were to change their policy it s up to them to say so he said. and the european union s monetary affairs commissioner made it clear that action was necessary. i fully welcome the words of mr snow said joaquin almunia but we will need to see decisions adopted in that direction. if the imbalances in the us economy are not adjusted in the future the decision in the market will be as in the past weeks. economists point out that whatever europe says in the short term a weaker dollar is a boon to president george w bush s administration. not only does it boost us exports but it also makes the budget deficit easier to fund. on the other hand slower european exports would mean slower eu growth - potentially reducing the demand for us goods.,business
141,1447,mobile picture power in your pocket how many times have you wanted to have a camera to hand to catch an unexpected event that would make headlines with a modern mobile phone that has a camera built in you no longer need to curse you can capture the action as it happens. already on-the-spot snappers are helping newspapers add immediacy to their breaking news stories headlines where professional photographers only arrive in time for the aftermath. celebrities might not welcome such a change because they may never be free of a new breed of mobile phone paparazzi making their lives a bit more difficult. already one tabloid newspaper in la is issuing photographers with camera phones to help them catch celebrities at play. it could be the start of a trend that only increases as higher resolution phone cameras become more widespread; as video phones catch on and millions of people start carrying the gadgets around. only last week the world media highlighted the killing of the dutch film maker theo van gogh notorious after making a controversial film about islamic culture. one day later de telegraaf a daily amsterdam newspaper became news on its own when it published a picture taken with a mobile phone of mr van gogh s body moments after he was killed. this picture was the story said de telegraaf s image editor peter schoonen. other accounts of such picture phone users witnessing news events include: - a flight from switzerland to the dominican republic which turned around after someone took a picture of a piece of metal falling from the plane as it took off from zurich (reported by the swiss daily le matin). - two crooks who robbed a bank in denmark were snapped before they carried out the crime waiting for the doors of the building to be opened (reported by the danish regional paper aarhus stiftstidende). but this is not just about traditional media lending immediacy to their stories with content from ordinary people it is also about first-hand journalism in the form of online diaries or weblogs. it has been called open source news or even moblog journalism and it has flourished in the recent us election campaign. not many people walk around with their cameras but they always have their mobile phones with them. if something happens suddenly all these mobiles sort of appear from nowhere and start taking pictures said digital artist henry reichhold. he himself uses mobile phone pictures to create huge panoramic images of events and places. you see it in bars you see it everywhere. it s a massive thing mr reichhold told the bbc news website. with some picture agencies already paying for exclusive phone pictures especially of celebrities there are also fears about the possible downside of this phenomenon. it could become a nuisance for public figures as higher resolution picture phones hit the market with five megapixel models already being launched in asia. already on us photojournal site buzznet there is a public album full of snaps of celebrities many of which were taken with camera phones. tabloid newspapers in the uk and many monthly magazines invite readers to send in images of famous people they have seen and snapped. but there are other positive uses of picture mobile phones that may balance these uses. for instance in alabama in the us camera phones will be used to take snaps at crime scenes involving children and help the authorities to arrest and prosecute paedophiles. and in china s capital beijing courts have adopted mobile phone photos as formal evidence. for henry reichhold this is progress: that s the whole thing about the immediacy of the thing. i can see that happening a lot more.,tech
142,472,parry puts gerrard above money listen to the full interview on sport on five and the bbc sport website from 1900 gmt. but parry speaking exclusively to bbc sport also admits gerrard who has been constantly linked with chelsea will have the final say on his future. he told bbc five live: steven is above money. he is the future of liverpool. it doesn t matter if it s £30m £40m or £50m we will not accept offers. but we are also realistic enough to know we can t keep steven against his will. on the subject of liverpool s finances parry also revealed the club is ready to explore the possibility of a sponsorship deal for its proposed new stadium. and responding to criticism from bbc sport pundit and former liverpool stalwart alan hansen he insisted talks on new investment are ongoing but added the door has not closed on shareholder and lifelong fan steve morgan. parry joined liverpool as chief executive in july 1998 from a similar role at the premier league. there have been several highs and lows during his time in charge at anfield - and he had a busy summer overseeing the arrival of new manager rafael benitez and managing to hold on to steven gerrard. on the subject of liverpool s captain and prize asset parry revealed real madrid did ask for an option on the england midfield man during negotiations for striker fernando morientes. he said: they were looking for ways of saying they got more out of the deal for fernando morientes but the response to real madrid was the same - steven is not for sale. but when asked if gerrard would be a liverpool player on the first day of next season parry said: i sincerely hope he will be. steven knows my views. he knows rafa s views. we have re-affirmed recently to steven that we are trying to build a team around him. we crave success as much as he does. we know he s ambitious and nobody can argue with that. i think steven would dearly love to win things with liverpool more than he d like to do anything else. we all want to see progress by next season. he s not alone in that. there are a lot of other players who feel the same so we all have a common aim. it is expected chelsea will test liverpool with a £30m-plus bid in the summer - but parry claims he will be in no mood to listen. there have been a lot of open secrets about steven most of which have been complete myths. it is suggested we had a deal tied up last summer. we didn t had an offer last summer parry explained. we had told chelsea that as far as we were concerned he was not for sale and we didn t want to sell him. in reality it didn t go beyond that. maybe there will be an offer in the summer. maybe there won t. our position is we want steven to stay but we are also realistic enough and have enough respect for steven - and he has enough respect for us - to know that it is his decision that will be crucial. you are not going to keep a player like steven against his will. that just doesn t work but any idea we are going to accept offers for steven and then tell him by the way we ve decided to sell you is not on the agenda. you can forget that. parry is currently in the process of finalising funding for liverpool s new stadium in stanley park which is set to open in 2007. and he confessed arsenal s £100m deal with emirates to sponsor their new ground - complete with naming rights - has given the anfield club serious food for thought. he said: i have to say historically it is something i have been against and i have been on record as saying that but i think the size of the arsenal deal is a real eye-opener. i would say in the past deals have been done frankly far too cheaply and it just hasn t even been worth contemplating. but the arsenal deal is the sort of deal that causes you to draw breath and say wow - that s interesting. my personal point of view is that i would find it a hell of a lot more palatable than a shared stadium. some liverpool fans would find such a move highly controversial but parry countered: i recognise it would be an emotive issue for many
143,562,totp turns to elvis impersonator top of the pops has turned to the star of elvis presley musical jailhouse rock after the late rock legend scooped the uk s 1 000th number one single. mario kombou who plays the presley role on stage will sing one night on friday s bbc one show as producers are unable to use presley video footage. it is his second number one in a row. the show used presley photos last week. presley will feature in the charts for several more months as all 18 of his original uk chart-toppers are reissued. a top of the pops spokesperson said: it s a very special number one as it s the uk s 1 000th. we wanted to pay tribute to elvis in the best way we knew how so we thought getting a professional would be the best way for top of the pops to do that. kombou is likely to appear on the show again next week as the next presley re-release a fool such as i is on course to give him his third number one in three weeks. kombou plays vince everett in jailhouse rock - the same role presley played in the 1957 film of the same name.,entertainment
144,1476,nhs waiting time target is cut hospital waiting times for patients in wales are to be cut but not to the same extent as those in england. welsh health minister jane hutt said no patient would wait more than 12 months for an outpatient appointment by march 2006 against a current target of 18 months. but she said the target for an inpatient appointment would remain at 12 months for march 2006. the announcement came as new monthly waiting figures showed a drop. this current inpatient target was set when the assembly government extended its second offer guarantee scheme which gives patients the option of having their treatment outside wales. details about funding to resource the new targets are expected in the new year. in england the current target for inpatients - seeing a consultant to having an operation - is six months. dr richard lewis welsh secretary of the british medical association (bma) welcomed the new targets to make further and faster progress on waiting lists . however much remains to be done on waiting lists and waiting times because wales still lags a long way behind england he said. capacity must be built into the system with sustained investment to ensure that welsh patients don t receive a worse service than patients over the border. health analyst tony beddow from the welsh institute for health and social care called the new targets reasonably impressive . on wednesday ms hutt also announced £264m for health services will be spent reducing waiting times improving key areas and modernising staff pay structures in wales. ms hutt said major achievements had been made in cutting unacceptably long waits for treatment over the past year . we are turning the corner on long waits in wales. now we need to see those reductions in long waiters being improved again she said. she added the targets intended to ensure no-one waits more than a year for treatment or to see a consultant. but let us not forget two thirds of those waiting for treatment now are waiting less than six months and these targets affect the small minority of patients in wales that are waiting far too long. rhodri glyn thomas plaid cymru health spokesman said: it s exactly the same target she set in 1999 with the qualification that it s dependent on a second offer. it s a failed target from a failed minister..with a failed policy. for the welsh liberal democrats kirsty williams called the new target hugely unambitious . it leaves patients in wales still waiting two years before they re treated. conservative health spokesman jonathan morgan said: we re spending more money but waiting lists have gone through the roof. the audit commission has said that the money is not being spent efficiently or effectively and that s quite a criticism. meanwhile the latest monthly waiting list figures showed the total number of people waiting more than 18 months as an inpatient in wales has fallen by 9.8%. statistics to the end of november showed a decline since october from 785 to 708. the number waiting over 12 months also fell from 7 613 to 6 630 or 12.9%. ms hutt said they were excellent figures . there are 305 775 people on a waiting list of some kind down from 311 764 last month.,politics
145,1339,mcilroy wins 800m indoor title james mcilroy motored to the aaa s indoor 800m title in sheffied on sunday in a time of one minute 47.97 seconds. the larne athlete dominated the race from start to finish although he had to hold off a late challenge from welshman jimmy watkins in the final 100 metres. i had to go out and go through all the gears before the europeans and i won t run again until then said mcilroy. i though if i got lucky i d get close to the british record but i blew up in the end. mcilroy has been in superb form at the start of the season and will now start his build-up for the european indoors at madrid on 4-6 march. meanwhile paul brizzel and anna boyle reached the semi-finals of the 60m hurdles with boyle setting a season s best of 7.48. in the women s 60m final ailis mcsweeney broke michelle carroll s long-standing irish record by clocking 7.37 which left her in third place. david gillick showed that he is a genuine medal contender in the european indoor championships by claiming an impressive 400m victory. gillick was more than half-a-second clear when taking gold in 46.45 - .02 outside his personal best set in saturday s semi-finals. the irishman is now the fastest european this season. derval o rourke broke her own irish 60m hurdles record by clocking 8.06 which left her third behind new british record holder sarah claxton (7.96). james nolan (3:46.04) took second in the men s 1500m behind neil speaight (3:45.86) but the offaly man was outside the european indoor standard. colin costello was seventh in the 1500m final in 3:48.82). deirdre ryan was second in the women s high jump with a clearance of 1.87m while aoife byrne took silver in the 800m in a personal best of 2:06.73. lisburn s kelly mcneice reid (4:31.34) was seventh in the women s 1500m while gary murray (8:11.22) was 11th in the men s 3000m. meanwhile stephen cairns and jill shannon claimed the individual titles at saturday s northern ireland cross country championship in coleraine. cairns came in ahead of paul rowan and allan bogle in the men s race. willowfield claimed their first men s team title in 72 years while shannon helped lagan valley win the women s team honours.,sport
146,1972,thanou desperate to make return greek sprinter katerina thanou says she is eager to compete again after being cleared of missing a drugs test by an independent greek tribunal. thanou 30 was provisionally suspended for missing a test before the olympics but the decision was overturned. the iaaf will decide if we can compete again in greece and abroad thanou told to vima newspaper in her first interview since the athens olympics. if given the green light i will run again - that s the only thing i want. thanou 30 and her compatriot kostas kenteris were provisionally suspended by the iaaf in december for missing three drugs tests. the third was alleged to have been on the eve of the opening ceremony of the athens olympics. but an independent tribunal of the greek athletics federation overturned the provisional ban on 18 march. the iaaf - which said it was very surprised by the decision of the greek tribunal - is deciding whether to appeal against the decision at the court of arbitration for sport. however dick pound the chairman of the world anti-doping authority has said he will appeal against the decision if the iaaf does not. and thanou and kenteris face a criminal trial later this year for allegedly avoiding the test and then faking a motorcycle accident. thanou said: i can see how people can think the accident seemed like a childish excuse. i cannot deny that we made a lot of mistakes during that time. i always said we needed a pr person. an athlete would have to be very stupid to take illegal substances when he or she knows that they will undergo tests at any given moment. i am a champion. i cannot risk everything i ve achieved in such a silly way.,sport
147,875,a-listers flock to gervais sitcom hollywood actors samuel l jackson and ben stiller have signed up for ricky gervais new sitcom the comedian has told bbc news. he said they had both seen the scripts and had agreed to appear in an episode each of the sitcom extras. they join british stars jude law and kate winslet who have been booked for guest roles. the comic and actor said he had drawn up an a-list of stars he wanted and all had agreed to be in it. we wanted actors who had iconic status but that we could also deconstruct gervais told bbc news. it s not about the zeitgeist. we wanted people who would still be around in 20 years not just the winner of big brother to take part. gervais admitted he was cautious about revealing who would be taking part until they had all signed on the dotted line. but he has met with stiller and jackson and they enjoyed the scripts enough to commit to it. i didn t want to start revealing names until it was all sorted because people just mention people who haven t even been asked. i have been linked with ridiculous stories recently such as i m going to be in a remake of 10 taking dudley moore s part. i haven t been approached and i wouldn t take it anyway. he said stiller and jackson would be playing twisted versions of themselves in extras and that the jokes about them would sail pretty close to the bone . gervais and his writing partner stephen merchant are currently refining the scripts for the six-part series in which gervais plays a struggling actor who bitches about the stars. meanwhile gervais is gearing up to promote his cartoon book flanimals which is released in the us in march around the same time as nbc begin showing the us version of the office. the film rights to flanimals have already been snapped up but gervais is keen for the project to be taken slowly. a film will happen over the next three years but i don t want it to be a $50m movie straight away because it is not well enough known and it wouldn t be another spider-man or batman. i would like to do something small on tv with it first.,entertainment
148,1067,famed music director viotti dies conductor marcello viotti director of venice s famous la fenice theatre has died in germany at 50. viotti director of la fenice since 2002 conducted at renowned opera houses worldwide including milan s la scala and the vienna state opera. his time at la fenice coincided with its reopening in 2003 after it was destroyed by fire in 1996. he fell into a coma after suffering a stroke during rehearsals for jules massenet s manon last week. he conducted some of the best orchestras in the world including the berlin philharmonic and the english chamber orchestra. viotti was born in switzerland and studied the piano cello and singing at the lausanne conservatory. his career breakthrough came in 1982 when he won first prize at the gino marinuzzi conducting competition in italy. viotti established himself as chief conductor of the turin opera and went on to become chief conductor of munich s radio orchestra. at la fenice viotti was widely acclaimed for his production of the french composer massenet s thais and some of his other productions included giuseppe verdi s la traviata and richard strauss s ariadne auf naxos. the last opera he directed at la fenice was massenet s le roi de lahore. viotti s debut at the new york s metropolitan opera came in 2000 with giacomo puccini s madame butterfly followed by la boheme la traviata and fromental halevy s la juive. giampaolo vianello superintendent of the fenice theatre foundation said: i am filled with extreme sadness because other than a great artist he is missed as a friend - a main character in the latest joyous times during the rebirth of our theatre. viotti s last public performance was on 5 february when he conducted vincenzo bellini s norma at the vienna state opera.,entertainment
149,1442,mobile games come of age the bbc news website takes a look at how games on mobile phones are maturing. a brief round-up follows but you can skip straight to the reviews by clicking on the links below. part two will follow on monday. reviews of call of duty splinter cell - pandora tomorrow lord of the rings and pocket kingdom will follow on monday if you think of snake when some mentions mobile games then you could be in for a bit of a surprise. this is because mobile games have come a long way in a very short time. even before nokia s n-gage game phone launched in late 2003 many mobile operators were realising that there was an audience looking for something to play on their handset. and given that many more people own handsets than own portable game playing gadgets such as the gameboy it could be a very lucrative market. that audience includes commuters wanting something to fill their time on the way home game fans looking for a bit of variety and hard core gamers who like to play every moment they can. life for all these types of player has got immeasurably better in the last year as the numbers of titles you can download to your phone has snowballed. now sites such as wireless gaming review list more than 200 different titles for some uk networks and the ranges suit every possible taste. there are ports of pc and arcade classics such as space invaders lunar lander and bejewelled. there are also versions of titles such as colin mcrae rally that you typically find on pcs and consoles. there are shoot-em-ups adventure games strategy titles and many novel games only found on handsets. rarely now does an action movie launch without a mobile game tie-in. increasingly such launches are all part of the promotional campaign for a film understandable when you realise that a good game can rack up millions of downloads. the returns can be pretty good when you consider that some games cost £5. what has also helped games on mobiles thrive is the fact that it is easier than ever to get hold of them thanks to technology known as wap push. by sending a text message to a game maker you can have the title downloaded to your handset. far better than having to navigate through the menus of most mobile operator portals. the number of handsets that can play games has grown hugely too. almost half of all phones now have java onboard meaning that they can play the increasingly sophisticated games that are available - even the ones that use 3d graphics. the minimum technology specifications that phones should adhere to are getting more sophisticated which means that games are too. now double key presses are possible making familiar tactics such as moving and strafing a real option. the processing power on handsets means that physics on mobile games is getting more convincing and the graphics are improving too. some game makers are also starting to take advantage of the extra capabilities in a mobile. many titles particularly racing games let you upload your best time to see how you compare to others. usually you can get hold of their best time and race against a ghost or shadow to see if you can beat them. a few games also let you take on people in real time via the network or if you are sitting close to them via bluetooth short-range radio technology. with so much going on it is hard to do justice to the sheer diversity of what is happening. but these two features should help point you in the direction of the game makers and give you an idea of where to look and how to get playing. too fast too furious (digital bridges) as soon as i start playing this i remember why i never play driving games - because i m rubbish at them. no matter if i drive the car via joystick or keypad i just cannot get the hang of braking for corners or timing a rush to pass other drivers. the game rewards replay because to advance you have to complete every section within a time limit. winning gives you cash for upgrades. graphically the rolling road is a convincing enough evocation of speed as the palm trees and cactus whip by and
150,708,m&s cuts prices by average of 24% marks & spencer has cut prices in london and the regions by an average of 24% according to research from a city investment bank. dresdner kleinwort wasserstein said: in spite of the snow in the uk it still feels very early to be cutting prices of spring merchandise. stuart rose head of m&s said last year its prices were too high. we are bringing in ranges at new price points to compete against mid-market retailers like next said m&s. next is one of m&s s biggest competitors and the move may force it to lower prices. drkw said the cuts are either to clear stock or could indicate a longer term step change in pricing in certain areas at m&s. either way this cannot be good news for m&s margin it added. we have brought in quite a lot of new clothing at new price points as part of stuart rose s strategy of quality style -and price said the m&s spokesman. many analysts believe february is proving to be a difficult month for retailers and british retail consortium figures due in a few weeks are expected to reflect the tough trading environment. separately investment bank goldman sachs produced reseach showing that a basket of 35 m&s goods is now 11% above the high-street average compared with 43% higher last year. it has been a strange week for m&s which on tuesday received a statement from philip green the billionaire bhs owner confirming he was not rebidding for the company. this was followed the same day by mark paulsmeier a south african financier issuing a press release saying his paulsmeier group was interested in m&s. a sudden spike in m&s s share price followed. however an m&s spokesman said on sunday it had no evidence that mr paulsmeier had lined up sufficient finance for a bid. he also said the takeover panel and the uk s financial watchdog the financial services authority had been in touch with m&s at the beginning of the week to find out what it knew about the paulsmeier developments.,business
151,515,net regulation still possible the blurring of boundaries between tv and the internet raises questions of regulation watchdog ofcom has said. content on tv and the internet is set to move closer this year as tv-quality video online becomes a norm. at a debate in westminster the net industry considered the options. lord currie chairman of super-regulator ofcom told the panel that protecting audiences would always have to be a primary concern for the watchdog. despite having no remit for the regulation of net content disquiet has increased among internet service providers as speeches made by ofcom in recent months hinted that regulation might be an option. at the debate organised by the internet service providers association (ispa) lord currie did not rule out the possibility of regulation. the challenge will arise when boundaries between tv and the internet truly blur and then there is a balance to be struck between protecting consumers and allowing them to assess the risks themselves he said. adopting the rules that currently exist to regulate tv content or self-regulation which is currently the practice of the net industry will be up for discussion. some studies suggest that as many as eight million households in the uk could have adopted broadband by the end of 2005 and the technology opens the door to tv content delivered over the net. more and more internet service providers and media companies are streaming video content on the web. bt has already set up an entertainment division to create and distribute content that could come from sources such as bskyb itv and the bbc. head of the division andrew burke spoke about the possibility of creating content for all platforms. how risque can i be in this new age with celebrity chefs serving up more expletives than hot dinners surely i can push it to the limit he said. in fact he said if content has been requested by consumers and they have gone to lengths to download it then maybe it should be entirely regulation free. internet service providers have long claimed no responsibility for the content they carry on their servers since the law commission dubbed them mere conduits back in 2002. this defence does not apply if they have actual knowledge of illegal content and have failed to remove it. the level of responsibility they have has been tested in several high-profile legal cases. richard ayers portal director at tiscali said there was little point trying to regulate the internet because it would be impossible. huge changes are afoot in 2005 he predicted as companies such as the bbc offer tv content over the net. the bbc s planned interactive media player which will give surfers the chance to download programmes such as eastenders and top gear will make net tv mainstream and raise a whole new set of questions he said. one of these will be about the vast sums of money involved in maintaining the network to supply such a huge quantity of data and could herald a new digital licence fee said mr ayers. as inappropriate net content most obviously pornography viewed by children continues to dominate the headlines internet regulation remains a political issue said mp richard allan liberal democrat spokesman on it. mr allan thinks that the answer could lie somewhere between the cries of impossible to regulate and just apply offline laws online . in fact instead of seeing regulation brought online the future could bring an end to regulation as we know it for all tv content. after lord currie departed the panel agreed that this could be a reality and that for the internet people power is likely to reign. if content is on-demand consumers have pulled it up rather than had pushed to them then it is the consumers choice to watch it. there is no watershed on the net said mr burke.,tech
152,118,chancellor rallies labour voters gordon brown has issued a rallying cry telling supporters the stakes are too high to stay at home or protest vote in the forthcoming general election. the chancellor said the vote - expected to fall on 5 may - will give a clear and fundamental choice between labour investment and conservative cuts. speaking at labour s spring conference in gateshead mr brown claimed the nhs was not safe in conservative hands. he said tory plans to cut £35bn tax would cut deep into public service . to a packed audience at gateshead s sage centre the chancellor said the cuts proposed by shadow chancellor oliver letwin were the equivalent of sacking every teacher gp and nurse in the country he told activists. laying into the conservative s record in government he said: i give you this promise - with labour britain will never return to the mistakes of erm and 10% inflation 15% interest rates £3bn in lost reserves 250 000 repossessed one million in negative equity and three million unemployed. never again tory boom and bust. this will be the central dividing line at the election between a conservative party taking britain back and planning deep cuts of £35bn in our services and a labour government taking britain forward which on a platform of stability will reform and renew our hospitals schools and public services and i am proud to say spend by 2008 £60bn more. turning to the economy the chancellor pledged to continue economic stability and growth in a third term in power. he said after seven years labour had transformed from a party not trusted with the economy to the only party trusted with the economy . it was now a party not just of employees but of employers and managers he said. in the speech - which prompted a standing ovation from an audience clearly warm to mr brown - he also promised to end teenage unemployment within the next five years. he also highlighted plans for 100% debt relief for the world s poorest countries a national minimum wage for 16 and 17-year-olds and the creation of a network of children s centres and flexibility in maternity leave. the prime minister is to take part later on saturday in an interactive question and answer session fielding queries sent in by e-mail text message and telephone as part of labour s attempt to engage the public in their campaign.,politics
153,1513,half-life 2 sweeps bafta awards pc first person shooter half-life 2 has won six bafta awards including best game and best online game. the title developed by valve was released last year to universal acclaim - receiving special praise for its immersive plot and physics engine. the game also won baftas for best action adventure best pc game art direction and animation. burnout 3 won three awards in the categories for racing technical direction and best playstation 2 game. grant dean chairman of the bafta games awards said at a ceremony in london on tuesday: the last year has been a great year for the interactive entertainment industry. these awards reflect the enormous achievements progress and diversity that we have seen in that time. halo 2 won the best xbox game category while prince of persia: warrior within was adjudged the best gamecube title. the sports award went to konami s pro evolution soccer 4. bafta said the significant feature of this year s awards was the number of non-traditional games . the originality award was won by playstation 2 title singstar while the children s award went to gamecube bongo rhythm game donkey konga. the handheld award went to colin mcrae rally 2005 while the mobile category was won by blue tooth byplanes. the audio award was won by call of duty: finest hour and hitman: contracts won the music award.,tech
154,1227,jol joy at professional cup win tottenham manager martin jol acclaimed his players for their patience in their 3-0 fa cup fifth-round victory over a determined nottingham forest side. we had the initiative but it wasn t easy. it was a professional sort of performance the dutchman said. forest played with a lot of players behind the ball in the first half but at 2-0 they were dead and buried. looking ahead to the quarter-final jol said: newcastle have got a very good side and they are always difficult. however he added that his side who are four places above the magpies in the premiership were not afraid of anyone . robbie keane skipper for the night and scorer of the crucial second goal echoed his manager s sentiments on the last-eight match. they re on a high but we re confident and in the last few games we ve played well and hopefully we can go there and get the win he said. he conceded the win over forest which included goals from noe pamarot and mido was not pretty to watch. it wasn t the best display but it s all about the result the irishman said. we knew it was going to be difficult with the conditions. the pitch wasn t the best but we still tried to pass it. we dug in and the gaffer said to us at half-time to keep being patient and that the goal will come. forest manager gary megson conceded his team did not deserve anything after a poor performance. if you play like we did and concede two goals from corners you re going to have an uphill battle against a very good team he said. if we defend in the championship like we did we ll not get another point. we were organised but i felt at times we thought the system would be enough but we didn t look like scoring.,sport
155,1196,duff ruled out of barcelona clash chelsea s damien duff has been ruled out of wednesday s champions league clash with barcelona at the nou camp. duff sustained a knee injury in the fa cup defeat at newcastle and manager jose mourinho said: he cannot run. his injury is very painful so he is out. but mourinho has revealed defender willian gallas and striker didier drogba will be in the starting line-up. the blues boss took the unusual step of naming his side a day before the match with jole cole named in midfield. mourinho said: we have one more session but i think drogba will play and gallas will play. drogba trained on monday with no problems and will do the same on tuesday. gallas feels he can play and wants to play. we are protecting him still but he will be okay to play. drogba chelsea s £24m striker has missed the last three weeks through injury. cech ferreira carvalho terry gallas tiago makelele lampard cole drogba gudjohnsen.,sport
156,635,mutu to hold talks with juventus disgraced former chelsea striker adrian mutu is to begin talks with juventus as he looks for a new club. mutu will be in our club s main stand to watch the match between juventus and fiorentina said a juventus official who declined to be named. then he will meet some important people of the club he added. mutu 25 sacked by chelsea and banned for seven months for taking cocaine is now represented by alessandro moggi son of juve manager luciano moggi. mutu banned by the english fa can resume playing next may. he is to undergo a drug education and rehabilitation programme. mutu wants to train with romanian side dinamo bucharest whilst serving his ban say the bucharest side.,sport
157,1669,johnson too strong for gb runners britain s kathy butler and hayley yelling were no match for benita johnson in the 51st cross international zornotza in amorebieta spain. butler and yelling finished fourth and fifth as australian world champion johnson romped to a five-second victory in the 6km race ahead of edith masai. masai s fellow kenyan alice timbilil finished third. johnson said: i ran comfortably for the first 3km and then i tried to leave the others but it wasn t an easy task. butler clocked a time of 22 minutes 45 seconds - 22secs behind the winner but four ahead of yelling who last month succeeded paula radcliffe as european champion. johnson will be one of the star attractions at the great edinburghinternational cross country on 15 january.,sport
158,1823,corbett attacks dumbed-down tv ronnie corbett has joined fellow comedy stars victoria wood and david jason in attacking the declining standards of british television programmes. speaking to the radio times the two ronnies star said there is too much bad language and reality tv. you get fed up watching shows with not much care and love he complained. corbett soon to reunite with ronnie barker for a new two ronnies series also criticised quiz shows like the bbc s they think it s all over. it s just laughing at each other and thinking aren t we clever said the 74-year-old comedian. corbett is the latest comedy star to bemoan the dumbing down of modern tv programmes. in an interview published in the radio times in january victoria wood slated comedian sacha baron cohen for his character ali g s horrible brand of victim humour. with so many good writers and good performers it s a shame people can t just write a script and have other people learn it she said. and last week only fools and horses star david jason criticised british tv for being too safe and too cheap . we ve got to be careful not to dumb down for the audience he said. they shouldn t be sitting at home on the sofa vegetating. corbett said he and barker were always mindful of their family audience while making the two ronnies. our material was good-natured he said. we knew what would upset the average man in the street. there s a lot of swearing on tv today. they even have documentaries with the f-word. corbett goes on to criticise reality programmes where they put people in a house for a fortnight and film them doing everything . the two ronnies ran from 1971 to 1987 and attracted 17 million viewers at its peak. its bespectacled stars will return later this year in the two ronnies sketchbook which will combine classic sketches with newly recorded material. corbett claims he and barker differ from today s celebrities in that they did not allow their success to go to their heads. we were never temperamental fractious or walked out slamming doors he said. we were fussy though he added. we wanted everything done properly.,entertainment
159,483,losing yourself in online gaming online role playing games are time-consuming but enthralling flights from reality. but are some people taking their fantasy lives too seriously when video game world of warcraft hit the shops in europe last week fans wrote in to the bbc website to express their delight - and to offer a warning. an addiction to a game like this is far more costly in time than any substance could impair - keep track of time wrote travis anderson in texas. some of the comments were humorous: this game is so good i m not going to get it there s no way i could limit the hours i d spend playing it wrote charles macintyre from england. but some struck a more worrying tone about the massively multiplayer online role playing game (mmorpg): you need to get out more could be the motto of any mmorpg. shame they are getting more popular as you know this problem is just going to mushroom wrote stuart stanton-davies in huddersfield. scare-mongering articles about addictive video games have existed since the days the first game of pong stopped everyone from working at the atari offices. gaming is like any other pastime - it can quickly become an unhealthy obsession whether it is spending too much time in the gym in front of the television or reading poetry. unfortunately gaming and addiction is a far too easy association to make. however stories about gamers spending 10 to 15 hours a day in front of some video games are becoming more frequent. and the impact that is having on their families is quite distressing for some. massively multiplayer online role playing games - mmorpgs - allow thousands of gamers to share a common experience of sharing fantasy or science fiction worlds. the scope of these games - like warcraft everquest ultima among others - is epic and exploration and adventure is almost infinite. part of the problem is grinding - by which gamers have to perform long-winded mindless tasks to bring up their levels and gain access to more adventure. such open-endedness brings with it a desire to keep playing; not for no reason is everquest (eq) nicknamed evercrack. e hayot writing in the culture blogzine print culture said recently: i used to play the online role-playing game everquest a lot. by a lot i mean probably 15 to 20 hours a week on average and on weeks where i didn t have to work as many as 30 or 40 hours. he says that in the world of online gaming such behaviour wasn t that unusual; lots of people i knew in the game played eq that much . you lie; you don t go into work because you had stuff to do at home ; you cancel or refuse invitations to dinner you spend much less time watching tv (a good thing presumably) he wrote explaining how everquest took over his time. he quit the game he says because he realised life was more fun than everquest. let us be clear - such obsession is rare. but the huge growth in online gaming means a growth in the numbers of people who take their passion for a hobby too far. almost 400 000 people bought a copy of world of warcraft in the first two days on sale earlier this month. only a fraction will descend into obsessives. the thoughts of families and friends of gamers who have been affected by everquest can be found on one blog everquest daily grind. jane who runs the website compiles a chronicle of heart-rending stories. i am actually convinced at this point that there are more than some people who spend more times in mmoprgs than in reality she said. one unnamed correspondent - all are anonymous - wrote: on the rare nights when my husband does come to bed at the same time as i do i find that i am so used to sleeping by myself that it is difficult to get to sleep with another body laying next to me. i can t talk to him while he is playing. there is absolutely no point as he doesn t hear me or is so distracted that i get a ummm... ya a few minutes after i ask him a question. gaming widows has become a comedic term for women who have been shut out by male gamers. but for some it is not in th
160,1477,dollar slides ahead of new year the us dollar has hit a new record low against the euro and analysts predict that more declines are likely in 2005. disappointing economic reports dented the currency which had been rallying after european policy makers said they were worried about the euro s strength. earlier on thursday the japanese yen touched its lowest versus the euro on concerns about economic growth in asia. currency markets have been volatile over the past week because of technical and automated trading and light demand. this has amplified reactions analysts said adding that they expect markets to become less jumpy in january. people want to go into the weekend and the new year positioned for a weaker buck said tim mazanec director of foreign exchange at investors bank and trust. the dollar slid to a record $1.3666 versus the euro on thursday before bouncing back to $1.3636. against the yen the dollar was trading down at $103.05. the yen meanwhile dropped to 141.60 per euro in afternoon trading. it later strengthened to 140.55. investors are concerned about the size of the us trade and budget deficits and are betting that george w bush s administration will allow the dollar to weaken despite saying they favour a strong currency. also playing on investors minds are mixed reports about the state of the us economy. on thursday disappointing business figures from chicago brought a sudden end to a rally in the value of the dollar. the national association of purchasing management-chicago said its index dropped to 61.2 more than analysts had expected. german chancellor gerhard schroeder and italian prime minister silvio berlusconi voiced concerns about the strength of the euro. mr berlusconi said the euro s strength was absolutely worrying for italian exports. mr schroeder said in a newspaper article that stability in foreign exchange markets required a correction of global economic imbalances.,business
161,509,when invention turns to innovation it is unlikely that future technological inventions are going to have the same kind of transformative impact that they did in the past. when history takes a look back at great inventions like the car and transistor they were defining technologies which ultimately changed people s lives substantially. but says nick donofrio senior vice-president of technology and manufacturing at ibm it was not the thing itself that actually improved people s lives. it was all the social and cultural changes that the discovery or invention brought with it. the car brought about a crucial change to how people lived in cities giving them the ability to move out into the suburbs whilst having mobility and access. when we talk about innovation and creating real value in the 21st century we have to think more like this but faster mr donofrio told the bbc news website after giving the royal academy of engineering 2004 hinton lecture. the invention discovery is likely not to have the same value as the transistor had or the automobile had. the equivalent of those things will be invented or discovered but by themselves they are just not going to able to generate real business value or wealth as these things did. these are not altogether new ideas and academics have been exploring how technologies impact wider society for years. but what it means for technology companies is that a new idea method or device will have to have a different kind thinking behind it so that people see the value that innovative technology has for them. we are in a different phase now when it comes to technology argues mr donofrio industry week s 2003 technology leader of the year. the hype and over-promise is over and now technology leaders have to demonstrate that things work make sense make a difference and life gets better as a result. in the dotcom era there was something that was jumping up in your face every five minutes. somebody had a new thing that would awe you. you weren t quite sure that it did anything you weren t quite sure if you needed it you weren t quite sure if it had value for it but it was cool. but change and innovation in technology that people will see affecting their daily lives he says will come about slowly subtlety and in ways that will no longer be in your face . it will creep in pervasively. nanotechnologies will play a key part in this kind of pervasive environment in all sorts of ways through new superconducting materials to coatings power and memory storage. i am a very big believer in the evolution of this industry into a pervasive environment in an incredible network infrastructure says mr donofrio. pervasive computing is where wireless computing rules and where jewellery clothes and everyday objects become the interfaces instead of bulky wires screens and keyboards. the net becomes a true network that is taken for granted and just there like air. people will not have to do anything to stay connected. people will know their lives are just better says mr donofrio. trillions of devices will be connected to the net in ways people will not know. natural interfaces will develop devices will shape your persona and our technologically underused voices could be telling our jewellery to sort out the finances. ultimately there will be says mr donofrio no value in being computer illiterate . to some it sounds like a technological world gone mad. to mr donofrio it is a vision innovation that will happen. behind this vision should be a rich robust network capability and deep computing says mr donofrio. deep computing is the ability to perform lots of complex calculations on massive amounts of data and integral to this concept is supercomputing. it has value according to ibm because it helps humans work out extremely complex problems to come up with valuable solutions like how to refine millions of net search results finding cures for diseases or understanding of exactly how a gene or protein operates. but pervasive computing pres
162,667,steady job growth continues in us the us created fewer jobs than expected in december but analysts said that the dip in hiring was not enough to derail the world s biggest economy. according to labor department figures 157 000 new jobs were added last month. that took 2004 s total to 2.2 million the best showing in five years. job creation was one of last year s main concerns for the us economy. while worries still remain the conditions are set for steady growth in 2005 analysts said. the unemployment rate stayed at 5.4% in december and about 200 000 jobs will need to be created each month if that figure is to drop. it was a respectable report said michael moran analyst at daiwa securities. payroll growth in december was a little lighter than the consensus forecast but we had upward revisions to the prior two months and an increase in manufacturing employment. manufacturing is a cyclical area of the economy and if it s showing job growth it s a good indication that the economy is on a solid growth track. that means that the federal reserve is likely to continue its policy of raising interest rates. the fed lifted borrowing costs five times last year to 2.25% citing evidence the us economic recovery was becoming more robust. job creation was one of last year s main concerns for the us economy and proved to be a main topic of debate in the us presidential election. while demand for workers is far from booming the conditions are set for steady growth. overall compared to the previous year it looks great it just keeps going stronger and stronger and i expect that to be the case in 2005 said kurt karl economist at swiss re in new york. meanwhile economists cautioned against reading too much into data from the federal reserve showing an unexpected $8.7bn drop in consumer debt in november. a fall in consumer spending which makes up about two-thirds of all us economic activity could help limit the extent of any future interest rate rises. but economists said there could be a number of reasons for a fall in the borrowing which include credit cards and personal loans while noting that such figures can vary on a month-to-month basis.,business
163,127,ibm frees 500 software patents computer giant ibm says 500 of its software patents will be released into the open development community. the move means developers will be able to use the technologies without paying for a licence from the company. ibm described the step as a new era in how it dealt with intellectual property and promised further patents would be made freely available. the patents include software for a range of practices including text recognition and database management. traditional technology business policy is to amass patents and despite ibm s announcement the company continues to follow this route. ibm was granted 3 248 patents in 2004 more than any other firm in the us the new york times reports. for each of the past 12 years ibm has been granted more us patents than any other company. ibm has received 25 772 us patents in that period and reportedly has more than 40 000 current patents. in a statement dr john e. kelly ibm senior vice president technology and intellectual property said: true innovation leadership is about more than just the numbers of patents granted. it s about innovating to benefit customers partners and society. our pledge today is the beginning of a new era in how ibm will manage intellectual property. in the past ibm has supported the non-commercial operating system linux although critics have said this was done only as an attempt to undermine microsoft. the company said it wanted to encourage other firms to release patents into what it called a patent commons . adam jollans ibm s world-wide linux strategy manager said the move was a genuine attempt to encourage innovation. we believe that releasing these patents will result in innovation moving more quickly. this is about encouraging collaboration and following a model much like academia. mr jollans likened the plan for a patent commons to the way the internet was developed and said everyone could take advantage of the result of collaboration. the internet s impact has been on everyone. the benefits are there for everyone to take advantage of. stuart cohen chief executive of us firm open source development labs said the move could mean a change in the way companies deal with patents. i think other companies will follow suit he said. but not everyone was as supportive. florian mueller campaign manager of a group lobbying toprevent software patents becoming legal in the european union dismissed ibm s move as insubstantial. it s just diversionary tactics wrote mr mueller who leadsnosoftwarepatents.com in a message on the group s website. let s put this into perspective: we re talking aboutroughly one percent of ibm s worldwide patent portfolio. they filethat number of patents in about a month s time he added. ibm will continue to hold the 500 patents but it has pledged to seek no royalties from the patents. the company said it would not place any restrictions on companies groups or individuals who use them in open-source projects. open source software is developed by programmers who offer the source code - the origins of the program - for free and allow others to adapt or improve the software. end users have the right to modify and redistribute the software as well as the right to package and sell the software. other areas covered by the patents released by ibm include storage management simultaneous multiprocessing image processing networking and e-commerce.,tech
164,1316,tokyo says deflation controlled the japanese government has forecast that the country s economic growth will slow to 1.6% in the next fiscal year starting in april 2005. while it predicts this fall from the current 2.1% level it said it was making progress on ending deflation. the figures were given by economics minister heizo takenaka who said the economy would grow by 2% in 2006/07. he said the consumer price index (cpi) would rise 0.1% in the next fiscal year the first gain since 2000/01. we are attempting to make real economic conditions better and to overcome deflation. i think we are on track said mr takenaka. deflation - or falling consumer prices - has plagued japan for more than five years. to ease the problem the bank of japan has regularly flooded the money market with excess cash to keep short term interest rates at 0% in an attempt to spur economic activity.,business
165,1983,the gaming world in 2005 if you have finished doom 3 half life 2 and halo 2 don t worry. there s a host of gaming gems set for release in 2005. world of warcraft the us reception to this game from developers blizzard has been hugely enthusiastic with the title topping its competitors in the area of life-eating high-fantasy massively multiplayer role-player gaming. solid diverse accessible and visually striking it may well open up the genre like never before. if nothing else it will develop a vast and loyal community. released 25 february on pc. ico 2 (working title) ico remains a benchmark for ps2 gaming a title that took players into a uniquely atmospheric and artistic world of adventure. the (spiritual) sequel has visuals that echo those of the original but promises to expand the ico world with hero wanda taking on a series of giants. the other known working title is wanda and colossus. release date to be confirmed on ps2. the legend of zelda the charismatic cel imagery has been scrapped in favour of a dark detailed aesthetic (realism isn t quite the right word) that connects more with ocarina of time. link resumes his more teenage incarnation too though enemies elements and moves look familiar from the impressive trailer that has been released. horseback adventuring across a vast land is promised. release date to be confirmed on gamecube. advance wars ds the uk nintendo ds launch line-up is still to be confirmed at time of writing but titles that exploit its two-screen and touch capacity like warioware touched! and sega s feel the magic are making a strong impression in other territories. personally i can t wait for the latest advance wars the franchise that has been the icing on the cake of nintendo handheld gaming during the past few years. release date to be confirmed on ds. s.t.a.l.k.e.r. following in the high-spec footsteps of far cry and half-life 2 this looks like the key upcoming pc first-person shooter (with role-playing elements). the fact that it is inspired in part by andrei tarkovsky s enigmatic 1979 masterpiece stalker and set in 2012 in the disaster zone a world of decay and mutation makes it all the more intriguing. released 1 march on pc. metal gear solid: snake eater more hideo kojima serious stealth featuring action in the soviet-controlled jungle in 1964. the game see snake having to survive on his wits in the jungle including eating wildlife. once again expect cinematic cut scenes and polished production values. released march on ps2. dead or alive ultimate tecmo s team ninja are back with retooled and revamped versions of dead or alive 1 and 2. here s the big big deal though - they re playable over xbox live. released 11 march on xbox. knights of the old republic ii looks set to build on the acclaimed original star wars role playing game with new characters new force powers and a new set of moral decisions despite a different developer. released 11 february on xbox and pc.,tech
166,598,dvd review: harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban this third harry potter film brought a change of director and a dramatic visual shake-up that really shines on dvd. gone are the warm bright colours found in the two earlier films alfonso cuaron brings in a bleak and cold feel that is simply gorgeous - and looks even better here than in the cinema. it is all part of the progression of harry s story into darker areas but you ll spend time just marvelling at the beautiful hogwarts landscape. this is the first potter film where you get so lost in the screen adaptation that you forget the book. it is the third year at hogwarts and studies are interrupted as they always are by a calamity that only harry ron and hermione can put right. it sounds corny. but harry is no longer the winsome hero he is a moody teenager and daniel radcliffe pulls it off very well. emma watson is ever better as hermione and the young stars are joined by the usual myriad famous actors including gary oldman and emma thompson. the film itself is the reason to buy this dvd. but it is laden with behind-the-scenes extras including funny if shallow interviews with all the main cast. but what seems like a long list of features can be swiftly whittled down to the few that you are going to watch. younger viewers will go for the games which include a magic you may have missed memory test and crookshanks chasing off after scabbers. adult viewers will ignore those and go straight to the deleted scenes. you will understand why they were deleted but it is fun to see more footage - and not have to hunt through endless menus to find it as we did on the first harry potter dvd. the most interesting pieces are an interview with jk rowling in creating the vision and conjuring a scene a short featurette about the making of the film s big moments.,entertainment
167,1654,file-swappers ready new network legal attacks on websites that help people swap pirated films have forced the development of a system that could be harder to shut down. one site behind the success of the bittorrent file-swapping system is producing its own software that avoids the pitfalls of the earlier program. a test version of the new exeem program will be released in late january. but doubts remain about the new networks ability to ensure files being swapped are quality copies . in late december movie studios launched a legal campaign against websites that helped people swap pirated movies using the bittorrent network. the legal campaign worked because of the way that bittorrent is organised. that file-sharing system relies on links called trackers that point users to others happy to share the file they are looking for. shutting down sites that listed trackers crippled the bittorrent network. one of the sites shut down by the legal campaign was suprnova.org which helped boost the popularity of the bittorrent system by checking that trackers led to the movies or tv programmes they claimed to. now the man behind suprnova.org who goes by the nickname sloncek is preparing to release software for a new file-swapping network dubbed exeem. in an interview with novastream web radio sloncek said exeem would combine ideas from the bittorrent and kazaa file-sharing systems. like bittorrent exeem will have trackers that help point people toward the file they want. like kazaa these trackers will be held by everyone. there will be no centrally maintained list. this said sloncek should make the system less vulnerable to legal action aimed at stopping people swapping pirated movies and music. the exeem software has been under development for a few months and is currently being tested by a closed group of users. an early public version of the software should be available before february. sloncek said that currently only a windows version of the software was in development. there were no plans for a linux or mac version. he said that costs of writing the software will be paid for by adverts appearing in the finished version of the program. despite suprnova administrator sloncek s involvement with exeem the basic technology appears to have been developed by a firm called swarm systems that is based on caribbean island saint kitts and nevis. users of the exeem system will be able to rate files being swapped to help stop the spread of fake files sloncek told novastream. dr johan pouwelse a researcher at the delft university of technology who studies peer-to-peer networks said exeem was the next evolution in file-sharing systems. but he said it would struggle to be as popular as bittorrent and suprnova because early versions were not taking enough care to make sure good copies of files were being shared. exeem cannot prevent pollution he said. the rating system in exeem seems flawed because it is easy to insert both fake files and fake ratings he said. studies have shown that organisations working for record labels and movie studios have worked to undermine kazaa by putting in fakes. by contrast moderators on suprnova made sure files being shared were high quality. the moderators are the difference between having a system that works and one that s full of crap like kazaa he said. there is a fundamental tension between distribution and integrity he said. mr pouwelse said that future versions of file-sharing systems are likely to incorporate some kind of distributed reputation system that lets moderators prove who they are to the network and rate which files are worth downloading. when big files were being shared moderation systems were key said mr pouwelse. he added that the legal attacks on bittorrent had driven people away from sites such as suprnova but many users had simply migrated to other tracker listing sites many of which have seen huge increases in traffic. it s hard to compete with free he said. no-one from the motion picture association of america was immediately available for comm
168,1232,hollywood campaign hits websites movie studio efforts to stop pirated films being shared on peer-to-peer networks have claimed a high-profile victim. the campaign of legal action is thought to be behind the closure of the widely used suprnova.org website. the site was the most popular place for people swapping and sharing links for the bittorrent network. a recent study showed that more than half of the peer-to-peer traffic during june was for the bittorrent system. in a message posted on suprnova.org on sunday the site s controllers said the site was closing down for good in the way that we all know it . if the site did return the message said it would not be hosting any more torrent links. it continued: we are very sorry for this but there was no other way we have tried everything. the only parts that would keep going said the operators of the suprnova site were the discussion forums and net chat channels. the site is thought to have closed following an announcement by the motion picture association of america that it was launching legal action against those operating bittorrent servers rather than end users. because of the way that bittorrent works server sites do not host the actual file being shared instead they host a link that points people to others that have it. by targeting servers the mpaa hopes to cripple bittorrent s ability to share files. in the opening days of the mpaa campaign the organisation filed 100 lawsuits against operators of bittorrent server site. the launching of the legal seems to be having an effect. phoenix torrents another popular bittorrent site has also decided to shut down and though it gave no reasons for the closure it is thought to be motivated by the threat of legal action. last week finnish police raided a bittorrent site based in the country that according to reports let 10 000 users shared pirated films software music and games.,tech
169,703,escaped prisoner report ordered first minister jack mcconnell has ordered a report on the decision to allow a paranoid schizophrenic knife attacker to go on a visit unguarded. michael ferguson 36 escaped after being allowed out of the high-security carstairs unit. the snp s nicola sturgeon has demanded to know who was responsible for signing off the leave. the scottish executive said ministers would be notified but it would not be common practice to sign approval. an executive spokesman said the health department and the state hospital itself would work together on preparing the report. ministerial responsibility for carstairs rests with rhona brankin the deputy health minister. ms brankin said: the first minister has called for a review of what has happened we need to talk to the state hospital and we need to reflect on this. ms sturgeon has written to mr mcconnell asking for clarification on the move to allow the prisoner out. she said questions must be answered about his escape if the public is to be reassured about safety. police are still searching for ferguson who failed to return after a trip to east kilbride on monday. the scottish national party s parliamentary leader argued that under the law authorisation of ferguson s leave of absence would have come directly from ministers. she said: the scottish executive seemed to indicate yesterday that the escape of mr ferguson was a matter for carstairs. however my understanding is that under the mental health legislation the decision to grant this patient - and any restricted patient - leave of absence would have required direct and specific authorisation by scottish ministers. she added: i have written to the first minister today asking for confirmation of that fact. i have also asked him to confirm which minister would routinely take decisions of this nature and what information they are based on. this is not an attempt to apportion blame but to ensure a better understanding of the decision making process in such important and sensitive cases. police said ferguson posed a danger to the public. bbc scotland political correspondent glenn campbell said the first minister had ordered an urgent report into the situation. he said: we understand from the executive that in this case no individual minister signed off the approval for michael ferguson to be released unescorted from carstairs. the executive concedes that it is up to scottish ministers they have a legal responsibility for approving this sort of leave but they say routinely it is specialised officials that make that decision and simply inform ministers that they have taken it. but at that stage presumably ministers can ask hard questions and can ask for reassurances that the patient is not a serious danger to the public or that any risk has been minimised. scottish conservative leader david mcletchie said earlier it was almost beyond belief that this has been allowed to happen . the executive spokeswoman said the recommendation for leave was agreed by a psychiatric advisor in conjunction with officials on behalf of ministers . she said: ministers were told of that notified of it but it would not be common practice for them to sign it off. they do have statutory responsibility but the common practice has been that people who work with the patient and have the best knowledge about risk would make that decision. ferguson who slashed a man in a doctors surgery in coatbridge in 1994 had been out to see his fiancée annabella holmes 47 whom he met when she was a patient at the high security complex in south lanarkshire. he is described as being 5ft 9ins tall slim with blond hair blue eyes and a fair complexion. ferguson was wearing a black jacket grey jeans black jumper and black shoes when he was last seen. he has multiple fading tattoos on his left hand and a very faded tear tattoo under his left eye. ms holmes is not missing but there have been no sightings of ferguson since monday. strathclyde police asked anyone who spots ferguson to contact sergeant
170,2051,novartis hits acquisition trail swiss drugmaker novartis has announced 5.65bn euros ($7.4bn; £3.9bn) of purchases to make its sandoz unit the world s biggest generic drug producer. novartis which last month forecast record sales for 2005 said it had bought all of germany s hexal. it also acquired 67.7% of hexal s us affiliate eon labs and offered to buy the remaining shares for $31 each. novartis said that it would be able to make cost savings of about $200m a year following the acquisitions. novartis shares rose 1% to 57.85 swiss francs in early trading. the deal will see novartis sandoz business overtake israel s teva pharmaceuticals as the world s biggest maker of generics. based on 2004 figures the newly merged producer would have sales of more than $5bn the company estimated. novartis said that it would merge a number of departments adding that there may be job cuts. the strong growth outlook for sandoz which will create jobs is expected to partially compensate for necessary reductions in the work force the firm said in a statement. generic drugs are chemically identical to their more expensive branded rivals. producers such as sandoz can copy the branded products usually after their patent protection expires and can sell them more cheaply as they do not have to pay research and development cost. there are more than 150 generic drugmakers worldwide and analysts have predicted consolidation in a market that they call fragmented. however not all analysts were initially convinced about the deal. this is a very expensive acquisition birgit kuhlhoff from sal oppenheim investment bank told reuters. i find it strange that they are making acquisitions in exactly those markets where they suffered price pressure.,business
171,451,labour in constituency race row labour s choice of a white candidate for one of the uk s most multi-racial seats proves the need for all-black short lists says a race group. local councillor lyn brown was selected for west ham east london in a contest between two white and five ethnic minority women. an operation black vote spokesman said they now wanted to meet labour party chairman ian mccartney for discussions. mr mccartney recently announced party consultation on all-black shortlists. however labour has so far unable been unable to comment on the implications of the west ham result. ashok vishwanathan of operation black vote which aims to increase ethnic minorities participation in the political process and their representation said the result again showed all-women shortlists were not effective in getting minority women selected. i think all-black shortlists are the only way to cut to the chase and address the lack of minority candidates mr vishwanathan said. last month the chairman of the commission for racial equality (cre) also called for ethnic minority shortlists in certain circumstances. a cre spokesman said the organisation had nothing to add on the shortlist issue specifically but would be working with all the political parties to address the under-representation of ethnic minorities in parliament. we will be raising it with each of the party leaders on a formal basis and helping them find the most appropriate way forward the spokesman said. ethnic minorities make up 8% of the united kingdom population but only 2% of mps - 13 out of 659 - are from a visible minority group. twelve of them represent labour and one is a liberal democrat. if ethnic minorities were represented in the house of commons in proportion to their numbers in the population there would be 42 ethnic minority mps.,politics
172,1924,deutsche telekom sees mobile gain german telecoms firm deutsche telekom saw strong fourth quarter profits on the back of upbeat us mobile earnings and better-than-expected asset sales. net profit came in at 1.4bn euros (£960m; $1.85bn) a dramatic change from the loss of 364m euros in 2003. sales rose 2.8% to 14.96bn euros. sales of stakes in firms including russia s oao mobile telesystems raised 1.17bn euros. this was more than expected and helped to bring debt down to 35.8bn euros. a year ago debt was more than 11bn euros higher. t-mobile usa the company s american mobile business made a strong contribution to profits. it s a seminal achievement that they cut debt so low. that gives them some head room to invest in growth now said hannes wittig telecoms analyst at dresdner kleinwort wasserstein. the company also said it would resume paying a dividend after two years in which it focused on cutting debt.,business
173,852,japan s ageing workforce: built to last in his twenties he battled tuberculosis for eight years then went on to run his own clothing business before marrying in his late thirties. and the 101-year-old torao toshitsune has eaten raw fish pretty much every day throughout his life. mr toshitsune is one of japan s 23 000 centenarians - a club that is growing by 13% annually and where the oldest member is 114. at his neat osaka detached house where he lives with one of his sexagenarian daughters mr toshitsune keeps a regular routine of copying out buddhist sutras and preparing the traditional japanese tea ceremony. between tasks this remarkably active senior citizen reveals what his next goal is: well what s most important for me is to be japan s number one. mr toshitsune wants to outlive everyone. and when it comes to longevity japan as a country appears to be doing just that. women can expect to live until 85 men until 78 four years longer than americans and europeans. on the outskirts of kyoto 83-year-old yuji shimizu contemplates this phenomenon during a round of golf with his younger friends who are in their seventies. i think this is because the food industry and the environment have improved he remarks. on average we can live longer. whether it s the diet or the traditional family structure where roles were clearly defined or just something in the genes japan s elderly are remarkable. but while life may be a game of golf for mr shimizu his grandchildren have huge problems ahead. japan is the world s least fertile nation with childbirth rates of just two thirds of that in the us. by 2007 japan s population is expected to peak at 127 million then shrink to under 100 million by the middle of the century. this means 30 million fewer workers at a time when the number of elderly will have almost doubled. in the year 2050 if the birth rate remains the same people over 60 will make up over 30% of the population explains shigeo morioka of the international longevity centre in tokyo. so how will japan s finances stay on track after a decade of economic stagnation and huge deficit spending the public sector debt is already about 140% of the country s gross domestic product (gdp) the highest rate among industrialised countries. the international monetary fund predicts that as the falling birth rate takes grip from 2010 the cost of running japan s welfare state will double to more than 5% of gdp while current account balances will deteriorate by over 2%. but unfortunately japan appears poorly prepared both financially and politically. glen wood vice president of deutsche securities japan asks; who s going to fund the pension fund for the next generation and indeed who are going to be the new japanese worker who is going to build the economy who are going to be the leaders who are going to be the producers of the gdp going forward one option is further welfare reform. another is immigration possibly from the philippines and indonesia. but so far any emerging policy appears restricted to a limited number of nursing staff. standing next to tokyo harbour is a version of new york s statue of liberty. but as yet japan is not ready for an ellis island. japan has never really liked that option in its history and i think it s an option that s becoming more and more plausible and necessary insists mr wood. in japan as in europe which also faces a workforce decline immigration is a very sensitive subject. but for the japanese economy facing 8% fewer consumers by 2050 means slumping domestic sales of cars hi-tech kit and home appliances perhaps even another property crash. of course the japanese could always have more children. the government is currently considering financial rewards for procreative couples similar to those in operation in australia. but there would be no pay back until 2030 when today s babies are taxpayers and the demographic crisis like in europe starts to unfold in 2010. in contrast to japan - and of course the european union - the us populatio
174,1889,abba queen enters music rich list the woman behind the abba musical mamma mia! has joined a list of british-based music millionaires. producer judy craymer is the highest new entry in the sunday times music rich list with a £67m fortune. ms craymer remortgaged her home to finance her idea of a musical based around abba s hits which has since become a global triumph. teenage soul singer joss stone is a new entry on a list of britain s young music millionaires with £5m. ms craymer who developed mamma mia! with playwright catherine johnson and members of abba is at number 31 on the music rich list. but taking the top spot for a second year is former record label boss clive calder whose wealth has risen to £1.3bn. mr calder is the man behind acts including britney spears. he made his fortune by selling his independent label zomba to record giant bmg. former beatle sir paul mccartney is second on the list with £800m - up £40m on last year. andrew lloyd-webber s wealth rose an estimated £300m on last year to £700m while theatre impresario sir cameron mackintosh s fortune rose from £340m to £400m. his recent hits have included the west end show mary poppins. but pop idol mogul simon fuller has seen his wealth plummet from £220m last year to £75m after selling his entertainment company 19 for less than expected according to the sunday times. joss stone the 17-year-old soul singer from devon was a new entry in the young music millionaires list. the list also features charlotte church coldplay daniel bedingfield will young and david and victoria beckham. at number one is dhani harrison son of the late beatle george harrison who has inherited £140m. the beckhams - who qualify thanks to victoria s former singing career - are in second place with £75 million between them - up £10m on last year.,entertainment
175,1695,brown names 16 march for budget chancellor gordon brown will deliver his budget to the house of commons on 16 march the treasury has announced. the budget likely to be the last before the general election will be at about 1230 gmt on that wednesday just after prime minister s question time. the annual event is when the chancellor outlines the government s taxation and broader economic predictions. the tories say it is likely the budget will contain measures to attract votes. the election is expected on 5 may. next month s budget will be mr brown s ninth since labour came to power in 1997. if a may election is called there could be as little as 18 days between the budget and the announcement of a date for the election. a shortened finance bill would have to be rushed through parliament with all-party support to allow the government to continue collecting revenue. the full finance bill with the budget measures in it would then be returned to the commons after the election if labour secures another term in office. tory shadow chancellor oliver letwin said: we can be sure of two things: the budget will contain measures to attract votes and it will not contain the £8 billion of tax rises which independent experts say are inevitable if labour wins the election. as mr brown announced the budget date in a short ministerial statement accountancy firm ernst & young urged him to put politics aside and focus on the long-term requirements of the economy. in the budgets that were given immediately before the last six elections taxes were cut by the incumbent chancellor and in many cases taxes were increased soon after the election result said aidan o carroll e&y s uk head of tax.,politics
176,417,microsoft releases patches microsoft has warned pc users to update their systems with the latest security fixes for flaws in windows programs. in its monthly security bulletin it flagged up eight critical security holes which could leave pcs open to attack if left unpatched. the number of holes considered critical is more than usual. they affect windows programs including internet explorer (ie) media player and instant messaging. four other important fixes were also released. these were considered to be less critical however. if not updated either automatically or manually pc users running the programs could be vulnerable to viruses or other malicious attacks designed to exploit the holes. many of the flaws could be used by virus writers to take over computers remotely install programs change and delete or see data. one of the critical patches microsoft has made available is an important one that fixes some ie flaws. stephen toulouse a microsoft security manager said the flaws were known about and although the firm had not seen any attacks exploiting the flaw he did not rule them out. often when a critical flaw is announced spates of viruses follow because home users and businesses leave the flaw unpatched. a further patch fixes a hole in media player windows messenger and msn messenger which an attacker could use to take control of unprotected machines through .png files. microsoft announces any vulnerabilities in its software every month. the most important ones are those which are classed as critical . its latest releases came the week that the company announced it was to buy security software maker sybari software as part of microsoft s plans to make its own security programs.,tech
177,2125,tate & lyle boss bags top award tate & lyle s chief executive has been named european businessman of the year by a leading business magazine. iain ferguson was awarded the title by us publication forbes for returning one of the uk s venerable manufacturers to the country s top 100 companies. the sugar group had been absent from the ftse 100 for seven years until mr ferguson helped it return to growth. tate s shares have leapt 55% this year boosted by firming sugar prices and sales of its artificial sweeteners. after years of a sagging stock price and a seven-year hiatus from the ftse 100 one of britain s venerable manufacturers has returned to the vaunted index forbes said. mr ferguson took the helm at the company in 2003 after spending most of his career at consumer goods giant unilever. tate & lyle which was an original member of the historic ft-30 index in 1935 operates more than 41 factories and 20 more additional production facilities in 28 countries. previous winners of the forbes award include royal bank of scotland chief executive fred goodwin and former vodafone boss chris gent.,business
178,2087,beer giant swallows russian firm brewing giant inbev has agreed to buy alfa-eco s stake in sun interbrew russia s second-largest brewer for up to 259.7m euros ($353.3m; £183.75m). alfa-eco the venture capital arm of russian conglomerate alfa group has a one-fifth stake in sun interbrew. the deal gives inbev the world s biggest beermaker near-total control over the russian brewer. inbev bought out another partner in august 2004. inbev brands include bass stella artois hoegaarden and staropramen. it employs 77 000 people running operations in over 30 countries across the americas europe and asia pacific. the leuven-based brewery said it would own 97.3% of the voting shares and 98.8% of the non-voting shares of sun interbrew. the deal is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2005. inbev was formed in august 2004 when belgium s interbrew bought brazilian brewer ambev. sun interbrew which employs 8 000 staff owns breweries in eight russian cities - klin ivanovo saransk kursk volzhsky omsk perm and novocheboksarsk. there are also three breweries in ukraine in the cities of chernigov nikolaev and kharkov.,business
179,1274,millions to miss out on the net by 2025 40% of the uk s population will still be without internet access at home says a study. around 23 million britons will miss out on a wide range of essential services such as education and medical information predicts the report by telecoms giant bt. it compares to 27 million or 50% of the uk who are not currently online. the idea that the digital divide will evaporate with time is wishful thinking the report concludes. the study calls on the government and telecoms industry to come up with new ways to lure those that have been bypassed by the digital revolution. although the percentage of britons without home access will have fallen slightly those that remain digital refuseniks will miss out on more the report suggests. as more and more everyday tasks move online and offline services become less comprehensive the divide will become more obvious and more burdensome for those that have not got net access it predicts. the gap between have-nets and have-nots has been much talked about but predictions about how such a divide will affect future generations has been less discussed. bt set out to predict future patterns based on current information and taking account of the way technology is changing. optimists who predict that convergence and the emergence of more user-friendly technology will bridge the digital divide could be way off mark the report suggests. internet access on other devices tends to be something taken up by those who already have it said adrian hosford director of corporate responsibility at bt. costs of internet access have fallen dramatically and coverage in remote areas have vastly improved over the last year but the real barrier remains psychological. there is a hard rump of have-nots who are not engaging with the net. they don t have the motivation or skills or perceive the benefits said mr hosford. as now the most disadvantaged groups are likely to remain among low income families the older generation and the disabled. those on low incomes will account for a quarter of the digital have-nots the disabled will make up 16% and the elderly nearly a third by 2025 the report forecasts. organisations such as bt have a responsibility to help tackle the problem said mr hosford. the telco has seen positive results with its everybody online project which offers internet access to people in eight deprived communities around britain. in one area of cornwall with high levels of unemployment online training helped people rewrite cvs and learn skills to get new jobs explained mr hosford. such grassroot activity addressing the specific needs of individual communities is essential is the problem of the digital divide is to be overcome he said. if we don t address this problem now it will get a lot worse and people will find it more difficult to find jobs education opportunities will be limited and they ll simply not be able to keep up with society he said. the alliance for digital inclusion an independent body with members drawn from government industry and the voluntary sector has recently been set up to tackle some of the issues faced by the digital refuseniks.,tech
180,579,isinbayeva heads for birmingham olympic pole vault champion yelena isinbayeva has confirmed she will take part in the 2005 norwich union grand prix in birmingham on 18 february. everybody knows how much i enjoy competing in britain. i always seem to break records there said isinbayeva. as olympic champion there will be more attention on me this year but hopefully i can respond with another record in birmingham. kelly holmes and carolina kluft are among other athens winners competing. the organisers are hoping that isinbayeva s main rival fellow russian svetlana feofanova will also take part in the event. the pair had a thrilling battle in athens which ended with isinbayeva finally jumping a world record of 4.91m to claim the gold medal. isinbayeva 22 has set 10 world records in the pole vault three of which have come on british soil.,sport
181,398,lawyer attacks anti-terror laws a senior barrister who has resigned in protest over the government s anti-terror laws says the current system is giving britain a bad name. ian macdonald qc quit when the government failed to recognise a house of lords ruling that detaining terror suspects indefinitely is unlawful. he was part of a 19-strong panel who have special security clearance to act for suspected terrorists. five more barristers are now reported to be threatening to resign. mr macdonald told bbc news: the reason why i am resigning is because i fundamentally disagree with locking people up without any trial for an indefinite period on reasonable suspicion. the current legal system is certainly having a very adverse effect on the muslim community in britain and the whole asian community. i think it is giving britain a bad name internationally . under the anti-terrorism crime and security act introduced by the government in 2001 in response to the 11 september attacks foreign nationals suspected of involvement in terrorism who cannot be deported can be held indefinitely without trial. but mr macdonald believes that detainees currently being held should be entitled to a trial by jury. my own view is we need to have a full return to trial by jury a proper criminal trial with proper accusations. as far as i m concerned the government have to start all over again and rethink their whole strategy for dealing with this. he added. the attorney general lord goldsmith will receive a letter of resignation from mr macdonald on monday. according to the independent his resignation is expected to be followed by those of five other barristers - nicholas blake qc andrew nicol qc manjit singh gill qc rick scannell and tom de la mare. they are all believed to be carefully considering their positions on the panel of special advocates who represent detainees before the special immigration appeals commission (siac) - a secure court without a jury which tries terror suspects. mr macdonald said he had no idea whether further resignations would follow. but barry hugill a spokesman for the campaign group liberty told radio 4 s today programme that more lawyers may go. i can assure that there is a distinct possibilty that more lawyers may be resigning he said. they are now in a situation where everything they have been trained to believe in the right to trial by jury has been abandoned and that is what gives some of them sleepless nights. helena kennedy a labour peer and a human rights lawyer said the special advocates main concern was that once they had seen any special intelligence they were not allowed to speak to the detainees. when this whole procedure was being considered immediately after 11 september there was a great deal of argument particularly in the house of lords about whether there really was a process that could be considered a judicial review she said. without that you are having detention with no habeus corpus and really a blot as ian mcdonald has said on our legal landscape something really quite shocking with regard to the rule of the law.,politics
182,1898,henry tipped for fifa award fifa president sepp blatter hopes arsenal s thierry henry will be named world player of the year on monday. henry is on the fifa shortlist with barcelona s ronaldinho and newly-crowned european footballer of the year ac milan s andriy shevchenko. blatter said: henry for me is the personality on the field. he is the man who can run and organise the game. the winner of the accolade will be named at a glittering ceremony at zurich s opera house. the three shortlisted candidates for the women s award are mia hamm of the united states germany s birgit prinz and brazilian youngster marta. hamm who recently retired - is looking to regain the women s award which she lost last year to striker prinz. fifa has changed the panel of voters for this year s awards. male and female captains of every national team will be able to vote as well as their coaches and fipro - the global organisation for professional players.,sport
183,87,uk pledges £1bn to vaccine effort uk chancellor gordon brown has offered £960m ($1.8bn) over 15 years to an international scheme aiming to boost vaccination and immunisation schemes. in a speech he called for action to reach the 2000 millennium declaration goals of halving global poverty and tackling child mortality rates. mr brown has just returned from a tour of african nations. the £1bn commitment is part of a five-point plan on debt relief trade aid education and health. the chancellor was speaking at an event jointly organised by the uk s department for international development and the un development programme on wednesday. mr brown welcomed news that the bill gates foundation and norway are joining up to put an extra £0.53bn ($1bn ) into the global alliance for vaccines and immunisation (gavi). britain france gavi and the gates foundation have drawn up proposals to apply the principles of the international finance facility (iff) to the area of immunisation. that could see donors making long-term legally binding financial commitments which can then be used as collateral for raising extra funds from international capital markets. as well as pledging £960m over 15 years to the immunisation iff britain urged other donors to contribute. if gavi could increase its funding for immunisation by an extra £4bn ($7.4bn) over 10 years then an extra five million lives could have been saved by 2015 and five million thereafter mr brown argued. campaign groups including friends of the earth the world development movement and war on want said uk government policy on free trade was a major barrier to fighting poverty. war on want s john hilary said: compassionate rhetoric cannot disguise the reality of the government s neo-liberal policies. as long as mr blair and mr brown continue to push free trade and privatisation on developing countries more and more people will be pushed deeper into poverty not lifted out of it.,politics
184,2024,humanoid robot learns how to run car-maker honda s humanoid robot asimo has just got faster and smarter. the japanese firm is a leader in developing two-legged robots and the new improved asimo (advanced step in innovative mobility) can now run find his way around obstacles as well as interact with people. eventually asimo could find gainful employment in homes and offices. the aim is to develop a robot that can help people in their daily lives said a honda spokesman. to get the robot running for the first time was not an easy process as it involved asimo making an accurate leap and absorbing the impact of landing without slipping or spinning. the run he is now capable of is perhaps not quite up to olympic star kelly holmes standard. at 3km/h it is closer to a leisurely jog. its makers claim that it is almost four times as fast as sony s qrio which became the first robot to run last year. the criteria for running robots is defined by engineers as having both feet off the ground between strides. asimo has improved in other ways too increasing his walking speed from 1.6km/h to 2.5km growing 10cm to 130cm and putting on 2kg in weight. while he may not quite be ready for yoga he does have more freedom of movement being able to twist his hips and bend his wrists thumbs and neck. asimo has already made his mark on the international robot scene and in november was inducted into the robot hall of fame. he has wowed audiences around the world with his ability to walk upstairs recognise faces and come when beckoned. in august 2003 he even attended a state dinner in the czech republic travelling with the japanese prime minister as a goodwill envoy. he is one of a handful of robots used by tech firms to trumpet their technological advances. technology developed for asimo could be used in the automobile industry as electronics increasingly take over from mechanics in car design. for the moment asimo s biggest role is an entertainer and the audience gathered to see his first public run greeted his slightly comical gait with amusement according to reports. robots can fulfil serious functions in society and the united nations economic commission for europe predicts that the worldwide market for industrial robots will swell from 81 000 units in 2003 to 106 000 in 2007.,tech
185,1927,norway upholds napster ruling a norwegian student who ran a website which linked to downloadable mp3 files has been ordered to pay compensation by the country s supreme court. frank allan bruvik was ordered to pay 100 000 kroner (£8 000) to the music industry in norway. he was a student when he set up his napster.no site which allowed users to submit and receive links to mp3 files. bruvik had earlier been cleared on appeal after a lower court had found for the music industry. music industry bosses in norway said the ruling would help build confidence in the internet as a distribution medium. frank allan bruvik set up the napster.no website as part of a school project in 2001 while studying computer engineering in the norwegian town of lillehammer. the website was not associated with the napster.com site in the usa which had been operating since 1999 and was already facing legal action. bruvik s site was online between august and november 2001 and while it did not host any music at its peak it was providing links to more than 170 free files on other servers. as well as providing links the site allowed those visiting it to submit links that could later be accessed by other visitors. a legal complaint for copyright violation was filed by groups including norway s performing rights society tono and the norwegian branches of sony music and universal music who saw it as an important test of principle. a norwegian court ruled in 2003 that bruvik would have to pay 100 000 kroner to the music industry but the country s court of appeal cleared him saying that the copyright violation occurred when others posted the music. however the supreme court stated that the music was clearly published in violation of copyright law it added that the case was decided based on the responsibility for abetting an illegal act and that bruvik s actions were premeditated. norway s music industry said it was satisfied with the ruling because showed that music piracy would not be accepted. meanwhile in the usa a further 717 lawsuits against people alleged to have traded copyrighted songs were filed this week by the recording industry association of america. the suits brought on behalf of the major record companies cite the individuals for illegally distributing music via unauthorized peer-to-peer services such as kazaa and edonkey. as with preceding cases the fresh action was made against so-called john doe defendants who are identified only by the codes given to their computers internet connections.,tech
186,1019,defection timed to hit tax pledge with impeccable and precisely-calculated timing tory defector robert jackson and his new labour bosses have attempted to overshadow michael howard s latest announcement on taxation and spending. with just about everyone in westminster now working towards a may general election mr howard is eager to map out some clear and distinctive policies aimed at finally shifting the tories resolutely depressing poll showings. the big idea is his £35bn savings on waste and bureaucracy which mr howard has pledged to plough back into public services and tax cuts. and it was virtually certain his pledge on tax cuts was meant to be the core message from his interview on the bbc one s breakfast with frost programme. he and his shadow chancellor oliver letwin have been edging towards an announcement on this front for some months now but without any concrete pledges. but mr howard announced that of the £35bn he has earmarked from savings £12bn will be used to plug labour s claimed financial black hole with any left over going to tax cuts in mr letwin s first budget. he would not be precise but there are already suggestions he is set to announce lifting the threshold on income tax and reforming or abolishing inheritance tax. but he did for the first time say there would be such tax cuts. at this election people will have a clear choice between mr blair who will waste more and tax more and the conservative party which will give value for money and tax less . it is the tories attempt to open that famed clear blue water between them and the labour party and return to a traditional tory agenda that will both reassure the middle england voters who have abandoned him and appeal to core conservative voters. so it is a pretty safe bet to assume that when robert jackson finally decided to jump ship and swim over to the labour benches his new masters decided to time the announcement for the greatest possible impact. mr howard however was dismissive. these things happen from time to time. there are disagreements between robert jackson and me. the election is not going to be decided on what robert jackson did he added. and that is certainly true. the election will be decided on the economy stupid . other issues like the iraq war and the trust thing will also play a major part. but it is the economy that will probably be the greatest influence over the way people finally vote. and many on the tory benches have been crying out for mr howard to get back onto the old tory tax cuts agenda. mr howard knows that risks accusations that as a result he would slash public services so he has attempted to shoot that fox first. with polls suggesting voters would rather any government cash surpluses were spent on schools and hospitals before tax cuts he has suggested that is exactly what he will do. whether this will finally be enough to shift those polls remains to be seen.,politics
187,1892,german economy rebounds germany s economy the biggest among the 12 countries sharing the euro grew at its fastest rate in four years during 2004 driven by strong exports. gross domestic product (gdp) rose by 1.7% last year the statistical office said. the economy contracted in 2003. foreign sales increased by 8.2% last year compared with a 0.3% slide in private consumption. concerns remain however over the strength of the euro weak domestic demand and a sluggish labour market. the european central bank (ecb) left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 2% on thursday. it is the nineteenth month in a row that the ecb has not moved borrowing costs. economists predict that an increase is unlikely to come until the second half of 2005 with growth set to sputter rather than ignite. during 2004 we profited from the fact that the world economy was strong said stefan schilbe analyst at hsbc trinkaus & burkhardt. if exports weaken and domestic growth remains poor we cannot expect much from 2005. many german consumers have been spooked and unsettled by government attempts to reform the welfare state and corporate environment. major companies including volkswagen daimlerchrysler and siemens have spent much of 2004 in tough talks with unions about trimming jobs and costs. they have also warned there are more cost cutting measures on the horizon.,business
188,357,green fear for transport ballot the green party is concerned thousands of residents may not be able to vote in edinburgh s transport referendum. edinburgh city council is to ballot constituents on proposals to introduce congestion charging in the capital. but green msp mark ballard fears people not on the council s edited electoral register may miss out. local authorities can only send ballot papers to those on the edited list over non-statutory matters such as the transport referendum. therefore residents who have exercised their right to have their details left off the list could miss the chance to vote. however there is still time for those who are not on the list to contact the council and make sure they are sent ballot forms ahead of february s voting deadline. mr ballard said: this vote will set the future of transport in edinburgh for decades to come. it is therefore vital that as many residents as possible in edinburgh city and the surrounding areas are registered to vote in the ballot. many people are not aware that they may miss out on their chance to have a say. everyone involved in this debate - both for and against - wants the ballot to be as fair and representative as possible and that means encouraging people to take part. the ballot will ask residents to vote for or against the council s proposed congestion charge scheme and a host of transport improvements to be funded by it. the outcome of the referendum will be known next month after the ballot forms are sent out and returned to the council. towards the end of february the council will meet to decide whether to proceed with an application to scottish ministers for approval for its planned congestion charging scheme and the other parts of its transport package.,politics
189,1161,csi shows give unrealistic view people have unrealistic expectations of forensic science thanks to the success of the csi tv shows real experts say. evidence submitted to forensic labs has shot up as a result of the programmes at a time when many have large backlogs science investigators claim. lawyers also fear the effect because jurors have a distorted view of how forensic evidence is used. the issue was discussed at a major science conference in washington dc. crime scene investigation (csi) and its spin-offs csi: miami and csi: new york have proven exceptionally popular with audiences on both sides of the atlantic. each episode a team of forensic investigators goes about solving a crime through the ingenious appliance of science - and the extensive resources at their disposal. the csi effect is basically the perception of the near-infallibility of forensic science in response to the tv show said max houck who runs a forensic science graduate course at west virginia university us. this tv show comes on and everyone starts watching it - including the cops and prosecutors - and submissions to forensic laboratories go through the roof he told the annual meeting of the american association for the advancement of science (aaas). the american forensics expert said there were roughly 200 000-300 000 backlogged dna samples in us labs. yet these constituted just 10% of the total test backlog said dr houck. forensic pathologist dr patricia mcfeeley said she had started to see the show s influence in dealing with the families of victims. what i find is that families now are more dissatisfied with the investigation than was previously the case she explained. for example on television the toxicology results are available almost instantaneously. but when people find out that it can take several months they can find that very difficult. dr mcfeeley added that the accuracy with which forensic investigators can determine time of death was far lower than most people s perceptions. the show s influence can follow forensic investigators all the way into the courtroom making lawyers jittery. prosecutors fear the csi effect with juries because for example they wonder: why wasn t everything tested well in fact not everything needs to be tested dr houck explained. defence attorneys also worry about the csi effect because they think that jurors come in and have this view of science as a juggernaut; this objective method that s always accurate. however he admitted the show had had positive as well as negative effects on the field. my university course started with four graduates in 1999; we re now the largest major on campus - with 400 students he said. dr houck added that there was an urgent need for better funding of forensic science at the university level: there s more money spent in this country on holistic medicine than there is on forensic science research.,entertainment
190,52,strike threat over pension plans millions of public service workers could strike if ministers scrap their final salary pension scheme and make them work longer warn union leaders. the cabinet office has confirmed it is reviewing the current pension system prompting unions representing 4.5m workers to threaten united action. they believe the plans include raising the mandatory retirement age for public service workers from 60 to 65. the government says unions will be consulted before any changes are made. it is thought the proposed overhaul due on thursday could mean pensions could be based on a career average salary. for each year served staff currently get one eightieth of their highest salary in the final three years. ministers will be anxious to avoid mass strike action in the lead-up to the next general election which is widely expected next may. in a statement on sunday the cabinet office said it was reviewing the civil service pension scheme and hoped to announce proposals soon. unions will of course be consulted about any proposed changes. public sector pension schemes need to remain affordable and sustainable. people are living longer and pensions are getting more expensive. to maintain the long-term affordability of our pension scheme the government announced in its green paper on pensions that pension age would rise from 60 to 65. on monday tony blair s official spokesman declined to say whether the prime minister backed the plans. he said: what s important is that there s a process going on it s out for consultation at the moment let s wait for that process to complete itself. there is already widespread anger over the chancellor s plans to get rid of more than 100 000 civil servants. now public service unions are united against the plans and the trades union congress is discussing the issue next monday. dave prentis general secretary of unison said changes to pension provisions for workers in the public sector would mean they had to pay in more but would still face a raw deal. members working in the nhs or for local government have never had high pay or city bonuses but they could look forward to a decent pension - now all that is being taken away he said. what really riles me is the breathtaking hypocrisy of mps who recently voted themselves the best pension scheme in europe but say they can t afford it for anyone else. this is a position that unison cannot accept and will oppose. it will lead to conflict between unison and the government if not this year then next. mr prentis said workers did not want to go on strike and called for talks between unions and the highest level of government. mark serwotka from the public and commercial services union said there should be a co-ordinated one day strike unless there was a government rethink. the fire brigades union said the government was planning to cut ill health retirement benefits for firefighters and other measures to chip away at pensions. pensions officer paul woolstenholmes said: the pensions of millions of public sector workers are under threat - apart from mps and judges who have the most generous pensions arrangements in the country.,politics
191,1798,standoff on deutsche s lse bid deutsche boerse investors unhappy with its london stock exchange bid will have no chance to throw out the exchange s management until may reuters says. the sunday times reported that hedge funds tci and atticus were planning to demand the removal of the group s chairman and chief executive. but deutsche boerse told news agency reuters such a move would have to wait until may s annual general meeting. investors want deutsche to return cash to shareholders rather than bid. we are long-term investors and are experienced in removing management. we are not scared to take this to its conclusion this time atticus david slager told the sunday times. however deutsche boerse told reuters: tci s request for the removal of the supervisory board will be considered at the annual general meeting on may 25. the sunday times reported that tci had been drawing up a list of heavyweight executives to replace deutsche s chairman rolf breuer and chief executive werner seifert. the group owns more than 5% of deutsche - more than enough to demand an extraordinary general meeting to call on shareholders to oust the german exchange s management. under german law deutsche does not need investor backing to make a takeover bid. tci and atticus have opposed the lse bid for some time saying it would destroy shareholder value and would be better spent on a share buyback. deutsche is in competition with pan-european bourse euronext to take over the london exchange. many commentators have suggested a bidding war between the two could break out. however any such move would have to wait until march when the office of fair trading completes an investigation into the competition aspects of the pair s takeover proposals.,business
192,2028,hendrix guitar fetches £100 000 a much-loved guitar belonging to jimi hendrix has been sold for £100 000 at an auction in london. the 1965 fender stratocaster was one of a number of guitars included in the sale dedicated to the rock legend. the vast archive of instruments signed records and posters were collected by a dedicated fan who had become friendly with the star. the auction was billed as the biggest collection of hendrix memorabilia to go under the hammer. the majority of the items were collected by fan bob terry who began collecting at the age of 17. he later sold it on to another collector. hendrix widely considered one of the best guitarists of his era died of a drug overdose in 1970 at the age of 27. the 1965 fender stratocaster was used by the musician on tour and in his studio. a poem written by hendrix two weeks after his infamous appearance at the monterey festival where he set light to his guitar went for £10 000. the jimi hendrix experience s first single hey joe signed by all the band was sold for £2 000. the sale hosted by auctioneers cooper owen was held at the hard rock cafe in london.,entertainment
193,58,henson stakes early lions claim the six nations may be a glittering prize in itself but every player from the four home unions will also have one eye on a possible trip to new zealand with the lions this summer. the player who staked the biggest claim for a place in the starting xv over the weekend was gavin henson. he s very confident. you just had to listen to his interview afterwards - he beamed with confidence - but although there s an element of arrogance it s good arrogance. he certainly showed some nice touches. he once showed a clean pair of heels to mathew tait when he got outside him his defence was very good and he made some great kicks out of hand. and that s without even mentioning his majestic match-winning penalty. but i think we need to wait and see what happens because he needs to be put to the test. he needs to come up against brian o driscoll or a big french midfield. wales fly-half stephen jones was another player who impressed me. he gave good direction he was very confident and he was a nice general for his side. he showed he can control a game. with jonny wilkinson not playing at the moment due to inury the number 10 shirt could be up for grabs and jones or maybe even henson could make the lions team at fly-half. jones stuck his hand up and he certainly looks a better bet than charlie hodgson after saturday s game. some of the wales forwards surprised me because i thought they would be out-muscled in the tight five. england prop julian white is a capable player but when it comes down to selection gethin jenkins is now going to have the upper hand because he came out on top. however i still think white and phil vickery will be in the frame. some english players did their cause no harm. i thought joe worsley had a solid game and jason robinson and josh lewsey both did nothing wrong. but it looked too soon for young mathew tait and i think it will be a while before we see him again. despite being written off beforehand several scots caught my eye against france. tom smith has been there and done it before but the likes of chris cusiter jason white and ally hogg all made their mark. hogg made a couple of good runs while white had a pretty robust game - his defence is right up there. cusiter looked very lively and he could be a very good option for lions coach sir clive woodward. the star of ireland s win over italy in rome looks like a certainty to make the starting xv against new zealand. brian o driscoll is a class act. he ran some good lines against italy made the breaks and fed his outside backs although italy defended man on man which made it easy for him. gordon d arcy was unlucky to go off injured early on but i think you could get a henson d arcy o driscoll combination in the lions midfield. paul o connell just needs to add a hard edge to his game and malcolm o kelly keeps on going and seems to be putting his hand up while shane byrne seems to be a lively character. but they will be a bit worried after the italian pack drove them off their own ball on sunday although i used to play in italy and i know how difficult it can be. one player who didn t impress me was wales scrum-half dwayne peel. he choked late on in the second half when wales were trailing. they had good possession and he kicked the ball away - i wouldn t want him as my lions scrum-half after that.,sport
194,258,sporting rivals go to extra time the current slew of sports games offers unparalleled opportunities for fans who like to emulate on-field action without ever moving from the couch. the two giants in the field - espn and ea sports - have been locked in a heavyweight battle for years. the latter is the world s largest games manufacturer. years of experience mean that the titles in their steady flow of sport sims are finely honed massively entertaining and ooze flair. sports broadcaster espn meanwhile has leant its name to a series of games that are similarly classy but lower in profile and price. but that status quo was changed forever - or for the next 15 years at least - by a deal earlier this year when espn sold ea the rights to its tv branding and on-air talent meaning the espn games presently developed by sega will have to come to and end in their present form. it was a massive-money deal that not only raised eyebrows but stirred active indignation in many quarters with fans concerned that it is set to enable ea to monopolise the sports gaming landscape to an unhealthy degree. some particularly disgruntled fans set up an online petition that notched more than 18 000 virtual signatures. many of those clicking to complain were already rankled for the espn coup happened just weeks after ea had pulled off another enormous licensing deal controversially giving them exclusive rights to teams and personnel from america¿s national football league (nfl). so will the sega - espn range be missed a key reason for answering yes is that liking or disliking a sports game regularly comes down to personal taste and having some options available always proves hugely handy. online soccer fans will testify to that between bouts of arguing over which high-profile title rules supreme out of the similar-yet-hugely-different fifa 2005 and pro evolution soccer 4. on the same note the espn 2k5 and ea sports games have so little to choose between them that picking favourites will come down to players personal preferences and spending budget rather than any technical elements. taking hockey and basketball as examples both publishers efforts are phenomenally entertaining and fairly accessible. they also both look awesome with the sega / espn versions perhaps shading things on a graphical front. in terms of gameplay i marginally preferred ea s nba live 2005 for basketball and was more satisfied ice hockey-wise by espn s nhl 2k5. the espn games are a touch more arcade-like in look and feel and are slightly easier to get into although like their rivals they also offer a dizzyingly-extensive array of in-game tricks and overall challenge modes that should be enough to quench thirsts of even the most die-hard of sports fans. perhaps the most interesting aspect of the espn deal will be seeing how it affects the presentation of ea s future titles. the front-end decoration of ea s games has become something of an art-form in itself loaded with slick visuals and oodles of licensed music. they are also immediately identifiable as coming from the ea stable and the inevitable compulsion to add an espn look will no doubt change that in various ways. what is a shame is that the espn titles took similar care about framing the gameplay with an authentic setting - their preambles look and sound much like they would on tv. they are neat and excellent-value games in their current form and combining them with ea s own established brand should produce a truly formidable beast.,tech
195,638,nintendo ds makes its euro debut nintendo s ds handheld game console has officially gone on sale in europe. many stores around the uk opened at midnight to let keen gamers get their hands on the device. the two-screen clamshell gadget costs £99 (149 euros) and 15 games are available for it at launch some featuring well-known characters such as super mario and rayman. the ds spearheads nintendo s attempt to continue its dominance of the handheld gaming market. since going on sale in japan and the us at the end of 2004 nintendo has sold almost 4m ds consoles. part of this popularity may be due to the fact that the ds can run any of the catalogue of 700 games produced for nintendo s gameboy advance handheld. games for the ds are expected to cost between £19 and £29. about 130 games for the ds are in development. as well as having two screens one of which is controlled by touch the ds also lets players take on up to 16 other people via wireless. a download play option means ds owners can take each other on even if only one of them owns a copy of a particular game. other ds owners can also be sent text messages and drawings. nintendo is also planning to release a media adapter for the handheld so it can play music and video. five virgin megastores and 150 game shops were expected to open early on friday morning to let people buy a ds. we know that customers want it as soon as it s released - and that means the minute not the day said robert quinn game s uk sales director. but nintendo will only have sole control of europe s handheld gaming market for a few weeks because soon sony is expected to release its psp console. although nintendo is aiming for younger players and the psp is more for older gamers it is likely that the two firms will be competing for many of the same customers. sony s psp represents a real threat to nintendo because of the huge number of playstation owners around the world and the greater flexibility of the sleek black gadget. the psp uses small discs for games can play music and movies without the need for add-ons and also supports short-range wireless play. when it goes on sale the psp is likely to cost between £130 and £200.,tech
196,541,bank holds interest rate at 4.75% the bank of england has left interest rates on hold again at 4.75% in a widely-predicted move. rates went up five times from november 2003 - as the bank sought to cool the housing market and consumer debt - but have remained unchanged since august. recent data has indicated a slowdown in manufacturing and consumer spending as well as in mortgage approvals. and retail sales disappointed over christmas with analysts putting the drop down to less consumer confidence. rising interest rates and the accompanying slowdown in the housing market have knocked consumers optimism causing a sharp fall in demand for expensive goods according to a report earlier this week from the british retail consortium. the brc said britain s retailers had endured their worst christmas in a decade. today s no change decision is correct said david frost director general of the british chambers of commerce (bcc). but if there are clear signs that the economy slows the mpc should be ready to take quick corrective action and cut rates. dismal reports from the retail trade about christmas sales are worrying if they indicate a more general weakening in consumer spending. mr frost added: the housing market outlook remains highly uncertain. it is widely accepted that if house prices start falling more sharply the risks facing the economy will worsen considerably. cbi chief economist ian mccafferty said the economy had slowed in recent months in response to rate rises but that it was difficult to gauge from the christmas period the likely pace of activity through the summer. the bank is having to juggle the emergence of inflationary pressures driven by a tight labour market and buoyant commodity prices against the risk of an over-abrupt slowdown in consumer activity he said. interest rates are likely to remain on hold for some time. on thursday there was more gloomy news on the manufacturing front as the office for national (ons) statistics revealed british manufacturing output unexpectedly fell in november - for the fifth month in the past six. the ons said manufacturing output dropped 0.1% in november matching a similar unrevised fall in october and confounding economists expectations of a 0.3% rise. manufacturers organisation the eef said it expected the hold in interest rates to continue in the near future. it also said there was evidence that manufacturers confidence may be waning as the outlook for the world economy becomes more uncertain. so far the evidence suggests that last year s rate increases have helped to rebalance the economy without damaging the recovery in manufacturing said eef chief economist steve radley. however should the business outlook start to deteriorate the bank should stand ready to cut rates. some economists have predicted rates will drop later in the year although others feel the bank may still think there is a need for a rise to 5% before that happens. the bank remains concerned about the long-term risks posed by personal debt - which is rising at 15% a year - if economic conditions worsen.,business
197,2190,mobile networks seek turbo boost third-generation mobile (3g) networks need to get faster if they are to deliver fast internet surfing on the move and exciting new services. that was one of the messages from the mobile industry at the 3gsm world congress in cannes last week. fast 3g networks are here but the focus has shifted to their evolution into a higher bandwidth service says the global mobile suppliers association. at 3gsm siemens showed off a system that transmits faster mobile data. the german company said data could be transmitted at one gigabit a second - up to 20 times faster than current 3g networks. the system is not available commercially yet but motorola the us mobile handset and infrastructure maker held a clinic for mobile operators on hsdpa (high speed downlink packet access) a high-speed high bandwidth technology available now. early hsdpa systems typically offer around two megabits per second (mbps) compared with less than 384 kilobits per second (kbps) on standard 3g networks. high-speed downlink packet access (hsdpa) - sometimes called super 3g - will be vital for profitable services like mobile internet browsing and mobile video clips according to a report published by uk-based research consultancy analysys. a number of companies are developing the technology. nokia and canada-based wireless communication products company sierra wireless recently agreed to work together on high speed downlink packet access. the two companies aim to jointly market the hsdpa solution to global network operator customers. while hsdpa theoretically enables data rates up to a maximum of 14mbps practical throughputs will be lower than this in wide-area networks said dr alastair brydon author of the analysys report: pushing beyond the limits of 3g with hsdpa and other enhancements. the typical average user rate in a real implementation is likely to be in the region of one megabit per second which even at this lower rate will more than double the capacity... when compared to basic wcdma [3g] he added. motorola has conducted five trials of its technology and says speeds of 2.9mbps have been recorded at the edge of an outdoor 3g cell using a single hsdpa device. but some mobile operators are opting for a technology called evolution data optimised (ev-do). us operator sprint ordered a broadband data upgrade to its 3g network at the end of last year. we are expanding our network and deploying ev-do technology to meet customer demand for faster wireless speeds said oliver valente sprint s vice president for technology development when the contract was announced. as part of $3bn in multi-year contracts announced late last year sprint will spend around $1bn on ev-do technology from lucent technologies nortel networks and motorola that provides average data speeds of 0.3-0.5 megabits a second and peak download rates of 2.4mbps. mmo2 the uk-based operator with services in the uk ireland and germany has opted for technology based on hsdpa. using technology from lucent it will offer data speeds of 3.6mbps from next summer on its isle of man 3g network and will eventually support speeds of up to 14.4mbps. us operator cingular wireless is also adopting hsdpa using technology from lucent alongside equipment from siemens and ericsson. siemens plans for a one gigabit network may be more than a user needs today but christoph caselitz president of the mobile networks division at the firm says that: by the time the next generation of mobile communication debuts in 2015 the need for transmission capacities for voice data image and multimedia is conservatively anticipated to rise by a factor of 10. siemens - in collaboration with the fraunhofer german-sino lab for mobile communications and the institute for applied radio system technology - has souped up mobile communications by using three transmitting and four receiving antennae instead of the usual one. this enables a data transmission such as sending a big file or video to be broken up into different flows of data that can be sen
198,1936,lib dems stress budget trust gap public trust in the handling of the economy can only be restored if gordon brown opens up his books for unbiased inspection say the lib dems. city experts say there is a £10bn black hole in the public finances a claim denied by the chancellor. lib dem spokesman vince cable said the public did not know who to believe and the national audit office should judge. responding to the pre-budget report mr cable also attacked labour s unfair and over-complicated taxes. in his report mr brown insisted he was on course to meet his golden rule of borrowing only to invest rather than for day-to-day spending over the course of the economic cycle. mr cable said people did not know whether to believe the chancellor or the consensus among experts which said the rule would be broken. there is an issue of credibility and trust he said. we cannot have a continuation of a situation where the chancellor sets his own tests and then marks them. what we need is the equivalent of a thorough ofsted inspection of the government s accounts. he asked what the government had to hide. mr cable also accused the chancellor of ducking tough choices. he argued: there are serious challenges ahead from the falling dollar and from the rapid downturn in the uk housing market and rising personal debt. but they have not been confronted. mr brown confirmed he was setting aside another £520m for the conflicts in iraq and afghanistan. mr cable compared that new cost with the £500m needed for britain s role in the entire first gulf war - when 80% of the bill had been met through help from european and arab nations. he suggested keeping british troops in iraq could cost another £1bn with the government also planning to spend at least £3bn for identity cards. the current economic climate meant britain could not afford the reckless george bush-style tax cutting spree planned by the tories he said. instead what was needed was simple and fair taxation rather than the complete mess produced by mr brown s endless tinkering. mr cable said 40% of all pensioners were now paying marginal tax rates of 50%. and one-and-a-half million hard working families were paying 60% marginal tax rates. with that record he asked why ministers attacked lib dem plans for a new 50% tax rate for the very rich - those earning more than £100 000 a year. mr brown earmarked £1bn to help keep down council tax rises next year. but the lib dem spokesman questioned whether that money was being found from cuts to education and health. he urged the government to scrap the grossly unfair tax completely. the lib dems want it replaced with a local income tax. in response mr brown stressed the iraq money came from a reserve funds. it was because he had rejected previous lib dem proposals such as scrapping the new deal that britain s economy was successful claimed mr brown.,politics
199,1293,home loan approvals rising again the number of mortgages approved in the uk has risen for the first time since may last year according to lending figures from the bank of england. new loans in december rose to 83 000 slightly higher than november s nine-year low of 77 000. mortgage lending rose by £7.1bn in december up from a £6.4bn rise in november. the figures contradict a survey from the british bankers association which said approvals were at a five-year low. analysts say the figures show the market may be stabilising but still point to further house price softness. the modest rise in mortgage approvals and lending in december reinforces the impression that the housing market is currently slowing steadily rather than sharply said global insight analyst howard archer commenting on the boe s figures. the bba believes that the property market is continuing to cool down. changes to mortgage regulation may have artificially depressed figures in november thus flattering the december figures analysts said. in october last year new rules came into force which meant some lenders were forced to withdraw mortgage products temporarily in november and defer some lending until they had made sure they had complied with the rules properly. separately the bank of england said that consumer credit rose by £1.5bn in december more than the £1.4bn expected and above the £1.4bn reported in the previous month.,business
200,2181,campbell lifts lid on united feud arsenal s sol campbell has called the rivalry between manchester united and the gunners bitter and personal . past encounters have stirred up plenty of ill-feeling between the sides and they meet again at highbury on tuesday. it is just more bitter and personal against united the defender told the guardian newspaper. there s an edge. after all that has happened if we beat them it will be one of our sweetest ever wins especially because of how we lost to them up there. last october arsenal lost 2-0 at old trafford which ended a record 49-match unbeaten league run and sparked a mini-crisis with the gunners winning only three of their next 10 games. it had a psychological impact on us but again because of the way we were defeated added the 30-year-old referring to a controversial penalty award for united s first goal. that was far more upsetting losing like that because they just seem to get away with it. you try and balance out over the course of a season but i ve had so many rough decisions against them you begin to wonder. with tensions spilling over afterwards - united boss sir alex ferguson was allegedly pelted with pizza in the players tunnel - there is little surprise that so much is riding on the return encounter on. everyone at arsenal has been waiting for this game said campbell. we are up for this one. speaking on his long-term plans campbell signalled his intent to move abroad before he turns 35. i m 30 now and in five years time i won t be in this country - that s definite. italy looks good to me because it would suit my kind of football. spain is an option but the idea of tasting a new culture and learning another language excites me the most. i m starting a little with french of course.,sport
201,1329,brown visits slum on africa trip chancellor gordon brown has visited kenya s biggest shantytown as he opened a week-long visit to africa. mr brown s trip is designed to highlight how the uk wants to make africa s problems a priority of its chairmanship of the g8 this year. he will see an hiv/aids orphanage in tanzania and a women s credit union in mozambique before chairing a meeting of the commission for africa in cape town. at slums in narobi on wednesday he said education needs had to be tackled. speaking outside the olympic primary school mr brown said: it is simply not acceptable in the modern age for the rest of the world to stand by and have hundreds of millions of children not getting the chance at education. he pointed to international plans to invest $10bn for education in africa over the next decade. the school is on the edge of kibera where 800 000 live often in huts made of mud scrap metal and cardboard. mr brown s aides say he wants to find out more about the kenyan government s education policies which included introducing free primary education in early 2003. the chancellor has already unveiled proposals for a g8 aid package which he has likened to the marshall plan used by the united states to rebuild europe after world war two. the trip follows claims of infighting between mr brown and tony blair detailed in a new book. conservative leader michael howard is expected to seize on those reports at prime minister s questions at 1200 gmt on wednesday.,politics
202,146,industrial output falls in japan japanese industrial output fell in october while unemployment rose casting further doubt on the strength of the country s economic recovery. production dropped 1.6% in october reflecting a decline in exports while unemployment levels edged up 0.1% to 4.7% slightly higher than forecast. the economy has grown for six quarters but growth slowed dramatically in the last quarter amid weaker global demand. japan s government remains optimistic due to strong domestic demand. analysts had been forecasting a 0.1% rise in month on month industrial output. according to figures from the ministry of economy trade and industry (meti) the decline was led by a fall in demand for electronic parts for mobile phones and digital televisions. although inventories fell 0.7% month on month they were 36% higher than a year ago. it s a sign that the economy s adjustment phase is stronger than expected said takashi yamanaka an economist with ufj bank. japan downgraded its overall economic assessment earlier this month for the first time in a year. growth slowed to 0.3% in the quarter ending september 30 down from 6.3% in the first quarter of 2004. experts believe the economy -which stagnated for most of the 1990s -may be entering a softer patch on the back of rising oil prices and the falling dollar. japanese government officials played down the latest data arguing that domestic consumer demand was still resilient. the outlook for november is positive so i don t think one can say that conditions have worsened just because of the fall in october said a meti official. despite the rise in unemployment jobless figures are still some way below historical highs of recent years. the comparatively weak economic date preyed on shares with the nikkei down 1% in afternoon trade.,business
203,89,cult band kasabian surge forward indie dance band kasabian built up a cult following throughout 2004 to secure three brit award nominations. the four-piece leicester band blends dark electronics with rock earning kasabian places on the best british group rock act and live act shortlists. they have also earned a reputation as outspoken and charismatic in contrast to fellow brit nominees such as keane and snow patrol. british music needs a kick up the arse and britain needs a new band to breathe life into the british people again declared kasabian s singer tom meighan. no-one s doing it at the minute. music feels like it s in the afterlife right now. we don t want people to give up on it. the serpent s going to rise from the sea and scare all the pirates away! meighan grew up in leicester with kasabian songwriter/guitarist sergio pizzorno and bassist chris edwards a trio which began making music from the age of 17. they enlisted guitarist and keyboard player christopher karloff after spotting him in a pub. we saw his long sideburns and thought hey he looks the part we ll ask him said meighan. inspired by britpop and a mutual love of hardcore an early 1990s genre that fused house music with hip hop beats and a dark sensibility they added an electronic element to the traditional guitar sound. we got a computer and we cut rock n roll up because there s no point in going back to how it was said meighan. it s all about new ideas and creativity. the band s original approach is reflected in its name inspired by linda kasabian - the getaway driver of us serial killer charles manson. coincidentally it is also the armenian term for butcher . kasabian moved into a remote farmhouse in rutland to record their debut album benefiting from its isolation but also managing to sneak in a few parties while they were there. signed to the rca record label kasabian tested the water with two singles club foot and lsf which reached numbers 19 and 10 in the uk singles chart respectively. they built up their following on the summer festival circuit opening both glastonbury and t in the park and at a series of guerilla gigs at unusual venues including half time orange a pub next to leicester city football club s headquarters. kasabian s self-titled album was released last september to widespread critical acclaim its indie dance stance drawing comparisons to the stone roses primal scream and the happy mondays. regarding it as both a fiery assertion of rock n roll ethics and proof that a siege mentality is alive and well in the badlands of rutland water the nme s praise was typical of the album s reception. as 2004 progressed kasabian would score a further two hits - processed beats and cutt off - and embark upon a well-received uk tour. we take our music seriously definitely but we want to have fun with it said pizzorno. this is not a job to us added meighan. this is the best life we could ever have. this is what it s all about and without it we d be lost souls. but music needs us as well.,entertainment
204,1627,high fuel prices hit ba s profits british airways has blamed high fuel prices for a 40% drop in profits. reporting its results for the three months to 31 december 2004 the airline made a pre-tax profit of £75m ($141m) compared with £125m a year earlier. rod eddington ba s chief executive said the results were respectable in a third quarter when fuel costs rose by £106m or 47.3%. ba s profits were still better than market expectation of £59m and it expects a rise in full-year revenues. to help offset the increased price of aviation fuel ba last year introduced a fuel surcharge for passengers. in october it increased this from £6 to £10 one-way for all long-haul flights while the short-haul surcharge was raised from £2.50 to £4 a leg. yet aviation analyst mike powell of dresdner kleinwort wasserstein says ba s estimated annual surcharge revenues - £160m - will still be way short of its additional fuel costs - a predicted extra £250m. turnover for the quarter was up 4.3% to £1.97bn further benefiting from a rise in cargo revenue. looking ahead to its full year results to march 2005 ba warned that yields - average revenues per passenger - were expected to decline as it continues to lower prices in the face of competition from low-cost carriers. however it said sales would be better than previously forecast. for the year to march 2005 the total revenue outlook is slightly better than previous guidance with a 3% to 3.5% improvement anticipated ba chairman martin broughton said. ba had previously forecast a 2% to 3% rise in full-year revenue. it also reported on friday that passenger numbers rose 8.1% in january. aviation analyst nick van den brul of bnp paribas described ba s latest quarterly results as pretty modest . it is quite good on the revenue side and it shows the impact of fuel surcharges and a positive cargo development however operating margins down and cost impact of fuel are very strong he said. since the 11 september 2001 attacks in the united states ba has cut 13 000 jobs as part of a major cost-cutting drive. our focus remains on reducing controllable costs and debt whilst continuing to invest in our products mr eddington said. for example we have taken delivery of six airbus a321 aircraft and next month we will start further improvements to our club world flat beds. ba s shares closed up four pence at 274.5 pence.,business
205,1123,turkey knocks six zeros off lira turkey is to relaunch its currency on saturday knocking six zeros off the lira in the hope of boosting trade and powering its growing economy. the change will see the end of such dizzyingly-high denominations as five million lira - enough for a short taxi ride - and the 20m note worth $15. these valuations were the product of decades of inflation which as recently as 2001 was as high as 70%. inflation has since been tamed and economic prospects are improving. the currency - officially to be known as the new lira - will be launched at midnight on 1 january. from that point the one-million lira note will become the new one-lira coin. the government hopes the change will be seen as a promise of growing economic stability as turkey embarks on the long process of trying to join the european union. on an everyday level it is hoped the change will stimulate more international trade and end confusion among foreign investors and turks alike. the transition to the new turkish lira shows clearly that our economy has broken the vicious circle that it was imprisoned in for long years said sureyya serdengecti head of the turkish central bank. the new lira is also the symbol of the stable economy that we dreamed of for long years. the turkish economy teetered on the brink of collapse in 2001 when the lira plunged in value and two million people lost their jobs. turkey had to turn to the international monetary fund for financial assistance accepting a $18bn loan in return for pushing through a wide-ranging austerity programme. these tough measures have borne fruit. inflation fell below 10% earlier this year for the first time in decades while exports are up 30% this year. meanwhile the economy is expanding at a healthy rate with 7.9% growth expected in 2004. the government hopes that the new currency will cement the country s economic progress two weeks after eu leaders set a date for the start of turkey s accession talks. the slimmed-down lira is likely to be widely welcomed by the business community. the turkish lira has been like funny money tevfik aksoy chief turkish economist for deutsche bank told associated press. now at least in cosmetic terms it will look like real currency. however some do not feel quite so happy about seeing the nominal value of their investments reduced. if a person has 10 billion lira in investments this will suddenly decrease shop owner hayriye evren told associated press. this will definitely affect people psychologically.,business
206,1233,arsenal through on penalties arsenal win 4-2 on penalties the spanish goalkeeper saved from alan quinn and jon harley as arsenal sealed a quarter-final trip to bolton with a 4-2 victory on penalties. lauren patrick vieira freddie ljungberg and ashley cole scored for arsenal while andy gray and phil jagielka were on target for the blades. michael tonge and harley wasted chances for the underdogs but paddy kenny was inspired to keep arsenal at bay. arsenal stripped of attacking talent such as thierry henry and dennis bergkamp partnered 17-year-old italian striker arturo lupoli with ljungberg up front. it was a revamped arsenal line-up and they were almost a goal behind within seconds as tonge wasted a glorious chance. gray ran free down the right flank and his cross left tonge with the simplest of chances but he blazed over the top from six yards. arsenal were barely seen as an attacking force in the opening 45 minutes although ljungberg turned a half-chance wide after good work by cesc fabregas. arsene wenger introduced quincy owusu-abeyie for the ineffective lupoli at half-time and the pacy dutch youngster had an immediate impact. he ran clear after good work by mathieu flamini but his finish was tame and kenny saved easily. owusu-abeyie then fired in a testing cross which was met by fabregas and it needed a desperate clearance by kenny s legs to save the blades. arsenal were now totally dominant and were desperately unlucky not to take the lead after 62 minutes when fabregas crashed a rising drive against the bar from 20 yards. it then took a brilliant tackle by jagielka to deny ljungberg as he was poised to strike. arsenal continued to press and once again kenny was called into action with eight minutes left diving low to clutch another close-range effort from fabregas. neil warnock s side almost snatched victory in the dying seconds when derek geary s cross found harley at the far post but his diving header was brilliantly turned over by almunia. owusu-abeyie s pace was causing all sorts of problems for the blades and as extra-time began another surging run into the penalty area almost set up a chance for ljungberg. pascal cygan missed arsenal s best chance after 106 minutes blazing across the face of goal when he was unmarked at the far post. arsenal sent on jeremie aliadiere with seven minutes of extra-time left and he almost broke the deadlock with his first touch. kolo toure s misplaced free-kick landed at his feet but kenny once again blocked from a tight angle. arsenal laid siege to sheffield united s goal in the dying minutes but they somehow held on to force penalties. almunia was then arsenal s hero as another brave blades cup campaign came to a losing end. kenny geary morgan bromby harley liddell montgomery jagielka thirlwell tonge (quinn 97) gray. subs not used: francis kabba shaw haystead. morgan. almunia lauren cygan senderos cole fabregas (toure 90) vieira flamini (aliadiere 113) clichy lupoli (owusu-abeyie 45) ljungberg. subs not used: eboue taylor. clichy lauren senderos. 27 595 p dowd (staffordshire).,sport
207,580,playstation 3 chip to be unveiled details of the chip designed to power sony s playstation 3 console will be released in san francisco on monday. sony ibm and toshiba who have been working on the cell processor for three years will unveil the chip at a technology conference. the chip is reported to be up to 10 times faster than current processors. it is being designed for use in graphics workstations the new playstation console and has been described as a supercomputer on a chip. sony has said the cell processor could be used to bridge the gap between movies and video games. special effects and graphics designed for films could be ported for use directly in a video game sony told an audience at the e3 exhibition in los angeles last year. cell could also be marketed as an ideal technology for televisions and supercomputers and everything in between said kevin krewell the editor in chief of microprocessor report. the chip will be made of several different processing cores that work on tasks together. the playstation 3 is expected in 2006 but developers are expecting to get prototypes early next year to tune games that will appear on it at launch. details of the chip will be released at the international solid state circuits conference in san francisco. some details have already emerged however. when put inside powerful computer servers the cell consortium expects it to be capable of handling 16 trillion floating point operations or calculations every second. the chip has also been refined to be able to handle the detailed graphics common in games and the data demands of films and broadband media. ibm said it would start producing the chip in early 2005 at manufacturing plants in the us. the first machines off the line using the cell processor will be computer workstations and servers. a working version of the ps3 is due to be shown off in may 2005 but a full launch of the next generation console is not expected to start until 2006. in the future all forms of digital content will be converged and fused onto the broadband network said ken kutaragi chief operating officer of sony said last year. current pc architecture is nearing its limits he added.,tech
208,591,ba to suspend two saudi services british airways is to halt its flights from london heathrow to jeddah and riyadh in saudi arabia from 27 march. the airline said the decision was a commercial one due to reduced passenger demand for the services. ba currently operates four flights per week from heathrow to jeddah and three weekly journeys to riyadh. it suspended flights to saudi arabia for three weeks in autumn 2003 after a government warning about a threat to uk aviation interests in saudi arabia . ba will now suspend the saudi flights - which it says will remain under constant review - from 27 march. the decision to suspend flights between the uk and saudi arabia is a difficult one to make as we have enjoyed a long history of flying between the two countries said ba director of commercial planning robert boyle. however the routes don t currently make a profitable contribution to our business and we are unable to sustain them while this remains the case. passengers with flights booked after the suspension date will be contacted by ba for alternative arrangements to be made.,business
209,1933,anelka apologises for criticism manchester city striker nicolas anelka has issued an apology for criticising the ambitions of the club. anelka was quoted in a french newspaper as saying he would like to play in the champions league for a bigger club. but chairman john wardle said: i ve spoken to nicolas and he s apologised for anything that might have been mistakenly taken from the french press. we are a big club. nicolas told me that he agrees with me that we are a big club. wardle was speaking at the club s annual general meeting where he also confirmed the club had not received any bids for the former arsenal and real madrid striker. the club still owe french club psg £5m from the purchase of anelka in may 2002. he has been linked with a move to barcelona and liverpool and reds skipper steven gerrard also revealed he is an admirer from his time on loan at anfield. but wardle added: there s been no bids for nicolas anelka. no-one has come to me and said i would like to buy nicolas anelka. if a bid comes in for nicolas anelka i will speak to the board and then speak to kevin keegan. if there was a bid and it was a bid of substance and worth taking then between us we d decide. we still owe some money on nicolas which we have clear out so it would have to be above that. wardle did stress that the club was not inviting any offers for england winger shaun wright-phillips. he added: i ve no intention of selling shaun wright-phillips. if someone comes with a silly bid i ll have to discuss it. but we re not putting him on the shelf to sell. he is the heart and soul of this club and has his heart and sole in this club and he would be very upset if i put him in the shop window. he was an academy kid here he s just signed a new four-year deal i don t think he d do that unless he wanted to play for manchester city football club. city recently announced debts of £62m but wardle confirmed they would try and find funds to bring in players in the january transfer window. he said: like kevin i d like to see some players come in. we ve got to see what we can do - whether it s a on a bosman or not. we will try to be creative to generate some funds. but maybe we have to start looking at clubs like everton and bolton to see how they have been dealing in the transfer market and do a similar type of thing.,sport
210,911,patti smith to host arts festival rock star patti smith has been made artistic director of this year s meltdown festival to be held at london s south bank centre in june. the punk pioneer follows morrissey david bowie and nick cave in directing 15 days of concerts and events. smith has yet to decide the line-up for meltdown which begins on 11 june. i want to touch on all aspects of our culture perhaps with readings from genet and i have an idea for jeremy irons to read proust she said. the 58-year-old us singer of because the night told the observer newspaper that the festival would be her response to these material exploitative and greedy times . it is important we explore the new but we should also salute the best art there is aesthetically and spiritually she said. last year s meltdown festival directed by the ex-smiths star morrissey included appearances by singer jane birkin nancy sinatra and playwright alan bennett. he also persuaded punk band the new york dolls to reform for a reunion show.,entertainment
211,971,church urges nelly show boycott church ministers are trying to prevent rapper nelly performing in arkansas saying they do not want his vile and filthy lyrics in their town. more than 20 jonesboro ministers urged music fans to boycott nelly s 12 march concert at arkansas state university in a bid to have it cancelled. jonesboro is a wonderful city because of what does not come here said the reverend adrian rodgers. but a venue spokesman said more than 5 500 tickets had been sold so far. mr rodgers of the fullness of joy church said he was concerned about the rapper s lyrics that include references to drugs sex and violence and songs that the minister said were demeaning to women. ministers were worried that bringing such acts to jonesboro would lead to problems. tear the tickets up mr rodgers said. do not go and do not allow your children to go. tim dean director of the arkansas state university venue said ticket sales had been brisk. it would appear that with ticket sales over 5 000 many others have expressed their right to find nelly s music entertaining and worth spending their time and money on he said. nelly has sold more than 30 million singles and albums worldwide and in september 2004 simultaneously occupied the number one and two positions in the us albums chart. he has had 12 uk hit singles including hot in herre dilemma and recent number one over and over.,entertainment
212,1154,beattie return calms attack fears everton striker james beattie has been declared fit for training on tuesday despite suffering an alleged assault last saturday. beattie 27 is not believed to be as seriously hurt as some reports have suggested after being the victim of an unprovoked assault in birmingham. he was on a night out with his girlfriend and two friends following everton s 3-1 win over aston villa. he was shaken but not badly injured said everton spokesman ian ross. he added: he did speak to the police but will not be pressing charges. he has spoken to manager david moyes about what happened. beattie was suspended for the win at aston villa after his red card against chelsea and he will be available again for the merseyside derby at liverpool on 20 march.,sport
213,1622,bookmakers back aviator for oscar the aviator has been tipped by uk bookmakers as the favourite to win the best film award at this year s oscars. ray star jamie foxx is clear favourite in the best actor category while million dollar baby s hilary swank is tipped to win the best actress prize. bookmakers predict cate blanchett will be named best supporting actress. william hill and ladbrokes have given the aviator 4/9 and 8/13 odds of winning best film with million dollar baby in second place at 9/4. bet direct and bet 365 also tip the aviator with the majority of bookmakers regarding finding neverland as the outsider. the aviator is also widely tipped to win the best director prize for martin scorsese. british star clive owen is second favourite at william hill to take the best supporting actor award for his performance in closer. the favourite in that category is sideways star thomas hayden church. vera drake star imelda staunton has 5/1 odds of winning the best actress oscar at bet 365 and william hill ahead of fellow uk star kate winslet who has odds of 25/1 at william hill. mike leigh is the outsider in the best director category for vera drake a position he holds jointly with ray s taylor hackford at bookmakers vc bet. this year s academy awards will be handed out in hollywood on 27 february. x factor judge sharon osbourne will present sky television s live coverage of the event. meanwhile clive owen s best supporting actor nomination has led a bookmaker to shorten his odds of becoming the next james bond. he has moved from 4/1 to 5/2 favourite to play 007 with hugh jackman and ewan mcgregor joint second favourite. clive owen s nomination has sparked a betting frenzy from james bond fans who feel that his heightened global recognition will have done his chances of becoming the next bond a world of good said william hill spokesman rupert adams.,entertainment
214,539,radcliffe eyes hard line on drugs paula radcliffe has called for all athletes found guilty on drugs charges to be treated as criminals. the marathon world record holder believes more needs to be done to rid athletics of the suspicions and innuendoes which greet any fast time. doping in sport is a criminal offence and should be treated as such the 30-year-old told the sunday times. it not only cheats other athletes but also cheats promoters sponsors and the general public. radcliffe s comments come at a time when several american sports stars are under suspicion of steroid use. being caught in possession of a performance-enhancing drugs should carry a penalty she added. the current system does not detect many of the substances being abused by athletes. this means that often athletes do not know if they are competing on a level playing field if their hard work and sacrifice is being trumped by an easier scientific route. often when an athlete puts in a good performance they are subjected to suspicions and innuendoes instead of praise. having been on the receiving end of accusations like this i can testify as to how much this hurts.,sport
215,1131,what price for trusted pc security you can now buy trusted computers but can we really trust the pc vendors asks technology analyst bill thompson. if you have recently bought an ibm thinkvantage computer a dell optiplex or one of a whole range of laptops from toshiba hp/compaq or samsung then you may have got more for your money than you realised. inside your shiny new pc is an extra chip called the trusted platform module (tpm) that can be used for a range of hardware-based security features. eventually the tpm will be built into the main processor itself and if the trusted computing group has its way then you will find one in every piece of hardware you own from mobile phones to tv set top boxes to children s toys. but for the moment it is a separate piece of hardware providing enhanced security features to programs that know how to use them. and as part of a well-designed network system it can provide a lot more security than we enjoy today. a big advantage of the tpm is that it is hardware-based. at the moment most of us rely on software to keep our information safe and secure. it might be password-protected user accounts data encryption programs or a firewall but it all relies on program code running on an inherently insecure processor. hardware security is less common even if it is a lot safer. this is partly because it is more expensive to give someone a smartcard than a password but also because its more work for users systems administrators and managers. as a result we settle for second best. so when it comes to computer security trusted systems could be a major step forward. after all if you have a laptop that will only run programs that have been digitally signed then it will be a lot harder for virus writers to get their malicious code to run. and if all your files are locked automatically then even if you get your computer stolen your personal data will be safeguarded. at the moment support for trusted hardware is not built into major operating systems. instead you have to use special software like hp s protecttools or wave systems embassy. this provides file encryption password management and identity protection usually for business users who connect to company networks. full support for the trusted computing specification will not be available from microsoft until the next release of windows longhorn . this will include what microsoft in a typical act of obscurantism calls the next generation secure computing base and it will give user-level programs access to the trusted computing hardware. when that happens we can expect to see a lot of publicity around the new capabilities and no doubt the windows security centre will encourage users to turn on their trusted computing capability just as they turn on their firewall. however there is a downside to the increased security from viruses spyware and data theft that this will provide. because the trusted computing base is also used to make digital rights management (drm) systems more secure this will give content providers a lot more control over what we can do with music movies and books that we have bought from them. we have seen recently how allowing digital rights management services into our lives can lead to unwelcome consequences. users of apple s itunes used to be able to stream the music they had brought to up to five other itunes users a great way of letting your mates discover your music collection. but the latest version of itunes limits this capability just as an earlier upgrade reduced the number of times you could burn a selected playlist of purchased songs to a cd. another took away the ability to play songs downloaded from real s harmony service on your ipod. apple can do this because they wrote the software and they control the rights management. once it is embedded in trusted hardware it will be even harder for dedicated programmers to find their way around these restrictions and give us back the fair use rights that should be guaranteed under copyright law. similarly users of tivo digital
216,1839,minimum rate for foster parents foster carers are to be guaranteed a minimum allowance to help cover their costs the government has announced. payment levels vary from area to area with some carers getting just £50 a week for clothes food and other costs. minister for children young people and families margaret hodge said new plans will ensure fosterers allowances would be as fair as possible. however local authorities which set and pay the allowances are concerned about how the extra cash will be found. about 50 000 children live with foster families in the uk and carers have said they need more money to make ends meet. ms hodge said: foster carers must not be out of pocket when meeting the costs of caring for a looked after child - a crucial role in society. we need to make sure that arrangements for paying foster carers are as fair and transparent as possible. our proposal for a national minimum rate shows we are serious about creating a better deal for foster carers and about encouraging more people to come forward and consider fostering as a worthwhile and rewarding opportunity. the government is seeking to amend the children bill which passes through the commons next week to establish a national minimum payment. fostering network executive director robert tapsfield criticised the existing system. there is just no logic to a system which values children differently depending on where they live. and with a shortage of over 8 000 foster carers in england it s not a sustainable situation to expect carers to fund foster care from their own pockets. the charity recommends a weekly payment of £108.49 for looking after a baby. in a survey it discovered that rates paid by neighbouring authorities could vary by as much as £100 per week. the association of directors of social services (adss) said it agreed in principle with the government s plans. tony hunter the organisation s president said: there are many devils and lots of details hidden within the government s proposals. but adss fully supports proper remuneration for valued foster carers and looks forward to working with ministers local government and the fostering organisations themselves in order to make sure a sensible and practicable policy emerges.,politics
217,545,bening makes awards breakthrough film actress annette bening is up for an oscar for her starring role in the award-winning film being julia. bening who was born in texas in 1958 has gained prominence for a string of key roles. although an oscar has so far eluded her her status as one of hollywood s favourite actresses remains solid. one of the biggest oscars buzzes in recent years was for bening s role as troubled carolyn burnham in 1999 s american beauty. but her deliciously neurotic portrayal of surburban life turning sour was overlooked in favour of hilary swank s leading role in boys don t cry. after opening her career in the theatre - and gaining a tony award nomination in 1986 - bening had a low-key spell in television. she then made her film debut as a sex-starved wife in 1988 s the great outdoors opposite comics dan akroyd and john candy. following a cameo in postcards from the edge bening s breakthrough role came in 1990 playing seductive con artist myra langtry in the grifters - a role that won her an oscar nomination. despite some rave reviews bening did not win the best supporting actress academy award. however the high-profile performance enabled bening to capture roles in a number of big budget hollywood productions co-starring with some of hollywood s greatest players including robert de niro and harrison ford. but it was her role opposite warren beatty in 1991 gangster flick bugsy which had the greatest impact. bening played virginia hill another role which won her high critical acclaim but the film only picked up two of a staggering 12 oscar nominations. bugsy was the start of a very significant liaison for bening - she married beatty with whom she had a child as the couple promoted the film in europe. the couple now have four children together. a pair of contrasting yet successful performances peppered bening s career in the mid-1990s. she played michael douglas opposite number in romantic comedy the american president and as a fiery queen elizabeth i in a contemporary adaptation of shakespeare s richard iii. bening was the first choice to play the female lead in american beauty director sam mendes film debut which was a critical and commercial success - but the actress had to be content with a bafta award for her strong performance. but current film being julia has made bening an award-winning actress rather than the perennial nominee with success at the golden globes. the witty tale of revenge and love set in 1930s london sees the eponymous theatrical diva - played by bening - grow tired of her success and fall for a young american - and could be the role which finally wins her the coveted academy award.,entertainment
218,1910,sculthorpe wants lions captaincy paul sculthorpe has admitted he would love to succeed andy farrell as great britain skipper if the wigan star does switch codes to rugby union. sculthorpe was vice-captain in the tri-nations and took the st helens captaincy from chris joynt last year. i would definitely want the job - i make no bones about it sculthorpe told bbc sport. it s something i ve always wanted to do. i d gladly take it if it was offered to me. the 27-year-old who captained st helens to challenge cup success last year said following in the footsteps of farrell would be a challenge. andy would be a hard act to follow but it s something i m confident of being up to he said. the gb team isn t a one-man team. there are a lot of good young players who are pushing for places anyway. sculthorpe said the rugby league world would understand if farrell did decide to move to rugby union. it s a short career and you have to make of it what you can said sculthorpe. nobody can blame him if he does go - he s done everything in the game of rugby league. financially it could set him up for life. if he fancies a new challenge then who could fault him sculthorpe also called on the rugby league authorities to have a serious look at the number of games the top players are being asked to play. sean long sculthorpe s saints and lions team-mate has expressed doubts about his international future i think sean s situation is to do with the sheer number of games we re playing he said. the way he s looking at it is that if he can extend his career by a couple of years by not playing international rugby then he s willing to do that. the rfl has got to do something about the fixtures. we re playing 42 weeks of the year and it s too much. a lot of the niggly injuries that i ve suffered with over the last couple of years have come about because of the lack of rest time. st helens have been strongly linked with a move for brilliant young forward sonny bill williams and sculthorpe said he would love the 19-year-old to come to knowsley road. he s a great player - a big strong lad who can certainly hit hard in defence but who is also very skilful he said. i d love him to come to st helens. who knows what might happen but you want the best players in your team and he s certainly one of the best players in the world.,sport
219,799,fry set for role in hitchhiker s actor stephen fry is joining the cast of the forthcoming film adaptation of the hitchhiker s guide to the galaxy. fry will provide the voice of the guide an electronic book which accompanies the story s hero arthur dent on his travels around the galaxy. martin freeman john malkovich bill nighy and alan rickman are co-starring in the film due for release in may. the late douglas adams original 1977 scripts have also been turned into a series of successful books. being asked to do the voice of the guide is like having your birthday on christmas day discovering a winning lottery ticket in your stocking and having chocolate poured all over you said fry a self-confessed fan of the book. the film s executive producer robbie stamp said that adams who died in 2001 would have been delighted with the choice of fry for the role. his humour and intelligence are perfect for the voice of the guide added mr stamp. adams wrote the screenplay based on his book before his premature death while a new radio series was aired 26 years after the first broadcast and included many of the original cast members. hollywood star malkovich will play religious cult leader humma kavula which was especially created by adams for the new film. freeman who starred in hit bbc comedy the office will play the role of arthur dent who begins his intergalactic voyage following the destruction of the earth.,entertainment
220,1016,murray returns to scotland fold euan murray has been named in the scotland training squad after an eight-week ban ahead of saturday s six nations match with ireland. the glasgow forward s ban for stamping ended on 2 february. i m just happy to be back playing and be involved with the squad said murray on monday. hopefully i can get a couple of games under my belt and i might have a chance of playing later in the six nations. i m just glad to be part of it all. backs: mike blair (edinburgh rugby) andy craig (glasgow rugby) chris cusiter (the borders) simon danielli (the borders) marcus di rollo (edinburgh rugby) phil godman (edinburgh rugby) calvin howarth (glasgow rugby) ben hinshelwood (worcester warriors) andrew henderson (glasgow rugby) rory lamont (glasgow rugby) sean lamont (glasgow rugby) dan parks (glasgow rugby) chris paterson (edinburgh rugby) gordon ross (leeds tykes) hugo southwell (edinburgh rugby) simon webster (edinburgh rugby) forwards: ross beattie (northampton saints) gordon bulloch (captain glasgow rugby) david callam (edinburgh rugby) bruce douglas (the borders) jon dunbar (leeds tykes) iain fullarton (saracens) stuart grimes (newcastle falcons) nathan hines (edinburgh rugby) allister hogg (edinburgh rugby) gavin kerr (leeds tykes) nick lloyd (saracens) scott lawson (glasgow rugby) euan murray (glasgow rugby) scott murray (edinburgh rugby) jon petrie (glasgow rugby) robbie russell (london irish) tom smith (northampton saints) jason white (sale sharks).,sport
221,1460,michael film signals retirement singer george michael has said that a new film about his life is the start of a retirement from public view. the pop star said it would be a much more behind the scenes affair and called his own genre of music dead . i thought i should explain myself before i disappear said michael who was at the berlin film festival to launch the documentary. the film a different story chronicles michael s life and career from the 1980s and his personal struggles. the 41-year-old chart-topper told reporters in the german capital that he wanted to move his career into a different form but added that he does not know what it is going to be yet. i m still going to be making music he said but added that he was not going to be around . he hinted at discontent with the current state of music industry and said: i don t really think that there is anyone in the modern pop business who i feel i want to spar with. michael said that the film directed by southan morris would put his two decades of fame into context. it s almost as much for me as for my fans in terms of trying to make sense of the last 22 years and bring it to a close in a proper way he said. the documentary chronicles the highs and lows of his life in the public gaze from his meteoric rise as one half of pop duo wham! to his arrest for lewd conduct in a los angeles toilet in 1998. the film also deals with the loss of michael s partner anselmo feleppa from an aids-related condition in 1993. a different story which is being shown at the berlin film festival has been screened by bbc one.,entertainment
222,1286,police probe bnp mosque leaflet police are investigating a british national party leaflet posted to homes in south wales opposing plans for a new mosque. anti-racism campaigners in swansea have handed copies to south wales police. swansea s muslim community is raising money to open a new mosque and community centre in the former st andrews united reform church. the building on george street has been derelict since the 1980s. taha idris director of the swansea bay race equality council said his organisation contacted police after receiving complaints from the public. i m quite shocked to see this sort of leaflet by the bnp in swansea he said. the bnp has tried in the past to get into swansea and this is another example of them trying again. i am in no doubt that the bnp are not needed and not wanted here. a south wales police spokeswoman confirmed that they were looking at the contents of the leaflet. according to the bnp s website they have been posted to homes in the castle ward. the bnp website carries a photograph of party leader nick griffin - who lives near welshpool mid wales - delivering the leaflet. the bnp has denied it is trying to stir up hatred of any race or religion but argues that they should be able to debate this without fear of arrest. swansea unite against fascism (uaf) is meeting this week to plan a campaign. following the death earlier this year of kalan kawa karim an iraqi kurd living in swansea it organised an anti-racism march in the city that was supported by more than 1 000 people. it is planning its own mail shot campaign and may launch a petition in support of the plans for the mosque. andy richards of swansea uaf said the leaflet was exactly what he had come to expect from the bnp. the people of swansea will not put up with this. swansea s muslim community bought the former church just across the road from the existing mosque on st helen s road in the late 1990s. mr idris said the community was now raising money to renovate the building. it is a landmark building in swansea and would otherwise just crumble he said. it is the ideal opportunity for the building to be restored and used in the proper manner. it will be a muslim community centre. it s a holistic place used for education weddings deaths and births. he said space was limited in the current mosque and on some occasions muslims had to travel to llanelli for cultural events.,politics
223,296,bush to outline toughest budget president bush is to send his toughest budget proposals to date to the us congress seeking large cuts in domestic spending to lower the deficit. about 150 federal programs could be cut or axed altogether as part of a $2.5 trillion (£1.3 trillion) package aimed at curbing the giant us budget deficit. defence spending will rise however while the proposals exclude the cost of continuing military operations in iraq. vice-president dick cheney said the budget was the tightest so far. at the heart of the administration s fifth budget presented to congress on monday is an austere package of domestic measures. these would see discretionary spending rise below the projected level of inflation. such belt-tightening is designed to tackle the massive budget deficit increases of president bush s first term. mr cheney admitted that the budget was the toughest of the bush presidency but argued it was fair and responsible . it is not something we have done with a meat axe nor are we suddenly turning our back on the most needy people in our society he said. the wars in iraq and afghanistan increased expenditure on national security after 9/11 and the 2001 recession wiped out the budget surplus inherited by president bush in 2001 and turned it into a record deficit. the shortfall is projected to rise to $427bn in 2005. education environmental protection and transport initiatives are set to be scaled back as a first step towards reducing the deficit to $230bn by 2009. most controversially the government is seeking to cut the medicaid budget which provides health care to the nation s poorest by $45bn and to reduce farm subsidies by $587m. spending on defence and homeland security is set to increase although not by as much as originally planned. president bush s proposals would see the pentagon s budget rise by $19bn to $419.3bn while homeland security would get an extra $2bn. the budget does not include the cost of running military operations in iraq and afghanistan for which the administration in expected to seek an extra $80bn from congress later this year. also not featuring in the proposals is the cost of funding the administration s radical proposed overhaul of social security provision. some expects believe this could require borrowing of up to $4.5bn trillion over a twenty year period. despite the republicans holding a majority in both houses of congress the proposals will be fiercely contested over the next few months. john mccain a republican senator said he was pleased the administration was prepared to tackle the deficit. with the deficits that we are now running i am glad the president is coming over with a very austere budget he said. however democratic senator kent conrad said the proposals exposed the country to huge financial commitments beyond 2009. the cost of everything he [president bush] advocates explodes he said.,business
224,1345,solutions to net security fears fake bank e-mails or phishing and stories about id theft are damaging the potential of using the net for online commerce say e-business experts. trust in online security is falling as a result. almost 70% of those asked in a poll said that net firms are not doing enough to protect people. the survey of more than 1 000 people reported that 43% were not willing to hand over personal information online. it is worrying for shopaholics and firms who want to exploit the net. more people are becoming aware of online security issues but they have little confidence that companies are doing enough to counter the threats said security firm rsa which carried out the poll. an estimated 12 million britons now use the net as a way of managing their financial affairs. security experts say that scare stories and the vulnerabilities dogging e-commerce and e-banking are being taken seriously - by banks in particular. i don t think the threat is overplayed barry beal global security manager for capgemini told the bbc news website. he added: the challenge for banks is to provide the customer with something that improves security but balances that with usability. ensuring extra security measures are in place protects them too as well as the individual and it is up to both parties to make sure they do what is necessary to prevent fraud he said. card issuers will keep us informed of types of attacks and what procedure to take to protect ourselves. if we do that they will indemnify us he said. many believe using login details like usernames and passwords are simply not good enough anymore though. one of the biggest challenges to improving security online is how to authenticate an individual s identity. several security companies have developed methods which complement or replace passwords which are easily compromised and easy to forget. last year a street survey found that more than 70% of people would reveal their password for a bar of chocolate. on average people have to remember four different passwords. some resort to using the same one for all their online accounts. those who use several passwords often write them down and hide them in a desk or in a document on their computer. in a separate survey by rsa 80% said they were fed up with passwords and would like a better way to login to work computer systems. for many the ideal is a single online identity that can be validated once with a series of passwords and questions or some biometric measurement like a fingerprint or iris scan with a token like a smartcard. activcard is just one of the many companies like rsa security which has been trying to come up with just that. rsa has a deal with internet provider aol that lets people pay monthly for a one-time passcode generation service. users get a physical token which automatically generates a code which stays active for 60 seconds. many companies use a token-based method already for employees to access networks securely already. activcard s method is more complex. it is currently trailing its one-time passcode generation technology with uk banks. steve ash from activcard told the bbc news website there are two parts to the process of identification. the most difficult is to ascertain whether an individual is who they say they are when they are online. the end solution is to provide a method where you combine something the user knows with something they have and present those both. the method it has developed makes use of the chip embedded in bank cards and a special card reader which can generate unique codes that are active for a specified amount of time. this can be adjusted at any time and can be active for as little as 30 seconds before it changes. it combines that with usual usernames and passwords as well as other security questions. you take the card put it in the reader enter your pin number and a code is given. if you wanted then to transfer funds for instance you would have to have the code to authorise the transaction. the clever bit happens back
225,1568,brookside creator s channel 4 bid the creator of defunct tv soap brookside has written to the culture minister to offer to buy channel 4. phil redmond now chairman of mersey tv told tessa jowell he would run it with its current remit intact for the next 10 years. but media watchdog ofcom has said the the commercially funded public service broadcaster will not be privatised. a spokesman for the department for culture media and sport said there were no plans to sell the channel. he added that primary legislation would be required for the station to be sold off which the government was not intending to introduce. brookside was axed in 2003 after its ratings slumped from a peak of seven million to just 1.5 million. redmond also brought teen soap hollyoaks to channel 4 and created grange hill the school-based drama serial which was first broadcast on bbc one in 1978. he was awarded the cbe for services to drama earlier this year.,entertainment
226,502,axa sun life cuts bonus payments life insurer axa sun life has lowered annual bonus payouts for up to 50 000 with-profits investors. regular annual bonus rates on former axa equity & law with-profits policies are to be cut from 2% to 1% for 2004. axa blamed a poor stock market performance for the cut adding that recent gains have not yet offset the market falls seen in 2001 and 2002. the cut will hit an estimated 3% of axa s policyholders. the rest will know their fate in march. the cuts on axa s policies will mean a policyholder who had invested £50 a month into an endowment policy for the past 25 years would see a final maturity payout of £46 998. this equated to a annual investment growth rate of 8% axa said. with-profits policies are designed to smooth out the peaks and troughs of stock market volatility. however heavy stock market falls throughout 2001 and 2002 forced most firms to trim bonus rates on their policies. the stock market has grown over the past 18 months however not enough to undo the damage that occurred during 2001 and 2002 axa spokesman mark hamilton axa spokesman told bbc news. axa cut payouts for the same investors last january.,business
227,1530,terror detainees win lords appeal detaining foreign terrorist suspects without trial breaks human rights laws the uk s highest court has ruled. in a blow to the government s anti-terror measures the house of lords law lords ruled by an eight to one majority in favour of appeals by nine detainees. most of the men are being indefinitely held in belmarsh prison south london. the law lords said the measures were incompatible with european human rights laws. the men will stay behind bars while ministers decide how to react. the ruling creates a major problem for charles clarke on his first day as home secretary following david blunkett s resignation. the liberal democrats say mr clarke should use the fact he is new to the job to take issue with a law established by his predecessor david blunkett. belmarsh prison has been dubbed britain s guantanamo bay by civil rights campaigners opposed to the use of emergency anti-terror laws. the detainees took their case to the house of lords after the court of appeal backed the home office s powers to hold them without limit or charge. the government opted out of part of the european convention on human rights concerning the right to a fair trial in order to bring in anti-terrorism legislation in response to the 11 september attacks in the us. any foreign national suspected of links with terrorism can be detained or can opt to be deported. however those detained cannot be deported if this would mean persecution in their homeland. on thursday senior law lord lord bingham said the rules were incompatible with the european convention on human rights as they allowed detentions in a way that discriminates on the ground of nationality or immigration status . lord nicholls of birkenhead in his ruling said: indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial is anathema in any country which observes the rule of law. it deprives the detained person of the protection a criminal trial is intended to afford. he said the weakness for the government s case was that it was trying to justify detention without trial for foreign suspects - but not for british suspects. lord hoffmann said: the real threat to the life of the nation in the sense of a people living in accordance with its traditional laws and political values comes not from terrorism but from laws such as these. but lord walker of gestingthorpe the one law lord to oppose the appeal said the anti-terror laws contained important safeguards against oppression. in a statement detainee a in woodhill prison said: i hope now that the government will act upon this decision scrap this illegal law and release me and the other internees to return to our families and loved ones. the case was heard by a panel of nine law lords rather than the usual five because of the constitutional importance of the case. ben emmerson qc representing seven of the detainees said the men had already been in custody for nearly three years. he said they had been given no idea when if ever they would be released had never been formally interviewed and there was no prospect they would ever be put on trial. when the men were first held they took their cases to the special immigration appeals commission (siac). the commission ruled on 30 july 2002 that the anti-terror act unjustifiably discriminated against foreign nationals as british people could not be held in the same way. but that ruling was later overturned by the court of appeal who said there was a state of emergency threatening the life of the nation.,politics
228,81,us company admits benin bribery a us defence and telecommunications company has agreed to pay $28.5m after admitting bribery in the west african state of benin. the titan corporation was accused of funnelling more than $2m into the 2001 re-election campaign of president mathieu kerekou. at the time titan was trying to get a higher price for a telecommunications project in benin. there is no suggestion that mr kerekou was himself aware of any wrongdoing. titan a california-based company pleaded guilty to falsifying its accounts and violating us anti-bribery laws. it agreed to pay $13m in criminal penalties as well as $15.5m to settle a civil lawsuit brought by the us financial watchdog the securities and exchange commission (sec). the sec had accused titan of illegally paying $2.1m to an unnamed agent in benin claiming ties with president kerekou. some of the money was used to pay for t-shirts with campaign slogans on them ahead of the 2001 election. shortly after the poll which mr kerekou won benin officials agreed to quadruple titan s management fee. prosecuting attorney carol lam said: all us companies should take note that attempting to bribe foreign officials is criminal conduct and will be appropriately prosecuted. the company says it no longer tolerates such practices. under the us foreign corrupt practices act it is a crime for american firms to bribe foreign officials.,business
229,2162,napster offers rented music to go music downloading for those that have rejected the free peer to peer services can be a costly business. the cost of paying even as little as 70p per track can add up particularly for those people who own one of the new generation of players that can store thousands of songs. paying per track for music is becoming as outmoded as paying per minute for internet access and alternative monthly or yearly subscription models are springing up as a more convenient and ultimately cheaper way of owning music. music fans are moving away from buying the traditional bundled package of a dozen or more songs that we used to call an album to newer ways that fit their lifestyle; either single tracks or subscriptions services said paul myers chief executive of wippit a uk-based music download service. while itunes is doing good business with its sales of individual tracks to ipod owners others are questioning whether the concept of owning music is even valid in the digital age. napster is due to launch a new rental subscription service - dubbed napster to go in the uk in the next few months. the service can be used on players that support microsoft windows latest digital rights management technology known as janus. this includes players made by samsung rio and creative. currently on offer in beta-version in the us the service costs $15 per month for unlimited downloads. the technology ensures that music downloaded to the player only remains playable while the user subscribes to the service. users need to update their license on a monthly basis or the tunes will no longer play. this has outraged some digital music lovers especially as napster already offers a cheaper service for downloading music to the pc. napster claims the higher price is a result of record labels charging more for the to-go service and says it also offers greater value for customers. mr myers is not convinced a rental model will work for consumers. we ve been offering our unlimited music subscription service for more than three years now and our customers know what they want. format interoperability excellent value and the reassurance that music purchased from wippit is theirs to keep and enjoy on whatever device they choose he said. who wants to download a track that won t play next month if you decide to unsubscribe to the service or change portable player for an ipod or the latest mobile phone wippit offers a download subscription service for £4.99 per month or £50 per year. it has a catalogue of around 60 000 songs.,tech
230,1519,jobs growth still slow in the us the us created fewer jobs than expected in january but a fall in jobseekers pushed the unemployment rate to its lowest level in three years. according to labor department figures us firms added only 146 000 jobs in january. the gain in non-farm payrolls was below market expectations of 190 000 new jobs. nevertheless it was enough to push down the unemployment rate to 5.2% its lowest level since september 2001. the job gains mean that president bush can celebrate - albeit by a very fine margin - a net growth in jobs in the us economy in his first term in office. he presided over a net fall in jobs up to last november s presidential election - the first president to do so since herbert hoover. as a result job creation became a key issue in last year s election. however when adding december and january s figures the administration s first term jobs record ended in positive territory. the labor department also said it had revised down the jobs gains in december 2004 from 157 000 to 133 000. analysts said the growth in new jobs was not as strong as could be expected given the favourable economic conditions. it suggests that employment is continuing to expand at a moderate pace said rick egelton deputy chief economist at bmo financial group. we are not getting the boost to employment that we would have got given the low value of the dollar and the still relatively low interest rate environment. the economy is producing a moderate but not a satisfying amount of job growth said ken mayland president of clearview economics. that means there are a limited number of new opportunities for workers.,business
231,1634,call for kenteris to be cleared kostas kenteris lawyer has called for the doping charges against the greek sprinter to be dropped. gregory ioannidis has submitted new evidence to a greek athletics tribunal which he claims proves the former olympic champion has no case to answer. kenteris and compatriot katerina thanou were given provisional suspensions in december for failing to take drugs tests before the athens olympics. the greek tribunal is expected to give its verdict early next week. kenteris and thanou withdrew from the athens olympics last august after missing drugs tests on the eve of the opening ceremony. they were also alleged to have avoided tests in tel aviv and chicago before the games. but ioannidis said: everything overwhelmingly shows that the charges should be dropped. ioannidis also said he has presented evidence that will throw a different light on the events leading up to the pair s sensational withdrawal from the athens games. the lawyer added that he has proof the authorities knew kenteris was in germany at the time he was alleged to have missed a test in chicago. nick davies spokesman for athletics ruling body the iaaf which handed out the provisional bans said: we can t comment because we were not present at the hearing and don t know what was said behind closed doors. we expect a verdict from the greek athletics federation before the end of february and will obviously be making a statement then. kenteris won 200m gold at the 2000 sydney olympics while thanou won silver in the 100m.,sport
232,1586,abortion not a poll issue - blair tony blair does not believe abortion should be an election issue arguing it is a matter for individual conscience. the prime minister s spokesman set out mr blair s view after the top catholic in england and wales backed michael howard s stance on abortions. the tory leader supports a reduction in the legal limit from 24 weeks to 20 and has said current rules are tantamount to abortion on demand . the prime minister has made it clear he has no plans to the change the law. mr blair s spokesman said: the catholic church has a well-known position on this issue and it was one of many issues the cardinal mentioned and therefore it should be seen in that context. his words came as cardinal cormac murphy o connor the archbishop of westminster backed mr howard s stance and distanced himself from labour. in a statement he said abortion was a very key issue saying: the policy supported by mr howard is one that we would commend on the way to a full abandonment of abortion. cardinal o connor claimed labour had developed the notion that it was the natural party of catholics but he said: we are not going to suggest people support one particular party. the family planning association says a reduction would particularly affect young women who often seek help later. more than 180 000 women in england and wales had terminations last year of which fewer than 1% were carried out between 22 and 24 weeks. in the cosmopolitan interview mr howard said: i believe abortion should be available to everyone but the law should be changed. in the past i voted for a restriction to 22 weeks and i would be prepared to go down to 20. all three main parties say the issue is one for each mp s conscience rather than one where there is a party-wide policy. mr howard stressed his views were his personal views. shadow home secretary david davis said he understood mr howard had been signalling that a conservative government would allow a commons vote on the issue. mr blair and liberal democrat leader charles kennedy also gave their views during interviews conducted as part of the magazine s high heeled vote campaign. mr blair who last year denied he planned to join his wife and four children in the catholic faith despite regularly taking communion said abortion was a difficult issue . however much i dislike the idea of abortion you should not criminalise a woman who in very difficult circumstances makes that choice. obviously there is a time beyond which you can t have an abortion and we have no plans to change that although the debate will continue. mr kennedy said he had previously voted for a 22-week limit but medical advances mean i don t know what i would do now . the roman catholic archbishop of cardiff the most reverend peter smith told bbc radio 4 s today programme that the church merely wanted people to reflect on issues in light of the gospel before voting. anne weyman chief executive of the family planning association asked: what is the benefit to women or to the potential child of forcing a woman to have a baby anti-abortion group the pro-life alliance congratulated mr howard on his new stance but said it did not go far enough.,politics
233,469,guantanamo four free in weeks all four britons held by the us in guantanamo bay will be returned to the uk within weeks foreign secretary jack straw told the commons on tuesday. moazzam begg from birmingham and martin mubanga richard belmar and feroz abbasi from london have been held by the us for almost three years. they were detained in the cuban camp as part of the us-led war on terror . mr straw said the us had agreed to release the four after intensive and complex discussions over security. he said the government had been negotiating the return of the detainees since 2003. all four families have been informed of their return and have been involved in regular discussions with the government mr straw said. but he added: once they are back in the uk the police will consider whether to arrest them under the terrorism act 2000 for questioning in connection with possible terrorist activity. the shadow foreign secretary michael ancram welcomed the return of the four detainees. but he said there were still serious questions both over the possible threat the four pose to the uk and the treatment they received while detained. liberal democrat foreign affairs spokesman sir menzies campbell said the four had been rescued from a legal no-man s land . their civil rights were systematically and deliberately abused and they were denied due process. azmat begg father of moazzam thanked his lawyers and the british people for the support he had received while campaigning for his son s release. he added: if they have done something wrong of course they should be punished but if they haven t they shouldn t have been there. lawyer louise christian who represents mr abbasi and mr mubanga said the government should have acted sooner. she said: they should at the outset have said quite clearly to the american government that they were behaving in breach of international law and that the british government wanted no part of it and wanted guantanamo bay shut down. they didn t do that. they colluded with it. moazzam begg s labour mp roger godsiff welcomed his release but said questions remained unanswered particularly about charges. asked about possible damages mr begg and the other detainees could bring against the us mr godsiff said: people get released from prison when it s found that their prosecution was unsustainable and they are quite rightly awarded sizeable sums of money. i don t see any difference in this case. human rights campaigners have been outraged at the treatment of the detainees in cuba. amnesty international has called camp delta a major human-rights scandal and an icon of lawlessness . both amnesty and the lobby group guantanamo human rights commission described the release as long overdue . civil rights group liberty said it was delighted but called on the government to release men indefinitely detained in the uk without charge or trial. director shami chakrabarti called on the government to practise what it preaches and either free or charge 12 detainees at belmarsh and woodhill prisons. law lords ruled last month that the 12 were being held in contravention of human rights laws but they are still behind bars. the us has also announced that 48-year-old australian mamdouh habib previously accused of terrorist offences will be released without charge from camp delta. five british detainees released from guantanamo in march last year were questioned by uk police before being released without charge.,politics
234,382,e-university disgraceful waste a failed government scheme to offer uk university courses online has been branded a disgraceful waste by mps. the e-university was scrapped last year having attracted only 900 students at a cost of £50m. chief executive john beaumont was paid a bonus of £44 914 despite a failure to bring in private sector backers. the commons education select committee called this morally indefensible but the government said the e-university project had improved understanding . a department for education and skills spokeswoman said the venture had been ambitious and ground-breaking but take-up had not been sufficient to continue with the project . she added: uk e-universities was not the only organisation to have lost out on private sector investment in the collapse of the dotcom boom. the select committee found that those responsible for founding the e-university in 2000 had been caught up in the general atmosphere of enthusiasm surrounding the internet. initial business plans forecast a quarter of a million students joining within a decade bringing in at least £110m in profit. but virtually no market research was carried out and just £4.2m was spent on worldwide sales and marketing of courses. some £14m went on developing the technology to make the e-university work. this was used by just 200 students the rest preferring to work through existing university websites. with no significant private investors and no direct accountability to a government minister the e-university had had too much freedom to spend public money as it wished the report found. committee chairman barry sheerman said: uk e-university was a terrible waste of public money. the senior executives failed to interest any private investors and showed an extraordinary over-confidence in their ability to attract students to the scheme. the report warns that the government should not be scared off investment in innovative but potentially risky schemes by the failure of the e-university but should learn the lessons from this disaster .,politics
235,353,councils prepare to set tax rises council tax in scotland is set to rise by an average of about 4% in the coming year bbc scotland has learned. authorities will decide final figures on thursday when projected increases will be more than twice the rate of inflation which is currently 1.6%. the finance minister has urged councils to limit increases but they have warned that they will struggle to maintain services unless funding is increased. they say much additional government money is for new initiatives. scottish finance minister tom mccabe msp said: last week in parliament i announced an additional £419m for core expenditure to local government in scotland. that s a 5.5% increase and sits against an inflation rate of 1.6% so i think we have quite rightly said to councils this year that we would at the very least ask them to exercise restraint. mr mccabe is also looking for local authorities to become more efficient and save money in coming years. he told bbc radio scotland s sunday live programme: here in scotland we have 32 councils who all have their own individual collection systems for council tax they have their own payroll systems and their own human resource systems. we think there has to be opportunities there for rationalisation and using the money saved to reinvest in frontline services. the councils umbrella organisation cosla which provided bbc scotland with the indicative figures for next year warned that councils would face a continuous struggle to maintain services. mr mccabe has promised them about £8.1bn next year. however most of the increase is targeted to new initiatives and councils will experience difficulties in maintaining core services a cosla spokesman said. cosla says that it is willing to work with the executive on finding efficiency savings but that these will not be enough to maintain services. they say the funding plans for the next three years will see councils lose more of the share of public spending. the conservatives accuse the scottish executive of using the council tax to raise funds because it is too afraid to raise income tax. the tory finance spokesman brian monteith msp said: its a form of disguise... yet again we see that council tax is being used as a way of passing on costs. scared of actually using its three pence income tax that it could put up what we ve seen over the years is more and more burdens being put onto local authorities and the council tax payer having to pick up the bill. there are also warnings that unless funding to councils is increased in the next few years then services may have to be reduced. linda knox director of the scottish local authority management centre at strathclyde university said: with this current settlement the increase is slowing. at the same time the burdens on councils are greater than they were. the settlement figures don t include pay increases and the executive is also requiring a substantial figure - in the area of £325m - in efficiency savings across the settlement period. education will be protected from any cuts but linda knox says this will mean other services will suffer. she said: in practice that will mean a 4-5% cut for other services. on the face of it the settlement looks like an increase of about 9.7% but by the time you take into account other factors its probably only about 1% in real terms.,politics
236,1666,hamm bows out for us women s football legend mia hamm has played her final game. hamm 32 who officially retired after this year s athens olympics took to the field for the last time to help the us claim a 5-0 win over mexico. hamm ends her career as the most prolific scorer - male or female - in international football with 158 goals in 276 games for the us. she was twice fifa women s player of the year and won the world cup in 1991 and 1999 and two olympic golds. on her retirement hamm said: there are mixed emotions. there are things in your life that you have had to put on the back-burner and you can focus more time and energy on that now. i have to see what is out there and not commit to everything at the beginning. the friendly also saw the end of julie foudy and joy fawcett s us careers. hamm will now embark on a new life with husband chicago cubs shortstop nomar garciaparra who was in the stands to watch her final game. he has just agreed a new deal with the cubs after joining them in july.,sport
237,1457,french wine gets 70m euro top-up the french government is to hand its struggling wine industry 70m euros ($91m) in aid to help it battle falling sales and damaging overproduction. the financial package is aimed at assisting vintners in financial trouble and improving how its wine is marketed. the french wine industry the world s second largest has been hit by declining consumption at home and the growing popularity of new world wines. wine makers however claimed the support did not go far enough. the package was announced by agriculture minister dominique bussereau after talks with vintners representatives. the bulk of the money - about 40m euros - will be offered in the form of preferential loans to heavily indebted producers to enable them to reschedule their payments. a further 15m euros will be made available to wine cooperatives which make up the majority of french producers in low interest loans. efforts to promote french wine abroad are to be boosted by an extra 3.5m euros in funding. france fell behind the new world producers of australia chile and the united states for the first time in 2003 in terms of exports. domestic consumption accounting for 70% of sales has suffered from strict restrictions on advertising and tough drink-driving laws. the aid package would create a positive climate around french viticulture mr bussereau said. however wine makers and farmers said the support was much less than they had been hoping for. i am afraid the resources are not up to the ambitions jean-michel lemetayer from the fnsea agricultural union told the associated press news agency. in an effort to tackle overcapacity the government will agree that vines can be destroyed in areas where growers give their unanimous consent while 500 vintners will be helped to take early retirement. the government will also seek european union approval to distil about 250 million litres of excess wine into alcohol with vintners receiving compensation. production is currently outstripping demand by about 30%. the support is designed to make french producers more competitive in the face of increasing global consolidation across the wine industry. wine makers in france s best-known regions such as burgundy have found it hard to invest in new technology and to create recognisable brands to appeal to overseas buyers.,business
238,2182,women in film are earning less women in the uk film industry earn less than their male counterparts despite being better qualified according to a study released on wednesday. only 16% of women earn more than £50 000 compared with 30% of men. women make up a third of the workforce. the research was carried out jointly by the uk film council and industry training body skillset. it also found that women in the industry were less likely than men to be married or have dependant children. the study which claims to be the most in-depth so far conducted found 60% of women in the film industry hold degrees compared with 39% of men. whilst 17% of men in the industry had no qualifications this was true for only five per cent of women. in the lower salary bracket 35% of women earn less than £20 000 a year compared to only 18% of men. the research found very few women worked in the camera sound electrical and construction departments but they made up a majority of those working in make-up and hairdressing. uk film council chief executive john woodward said: whilst the uk has benefited hugely from its highly-qualified film production workforce there are still many barriers facing people who want to get in and stay in the industry. developing the film production workforce must be underpinned with a commitment to diversity as well as training. the workforce is largely focused around london with 78% in the industry based in the capital and the south east of england. the industry depends heavily on word of mouth with 81% being recruited in that way. in total only five percent of the workforce is made up of ethnic minorities although in london the figure rises to 24%. the necessity of completing unpaid work experience to get into the workforce has also shot up from 5% before the 1980s to 45% after 2000.,entertainment
239,1591,blair moves to woo jewish voters tony blair has pledged to never ever ever attack tory leader michael howard over his jewish beliefs. the prime minister told the jewish chronicle: if you look at what i do i attack michael howard politically. mr blair also distanced himself from recent labour campaign posters featuring mr howard which critics claimed were anti-semitic . these were not intended to cause any offence to anyone on the jewish community mr blair insisted. one poster depicted mr howard and his shadow chancellor oliver letwin who is also jewish as flying pigs. another pictured the tory leader swinging a pocket watch on a chain which critics said echoed the jewish money lender shylock in shakespeare s merchant of venice. others compared the image to the character fagin in charles dickens oliver twist. labour has since taken the designs of its website saying members had preferred other designs. during his interview with the jewish chronicle mr blair said: i ve been a very strong supporter of the jewish community and israel and will always be so. pressed on whether he would draw attention to mr howard s jewish beliefs in an attempt to attract muslim support he replied: the idea that i would allow anybody to make such a charge is outrageous. it s untrue. if you look what i do i attack michael howard politically. i would never ever ever attack him on that basis. mr blair also defended his party s attitude towards the jewish community pointing out that it was his government that had introduced the holocaust memorial day. he added that labour also aggressively fought all forms of racism. neither the conservatives nor the liberal democrats wished to comment on mr blair s words. the prime minister was speaking as london s labour mayor ken livingstone remains embroiled in a row over comments he made to a jewish reporter from the city s evening standard newspaper. mr blair repeated calls for the mayor to apologise for likening the reporter oliver finegold to a concentration camp guard. mr livingstone should have withdrawn the comment immediately once he realised the journalist was jewish said mr blair. i m sure that is what in truth he wants to do. well he should do it. mr livingstone has said he could not sincerely say sorry for the comments he made and claims he has been targeted by the newspaper. he conceded his comments may have been offensive but were not racist and said earlier this week he would not apologise even if mr blair asked.,politics
240,1643,teenager tait picked for england newcastle s teenage centre mathew tait has been named as a centre in england s team to face wales in the six nations opener in cardiff on saturday. the 18-year-old will play alongside falcons team-mate jamie noon in england s midfield. scrum-half matt dawson is also recalled despite been left out of the initial squad after a row over clashing tv and training commitments. bath lock danny grewcock will also start pending a possible citing. england coach andy robinson has also awarded gloucester flanker andy hazell his first six nations start. in another change to the side that lost to australia in november leicester lock ben kay replaces bath second row steve borthwick. robinson was already without jonny wilkinson mike tindall stuart abbott richard hill and will greenwood while mike catt had been left out of england s squad. j robinson (sale sharks capt); m cueto (sale sharks) m tait (newcastle) j noon (newcastle) j lewsey (wasps); c hodgson (sale sharks) m dawson (wasps); g rowntree (leicester) s thompson (northampton) j white (leicester) d grewcock (bath) b kay (leicester) l moody (leicester) a hazell (gloucester) j worsley (wasps). replacements: a titterrell (sale sharks) p vickery (gloucester) s borthwick (bath) j forrester (gloucester) h ellis (leicester) o barkley (bath) b cohen (northampton).,sport
241,1822,hitler row over welsh arts cash an artist critical of welsh arts funding being brought under assembly government control has denied comparing the idea with dictatorships in russia and germany. shani rhys james is worried that the arts council of wales may be taken over by the welsh assembly government. culture minister alun pugh said it would be crass and ignorant to liken a quango review to hitler s germany. but ms james emphasised she had actually said artists needed freedom. the future of the arts council of wales has been in question since it was announced that most welsh quangos would eventually be abolished. it was announced last july that three welsh quangos education and training body elwa the wales tourist board and the welsh development agency would be brought under assembly government control. the arts council of wales may be among the next to come under the assembly government s umbrella. but ms james who won the £30 000 jerwood painting prize in 2003 said arts funding should be separate from government. ms james told bbc radio wales: it s quite dangerous when you involve politicians because it s not like the health service and it s not like the railways. free expression is absolutely vital in a democratic society. you need distance you do not need government interference because it could be taken the wrong way. but she said reports that she had likened the assembly government to totalitarian regimes were inaccurate. she told good morning wales: just to put the record straight that business in the paper where it said i likened the government to bolshevik russia or hitler s germany the actual quote i gave was: it is vital to a civilised society that we allow artists to express themselves without government control . as we know from past european history i.e. russia and germany in the early 20th century artists will go underground or leave the country or rather than compromise their expression . artists need a free voice to express themselves - they reflect a truth through their own art forms. she said the assembly government was not best placed to run the arts in wales. she added: it would be a momentous change and devastating to the arts. it would set the arts scene back 60 years because i really don t think the government has the expertise. if you have the national assembly taking control i fear you are going to be going back to the dragons and leeks and the choirs. wales has moved on. it is international now. it is not set back in how green was my valley responding to ms james criticisms mr pugh said: the structure of unelected quangos is under review and we have made it clear that further announcements are due shortly. comparing the welsh assembly government to hitler s germany is a crass and ignorant response to a real issue about democratic accountability. ms james whose father was welsh was born in melbourne where her parents worked in the theatre. she moved to powys nearly 20 years ago where she works from her studio near llangadfan. she has won a number of arts prizes including the wales open in 1989 and the mostyn open in 1991.,politics
242,742,electrolux to export europe jobs electrolux saw its shares rise 14% on tuesday after it said it would be shifting more of its manufacturing to low-cost countries. the swedish firm the world s largest maker of home appliances said it is to relocate about 10 of its 27 plants in western europe and north america. it did not say which facilities would be affected but intends moving them to asia eastern europe and mexico. the company has two manufacturing sites in county durham. it makes lawn and garden products in newton aycliffe and cookers and ovens in spennymoor. the newton aycliffe plant could also be affected by electrolux s separate announcement that it is to spin-off its outdoor products unit into a new separate company. electrolux s subsidiary brands include aeg zanussi and frigidaire. the company said it was speeding up its restructuring programme which aims to save between £190m and £265m annually from 2009. we see that about half the plants in high-cost countries - that is around 10 - are at risk said electrolux chief executive hans straberg. it looks pretty grim said swedish trades union official ulf carlsson. what are we going to end up producing in sweden,business
243,1956,hewitt survives nalbandian epic home favourite lleyton hewitt came through a dramatic five-set battle with argentine david nalbandian to reach the australian open semi-finals. hewitt looked to be cruising to victory after racing into a two-set lead. but nalbandian broke his serve three times in both of the next two sets to set up a nailbiting decider. hewitt eventually grabbed the vital break in the 17th game and served out to win 6-3 6-2 1-6 3-6 10-8 and set up a meeting with andy roddick. the winner of that match will face either roger federer or marat safin in the final. ninth seed nalbandian had never come back from two sets down to win a match and there was no indication he would do so as hewitt dominated the first two sets. the argentine had stoked up the temperature ahead of the match by saying hewitt s exuberant on-court celebrations were not very good for the sport . and he had words with hewitt during one change of ends in the second set when the australian appeared to brush shoulders with him as they went to their chairs. the balance of power changed completely in the third set as hewitt allowed his level to dip and he double-faulted twice as nalbandian broke on the way to taking the fourth set. but the tiring third seed showed incredible reserves of strength to force the break despite being outplayed for much of the final set and three times coming within two points of defeat. he then produced a love service game to finish off the match in four hours and five minutes. i just kept hanging in there. it was always tough serving second in the fifth set said hewitt who had never reached the last four at his home grand slam. i told myself to give everything and in the end it paid off once again. it s a long way from holding that trophy up there but i m hanging in there. only four guys left that can win and we re the top four in the world. it s set up for a pretty good showdown in the semis and finals.,sport
244,1829,go-ahead for new internet names the internet could soon have two new domain names aimed at mobile services and the jobs market. the internet corporation for assigned names and numbers (icann) has given preliminary approval to two new addresses - .mobi and .jobs. they are among 10 new names being considered by the net s oversight body. others include a domain for pornography an anti-spam domain as well as .post and .travel for the postal and travel industries. the .mobi domain would be aimed at websites and other services that work specifically around mobile phones while the .jobs address could be used by companies wanting a dedicated site for job postings. the process to see the new domain names go live in cyberspace could take months and icann officials warned that there were no guarantees they would ultimately be accepted. applicants paid £23 000 apiece to have their proposals considered. the application for .mobi was sponsored by technology firms including nokia microsoft and t-mobile. of the 10 currently under consideration the least likely to win approval is the .xxx domain for pornographic websites. there are currently around 250 domain names in use around the globe mostly for specific countries such as .fr for france and .uk for britain. perhaps unsurprisingly .com remains the most popular address on the web.,tech
245,1675,google shares fall as staff sell shares in google have fallen 6.7% after employees and early investors in the web search took advantage of the first chance to sell their holdings. restrictions were imposed ahead of its flotation in august to prevent shares being dumped quickly onto the market. in one of the most closely-watched initial public offerings in stock market history the us-based company sold 19.6 million shares at $85 each. google shares have risen since but fell $12.33 on tuesday to close at $172.55. the restriction - known as a lockup - is being eased piecemeal: in all some 227 million additional shares will become free to trade by february 2005. selling the shares could turn many of google s workers into millionaires. there were fears that the potential increase of shares in circulation from tuesday would ease demand for stock. however analysts say they expected most shareholders would be holding back from selling all their shares immediately as google s good performance and future growth potential means demand will hold. in its first earnings report since floating on the stock market google said it made a net profit of $52m in the three months ending 30 september. sales surged to $805.9m in the third quarter up from $393.9m a year earlier. google s main service - its internet search - is free to users so the firm makes much of its money from selling advertising space linked to the words for which its users search. it also sells the use of its technology to companies who need to make either their websites or their internal information systems searchable.,business
246,376,election deal faltered over heath role the tories failed to hold onto power in 1974 after liberals demanded sir edward heath quit in return for co-operation. documents released after 30 years reveal the failed negotiations by the then prime minister following the dramatic february general election. liberal leader jeremy thorpe appeared willing to form a coalition government. but it partly collapsed over the conservative leader s own role prompting the queen to ask harold wilson to form a labour government. the february 1974 general election surprised the nation when it created a hung parliament with no party in overall control. sir edward had gone to the country for a fresh mandate amid the spiralling economic crisis a miners strike and the subsequent three-day week. labour emerged with the most seats - but its 301 mps were 17 short of the number mr wilson needed to form a majority. sir edward who had received more votes but had fewer mps believed he had the authority to remain at number 10 providing the 14 liberal mps would support his government. he said the liberals could keep out labour in three ways: lend ad hoc support to his minority government help draw up the government s programme or have up to three cabinet members in a coalition with the conservatives. according to the documents released at the national archives the friendly and easy first meeting indicated that both sir edward and mr thorpe thought they had the makings of a deal. mr thorpe was in high spirits having just led his party to a historic jump in support. he also argued for a grand coalition of all three main parties. but sir edward said that was impossible because the labour left was set against it and the pair settled on trying for a conservative-liberal pact. hours later sir edward s hopes of a deal unravelled as mr thorpe s colleagues refused to support him. jeremy said he was encountering a rather embarrassing problem with his colleagues about the prime minister personally reads a telephone memo for mr heath. they feel they could not agree to serve as long as he is the prime minister. asked if this was his own view he said - no it was not i am very close to ted and thought he was by far the most able man we had and he would be perfectly happy to serve - it was only some of his colleagues who were being difficult. the following day the stickling points had clearly become two-fold: mr thorpe s colleagues wanted electoral reform and sir edward s resignation. mr thorpe told sir edward: i am sorry this is obviously hell - a nightmare on stilts for you. somehow i personally hope that we can work something out. four hours later sir edward called the liberal leader back to downing street in a last attempt at a deal. the minutes of the meeting show how the chance of a coalition government quickly evaporated. the pm said he was bound to tell mr thorpe that his colleagues had told him that they would not agree to serve under any other prime minister. mr thorpe was at liberty to verify this by talking to one or two of the prime minister s colleagues. documents show that sir edward mulled over resigning and perhaps returning to coalition government in a labour-led coalition. but he already knew mr wilson would not form a coalition with either the liberals or the conservatives because of the opposition of the labour left. within hours of his final talks with mr thorpe sir edward told the nation he was resigning and the queen invited mr wilson to form a new minority government.,politics
247,1626,euronext joins bid battle for lse pan-european stock market euronext has approached the london stock exchange (lse) about a possible takeover bid. the approach is at an early stage and therefore does not require a response at this point lse said. talks with the european stock market and with rival bidder deutsche boerse will continue the lse said. last week the group rejected a £1.3bn ($2.5bn) takeover offer from deutsche boerse claiming that it undervalued the business. lse saw its shares surge 4.9% to a new high of 583p in early trade following the announcement on monday. the offer follows widespread media speculation that euronext would make an offer for lse. experts now widely expect a bidding war for europe s biggest stock market which lists stocks with a total capitalisation of £1.4 trillion to break out. commentators say that a deal with euronext which owns the liffe derivatives exchange in london and combines the paris amsterdam and lisbon stock exchanges could potentially offer the lse more cost savings than a deal with deutsche boerse. a weekend report in the telegraph had quoted an unnamed executive at euronext as saying the group would make a cash bid to trump deutsche boerse s offer. because we already own liffe in london the cost savings available to us from a merger are far greater than for deutsche boerse the newspaper quoted the executive as saying. euronext chief executive jean-francois theodore is reported to have already held private talks with lse s chief executive clara furse. further reports had suggested that euronext could make an offer in excess of the lse s 533p a share closing price on friday. however euronext said it could not guarantee at this stage that a firm offer would be made for lse. there has been extensive speculation about a possible takeover of the company since an attempted merger with deutsche boerse failed in 2000.,business
248,168,top judge clashes with ministers the uk s top judge has revealed he has clashed with ministers about how the heads of public inquiries are chosen. lord woolf said he was determined his current veto on whether a judge should chair an inquiry should continue as a guard for judicial independence. but he told mps the lord chancellor lord falconer was insisting he should have the final say in such cases. lord hutton s inquiry into the death of dr david kelly sparked debate about who should run inquiries. the government says the lord chancellor would be unlikely to go against lord woolf s wishes. lord woolf who is lord chief justice of england and wales was giving evidence to the commons public administration select committee s inquiry into public inquiries. he said he had not been involved in the choice of lord hutton who as a law lord did not come under his jurisdiction. but he argued he should have a veto on whether judges generally should chair a particular inquiry and if so which judge it should be. in written evidence to the committee lord woolf said: i have so far failed to reach an agreement with the lord chancellor on this issue ... i intend to maintain my position and will press for this safeguard to be in any future legislation. judges should think carefully before heading an inquiry into a highly political issue such as the intelligence on iraq s weapons of mass destruction he said. he argued: the subject matter of the inquiry may be so political that it would be damaging to the judiciary for a judge to be involved. in addition the question of whether there should be an inquiry at all may be highly controversial and if a judge is appointed the judiciary as a result of the appointment may be seen as siding inappropriately with the government. he told the mps: anything that tends to undermine the confidence of the public in the judiciary worries me. lord woolf said the current rules were not written down but it was inconceivable in practice that the lord chancellor would overrule his concerns. but that situation could change with new legal reforms. the issue had been overlooked when a new agreement was drawn up about those responsibilities and the dispute had emerged in later discussions. what i am asking for is a situation where if the lord chancellor cannot obtain my agreement [on appointing a judge] it doesn t happen he said. lord woolf said he did not think there would be difficulties but he wanted to establish the principle. a department for constitutional affairs spokeswoman said lord woolf and lord falconer agreed about what happened in practice. their disagreement is about whether the legislation should include a requirement for consultation or concurrence - a very narrow dispute in lord woolf s words she said. as lord woolf also acknowledged it is highly unlikely that the lord chancellor would appoint a judge against the wishes of the lord chief justice. judges are free to decide for themselves whether to accept positions as inquiry chairs. parliament will examine the issue next year when it debates a new bill about public inquiries.,politics
249,321,madagascar completes currency switch madagascar has completed the replacement of its malagasy franc with a new currency the ariary. from monday all prices and contracts will have to be quoted in the ariary which was trading at 1 893 to the us dollar. the malagasy franc which lost almost half its value in 2004 is no longer legal tender but will remain exchangeable at banks until 2009. the phasing out of the franc begun in july 2003 was intended to distance the country from its past under french colonial rule and address the problem of the large amount of counterfeit francs in circulation. it s above all a question of sovereignty reuters quoted a central bank official as saying. it is symbolic of our independence from the old colonial ways. since we left the french monetary zone in 1973 we should have our own currency with its own name. the ariary was the name of a pre-colonial currency in the indian ocean island state.,business
250,715,amex shares up on spin-off news shares in american express surged more than 8% on tuesday after it said it was to spin off its less profitable financial advisory subsidiary. the us credit card to travel services giant said off-loading american express financial advisors (aefa) would boost its profitability. aefa has more than 12 000 advisers selling financial advice funds and insurance to 2.5 million customers. over the years it has delivered poor profits and even some losses. this is an excellent move by american express to focus on its core businesses and sell off a laggard division which has been a problem for quite some time said marquis investment research analyst phil kain. analysts estimate that a stand-alone aefa could have a market value of $10bn (£5.3bn). the unit was acquired by american express 20 years ago as investors diversified service of minneapolis at a time when firms were amassing one-stop financial empires. however the business of selling investments was never integrated with the rest of the group.,business
251,1278,barkley fit for match in ireland england centre olly barkley has been passed fit for sunday s six nations clash with ireland at lansdowne road. barkley withdrew from bath s team for friday s clash with gloucester after suffering a calf injury in training. gloucester centre henry paul has also been cleared to play after overcoming an ankle injury. england coach andy robinson who names his team on wednesday has called up bath prop duncan bell following phil vickery s broken arm. with vickery sidelined for at least six weeks and julian white out with a neck injury bell could make his england debut. bell 30 had set his sights on an international career with wales. but last december the international rugby board confirmed that he could only be eligible for england as he had travelled on tour with them in 1998. i thought i d burned all my bridges with england when i expressed an interest in wanting to play for wales so it s fantastic to get this opportunity he said. bell who featured in the england a side which beat france 30-20 10 days ago added: i recognise that i got into the england a squad because of injuries. and it s the same again in getting into the senior squad. but now that i have this opportunity i intend to take it fully if selected and play my heart out for my country. england coach andy robinson could take a gamble and call inexperienced sale sharks prop andrew sheridan into his front row. but sheridan favours the loosehead side of the scrum and a more likely scenario is for uncapped bell - who was among the try-scorers when england a beat france a 30-20 nine days ago - to be drafted in.,sport
252,653,supercomputer breaks speed record the us is poised to push japan off the top of the supercomputing chart with ibm s prototype blue gene/l machine. it is being assembled for the lawrence livermore national laboratory a us department of energy (doe) lab. doe test results show that blue gene/l has managed speeds of 70.72 teraflops. the current top machine japan s nec earth simulator clocks up 35.86. due next week the top 500 list officially charts the fastest computers in the world. it is announced every six months and is worked out using an officially recognised mathematical speed test called linpack which measures calculations per second. the speeds will most likely make it the fastest computer system on the planet yet the chip technology powering the machine is the kind which can be found in familiar devices such as games consoles. the us secretary of energy spencer abraham confirmed that the machine had reached the breakneck speed according to the linpack benchmark. until the official list is published however blue gene/l s position will not be confirmed and there are expected to be some other new entries. but the test results raise the bar of supercomputing enormously and signal a remarkable achievement. surpassing the 40 trillion calculations per second (teraflop) mark has been considered a landmark for some time. the ibm blue gene/l is only a prototype and is one 5th the speed of the full version due to be completed for the livermore labs in 2005. its peak theoretical performance is expected to be 360 teraflops and will fit into 64 full racks. it will also cut down on the amount of heat generated by the massive power a big problem for supercomputers. the final machine will help scientists work out the safety security and reliability requirements for the us s nuclear weapons stockpile without the need for underground nuclear testing. the earth simulator has held on to the top spot since june 2002. it is dedicated to climate modelling and simulating seismic activity. but in september ibm said that another blue gene/l machine clocked up 36.01 teraflops marginally surpassing the earth simulator s performance. this was achieved during internal testing at ibm s production facility in rochester minnesota though so was not an official record. another giant to enter the fray is silicon graphics columbia supercomputer based at nasa s ames research center in california. it would be used to model flight missions climate research and aerospace engineering. the linux-based machine was reported to have reached a top speed of 42.7 teraflops in october. supercomputers are hugely important for working out very complex problems across science and society. their massive simulation and processing power means they can improve the accuracy of weather forecasts help design better cars and improve disease diagnosis. ibm s senior vice president of technology and manufacturing nick donofrio believes that by 2006 blue gene will be capable of petaflop computing. this means it would be capable of doing 1 000 trillion operations a second. when you get a computer as large as a petaflop you can start to think of simulations that might complement the physical world mr donofrio recently told the bbc news website. you can start to be more proactive more interactive and more innovative. one area where mr donofrio sees supercomputing - and blue gene machines in particular - as crucial is health. he believes the machines can help scientists understand one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century: protein folding. health is one of the most important problems not just mapping the human genome but also protein structures. we are a great believer in simulation. it gives you another tool he said. once the structures of proteins are understood fully then drugs can be tailor-made to fight diseases more effectively. compared with the current fastest supercomputers blue gene is designed to consume one 15th the power and be 10 times more compact. since the first supercomputer the cray-1 was installed a
253,1206,housing plans criticised by mps irreversible environmental damage will be caused by government plans to build more than one million homes in south-east england mps have warned. sustainable communities were being promoted without a real understanding of what sustainable means the environmental audit committee said. it said issues like energy needs and transport were not properly addressed. deputy prime minister john prescott said the report was completed before new initiatives were announced. he said: we are working across government especially with our colleagues at defra to create cleaner safer and greener communities while protecting and enhancing the environment. the report said there was far too little attention paid to many environmental issues including water even though supplies in parts of the south east are already too low. regulations designed to ensure energy-efficient buildings are too lax and builders routinely flout them anyway it said. financing for improving transport was around one-twentieth of what would be required. the report was a stinging rebuke for the government and especially john prescott s department bbc environment correspondent richard black said. chairman of the environmental audit committee peter ainsworth mp said: the government s housing policy is an alarming example of disjointed thinking in an areas where joined-up policy is crucial. i accept the need to improve housing supply but as things stand the principal beneficiary of housing growth will be property developers with the environment we all depend on being the principal loser. points raised in the report included: - no proposals to further increase housing supply should be taken forward without strong supporting evidence. - the government should recognise shortcomings of the treasury s barker review which said 140 000 new homes a year were needed in britain. - the government should consider a national spatial framework for england such as those already in place in scotland and wales. - the office of the deputy prime minister should maximise brown field development and housing densities. - measures to encourage improved energy efficiency for existing homes should be considered - including reduced stamp duty for homes that achieve set standards and a clear timetable for achieving zero-emissions homes. - the government should make clear how it intends to measure its success at creating sustainable communities. conservative local government spokeswoman caroline spelman said: there is now growing evidence that john prescott s buildings programme is environmentally unsustainable leaving a concrete scar across the face of rural england.,politics
254,411,bollywood dvd fraudster is jailed a major distributor of pirated dvds of bollywood films has been sent to prison for three years. jayanti amarishi buhecha from cambridge was found guilty of two trademark offences last month and sentenced at harrow crown court london on tuesday. buhecha who made £26 000 per month from his illegal trade was called one of the biggest bollywood pirates in the uk by the sentencing judge. the british phonographic industry (bpi) worked for two years on the case. an operation was launched against buhecha in 2002 after complaints were received about his activities. the judge in the case which lasted seven days said that a heavy penalty was called for because of the enormous damage buhecha caused to legitimate business . fake dvds were manufactured in pakistan and malaysia and sold on wholesale to shops by buhecha who traded in conterfeit dvds in 2002 and 2003. in december 2002 he was stopped in his car by trading standards officers who uncovered 1 000 pirated dvds and faked inlay cards printed with registered trademarks. despite being arrested and bailed buhecha was caught a second time at the end of 2003. his home and a lock-up in cambridge were found to contain 18 000 counterfeit dvds and further faked inlay cards. buhecha was previously a legitimate distributor of bollywood films but was suspended and sued by his employers for dealing in illegal copies of bollywood classic mohabbatein. legitimate bollywood film distributors have hailed the conviction as a major boost . bollywood music and film suffers piracy at the rate of 40% which is more than that suffered by mainstream productions. the bpi welcomed the news of the prison sentence but warned there are plenty of other active counterfeiters of bollywood films. the organisation s anti-piracy director david martin said: the problem simply will not disappear with buhecha. others and more will take his place so it s vital that keep up our efforts in this field.,entertainment
255,931,apple attacked over sources row civil liberties group the electronic frontier foundation (eff) has joined a legal fight between three us online journalists and apple. apple wants the reporters to reveal 20 sources used for stories which leaked information about forthcoming products including the mac mini. the eff representing the reporters has asked california s superior court to stop apple pursuing the sources. it argues that the journalists are protected by the american constitution. the eff says the case threatens the basic freedoms of the press. apple is particularly keen to find the source for information about an unreleased product code-named asteroid and has asked the journalists e-mail providers to hand over communications relevant to that. rather than confronting the issue of reporter s privilege head-on apple is going to the journalist s isps for his e-mails said eff lawyer kurt opsahl. this undermines a fundamental first amendment right that protects all reporters. if the court lets apple get away with this and exposes the confidences gained by these reporters potential confidential sources will be deterred from providing information to the media and the public will lose a vital outlet for independent news analysis and commentary he said. the case began in december 2004 when apple asked a local californian court to get the journalists to reveal their sources for articles published on websites appleinsider.com and powerpage.org. apple also sent requested information from the nfox.com the internet service provider of powerpage s publisher jason o-grady. as well as looking at how far corporations can go in preventing information from being published the case will also examine whether online journalists have the same privileges and protections as those writing for newspapers and magazines. the eff has gained some powerful allies in its legal battle with apple including professor tom goldstein former dean of the journalism school at the university of california and dan gillmor a well-known silicon valley journalist. apple was not immediately available for comment.,tech
256,1576,soul sensation ready for awards south west teenage singing sensation joss stone has been nominated in three categories in wednesday s brit awards. the 17-year-old from a small east devon village near cullumpton received nominations for best solo female best urban act and best breakthrough artist. her second album mind body & soul reached number one in the uk charts last october and went straight into the us charts at number 11. ms stone is due to perform at the 25th award ceremony at london s earls court. the teenager also has grammy nominations in the us normally dominated by home-grown acts. born jocelyn stoker the devon diva started her career in a bbc talent programme and was then discovered at a new york audition by a us record executive steve greenberg. the 17-year-old singer is hoping to tour in japan australia and the us in 2005.,entertainment
257,1207,speak easy plan for media players music and film fans will be able to control their digital media players just by speaking to them under plans in development by two us firms. scansoft and gracenote are developing technology to give people access to their film and music libraries simply by voice control. they want to give people hands-free access to digital music and films in the car or at home or on the move. huge media libraries on some players can make finding single songs hard. voice command-and-control unlocks the potential of devices that can store large digital music collections said ross blanchard vice president of business development for gracenote. these applications will radically change the car entertainment experience allowing drivers to enjoy their entire music collections without ever taking their hands off the steering wheel he added. gracenote provides music library information for millions of different albums for jukeboxes such as apple s itunes. the new technology will be designed so that people can play any individual song or movie out of a collection just by saying its name. users will also be able to request music that fits a mood or an occasion or a film just by saying the actor s name. speech is a natural fit for today s consumer devices particularly in mobile environments said alan schwartz vice president of speechworks a division of scansoft. pairing our voice technologies with gracenote s vast music database will bring the benefits of speech technologies to a host of consumer devices and enable people to access their media in ways they ve never imagined. the two firms did not say if they were developing the technology for languages other than english. users will also be able to get more information on a favourite song they have been listening to by asking: what is this portable players are becoming popular in cars and a number of auto firms are working with apple to device interfaces to control the firm s ipod music player. but with tens of thousands of songs able to be stored on one player voice control would make finding that elusive track by elvis presley much easier. the firms gave no indication about whether the ipod or any other media player were in mind for the use of the voice control technology. the companies estimate that the technology will be available in the fourth quarter of 2005.,tech
258,1729,wales make two changes for france wales coach mike ruddock has made two changes from the team that beat italy 38-8 for saturday s trip to france. kevin morgan takes over from his injured newport-gwent dragons colleague hal luscombe on the right wing. and in the pack neath-swansea ospreys forward ryan jones is preferred at blindside flanker to jonathan thomas. thomas a try-scorer in rome drops down to the bench instead of ian gough while cardiff back rhys williams steps up in place of morgan. luscombe is sidelined by a hamstring problem sustained during the six nations game against italy last weekend. however the experienced and in-form morgan was already pushing hard for a start at stade de france. due to his impressive performances from the bench kevin was very much in the selection mix anyway and the unfortunate injury to hal gives him the chance to start said ruddock. now that ryan jones has recovered from injury we have increased the options in the back row. jonathan thomas is unlucky to lose his spot after performing well against italy and scoring a try but such is the competition for places that every position is debated in detail. for this particular game we felt we might not always be afforded the open spaces out wide we were able to exploit against italy so an extra big ball-carrier in the back-row is thought to be necessary on this occasion. obviously it s a 22-man game these days and there is every chance that jonathan will be making an impact from the bench. wales have beaten france on two of their last three visits to paris and another victory this time around would keep them firmly on course for a first five or six nations title triumph since 1994. graham henry (former wales coach) said a couple of years ago that we should be bold when going to france and he was proved right said ruddock. that is a great way to approach the game and something we will further endorse with the players this week. g thomas (toulouse capt); k morgan (newport-gwent) t shanklin (cardiff) g henson (neath-swansea) s williams (neath-swansea); s jones (clermont auvergne) d peel (llanelli); g jenkins (cardiff) m davies (gloucester) a jones; (neath-swansea) b cockbain (neath-swansea) r sidoli (cardiff); r jones (neath-swansea) m williams (cardiff) m owen (newport-gwent). replacements: r mcbryde (llanelli) j yapp (cardiff) j thomas (neath-swansea) r sowden-taylor (cardiff) g cooper (newport-gwent) c sweeney newport-gwent) r williams (cardiff).,sport
259,851,gardener wins double in glasgow britain s jason gardener enjoyed a double 60m success in glasgow in his first competitive outing since he won 100m relay gold at the athens olympics. gardener cruised home ahead of scot nick smith to win the invitational race at the norwich union international. he then recovered from a poor start in the second race to beat swede daniel persson and italy s luca verdecchia. his times of 6.61 and 6.62 seconds were well short of american maurice greene s 60m world record of 6.39secs from 1998. it s a very hard record to break but i believe i ve trained very well said the world indoor champion who hopes to get closer to the mark this season. it was important to come out and make sure i got maximum points. my last race was the olympic final and there was a lot of expectation. this was just what i needed to sharpen up and get some race fitness. i m very excited about the next couple of months. double olympic champion marked her first appearance on home soil since winning 1500m and 800m gold in athens with a victory. there was a third success for britain when edged out russia s olga fedorova and sweden s jenny kallur to win the women s 60m race in 7.23secs. maduaka was unable to repeat the feat in the 200m finishing down in fourth as took the win for russia. and the 31-year-old also missed out on a podium place in the 4x200m relay as the british quartet came in fourth with russia setting a new world indoor record. there was a setback for jade johnson as she suffered a recurrence of her back injury in the long jump. russia won the meeting with a final total of 63 points with britain second on 48 and france one point behind in third. led the way for russia by producing a major shock in the high jump as he beat olympic champion stefan holm into second place to end the swede s 22-event unbeaten record. won the triple jump with a leap of 16.87m with britain s tosin oke fourth in 15.80m. won the men s pole vault competition with a clearance of 5.65m with britain s nick buckfield 51cm adrift of his personal best in third. and won the women s 800m with britain s jenny meadows third. there was yet another russian victory in the women s 400m as finished well clear of britain s catherine murphy. chris lambert had to settle for fourth after fading in the closing stages of the men s 200m race as sweden s held off leslie djhone of france. france s won the men s 400m with brett rund fourth for britain. took victory for sweden in the women s 60m hurdles ahead of russia s irina shevchenko and britain s sarah claxton who set a new personal best. italy grabbed their first victory in the men s 1500m as kicked over the last 200 metres to hold off britain s james thie and france s alexis abraham. a botched changeover in the 4x200m relay cost britain s men the chance to add further points as france claimed victory.,sport
260,994,us hacker breaks into t-mobile a man is facing charges of hacking into computers at the us arm of mobile phone firm t-mobile. the californian man nicholas lee jacobsen was arrested in october. mr jacobsen tried at least twice to hack t-mobile s network and took names and social security numbers of 400 customers said a company spokesman. the arrest came a year after t-mobile uncovered the unauthorised access. the us secret service has been investigating the case. t-mobile has stringent procedures in place where we monitor for suspicious activity so that limited his activities and we were able to take corrective action immediately peter dobrow a t-mobile spokesperson said. it is thought that mr jacobsen s hacking campaign took place over at least seven months during which time he read e-mails and personal computer files according to court records. although mr jacobsen 21 managed to get hold of some data it is thought he failed to get customer credit card numbers which are stored on a separate computer system said mr dobrow. t-mobile confirmed that the us secret service was also looking into whether the hacker accessed photos that t-mobile subscribers had taken with their camera phones. the associated press agency reported that mr jacobsen also read personal files on the secret service agent who was apparently investigating the case. a los angeles grand jury indicted mr jacobsen with intentionally accessing a computer system without authorisation and with the unauthorised impairment of a protected computer between march and october 2004. he is currently on bail. t-mobile is a subsidiary company of deutsche telekom and has about 16.3 million subscribers in the us.,tech
261,223,gardener battles to narrow win jason gardener fought all the way to the line to narrowly claim the men s 60m title at the norwich union indoor trials and aaas championships. the world 60m champion got off to a rolling start and had to dig deep to dip ahead of mark findlay and darren chin who both set personal bests. it was a close race admitted gardener. i stumbled out the blocks but my experience told through. i still feel there s more life in me and i believe i can go faster. gardener s performance in sheffield could have been affected by the news which he heard before his semi-final that his european record had been broken frenchman ronald pognon who will be a real threat at the european championships set a new time of 6.45 one-hundreth of a second faster than gardener s previous mark. favourite delivered a powerful performance to take the women s 60m title in 7.27 seconds. you ll see me in madrid and i feel there is a lot more to come along said the 22-year-old. katherine endacott battled hard to take second and dip under the european qualifying mark. defending champion joice maduaka had pulled out of the final with a chest infection. was on record-breaking form as she stormed to the women s 60m hurdles crown. the 25-year-old set a new british record for the second time in seven days clocking 7.96 seconds to finish ahead of rival diane allahgreen. i m so happy a tearful claxton told bbc sport. all the years i ve been running and i m getting recognition. claxton s time was also good enough to qualify for the european championships. the men s 800m went to form in sheffield as dominated the race from start to finish. the northern ireland athlete went off at a startling pace but had to hold off the challenge of welshman jimmy watkins over the final 200m to win in one minute 47.96 seconds. both mcilory and watkins who set a life-time best of 1:48.32 had already booked their places in madrid and were again well within the qualifying time. i had to go out and go through all the gears before the europeans and i won t run again until then said mcilroy. could not reach the european mark in the women s race as she crossed the line to win in 2:04.45. olympic bronze heptathlon medallist rounded off a useful weekend with two more personal bests in sheffield. the 28-year-old reached 1.80m in the high jump and clocked 8.47secs in the heats of the 60m hurdles. i ve surprised myself said sotherton. i m starting to thrive on the pressure but if i don t perform then it s not the end of the world. pole vaulter made a winning return to major competition after a drugs ban. the trafford athlete who has served a two-year ban after testing positive for anabolic steroids clinched the title with a championship record 4.25m. also set a new championship mark in the men s triple jump title in sheffield. the 26-year-old who has been training in australia over the winter landed 17.30m with his final effort - the longest leap in the world this year. i didn t have a clue said idowu. i ve not jumped indoors before and i just wanted the qualifying mark. but this isn t a bad start and hopefully i ll come back from madrid with a gold medal. nathan douglas continued his steady progress this season as he set a life-time best of 16.76m in second while jonathan moore took third. and resumed their rivalry in the long jump competition both achieving the european standard. commonwealth champion morgan reached a personal best of 7.96m on his very first jump and then promptly retired with a bruised heel. olympian tomlinson tried to play catch up with his six jumps but had to settle for a season s best jump of 7.91m. i was advised not to jump by my doctor and so i m pleased to come here and get the qualifying mark said tomlinson. now based at loughborough sprinted past front runner catherine murphy in the final 100m to steal the women s 400m title. the 21-year-old ran a personal best of 53.45 seconds to win her first indoor title. wall s time was just short of the qualifying mark - something murp
262,763,celtic make late bid for bellamy newcastle striker craig bellamy is discussing a possible short-term loan move to celtic bbc sport understands. the welsh striker has rejected a move to birmingham after falling out with magpies manager graeme souness. the toon boss vowed bellamy would not play again after a bitter row over his exclusion for the game against arsenal. celtic are in no position to match birmingham s £6m offer but a stay until the end of the season could suit bellamy while he considers his future. according to bellamy s agent the player dismissed a permanent move to birmingham. and it is unlikely that newcastle would allow the player to go on loan to another premiership club. bellamy was fined two weeks wages after a live tv interview in which he accused souness of lying following a very public dispute about what position bellamy should play in the side. souness said: he can t play for me ever again. he has been a disruptive influence from the minute i walked into this football club. he can t go on television and accuse me of telling lies. chairman freddy shepherd described bellamy s behaviour as totally unacceptable and totally unprofessional .,sport
263,977,radcliffe proves doubters wrong this won t go down as one of the greatest marathons of paula s career. but as a test of character it was the toughest race she s ever taken part in. a win in the new york marathon doesn t make up for the disappointment of athens in any shape or form but it will offer hope and reassurance for next year. if paula s last experience of the year had been athens it would have been very difficult to look forward with any optimism. she can now draw a line under this year and make plans about her future. even if she d lost this race there would have been a lot of positives to take out of it. she knows she can dig deep if she needs to. it was a strong field with a number of the girls going into the race with expectations of winning. and although two hours 23 minutes wasn t one of paula s best times it wasn t far off the record on a difficult course. i was speaking to paula in the lead-up to this race and she said that in many ways she was facing a no-win situation. she thought that if she won people would say why couldn t she do that in athens and if she lost people would say her career was over. and a lot of people were wondering what would happen if paula was forced to drop out of this race as she did in the marathon and 10 000m in athens. but that was never on the cards. she might have been beaten but she would have kept running. the reasons she was forced to pull out in athens - the niggling injuries her lack of energy and the oppressive conditions - weren t at play here. the only question was what position she could finish in. most important of all despite all the hype in the media ahead of this race there were never doubts in paula s mind. if she wasn t confident she wouldn t have run. after all if you re the best in the world at an event you ll always have expectations of winning. now paula will take part in the run london 10km race in london at the end of the year have a well-earned rest over christmas and go into next year with a lot of optimism.,sport
264,1094,arnold congratulated on oscar win oscar-winner andrea arnold has been congratulated by the uk film council the organisation which partly funded her project. arnold s film wasp won the best live action short film award on sunday. the uk film council spends millions of pounds of lottery investment on short filmmaking in britain every year said chief executive officer john woodward. it certainly pays off when you see new film-makers winning such prestigious awards he added. wasp which was commissioned by the film council and channel 4 beat films by fellow uk nominees gary mckendry and ashvin kumar to the prize. it stars actress nathalie press who appeared in the bafta-winning drama my summer of love as a single mother who is forced to take drastic action when she is invited on a date and is unable to find a babysitter to look after her four daughters. the film has already won over 30 other international awards including the sundance short film prize. arnold from dartford in kent described her victory as truly overwhelming. i m really not used to this kind of thing she said after receiving her oscar from actor jeremy irons. thanks to everyone who worked on this - the beers are on me when we get home. the director was one of only two british winners on the night the other being sandy powell who won the costume design oscar for her work on the aviator.,entertainment
265,582,reaction from spanish press england s 1-0 defeat to spain on wednesday dominated the back and front pages of the country s press on thursday. controversy was in no short supply with racist abuse of england s black players wayne rooney s petulance and england s inept performance. but what did the spanish press make of the affair bbc sport looks at the reaction. there is little coverage of the racist chanting on wednesday night s game. but as does cover the english reaction to the pre-match comments from spain coach luis aragones who highlighted britain s colonial past when probed about his own remarks regarding thierry henry in october. journalist guillem balague writes: in our country where multi-culturalism is a new thing we are in nappies dealing with these things and have a naivety which makes the english nervous. marca refers in passing to the booing of england s black players - but only after referring to the cheers of ole which greeted the long periods of spanish possession. aragones no comment to questions about racism after the match is also highlighted as marca focuses on the spanish coach s praise for his players. serbia & montenegro s 2-0 world cup qualifying win in belgium - which could make qualification tougher for spain - seems to be of greater importance. elsewhere the spanish media criticises its english counterparts for stoking up the racism issue. were there racist chants against some players this hasn t happened in the spanish league and spain for many years said spanish federation press officer fernando garrido. so you (english reporters) should ask yourselves what you have done to contribute to all this. and spanish daily abc accuses english reporters of launching a witch-hunt against aragones. perhaps it was because their team had played so poorly and they wanted to divert attention towards this muddled issue the paper says. what the boy in the bernabeu did was odd... rooney seemed intent to kick any spanish player who approached him. yet rooney is seen only as the worst example of many england miscreants with gary neville criticised for continuing the feud between manchester united and arsenal for his tackles on jose reyes. ashley cole s treatment of joaquin and a frank lampard foul on reyes are also lambasted for their ugliness . marca s headline says it all: wayne rooney se volvió loco en el bernabéu (wayne rooney became crazy in the bernabeu) rooney s display alarms the writer in particular three chilling fouls on joaquin casillas and marchena which could well have left them in the infirmary. and like as marca criticises gary neville for leaving a message on reyes ankle to remind him of the manchester united-arsenal clash this month. spain s first-half performance is showered with praise with xavi singled out as the biggest star. xavi did things on wednesday which were worthy of maradona the paper beams adding what a work-rate what dynamism what vision what leadership what a midfield player! on a controversial evening as offers one seemingly undeniable viewpoint: spanish football players played better football than the english. more plaudits are given to the home team with jaime vargas lauding the manner in which spain dominated england with order and quality . the paper adds: the bad thing about spain v england was that it lasted only 65 minutes after which a succession of changes prevented any real competition. vargas does not mention england s two galacticos simply adding in a ps: i have not forgotten to speak of beckham and owen. they forgot to play.,sport
266,1845,more reforms ahead says milburn labour will continue to pursue controversial reforms if it wins a third term in power the party s election chief alan milburn has said. he pledged labour would encourage more people to achieve their aspirations. what we want is for more people to earn and own mr milburn told bbc radio 4 s today show. tory shadow chancellor oliver letwin called labour a brilliant machine for talking about things but said it did not deliver policies the country needs. meanwhile the liberal democrats president simon hughes said: new labour has lost people s confidence in a way old labour never did. mr milburn told today that labour wanted policies which encouraged increased social mobility in britain. pressed on incapacity benefits he said the tax and welfare system must provide the right incentives to people . no-one is talking about driving people into work but what we do know is there are one million people on incapacity benefit who want the opportunity to work providing the right level of support is there for them . however backbench labour mp karen buck warned against proposed changes in such benefits. she told the today programme: if the policy is seen as being about how do you make the feckless poor go back to work then it is not going to work on the one hand. and it is not going to improve our electoral chances on the other. mr milburn also sought to draw a line under the controversy about reports of a feud between gordon brown and prime minister tony blair. he stressed that mr brown would play the same role that he did in the last election. mr milburn gave more details of planned reforms in a speech to labour s fabian society in which he also praised mr brown as one of the leaders of the party s reform process. in the speech he backed choice in schools and hospitals wider home ownership and changes to the welfare system. mr milburn insisted that government reform must continue. our task is to rebuild the new labour coalition around one nation politics that recognise while life is hard for many all should have the chance to succeed he said. there is a glass ceiling on opportunity in this country. in our first two terms we have raised it. in our third term we have to break it. voters turned on the party when it failed to reform industrial relations in the 1960s he also told his audience. oliver letwin said the government had failed to deliver in any of the key public services such as cleaner hospitals discipline in schools and putting more police on the streets. he said ministers had not delivered cleaner hospitals with 5 000 people dying from infections last year. new labour had failed on school discipline because it had not implemented serious reforms so that teachers could run schools and which would give parents choice he went on. for the lib dems simon hughes said many pensioners are means tested for the money they needed and students who were told there wouldn t be tuition fees and more debt have been given exactly the opposite . he added: under new labour all households are still paying unfair council tax rather than a fairer alternative.,politics
267,965,gta sequel is criminally good the grand theft auto series of games have set themselves the very highest of standards in recent years but the newest addition is more than able to live up to an increasingly grand tradition. the 18 certificate gta: san andreas for the playstation 2 could have got away with merely revisiting a best-selling formula with a more-of-the-same approach. instead it builds and expands almost immeasurably upon the last two games and stomps carefree over all the driv3r and true crime-shaped opposition. even in the year that will see sequels to halo and half-life it is hard to envisage anything topping this barnstorming instant classic. the basic gameplay remains familiar. you control a character on this occasion a youth named cj who sets out on a series of self-contained missions within a massive 3d environment. cj can commandeer any vehicle he stumbles across from a push-bike to a city bus to a plane. all come in handy as he seeks to establish his presence in a tough urban environment and avenge the dreadful deeds waged upon his family. to make things worse he is framed for murder the moment he arrives in town and blackmailed by crooked cops played by samuel l jackson and chris penn. the setting for all this rampant criminality is the fictional us state of san andreas comprising three major cities: los santos which is a thinly-disguised los angeles san fierro aka san francisco and las venturas a carbon copy of las vegas. san andreas sucks you in with its sprawling range cast of characters and incredibly sharp writing. its ability to capture the ambience of the real-world versions of these cities is something to behold assisted no end by the monumental graphical advances since vice city. the streets and vast swathes of countryside are by turns gloriously menacing grungy and preppy. flaunting awesome levels of graphical detail the game s overall look particularly during the many unusual weather conditions and dramatic sunsets is stupendous. the outstanding bread-and-butter gameplay mechanics provide a solid grounding for the elaborate plot to hang on. cars handle more convincingly than ever a superb motion blur kicks in when you hit high speeds and there s more traffic to navigate than before. park your vehicle across the lanes of a freeway and within seconds there will be a huge pile-up. pedestrians are also out in force and are a loquacious bunch. cj can interact with them using a simple system on the control pad. they will pass comments on his appearance and credibility aspects that the player now has control over. clothes tattoos and haircuts can all be purchased and funding these habits can be achieved by criminal means or by indulging in mini-games like betting on horses and challenging bar patrons to games of pool. the character will put on or lose weight according to how long he spends on foot or in the gym. he will have to pause regularly in restaurants to keep energy levels up but will swell up as a result of over-eating. and at last this is a gta hero who can swim. at a time when games are once again under fire for their supposed potential to corrupt the young san andreas violence or specifically the freedom it gives the player to commit violence are sure to inflame the pro-censorship brigade. developers rockstar have not shied away from brutality and in some respects ramp it up from past outings. when hijacking a car for example cj will gratuitously shove the driver s head into the steering wheel rather than just fleeing with the vehicle. indeed the tone is darker than the jokey vice city. the grim subject matter here hardly lends itself to gags in quite the same way as the cheesy 80s setting of the last game. this title incidentally is set in 1992 but that is really neither here nor there apart from the influence it has on the radio playlists. the wit is still present just more restrained than in previous outings. a further reason for this is that the incredible range of in-vehicle radio stations available means you will spend less t
268,1461,us blogger fired by her airline a us airline attendant suspended over inappropriate images on her blog - web diary - says she has been fired. ellen simonetti known as queen of the sky wrote an anonymous semi-fictional account of her life in the sky. she was suspended by delta in september. in a statement she said she was initiating legal action against the airline for wrongful termination . a delta spokesperson confirmed on wednesday that ms simonetti was no longer an employee. delta has repeatedly declined to elaborate on what it calls internal employee matters . a spokesperson reiterated this position on wednesday confirming only that ms simonetti was no longer with the company. the spokesperson also confirmed that there were very clear rules attached to the unauthorised use of delta branding including uniforms. ms simonetti announced on her blog she had been fired on 1 november. she said in an official statement: as a result of my suspension and subsequent termination without cause by delta airlines i am moving forward with filing a discrimination complaint with the federal government eeoc [us equal employment opportunity commission]. she added she had also hired a texas-based law firm to initiate legal action for wrongful termination defamation of character and lost future wages. ms simonetti told the bbc news website she had received no warning or further explanation when she was suspended on 25 september. queen of the sky has received a lot of support and advice from the global blogging community since news of her suspension was brought to light on the bbc news website and others. her story has highlighted concerns amongst the growing blogging community about conflicts of interest employment law and free speech on personal websites. the blog which she started in january as a way of getting over her mother s death contains a mix of fictional and non-fictional accounts. queen of the sky developed over the months as a character in her own right according to ms simonetti. in the postings she made up fictional names for cities and other companies she mentioned to protect anonymity. but some postings contained images of herself in uniform. of the 10 or so images only one showed ms simonetti s flight wings . she removed them as soon as she was informed of her suspension. i never meant it as something to harm my company and don t understand how they think it did harm them ms simonetti said. a legal expert in the us speculated that delta might be concerned that the fictional content on the blog may be linked back to the airline after the images were posted. delta has been hit recently by pressures of rising fuel costs and fierce competition. it has said it needs to cut between 6 000 and 7 000 jobs and reduce costs by $5bn (£2.7bn) a year. analysts had warned recently that the airline might have to seek chapter 11 bankruptcy prevention. last week it struck a $1bn cost-cutting deal with its pilots which could save it from bankruptcy. the deal would see pilots accept a 32% pay cut in return for the right to buy 30 million delta shares unions said. and on monday it negotiated a deal to defer about $135m in debt which was due next year until 2007. the airline also said it had agreed the terms of a $600m loan from american express.,tech
269,945,mourinho expects fight to finish chelsea manager jose mourinho expects the champions league clash with barcelona to be a fight to the finish. mourinho is relishing the first leg of the tie against his former club in the last 16 in the nou camp. he said: i wouldn t be surprised if nothing had been decided by the last minute of the return leg and the match had to go into extra time. i have to defend what is mine and the champions league is mine at the moment. i m the last manager to have won it. mourinho never coached barcelona assisting both sir bobby robson and louis van gaal. but he is not envious insisting: i don t have to be jealous about barcelona because they have 100 years of history and have won the european cup once. i have been managing for five years and i have the same amount of champions league trophies to my name. barcelona star ronaldinho admitted: i think that it is going to be a difficult match for us because chelsea have a good team full of big stars. i have seen chelsea a few times on television tactically they are very good and they are very strong on the counter-attack. they pressure very well and keep possession of the ball so it will be important that we play our own game. i believe they are the two strongest teams in europe. nevertheless barcelona are accustomed to playing big games at the nou camp where they have to face the likes of real madrid each season. it is a special game the atmosphere in the city changes there are lots of journalists but inside the dressing room there is not a lot of difference ronaldinho added. we are only thinking of winning the match with all respect to the opposition.,sport
270,746,china continues breakneck growth china s economy has expanded by a breakneck 9.5% during 2004 faster than predicted and well above 2003 s 9.1%. the news may mean more limits on investment and lending as beijing tries to take the economy off the boil. china has sucked in raw materials and energy to feed its expansion which could have knock-on effects on the rest of the world if it overheats. but officials pointed out that industrial growth had slowed with services providing much of the impetus. growth in industrial output - the main target of government efforts to impose curbs on credit and investments - was 11.5% in 2004 down from 17% the previous year. still consumer prices - at 2.4% - rose faster than in 2004 adding to concern that a sharp rise in producer prices of 7.1% could stoke inflation. and overall investment in fixed assets was still high up 21.3% from the previous year - although some way off the peak of 43% seen in the first quarter of 2004. the result could be higher interest rates. china raised rates by 0.27 percentage points to 5.8% - its first hike in nine years - in october 2004. despite the apparent rebalancing of the economy the overall growth picture remains strong economists said. there is no sign of a slowdown in 2005 said tim congdon economist at ing barings. china s economy is not only gathering speed thanks to domestic demand but also from soaring sales overseas. figures released earlier this year showed exports at a six-year high in 2004 up 35%. part of the impetus comes from the relative cheapness of the yuan china s currency. the government keeps it pegged close to a rate of 8.28 to the us dollar - much to the chagrin of many us lawmakers who blame china for lost jobs and competitiveness. despite urging to ease the peg officials insist they are a long way from ready to make a shift to a more market-set rate. we need a good and feasible plan and formulating such a plan also needs time national bureau of statistics chief li deshui told reuters. those who hope to make a fortune by speculating on a renminbi revaluation will not succeed in making a profit.,business
271,1768,downing injury mars uefa victory middlesbrough boss steve mcclaren hopes that stewart downing did not seriously damage his hamstring during the 2-1 uefa cup win over graz ak. the winger was carried off on a stretcher in the closing stages as boro booked their place in the last 16. mcclaren said: stewart has tweaked a hamstring which is a blow for us. we will assess it in the morning. but i m delighted with the match result. they say in sport you can win ugly - and we certainly did. mcclaren was relieved to make it through after a tough encounter at the riverside. to be fair to graz they had a gameplan - they knocked the ball forward especially in the first half and we struggled to deal with it. in the second half we were better but it was frustrating because we got the goal - but one slip and they were back in it. boro face sporting lisbon for a place in the quarter-finals after the portuguese side saw off feyenoord on thursday. and mcclaren added: sporting are technically very good - portuguese sides always are. but the journey goes on for us and we will now go to their magnificent stadium - after the first game here - we ll look forward to it. goalscorer jimmy floyd hasselbaink added: it wasn t a particularly beautiful match to watch - but they made it difficult for us. we didn t play well at all. but you need a little bit of luck and i think we got that when my shot went through the legs of their goalkeeper. i would have liked to play in holland - that would have been a little bit special to me. but so is going back to portugal - i ll be playing against some lads i played with at boavista.,sport
272,1242,indonesians face fuel price rise indonesia s government has confirmed it is considering raising fuel prices by as much as 30%. millions of indonesians use kerosene for basic cooking and prices have been heavily subsidised for years. president susilo bambang yudhoyono s government has said it wants to curb fuel subsidies and direct the money into aid programmes for the poor. but critics argue cutting subsidies will hurt the poorer families that his government says it wants to help. millions of people were left homeless in indonesia aceh s region following the earthquake and tsunami disaster in late december. indonesia pays subsidies to importers in order to stabilise domestic fuel prices but higher oil prices have forced the government to spend more on holding prices down. it spent 59.2 trillion rupiah ($6.58bn; £3.5bn) on fuel subsidies in 2004 a sum far in excess of its original projection of 14.5 trillion rupiah. since president yudhoyono s government came to power in october it has indicated its intention of raising domestic fuel prices by cutting subsidies. the (january to march) quarter of this year is the best time for us to increase fuel prices said sri mulyani indrawati state minister for national development planning. we are still considering if a 30% hike is suitable at the moment. the sooner the better for the state budget. the bbc s correspondent in jakarta rachel harvey told world business report that there was likely to be a strong public reaction to any price rise. the big question is whether they go for one big short sharp shock and raise prices between 20% and 30% or whether they try to stagger it she said. indonesia s previous government led by president megawati sukarnoputri also attempted to cut subsidies in 2003 but was forced to back down in the face of public protests.,business
273,259,italy 8-38 wales wales secured their first away win in the rbs six nations for nearly four years with a six-try victory in rome. tries from jonathan thomas tom shanklin and martyn williams gave the visitors a 19-5 half-time advantage. luciano orquera did reply with one for italy but second-half efforts from brent cockbain shane williams and robert sidoli sealed victory. fly-half stephen jones added four conversions as wales maintained their superb start to this year s tournament. starting full of confidence after their victory over england the visitors scored the opening try after just four minutes. diminutive wing shane williams fielded a kick ahead and danced past the onrushing andrea masi and aaron persico into the italian half. his pass to tom shanklin appeared forward but when the centre was held up short the ball was switched left and michael owen s long cut-out pass gave the lurking thomas an easy run-in. stephen jones who retained the kicking duties despite gavin henson s heroics against england slotted an excellent conversion from wide out. wales twice threatened further scores but failed to find the crucial pass and italy hit back out of the blue in the 11th minute. henson sporting gold boots rather than the silver variety that did for england beat two players with ease out on the left touchline. but his attempted chip ahead was charged down by orquera who snaffled the loose ball and hared away from halfway to score in the right corner. with the welsh line-out stuttering and italy twice turning the visitors scrum the home side s forward power brought them back into it. but a clever high kick from henson almost brought a try for hal luscombe when roland de marigny and ludovico nitoglia made a hash of claiming it as the ball bounced into touch. wales regained control with a second try in the 21st minute henson lobbing up a high kick to the left corner where shanklin jumped higher than nitoglia to dot down his 15th test try. jones was unable to convert and de marigny then hit the upright with a penalty attempt for italy. henson was also narrowly short with a long-range effort at goal but wales ended the half with a vital third score to give themselves some breathing space. henson sent luscombe streaking away and when he off-loaded to martyn williams the flanker showed his nous to ground the ball against the padding of the post jones adding the conversion. italy who lost flanker mauro bergamasco with a head knock before half-time built up a head of steam on the resumption. de marigny landed a penalty to make it 19-8 and a nitoglia break through the middle threatened a try only for the move to break down with a knock-on. but wales put the outcome beyond doubt with two superb tries in four minutes before the hour. their fourth after 53 minutes was sparked by another mazy run from shane williams who beat several players with ease and finished with a powerful angled run from lock cockbain. before italy could recover from that blow a strong surge from gareth thomas and great off-loads from martyn williams and replacement kevin morgan saw shane williams scamper over. with jones converting both for a 33-8 lead wales had the luxury of sending on five more replacements for the final quarter. the icing on the cake came with a sixth try after more superb support work shane williams and ceri sweeney combining to send sidoli over in the left corner. the only downside for wales was a hamstring injury suffered by luscombe. but after back-to-back wins at the start of the tournament for the first time in 11 years they will travel to paris in a fortnight looking like genuine contenders. r de marigny; mirco bergamasco w pozzebon a masi l nitoglia; l orquera a troncon; a lo cicero f ongaro m castrogiovanni s dellape m bortolami (capt) a persico mauro bergamasco s parisse. g intoppa s perugini ca del fava d dal maso p griffen m barbini kp robertson. g thomas (capt); h luscombe t shanklin g henson s williams; s jones d peel; g jenkins m davies a jones; b cockbain r sidoli
274,866,brits debate over urban music joss stone a 17-year-old soul singer from devon beat dizzee rascal jamelia lemar and the streets to win best british urban act at the brit awards. her victory has reignited the debate about what urban music is. i m not really comfortable with the word urban. it s a word that s been manufactured in this country and america to describe black music. the word urban seems to cover such a broad range of black music that it s wrong. how far are the brits removed from inner-city music and what people are doing it s so far removed that i don t expect them to get it bang on. the music industry isn t championing music from our particular genre very well anyway. people don t feel like that s anything to do with us. i don t feel like urban music s just been celebrated by [joss stone] winning or her being nominated or by the brits acknowledging that there s an urban music scene because it s all a kick in the teeth at the end of the day. it s not really relevant. if joss stone is the closest thing that they feel comfortable championing because of what she looks like and how she sounds and who she s signed to then so be it. it s got nothing to do with what s really going on. urban as a genre is very broad. if you look underneath urban there are a number of core elements that include hip-hop r&b garage and into that obviously comes soul. joss stone is a soul artist. her first album was called the soul sessions. so urban is a very broad brushstroke that is the umbrella over the top of sub-genres and there are offshoots of all of those. joss stone has had amazing success [in the us] given that she s a uk artist. what has really captured everybody s imagination is that here you have a 17-year-old from devon with a voice to die for and a bunch of really really good tunes and she looks good - i think that s what s done it. the award for best british urban act was voted for by viewers of mtv base. i don t think joss was not a worthy winner. she makes soul music and that definitely comes under the category of what we describe as urban. the fact that she s from devon is the interesting thing because most of the music we cover is made in large cities and she s literally rural. the great thing about urban music is that there s a big range. if there is some sort of root with black music or dance music in britain i think that s where you can call it urban - that s where this new sub-category or uber-category has come from. joss stone is certainly not old enough to have had some of the experiences of an older soul singer but you couldn t argue that she was being inauthentic with her emotions - it is coming from somewhere genuine. it has to come across as real. that s the only cut-off point we have here and that s the only way by which we judge people. what urban means to us as an organisation is the politically correct term to describe music which originated from a black background. music should become inclusive and if we are fighting for a multi-cultural britain then we should be fighting for inclusion rather than exclusion. if joss stone can be accepted within the urban music community i think acts from other ethnicities doing classical music and rock should be accepted too. race doesn t make a difference if everyone is included. out of all the awards dished out yesterday i m still trying to find out what people of other races received any sort of recognition or award. a type of music (especially street music) that originates from a city and typically reflects or is characteristic of urban life. she might not be urban but when did r&b become the hip hop tainted thing it is now r&b stands for rhythm and blues remember! that joss stone is rubbish is certain. if anyone deserves to win an award for urban music (i think probably should include hip-hop soul & funk at least but not rock or pop) this year its the streets although dizzee rascal stakes a good claim she definitely deserved to win a prize joss stone s albums are quite simply amazing easily better than anyt
275,1288,ericsson sees earnings improve telecoms equipment supplier ericsson has posted a rise in fourth quarter profits thanks to clients like deutsche telekom upgrade their networks. operating profit in the three months to 31 december was 9.5bn kronor (£722m; $1.3bn) against 6.3bn kronor last year. shares tumbled however as the company reported a profit margin of 45.6% less than the 47.3% forecast by analysts and down from 47.1% in the third quarter. ericsson shares dropped 5.9% to 20.7 kronor in early trading on thursday. however the company remained optimistic about its earnings outlook after sales in the fourth quarter rose 9% to 39.4bn kronor. long-term growth drivers of the industry remain solid ericsson said in a statement. chief executive carl-henric svanberg explained that about 27% of the world s population now has access to mobile communications . this is exciting for a company with a vision of an all-communicating world he added. mr svanberg however warned that the extra demand that had driven 2004 sales had already dissipated and it was business as usual . he added that sales in the first three months of 2005 would be subject to normal seasonality . for the whole of 2004 ericsson returned a net profit of 19bn kronor compared with a loss of 10.8bn kronor in 2003. sales climbed to 131.9 billion kronor from 117.7bn kronor in 2003.,business
276,915,us economy shows solid gdp growth the us economy has grown more than expected expanding at an annual rate of 3.8% in the last quarter of 2004. the gross domestic product figure was ahead of the 3.1% the government estimated a month ago. the rise reflects stronger spending by businesses on capital equipment and a smaller-than-expected trade deficit. gdp is a measure of a country s economic health reflecting the value of the goods and services it produces. the new gdp figure announced by the commerce department on friday also topped the 3.5% growth rate that economists had forecast ahead of friday s announcement. growth was at an annual rate of 4% in the third quarter of 2004 and for the year it came in at 4.4% the best figure in five years. however the positive economic climate may lead to a rise in interest rates with many expecting us rates to rise on 22 march. in the january-to-march quarter the economy is expected to grow at an annual rate of about 4% economists forecast. in the final quarter of 2004 businesses increased spending on capital equipment and software by 18% up from 17.5% in the third quarter. consumer spending grew 4.2% in the final quarter down from the third quarter s 5.1%.,business
277,337,britney attacks false tabloids pop star britney spears has attacked false and desperate us tabloid magazines questioning their honesty after they reported she was pregnant. in a letter on her website the singer named celebrity tabloids us weekly in touch and star as the worst offenders. until you face what is going on in your life i guess you ll remain a false tabloid the 23-year-old wrote. stories about the state of her marriage to kevin federline and rumours about a pregnancy have recently appeared. but the chart-topping singer s letter did not shed any further light on those stories. in february spears clashed with us weekly for publishing pictures of her honeymoon in fiji without permission. the couple who married in los angeles last september claimed staff took photographs of them which were later sold. they said they allowed the pictures to be taken after they were assured they would only be used for a private scrapbook which they later received as a souvenir. us magazine was unrepentant about their decision to publish saying: britney should start her own magazine if she d like to dictate her own coverage. coming from a celebrity who sold pictures of both her wedding and her stepdaughter it s unlikely the issue here is privacy they added. spears claimed that other magazines were approached with the pictures but chose to contact her instead.,entertainment
278,1842,plaid mp s cottage arson claim a plaid cymru mp believes uk security services were involved in some arson attacks blamed on welsh extremists. it is 25 years since the start of 12 years of fire-bombings attributed to a shadowy group known as meibion glyndwr. plaid cymru s elfyn llwyd has suggested the security services could have been involved with the intention of discrediting the nationalist vote. ex-welsh office minister lord roberts of conwy denied security services were involved. in march this year north wales police reopened the case saying materials kept during their investigations would be examined to find whether it would yield dna evidence. meibion glyndwr - which means sons of glyndwr - began burning property in december 1979 in protest at homes in rural wales being sold as holiday cottages to people from england. the group was linked to most of the 220 or so fire-bombing incidents stretching from the llyn peninsula to pembrokeshire. the campaign continued until the early 1990s. police were accused in some quarters of targeting anyone who was a nationalist. although one man sion aubrey roberts was convicted in 1993 of sending letter bombs in the post the arson cases remain unsolved. as a solicitor elfyn llwyd represented welsh singer bryn fôn when he was arrested on suspicion of being involved in the arson campaign. fôn was released without charge . but now as mp for merionnydd nant conwy and plaid cymru s parliamentary leader mr llwyd has argued that some of the terror attacks may have had the involvement of the security services and not meibion glyndwr. he believes that elements of the british security services may have carried out renegade actions in order to discredit plaid cymru and the nationalist vote ahead of elections. the claim is made in an interview for bbc wales maniffesto programme to be shown on s4c on sunday. mr llwyd said that the sophistication of many of the devices used in the attacks compared to the crude nature of many others suggests a degree of professionalism which could only have come from individuals who knew exactly what they were doing. he said: what i m saying is that the role that they took wasn t the appropriate one i.e. like an agent provocateur and perhaps interfering and creating a situation where it looked like it was the nationalists that were responsible. the programme also heard from lord roberts of conwy who was a welsh office minister at the time. he denied that the security services played any improper role. mr llwyd s theory has also been questioned by plaid cymru s former president dafydd wigley. he accepted that the fires damaged plaid cymru s public image but believed that the security services had their hands full at the time with the ira and animal rights activists. - maniffesto can be seen on s4c on sunday 12 december at 1200 gmt.,politics
279,975,low-cost airlines hit eurotunnel channel tunnel operator eurotunnel has seen sales fall in the face of the upsurge in european low-cost airlines. the firm said sales were down 4% in 2004 to 789m euros ($1.03bn; £548m). the impact of the development of no-frills airlines is being felt ever more strongly said chief executive jean-louis raymond. income from its vehicle-carrying shuttle services fell 7% although 15% more passengers meant a 2% rise in railway revenue. the cross-channel truck market is improving eurotunnel said but warned that it was not benefiting since much of the traffic was in containers destined for ports. the passenger-only trains which use the tunnel are run by a separate company eurostar. eurotunnel is still struggling with debts of more than 6bn euros. the company is currently kept afloat by the 200-plus banks to whom it owes the money. a shareholder revolt threw out the old board in 2004. but the bbc s business editor jeff randall said the banks could yet step in and take over altogether. at the moment it can t even service the interest on its debt he said. this is a company in the departure lounge of life.,business
280,1890,moya suffers shock loss fifth seed carlos moya was the first big name to fall at the australian open as he went down to fellow spaniard guillermo garcia-lopez on monday. moya began the year with victory at the chennai open but looked out of sorts from the start in the melbourne heat. garcia-lopez ranked 106 in the world dominated from the outset and withstood a third-set rally from moya to hang on for a 7-5 6-3 3-6 6-3 victory. the 21-year-old plays kevin kim or lee hyuung-taik in the second round. garcia-lopez was delighted with the victory in only his third ever grand slam match. i think this was the most important win of my life as carlos is one of the best players in the world he said. this has given me a lot of confidence. now i feel i can beat all these players. moya said: i was playing well before i came here. it was the perfect preparation but something was wrong today. four-time champion andre agassi began what could be his last australian open with a convincing win over german qualifier dieter kindlmann. the 34-year-old american who had been struggling with a hip injury earlier in the week stormed to a 6-4 6-3 6-0 win. agassi will play france s olivier patience or germany s rainer schuettler - the man he beat in the 2003 final - in the next round. no one was more concerned (about the injury) than myself said eighth seed agassi. i d worked hard to be down here and ready. but the last few days i ve pushed through the injury and it seemed to do pretty good. in other matches world junior champion gael monfils made use of his wild card with a magnificent 1-6 6-3 6-4 7-6 (8-6) win over american robby ginepri. the 2002 champion thomas johansson fought back to beat peter luczak 7-6 (7-5) 4-6 6-3 4-6 6-0 and french open champion gaston gaudio beat justin gimelstob 7-6 (7-3) 6-4 6-3. seeds dominik hrbaty ivan ljubicic and mario ancic made comfortable progress but former french open champion albert costa lost to bjorn phau.,sport
281,1694,robben plays down european return injured chelsea winger arjen robben has insisted that he only has a 10% chance of making a return against barcelona in the champions league. the 21-year-old has been sidelined since breaking a foot against blackburn last month. chelsea face barcelona at home on 8 march having lost 2-1 in the first leg. and robben told the daily star: it is not impossible that i will play against barcelona but it is just a very very small chance - about 10%. robben has been an inspirational player for chelsea this season following a switch from psv einhoven last summer. he added: my recovery is going better than we expected a few weeks ago but i think the barcelona game will come too soon. i won t take any risks and come back too soon.,sport
282,367,mobile multimedia slow to catch on there is no doubt that mobile phones sporting cameras and colour screens are hugely popular. consumers swapping old phones for slinkier dinkier versions are thought to be responsible for a 26% increase in the number of phones sold during the third quarter of 2004 according to analysts gartner more than 167 million handsets were sold globally between july and september 2004 a period that according to gartner analyst carolina milanesi is seldom strong . but although consumers have mobiles that can take and send snaps sounds and video clips few so far are taking the chance to do so. in fact the numbers of people not taking and sending pictures audio and video is growing. figures gathered by continental research shows that 36% of british camera phone users have never sent a multimedia message (mms) up from 7% in 2003. this is despite the fact that during the same period the numbers of camera phones in the uk more than doubled to 7.5 million. getting mobile phone users to send multimedia messages is really important for operators keen to squeeze more cash out of their customers and offset the cost of subsidising the handsets people are buying. the problem they face said shailendra jain head of mms firm adamind is educating people in how to send the multimedia messages using their funky handsets. also he said they have to simplify the interface so its not rocket science in terms of someone understanding it. research bears out the suspicion that people are not sending multimedia messages because they do not know how to. according to continental research 29% of the people it questioned said they were technophobes that tended to shy away from innovation. only 11% regarded themselves as technically savvy enough to send a picture or video message. the fact that multimedia services are not interoperable across networks and phones only adds to people s reluctance to start sending them said mr jain. they ask themselves: if i m streaming video from one handset to another will it work he said. there s a lot of user apprehension about that. there are other deeper technical reasons why multimedia messages are not being pushed as strongly as they might. andrew bud executive chairman of messaging firm mblox said mobile phone operators cap the number of messages that can be circulating at any one time for fear of overwhelming the system. the rate we can send mms into the mobile network is fairly constant he said. the reason for this is that there are finite capacities for data traffic on the second generation networks that currently have the most users. no-one wants to take the risk of swamping these relatively narrow channels so the number of mms messages is capped said mr bud. this has led to operators finding other technologies particularly one known as wap-push to get multimedia to their customers. but when networks do find a good way to get multimedia to their customers the results can be dramatic. israeli technology firm celltick has found a way to broadcast data across phone networks in a way that does not overwhelm existing bandwidth. one of the first firms to use the celltick service is hutch india the largest mobile firm in the country. the broadcast system gets multimedia to customers via a rolling menu far faster than would be possible with other systems. while not multimedia messaging such a system gets people used to seeing their phones as a device that can handle all different types of content. as a result 40% of the subscribers to the hutch alive which uses celltick s broadcast technology regularly click for more pictures sounds and images from the operator. operators really need to start utilising this tool to reach their customers said yaron toren spokesman for celltick. until then multimedia will be a message that is not getting through.,tech
283,1270,hingis hints at playing comeback martina hingis has admitted that she might consider a competitive return to tennis if an appearance in thailand later this month goes well. the former world number one will play at the volvo women s open in pattaya which starts on 31 january as part of her charity work in the region. the tournament is a test she said. i don t know how my body will react. i support several charities in thailand. i m also playing to see where i am. speaking to le matin the 24-year-old swiss added: at pattaya there will not be as many people and the players are ranked between the 30th and 95th in the world. hingis was 22 when she retired after having surgery on both ankles and her last wta event was in filderstadt germany in october 2002 when she lost to elena dementieva.,sport
284,1679,williams says he will never quit defiant matt williams says he will not quit as scotland coach even if his side slump to a new low with defeat by italy at murrayfield. that would leave the scots as favourites to win the wooden spoon for the second year running. i have never quit anything in my life apart from maybe painting the kitchen he told bbc sport. the support we have been given from murrayfield in my whole time here has been 100%. williams has yet to experience an rbs six nations victory after seven attempts and scotland have lost 12 of their 14 games under his leadership. but he rejected the comparison made in some media sources with berti vogts recently sacked as scotland football manager after a poor run of results. how can a german football coach and an australian rugby coach have anything in common he asked. it is a bizarre analogy. it is so absurd that it borders on the humorous. williams insists that he is revelling in the pressure despite the possibility of a second six nations series without a victory. that is not beyond the realms of possibility he admitted. there s nothing much between the teams so we could win the next three games or lose them. but i actually really enjoy seeing how you cope with such pressure as a coach. it helps the team grow and helps you grow as a coach. we could have won in paris but for the last five minutes and now we have two defeats but we were confident for those two first games and we are confident we can beat italy too.,sport
285,717,fantasy book wins hollywood deal a british author has had the film rights to her children s bestseller snapped up for a seven-figure sum with ridley scott set to direct. michelle paver s wolf brother a fantasy set 6 000 years ago is the first in a planned series of six books. film studio fox has bought the rights for around $4m (£2.13m) for scott s company scott free to develop. the director said he was thrilled with the project. wolf brother is an enchanting book he said. paver who lives in london and previously worked as a lawyer began writing the book in 1982 while studying biochemistry at oxford university. she was an established author of love stories when she turned the work-in-progress into a children s novel. it was published in 2004 with paver earning an advance of $5m (£2.8m) - the highest sum ever paid for a debut children s book. wolf brother tells the story of torak a 12-year-old hunter who lives in the forest. after his father is killed he teams up with a wolf cub and sets out to rid the forest of an evil force. paver is currently writing the second book in the series. michelle paver lives and breathes the worlds she writes about said a spokesman for the author. i ve told her about the film deal but at the moment she is writing the second book and her mind is 6000 years away deep in the primeval forest.,entertainment
286,838,sec to rethink post-enron rules the us stock market watchdog s chairman has said he is willing to soften tough new us corporate governance rules to ease the burden on foreign firms. in a speech at the london school of economics william donaldson promised several initiatives . european firms have protested that us laws introduced after the enron scandal make wall street listings too costly. the us regulator said foreign firms may get extra time to comply with a key clause in the sarbanes-oxley act. the act comes into force in mid-2005. it obliges all firms with us stock market listings to make declarations which critics say will add substantially to the cost of preparing their annual accounts. firms that break the new law could face huge fines while senior executives risk jail terms of up to 20 years. mr donaldson said that although the act does not provide exemptions for foreign firms the securities and exchange commission (sec) would continue to be sensitive to the need to accomodate foreign structures and requirements . there are few if any who disagree with the intentions of the act which obliges chief executives to sign a statement taking responsibility for the accuracy of the accounts. but european firms with secondary listings in new york have objected - arguing that the compliance costs outweigh the benefits of a dual listing. the act also applies to firms with more than 300 us shareholders a situation many firms without us listings could find themselves in. the 300-shareholder threshold has drawn anger as it effectively blocks the most obvious remedy a delisting. mr donaldson said the sec would consider whether there should be a new approach to the deregistration process for foreign firms unwilling to meet us requirements. we should seek a solution that will preserve investor protections without turning the us market into one with no exit he said. he revealed that his staff were already weighing up the merits of delaying the implementation of the act s least popular measure - section 404 - for foreign firms. seen as particularly costly to implement section 404 obliges chief executives to take responsibility for the firm s internal controls by signing a compliance statement in the annual accounts. the sec has already delayed implementation of this clause for smaller firms - including us ones - with market capitalisations below $700m (£374m). a delegation of european firms visited the sec in december to press for change the financial times reported. it was led by digby jones director general of the uk s confederation of british industry (cbi) and included representatives of basf siemens and cadbury schweppes. compliance costs are already believed to be making firms wary of us listings. air china picked the london stock exchange for its secondary listing in its $1.07bn (£558m) stock market debut last month. there are also rumours that two chinese state-run banks - china construction bank and bank of china - have abandoned plans for multi-billion dollar listings in new york later this year. instead the cost of sarbanes-oxley has persuaded them to stick to a single listing in hong kong according to press reports in china.,business
287,1857,o connor aims to grab opportunity johnny o connor is determined to make a big impression when he makes his rbs six nations debut for ireland against scotland on saturday. the wasps flanker replaces denis leamy but o connor knows that the munster man will be pushing hard for a recall for the following game against england. it s a horses for courses selection really said o connor. there s a lot of competition here and i can t just drag my heels around if i don t get picked. it looks a definite head-to-head battle between himself and 23-year-old leamy - three stone heavier than o connor - for the number seven role against the world champions. nonetheless all o connor is currently concerned about is making an impression while winning his third cap. missing the italian game was disappointing certainly but you can t dwell on these things - it s part and parcel of rugby. denis has been playing really well and deserved his opportunity. it s a good situation to be in if there are good players around you pushing for a place in the side. o connor who celebrated his 25th birthday on wednesday was touted by wasps director of rugby warren gatland as a possible 2005 lions test openside as far back as last september. and his reputation as a breakdown scavenger and heavy hitter has seen him come to the forefront of o sullivan s mind for the scottish tussle. o connor added: it will be interesting to see how situations on the deck is reffed with the new laws having come in. obviously the breakdown a big part of what i do on the pitch so i m hoping to hold some influence there against what is a very solid scottish pack. o connor will be winning his third cap after making his debut in the victory over south africa last november.,sport
288,798,kenyan school turns to handhelds at the mbita point primary school in western kenya students click away at a handheld computer with a stylus. they are doing exercises in their school textbooks which have been digitised. it is a pilot project run by eduvision which is looking at ways to use low cost computer systems to get up-to-date information to students who are currently stuck with ancient textbooks. matthew herren from eduvision told the bbc programme go digital how the non-governmental organisation uses a combination of satellite radio and handheld computers called e-slates. the e-slates connect via a wireless connection to a base station in the school. this in turn is connected to a satellite radio receiver. the data is transmitted alongside audio signals. the base station processes the information from the satellite transmission and turns it into a form that can be read by the handheld e-slates. it downloads from the satellite and every day processes the stream sorts through content for the material destined for the users connected to it. it also stores this on its hard disc. the system is cheaper than installing and maintaining an internet connection and conventional computer network. but mr herren says there are both pros and cons to the project. it s very simple to set up just a satellite antenna on the roof of the school but it s also a one-way connection so getting feedback or specific requests from end users is difficult. the project is still at the pilot stage and eduvision staff are on the ground to attend to teething problems with the linux-based system. the content is divided into visual information textual information and questions. users can scroll through these sections independently of each other. eduvision is planning to include audio and video files as the system develops and add more content. mr herren says this would vastly increase the opportunities available to the students. he is currently in negotiations to take advantage of a project being organised by search site google to digitise some of the world s largest university libraries. all books in the public domain something like 15 million could be put on the base stations as we manufacture them. then every rural school in africa would have access to the same libraries as the students in oxford and harvard currently the project is operating in an area where there is mains electricity. but mr herren says eduvision already has plans to extend it to more remote regions. we plan to put a solar panel at the school with the base station have the e-slates charge during the day when the children are in school then they can take them home at night and continue working. maciej sundra who designed the user interface for the e-slates says the project s ultimate goal is levelling access to knowledge around the world. why in this age when most people do most research using the internet are students still using textbooks the fact that we are doing this in a rural developing country is very exciting - as they need it most.,tech
289,1915,labour plans maternity pay rise maternity pay for new mothers is to rise by £1 400 as part of new proposals announced by the trade and industry secretary patricia hewitt. it would mean paid leave would be increased to nine months by 2007 ms hewitt told gmtv s sunday programme. other plans include letting maternity pay be given to fathers and extending rights to parents of older children. the tories dismissed the maternity pay plan as desperate while the liberal democrats said it was misdirected. ms hewitt said: we have already doubled the length of maternity pay it was 13 weeks when we were elected we have already taken it up to 26 weeks. we are going to extend the pay to nine months by 2007 and the aim is to get it right up to the full 12 months by the end of the next parliament. she said new mothers were already entitled to 12 months leave but that many women could not take it as only six of those months were paid. we have made a firm commitment. we will definitely extend the maternity pay from the six months where it now is to nine months that s the extra £1 400. she said ministers would consult on other proposals that could see fathers being allowed to take some of their partner s maternity pay or leave period or extending the rights of flexible working to carers or parents of older children. the shadow secretary of state for the family theresa may said: these plans were announced by gordon brown in his pre-budget review in december and tony blair is now recycling it in his desperate bid to win back women voters. she said the conservatives would announce their proposals closer to the general election. liberal democrat spokeswoman for women sandra gidley said: while mothers would welcome any extra maternity pay the liberal democrats feel this money is being misdirected. she said her party would boost maternity pay in the first six months to allow more women to stay at home in that time. ms hewitt also stressed the plans would be paid for by taxpayers not employers. but david frost director general of the british chambers of commerce warned that many small firms could be crippled by the move. while the majority of any salary costs may be covered by the government s statutory pay recruitment costs advertising costs retraining costs and the strain on the company will not be he said. further details of the government s plans will be outlined on monday. new mothers are currently entitled to 90% of average earnings for the first six weeks after giving birth followed by £102.80 a week until the baby is six months old.,politics
290,1051,tough schedule delays elliot show preview performances of the £3m musical billy elliot have been delayed to give the child actors a less arduous rehearsal schedule. director stephen daldry made the decision to re-schedule the previews to protect the young stars. three boys will rotate the demanding role of ballet dancer billy which requires them to sing dance and act. the show s opening night on 12 may at the victoria palace theatre in london remains unaffected by the changes. preview performances will now be held on 14 20 and 27 april. this is one of the most ambitious projects i have been involved with said daldry. the decision has been made to push back our preview performances in order to give our company with a cast including 45 children a little extra time so they are as fully prepared as possible. he added: the young billy elliots in particular making their professional stage debuts in the west end will benefit from a little extra time to familiarise themselves with all aspects of the production. the three boys playing billy are james lomas 15 george maguire 14 and liam mower 12. the other major child parts will also be rotated between young actors. such are the demands of the show that producers set up a stage school in newcastle to train potential stars for the show. child labour laws also mean the young actors can only work for a limited period each week. adult actors in the show include tim healy as billy s father and haydn gwnne as his dance teacher mrs wilkinson. sir elton john has composed the music. daldry directed the successful film version of billy elliot adapted from lee hall s script. both were nominated for oscars alongside julie walters who played billy s teacher.,entertainment
291,99,japan narrowly escapes recession japan s economy teetered on the brink of a technical recession in the three months to september figures show. revised figures indicated growth of just 0.1% - and a similar-sized contraction in the previous quarter. on an annual basis the data suggests annual growth of just 0.2% suggesting a much more hesitant recovery than had previously been thought. a common technical definition of a recession is two successive quarters of negative growth. the government was keen to play down the worrying implications of the data. i maintain the view that japan s economy remains in a minor adjustment phase in an upward climb and we will monitor developments carefully said economy minister heizo takenaka. but in the face of the strengthening yen making exports less competitive and indications of weakening economic conditions ahead observers were less sanguine. it s painting a picture of a recovery... much patchier than previously thought said paul sheard economist at lehman brothers in tokyo. improvements in the job market apparently have yet to feed through to domestic demand with private consumption up just 0.2% in the third quarter.,business
292,810,oil prices reach three-month low oil prices have fallen heavily for a second day closing at three-month lows after news that us crude stocks have improved ahead of winter. london brent crude closed at $40.15 on thursday - a drop of 5.1% - having dived below $40 a barrel for the first time since mid-september. us light crude traded in new york lost more than $2 to $43.25 its lowest close since 10 september. the price of both benchmark crudes has dropped 12% in two days. the falls were triggered when the energy information administration (eia) said on wednesday that us crude stocks were 3.5% higher than a year ago. the news calmed worries about winter shortages. weak us fuel and heating oil stocks have been a persistent factor in pushing up oil prices. it s amazing how quickly sentiment changed said rick mueller an analyst at energy security analysis. analysts also attributed the fall to mild early-winter weather which has tempered demand for heating oil. the stronger fuel inventories helped boost us stock markets to nine-month highs on wednesday though only the nasdaq index had hung onto those gains by the end of thursday. in london the ftse 100 index closed 15 points higher at 4 751. the long-awaited drop in oil prices helped to ease persistent investor jitters over the impact of energy costs on company profits and economic growth. however traders warned that the fall could be short-lived if there is a cold snap in north america this winter or any major supply problems in other parts of the world. the price of crude is still up about 30% on the start of 2004 but has fallen from the record of $55.67 set in late october. opec nations have increased production to 25-year highs to meet global demand and this has helped rebuild us stocks hit by supply disruptions after hurricane ivan in september. traders were also encouraged by comments on wednesday from the energy minister of opec member algeria. chakib khelil said the cartel was likely to keep output unchanged when it meets next week. however some analysts believe the sharp fall in crude prices may harden opec s attitude to over-production leading to a scaling back of oil output. fears still remain over the level of us heating oil stocks which are rising but remain down on 2004 levels. a cold spell in north america would start to deplete supplies and could spark further price rises. analysts however say prices will fall further if inventories continue to rise. mother nature is going to be huge in the next several weeks said kyle cooper at citigroup global markets. long term i think we re headed to $30-35 but i don t think we re doing that yet. we have a lot of winter left. john person president of national futures advisory services said the eia data indicated there should be adequate supplies for the next three months in the us. .,business
293,1662,drink remark acts as diversion the first minister s statement that it was okay to get drunk once in a while has diverted attention from the real issues it has been claimed. jack law chief executive of alcohol focus scotland said jack mcconnell s comment was ill-advised . the media attention had helped to move the focus from scotland s binge drinking problems mr law said. scotsman journalist hamish macdonell said he believed the bigger picture had been obscured by the remark. mr mcconnell was speaking on monday to more than 100 secondary pupils from schools in the highlands about the problems of binge drinking and drink promotions. the one-sentence comment was immediately criticised by the scottish national party which accused him of encouraging young people to get drunk. but the scottish executive has insisted mr mcconnell was speaking about adults and his comments were a recognition that people will get drunk . mr macdonell political editor of the scotsman said: i think we have to say right at the outset that this was a very stupid and ill-advised remark by the first minister. if you come out with something like this saying that by all means get drunk then you will be pilloried for it. however he added that perhaps mr mcconnell could feel rightly aggrieved about the coverage . mr macdonell said: i think the problem here is that he did say a lot more things about binge drinking and under age drinking. but that whole side of things has been lost in the furore over one sentence. i understand why but i think there is a much bigger message here that has been obscured. mr law from voluntary body alcohol focus scotland believed damage had been done to scotland s fight against binge drinking. he said he accepted that young people drank and they did have problems with drink. mr law added: i think the remark was ill-advised - but these remarks are blown out of all proportion and they so easily misrepresent what we are trying to do in scotland. we don t want to preach to young people but we need to acknowledge that they do drink problematically. this diverts us from the real issues which are about promoting responsibility and reducing harm and indeed tackling our drinking culture which is a culture about binge drinking and drunkenness. he said it was vital that young people were properly informed about the risks incurred to themselves and others when they got drunk. mr macdonell said that the first minister should know by now that if he said things which were off the mark they were bound to come back and bite him . he added: here mr mcconnell was talking in the highlands to 100 teenagers and every word he said was put out on a webcast by the scottish executive and then looked at by other politicians and reporters. i think in this instance he has done a lot of really good things and he will be regretting this remark. the scottish national party s holyrood leader nicola sturgeon wrote to mr mcconnell on tuesday accusing him of an error of judgement and calling for him to apologise for his ill-judged comment and withdraw it immediately. in a furious response the first minister said his comments had been distorted and taken out of context. he told ms sturgeon: it is disappointing that you have contributed to this distortion by saying it is staggering that i should encourage young people to get drunk . that is completely untrue. perhaps it would have been wiser for you to find out what was actually said before you rushed to represent my position undermine the convener of education at highland council and insult the intelligence of the young people i spoke with - all for the sake of a simple soundbite.,politics
294,1521,umaga ready for lions all blacks captain tama umaga has warned the british and irish lions will be his most fearsome opponents yet ahead of their summer tour. but umaga in england for saturday s irb rugby aid match also backed new zealand to win the three-test series against the lions. he told bbc sport: it s potentially the most fearsome line-up i ve ever come up against. they re awesome. but i d back us all the way to beat them when they come over. lions boss sir clive woodward is set to announce his squad for the june-july tour next month. when woodward was appointed last year it was widely believed he would rely heavily on his former england players. but umaga said: he d be hard pushed to do that now considering the shape of the six nations. don t get me wrong england have got a lot of talented guys and i m sure there are some of them who ll make the lions test xv. but you can t disguise wales and ireland in particular. some of the tries they ve scored have been great. i ll admit it ll be fairly awesome lining up against the likes of brian o driscoll. umaga will meet o driscoll in saturday s rugby aid match at twickenham with the irish captain leading the northern hemisphere side. o driscoll is among a host of players in the northern hemisphere squad coached by woodward that are tipped for lions call-ups. it ll be good for us to get an early idea of some of these guys although a lot can change between now and june umaga said. the 31-year-old admitted interest in the lions tour was immense calling it the biggest thing to hit new zealand since lord of the rings . he added: as players it s enough for us to be driven by the rarity of playing the lions. in fact it s not just us all blacks - it s the talk of the country. umaga admitted the fear of injury weighed on his mind ahead of saturday s charity game which features a host of big names including george gregan andrew mehrtens and chris latham. but he admitted the value of the cause - proceeds of the match will go to aiding victims of the tsunami - easily won him over. the second [southern hemisphere coach] rod macqueen made the approach i didn t hesitate. it was great when new zealand rugby then gave me the all clear. thankfully i didn t know anyone that was involved in the tragedy of the tsunami but you couldn t miss all the horrific reports on the news. there are so many people that were affected are still affected and will be affected for a long time. it s just good to know we can do something minor to help out. - the match will be televised on bbc one at 1400 gmt on saturday.,sport
295,1693,adventure tale tops awards young book fans have voted fergus crane a story about a boy who is taken on an adventure by a flying horse the winner of two smarties book prizes. paul stewart and chris riddell s book came top in the category for six- to eight-year-olds and won the award chosen by after-school club members. sally grindley s spilled water about a chinese girl sold as a servant was top in vote of readers aged nine to 11. biscuit bear by mini grey took the top award in the under-five category. winners were voted for by about 6 000 children from a shortlist picked by an adult panel. the prize which is celebrating its 20th year is billed as the uk s biggest children s book award . fergus crane includes text by stewart and illustrations by riddell who also created the edge chronicles together. as well as the six to eights prize it won the 4children special award voted for by after-school club members. julia eccleshare chair of the adult judging panel said children s literature had never looked stronger in the prize s 20 years. this award counts because the final choice of winners is made by children who are the toughest critics of all she said. this year s young judges chose the winners from an exceptionally strong and varied shortlist which showcases the very best in children s books today. previous winners have included jk rowling jacqueline wilson and dick king-smith.,entertainment
296,347,visa decision every 11 minutes visa processing staff are sometimes expected to rule on an application every 11 minutes mps have said. pressure was placed on staff to be efficient rather than to do a thorough examination of an application the public accounts committee found. every officer had an annual target of 8 000 applications - equivalent to 40 a day or one every 11 minutes. mps want research into whether uk visa holders leave at the end of their stays or vanish into the black market. committee chairman edward leigh said: there is a worrying tension between quick processing and proper control over the visas issued. entry clearance staff are expected to deal with a visa application in about 11 minutes which is surely too little time to look closely at the supporting documents. the committee s report also discussed the romanian and bulgarian visas scandal which led to the resignation of immigration minister beverley hughes last year. committee members said the home office had been wrong to dismiss concerns from visa staff abroad who feared the system was being abused. investigations carried out in the wake of ms hughes resignation found more than 7 000 people had entered the uk under the business visa scheme for romanian and bulgarian entrepreneurs . mr leigh said the home office should now consider removing those who had not set up a valid business. a home office spokesman said the system had been toughened and tightened since the investigation. he added that the traditional system of a dual decision making process for all pre-entry applications will be replaced by a single pre-entry check at post which will be simpler and more robust against abuse than the current system .,politics
297,60,us regulator to rule on pain drug us food and drug regulators will decide on friday whether to recommend the sale of painkillers that have been linked to a high risk of heart attack and stroke. the food and drug administration (fda) advisory panel will give its verdict after hearing evidence for three days. the painkillers - called cox-2 inhibitors - are sold under brand names such as celebrex and vioxx. vioxx was withdrawn from shops last year but merck said it would consider selling it if it gets fda approval. the fda has been asked to decide if the benefits to patients justify the increased risks. putting vioxx back on the shelves is likely to boost profits at merck and make easier any legal battles with people who claim to have been injured by the drug analysts said. merck voluntarily stopped sales of vioxx on 30 september a move which caused the firm s fourth-quarter earnings to slide to $1.1bn (£581m) from $1.4bn a year earlier. merck s shares tumbled more than 10% on the news and the company has had to set aside millions of dollars to cover the cost of vioxx-related litigation. alarm bells were rung by a research note called approve which showed that the risk of heart attack and stroke doubled in patients who had been taking the drug for at least 18 months. the cox-2 inhibitors were developed by drug companies including merck and pfizer because they cause users fewer stomach problems than other painkillers. pfizer is still selling its celebrex and bextra products though investigations have suggested that they may also be harmful to the heart. merck s announcement of a possible reintroduction of vioxx caught analysts by surprise. merck s head of research peter kim said that it withdrew vioxx based on the information that was available to us at the time knowing there were alternative therapies . he went on to say that things have since changed in the light of new reports. given this new information its is not clear that the cardiovascular risk observed in approve makes vioxx unique in the class of similar drugs marketed in the us mr kim explained. on thursday david graham from the fda s office of drug safety told the advisory panel that there really doesn t appear to be a need for cox-2 inhibitors. according to calculations presented to the us senate by dr graham in november vioxx may be linked to as many as to 56 000 american deaths. facing stem criticism for its handling of the vioxx case the fda said on tuesday that it will create an independent body to oversee the safety of drugs already in the market place. european regulators meanwhile ruled on thursday that patients who have had heart disease or a stroke should not take cox-2 inhibitors. the european medicines agency also said doctors should be cautious about giving the drugs to patients who have risk factors for heart disease.,business
298,1958,roddick in talks over new coach andy roddick is reportedly close to confirming us davis cup assistant dean goldfine as his new coach. roddick ended his 18-month partnership with brad gilbert on monday and goldfine admits talks have taken place. we had a really good conversation and we re on the same page in terms of what i expect from a player in commitment and what he wants said goldfine. the reading i got from him is that i would have a lot of the qualities he s looking for in a coach. speaking to told south florida s sun-sentinel newspaper goldfine added: that being said from his standpoint which is smart he wants to cover all his bases. i think andy wants a long-term relationship and wants to make sure it s the right fit... the best fit. goldfine 39 has worked with todd martin and roddick s close friend mardy fish and was an assistant coach with the us olympic team. martin is the other name to have been linked to the vacant post alongside roddick.,sport
299,723,rochus shocks coria in auckland top seed guillermo coria went out of the heineken open in auckland on thursday with a surprise loss to olivier rochus of belgium. coria lost the semi-final 6-4 6-4 to rochus who goes on to face czech jan hernych a 6-4 7-5 winner over jose acasuso of argentina. fifth seed fernando gonzalez eased past american robby ginepri 6-3 6-4. the chilean will meet sixth seed juan ignacio chela next after the argentine beat potito starace 6-1 7-6 (7-5). rochus made the semi-finals at the australian hardcourt championships in adelaide last week and is naturally delighted with his form. it s been two unbelievable weeks for me he said. today i knew i had nothing to lose. if i beat him great if i lost i would be losing to a top-10 player. coria conceded that rochus played just too good and added: when you give your best out there you can t be too sad.,sport
300,402,progress on new internet domains by early 2005 the net could have two new domain names. the .post and .travel net domains have been given preliminary approval by the net s administrative body. the names are just two of a total of 10 proposed domains that are being considered by the internet corporation for assigned names and numbers icann. the other proposed names include a domain for pornography asia mobile phones an anti-spam domain and one for the catalan language and culture. the .post domain is backed by the universal postal union that wants to use it as the online marker for every type of postal service and to help co-ordinate the e-commerce efforts of national post offices. the .travel domain would be used by hotels travel firms airlines tourism offices and would help such organisations distinguish themselves online. it is backed by a new york-based trade group called the travel partnership. icann said its early decision on the two domains was in response to the detailed technical and commercial information the organisations behind the names had submitted. despite this initial approval icann cautioned that there was no guarantee that the domains would actually go into service. at the same time icann is considering proposals for another eight domains. one that may not win approval is a proposal to set up a .xxx domain for pornographic websites. a similar proposal has been made many times in the past. but icann has been reluctant to approve it because of the difficulty of making pornographers sign up and use it. in 2000 icann approved seven other new domains that have had varying degrees of success. three of the new so-called top level domains were for specific industries or organisations such as .museum and .aero. others such as .info and .biz were intended to be more generic. in total there are in excess of 200 domain names and the majority of these are for nations. but domains that end in the .com suffix are by far the most numerous.,tech
301,662,vibe awards back despite violence the us vibe awards will be held again next year despite a stabbing which happened during the ceremony. vibe magazine president kenard gibbs said the attack earlier this month in santa monica was sickening . he said not holding the awards would be counter to the work the magazine has done to promote hip hop music. rapper young buck has been charged after allegedly stabbing a man who hit dr dre as he was about to receive a lifetime achievement award. the rapper whose real name is david darnell brown is due in court on 20 december after being arrested on one charge of attempted murder and a second charge of assault with a deadly weapon. the performer is one of the members of 50 cent s g-unit group which is signed to dr dre s record label. the man who was stabbed jimmy james johnson suffered a collapsed lung and is in a stable condition at a los angeles hospital. mr johnson allegedly approached dr dre who was seated at a table in front of the stage and appeared to ask for an autograph before punching him. during the ensuing scuffle - which involved many of the 1 000-strong crowd - mr johnson was stabbed as he was being dragged away by security staff,entertainment
302,3,tigers wary of farrell gamble leicester say they will not be rushed into making a bid for andy farrell should the great britain rugby league captain decide to switch codes. we and anybody else involved in the process are still some way away from going to the next stage tigers boss john wells told bbc radio leicester. at the moment there are still a lot of unknowns about andy farrell not least his medical situation. whoever does take him on is going to take a big big gamble. farrell who has had persistent knee problems had an operation on his knee five weeks ago and is expected to be out for another three months. leicester and saracens are believed to head the list of rugby union clubs interested in signing farrell if he decides to move to the 15-man game. if he does move across to union wells believes he would better off playing in the backs at least initially. i m sure he could make the step between league and union by being involved in the centre said wells. i think england would prefer him to progress to a position in the back row where they can make use of some of his rugby league skills within the forwards. the jury is out on whether he can cross that divide. at this club the balance will have to be struck between the cost of that gamble and the option of bringing in a ready-made replacement.,sport
303,84,news corp makes $5.4bn fox offer news corporation is seeking to buy out minority investors in fox entertainment group its broadcasting subsidiary for about $5.4bn (£3.7bn). the media giant run by rupert murdoch owns 82% of the shares in the company home to the fox television network and the 20th century fox film studio. the move follows news corp s decision to register its business in the us. 20th century fox s recent film releases include i heart huckabees and i robot while fox puts out hit tv series 24. under the terms of the offer minority fox shareholders will receive 1.90 news corp shares in return for each fox share they hold. analysts said the decision to list news corp in the us - which will result in the firm s shares trading in new york rather than sydney- nullified the need to retain a separate stock market listing for fox entertainment shares. news corp investors voted in october to approve the transfer of the company s corporate domicile from australia to the us state of delaware. the move is designed to help news corp attract more investment from the largest us financial institutions and make it easier to raise capital. fox entertainment group generated revenues of $12bn last year. news corp shares fell 25 cents to $17.65 after the share offer was announced while fox shares were up 19 cents at $31.22.,business
304,1551,latest opera browser gets vocal net browser opera 8.0 due for official release at the end of next month will be the most accessible browser on the market according to its authors. the latest version of the net browser can be controlled by voice command and will read pages aloud. the voice features based on ibm technology are currently only available in the windows version. opera can also magnify text by up to 10 times and users can create style sheets its developers say. this will enable them to view pages with colours and fonts that they prefer. but the browser does not yet work well with screen reader software often used by blind people so its accessibility features are more likely to appeal to those with some residual vision. our mission was always to provide the best internet experience for everyone said opera spokeswoman berit hanson. so we would obviously not want to exclude disabled computer users. another feature likely to appeal to people with low vision is the ability to make pages fit to the screen width which eliminates the need for horizontal scrolling. the company points out that this will also appeal to anyone using opera with a handheld device. the company says that features like voice activation are not solely aimed at visually impaired people. our idea was to take a first step in making human-computer interaction more natural said ms hanson. people are not always in a situation where they can access a keyboard so this makes the web a more hands-free experience. unlike commercially available voice recognition software opera does not have to be trained to recognise an individual voice. around 50 voice commands are available and users will have to wear a headset which incorporates a microphone. the voice recognition function is currently only available in english. opera is free to download but a paid-for version comes without an ad banner in the top right hand corner and with extra support. opera began life as a research project - a spin-off from norwegian telecoms company telenor. its browser is used by an estimated 10 million people on a variety of operating systems and a number of different platforms.,tech
305,1684,five million germans out of work germany s unemployment figure rose above the psychologically important level of five million last month. on wednesday the german federal labour agency said the jobless total had reached 5.037 million in january which takes the jobless rate to 12.1%. yes we have effectively more than five million people unemployed a government minister said earlier on zdf public television. unemployment has not been this high in germany since the 1930s. changes to the way the statistics are compiled partly explain the jump of 572 900 in the numbers. but the figures are embarrassing for the government. with the figures apparently the worst we ve seen in the post-war period these numbers are very charged politically said christian jasperneite an economist with mm warburg. they could well put an end to the recent renaissance we ve seen by the spd [the ruling social democrats] in the polls and with state elections due in schleswig-holstein and north rhine-westphalia they may have an adverse effect on the government s chances there. the opposition also made political capital from the figures. it said there are a further 1.5 million-2 million people on subsidised employment schemes who are in fact looking for real jobs. it added that government reforms including unpopular benefit cuts do not go far enough. under the government s controversial hartz iv reforms which came into effect at the beginning of the year both those on unemployment benefits and welfare support and those who are long-term unemployed are officially classified as looking for work. the bad winter weather also took its toll as key sectors such as the construction sector laid off workers. adjusted for the seasonal factors the german jobless total rose by 227 000 in january from december.,business
306,806,safin plays down wimbledon hopes newly-crowned australian open champion marat safin has ruled out any chance of winning wimbledon in the future. after losing in round one last year safin said he had given up on wimbledon and winning his second grand slam title has not changed his mind. i ll play but with no expectations. i feel like i can t waste my time my energy on that surface he said. some people they cannot play on clay. some people they cannot play on a hard court. me i can t play on grass. however safin is hopeful that winning the australian open will give him the belief he needs to win more grand slam titles. it s a relief for me. two grand slams it s already something. but with this one i worked really hard for it he said. basically i would love to win a couple more. i think i have a chance if i continue this way. if (coach) peter lundgren will stick around with me and wants to work with me for a bit longer i think i can make it. the 25-year-old shocked pete sampras in the 2000 us open final to win his first major title but then lost in two australian open finals. safin admitted he had begun to doubt whether he would win another grand slam. i didn t expect that (to win the 2000 us open) - it was against sampras i wasn t the favourite so i had no pressure whatsoever he said. after the first final that i didn t win against thomas johansson (in 2002) i couldn t see myself winning the grand slams anymore. i was once in the semi-finals of the french open but i didn t believe i can win it. i just couldn t handle the pressure. you need to believe in yourself and i didn t. and after losing the first set 6-1 to lleyton hewitt in sunday s final safin said he began to doubt himself again. i am 25. i m playing against hewitt. at least you have to have the opportunity to win it at least have a chance he said. it s like you go there and you lose first set 6-1 then you start to think: this is not my day. the way i m playing is ridiculous. but then you start to really be a little bit more selfish and try to find a way out of there. and i found it. i was like really much i was much happier than in 2000 that s for sure because i get over it.,sport
307,1721,mandelson warning to bbc the bbc should steer away from demonising ex-downing street media chief alastair campbell peter mandelson has said. the european commissioner and former labour minister was speaking amid claims that mr campbell is part of a labour dirty tricks campaign. that charge was denied by mr mandelson who said the tories were afraid of mr campbell s campaigning skills. he warned the bbc that attacking mr campbell had brought it trouble before. that was a reference to the hutton inquiry following a bbc story claiming downing street sexed up iraq s weapons of mass destruction dossier. the affair prompted the resignation of bbc chairman gavyn davies director-general greg dyke and reporter andrew gilligan. labour has attracted media criticism for using new freedom of information laws to dig up information about tory leader michael howard s past. mr mandelson a former labour communications director told bbc radio 4 s today programme: i understand why the tories will be gunning for alastair campbell because they fear his campaigning skills. what i understand less is why the bbc should be joining with the tories in driving that agenda. in my experience of these things parties which shout about dirty tricks and the like tend to do so because they fear a direct hit in some vulnerable part of their political anatomy. i suggest the bbc concentrates on the issues and helps the public to understand the policies and the choices that are at stake in the election rather than engages in the process politics the trivialisation of the campaign. i think the bbc would be much better advised to leave all this stuff well alone concentrate on the issues as i say not resume their demonisation of alastair campbell - we all know where that led before. mr campbell is acting as an adviser for labour which denies engaging in personal campaigning. conservative co-chairman liam fox said mr campbell s return and labour poster plans attacking mr howard - recently withdrawn from the party s website - were a sign of abusive politics . the government despite the fact that they would say want to go forward not back seem intent on talking about history rather than their own record or even more importantly about the future he said on sunday. labour peer baroness kennedy who is chairing the power inquiry into political disengagement said people already thought politicians engaged in dirty tricks. this feeling of distrust is going to be enlarged if this campaigning on all sides is conducted in the way that it looks as if it just might she said.,politics
308,446,hunt ban support is in decline support for a ban on hunting has fallen in the past six years a poll suggests. less than half the uk wants a ban compared to almost two-thirds in 1999 the mori survey of 2 000 adults for bbc one s countryfile programme suggests. the number opposed to a ban remains constant but those neither supporting nor opposing has increased by 11%. most city-dwellers support the ban but rural people were evenly split between supporters opponents and undecided. polling company mori carried out both surveys. in july 1999 they asked 801 adults if they supported the ban for the mail on sunday. for countryfile they asked 2 234 adults across the country the same question. the mail on sunday survey found that 63% supported a hunting ban compared with 24% against. in the countryfile survey 47% said they supported the legislation with 26% against. but the programme makers suggest the british public are becoming increasingly neutral to the issue because around one quarter said they neither support nor oppose a ban.,politics
309,326,bbc to pour £9m into new comedy the bbc is to invest £9m in developing new comedy and entertainment programmes outside london. the changes come as part of a shake-up of several departments to create shows that appeal to a wider range of people. changes are also being made to teams in the factual and daytime departments outside london. director of television jana bennett said the changes were about getting the best ideas on screen as efficiently and effectively as we can . the new structure in each genre is designed to ensure that happens she said. a number of new roles are being created in each department including a head of comedy commissioning based in glasgow. the new person will be in charge of the £9m budget and their role will be to develop shows outside the capital both within the bbc and with independent production companies. jane lush controller of entertainment commissioning said entertainment and comedy are incredibly important to our audiences; i m confident these changes will help us get the very best programmes on screen. similar positions will also be created in the other departments with the new commissioning editor for documentaries based in bristol and the daytime commissioning editor in birmingham. ms bennett said the new roles would benefit those making programmes within the bbc as well as those making shows for the channel independently. a strong independent sector and a flourishing in-house production base are not mutually exclusive and will stimulate the competition that will deliver the best ideas to the audience she said.,entertainment
310,2211,teens know little of politics teenagers questioned for a survey have shown little interest in politics - and have little knowledge. only a quarter of 14-16 year olds knew that labour was the government the tories were the official opposition and the lib dems were the third party. almost all could identify tony blair but only one in six knew who michael howard was and just one in 10 recognised charles kennedy. the icm survey interviewed 110 pupils for education watchdog ofsted. nearly half those pupils polled said it was not important for them to know more about what the political parties stand for. and 4% of those questioned thought the conservatives were in power - while 2% of them believed the lib dems were. the survey also looked at issues of nationality. it found the union flag and fish and chips topped the list of symbols and foods associated with being british. many of the pupils also looked on themselves as english scottish or welsh rather than british; while the notion of being european hardly occurred to anyone.,politics
311,2037,day-lewis set for berlin honour actor daniel day-lewis is to be presented with an award for his career in film at the berlin film festival. the 47-year-old whose credits include his oscar-winning performance in my left foot will be presented with the berlinale camera award on 15 february. the honour awarded since 1986 honours figures in cinema that the festival feels particularly indebted to . man to man a historical epic starring kristin scott thomas opens the german festival on 10 february. a candid documentary about the life and career of singer george michael a different story will also be screened at the 10-day event. day-lewis has competed four times at the berlin film festival with films in the name of the father (1994) the crucible (1997) the boxer (1998) and martin scorsese s gangs of new york (2003). the festival praises him for his sensational start with roles in my beautiful launderette and costume classic a room with a view and a great number of celebrated roles in subsequent productions. japan s oldest film studio will also be honoured along with day-lewis. shochiku film studios which was founded 110 years ago will become the first cinematic institution to receive the berlinale camera award. famous japanese directors including akira kurosawa have had films produced at the studio.,entertainment
312,1158,brown ally rejects budget spree chancellor gordon brown s closest ally has denied suggestions there will be a budget giveaway on 16 march. ed balls ex-chief economic adviser to the treasury said there would be no spending spree before polling day. but mr balls a prospective labour mp said he was confident the chancellor would meet his fiscal rules. he was speaking as sir digby jones cbi director general warned mr brown not to be tempted to use any extra cash on pre-election bribes. mr balls who stepped down from his treasury post to stand as a labour candidate in the election had suggested that mr brown would meet his golden economic rule - with a margin to spare . he said he hoped more would be done to build on current tax credit rules. he also stressed rise in interest rates ahead of an expected may election would not affect the labour party s chances of winning. expectations of a rate rise have gathered pace after figures showed house prices are still rising. consumer borrowing rose at a near-record pace in january. if the mpc (the bank of england s monetary policy committee) were to judge that a rate rise was justified before the election because of the strength of the economy - and i m not predicting that they will - i do not believe that this will be a big election issue in britain for labour he told a parliamentary lunch. this is a big change in our political culture. during an interview with bbc radio 4 s today programme mr balls said he was sure mr brown s budget would not put at risk the stability of the economy. i don t think we ll see a pre-election spending spree - we certainly did not see that before 2001 he said. his assurances came after sir digby jones said stability was all important and any extra cash should be spent on improving workers skills. his message to the chancellor was: please don t give it away in any form of electioneering. sir digby added: i don t think he will. i have to say he has been a prudent chancellor right the way through. stability is the key word - british business needs boring stability more than anything. we would say to him don t increase your public spending don t give it away. but if you are going to anywhere just add something to the competitiveness of britain put it into skilling our people . that would be a good way to spend any excess. mr balls refused to say whether mr brown would remain as chancellor after the election amid speculation he will be offered the job of foreign secretary. i think that gordon brown wants to be part of the successful labour government which delivers in the third term for the priorities of the people and sees off a conservative party that will take britain backwards mr balls told today. prime minister tony blair has yet to name the date of the election but most pundits are betting on 5 may.,politics
313,498,putin backs state grab for yukos russia s president has defended the purchase of yukos key production unit by state-owned oil firm rosneft saying it followed free market principles. vladimir putin said it was quite within the rights of a state-owned company to ensure its interests were met. rosneft bought 100% of baikal finance group in a move that amounts to the renationalisation of a major chunk of russia s booming oil industry. rosneft will now control about 16% of russia s total crude oil output. yukos share jumped in moscow climbing as much as 50% before being suspended. rosneft is already in the process of merging with gazprom the world s biggest gas company a move that will see gazprom return to majority state-ownership. baikal was the surprise buyer of oil and gas giant yukos s main production division at a forced auction on sunday. everything was done by market methods mr putin said at his year-end press conference in moscow. shedding some light on the kremlin s motivation mr putin referred to a period of so-called cowboy capitalism that followed the collapse of the soviet union. he said privatisations carried out in the early 1990s had involved trickery including law breaking by people seeking to acquire valuable state property. now the state using market methods is safeguarding its interests. i think this is quite normal the russian president said. a rosneft spokesman has said the acquisition is part of its plan to build a balanced national energy corporation. the latest announcement comes after more than a year of wrangling that has pushed yukos one of russia s biggest companies to the brink of collapse. the russian government put yukos s yuganskneftegas subsidiary up for sale last week after hitting the company with a $27bn (£14bn) bill for back taxes and fines. analysts say that yukos s legal attempts to block the auction by filing for bankruptcy protection in the us are probably what caused this week s cloak-and-dagger dealings. gazprom the company originally tipped to buy yuganskneftegas was banned from taking part in the auction by a us court injunction. by selling the yukos unit to little-known baikal and then to rosneft russia is able to circumvent a host of tricky legal landmines analysts said. you cannot sue the russian government said eric kraus a strategist at moscow s sovlink securities. the russian government has sovereign immunity. the government is renationalising yuganskneftegas. even so analysts reckon that the saga still has a long way to go. the rosneft announcement came just hours after yukos accused gazprom of illegally taking part in sunday s auction. it has said it will be seeking damages of $20bn. the claim was made at the latest hearing in the us bankruptcy court in houston texas where yukos had filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. if found in contempt of the us court order blocking the auction gazprom could face having foreign assets seized. yukos lawyers had also been expected to try to have baikal s assets frozen. lawyers claimed the auction was illegal because yukos - with an office in houston - had filed for bankruptcy and therefore its assets were under the protection of us law which has worldwide jurisdiction. further muddying the waters is a merger between rosneft and gazprom which authorities have said will go ahead as planned.,business
314,2122,women mps reveal sexist taunts women mps endure shocking levels of sexist abuse at the hands of their male counterparts a new study shows. male mps pretended to juggle imaginary breasts and jeered melons as women made commons speeches researchers from birkbeck college were told. labour s yvette cooper said she found it hard to persuade commons officials she was a minister and not a secretary. some 83 mps gave their answers in 100 hours of taped interviews for the study whose secretary are you minister . the research team under professor joni lovenduski had set out to look at the achievements and experiences of women at westminster. but what emerged was complaints from mps of all parties of sexist barracking in the chamber sexist insults and patronising assumptions about their abilities. barbara follet one of the so-called blair babes elected in 1997 told researchers: i remember some conservatives - whenever a labour woman got up to speak they would take their breasts - imaginary breasts - in their hands and wiggle them and say melons as we spoke. former liberal democrat mp jackie ballard recalled a stream of remarks from a leading mp on topics such as women s legs or their sexual persuasion. and ex-tory education secretary gillian shepherd remembered how one of her male colleagues called all women betty . when i said look you know my name isn t betty he said ah but you re all the same so i call you all betty . harriet harman told researchers of the sheer hostility prompted by her advancement to the cabinet: well you ve only succeeded because you re a woman. another current member of the cabinet says she was told: oh you ve had a very fast rise who have you been sleeping with even after the great influx of women mps at the 1997 general election and greater numbers of women in the cabinet female mps often say they feel stuck on the edge of a male world. liberal democrat sarah teather the most recent female mp to be elected told researchers: lots of people say it s like an old boys club. i ve always said to me it feels more like a teenage public school - you know a public school full of teenagers. prof joni lovenduski who conducted the study with the help of margaret moran mp and a team of journalists said she was shocked at the findings. we expected a bit of this but nothing like this extent. we expected to find a couple of shocking episodes. but she said there was a difference between the experiences of women before the 1997 intake and afterwards. this was mainly because there were more women present in parliament who were not prepared to put up with the sexist attitudes they came across prof lovenduski said. but she added: some women including the women who came in 1997 received extraordinary treatment and i am not convinced that if the number of women changed back to what it was before 1997 that things would not change back. what i think is shocking to the general public is that these things go on in the house of commons. the interviews are to be placed in the british library as a historical record.,politics
315,1905,no half measures with half-life 2 could half-life 2 possibly live up to the hype after almost two years of tantalising previews and infuriating delays it s safe to say that this is the most highly-anticipated computer game of all time. fortunately it doesn t merely live up to its promise but exceeds it. no-one who plays the finished product will wonder why it took so long. the impression is of a game that has been endlessly refined to get as close to perfection as could realistically be hoped. all the money - or indeed time - is on the screen. the player sees things through the eyes of gordon freeman the bespectacled scientist who starred in the original 1998 half-life. having survived that skirmish in an desolate monster-infested research facility he s back in another foreboding troublespot - the enigmatic city 17. it has the look of a beautiful eastern european city but as soon as your train pulls in to the station it s clear that all is not well here. sinister police patrol the unkempt streets and the oppressive atmosphere clobbers you like a sledgehammer. a casual smattering of the nightmarish creatures from the first game makes this an even less pleasant place to be. you are herded around like a prisoner and have to mingle with a few freedom-fighting civilians to gather information and progress in your task. it is not immediately explained what your objectives are nor precisely why everything is so ravaged. finding out step-by-step is all part of the experience although you never fully get to understand what it was all about. that does not really matter. hl2 does not waste energy blinding you with plot. underplaying the narrative in this way is gloriously effective and immerses the player in the most vivid convincing and impressive virtual world they are likely to have seen. there are no cut-scenes to interrupt the flow. exposition is accomplished by other characters stopping to talk directly to you. whereas the highly impressive doom iii felt like a top-notch theme park thrill-ride wandering through half-life s world truly does feel like being part of a movie. considering its sophistication the game runs surprisingly well on computers that only just match the modest minimum specifications. but if ever there was an incentive to upgrade your pc s components this is it. on our test machine - an alienware system with an athlon 3500+ processor and ati s radeon x800 video card - everything ran at full quality without trouble and the visual experience was simply jaw-dropping. it is not simply that the surfaces textures and light effects push the technical envelope without mercy but that such care and artistic flair has gone into designing them. the haunting grim landscapes become strangely beautiful. luckily you get time to pause mid-task and marvel at the awesome graphical flourishes of your surroundings. so impressive are the physics that you ll find yourself hurling bits of rubbish around and prodding floating corpses just to marvel at the lifelike way they move. there are puzzles to be solved along the way pitched at about the right difficulty but most progress is achieved by force. freeman is quickly reunited with the original game s famous crowbar and an array of more sophisticated weapons soon follow. virtually anything not nailed to the floor can be interacted with and in realistic fashion. you will be wowed by the attention-to-detail as you chip bits of plaster off walls chase a pigeon out of your way or dodge exploding barrels as they ping around at deadly speed. at times half-life 2 feels like one of those annoying people who are unfeasibly brilliant at everything they turn their hand to and in a curious way its unrelenting goodness actually becomes almost tiresome. running around on foot is great enough but jumping into vehicles proves even more fun. human foes are rendered just as well as alien ones. the stealth sections are as exhilarating as the open gun battles. in gameplay terms hl2 somehow gets almost everything perfect. and without resorting to the zombies-lea
316,564,saab to build cadillacs in sweden general motors the world s largest car maker has confirmed that it will build a new medium-sized cadillac bls at its loss-making saab factory in sweden. the car unveiled at the geneva motor show is intended to compete in the medium-sized luxury car market. it will not be sold in the us said gm europe president carl-peter forster. as part of its efforts to make the us marque appeal to european drivers the car will be the first cadillac with a diesel engine. gm s announcement should go some way to allay fears of the saab factory s closure. the factory in trollhaettan has been at the centre of rumours about gm s planned severe cutbacks in its troubled european operations. but the group s new commitment to the swedish factory may not be welcomed by the group s opel workers in ruesselsheim germany. they may now have to face a larger proportion of gm s cuts. neither will the announcement be seen as unalloyed good news in sweden since it reflects saab s failure to make significant inroads into the lucrative european luxury car market. for years saab has consistently said it is competing head-on with bmw mercedes and jaguar. the segment s leaders do not agree. gm s plans to build the american marque in sweden is part of its efforts to push it as an alternative luxury brand for european drivers. in the us it has long been established as an upmarket brand - even the presidential limousine carries the badge. yet it could prove tough for cadillac to steal market share from the majors in europe. other luxury car makers most notably the toyota subsidiary lexus have enjoyed tremendous success in the us without managing to make significant inroads in europe. there german marques mercedes benz and bmw have retained their stranglehold on the luxury market. bringing cadillac production to sweden should help introduce desperately-needed scale to the saab factory which currently produces fewer than 130 000 cars per year. that is about half of what major car makers consider sufficient numbers for profitable operations and saab is losing money fast - albeit with losses halved in 2004 to $200m (£104m; 151m euros) from $500m the previous year. beyond the 12 000 job cuts announced last year at its european operations gm is reducing expenditure by building saabs opels - badged as vauxhalls in the uk - and now cadillacs on the same framework and by allowing the different brands to share parts. another way to further reduce saab s losses could be to shift some of the production of saabs to the us a market where drivers have adopted it as an upmarket european car. doing so would remove the exposure to the weak us dollar which is making saabs more expensive to us consumers. but not everyone in the industry agree that it would be the best way forward. we know that in five years the us dollar will be stronger than it is today the chief executive of a leading european car maker told bbc news. the current trend towards us production was stupid he said. in a separate announcement gm unveiled a new scheme to allow european consumers the chance to test drive its opel and vauxhall models. it is to deploy a fleet of 35 000 test cars across 40 countries inviting potential buyers to try out a vehicle for 24-hours. it follows a similar initiative by gm in the us. gm said it wanted to change customers perceptions about opel and vauxhall cars showing them that the quality had improved in recent years.,business
317,939,umaga ready for fearsome lions all blacks captain tama umaga has warned the british and irish lions will be his most fearsome opponents yet ahead of their summer tour. but umaga in england for saturday s irb rugby aid match also backed new zealand to win the three-test series against the lions. he told bbc sport: it s potentially the most fearsome line-up i ve ever come up against. they re awesome. but i d back us all the way to beat them when they come over. lions boss sir clive woodward is set to announce his squad for the june-july tour next month. when woodward was appointed last year it was widely believed he would rely heavily on his former england players. but umaga said: he d be hard pushed to do that now considering the shape of the six nations. don t get me wrong england have got a lot of talented guys and i m sure there are some of them who ll make the lions test xv. but you can t disguise wales and ireland in particular. some of the tries they ve scored have been great. i ll admit it ll be fairly awesome lining up against the likes of brian o driscoll. umaga will meet o driscoll in saturday s rugby aid match at twickenham with the irish captain leading the northern hemisphere side. o driscoll is among a host of players in the northern hemisphere squad coached by woodward that are tipped for lions call-ups. it ll be good for us to get an early idea of some of these guys although a lot can change between now and june umaga said. the 31-year-old admitted interest in the lions tour was immense calling it the biggest thing to hit new zealand since lord of the rings . he added: as players it s enough for us to be driven by the rarity of playing the lions. in fact it s not just us all blacks - it s the talk of the country. umaga admitted the fear of injury weighed on his mind ahead of saturday s charity game which features a host of big names including george gregan andrew mehrtens and chris latham. but he admitted the value of the cause - proceeds of the match will go to aiding victims of the tsunami - easily won him over. the second [southern hemisphere coach] rod macqueen made the approach i didn t hesitate. it was great when new zealand rugby then gave me the all clear. thankfully i didn t know anyone that was involved in the tragedy of the tsunami but you couldn t miss all the horrific reports on the news. there are so many people that were affected are still affected and will be affected for a long time. it s just good to know we can do something minor to help out. - the match will be televised on bbc one at 1400 gmt on saturday.,sport
318,1,tv future in the hands of viewers with home theatre systems plasma high-definition tvs and digital video recorders moving into the living room the way people watch tv will be radically different in five years time. that is according to an expert panel which gathered at the annual consumer electronics show in las vegas to discuss how these new technologies will impact one of our favourite pastimes. with the us leading the trend programmes and other content will be delivered to viewers via home networks through cable satellite telecoms companies and broadband service providers to front rooms and portable devices. one of the most talked-about technologies of ces has been digital and personal video recorders (dvr and pvr). these set-top boxes like the us s tivo and the uk s sky+ system allow people to record store play pause and forward wind tv programmes when they want. essentially the technology allows for much more personalised tv. they are also being built-in to high-definition tv sets which are big business in japan and the us but slower to take off in europe because of the lack of high-definition programming. not only can people forward wind through adverts they can also forget about abiding by network and channel schedules putting together their own a-la-carte entertainment. but some us networks and cable and satellite companies are worried about what it means for them in terms of advertising revenues as well as brand identity and viewer loyalty to channels. although the us leads in this technology at the moment it is also a concern that is being raised in europe particularly with the growing uptake of services like sky+. what happens here today we will see in nine months to a years time in the uk adam hume the bbc broadcast s futurologist told the bbc news website. for the likes of the bbc there are no issues of lost advertising revenue yet. it is a more pressing issue at the moment for commercial uk broadcasters but brand loyalty is important for everyone. we will be talking more about content brands rather than network brands said tim hanlon from brand communications firm starcom mediavest. the reality is that with broadband connections anybody can be the producer of content. he added: the challenge now is that it is hard to promote a programme with so much choice. what this means said stacey jolna senior vice president of tv guide tv group is that the way people find the content they want to watch has to be simplified for tv viewers. it means that networks in us terms or channels could take a leaf out of google s book and be the search engine of the future instead of the scheduler to help people find what they want to watch. this kind of channel model might work for the younger ipod generation which is used to taking control of their gadgets and what they play on them. but it might not suit everyone the panel recognised. older generations are more comfortable with familiar schedules and channel brands because they know what they are getting. they perhaps do not want so much of the choice put into their hands mr hanlon suggested. on the other end you have the kids just out of diapers who are pushing buttons already - everything is possible and available to them said mr hanlon. ultimately the consumer will tell the market they want. of the 50 000 new gadgets and technologies being showcased at ces many of them are about enhancing the tv-watching experience. high-definition tv sets are everywhere and many new models of lcd (liquid crystal display) tvs have been launched with dvr capability built into them instead of being external boxes. one such example launched at the show is humax s 26-inch lcd tv with an 80-hour tivo dvr and dvd recorder. one of the us s biggest satellite tv companies directtv has even launched its own branded dvr at the show with 100-hours of recording capability instant replay and a search function. the set can pause and rewind tv for up to 90 hours. and microsoft chief bill gates announced in his pre-show keynote speech a
319,567,spark heads world booker list dame muriel spark is among three british authors who have made the shortlist for the inaugural international booker prize. doris lessing and ian mcewan have also been nominated. mcewan and margaret atwood are the only nominees to have previously won the main booker prize. the new £60 000 award is open to writers of all nationalities who write in english or are widely translated. the prize commends an author for their body of work instead of one book. gabriel garcia marquez saul bellow milan kundera and john updike also feature on the 18-strong list of world literary figures. but other past winners of the regular booker prize such as salman rushdie jm coetzee and kazuo ishiguro have failed to make the shortlist. the prize which will be awarded in london in june will be given once every two years. it will reward an author - who must be living - for continued creativity development and overall contribution to fiction on the world stage . an author can only win once. the international award was started in response to criticisms that the booker prize is only open to british and commonwealth authors. margaret atwood (canada) saul bellow (canada) gabriel garcia marquez (colombia) gunter grass (germany) ismail kadare (albania) milan kundera (czech republic) stanislaw lem (poland) doris lessing (uk) ian mcewan (uk) naguib mahfouz (egypt) tomas eloy martinez (argentina) kenzaburo oe (japan) cynthia ozick (us) philip roth (us) muriel spark (uk) antonio tabucchi (italy) john updike (us) abraham b yehoshua (israel),entertainment
320,1219,whitehall cuts ahead of target thousands of civil service jobs have already been cut or moved out of london as part of a major cost-cutting drive. chancellor gordon brown said 12 500 jobs had gone while 7 800 were being moved out of the south east. he plans to axe 104 000 jobs to free up money for education health defence housing and overseas aid. unions oppose the plans but mr brown said £2bn savings had already been made and more jobs had been cut than had been expected at this stage. a further 200 jobs at the department of the environment food and rural affairs have been earmarked to be cut. at the department for work and pensions 30 000 jobs are to go 560 will be lost by the end of the month at the department of trade and industry and 400 are to go at the inland revenue and customs. in his budget statement the chancellor said the first 12 500 civil service jobs had been cut on target. about 4 300 civil servants will leave london and the south east by the end of march 2005 and there are plans to relocate another 3 500. of those 300 department of health posts will go to yorkshire while hundreds at the department of culture will move to birmingham and newcastle. mr brown also announced plans to merge 35 agencies into nine - described by one civil service union as a bonfire of the quangos . mark serwotka the leader of the public and commercial services union said: in last year s budget we had the day of the long knifes as the chancellor kicked off the crude game of who could cut the most civil service jobs between the government and the tories. there was a time when the only worry thousands of hard working civil and public servants had on budget day was whether petrol or taxes would go up nowadays the worry is whether they will have a job by the end of it. he said mr brown had made welcome announcements on closing tax loopholes and extending the new deal while cutting the very people who deliver them. the treasury also announced plans to reduce the number of public sector workers on sick leave with a new system of checks and tougher measures against those suspected of abusing the system.,politics
321,1720,o sullivan commits to dublin race sonia o sullivan will seek to regain her title at the bupa great ireland run on 9 april in dublin. the 35-year-old was beaten into fourth at last year s event having won it a year earlier. i understand she s had a solid winter s training down in australia after recovering from a minor injury said race director matthew turnbull. mark carroll irish record holder at 3km 5km and 10km will make his debut in the mass participation 10km race. carroll has stepped up his form in recent weeks and in late january scored an impressive 3 000m victory over leading american alan webb in boston. carroll will be facing stiff competition from australian craig mottram winner in dublin for the last two years.,sport
322,1015,howard dismisses tory tax fears michael howard has dismissed fears from some conservatives that his plans for £4bn tax cuts are too modest. he defended the package saying it was a plan for the tories first budget and he hoped to be able to go further. the tories on monday highlighted £35bn in wasteful spending they would stop to allow tax cuts reduced borrowing and more spending on key services. labour and the liberal democrats say the party s sums do not add up and claim it would cut frontline services. the tory tax plan follows complaints from some of the party s mps that mr howard and shadow chancellor oliver letwin have taken too long to unveil the proposals. now they have promised a figure but have yet to reveal which taxes would be targeted. tory backbencher edward leigh said the proposals were a step in the right direction but he told the financial times: i would come up sooner with much greater tax cuts. interviewed on bbc radio 2 s jeremy vine show mr howard said: it is perfectly true that i am being attacked on one side by people who think we ought to be promising much much bigger tax cuts and spending cuts. on the other side there are people who say we won t be able to achieve these tax cuts. i think we have got it about right. mr howard said voters faced a clear choice at the next election between more waste and more tax under labour and tory value for money and lower taxes. he added: i would like to be able to do more and over time i am sure we will be able to do more but at the start we have got to recognise there is a limit to what we can do in one go in our first budget. i have got to be responsible about this. the latest tory plans came as campaigning for the election - widely expected in may - gathered pace. the liberal democrats launched their pre-election platform with leader charles kennedy saying his party was the authentic opposition particularly on the iraq war council tax and university tuition fees. lib dem treasury spokesman vince cable also branded the tory plans as fantasy economics . labour hit back at the tory proposals even before their publication with election coordinator alan milburn accusing mr howard of producing a fraudulent prospectus . the party on tuesday challenged the tories to publish the full report from david james the trouble-shooter they asked to identify possible savings. but the tories are in turn demanding that tony blair spell out which taxes he would raise if he wins the election.,politics
323,1459,what the election should really be about a general election is the best chance most pressure groups get to make a real impact on government policy. here is how six leading lobbies plan to make sure their cause is being debated ahead of an expected spring poll. we ve called for the state pension to be increased from £79.60 to the pensioner credit guarantee level of £105.45. that s what we re calling for. many pensioners are disadvantaged by the current system. if we ve got one in five pensioners below the poverty line we ve got to make it more generous or have these people living in poverty. we ve drawn up a pensioners manifesto. this will be sent to each of the candidates in the 659 constituencies. they will be asked which of the top five issues including the pension issue they would support. once we ve got their responses we will publish the results within the constituencies and nationally as well. it s our way of putting the politicians on notice. we are trying to get across the fact that there are 11m voters over 60 in the country they are more likely to vote than other sections of society and thirdly they are true swing voters. before 1997 most pensioners voted conservative. in 1997 and 2001 they voted labour. but there is no guarantee they will vote for a labour government this time around. they cannot take that vote for granted. pensions generally will certainly be a big election issue even though the government has postponed the publication of adair turner s full report into the issue. he said the uk had one of the least generous pensions systems in the developed world. that the government takes seriously the impact of aviation on the environment. we haven t worked out specific plans but i imagine we will lobby political parties and incumbent mps. various local groups will do that in their particular areas and we will provide a national briefing. we don t have any large demonstrations planned but they can t be ruled out. it is hard to say whether we will be successful. we have got the issue in the public consciousness to an extent but it is difficult to say whether an election will raise its importance in the public mind or whether it will be pushed out by big issues like iraq. repealing the hunting bill. we are challenging the use of the parliament act 1949 in a high court action. we are hoping to hear in the new year. whichever way the court rules the other side will appeal so we expect it to fall plumb in electioneering time. when the ban comes into force on 18 february we will be going to the european court because no compensation is being paid. so there s a lot of legal territory to go. we are trying to engage with the ministers by demonstrating and talking. whatever intelligence we get we will try to turn up and speak to whoever it is. (rural affairs minister) alun michael has avoided us and cancelled engagements so that makes it difficult. it is not intimidatory - on the whole it is groups of angry housewives. of course there is an element of shouting because people are angry but there is no violence because that does not achieve anything. it will fall plumb in the run up to the most important general election tony blair will ever face. it s exactly what the prime minister did not want. he wanted the issue off the table until after the election. people using live animals as targets for sport both here and abroad. the reason for including abroad is because of trophy hunting. it is another sort of form of shooting for sport. the principle is the same whether it s a tiger or a pheasant. we will widely publicise what s happening in relation to trophy hunting. we will publicise the darker aspects of the target animal industry the uk. we will seek to get pledges from individual mps and would-be mps saying that they are against the use of animals as targets for sports. we would like the support of political parties but i think a general election is very much to do with pledges mps make to their electors. with hunting we had many mps who were happy to say they were against it. i think
324,633,us woman sues over ink cartridges a us woman is suing hewlett packard (hp) saying its printer ink cartridges are secretly programmed to expire on a certain date. the unnamed woman from georgia says that a chip inside the cartridge tells the printer that it needs re-filling even when it does not. the lawsuit seeks to represent anyone in the us who has purchased an hp inkjet printer since february 2001. hp the world s biggest printer firm declined to comment on the lawsuit. hp ink cartridges use a chip technology to sense when they are low on ink and advise the user to make a change. but the suit claims the chips also shut down the cartridges at a predetermined date regardless of whether they are empty. the smart chip is dually engineered to prematurely register ink depletion and to render a cartridge unusable through the use of a built-in expiration date that is not revealed to the consumer the suit said. the lawsuit is asking for restitution damages and other compensation. the cost of printer cartridges has been a contentious issue in europe for the last 18 months. the price of inkjet printers has come down to as little as £34 but it could cost up to £1 700 in running costs over an 18-month period due to cartridge a study by computeractive magazine revealed last year. the inkjet printer market has been the subject of an investigation by the uk s office of fair trading (oft) which concluded in a 2002 report that retailers and manufacturers needed to make pricing more transparent for consumers.,tech
325,1384,brown comes out shooting labour may have abolished hunting - but that didn t stop chancellor gordon brown using his budget to fire both barrels at some of the opposition parties core election foxes. specifically it saw him attempting to slaughter the council tax as an election issue and to tear limb from limb their wider policies for pensioners and families. in a relatively short speech he kept the best for last and was clearly out to give exactly that pre-election boost everyone had been predicting. so if you are a couple with children a pensioner a patient or a youngster there was something pulled from mr brown s red box in an attempt to persuade you to stick with or switch to a new labour government. like a surgeon he attempted to target his handouts with absolute precision onto exactly the groups the government needs to appeal to in the election campaign. the announcements brought great cheers from his own mps who are now in full-on election mode and had been looking to their man to give them ammunition for the doorsteps. they obviously believed he had done that for them and coincidentally given his own image as a prime minister-in-waiting another little boost. labour mps for example will undoubtedly now engage in a debate over exactly how redistributive - a lovely old labour word - this chancellor really is. but gordon brown is never going to put on a show and even as he was out to cast himself as the man who will win labour an historic third term his demeanour remained quiet confident and reassuring. prudence made an appearance albeit towards the end of his address as he assured voters he would do nothing to mess up the economic stability he had brought to britain and which he claimed would be thrown away by anyone else. according to the opposition parties however it is all one big con trick. as always they accused him of glossing over the facts of the black hole at the centre of his finances which they claim would ensure tax increases after the election. he did it most obviously with his increase in national insurance contributions after the 2001 election campaign during which he had pledged not to increase income tax. as liberal democrat leader charles kennedy claimed for most families the distinction between income tax and a tax on income is meaningless. tory leader michael howard said the chancellor was up to his old trick of deliberately re-casting his forecasts to give the illusion that everything in the treasury larder is as fresh as the day it was first stored away for future use. he branded it a dodgy vote now pay later budget based on dodgy figures from a dodgy government that gave britain the dodgy dossier. where the chancellor mostly avoided direct electioneering mr howard felt no such constraint with attacks like comparing mr brown s forecasts to the prime minister s forecasts on iraq s weapons of mass destruction. as ever there will now be a period of frantic activity by the opposition parties treasury specialists as they pore over the chancellor s red book which sets out the fine detail of his budget in an attempt to spot the flaws. in particular there will be an argument over precisely whose policies on the council tax will offer people the best deal. and in labour circles there will undoubtedly be an argument over just how good a prime minister gordon brown will make at some point after the next election.,politics
326,242,johnson edges out rival sotherton jade johnson edged out rival kelly sotherton with her last effort to claim the aaas long jump title at the norwich union european indoor trials. olympic heptathlon bronze medallist sotherton led the event with her first leap of 6.43m - a personal best. but johnson who has not competed indoors for five years leapt to a life-time best of 6.50m in her last jump after four fouls. both johnson and sotherton passed the european championships qualifying mark. although sotherton s main aim in madrid next month will be the pentathlon where she will take on olympic heptathlon champion carolina kluft. ireland s delivered a shock in the men s 200m as he stormed to his first major title in 21.01 seconds. british favourite chris lambert had to settle for second place while defending champion ireland s paul brizzel took third. there was some consolation for lambert as he set a personal best of 20.94 in the first round - good enough to qualify for europe. two-time aaas champion allyn condon and ian mackie had no such luck as they were disqualified in the heats. there was plenty of hot action in the men s 60m hurdles where scotland s was vying for top spot with olympian andy turner. scott 22 smashed his personal best on the way to the final where he broke it again to win the aaas title in 7.58 seconds. turner finished second in 7.82 after previously setting a personal best on the 7.83 in the semi-finals while damien greaves did not finish the final. the trio of athletes have reached the european qualifying mark this season though one of them is set to miss out on a call-up to the british squad. comfortably defended her 3 000m title clocking eight minutes 49.87 seconds to easily surpass the european qualifying mark. the european cross country bronze medallist is ranked number one in europe this season and will go to madrid with high hopes. helen clitheroe was agonisingly close to the 9:05.00 qualifying mark as she claimed the runners-up spot in a personal best of 9:05.73. in the men s 800m heats qualified fastest in the 800m heats to lay down a challenge to in-form . the welsh runner attacked the last 200m to come through ahead of james thie in one minute 49.87 seconds. mcilroy who is third in the european rankings eased across the finish in 1:50.87 to set up a showdown in sunday s final in sheffield. both watkins and mcilroy have already achieved the european qualifying mark. scotland s susan deacon stole s thunder in the final of the women s 200m. fraser became the fastest british woman over the distance this season when she qualified for the final in 23.68 seconds - though that time is outside the european standard. but deacon claimed her first aaas title over the distance edging fraser into second in 23.67. in the women s shot put veteran claimed her fourth aaas title with a throw of 15.27m. but that mark was not good enough for the 39-year-old to book her place at next month s european indoor championships in madrid. sotherton finished fifth after producing two throws of 13.77m. in the absence of injured british number one carl myerscough claimed the men s shot put title with a throw of 17.64m which was below the qualifying mark. sale s robert mitchell climbed to a season s best of 2.20m - just 3cm short of the european standard - to claim the british indoor high jump title. could only clear 2.16m to finish in fourth but the 27-year-old s disappointment will be tempered as he had already achieved the qualifying mark at a meeting in slovenia on tuesday. there was bad luck for british number one in the pole vault as he failed to clear the bar after deciding to come in at 5.45m. the aaas indoor title went instead to ashley swain who climbed to a season s best of 5.25m and ireland s taniesha scanlon set a new national record of 13.28m in the women s triple jump.,sport
327,1334,cebit opens to mobile music tune cebit the world s largest hi-tech fair has opened its doors in hanover for a look at the latest technologies for homes and businesses. there are more than 6 000 exhibitors registered and about 500 000 visitors are expected to pass through the doors. third generation mobiles the digital home and broadband are key themes at the show. camera phones will get better resolutions as vendors set out to prove that bigger is definitely better. samsung is set to steal some initial limelight with the launch of a 7-megapixel phone on the opening day. the sch-v770 has some of the features of high-end digital single lens reflex cameras such as manual focus and the ability to attach a telephoto or wide-angle lens. camera phones are likely to prove an interesting battle ground at the show said ben wood principal analyst at research firm gartner. it is firmly established that cameras are an integral part of phones and now the technology arms race is on in terms of megapixels. there will be a certain amount of look how big mine is he said. there will also be increasing focus on music-enabled mobiles. at 3gsm in cannes everyone went music mad and music is going to be a big theme for all the vendors at cebit said mr wood. sony ericsson will use the fair to show off the w800 - its recently unveiled walkman branded phone - and there is speculation that motorola may unveil its rokr handset widely tipped as the first to carry apple s itunes music software. apple and motorola announced they were getting together at the end of last year as a result of a long-standing friendship between motorola s chief executive ed zander and steve jobs. some analysts think motorola may save the launch for ctia a wireless show in america the following week which could be a telling sign about how operators are coming to view the german tech fair. one of the interesting things is that cebit is clearly a show in decline said mr wood. a lot of the big players such as nokia are pulling back saying it is hard to justify a big presence at all of the shows. it could be the last big year for cebit he said. other themes include tv-enabled mobiles which are bound to create a buzz in the halls as vodafone unveils a prototype handset that can show live digital television. there has been a glut of recent headlines about mobile tv - french operators are teaming up o2 is trialling a system in oxford uk and nokia begins trialling a system in finland with the finnish broadcasting company yle tv and commercial tv channels. cebit could become the battleground for the two competing methods for getting tv on to mobiles and is also likely to provide a stage for a technology slated to compete with 3g. hsdpa (high speed downlink packet access) has been described as 3g on steroids and could offer consumers much faster download times. for instance a song which currently takes one and a half minutes to download to a phone could be done in 10 seconds. korean giants lg electronics and samsung will show off hsdpa handsets at the show and the technology is set to be rolled out in the us europe and korea next year. broadband will continue to be a key theme at the show with internet telephony proving this year s killer application. germany s largest online service provider t-online is tipped to reveal software for low-cost net telephony which would see it competing with its parent company deutsche telekom. cebit is used by many to unveil cutting edge products and in the mobile sphere this is likely to mean a lot of bright colourful handsets as fashion continues to compete with technology when it comes to the device everyone has in their pockets. rainbow-coloured phones influenced by handsets from japan are just one example of how asian companies will stamp their mark on this year s show at which they will have their biggest ever presence. cebit organisers have created a digital home in hall 25 of the 27 hangar-like buildings that will house the show. the digital home will be a hyped theme at the show. the house
328,1456,lib dems target first-time buyers the liberal democrats have unveiled plans to build 100 000 new affordable homes on publicly owned land. the party s scheme would allow people to buy a share in a home through a mutual home ownership trust as a way of getting onto the housing ladder. the lib dems would also encourage the conversion of existing buildings in an effort to protect greenfield sites. labour has already announced plans to help first-time buyers and the tories would extend right-to-buy schemes. all the major parties are focusing on the issue in the run-up to the election after a survey suggested first-time buyers could not afford a home in 92% of uk towns. the lib dems say their mutual homes would let people buy a share of a property usually worth about 5% of the building costs. party leader charles kennedy said the homes would be affordable because they would be built on surplus public sector land donated by central or local government. people would also only have to pay for the cost of the building and not the land he added. they would spend about 30% of their monthly salary on rent and buying extra shares in the property. when they moved house they would be able to cash in on any rise in property prices by selling their share. it would also allow councils to vary discounts to tenants given the right to buy their council homes so local needs were taken into account. mr kennedy said: mutual homes will offer people the opportunity to build up an equity stake in a home gradually investing only as much as they can afford. there are also plans to prevent high house prices forcing people out of their local communities. the kind of golden share used by the lib dems in south shropshire could be rolled out more widely. under the plan councils secure deals with developers where they keep a 1% share in a property scheme so properties cannot be sold on the open market. instead they are sold at build cost to people who the local council decides have local needs. the party says its help for first-time buyers can be funded at no extra cost to the taxpayer. but the plans involve changing the vat system which the party says often makes it too expensive to renovate existing buildings. the conservatives claimed the plans would amount to an extra tax of up to £11 000 on every new house. this is typical of lib dem hypocrisy said tory shadow local government secretary caroline spelman. they claim that they want to help people on to the property ladder but the small print of their policies reveal how they intend to price even more people out of the housing market. the flagship tory proposal on housing policy is to give a million more housing association tenants the right to buy their homes. labour has said it will allow 300 000 council and housing association tenants to buy a share in their homes. housing minister keith hill said much of the lib dem plans mimicked the government s strategy. however as usual the lib dems proposals are completely uncosted he said. mr hill said he also asked whether the lib dems would match labour s promise to spend £42bn on making refurbishing and repair council homes by 2010.,politics
329,1298,microsoft debuts security tools microsoft is releasing tools that clean up pcs harbouring viruses and spyware. the virus-fighting program will be updated monthly and is a precursor to microsoft releasing dedicated anti-virus software. also being released is a software utility that will help users find and remove any spyware on their home computer. although initially free it is thought that soon microsoft will be charging users for the anti-spyware tool. the anti-spyware tool is available now and the anti-virus utility is expected to be available later this month. microsoft s windows operating system has long been a favourite of people who write computer viruses because it is so ubiquitous and has many loopholes that can be exploited. it has proved such a tempting target that there are now thought to be more than 100 000 viruses and other malicious programs in existence. latest research suggests that new variants of viruses are being cranked out at a rate of up to 200 per week. spyware is surreptitious software that sneaks on to home computers often without users knowledge. in its most benign form it just bombards users with pop-up adverts or hijacks web browser settings. the most malicious forms steal confidential information or log every keystroke that users make. surveys have shown that most pcs are infested with spyware. research by technology firms earthlink and webroot revealed that 90% of windows machine have the malicious software on board and on average each one harbours 28 separate spyware programs. before now microsoft has left the market for pc security software to specialist firms such as symantec mcafee trend micro and many others. it said that its virus cleaning program would not stop machines being infected nor remove the need for other anti-virus programs. on spyware freely available programs such as ad-aware and spybot have become widely used by people keen to keep the latest variants at bay. microsoft s two security tools have emerged as a result of acquisitions the company has made over the last two years. in 2003 it bought romanian firm gecad software to get hold of its anti-virus technology. in december 2004 it bought new york-based anti-spyware firm giant company software. last year microsoft also released the sp2 upgrade for windows xp that closed many security loopholes in the software and made it easier for people to manage their anti-virus and firewall programs.,tech
330,1567,creator of first apple mac dies jef raskin head of the team behind the first macintosh computer has died. mr raskin was one of the first employees at apple and made many of the design decisions that made the mac so distinctive when it was first released. he led the team that decided to use a graphical interface and mouse that let people navigate around the computer by pointing and clicking. the 1984 release of the mac reflected mr raskin s belief that good design should make computers easy to use. mr raskin joined apple in 1978 as employee number 31 initially to lead the company s publications department. however in 1979 he was put in charge of a small team to design a computer that lived up to his idea of a machine that was cheap aimed at consumers rather than computer professionals and was very easy to use. the result was the 1984 macintosh that did away with the then common text-based interface in favour of one based around graphics that resembled a virtual desktop and used folders and documents. users navigated around the machine using a mouse and by pointing clicking and dragging. although now in common use in almost all computers these methods were pioneering when first used in the macintosh. the gui was developed by xerox parc and used in its star machine. but the acceptance of the interface did not truly begin until the concept was developed for use by apple in its pioneering lisa computer. his role on the macintosh was the initiator of the project so it wouldn t be here if it weren t for him said andy hertzfeld an early macintosh team member. although mr raskin drove the team that created the macintosh he did not stay at apple to see it released. in 1981 he was removed from the project following a dispute with apple s mercurial boss steve jobs. in 1982 mr raskin left apple entirely. the macintosh was reputedly named after mr raskin s favourite apple though the name was changed slightly following a trademark dispute with another company. after leaving apple mr raskin founded another company called information appliance and continued to work on better ways to interface with computers. he was also an accomplished musician played three instruments and conducted san francisco s chamber opera society. mr raskin was diagnosed in december 2004 with pancreatic cancer and died on 26 february at his home in california.,tech
331,205,day-lewis set for berlin honour actor daniel day-lewis is to be presented with an award for his career in film at the berlin film festival. the 47-year-old whose credits include his oscar-winning performance in my left foot will be presented with the berlinale camera award on 15 february. the honour awarded since 1986 honours figures in cinema that the festival feels particularly indebted to . man to man a historical epic starring kristin scott thomas opens the german festival on 10 february. a candid documentary about the life and career of singer george michael a different story will also be screened at the 10-day event. day-lewis has competed four times at the berlin film festival with films in the name of the father (1994) the crucible (1997) the boxer (1998) and martin scorsese s gangs of new york (2003). the festival praises him for his sensational start with roles in my beautiful launderette and costume classic a room with a view and a great number of celebrated roles in subsequent productions. japan s oldest film studio will also be honoured along with day-lewis. shochiku film studios which was founded 110 years ago will become the first cinematic institution to receive the berlinale camera award. famous japanese directors including akira hurosawa have had films produced at the studio.,entertainment
332,385,drive to save festive holidays efforts are being made to protect workers days off on christmas day and new year s day. support is being sought for a bill which would ensure that large retailers in scotland remain closed on christmas day and 1 january. the usdaw trade union said shop workers should be able to enjoy a break with their families. msp karen whitefield wants to ensure only those whose roles are essential are at work over the festive season. in recent years more stores have been opening on traditional holidays with some starting their end-of-year sale on christmas day or new year s day. ms whitefield said: i have found members of the public to be very supportive when i have been campaigning on the streets. the early evidence shows quite clearly that the vast majority of people believe that shop workers should be given these two special days to spend with friends and family. usdaw general secretary john hannett added: christmas day and new year s day are special days for everyone in scotland and the fact that shops do not open is an important part of making them special. they are largely collective days of rest. we want people to tell karen through her consultation whether they want the special nature of these days to remain or whether they want them to become like any other trading day with shops open for business as usual. the consultation on a christmas & new year s day trading bill has so far attracted almost 500 responses and closes on 7 february.,politics
333,795,millions buy mp3 players in us one in 10 adult americans - equivalent to 22 million people - owns an mp3 player according to a survey. a study by the pew internet and american life project found that mp3 players are the gadget of choice among affluent young americans. the survey did not interview teenagers but it is likely that millions of under-18s also have mp3 players. the american love affair with digital music players has been made possible as more and more homes get broadband. of the 22 million americans who own mp3 players 59% are men compared to 41% of women. those on high income - judged to be $75 000 (£39 000) or above - are four times more likely to have players than those earning less than $30 000 ( £15 000). broadband access plays a big part in ownership too. almost a quarter of those with broadband at home have players compared to 9% of those who have dial-up access. mp3 players are still the gadget of choice for younger adults. almost one in five us citizens aged under 30 have one. this compares to 14% of those aged 30-39 and 14% of those aged 40-48. the influence of children also plays a part. sixteen percent of parents living with children under 18 have digital players compared to 9% of those who don t. the ease of use and growth of music available on the net are the main factors for the upsurge in ownership the survey found. people are beginning to use them as instruments of social activity - sharing songs and taking part in podcasting - the survey found. ipods and mp3 players are becoming a mainstream technology for consumers said lee rainie director of the pew internet and american life project. more growth in the market is inevitable as new devices become available as new players enter the market and as new social uses for ipods/mp3 players become popular he added.,tech
334,1083,labour battle plan hides blair the tories have accused tony blair of being terrified of scrutiny after labour unveiled details of how it will fight the next general election. in a break with tradition the party will ditch the leader s battle bus and daily press briefings in westminster. instead mr blair will travel to key cities and marginal seats to deliver the party s message. labour election chief alan milburn denied the party was trying to hide the prime minister. he promised the most positive and upbeat election campaign labour has ever run . but tory co-chairman liam fox said labour s plans showed mr blair was terrified of facing proper scrutiny . at a time when the british people are looking for more accountability and openness this government turns its back on them; abandoning plans to tour the country and scared to face journalists in a press conference - it does rather beg the question what have they got to hide the general election is widely expected next may and all the parties are stepping up their campaign preparations. mr milburn said the economy would take centre stage in labour s campaign in what would be a watershed election and the last stand of the thatcherites . mr milburn said labour s slogan would be britain is working - don t let the tories wreck it. the tone of the campaign said mr milburn would be more conversational than rhetorical; more spontaneous less scripted; less national more local and less based on issues and more concentrated on people. the approach is particularly designed to appeal to women voters he said. mr milburn brushed aside questions over why the chancellor was not present at the cabinet meeting to discuss election strategy particularly since such importance was being given to the economy. i m not privy to everybody s diary he said. mr brown has headed labour s preparations for previous polls but mr milburn is taking that role this time. in a break with the past labour will not hold a daily news conference in london. it will not be a battle bus style campaign either he said. in previous elections each party leader has had their own battle bus transporting national newspaper television and radio reporters to staged campaign events around the country. mr milburn said labour s media effort this time would focus more on local newspapers and broadcasters with every local radio station given the chance to interview the prime minister. mr milburn said there would also be a greater effort to set up face-to-face meetings between ministers and the electorate. former downing street media chief alastair campbell is also returning to advise labour on media strategy and campaigning. mr milburn said no decision had been taken yet over whether david blunkett would have a prominent role in the election. liberal democrat chief executive lord rennard suggested labour was avoiding news conferences in london because it wanted less scrutiny of its record and proposals. tony blair seems to have disappeared from labour leaflets and broadcasts he said. in contrast charles kennedy will feature prominently in the liberal democrat campaign right across the country.,politics
335,1953,worldcom trial starts in new york the trial of bernie ebbers former chief executive of bankrupt us phone company worldcom has started in new york with the selection of the jury. mr ebbers 63 is accused of being the mastermind behind an $11bn (£6bn) accounting fraud that eventually saw the firm collapse in july 2002. his indictment includes charges of securities fraud conspiracy and filing false reports with regulators. if found guilty mr ebbers could face a substantial jail sentence. he has firmly declared his innocence. under mr ebbers leadership worldcom emerged from mississippi obscurity to become a $160bn telecoms giant and the darling of late 1990s investors. yet as competition intensified and the telecoms boom petered out worldcom found itself under growing financial stress. when worldcom finally collapsed shareholders lost about $180bn and 20 000 workers lost their jobs. mr ebbers trial which is expected to last two months is the latest in a series of attempts by us prosecutors to pursue senior executives for fraud. it will coincide with the retrial of former tyco international chief dennis kozlowski and his top lieutenant accused of looting the industrial conglomerate to the tune of $600m. trail preparations are also preparing for former executives of shamed us energy firm enron.,business
336,1987,uk set to cut back on embassies nine overseas embassies and high commissions will close in an effort to save money uk foreign secretary jack straw has announced. the bahamas east timor madagascar and swaziland are among the areas affected by the biggest shake-up for the diplomatic service for years. other diplomatic posts are being turned over to local staff. mr straw said the move would save £6m a year to free up cash for priorities such as fighting terrorism. honorary consuls will be appointed in some of the areas affected by the embassy closures. nine consulates or consulates general will also be closed mostly in europe and america. they include dallas in the us bordeaux in france and oporto in portugal with local staff replacing uk representation in another 11. the changes are due to be put in place before the end of 2006 with most savings made from cutting staff and running costs. some of the money will have to be used to fund redundancy payments. in a written statement mr straw said: the savings made will help to underpin higher priority work in line with the foreign and commonwealth office s strategic priorities including counter- proliferation counter-terrorism energy and climate change. some of the savings will also be redeployed to strategic priority work within certain regions where we are closing posts. in africa for instance we plan to create new jobs to cover these issues across the region with a new post in nairobi to help support our work on climate change one in nigeria to cover energy and one in pretoria to cover regional issues more generally as well as covering maseru and mbabane. the foreign office currently has about 6 100 uk-based staff. it has opened major new missions on baghdad and basra in iraq kabul in afghanistan and pyongyang in north korea since 1997 in response to what the government says are changing needs. since 1997 10 overseas posts have been closed - excluding wednesday s cuts - but 18 new embassies or consulates have been opened. the shake-up is aimed at helping making £86m in efficiency savings between 2005 and 2008. the chancellor has demanded all government departments make similar savings. shadow foreign secretary michael ancram said there was a constant need to ensure value for money from foreign missions. but the government must give a far clearer reason for making the dramatic changes it has announced and must show that british commercial interests and the interests of britons abroad will not be adversely affected he said.,politics
337,1748,running around the olympics it was back to official duties last week in my role as an ambassador to london s 2012 olympic bid. but i still managed to do all my marathon training. all the sporting people on the capital s bid team think i m mad to be taking part in the london marathon. the bid chairman lord coe admitted he would never dream of running a marathon even though he was an olympic middle-distance runner. kelly holmes former hurdler alan pascoe and former sprinter frankie fredericks - who is now an ioc member - all wanted to know why anyone would want to run that far. you d have thought all these athletes who have been running for most of their lives wouldn t think it would be that bad. but the only person who was positive about my intentions was tanni grey thompson who has won the london marathon wheelchair race six times. even though it was a very busy week entertaining the international olympic committee s (ioc) evaluation commission i actually found my running schedule easier to follow. when i m at home i get distracted by all sorts of things but for the five days i was in london i was in a pressurised situation but i found it easy to relax by running. on wednesday the presentations to the ioc team did not finish until the early evening so i just managed to squeeze in a 45-minute run. we had an early start on thursday because we had to visit all the olympic sites around london that was pretty shattering but when we got back to the hotel i got back on the treadmill. on friday evening i went along to the special dinner at buckingham palace which was a nice occasion. i never feel guilty about eating especially when i m exercising. and because it was a rest day i didn t have to feel bad about missing my training either. anyway i managed to do another quick run on saturday ahead of the final ioc presentations before heading home for my daughter s birthday. when i was in london i did all of my runs on the treadmill which isn t the same as exercising outdoors. one of the ioc s technical staff from australia ran alongside me one day. we talked about the sydney olympics and that made the time go past more quickly. i do find it quite comfortable running in the gym because there is more cushioning. but when you re gearing up to running on the road you need your body to get used to that jarring feeling when your feet hit the pavement. it was good to get out on the road for my long run on sunday. after the week i d had i was a bit concerned i wouldn t be able to complete it. but i coped with it very well and even though it was bitterly cold i put in 15-and-a-half miles - only another 11 to go then. - this year steve will donate all the proceeds from his london marathon efforts to victims of the tsunami.steve will be writing a regular column on the ups and downs of his marathon training for the bbc sport website.he will be raising money through the steve redgrave trust which supports the association of children s hospices the children with leukaemia charity and the trust s own project which aims to provide inner-city schools with rowing equipment.,sport
338,1869,hollywood to sue net film pirates the us movie industry has launched legal action to sue people who facilitate illegal film downloading. the motion picture association of america wants to stop people using the program bittorrent to swap movies. the industry is targeting people who run websites which provide information and internet links to movies which have been copied or filmed in cinemas. more than 100 server operators have been targeted in the actions launched in the us and uk the mpaa added. the suits were filed against users of the file-sharing programs bittorrent edonkey and directconnect in the united states united kingdom france finland and the netherlands the mpaa said. bittorrent users can download movies by following a link to files which are found on websites called trackers. unlike most peer-to-peer programs bittorrent works by sharing a file which could be anything from a legitimate digital photo to a copied movie among multiple users at the same time. the movie industry hopes that suing the people who run the trackers will cut bittorrent users off from illegal movies at source. last month major film studios started legal action against 200 individuals who were swapping films online. the growth in broadband has made it quicker for people to download movies and the industry fears that if it does not take action now it could suffer the same downturn as the music industry.,tech
339,34,show over for mtv s the osbournes rock star ozzy osbourne has said his family will not make any more episodes of reality tv show the osbournes. at the end of it i didn t like having cameras around the house all the time the black sabbath singer told reporters at the mtv europe awards in rome. his wife sharon who also appears in the popular mtv show based on the osbournes family life agreed. now everybody s doing reality shows. he s done it he s been there he s got to do something else she said. ozzy osbourne said he had had enough of the work involved in making the series. when you watch a 25-minute episode i ve been filming all day he said. sharon osbourne is currently appearing as a judge and mentor in itv1 talent show the x-factor alongside simon cowell and louis walsh. earlier this year she topped a poll of the most important people in rock for her part in guiding the career of husband ozzy and her family. she was the driving force behind the osbournes which ran for three series earning the family a reported $85m (£46m). the renewed popularity for ozzy has seen sales of his merchandise hit the $50m (£27.2m) mark a record for a heavy metal artist. sales of t-shirts accessories and action figures have rocketed since the osbournes hit screens. at its peak the osbournes had a regular audience of eight million with america s tv guide magazine describing the series as a cross between the simpsons and this is spinal tap . osbourne himself was at a loss to explain its popularity: i suppose americans get a kick out of watching a crazy brit family like us make complete fools of ourselves every week.,entertainment
340,604,sir paul rocks super bowl crowds sir paul mccartney wowed fans with a live mini-concert at american football s super bowl - and avoided any janet jackson-style controversies. the 62-year-old sang hey jude and other beatles songs in a 12-minute set at half-time during the game in florida. last year jackson exposed a breast during a dance routine causing outrage among millions of tv viewers and landing the cbs tv network a fine. sir paul however did nothing more racy than remove his jacket as he sang. organisers were widely considered to be playing it safe this year by booking 62-year-old sir paul for his second super bowl show. three years ago he was invited to perform at the first super bowl after the september 11 attacks and performed his specially-written song freedom. this time he started off the show at the alltel stadium in jacksonville florida with the beatles numbers drive my car and get back. he then performed a mellow version of live and let die the james bond theme he recorded with the band wings. finally he closed the show with a rousing version of hey jude. the former beatle resisted any temptation to refer to janet jackson s headline-grabbing performance last year instead keeping banter between songs to a minimum in order to squeeze as much music as he could into his slot. the singer removed his black jacket halfway through the show - but any fans hoping for a second nipple-gate were to be disappointed as he kept his red sweatshirt on underneath. earlier the black eyed peas and alicia keys had provided the night s other high-profile entertainment by performing in a pre-game show. black eyed peas singer fergie was dressed in a tight orange top and purple hotpants but nothing in her performance was likely to upset tv watchdogs. after the controversy last year - which saw cbs fined a record $550 000 (£292 000) by federal regulators - super bowl organisers had turned to producer don mischer to oversee this year s half-time show. his previous production credits included olympic opening and closing ceremonies. the super bowl is watched by an audience of 144.4 million in the us with many of the people watching are said to tune in specifically to see the entertainment put on around the event. michael jackson aerosmith diana ross gloria estefan and phil collins are among the stars who have previously graced the super bowl stage.,entertainment
341,142,us seeks new $280bn smoker ruling the us justice department is to try to overturn a court ruling that threw out its claim for $280bn (£149bn) in damages from tobacco firms. earlier this month a three-judge appeal court panel rejected the claim - filed in 1999 by the administration of bill clinton - in a 2-1 decision. government lawyers said they would ask the full us court of appeals for the district of columbia to hear the case. the court room battle is seen as key in government attempts to fight smoking. it s pretty clear that they ve suffered a severe setback said anthony sebok a professor at brooklyn law school adding that the appeal was what the government would be expected to ask for . prosecutors had argued that tobacco firms lied about the dangers of smoking ignored research that highlighted problems looked to increase addiction by manipulating nicotine levels and targeted the young with their adverts. among the firms accused were altria group rj reynolds tobacco lorillard tobacco liggett group and brown and williamson. prosecutors went after the companies using legislation put in place to fight organised crime and accused the firms of conspiring and running racketeer influenced and corrupt organisations . the tobacco companies denied the charges saying that they never illegally conspired to promote smoking and fool the public. they also said that they have met many of the government s demands laid out in a landmark $206bn settlement hammered out in 1998 with 46 states. a three-judge panel agreed with the companies finding that the case could not be brought under federal anti-racketeering laws. central to the government s case was a meeting in the plaza hotel new york on 15 december 1953. prosecutors contend that executives from the major tobacco firms met and agreed to present a unified strategy denying the harmful effects of smoking. despite denying for decades that smoking could be linked to illness the companies have modified their stances in recent years. altria s philip morris now accepts that nicotine is harmful and the company s main lawyer william ohlemeyer told the bbc last year that earlier statements may have been wrong but they were not dishonest. government lawyers have until 21 march to file their appeal.,business
342,1832,agassi fear for melbourne andre agassi s involvement in the australian open was put in doubt after he pulled out of the kooyong classic with a hip injury. agassi was serving at 5-6 down in the first set to fellow american andy roddick when he decided to bring a premature end to the match. my hip was cramping and i just could not continue said the 34-year-old. agassi who has won the australian open four times will have an mri scan to discover the extent of the damage. he said the problem was not the same as the hip injury which forced him to miss wimbledon last year. the good news is that it didn t just tear it was tightening up and that can be your body protecting itself which is hopefully more of the issue he added. that wasn t comfortable out there at all what i was feeling. i have to wait and see what i m dealing with - it s a pretty scary feeling out there when something doesn t feel right and is getting worse. it s very disappointing and i ll have to do my best to deal with it. time will shortly tell if it (the australian open) is a possibility or not. i was not counting on this being the end of the day for me. maybe in a few days i ll have a much better sense of what my hopes will be.,sport
343,1865,latest opera browser gets vocal net browser opera 8.0 due for official release at the end of next month will be the most accessible browser on the market according to its authors. the latest version of the net browser can be controlled by voice command and will read pages aloud. the voice features based on ibm technology are currently only available in the windows version. opera can also magnify text by up to 10 times and users can create style sheets its developers say. this will enable them to view pages with colours and fonts that they prefer. but the browser does not yet work well with screen reader software often used by blind people so its accessibility features are more likely to appeal to those with some residual vision. our mission was always to provide the best internet experience for everyone said opera spokeswoman berit hanson. so we would obviously not want to exclude disabled computer users. another feature likely to appeal to people with low vision is the ability to make pages fit to the screen width which eliminates the need for horizontal scrolling. the company points out that this will also appeal to anyone using opera with a handheld device. the company says that features like voice activation are not solely aimed at visually impaired people. our idea was to take a first step in making human-computer interaction more natural said ms hanson. people are not always in a situation where they can access a keyboard so this makes the web a more hands-free experience. unlike commercially available voice recognition software opera does not have to be trained to recognise an individual voice. around 50 voice commands are available and users will have to wear a headset which incorporates a microphone. the voice recognition function is currently only available in english. opera is free to download but a paid-for version comes without an ad banner in the top right hand corner and with extra support. opera began life as a research project - a spin-off from norwegian telecoms company telenor. its browser is used by an estimated 10 million people on a variety of operating systems and a number of different platforms.,tech
344,862,long life promised for laptop pcs scientists are working on ways to ensure laptops can stay powered for an entire working day. building batteries from new chemical mixes could boost power significantly say industry experts. the changes include everything from the way chips for laptops are made to tricks that reduce the power consumption of displays. ever since laptops appeared the amount of time they last between recharges has been a frustration for users. a survey carried out in 2000 by forrester research found that the shortness of battery life was the most complained about feature of laptops. the focus back then was more on performance and features said mike trainor chief mobile technology evangelist for chip giant intel. for most of the 90s battery life was stuck on two to 2.5 hours. but now he said laptops can last much longer. it was not just a case of improving battery life by squeezing more out of the lithium ion power packs he explained. other changes are needed to get to the holy grail of a laptop running for about eight hours before needing a recharge. lithium ion is never going to get there by itself he said. the industry has done a great job of wringing all possible energy storage out of that technology that they can. some new battery chemistries promise to cram more power into the same space said mr trainor though work still needed to be done to get them successfully from the lab to manufacturing. he was sceptical that fuel cells would develop quick enough to take over from solid batteries even though they have the potential to produce several times more energy than lithium ion power packs. in fuel cells you need to have pumps and separators and evaporation chambers he said. it s a mini energy plant that needs to be shrunk and shrunk and shrunk. intel has been working with component makers to test energy consumption on all the parts inside a laptop and find ways to make them less power hungry. this work has led to the creation of the mobile pc extended battery life (ebl) working group that shares information about building notebooks that are more parsimonious with power. some of the improvements in power use come simply because components on chips are shrinking said mr trainor. intel has also changed the way it creates transistors on silicon to reduce the power they need. on a larger scale said mr trainor improvements in the way that voltage regulators are made can reduce the amount of power lost as heat and make a notebook more energy efficient. also said mr trainor research is being done on ways to cut energy consumption on displays - currently the biggest power guzzler on a laptop. many laptop makers have committed to creating 14 and 15 inch screens that draw only three watts of power. this is far below the power consumption levels of screens in current notebooks. if we can get close to eight hours that s a place that people see as extraordinarily valuable that s what the industry has to deliver mr trainor said.,tech
345,1191,veteran comic cyril fletcher dies veteran comedian and broadcaster cyril fletcher has died aged 91 at his home in guernsey. fletcher will be remembered for his odd odes and amusing misprints on tv show that s life in the 1970s and 80s as well as a long variety career. he was also a regular on does the team think a comic version of radio information show the brains trust. that s life host esther rantzen said he was so lovely and a delight to work with. the thing about cyril was that he was to use a slightly old-fashioned phrase an english gentleman she said. he was courteous and understated and he adored gardens particularly creating them for his beautiful wife. he was funny and witty to work with. he was a real friend and i shall miss him. one of the last comedians of old-time variety era fletcher made his first tv appearance in 1937. a year after bbc television began he was seen reciting humorous poems appearing in a revue tele-ho and playing the emperor of morocco in the first televised pantomime dick whittington. he went on to become a regular voice on radio have a string of tv shows in the 1950s and appear in several films including 1947 s nicholas nickleby. he married actress betty astell in 1941 and in the 1950s and 60s they produced pantos and summer shows discovering new stars including harry secombe. in the mid-1990s fletcher said he had made a fabulous living since the age of 22 and had never had a day out of work. he was most recently seen presenting a gardening programme for channel tv. fletcher was described as a consummate professional by his friend and fellow broadcaster michael pointon. it really was a pleasure to work with him - he had met everyone and done everything mr pointon said. he was a whimsical droll fellow but also a very artistic man. as a friend he was very kind and generous. fletcher s daughter jill said her father would be sorely missed. he was greatly loved by the public she said.,entertainment
346,22,halo 2 heralds traffic explosion the growing popularity of online gaming could spell problems for net service firms warns network monitoring company sandvine. it issued the warning following analysis which shows that traffic on the xbox game network increased fourfold on the launch day of halo 2. the 9 november traffic explosion has continued into december said sandvine. service providers now need to make sure that their networks can cope with the increasing demands for bandwidth. as well as being a popular single-player title halo 2 can be connected to microsoft s subscription-based broadband network xbox live. gamers who want to play online can create their own clan or team and take on others to see how well they compare. but the surge in numbers and huge demands for bandwidth should be a wake-up call to the industry which must ensure that their networks can cope with the increases in traffic said sandvine s chief technology officer marc morin. in a bid to cope and ease congestion providers are increasingly making their networks intelligent finding out who is using bandwidth and for what. it could become common to charge people for the amount of bandwidth they use. the explosion in xbox live traffic attributed to halo 2 should be seen as a clarion call he said. isps need to enhance the broadband experience for these high-end users by prioritising or reserving bandwidth for games he added. one of the main factors that spoils online gaming is lag in which there is a noticeable delay between a gamer clicking on a mouse or keyboard and what happens in the online gaming world. gamers tend to migrate toward networks with the lowest lag . analysing traffic will become increasingly important for service providers if they are to hold on to bandwidth-hungry gamers said lindsay schroth an analyst with research firm the yankee group. in the competitive broadband environment operators need to differentiate the way they offer access to services like live-play gaming she said. in countries such as korea which has high levels of fast net connections to homes online gaming is hugely popular.,tech
347,1883,indian oil firm eyes yukos assets india s biggest oil exploration firm oil & natural gas corp (ongc) says it is in talks to buy the former assets of troubled russian crude producer yukos. we are in touch with the concerned russian entities about the yukos assets and other opportunities in russia said ongc chairman subir raha. local press had reported that ongc was looking to buy 15% of yukos former key oil production unit for $2bn (£1bn). yukos is being broken up by russian authorities to pay a massive tax bill. it was forced to sell its key production unit yuganskneftegas (yugansk) last month after being hit with a bill of $27bn in unpaid taxes and fines. state-owned rosneft now owns yugansk and russia has said it will turn the oil producer into a stand-alone firm. indian oil minister mani shankar aiyar discussed ongc s plans during a trip to moscow last year and the topic came up again during russian president vladimir putin s recent visit to new delhi. it would make great sense for us to build on that said mr aiyar. india s oil production has stagnated over recent years and it is having to look abroad to secure future supplies. india imports about 70% of its total oil consumption. at the same time india s economy is booming and the country s thirst for oil is so strong that it has helped pushed up the price of crude worldwide. india produces about 793 000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) little changed since the start of the 1990s according to oil industry analysts douglas-westwood. consumption meanwhile has jumped to 2.4 million bpd compared with 474 000 bpd in 1973. for countries to develop they have to have access to energy said john westwood managing director of oil industry analysts douglas-westwood. india is a dramatically growing economy that must have access to oil . by buying into yugansk ongc would be able to reduce its dependence on gulf states for oil imports mr westwood explained especially as the chances of finding and exploiting resources within india are slim. we forecast that indian production will go into significant decline mr westwood said. by 2020 production may only be at half of today s levels. ongc which is majority-owned by the indian state already has bought petroleum assets in countries including vietnam sudan and russia. the company is a partner with rosneft in the sakhalin-1 oil field off russia s siberian coast. ongc is however not the only firm interested in yugansk. chinese crude company china national petroleum has also been mentioned as a possible investor while on thursday italy refused to rule out an interest. ongc s interest is the latest twist in a saga that has seen one of the world s biggest oil producers brought to its knees. the dispute is partly driven by president putin s clampdown on the political ambitions of ex-yukos boss mikhail khodorkovsky who is currently in jail on charges of fraud and tax evasion. yukos has been battling the russian authorities for more than a year and has filed for bankruptcy protection in the us. analysts have questioned how long it can continue to survive without yugansk. on thursday a us court said it will hear arguments for yukos bankruptcy claim to be thrown out on 16 february. should that happen yukos will have little chance of clawing back its assets analysts said.,business
348,737,o sullivan keeps his powder dry when you are gunning for glory and ultimate success keeping the gunpowder dry is essential. ireland coach eddie o sullivan appears to have done that quite successfully in the run-up to this season s six nations championship. he decreed after the 2003 world cup that players should have a decent conditioning period during the year. that became a reality at the end of last summer with a 10-week period at the start of the this season. it may have annoyed his scottish and in particularly welsh cousins who huffed and puffed at the disrespect apparently shown to the celtic league. we will say nothing of mike ruddock poaching eight of the dragons side that faced leinster on sunday. but like o sullivan he was well within his rights particularly when you are talking about the national side and pride that goes along with it. the irfu has thrown their weight behind o sullivan who must be glad that in the main there is centrally-controlled contracts. bar keith gleeson who is just returning from a broken leg everyone of o sullivan s squad is fit fresh and standing at the oche ready to launch this season s campaign. but i doubt whether o sullivan is going to gloat about the handling of his players. he is not that sort of person. however he may look at the overworked and injury-hit england wales and france squads whose players have been overworked and then pat himself on the back for his foresight. but there is still the question of turning up and transferring that freshness into positive results when the referee signals the start of the game. already ireland are being earmarked as hot favourites in many quarters to go the whole hog this season. a first grand slam since karl mullen s led the team to a clean sweep in 1948. with england and france visiting lansdowne road for the last time before the old darling is pulled down everything looks perfectly placed. but in the days of yore that frightened the life out of any irishman. under the burden of great expectations ireland have crumpled. take the triple crown-winning side of 1985 under mick doyle. they were expected to up the ante further for a grand slam only the second in ireland s history. what happened in 1986 whitewashed. you see ireland in any sport love to be downsized. then they can go out and prove a point to the contrary. it is the nature of the beast. but o sullivan s side are very capable of proving a salient point this season. after their first triple crown for 19 years they can live up to their success and take a further step up the ladder. o sullivan has kept faith and displayed loyalty to his players and they have repaid him in spades ... and there is more to come. he has some old dogs in his squad but he will come to this season s championship with a different box of tricks and a new verve to succeed. ireland can indeed succeed but just whisper it.,sport
349,1262,dvd review: i robot only one man recognises that robots are a threat to humanity - but that s fine because it only takes one man to save the day in the thriller i robot. will smith co-stars alongside more cgi robots than you can count and as a thrill-a-minute kind of action film it s perfectly adequate. you ll have forgotten it all tomorrow but you ll have a fun night with the film and all the extras. there is a one-disc version that has commentaries and a making of but the two-disc adds more. unusually for this kind of film the extras don t solely concentrate on the special effects. they re covered but there s also a general production diary and a post-production feature. remember the national lottery s draw machines arthur and guinevere they were more accurate than this glossy hollywood version of the tale. but as long as you re not expecting a documentary live with it: king arthur is a fun exciting totally shallow experience and looks excellent. clive owen is the brooding king keira knightly rises above her costume and ray winstone gives it all some grit. it s at its best in its battle scenes which are well done and are also the best part of the making of extra. less flashy than a david attenborough show and less detailed than a simon schama one the bbc series british isles nevertheless turned out to be quite engrossing. admit it the fact that this is one of the shows alan titchmarsh left ground force to present did mean that you expected something equally frothy. but titchmarsh turns out to know his subject and the sight of our present-day landscape being peeled back to reveal the past was fascinating. he s now written an accompanying book too.,entertainment
350,1601,savvy searchers fail to spot ads internet search engine users are an odd mix of naive and sophisticated suggests a report into search habits. the report by the us pew research center reveals that 87% of searchers usually find what they were looking for when using a search engine. it also shows that few can spot the difference between paid-for results and organic ones. the report reveals that 84% of net users say they regularly use google ask jeeves msn and yahoo when online. almost 50% of those questioned said they would trust search engines much less if they knew information about who paid for results was being hidden. according to figures gathered by the pew researchers the average users spends about 43 minutes per month carrying out 34 separate searches and looks at 1.9 webpages for each hunt. a significant chunk of net users 36% carry out a search at least weekly and 29% of those asked only look every few weeks. for 44% of those questioned the information they are looking for is critical to what they are doing and is information they simply have to find. search engine users also tend to be very loyal and once they have found a site they feel they can trust tend to stick with it. according to pew research 44% of searchers use just a single search engine 48% use two or three and a small number 7% consult more than three sites. tony macklin spokesman for ask jeeves said the results reflected its own research which showed that people use different search engines because the way the sites gather information means they can provide different results for the same query. despite this liking for search sites half of those questioned said they could get the same information via other routes. a small number 17% said they wouldn t really miss search engines if they did not exist. the remaining 33% said they could not live without search sites. more than two-thirds of those questioned 68% said they thought that the results they were presented with were a fair and unbiased selection of the information on a topic that can be found on the net. alongside the growing sophistication of net users is a lack of awareness about paid-for results that many search engines provide alongside lists of websites found by indexing the web. of those asked 62% were unaware that someone has paid for some of the results they see when they carry out a search. only 18% of all searchers say they can tell which results are paid for and which are not. said the pew report: this finding is ironic since nearly half of all users say they would stop using search engines if they thought engines were not being clear about how they presented paid results. commenting mr macklin said sponsored results must be clearly marked and though they might help with some queries user testing showed that people need to be able to spot the difference.,tech
351,1404,glaxo aims high after profit fall glaxosmithkline saw its profits fall 9% last year to £6.2bn ($11.5bn) but europe s biggest drugmaker says a recovery during 2005 is on the way. cheap copies of its drugs particularly anti-depressants paxil and wellbutrin and a weak dollar had hit profits but global sales were up 1% in 2004. the firm is confident its new drug pipeline will deliver profits despite the failure of an obesity drug. chief executive jean-pierre garnier said it had been a difficult year . in early afternoon trade in london the company share price was down 1% at 1218 pence. mr garnier said the company had absorbed over £1.5bn of lost sales to generics but still managing to grow the business. the continuing success of our key products means we can now look forward to a good performance in 2005 he said. 2005 will also be an important year in terms of research and development pipeline progress. however the firm discontinued development of an experimental treatment for obesity known as 771 after disappointing clinical trial results. glaxo is relying on new treatments for conditions such as cancer diabetes depression hiv/aids and allergies to lift the pace of sales growth after several disappointing years.,business
352,1296,manchester wins labour conference the labour party will hold its 2006 autumn conference in manchester and not blackpool it has been confirmed. the much trailed decision was ratified by labour s ruling national executive committee in a break with the traditional choice of a seaside venue. it will be the first time since 1917 that the party has chosen manchester to host the annual event. blackpool will get the much smaller february spring conference instead in what will be seen as a placatory move. for years the main political parties have rotated between blackpool bournemouth and brighton. and the news the much larger annual conference is not to gather in blackpool will be seen as a blow in the coastal resort. in 1998 the party said it would not return to blackpool but did so in 2002. the following year bournemouth hosted the event before the party signed a two year deal for brighton to host the autumn conference. colin asplin blackpool hotel association said: we have tried very hard to make sure they come back to blackpool. obviously we have failed in that. i just hope manchester can handle the crowds. it amazes me that the labour party which is a working class party doesn t want to come to the main working class resort in the country. the exact cost to blackpool in terms of lost revenue for hotel accommodation is not yet known but it is thought that block bookings will be taken at the major manchester hotels after the official announcement.,politics
353,2163,who do you think you are the real danger is not what happens to your data as it crosses the net argues analyst bill thompson. it is what happens when it arrives at the other end. the financial services authority has warned banks and other financial institutions that members of criminal gangs may be applying for jobs which give them access to confidential customer data. the fear is not that they will steal money from our bank accounts but that they will instead steal something far more valuable in our digital society - our identities. armed with the personal details that a bank holds plus a fake letter or two it is apparently easy to get a loan open a bank account with an overdraft or get a credit card in someone else s name. and it is then a simple matter to move the money into another account and leave the unwitting victim to sort out the mess when statements and demands for payment start arriving. identity theft is an increasingly significant economic crime and we are all becoming more aware of the dangers of leaving bills receipts and bank statements unshredded in our rubbish. but however careful you may be if the organisations you trust with your personal data bank accounts and credit cards are not able to look after their databases properly then you are in trouble. it is surprising that it has taken the gangs so long to realise that a well-placed insider is by far the simplest way to break the security of a computer system. in fact i suspect that the fsa is probably very late to this particular party and that this sort of thing has been going on for rather a long time. has anyone checked bob cratchit s family links to the criminal underworld i wonder and it is hardly likely to be only banks that are being targeted. health authorities government agencies and of course the big e-commerce sites like amazon must also offer rich pickings for the fraudsters. the good news is that better auditing is likely to catch out those who access account details that they are not supposed to. and as we all become aware of the danger of identity theft and look more carefully for unexpected transactions on our statements banks should have good enough records and logs to trace the people who might have accessed the account details. fortunately there are now ways to keep bank systems more secure from the sort of data theft that involves taking a portable hard drive or flash memory card into the office plugging it into a usb slot and sucking down customer files. companies like securewave for example can restrict the use of usb ports just to authorised devices or even to an individual s personal memory card. these solutions are not perfect but it does not feel like a wave of fraud is about to wash away the entire financial system. however the warning does highlight one of the major issues with e-commerce and online trading - the security or otherwise of the servers and other systems that make up the back office . it has been clear for years that the real danger in paying for goods online with a credit card is not that the number will be intercepted in transit but that the shop you are dealing with will be hacked. in fact i do not know of a single case where an e-mail containing payment details has led to card fraud. there are simply too many e-mails passing over the net for interception to be a sensible tool for anyone out to commit fraud. cd universe powergen and many other companies have left their databases open and suffered the consequences. and just last week the online bank cahoot admitted that its customer account details could be read by anyone who could guess a login name. whether it is external hackers breaking in because of poor system security or internal staff abusing the access they get as part of their job the issue is the same: how do we make sure that our personal data is not abused any organisation that processes personal data is of course bound by the data protection act and must take proper care of it. unauthorised disclosure is not allowed but the penalties are small and the pro
354,1168,movie body targets children s pcs the body that represents the us movie industry has released its latest tool in its campaign to clamp down on movie file-sharing aimed at parents. the movie association for america s (mpaa) free parent file scan software lets parents check their children s computers for peer-to-peer programs. it will also list all movie and music files they have on their hard drive. parents then have the choice to remove programs and files. the mpaa said files found would not be passed on to it. our ultimate goal is to help consumers locate the resources and information they need to make appropriate decisions about using and trading illegal files said dan glickman mpaa chief. many parents are concerned about what their children have downloaded and where they ve downloaded it from. but some computer users who had tested the latest software reported on some technology sites that the program had identified windows default wav files as copyrighted material and wanted to delete them. movie piracy cost the industry £3.7bn ($7bn) in 2003 according to analysts. the mpaa said in a statement that it would continue to provide easy access to similar tools in the coming months to combat the deleterious effects of peer-to-peer software including such common problems as viruses trojan horses and identity theft . mr glickman said that the film industry was embracing digital age technologies like movielink and cinemanow which are legal movie sites. but legal services such as these need a chance to grow and thrive without having to compete against illegitimate operations that depend on stolen property to survive he added. the industry body also said it had launched a second round of legal action against online movie-swappers across the us but did not say how many were being sued. its first set of lawsuits were filed in november 2004. it also started a campaign against operators of bittorrent edonkey and directconnect peer-to-peer networks. the first convictions for peer-to-peer piracy were handed out in the us in january. william trowbridge and michael chicoine pleaded guilty to charges that they infringed copyright by illegally sharing music movies and software.,tech
355,438,whitehall shredding increasing - tories civil servants have drastically stepped up the shredding of official documents figures compiled by the tories suggest. some government departments had doubled the number of documents being shredded ahead of the freedom of information act s implementation on 1 january. departments for defence environment and trade which had all increased file destruction said they were following rules governing public records. but the tories want the information commissioner to investigate. the freedom of information act will for the first time give members of the public access to government records previously kept secret for 30 years. but bbc political correspondent james hardy said the prospect of outsiders poking their noses into the inner workings of whitehall appeared to be causing jitters among the mandarins. liberal democrat alan beith - who chairs the select committee which monitors the department of constitutional affairs - said if the claims were true whitehall was acting entirely against the spirit of the new act . both the information commissioner and the select committee will have to keep this issue under very close scrutiny. fellow lib dem norman baker said the episode painted an unflattering picture of the inner workings of government . it is clear that the government s initial enthusiasm for open government has turned to self-serving cynicism. dr julian lewis the conservative spokesman for the cabinet office said he had discovered a huge acceleration in shredding from a series of parliamentary answers. the department of work and pensions destroyed nearly 37 000 files last year - up 22 000 on four years ago when the act was passed. the number of files destroyed by the ministry of defence and the departments of environment food and rural affairs and trade and industry has also risen dramatically. dr lewis has called for an investigation by the information commissioner richard thomas. earlier this week mr thomas said he was looking into cabinet office orders telling staff to delete e-mails more than three months old. he said he totally condemned the deletion of e-mails to prevent their disclosure under freedom of information laws coming into force on 1 january. government guidance said e-mails should only be deleted if they served no current purpose mr thomas said. a cabinet office spokeswoman said the move was not about the new laws or the destruction of important records . the freedom of information act will cover england wales and northern ireland from next year. similar measures are being brought in at the same time in scotland. it provides the public with a right of access to information held by about 100 000 public bodies subject to various exemptions.,politics
356,1888,last chance warning for voters people in england scotland and wales must have registered by 1700 gmt to be able to vote in the general election if it is held as expected on 5 may. those who filled in forms last autumn should already be on the register - but those who have moved house or were on holiday may have been left off. there will also be elections for local councils and mayors in parts of england on 5 may. the deadline for voters to register in northern ireland expired on thursday. completed registration forms can be handed into local authorities throughout the day on friday and some will accept them by fax. as well as for english county councils polls for unitary authorities at bristol isle of wight and stockton-on-tees and mayors at doncaster hartlepool north tyneside and stoke-on-trent are also scheduled for 5 may. last week preston city council reported that more than 14 000 of its voters were not registered. its electoral roll fell by 17.5% in a year - the biggest dip in the uk. an electoral commission spokeswoman said: political decisions are made on your behalf every day but only by using your right to vote at an election can you really have a say on the issues you care about. if you want your voice to be heard on 5 may you will need to have registered by friday 11 march. council tax payers are not eligible to vote without registration officials have stressed.,politics
357,694,lewis-francis turns to christie mark lewis-francis has stepped up his preparations for the new season by taking advice from british sprint icon linford christie. the 22-year-old is set to compete at sheffield this weekend and will then take on maurice greene and kim collins in birmingham on 18 february. training in wales and getting advice from linford christie is broadening my mind said lewis-francis. the sprinter has also shed weight since winning relay gold at the athens games. last year i was 91kg now i am 86.9kg - hopefully my times will come down he said. this has been brought about by eating the right foods and cutting out the snacks. it is just discipline and being more focused about what i am doing. i am still keeping up my weights work and i can see the improvement in my running. despite playing his part in britain s successful 4x100m relay team lewis-francis still feels the frustration of missing out on the individual 100m final at the 2004 olympics. that was heartbreaking but i had made it to the semi-final and for me on a personal level that was an achievement. i just have to be patient and build up for the next olympics. that is my goal and whatever i do between now and then will be geared to making the final.,sport
358,1663,delta cuts fares in survival plan delta air lines is cutting domestic fares by as much as 50% as part of a plan to ensure its financial survival. other us carriers including united have sought bankruptcy protection amid high fuel costs and competition from discount carriers. delta is restructuring in a bid to fight off insolvency. this latest move to boost business has prompted speculation other firms will be forced to match their fares hurting revenues in the sector. delta s new simplifares were trialled from august last year on tickets from cincinnati its second-largest hub. the airline says no one-way economy fare will now be priced higher than $499 (£264) and no first-class fare will be priced higher than $599. it is also eliminating a saturday-night stay requirement on discount fares and will give further reductions to customers opting for non-refundable tickets booking in advance and online. delta which lost $646m in the three months to september was forced to cut 6 900 jobs worldwide as part of its aim to slash $5bn from its costs. in october it reached a crucial agreement with pilots on pay and conditions and it has also issued new shares to staff in return for wage cuts. airline shares closed lower on the announcement with delta continental and american airlines all falling by more than 7%. we believe the whole airline industry will now have to move in this direction; this will likely hurt revenue in the short run but could be beneficial in the long run said analyst ray neidl at calyon securities.,business
359,861,new year s texting breaks record a mobile phone was as essential to the recent new year s festivities as a party mood and auld lang syne if the number of text messages sent is anything to go by. between midnight on 31 december and midnight on 1 january 133m text messages were sent in the uk. it is the highest ever daily total recorded by the mobile data association (mda). it represents an increase of 20% on last year s figures. wishing a happy new year to friends and family via text message has become a staple ingredient of the year s largest party. while texting has not quite overtaken the old-fashioned phone call it is heading that way said mike short chairman of the mda. in the case of a new years eve party texting is useful if you are unable to speak or hear because of a noisy background he said. there were also lots of messages sent internationally where different time zones made traditional calls unfeasible he said. the british love affair with texting shows no signs of abating and the annual total for 2004 is set to exceed 25bn according to mda. the mda predicts that 2005 could see more than 30bn text messages sent in the uk. we thought texting might slow down as mms took off but we have seen no sign of that said mr short. more and more firms are seeing the value in mobile marketing. restaurants are using text messages to tell customers about special offers and promotions. anyone in need of a bit of january cheer now the party season is over can use a service set up by jongleurs comedy club which will text them a joke a day. for those still wanting to drink and be merry as the long days of winter draw in the good pub guide offers a service giving the location and address of their nearest recommended pub. users need to text the word goodpub to 85130. if they want to turn the evening into a pub crawl they simply text the word next. and for those still standing at the end of the night a taxi service in london is available via text which will locate the nearest available black cab.,tech
360,704,owen set for skipper role wales number eight michael owen says replacing gareth thomas as wales captain will be straightforward because of the leadership quality in the squad. you dream about playing for wales but it never enters your head that you will one day captain your country he said. it s an easy job really because there are so many experienced players in the side but it will be a massive honour. coach mike ruddock says the 24-year-old should take the armband from broken thumb victim thomas against scotland. ruddock praised owen s contribution as vice-captain and pack leader in this year s wins over england italy and france notably his role in the second-half in paris following thomas injury. the 22-cap dragons man says that thomas will be badly missed though. gareth is going to be a massive loss because he is a brilliant player and he has done a fantastic job since he has been captain said owen. he has put his own unique stamp on things. we are going to miss him but the strength of the squad is shown when you have someone like kevin morgan to step in. owen admitted the grand slam had been mentioned within the squad but that no-one was getting carried away with the three victories over england italy and france. we can t get ahead of ourselves he said. we have a massive game next up and we are just looking forward to preparing for that. scotland are improving all the time. like us they did well in france and were unlucky not to get a win. against ireland they played fantastically well in the first 15 minutes before falling away. they are probably going on a similar journey to the one we have been on in the last couple of years.,sport
361,1010,cardinal criticises iraq war cost billions of pounds spent on conflict in iraq and in the middle east should have been used to reduce poverty cardinal cormac murphy-o connor has said. the head of the catholic church in england and wales made the comments on bbc radio 4 and will re-iterate his stance in his christmas midnight mass. the cardinal used a christmas message to denounce the war in iraq as a terrible waste of money. he and the archbishop of canterbury have both spoken out about the war. speaking on bbc radio 4 s thought for the day slot he criticised the fact that billions have been spent on war instead of being used to bring people out of dire poverty and malnourishment and disease . the cardinal said 2005 should be the year for campaigning to make history poverty . he added: if the governments of the rich countries were as ready to devote to peace the resources they are willing to commit to war that would be to see with new eyes and speak with a new voice and perhaps then others would listen to us with new ears. the cardinal will touch on this theme again on friday night when he will tell the congregation of 2 000 at westminster cathedral that peace is worth always striving for . how is it that peace has not arrived the cardinal will ask. how is it that there is war in iraq violence in the holy land and the horror of pain and death amongst the poor and deprived who suffer from injustice and thus do not find peace how can one wish a happy christmas for our fellow christians in iraq or in the holy land or those who suffer in africa unless you and i in whatever way is open to us say and do what makes for peace both the cardinal and archbishop of canterbury dr rowan williams appealed for the weapons inspectors to be given more time in iraq before the war started. dr williams has since criticised the government over its case for war saying the failure to find weapons of mass destruction had damaged faith in the political system. on friday the cardinal will ask the congregation to search for peace. it is possible it is real it is worth always striving for because of the promise of our saviour he will say. i also wish you peace in your homes because peace in your home is the beginning of peace in the homes of the community. a spokesman said downing street had no comment to make. but prime minister tony blair has said he will put africa at the top of the agenda when britain chairs the g8 summit next year.,politics
362,2039,kennedy questions trust of blair lib dem leader charles kennedy has said voters now have a fundamental lack of trust of tony blair as prime minister. he said backing his party was not a wasted vote adding that with the lib dems what you see is what you get . he made his comments at the start of a day of appearances on channel five in a session on the wright stuff programme. questions from callers a studio audience and the show s presenter covered lib dem tax plans anti-terror laws and immigration. mr kennedy said during his nearly 22 years in parliament he had seen prime ministers and party leaders come and go and knew the pitfalls of british politics. 1983 was when i was first elected as an mp - so tony blair michael howard and myself were all class of 83 - and over that nearly quarter of a century the world has changed out of recognition he said. we don t actually hear the argument any longer: lib dems good people reasonable ideas but only if we thought they could win around here - it s a wasted vote . you don t hear that because the evidence of people s senses demonstrates that it isn t a wasted vote. but he said mr blair had lost the trust of the british people. there is a fundamental lack of trust in tony blair as prime minister and in his government he said. what we ve got to do as a party - what i ve got to do as a leader of this party - is to convey to people that what you see is what you get. mr kennedy also used his tv appearance to defend his party s plans to increase income tax to 50% for those earning more than £100 000 saying it would apply to just 1% of the population. he said the extra revenue would allow his party to get rid of tuition and top-up fees introduce free personal care for the elderly and replace the council tax with a local income tax. mr blair has already spent a day with five and michael howard is booked for a similar session.,politics
363,854,uk economy ends year with spurt the uk economy grew by an estimated 3.1% in 2004 after accelerating in the last quarter of the year says the office for national statistics (ons). the figure is in line with treasury and bank of england forecasts. the ons says gross domestic product (gdp) rose by a strong 0.7% in the three months to 31 december compared with 0.5% in the previous quarter. the rise came despite a further decline in production output and the worst christmas for retailers in decades. the annual figure marked out the best year since 2000 and was also well ahead of the 2.2% recorded in 2003. growth in the final three months of 2004 marked the 50th consecutive quarter of expansion. on the basis of the latest information the uk has entered 2005 on course to continue its record period of growth said paul boateng chief secretary to the treasury in a statement. the ons said the services sector which accounts for nearly three-quarters of the uk economy grew 1.0% in the quarter. the strong services figure was welcomed by analysts given lacklustre retail sales in december and across the christmas holiday period. the fact that other services components are doing so well suggests to me that we are back to trend (growth) and i am not particularly concerned about any further slowdown said ross walker uk economist at rbs financial markets. however output in the production sector contracted 0.5% the second quarterly fall in row and a state of affairs that some economists classify as a recession. however the ons would not comment on the definition of a recession and whether the manufacturing recovery was over. but steve radley chief economist at the manufacturers organisation eef said: these figures remain at odds with what is actually happening on the ground. whilst companies may be experiencing tougher conditions this year recession is not a word that manufacturers would currently recognise. the ons said a sharp fall in mining and quarrying which was driven by oil and gas extraction was primarily responsible for the overall contraction in manufacturing production figures. simon rubinsohn chief economist at gerrard said: this outturn (of 0.7%) was well ahead of the market expectations and cast doubt on the scare stories doing the rounds surrounding the current state of the uk economy. and he said the gdp figures may help to push interest rate expectations a little higher along the curve . the suggestion from the money markets is that the next move is now more likely to be in an upward rather than a downward direction. this is consistent with our own thinking said mr rubinsohn. the bank of england s nine-strong rate-setting committee voted unanimously earlier this month to keep interest rates steady at 4.75% minutes of the meeting showed on wednesday.,business
364,1562,yahoo celebrates a decade online yahoo one of the net s most iconic companies is celebrating its 10th anniversary this week. the web portal has undergone remarkable change since it was set up by stanford university students david filo and jerry yang in a campus trailer. the students wanted a way of keeping track of their web-based interests. the categories lists they devised soon became popular to hundreds of people and the two saw business potential in their idea. originally dubbed jerry s guide to the world wide web the firm adopted the moniker yahoo because the founders liked the dictionary definition of a yahoo as a rude unsophisticated uncouth person. the term was popularised by the 18th century satirist jonathan swift in his classic novel gulliver s travels. we were certainly not sophisticated or civilised mr yang told reporters ahead of the anniversary which will be officially recognised on 2 march. they did have business brains however and in april 1995 persuaded venture capitalists sequoia capital which also invested in apple computer and cisco systems to fund yahoo to the tune of $2m (£1.04m). a second round of funding followed in the autumn and the company floated in april 1996 with less than 50 employees. now the firm employs 7 600 workers and insists its dot com culture of work hard play hard still remains. it is one of just a handful of survivors of the dot-com crash although it now faces intense rivalry from firms such as google msn and aol. jerry yang who remains the firm s chief yahoo is proud of what the company has achieved. in just one decade the internet has changed the way consumers do just about everything - and it s been a remarkable and wonderful experience he said. through it all we wanted to build products that satisfied our users wants and needs but it s even more than that - it s to help every one of us to discover get more done share and interact.,tech
365,1422,roddick splits from coach gilbert andy roddick has ended an 18-month association with coach brad gilbert which yielded the us open title and saw the american become world number one. roddick released a statement through the sfx sports group with the news but did not give a reason for the split. the decision to not re-hire brad gilbert for the 2005 season is based on what i think is best for my game at this time said roddick. any more on this situation s a private matter between coach and player. roddick won 121 of his 147 matches while working with gilbert and said he had enjoyed their time together. he won his first grand slam event at flushing meadows last year and finished 2003 on top of the atp tour rankings. but roddick slipped to second this year behind roger federer who became the first man since 1988 to win three majors in a season. federer who has not had a coach since he split from peter lundgren at the end of last year beat roddick to win the wimbledon title and in two other tournament finals. roddick hired gilbert after deciding to part from coach tarik benhabiles in the wake of his first-round exit at the 2003 french open. he went on to win the us open and four other titles for the year. he has won four events this season. i have enjoyed all of my time with andy gilbert said on his personal website. he has been a great student of the game during the time that we worked together and i am very proud of the results that were achieved. while i believe that there is still a great deal of work to be done andy clearly does not feel that way.,sport
366,874,howard rejects bnp s claim tory leader michael howard has dismissed claims that his immigration policy was moving onto the turf of the british national party (bnp). bnp leader nick griffin told the independent he expected some bnp voters to switch to the tories over the issue. but mr howard said he rejected the idea that the tories and bnp appealed to the same voting instincts. asked if he would welcome bnp voters he told the bbc: i don t want anybody to vote for these extremist parties . he added on bbc radio 4 s today programme: if you want good community relations in this country...then you have to have firm fair immigration controls. the tories have promised an upper limit on the number of people allowed into britain with the slogan: it s not racist to impose limits on immigration . all parties are stepping up campaiging in the run-up to the general election widely expected to be called for 5 may. labour has unveiled its own points system for ensuring migrants who want to work in the uk have skills that are required but have rejected immigration quotas. the liberal democrats have warned both parties against pandering to prejudice . mr griffin told the independent the tories plans were a definite move onto our turf . he said: i quite freely accept that on a nationwide basis the tories will con enough people to make a significant hole in our vote. asked whether he was comfortable with the perception that the conservatives and the bnp appeal to the same voting instincts mr howard told the bbc: i reject that entirely . he said he found bnp s policies abhorrent but he said the uk had to take a different approach to immigration which he said was out of control. the government doesn t want to limit it in any way we do there s a legitimate difference between us there which we can discuss in a calm rational and reasonable way he said. he again rejected newspaper speculation that his own father entered britain illegally.,politics
367,1272,germany nears 1990 jobless level german unemployment rose for the 11th consecutive month in december - making the year s average jobless total the highest since reunification. the seasonally adjusted jobless total rose a higher than expected 17 000 to 4.483 million the bundesbank said. allowing for changes in calculating statistics the average number of people out of work was the highest since 1990 - or a rate of 10.8%. bad weather and a sluggish economy were blamed for the rise. the increase was due primarily to the onstart of winter labour office chief frank-juergen weise said. unadjusted the figures showed unemployment rose 206 900 to 4.64 million - with many sectors such as construction laying off workers amid bad weather. the three years of stagnation in the german economy came to an end in 2004. but the upturn is still not strong enough to boost the labour market mr weise added. news of the rise came as government welfare reforms came into force a move that is expected to see unemployment swell still further in coming months. under the hartz iv changes the previous two tier system of benefits and support for the long term unemployed has been replaced with one flat-rate payout. in turn that means more people will be classified as looking for work driving official figures higher. be prepared for a nasty figure for january 2005 about five million unemployed on a non-seasonally adjusted basis warned hvb group economist andreas rees. but he did add that the numbers should subside throughout the year to remain near 2004 s level of 4.4 million jobless. i don t expect a strong and lasting turnaround until 2006 german economy minister wolfgang clement said. by 2010 however the hartz iv reforms should help cut the average jobless rate to between 3% and 5% he added. europe s biggest economy has been too weak to create work as it struggles to shake off three years of economic stagnation. in recent months companies such as adam opel - the german arm of us carmaker general motors - and retailer karstadtquelle have slashed jobs.,business
368,1405,boothroyd calls for lords speaker betty boothroyd has said the house of lords needs its own speaker and that peers should lead the way on reforming the upper chamber. baroness boothroyd who was the first woman to be commons speaker said she believed tony blair initiated reforms without a clear outcome in mind. now we have to take care of it ourselves and make the best of it she told the bbc s breakfast with frost. in 1999 labour removed all but 92 of the lords 750 hereditary peers. that was billed as the first stage of reform of the institution. the lord chancellor hinted further reforms could be unveiled in the next labour manifesto. i think we need to look very carefully at the relationship between the lords and the commons lord falconer told bbc1 s breakfast with frost. how it interacts with the commons is a very very important issue. we need to address the issue in the manifesto but you will have to wait for when the manifesto comes. the lord chancellor currently has the role of house of lords speaker. he is also head of the judiciary and a member of the cabinet as constitutional affairs secretary. lady boothroyd said she believed it was unacceptable for the lord chancellor to have the role of speaker. i would really like to see a speaker of the house of lords she said. i don t go for the idea of somebody - a lord chancellor - who is head of the judiciary a senior cabinet minister and speaker of the lords. i want somebody there who is going to look after that house and do a job there.,politics
369,2049,blair sees greater bush consensus george w bush will display a more consensual approach to world politics as he begins his second term as us president tony blair has said. the prime minister said mr bush had learned military force was not the only way to fight terrorism. he understood that the best prospect of peaceful co-existence lies in the spread of democracy and human rights mr blair told the guardian newspaper. mr bush was sworn in at a ceremony in washington dc on thursday. echoing the new us secretary of state condoleezza rice the prime minister said there has been a clear evolution of us policy since the war in afghanistan in 2001. mr blair had personally seen the change over time in conversations with mr bush. the president understood that while military and security measures were important there also needed to be a multilateral approach to solving the world s problems. turning to critics fears that the us was poised for further military action mr blair refused to give succour to suggestions it was preparing for strikes against iran. the prime minister conceded that the us had what appears to be a harder position towards the state than europe. but the prime minister pointed out that until now the us had allowed britain france and germany to take the lead in trying to halt the iranian nuclear programme. following claims that us forces had worked inside iran to identify potential targets mr blair was asked if the sas had also been in the country. we never answer questions about special forces but do not take that as indicating an affirmative said mr blair. mr blair said he believed the president was keen to work with other countries while trying to spread democracy and human rights. it is significant in my view that he is coming to europe as his first foreign visit said mr blair. following his inauguration mr bush is due in europe at the end of january.,politics
370,620,virgin radio offers 3g broadcast uk broadcaster virgin radio says it will become the first station in the world to offer radio via 3g mobiles. the radio station in partnership with technology firm sydus will broadcast on selected 2g and high-speed 3g networks. later this year listeners will be able to download software from the virgin website which enables the service. james cridland head of new media at virgin radio said: it places radio at the heart of the 3g revolution. virgin radio will be the first station made available followed by two digital stations virgin radio classic rock and virgin radio groove. mr cridland said: this application will enable anyone anywhere to listen to virgin radio simply with the phone in their pocket. this allows us to tap into a huge new audience and keep radio relevant for a new generation of listeners. saumil nanavati president of sydus said this radio player is what the 3g network was built for giving consumers high-quality and high-data products through a handset in their pocket. virgin says an hour s listening to the station via mobile would involve about 7.2mb of data which could prove expensive for people using pay as you download gprs or 3g services. some networks such as orange charge up to £1 for every one megabyte of data downloaded. virgin says radio via 2g or 3g mobiles is therefore going to appeal to people with unlimited download deals. there are 30 compatible handsets available from major manufacturers including nokia and samsung while virgin said more than 14.9 million consumers across the globe can use the service currently.,tech
371,2022,stern dropped from radio stations controversial dj howard stern has been dropped from four us radio stations because he keeps promoting his move to a network broadcasting on satellite. cidatel broadcasting said stern had transformed his show into a continuous infomercial promoting sirius his new satellite radio employer . stern will join the sirius subscription service which is not governed by us regulators next year. citadel pulled stern s show from stations in new york and pennsylvania. stern had been holiday for two weeks but his show did not return to the four stations as expected on 3 january. citadel said it did not yet know whether it would return to its network. stern announced in october that he was leaving conventional radio where his syndicated show goes out across the us for the relatively restriction-free satellite service. the dj s broadcasts are well known for landing in trouble with regulators for obscene and sexually explicit rantings. stern was dropped by six stations owned by media giant clear channel in 2004 after it had to pay the federal communications commission $1.75m (£950 000) over breaches indecency laws. media giant viacom has also reportedly agreed to the fcc s demands that if stern is issued with another indecency violation then his show must be pulled from all of its stations. viacom has also been hit with record fines of $3.5m (£1.8m) over stern and two other new york djs. but stern continues to be one of the most popular talk show hosts particularly in the 25-54 age category.,entertainment
372,925,india opens skies to competition india will allow domestic commercial airlines to fly long haul international routes a move it hopes will stoke competition and drive down prices. however only state controlled carriers will be able to fly the lucrative gulf routes to countries such as kuwait and saudi arabia for at least three years. jet airways and air sahara are the two companies that will benefit initially. india is looking to develop its airline industry as booming economic growth drives demand for travel. monica chadha bbc delhi reporter said air travel in india had increased by almost 20% from the previous year and was expected to rise even further. infrastructure development is lagging demand however and will have to improve. most international airports in the country are shabby and ill-equipped to handle heavy air traffic ms chada said adding that while the civil aviation minister has promised to modernise and privatise airports little progress has been made. steps have been take to move things forward and the government recently changed legislation that limited foreign investment in domestic airlines. it raised the maximum stake holding allowed to 49% from 40%. local press meanwhile have reported that the us and india will start negotiations about adding more routes in january. jet airways is india s premier private domestic carrier; air sahara is ranked third in the category.,business
373,1573,ebbers aware of worldcom fraud former worldcom boss bernie ebbers was directly involved in the $11bn financial fraud at the firm his closest associate has told a us court. giving evidence in the criminal trial of mr ebbers ex-finance chief scott sullivan implicated his colleague in the accounting scandal at the firm. mr sullivan worldcom s former number two is the government s chief witness in its case against mr ebbers. mr ebbers has denied multiple charges of conspiracy and fraud. senior worldcom executives are accused of orchestrating a huge fraud at the former telecoms company in which they exaggerated revenues and hid the cost of expenses. the firm was forced into bankruptcy the largest in us history. mr sullivan 42 pleaded guilty to fraud last year and agreed to assist the government with its case against mr ebbers. prosecutors have alleged that mr ebbers 63 directed mr sullivan to hide the true state of the company s finances by providing false information to the firm s accountants. mr ebbers has denied all the charges saying he was unaware of the fraud. his lawyers claim that their client was unfamiliar with detailed accounting practices and left that side of the business to mr sullivan. however on monday mr sullivan named mr ebbers as one of five executives who participated in the accounting fraud. he [ebbers] has got a hands-on grasp of financial information mr sullivan told a new york court. on his first day of questioning mr sullivan admitted to falsifying the company s financial statements. we did not disclose these adjustments he said. we did not talk about these adjustments and the information was false. mr sullivan said his former boss knew more about accounting matters than many chief financial officers and described him as detail-oriented . he portrayed mr ebbers a charismatic businessman who built up worldcom from a small regional operator into one of america s largest telecoms firms as obsessed with costs. he would talk about that there were more coffee filters than coffee bags and that means employees are taking coffee home he said. we needed to cut expenses. we needed to cut a lot more than coffee expenses. mr sullivan is at the centre of the government s case against mr ebbers. mr ebbers could face a sentence of 85 years if convicted of all the charges he is facing.,business
374,1187,santini resigns as spurs manager tottenham manager jacques santini has resigned for personal reasons . the former france manager moved to white hart lane this summer but now wants to return to france. santini said: my time at tottenham has been memorable and it is with deep regret that i take my leave. i wish the club and the supporters all the best. private issues in my personal life have arisen which caused my decision. i very much hope that the wonderful fans will respect my decision. he added: i should like to thank (sporting director) frank arnesen and (chairman) daniel levy for their understanding. assistant coach martin jol has been put in temporary charge and will take care of team affairs for saturday s premiership match against charlton. arnesen said the club were sad to see santini go: we are obviously disappointed that jacques is leaving us. we fully respect his decision. i can assure you that the club will act swiftly to minimise the impact of jacques departure. our priority is to ensure that this season s performance remains unaffected by this move. i shall make a further statement on monday clarifying our position. we wish jacques well.,sport
375,1471,bekele sets sights on world mark olympic 10 000m champion kenenisa bekele is determined to add the world indoor two mile record at february s norwich union grand prix in birmingham. the 22-year-old will again be chasing a record held by his compatriot and mentor haile gebrselassie who set the mark at the same meeting in 2003. i am still as hungry to do as much as i can in this sport said bekele. and aiming for the two mile world record in birmingham is the next of those targets. gebrselassie s current record stands at eight minutes 04.69 seconds. and bekele is no stranger to overhauling world marks at the national indoor arena. the ethiopian broke the world indoor 5 000m record on his debut at the meeting last year. compatriots mulugeta wondimu abiyote abate and markos geneti the world indoor bronze medallist over 3000m will race against bekele on 18 february. the meet has already attracted a crop of olympic talent. britain s 800m and 1500m champion kelly holmes is taking part in the 1000m. swedish heptathlon gold medallist carolina kluft will contest the 60m hurdles. while men s 4x100m relay gold medallists jason gardener and mark lewis-francis will go head-to-head in the 60m.,sport
376,504,greek duo cleared in doping case sprinters kostas kenteris and katerina thanou have been cleared of doping offences by an independent tribunal. the duo had been provisionally suspended by the iaaf for allegedly missing three drugs tests including one on the eve of the athens olympics. but the greek athletics federation tribunal has overturned the bans - a decision which the iaaf can now contest at the court of arbitration for sport. the pair s former coach christos tzekos has been banned for four years. kenteris 31 and thanou 30 had been charged with avoiding drug tests in tel aviv chicago and athens and failing to notify anti-doping officials of their whereabouts before the olympics. they withdrew from the olympics after missing a drugs test at the olympic village on 12 august. the pair then spent four days in a hospital claiming they had been injured in a motorcycle crash. it was the international olympic committee s demand that the iaaf investigate the affair that led to the hearing of the greek tribunal. the head of that tribunal kostas panagopoulos said it had not been proven that the athletes refused to take the test in athens. the charge cannot be substantiated he said. in no way was he (kenteris) informed to appear for a doping test. the same goes for thanou. kenteris s lawyer gregory ioannidis said: the decision means mr kenteris has been exonerated of highly damaging and unfounded charges which have been extremely harmful for his career. he has consistently maintained his innocence and this was substantiated by further evidence we were able to submit to the tribunal following its deliberations in january. this evidence shows mr kenteris was never asked to submit to a test by the international olympic committee so he could not possibly have been guilty of deliberately avoiding one. it shows he has no case to answer. mr kenteris should now be given the opportunity he deserves to rebuild his career in the full knowledge that there is no stain on his character. he has suffered greatly throughout this ordeal that has exposed both himself and his family to enormous pressures. but the iaaf said it was very surprised by the verdict. spokesman nick davies said: we note the decision of the greek authorities with interest. our doping review board will now consider the english version of the decision.,sport
377,576,movie body hits peer-to-peer nets the movie industry has struck out at file-sharing networks with another round of lawsuits in the us. the motion picture association of america (mpaa) also said it had succeeded in getting a network called lokitorrent closed down. it is the latest network which uses the peer-to-peer system called bittorrent to be hit by the mpaa. the mpaa began its legal campaign against operators of similar networks across four continents in december. a dallas court agreed that hollywood lawyers would be allowed access to lokitorrent s server records which could let them single out those who were sharing files illegally. in october 2004 the site had provided links to more than 30 000 files. the action came after the operators of lokitorrent agreed a settlement with the mpaa. a stark message has appeared on the site from the mpaa warning you can click but you can t hide . in bittorrent systems server sites do not host the files being shared. they host links called trackers that direct people to others that have it instead. as well as filing an unspecified number of file suits across the us the mpaa said it had given operators that host edonkey servers take down notices. hollywood studios are aggressively clamping down on file-sharers who it says infringe copyright laws by copying films and tv programmes then share the files online. but it is now targeting the operators of bittorrent networks themselves. it has filed 100 lawsuits against operators of bittorrent server sites since december. the strategy of hitting those who run the servers which link to copyrighted material is intended to stunt file-sharers ability to swap content using bittorrent systems. the film industry says the black market for illegally copied videos and dvds already costs them billions every year and it is worried that illegal file-sharing is adding to their losses. in december the legal action claimed its most high-profile victim. the popular suprnova.org website was forced to close and others like phoenix torrent followed soon after.,tech
378,222,world tour for top video gamers two uk gamers are about to embark on a world tour as part of the most lucrative-ever global games tournament. aaron foster and david treacy have won the right to take part in a tournament offering $1m in total prize money. the cash will be handed out over 10 separate competitions in a continent-hopping contest organised by the cyberathlete professional league. as part of their prize the pair will have their travel costs paid to ensure they can get to the different bouts. the cpl world tour kicks off in mid-february and the first leg will be in istanbul. all ten bouts of the tournament will be played throughout 2005 each one in a different country. at each stop $50 000 in prize money will be up for grabs. the tournament champion for each leg of the cpl world tour will walk away with a $15 000 prize. the winner of the grand final will get a prize purse of $150 000 from a total pot of $500 000. winners of each stage of the tour automatically get a place at the next stop. the world tour stops are open to any keen gamer that registers. online registration for the first stop opens this weekend. some pro-players are winning a spot at the tour destinations through qualifying events organised by cpl partners. winners at these qualifiers get seeded higher in the elimination parts of each tournament. mr foster and mr treacy get the chance to attend the world tour as members of the uk s four-kings gaming clan. towards the end of 2004 four-kings staged a series of online painkiller competitions to reveal the uk s top players of the pc game. the best eight players met face-to-face in a special elimination event in late december where mr foster and mr tracey proved their prowess at painkiller. as part of their prize the pair also get a contract with four-kings intel which is one of the uk s few pro-gaming teams. there are a lot of people who take gaming very seriously and support their local or national team with the same passion as any other sport said simon bysshe who filmed the event for four-kings and intel. more than 80 000 people have downloaded the movie of the tournament highlights. professional gaming is here to stay and will only grow in popularity he said.,tech
379,95,amnesty chief laments war failure the lack of public outrage about the war on terror is a powerful indictment of the failure of human rights groups amnesty international s chief has said. in a lecture at the london school of economics irene khan said human rights had been flouted in the name of security since 11 september 2001. she said the human rights movement had to use simpler language both to prevent scepticism and spread a moral message. and it had to fight poverty not just focus on political rights for elites. ms khan highlighted detentions without trial including those at the us camp at guantanamo bay in cuba and the abuse of prisoners as evidence of increasing human rights problems. what s a new challenge is the way in which this age-old debate on security and human rights has been translated into the language of war she said. by using the language of war human rights are being sidelined because we know human rights do not apply in times of war. ms khan said such breaches were infectious and were now seen in almost very major country in the world. the human rights movement faces a crisis of faith in the value of human rights she said. that was accompanied by a crisis of governance where the united nations system did not seem able to hold countries to account. the amnesty secretary-general said a growing gap between the perceived influence of human rights group and what they could actually achieve was fuelling scepticism. public passivity on the war against terror is the single most powerful indictment on the failures of human rights groups she said. ms khan said the movement had failed to mobilise public outrage about what was happening to the human rights system. there needed to be a drive to use simpler language talking about the basic morality of the issues rather than the complexity of legal processes. such efforts could make the issues more relevant to people across the world she said. the human rights groups also had to recognise there were new groups which had to be tackled in new ways as power dripped away from state governments. al-qaeda for example was not going to be impressed by a traditional amnesty letter writing campaign. more also needed to be done to develop a human rights framework for international business corporations. amnesty international members voted in 2001 to extend the organisation s work from political and civil rights to cover social and economic rights too. ms khan said the human rights movement would make itself irrelevant if it turned away from the suffering caused by economic strife. we would be an elitist bunch working for the elites for those who cannot read the newspaper of their choice rather than those who cannot read she said. despite her concerns ms khan dubbed herself a hope-monger saying she was confident the passions of the human rights movement could overcome the new challenges.,politics
380,332,cebit fever takes over hanover thousands of products and tens of thousands of visitors make cebit the place to be for technology lovers. welcome to cebit 2005 was the message from the pilot as we landed the message on flyers at the airport and the message on just about every billboard in town. cebit fever has taken over hanover. hotels have been booked out for months; local people are letting out rooms in their homes to the hoards of exhibitors visitors and journalists. cebit itself is huge the exhibition site could almost be classified as a town in its own right. there are restaurants shops and a bus service between the halls - of which there are 27. there are more than 6 000 companies here showing their latest products. the list of them that i was given when i came in is the size and weight of a phone book. one of the mains themes this year is the digital home and one of the key buzzwords is convergence. the entertainment pc is being billed as the replacement for dvd players stereos telephones and computers - offering a one-box solution wirelessly connected throughout a house. to show them off one display has been modelled as a prototype digital lifestyle home by german magazine computer reseller news. we wanted to show how this fits into a living room or workplace to give people a feeling how it would work in their homes said claudia neulling from the magazine. the house has webcams for security in each room which can be called up on the high definition tv connected to the pc in the living room. that pc provides home entertainment movies or music. it can also be linked to the car parked outside which is kitted out with a processor of its own along with a dvd player and cordless headphones for the kids in the back. convergence for me is about how technology the transfer of data can do things that make it easier and more convenient for me as a consumer said mark brailey director of corporate marketing for intel. the real challenge is to show people it s easier than they think and fun. he firmly believes that entertainment pcs are the future but says they have to get past people s fears of frequent crashes and incompatibilities. that is something microsoft is trying to do too - its stand has computers running windows xp media centre edition 2005 for people to try out. mobile phones do not escape the convergence theme. samsung is showing off its sgh-i300 a handset with a three gigabyte hard drive that can be used to watch compressed video or as an mp3 player. and if you would rather watch live tv than a downloaded movie nec is showing a phone on sale in china which can show analogue tv on its colour screen. i think the most probable application is at somewhere like the train station - if you want to check the status of the soccer game for example said koji umemoto manager of mobile terminals marketing for nec. he admitted that the signal quality is not very good if you are on the move and they do not have plans to launch it in europe at the moment. nokia was happy to demonstrate its 6230i an upgrade to the very popular 6230. it now has a 1.3 megapixel camera and a music player that can handle multiple formats rather than just mp3s. it is also compatible with nokia s new visual radio technology. the handset can receive fm broadcasts and the user can interact with compatible broadcasts using a gprs connection to take part in competitions or get extra information such as the name of the song playing. most companies are reluctant to show prototypes preferring to display products that are already on sale or just about to hit the market. portable media player firm creative showed off a new wireless technology based on magnetic inductance rather than radio - a system some hearing aids use. the benefits over conventional bluetooth are the lack of interference and longer battery life said riccardo de rinaldini creative s european marketing manager. the firm has a prototype headset linked up to a zen micro player. the transmitter on the player creates a pri
381,1895,eu software patent law faces axe the european parliament has thrown out a bill that would have allowed software to be patented. politicians unanimously rejected the bill and now it must go through another round of consultation if it is to have a chance of becoming law. during consultation the software patents bill could be substantially re-drafted or even scrapped. the bill was backed by some hi-tech firms saying they needed protections it offered to make research worthwhile. hugo lueders european director for public policy at comptia an umbrella organization for technology companies said only when intellectual property was adequately protected would european inventors prosper. he said the benefits of the bill had been obscured by special interest groups which muddied debate over the rights and wrongs of software patents. other proponents of the bill said it was a good compromise that avoided the excesses of the american system which allows the patenting of business practices as well as software. but opponents of the bill said that it could stifle innovation be abused by firms keen to protect existing monopolies and could hamper the growth of the open source movement. the proposed law had a troubled passage through the european parliament. its progress was delayed twice when polish meps rejected plans to adopt it. also earlier this month the influential european legal affairs committee (juri) said the law should be re-drafted after it failed to win the support of meps. to become law both the european parliament and a qualified majority of eu states have to approve of the draft wording of the bill. the latest rejection means that now the bill on computer inventions must go back to the eu for re-consideration.,tech
382,2106,profile: david blunkett before he resigned the position of home secretary on wednesday david blunkett had been in charge of a substantial body of government portfolios including race policing and immigration. his responsibilities in running the home office included civil emergencies security terrorism and expenditure. named home secretary after the 2001 general election mr blunkett had seen the focus on his office intensify. the attacks on the world trade center on 11 september 2001 heightened concern for security and immigration in particular. a labour loyalist from a working class background mr blunkett 57 had been unafraid of pushing for tough changes to labour policy. recently the issue of identity cards had provoked controversy with questions raised over cost and invasions of civil liberties. mr blunkett was also at the centre of a humiliating scandal involving the former immigration minister beverly hughes. having received his full backing ms hughes was forced to resign in april over abuses in the visa processing system which she claimed to be unaware of. mr blunkett s own comments on immigration had prompted censure - he told refugees from afghanistan and kosovo to get back home to start rebuilding their countries. and he also urged people from ethnic minorities to develop a sense of belonging in britain telling them to speak english at home. avoiding political correctness is second nature to the former home secretary who spurns a metropolitan elite and airy fairy libertarians and earlier in the year coined the phrase liberati as an amalgam of glitterati and liberal . yet in january of this year he courted further controversy over his seemingly liberal reclassification of cannabis from a grade b to grade c status drug . before the recent furore mr blunkett had always appeared more interested in politics than his personal life. mr blunkett told the daily telegraph in 2001 that he continued to wear his wedding ring in spite of being a divorcee as a useful way of ensuring that people don t casually think i am available . he added: i am not available because i am just getting on with the job. mr blunkett entered parliament for sheffield brightside in 1987 after first contesting the sheffield hallam seat in 1974. he is one of very few blind mps and was the first to reach the front bench and the cabinet. his relaxed performances - with his guide dog by his side - at the despatch box in the labour party s national executive and on the conference platform made it easy to forget his disability. mr blunkett himself described not being able to see as simply an inconvenience . using braille for speeches and briefed by his officials on tape he also has a sharp tongue at times and a pragmatic approach to politics. mr blunkett was schooled in sheffield where he led the city council for seven years before entering the commons. he chaired the labour party nationally and was a unifying force in the 80s and 90s shadowing health and education. in tony blair s first government mr blunkett was put in charge of education and employment where he won big increases in funds for schools while insisting on improved standards of literacy and numeracy. he was prepared to stand up to the teaching unions - which sometimes heckled his speeches - and his policy of charging university students for tuition fees was not popular. in the labour party he has been regarded as a loyal colleague a conciliator who avoids factions and a man whose humour and determination make him widely popular. there have been wry smiles as well. in 1999 his then guide dog lucy threw up in the chamber during the speech of his tory opponent. lucy was replaced by her half-sister sadie a black labrador-curly-coated retriever cross in 2003 after nearly a decade by mr blunkett s side.,politics
383,1181,reliance unit loses anil ambani anil ambani the younger of the two brothers in charge of india s largest private company has resigned from running its petrochemicals subsidiary. the move is likely to be seen as the latest twist in a feud between mr ambani and his brother mukesh. anil 45 has stepped down as director and vice-chairman of indian petrochemicals corporation (ipc). the company was not available for comment. ipc is 46%-owned by reliance industries which in turn is run by mukesh. mukesh has spoken of ownership issues between the two brothers who took over control of the reliance empire following the death of their father in july 2002. reliance s operations have massive reach covering textiles telecommunications petrochemicals petroleum refining and marketing as well as oil and gas exploration insurance and financial services. the brothers spat has hogged headlines in india during recent weeks despite a denial from the family that there was anything wrong. speculation has been rife about what has triggered the stand-off with some observers blaming anil s political ambitions others the heavy investment by mukesh and reliance in a mobile phone venture. shares of ipc dipped on the news in mumbai but recovered to trade almost 6% higher. reliance shares added 1.7% while reliance energy headed by anil jumped 7%.,business
384,776,london hope over chepkemei london marathon organisers are hoping that banned athlete susan chepkemei will still take part in this year s race on 17 april. chepkemei was suspended from all competition until the end of the year by athletics kenya after failing to report to a national training camp. we are watching it closely said london race director david bedford. there is a long way to go before the race and we are hoping the situation will be satisfactorily resolved. the camp in embu was to prepare for the iaaf world cross country championships later this month. chepkemei however took part and finished third in last sunday s world best 10k race in puerto rico. the 29-year-old has finished second to paula radcliffe in the 2002 and 2003 london races as well as in november s new york city marathon.,sport
385,9,wilkinson fit to face edinburgh england captain jonny wilkinson will make his long-awaited return from injury against edinburgh on saturday. wilkinson who has not played since injuring his bicep on 17 october took part in full-contact training with newcastle falcons on wednesday. and the 25-year-old fly-half will start saturday s heineken cup match at murrayfield on the bench. but newcastle director of rugby rob andrew said: he s fine and we hope to get him into the game at some stage. the 25-year-old missed england s autumn internationals after aggravating the haematoma in his upper right arm against saracens. he was subsequently replaced as england captain by full-back jason robinson. sale s charlie hodgson took over the number 10 shirt in the internationals against canada south africa and australia. wilkinson s year has been disrupted by injury as his muscle problem followed eight months on the sidelines with a shoulder injury sustained in the world cup final.,sport
386,808,films on war triumph at sundance a study of the united states at war in the past 50 years has picked up one of the main awards at the 2005 sundance film festival in utah in the us. why we fight scooped the grand jury prize for documentaries at the world s leading independent film festival. british director sean mcallister s the liberace of baghdad - about a pianist in war-torn iraq - won a special prize in the world documentary category. both why we fight and the liberace of baghdad were made for the bbc. why we fight is due to be screened on bbc four in march. the sundance festival was founded by actor robert redford in 1981. this year s festival - which ended on sunday after a 11-day run - has been dominated by the themes of war and politics. in the new world cinema drama category the angolan film the hero triumphed to win the grand jury prize. the film - an angolan/french/portuguese production - tells the story of a veteran of the country s civil war who returns home to face a new battle of survival. twelve films competing in the new world cinema documentary category focused on countries and people under siege. finnish film the three rooms of melancholia looks at the war in chechnya and shake hands with the devil: the journey of romeo dallaire tells the story of a un mission to rwanda during the 1994 genocide. but it was dutch documentary shape of the moon - a study of an extended family in indonesia - which took the top prize. meanwhile french-israeli production wall which looks at israel s controversial security wall separating it from the palestinian territories picked up a world cinema special jury prize for documentaries. in the main drama category forty shades of blue was named winner of the grand jury prize. the film tells the tale of a forbidden tug-of-love between a father his russian immigrant girlfriend and his son. during its 24-year history the sundance film festival has showcased successes such as reservoir dogs the blair witch project and the full monty. last year s festival provided a platform for hits such as open water napoleon dynamite garden state and super-size me. the festival is held in the mountain resort of park city east of salt lake city which sees its population rise from 7 500 to 45 000 during the festival.,entertainment
387,1002,god cut from dark materials film the director and screenwriter of the film adaptation of philip pullman s his dark materials is to remove references to god and the church in the movie. chris weitz director of about a boy said the changes were being made after film studio new line expressed concern. the books tell of a battle against the church and a fight to overthrow god. they have expressed worry about the possibility of perceived anti-religiosity weitz told a his dark materials fans website. pullman s trilogy has been attacked by some christian teachers and by the catholic press as blasphemy. weitz who admitted he would not be many people s first choice to direct the films said he regarded the film adaptation as the most important work of my life . in part because it is one of the few books to have changed my life he told bridgetothestars.net. the award-winning trilogy - northern lights the subtle knife and the amber spyglass - tell the story of oxford school child lyra belacqua. she is drawn into an epic struggle against the church which has been carrying out experiments on children in an attempt to remove original sin. as the books progress the struggle turns into a battle to overthrow the authority a figure who is god-like in the books. weitz who directed american pie and about a boy said new line feared that any anti-religiosity in the film would make the project unviable financially . he said: all my best efforts will be directed towards keeping the film as liberating and iconoclastic an experience as i can. but there may be some modification of terms. weitz said he had visited pullman who had told him that the authority could represent any arbitrary establishment that curtails the freedom of the individual whether it be religious political totalitarian fundamentalist communist what have you . he added: i have no desire to change the nature or intentions of the villains of the piece but they may appear in more subtle guises. there are a number of christian websites which attack the trilogy for their depiction of the church and of god but pullman has denied his books are anti-religious. his agent told the times newspaper that pullman was happy with the adaptation so far. of course new line want to make money but mr weitz is a wonderful director and philip is very supportive. you have to recognise that it is a challenge in the climate of bush s america,entertainment
388,784,injury doubts beset wales squad wales have a clutch of injury worries before wednesday s international friendly against hungary in cardiff. west ham s gavin williams (ankle) looks certain to be out so uncapped wrexham defender stephen roberts is drafted in. defenders danny gabbidon and gareth roberts plus ryan giggs have hamstring concerns while there are also doubts over robbie savage (groin). however manchester united winger giggs is expected to recover in time to earn his 50th cap at the millennium stadium. there were also doubts over gabbidon s fellow cardiff defender rhys weston but the full-back appears to have shrugged off the knock he picked up in the bluebirds 1-0 loss to west ham on sunday. the news leaves wales boss john toshack short in defence for his first game in charge with aston villa s mark delaney injured and james collins with the under-21s. that could clear the way for new faces danny collins and dave partridge to make their wales debuts. coyne (burnley) jones (wolves) roberts (wrexham) collins (sunderland) edwards (wolves) gabbidon (cardiff) page (cardiff) partridge (motherwell) ricketts (swansea) roberts (tranmere) weston (cardiff) davies (tottenham) fletcher (west ham) giggs (man utd) koumas (west brom) robinson (sunderland) savage (blackburn) williams (west ham) bellamy (newcastle) earnshaw (west brom) hartson (celtic).,sport
389,845,why cell will get the hard sell the world is casting its gaze on the cell processor for the first time but what is so important about it and why is it so different the backers of the processor are big names in the computer industry. ibm is one of the largest and most respected chip-makers in the world providing cutting edge technology to large businesses. sony will be using the chip inside its playstation 3 console and its dominance of the games market means that it now has a lot of power to dictate the future of computer and gaming platforms. the technology inside the cell is being heralded as revolutionary from a technical standpoint. traditional computers - whether they are household pcs or playstation 2s - use a single processor to carry out the calculations that run the computer. the cell technology on the other hand uses multiple cell processors linked together to run lots of calculations simultaneously. this gives it processing power an order of magnitude above its competitors. whilst its rivals are working on similar technology it is sony s which is the most advanced. the speed of computer memory has been slowly increasing over the last few years but the memory technology that accompanies the cell is a huge leap in performance. using a technology called xdr created by american firm rambus memory can run up to eight times faster than the current standard being promoted by intel. perhaps more important than any of the technology is the cell s role in the imminent war on living rooms . the big trend predicted for this year is the convergence of computers with home entertainment devices such as dvd players and hi-fis. companies like microsoft and sony believe that there is a lot of money to be made by putting a computer underneath the tv of every household and then offering services such as music and video downloads as well as giving an individual access to all the media they already own in one place. microsoft has already made its first tactical move into this area with its windows media center software which has been adopted by many pc makers. sony had a stab at something similar with the psx - a variation on the playstation - last year in japan although this attempt was generally seen as a failure. both companies believe that increasing the capabilities of games consoles to make them as powerful as pcs will make the technology accessible enough to persuade buyers to give them pride of place on the video rack. sony and ibm want to make sure that the dominance of the pc market enjoyed by microsoft and intel is not allowed to extend to this market. by creating a radically new architecture and using that architecture in a games console that is sure to be a huge seller they hope that the cell processor can become the dominant technology in the living room shutting out their rivals. once they have established themselves under the tv there is no doubt that they hope to use this as a base camp to extend their might into our traditional pcs and instigate a regime change on the desktop. cell is in fact specifically designed to be deployed throughout the house. the links between the multiple processors can also be extended to reach cell processors in entirely different systems. sony hopes to put cells in televisions kitchen appliances and anywhere that could use any sort of computer chip. each cell will be linked to the others creating a vast home network of computing power. resources of the cells across the house can be pooled to provide more power and the links can also be used to enable devices to talk to each other so that you can programme your microwave from your tv for example. this digital home of the future depends on the widespread adoption of the cell processor and there are as with all things a number of reasons it could fail. because the processor is so different it requires programmers to learn a different way of writing software and it may be that the changeover is simply too difficult for them to master. you can also guarantee that microsoft and intel are not go
390,1416,row brewing over peer-to-peer ads music download networks are proving popular not just with an audience of youngsters keen to take advantage of free music but with advertisers equally keen to reach out to a captive audience. the debate over the legitimacy of file-sharing networks rages on as the music industry continues its threats to close the services down for good. meanwhile the millions of downloaders are proving both an advertiser s dream come true and a branding nightmare. paul myers chief executive of wippit - a peer to peer service which provides paid-for music downloads - believes it is time advertisers stopped providing oxygen for companies that support illegal downloading. you may be surprised to know that current advertisers on the most popular peer to peer service edonkey who now steadfastly support copyright theft with real cash money include nat west vodafone o2 first direct ntl and renault he said in an open letter to the british phonographic industry last month. he urged people to follow his lead and dump brands associated with companies such as edonkey. the bpi is equally quick to condemn established brands becoming bedfellows with peer to peer networks. networks like edonkey kazaa and grokster facilitate illegal filesharing. the bpi strongly believes that any reputable company should look carefully at the support they are giving these networks through their advertising revenue it said in a statement. illegal file-sharers steal millions of pounds worth of music through these services. we are sure that the companies advertising on them would not put up with theft on such a scale from their own businesses it said. but the issue is often more complicated for advertisers said mark mulligan a music analyst with jupiter research. this has been a problem for a long time ever since the days of napster he told the bbc news website. the reality is that the millions of downloaders represent a very attractive audience. advertisers probably pay a lot less for putting ads here than on more respected sites and they are reaching the perfect target audience he said. if you put the legality issues aside not to advertise here would mean missing out on a valuable audience he added. meanwhile companies contacted by the bbc news website insist that they were not directly aware of where their ads have been appearing. onetel adverts were spotted on edonkey this week and its response was typical. we have investigated this matter and believe that one of our affiliate partners has placed this advert without our knowledge. it is not our policy to advertise through peer-to-peer networks read a statement from the discount phone firm. it has requested the advert be removed immediately said a spokeswoman. similarly telecommunications firm ntl blames its media buying agency which places adverts with third party networks featuring thousands of sites. since the matter was brought to its attention last month the agency has strict instructions to make sure ads do not appear on such sites a spokesman told the bbc news website. however mr mulligan was not entirely convinced by these explanations. while smaller brands might not necessarily be aware of where the money they allocate to online advertising actually ends this is no excuse for well-known brands he said. i would be surprised if these brands didn t have the know-how to prevent this happening he said. at the moment edonkey is enjoying the benefits of having some very well-known faces advert on its network. many big brands have leveraged the opportunity including perhaps two of the biggest brands in the world - senator john kerry and president george w. bush said chief executive sam yagan. there are some distinct advantages of advertising on such a network he thinks. peer-to-peer clients offer big brands a unique opportunity to engage with their customers where they re most comfortable: at their desks interacting with their favourite digital media he said.,tech
391,1762,campese berates whingeing england former australian wing david campese has told england to stop whingeing in the wake of their defeat to ireland. england coach andy robinson lambasted referee jonathan kaplan for costing them the game after disallowing tries from mark cueto and josh lewsey. but campese told bbc sport: robinson is living up to england s reputation as whingeing poms. stop going on about it as who really cares they re acting like they re the first team to be cheated of a win. england are contemplating a complaint to the international rugby board after potential tries by cueto in the first half and lewsey late on were ruled out without recourse to the video referee. but campese added: scotland could have beaten france in the same way but do you see them whingeing basically things didn t go england s way and in typical fashion they make more of it when they believe they ve lost unfairly. england are second bottom in the six nations table following defeats by wales france and ireland. but although campese admitted he was surprised about their current predicament he insisted england were no longer world class . england are beginning to realise that being world champions doesn t mean you deserve to win every game he said. they lost a few key players and suddenly everyone s realised the ones on the fringes were not all that good in the first place. added to that the senior players aren t standing up and they can t do anything when the pressure mounts. campese a veteran of 101 international caps said full-back jason robinson would now be the sole englishman in his world xv. robinson has been blamed for poor leadership in the tournament while his coach has been castigated for appointing a full-back captain. i agree that you can t captain from full-back said campese. you need someone in the thick of the action and it s very hard to give orders from all the way back there. some people are leaders and some aren t. he s not but there s no one who stands out in england s pack - no clear-cut leaders. campese though defended coach andy robinson who he believes was the only choice after sir clive woodward s resignation. but he blamed a lack of talent in the england camp for making the current coach look poor. england face a potential wooden spoon match against italy on 12 march. and the ex-wallaby added: if england lost that they d be in bloody turmoil. that said i don t think they will. campese has tipped wales to win both the six nations and grand slam come the end of the tournament. it s been a surprising tournament he said and maybe ireland have a little bit more talent overall. but playing at home is a major boost. and the possible grand slam decider at the millennium stadium will be just too much for the irish.,sport
392,525,disney backs sony dvd technology a next generation dvd technology backed by sony has received a major boost. film giant disney says it will produce its future dvds using sony s blu-ray disc technology but has not ruled out a rival format developed by toshiba. the two competing dvd formats blu-ray developed by sony and others and toshiba s hd-dvd have been courting top film studios for several months. the next generation of dvds promises very high quality pictures and sound as well as a lot of data. both technologies use a blue laser to write information. it has a shorter wavelength so more data can be stored. disney is the latest studio to announce which technology it is backing in a format battle which mirrors the 1980s betamax versus vhs war. sony lost out to jvc in that fight. the current battle for hollywood s hearts and minds is a crucial one because high-definition films will bring in billions of revenue and the studios would prefer to use one standard. last month paramount universal and warner brothers said they were opting for the toshiba and nec-backed format hd-dvd high-definition discs. those studios currently produce about 45% of dvd content. sony pictures entertainment and mgm studios have already staked their allegiance with the blu-ray disc association whose members also include technology companies dell samsung and matsushita. twentieth century fox is still to announce which technology it will be supporting. if fox decided to go with blu-ray too it would mean the format would have a 47% share of dvd content. disney said its films would be available on the blu-ray format when dvd players for the standard went on sale on north america and japan expected in 2006. universal is to start producing films on the hd-dvd format in 2005 and paramount will start releasing titles using the standard in 2006. toshiba expects sales of hd-dvds to reach 300bn yen ($2.9bn £1.5bn) by 2010.,tech
393,596,branson show flops on us screens entrepreneur sir richard branson s us tv show the rebel billionaire is proving a flop in the ratings. the programme suffered poor viewing figures on its debut on the fox network three weeks ago and has lost one in five of its viewers since then. the show is seen as fox s answer to the apprentice featuring tycoon donald trump a ratings hit for rivals nbc. sir richard s show sees a group of young entrepreneurs compete to become the president of his business empire. the rebel billionaire has averaged five million viewers and is 91st in the rankings of all prime-time shows. the apprentice which has already completed its first season is still managing to pull in 16 million viewers while its prime-time ranking is number four. but fox has said it plans to stick with branson s show throughout its 12-episode run. it s going to remain on the air said the network s spokesman scott grogin. creatively we re extremely pleased with the show and hope the audience will find it he added. contestants on sir richard s show are confronted with business tasks to solve similar to the apprentice. they are also subjected to stunts like walking a plank suspended in mid-air. the rebel billionaire has marketed itself as a less materialistic version of the apprentice with sir richard shown jumping out of a taxi while trump is seen in a limousine.,entertainment
394,1800,peace demo appeal rejected peace protestors have lost a landmark appeal over police actions in stopping an anti-war demonstration days after the start of the iraq war. they had appealed against a high court decision that it was not unlawful for police to forcibly turn protestors away near raf fairford glos in 2003. the police had also sought to overturn a breach of human rights ruling arising from the same case. sitting on wednesday three appeal court judges dismissed both appeals. they were challenging decisions by two judges in the high court in february this year. it followed action by police when three coachloads of people were searched and detained on the way to raf fairford and forced to return to london under police escort. the demonstrators appealed against a finding by lord justice may and mr justice harrison that it was not unlawful for the police to turn the passengers away. the police were urging lord chief justice and lord justices clarke and rix to overturn the ruling that they had breached the protestors human rights by detaining them in the coaches. craig mackey assistant chief constable of gloucestershire police said: we have always considered that our responses were proportionate and all our decisions on the day were based on intelligence. he said no one on the coaches accepted responsibility for items found on the coaches including body armour a smoke bomb and five shields. given these circumstances and the fact that raf fairford and other military installations in the uk had been the scene of increasingly destructive disorder in the weeks preceding this incident the police commander on the ground made the decision to turn back the coaches. from day one we have vigorously defended this decision which was made out of a genuine concern that if the coaches were allowed to proceed it would have resulted in disorder and criminal damage at raf fairford. fairford coach action representing more than 80 people who appealed against the police actions say they are prepared to take their case to the european court of human rights. their action is supported by amnesty international and liberty.,politics
395,1341,open source leaders slam patents the war of words between microsoft and the open source movement heated up this week as linux founder linus torvalds led an attack on software patents. in a panel discussion at a linux summit in california mr torvalds said software patents were a problem for the open source movement. mitchell kapor chairman of the mozilla foundation warned that microsoft could use patent lawsuits in the future. linux is a freely-available alternative to microsoft s windows. it relies on a community of programmers for its development and is based on open source principles which allow others to use and modify it without having to pay licence fees. the attack on software patents comes at a time when ibm has made 500 of its patents freely available. other companies are expected to follow suit. there are between 150 000 and 300 000 registered software patents in the us and open source developers argue that many should never have been granted. this is a view corroborated by the uk patent office. some of the patents have dubious validity and are being wielded by some big companies to force smaller companies to buy licenses in the knowledge that they can t afford to take them to court said dr jeremy philpott of the uk patent office. some panel members are worried that microsoft would issue a series of patent lawsuits in the future. if totally pushed to the wall - because their business model no longer holds up in an era in which open source is an economically superior way to produce software...of course they re going to unleash the wmds mr kapor is reported as saying. microsoft did not want to comment directly referring the issue instead to trade body intellect of which it is a member. as far as intellect is concerned open source and patents have co-existed for many years without problems said spokeswoman jill sutherland. the industry respects the open source movement and in fact many of the members we represent use the open source system to develop software we think the important point to make is that companies should be able to choose between patents copyrights and open source as to the treatment of their intellectual discoveries and not be forced into using one or the other she added.,tech
396,113,prodigy monfils blows away gaudio french prodigy gael monfils underlined his huge promise by beating french open champion gaston gaudio 6-4 7-6 (7-4) in the first round of the qatar open. the 18-year-old wild card won three of the four junior grand slam events last year including wimbledon. fabrice santoro the 2000 champion beat sweden s thomas johansson 6-4 6-2 but fourth seed mikhail youzhny lost 6-3 7-6 (7-3) to rafael nadal. roger federer plays greg rusedski in the second round on wednesday. monfils who was given a wildcard into the tournament said: this is my first win over a top 10 player and i am delighted. i play my best tennis when i am fired up on the court and the reason i won today was because i was able to play my natural attacking game he said. of course i was a bit tired in the second set. but i was confident i could survive had there been a third set.,sport
397,134,france telecom gets orange boost strong growth in subscriptions to mobile phone network orange has helped boost profits at owner france telecom. orange added more than five million new customers in 2004 leading to a 10% increase in its revenues. increased take-up of broadband telecoms services also boosted france telecom s profits which showed a 5.5% rise to 18.3bn euros ($23.4bn; £12.5bn). france telecom is to spend 578m euros on buying out minority shareholders in data services provider equant. france telecom one of the world s largest telecoms and internet service providers saw its full-year sales rise 2.2% to 47.2bn euros in 2004. orange enjoyed strong growth outside france and the united kingdom - its core markets - swelling its subscriber base to 5.4 million. france telecom s broadband customers also increased rising to 5.1 million across europe by the end of the year. the firm said it had met its main strategic objectives of growing its individual businesses and further reducing its large debt. an ill-fated expansion drive in the late 1990s saw france telecom s debt soar to 72bn euros by 2002. however this has now been reduced to 43.9bn euros. our results for 2004 allow us to improve our financial structure while focusing on the innovation that drives our strategy said chief executive thierry breton. looking ahead the company forecast like-for-like sales growth of between 3% and 5% over the next three years. france telecom is consolidating its interest in equant which provides telecoms and data services to businesses. subject to approval by shareholders of the two firms it will buy the shares in equant it does not already own. france telecom said it would fund the deal by selling an 8% stake in telephone directory company pagesjaunes.,business
398,270,tories reject rethink on axed mp sacked mp howard flight s local conservative association has insisted he will not be its candidate at the general election. russell tanguay agent for arundel and south downs tories said mr flight was ineligible to be a candidate and the association was seeking a substitute. the news comes despite mr flight s allies saying they had enough support to hold a meeting to discuss his fate. mr flight landed in trouble over remarks on tory tax and spending plans. he quit as tory deputy chairman after apparently suggesting the tories planned extra spending cuts - but he wants to continue as an mp. tory headquarters says he cannot stand as a conservative candidate because he is no longer an approved candidate. mr tanguay backed that view on tuesday saying: howard flight is ineligible to stand as a conservative party candidate. the association is in the process of selecting a new candidate. but the local tory chairman made similar comments on friday and dissent continues. two local councillors who back mr flight met mr tanguay and the local association s chairman in arundel on tuesday afternoon but did not comment as they left the meeting. mr flight says he will not stand down as a candidate unless his local party instructs him to do so at an extraordinary general meeting (egm). the mp who is consulting his lawyers told bbc news: they selected me and they if you like dispose of me or keep me. mr flight s supporters also say they have the 50 signatures needed to trigger the egm. at a news conference mr howard insisted he had played by the party s rules. the tory leader who argues he is ensuring honesty said: we do not say one thing in private and another thing in public. labour election campaign coordinator alan milburn said the tories were in turmoil because mr flight had exposed their hidden plans. the comments were not a one-off he said claiming mr howard and other senior tories were obsessively committed to cutting public spending. liberal democrat chairman matthew taylor said: whilst i disagree with howard flight s views it seems extraordinary to sack somebody for telling the truth. it has also emerged mr howard has suspended slough s constituency conservative association for refusing to deselect its candidate. adrian hilton was abandoned after suggesting the signing of the maastricht treaty under john major s government was an act of treason. the catholic herald also highlighted articles he wrote about the role of catholicism in the european union. mr hilton was chosen to fight the seat after the previous candidate robert oulds was sacked for being pictured with a range of guns and a hunting knife. slough conservative association has now been placed on support status and is being run from conservative campaign headquarters says a senior party spokesman. mr hilton on tuesday said he was considering taking legal action against his deposal. he said the local party had only learned of the final decision on the bbc news website on monday evening. there are people at central office who are behaving like little dictators and seemingly people who are ordinary members are being treated with contempt he said. the party says it did try to contact the local conservative chairman.,politics
399,1324,baby becomes new oscar favourite clint eastwood s boxing drama million dollar baby has become the new favourite to win best picture at the oscars on sunday. according to pundits the film has overtaken previous favourite the aviator with eastwood also tipped to take the best director award. its star hilary swank is favourite to win best actress while jamie foxx is tipped to win best actor for ray. million dollar baby has seven nominations while the aviator has 11. the aviator has scored a best director nomination for martin scorsese who has never won an oscar while stars leonardo dicaprio and cate blanchett are both nominated for acting oscars. if you look at the oscars race the aviator should be ahead said awards pundit tom o neil. it is the most nominated film and the most nominated movie has won best picture 18 times out of the last 20 years. but the reality is million dollar baby is the dark horse. people feel emotionally about it and clint is a beloved hollywood chum of the academy voters he said. anne thompson of the hollywood reporter said that million dollar baby was heart-wrenching . it s very emotional it even makes grown men cry she said. the aviator is a gorgeous movie but it s colder. in the acting categories foxx is regarded as almost unbeatable for his performance as ray charles in ray. the performance is based on a real person who was a showbusiness hero with a handicap who recently died o neil said. he has unstoppable momentum among the voters. hilary swank is the favourite to win best actress for the second time in six years. she previously won in 1999 for her performance in boys don t cry. in the supporting categories cate blanchett is tipped to win for her performance as katharine hepburn in the aviator while morgan freeman is favourite to take home his first ever oscar for million dollar baby. the oscars will take place at hollywood s kodak theatre on 27 february.,entertainment
400,12,virgin blue shares plummet 20% shares in australian budget airline virgin blue plunged 20% after it warned of a steep fall in full year profits. virgin blue said profits after tax for the year to march would be between 10% to 15% lower than the previous year. sluggish demand reported previously for november and now december 2004 continues said virgin blue chief executive brett godfrey. virgin blue which is 25% owned by richard branson has been struggling to fend off pressure from rival jetstar. it cut its full year passenger number forecast by approximately 2.5% . virgin blue reported a 22% fall in first quarter profits in august 2004 due to tough competition. in november first half profits were down due to slack demand and rising fuel costs. virgin blue was launched four years ago and now has roughly one third of australia s domestic airline market. but the national carrier qantas has fought back with its own budget airline jetstar which took to the skies in may 2004. sydney-listed virgin blue s shares recovered slightly to close 12% down on wednesday. shares in its major shareholder patrick corporation - which owns 46% of virgin blue - had dropped 31% by the close.,business
401,782,europe backs digital tv lifestyle how people receive their digital entertainment in the future could change following the launch of an ambitious european project. in nice last week the european commission announced its networked & electronic media (nem) initiative. its broad scope stretches from the way media is created through each of the stages of its distribution to its playback. the commission wants people to be able to locate the content they desire and have it delivered seamlessly when on the move at home or at work no matter who supplies the devices network content or content protection scheme. more than 120 experts were in nice to share the vision of interconnected future and hear pledges of support from companies such as nokia intel philips alcatel france telecom thomson and telefonica. it might initially appear to be surprising that companies in direct competition are keen to work together. but again and again speakers stated they could not see incompatible stand-alone solutions working. a long-term strategy for the evolution and convergence of technologies and services would be required. the european commission is being pragmatic in its approach. they have identified that many groups have defined the forms of digital media in the areas that nem encompasses. the nem approach is to take a serious look at what is available and what is in the pipeline pick out the best bring them together and identify where the gaps are. where it finds holes it will develop standards to fill them. what is significant is that such a large and powerful organisation has stated its desire for digital formats to be open to all and work on any gadget. this is bound to please if not surprise many individuals and user organisations who feel that the wishes of the holder of rights to content are normally considered over and above those of the consumer. many feel that the most difficult and challenging area for the commission will be to identify a solution for different digital rights management (drm) schemes. currently drm solutions are incompatible locking certain types of purchased content making them unplayable on all platforms. with the potential of having a percentage of every media transaction that takes place globally the prize for being the supplier of the world s dominant drm scheme is huge. although entertainment is an obvious first step it will encompass the remote provisions of healthcare energy efficiency and control of the smart home. the 10-year plan brings together the work of many currently running research projects that the ec has been funding for a number of years. simon perry is the editor of the digital lifestyles website which covers the impact of technology on media,tech
402,1357,jansen suffers a further setback blackburn striker matt jansen faces three weeks out after surgery to treat a cartilage problem. but central defender lorenzo amoruso is moving closer to fitness following a knee operation. rovers assistant manager mark bowen said: matt had a small operation to trim knee cartilage. it s a tiny piece of work which should be a fairly quick recovery. lorenzo is also jogging for the first time along with kicking a ball. jansen s career has been dogged by injury since a freak scooter accident two years ago. he returned to first-team action soon after mark hughes appointment as blackburn boss and marked it with a goal against portsmouth in his first appearance of the season. bowen added: i m guessing but i reckon maybe two to three weeks before he is back in action completely. the rovers assistant boss forecast a longer time spell for amoruso s availability for first-team duties. bowen said: there s still some scar tissue present so it will be some weeks. it s a case of see how he goes. you can t put a real time on a comeback we ll see how he progresses.,sport
403,1608,hunt demo at labour meeting pro-hunt supporters are set to protest at labour s spring conference. the countryside alliance says it expects up to 4 000 supporters to demonstrate against the hunting ban. they have agreed to keep to a demonstration site on the other side of the river tyne from the conference venue in gateshead. a bid to overturn the law banning hunting with dogs in england and wales has begun in the court of appeal. the ban comes into force on 18 february. the court of appeal is expected to rule early next week on whether the alliance s challenge has succeeded. richard dodd regional director of the countryside alliance said he expected between 2 000 and 4 000 supporters in tyneside to make their protest with hunt horns and placards. campaigners have been asked not to bring any animals or alcohol. mr dodd said he did not believe there would be any repeat of the trouble which marred the pro-hunt demonstration outside parliament in september. we are holding a static demonstration just to remind labour that we are not going away he said. northumbria police said the pedestrian millennium bridge by the demonstration site will be shut if necessary. but assistant chief constable david warcup has liaised with several protest groups and said all negotiations had gone well. fathers 4 justice pensioners rights activists and stop the war campaigners were also expected to demonstrate during the three-day conference which starts on friday. pro-hunt campaigners claims the 1949 parliament act - which extends the right of the house of commons to overrule the house of lords - was itself invalid because it was never passed by peers. the high court last month ruled the act was valid and the proposed hunting ban was lawful. pro-hunt supporters formally launched their second legal challenge to the ban in london s high court on thursday. the countryside alliance has lodged papers seeking a judicial review on human rights grounds. animal welfare groups have welcomed the ban many of whom have campaigned for a ban for decades saying hunting is cruel and unnecessary.,politics
404,1134,economy stronger than forecast the uk economy probably grew at a faster rate in the third quarter than the 0.4% reported according to bank of england deputy governor rachel lomax. private sector business surveys suggest a stronger economy than official estimates ms lomax said. other surveys collectively show a rapid slowdown in uk house price growth she pointed out. this means that despite a strong economic growth base rates will probably stay on hold at 4.75%. official data comes from the office for national statistics (ons). though reliable ons data takes longer to publish so now the boe is calling for faster delivery of data so it can make more effective policy decisions. recent work by the bank has shown that private sector surveys add value even when preliminary ons estimates are available ms lomax said in a speech to the north wales business club. the ons is due to publish its second estimate of third quarter growth on friday. the mpc judges that overall growth was a little higher in the third quarter than the official data currently indicate ms lomax said. the bank said successful monetary policy depends on having good information. rachel lomax cited the late 1980s as an example of a time when weak economic figures were published but substantially revised upwards years later. the statistical fog surrounding the true state of the economy has proved a particularly potent breeding ground for policy errors in the past she said. improving the quality of national statistics is the single the best way of making sure the monetary policy committee (mpc) makes the right decisions she said. the bank of england is working in tandem with the ons to improve the quality and speed of delivery of data. her remarks follow criticism from the house of lords economic affairs committee which said the mpc had held interest rates too high given that inflation was way below the 2% target. a slowdown in the housing market and this year s surge in oil prices has made economic forecasting all the more tricky leading to a more uncertain outlook. this year rising oil prices and a significant slowdown in the housing market have awoken bad memories of the 1970s and 1980s ms lomax said. the mpc will be doing well if it can achieve the same stability over the next decade as we have enjoyed over the past 10 years. decisions on interest rates are made after the mpc gathers together the range of indicators available every month. the clearest signals come when all indicators are pointing the same direction ms lomax intimated. in economic assessment there is safety in numbers.,business
405,276,report attacks defence spending the ministry of defence has been criticised over the soaring spending costs and growing delays of its top equipment projects. a national audit office report on the 20 biggest projects says costs have risen by £1.7bn in the past year. it says there is little evidence the mod s performance had improved despite the introduction of a smart acquisition policy six years ago. a senior defence official told the bbc lessons were being learned. the nao s annual report showed the total cost of the 20 projects covered was expected to reach £50bn - 14% higher than originally planned. the total delays amounted to 62 months with average individual delays rising by three months. sir john bourn head of the nao said the problems showed the principles of the scheme known as smart acquisition had not been consistently applied. many problems can be traced to the fact that the mod has not spent enough time and resources in the assessment phase the report says. the nao found that projects launched since the start of the scheme were showing the same worrying tendencies as the older legacy projects such as the eurofighter. a senior defence official speaking to the bbc s defence correspondent paul adams said that although the figures were still not good enough the report reflected unrealistic expectations early on in the project cycle. this year s overspend was significantly less than last year s £3.1bn total and the defence procurement agency - which is responsible for buying defence equipment - was improving. lord bach minister for defence procurement said he was obviously still disappointed with the cost and time increases shown but insisted that the defence procurement agency had undertaken a huge amount of work to expose any underlying problems on projects . the latest findings follow a string of critical reports issued within the last 12 months and according to our correspondent contain few new surprises. turning around the defence procurement agency was a little like trying to turn around a super tanker - it takes a very long time indeed he said. our correspondent said it was the same projects including the joint strike fighter the nimrod and a400m aircraft and the type 45 destroyer which were resonsible for the bulk of the cost over-runs and delay. but he added some projects such as the c-17 heavy lift aircraft and successor identification friend or foe (siff) were showing good performances.,politics
406,41,labour targets hardcore truants a fresh crackdown on persistent truants in england has been launched by education secretary ruth kelly. serial truants make up one in 13 pupils. previous initiatives brought 40 000 pupils back to school since 1997 according to official statistics. parenting contracts penalty notices and fast track prosecution systems have been used to tackle what has been a stubborn problem. it is thought that nearly half a million children skip school each day. tories say labour s previous success regarding the issue came because it tackled the easy part of the problem by reducing authorised absence where parents are permitted to take children out of school. such absences are often due to family holidays. however serial truants avoid the classroom despite government schemes costing £885m. those missing classes are more likely to become involved in crime as well as failing academically. measures such as parenting contracts and penalty notices were adopted by most local education authorities last term and come into force in the remainder this term. in one local education authority alone 800 parents were warned they would receive a penalty notice unless their child s attendance improved. the tough stance paid off with just 24 issued while attendance improved in 776 cases. truancy has been reduced by 5% at the 128 worst hit schools through the government s behaviour improvement programme. this is the equivalent of 200 pupils back in classes since september. the new measures come on top of national truancy sweeps - the sixth of which will take place on monday. police and education welfare officers patrol problem hotspots picking up truants and returning them to school. held twice each year in addition to routine local patrols previous country-wide sweeps have apprehended 31 000 pupils dodging school. in almost 14 000 of those cases the youngsters were accompanied by their parents. a department for education and skills source said: every day in school counts. it is clear form these figures that schools and local education authorities are now seizing the tools we have given them to improve school attendance and crack down hard on the very small numbers of pupils which account for almost half of the nation s truancy.,politics
407,1705,brainwave cap controls computer a team of us researchers has shown that controlling devices with the brain is a step closer. four people two of them partly paralysed wheelchair users successfully moved a computer cursor while wearing a cap with 64 electrodes. previous research has shown that monkeys can control a computer with electrodes implanted into their brain. the new york team reported their findings in the proceedings of the national academy of sciences. the results show that people can learn to use scalp-recorded electroencephalogram rhythms to control rapid and accurate movement of a cursor in two directions said jonathan wolpaw and dennis mcfarlane. the research team from new york state department of health and state university of new york in albany said the research was another step towards people controlling wheelchairs or other electronic devices by thought. the four people faced a large video screen wearing a special cap which meant no surgery or implantation was needed. brain activity produces electrical signals that can be read by electrodes. complex algorithms then translate those signals into instructions to direct the computer. such brain activity does not require the use of any nerves of muscles so people with stroke or spinal cord injuries could use the cap effectively. the impressive non-invasive multidimensional control achieved in the present study suggests that a non-invasive brain control interface could support clinically useful operation of a robotic arm a motorised wheelchair or a neuroprosthesis said the researchers. the four volunteers also showed that they could get better at controlling the cursor the more times they tried. although the two partially-paralysed people performed better overall the researchers said this could be because their brains were more used to adapting or that they were simply more motivated. it is not the first time researchers have had this sort of success in brain-control experiments. some teams have used eye motion and other recording techniques. earlier this year a team at the mit media labs europe demonstrated a wireless cap which read brain waves to control a computer character.,tech
408,732,wood - ireland can win grand slam former captain keith wood believes ireland can win only their second grand slam - and first since 1948 - in this year s rbs six nations championship. after claiming their first triple crown for 19 years last season wood tips his former team-mates to go one better. things have been building up over the past few years and i think this is the year for ireland he told bbc sport. there is a great chance to win a grand slam. a lot of things are in our favour with england and france at home. ireland have finished runners-up three times including last year since the old five nations became six in 2000 and not finished outside the top three in the past five years. despite being without flanker keith gleeson coach eddie o sullivan has not had to contend with the sort of casualty lists that have hit england and scotland in particular prior to the tournament. for ireland to win it we need to stay relatively injury free and fortunately we are one of the few teams that have done that so far wood added. it is going to be tough and we need to take all the luck and opportunities that come our way. ireland s last game of the tournament is against wales in cardiff - a fixture they have not lost since 1983. but despite their traditional hospitality when the irish are visiting wood believes wales might end their four-match losing run against england in cardiff. so many of the major england players have either retired in the last year or are injured that i think it will be very hard for them down in cardiff wood added. wales have had four brilliant games in the last year or so and lost all four so the time is right for them now to beat one of the major teams.,sport
409,968,kidman wins photographer battle actress nicole kidman has won a restraining order against two paparazzi photographers who she claims left her fearful of leaving her sydney mansion. the oscar-winning star took action against jamie fawcett and ben mcdonald after a bugging device was found outside her home earlier this week. lawyers for the pair denied allegations they had planted the device. the australian actress is currently in sydney to film her latest movie eucalyptus with russell crowe. kidman was prompted to take action following a reported high-speed car chase with members of the paparazzi in sydney last weekend. according to local newspaper the daily telegraph the incident involved paparazzi driving through red lights and on the wrong side of the road in pursuit of kidman s vehicle. lawyers for mr fawcett and mr mcdonald denied that the pair were involved in the chase. kidman sought the apprehended violence orders - normally used in australia in cases of domestic violence and similar incidents - after being advised to do so by local police. nicole would like to make it clear that she acknowledges she is a public figure and that reporters and photographers have a job to do and she respects that said kidman s publicist wendy day. however these are specific actions against two individuals who over a period of time have caused her to feel threatened intimidated and unable to leave her home without fearing for her safety. magistrate lee gilmore who issued the restraining order at waverley local court in sydney said she understood the photographers were entitled to earn a living but there had to be limits to their behaviour. miss kidman says she s willing to put up with some of it but it s gone beyond that she said. i do believe the allegation in relation to the driving is a serious issue.,entertainment
410,1006,ukraine revisits state sell-offs ukraine is preparing what could be a wholesale review of the privatisation of thousands of businesses by the previous administration. the new president viktor yushchenko has said a limited list of companies is being drawn up. but on wednesday prime minister yulia tymoshenko said the government was planning to renationalise 3 000 firms. the government says many privatised firms were sold to allies of the last administration at rock-bottom prices. more than 90 000 businesses in all from massive corporations to tiny shopfronts have been sold off since 1992 as the command economy built up when ukraine was part of the soviet union was dismantled. ms tymoshenko said prosecutors had drawn up a list of more than 3 000 businesses which were to be reviewed. we will return to the state that which was illegally put into private hands. a day earlier mr yushchenko - keen to reassure potential investors - had said only 30 to 40 top firms would be targeted. the list will be limited and final and will not be extended after its completion he said. an open-ended list could further damage outside investors fragile faith in ukraine said stuart hensel of the economist intelligence unit. but the government seemed keen not to make the review look like the kind of wholesale renationalisation which many fear in russia mr hensel said. as a result it was planning to resell rather than keep firms in state hands. they re aware of the need not to scare investors and to be careful of internal divides within ukraine he said. they don t want to be seen to be transferring assets from one set of oligarchs to a new set. foreign investment in ukraine at about $40 a head in 2004 is one of the lowest among ex-soviet states. mr yushchenko became president after two elections in december the first of which was annulled amid allegations of voting irregularities and massive street protests. his opponent viktor yanukovich still has huge support in the country s eastern industrial heartland. mr yushchenko s administration has accused its predecessor led by ex-president leonid kuchma of corruption. the privatisation review s number one target is a steel mill sold to a consortium which included viktor pinchuk mr kuchma s son-in-law for $800m (£424m) despite higher bids from several foreign groups. the mill krivorizhstal is one of the world s most profitable. we say krivorizhstal was stolen and at any cost we will return it to the state mr yushchenko told an investors conference in kiev. one of the jilted bidders netherlands-based group lnm said it welcomed the possibility that the mill might be back on the market. if the original privatisation is annulled and a new tender issued then we would look at it with great interest a spokesman told bbc news. a resale of krivorizhstal could potentially triple the price according to the economist intelligence unit s mr hensel. but he warned that the government could decide to take the easy route of revaluing the company and charging the existing owners the revised price rather than undertaking a fresh sale. that way mr yushchenko can go to the public and say he has forced the oligarchs to play by the rules he told bbc news.,business
411,1140,britons growing digitally obese gadget lovers are so hungry for digital data many are carrying the equivalent of 10 trucks full of paper in weight . music images e-mails and texts are being hoarded on mobiles cameras laptops and pdas (personal digital assistants) a toshiba study found. it found that more than 60% kept 1 000 to 2 000 music files on their devices making the uk digitally fat . virtual weight measurements are based on research by california institute of technology professor roy williams. he calculated physical comparisons for digital data in the mid-1990s. he worked out that one gigabyte (1 000 000 000 bytes) was the equivalent of a pick-up truck filled with paper. the amount of data people are squirreling away on their gadgets is clearly a sign that people are finding more things to do with their shiny things. if digital hoarding habits continue on this scale people could be carrying around a digitally obese 20 gigabytes by next year. britain has become a nation of information hoarders with a ferocious appetite for data said martin larsson general manager of toshiba s european storage device division. as storage capabilities increase and the features and functionalities of mobile devices expand to support movie files and entire libraries of multi-media content we will all become virtually obese he told the bbc news website. the survey reflects the increasing trend for portable devices with built-in hard drives like music and media players from apple creative labs archos iriver and others. this trend is set to grow according to analysts. they suggest the number of hard drives in consumer electronics gadgets could grow from 17 million last year to 55 million in 2006. consumers are driving the move towards smaller devices that have greater functionality and industry is trying to keep up said mr larsson. people are looking for more than just phone calls and text messages on the move they want things like web browsing e-mailing music photos and more. many are finding memory keys and memory sticks are simply not big enough to hold everything. floppies and memory keys have their place but they don t have anything like the capacity or flexibility of a hard drive so are unable to meet the demand for more and more storage capacity in consumer devices said mr larsson. the cost of making hard drives has dropped and is continuing to do so because of improved technologies so they are proving to be more cost-effective than other forms of memory he added. the amount of data that can be stored has grown by 400% in the last three years while the cost for every gigabyte has fallen by 80%. it is also getting easier to transfer files from one device to another which has traditionally been a slow and problematic area. transfer of data between different memory types has improved significantly in recent times and will be further helped by the standards for hard drives which are currently being developed by the major manufacturers said mr larsson. according to technology analysts idc a fifth of all hard drives produced will be used in consumer electronics by 2007.,tech
412,966,us manufacturing expands us industrial production increased in december according to the latest survey from the institute for supply management (ism). its index of national manufacturing activity rose to 58.6 last month from 57.8 in november. a reading above 50 indicates a level of growth. the result for december was slightly better than analysts expectations and the 19th consecutive expansion. the ism said the growth was driven by a significant rise in the new orders. this completes a strong year for manufacturing based on the ism data said chairman of the ism s survey committee. while there is continuing upward pressure on prices the rate of increase is slowing and definitely trending in the right direction. the ism s index of national manufacturing activity is compiled from monthly responses of purchasing executives at more than 400 industrial companies ranging from textiles to chemicals to paper and has now been above 50 since june 2003. analysts expected december s figure to come in at 58.1. the ism manufacturing index s main sister survey - the employment index - eased to 52.7 in december from 57.6 in november while its prices paid index measuring the cost to businesses of their inputs also eased to 72.0 from 74.0. the ism s new orders index rose to 67.4 from 61.5.,business
413,1399,beckham virus spotted on the net virus writers are trading on interest in david beckham to distribute their malicious wares. messages are circulating widely that purport to have evidence of the england captain in a compromising position. but anyone visiting the website mentioned in the message will not see pictures of mr beckham but will have their computer infected by a virus. the pernicious program opens a backdoor on a computer so it can be controlled remotely by malicious hackers. the appearance of the beckham windows trojan is just another example in a long line of viruses that trade on interest in celebrities in an attempt to fuel their spread. tennis player anna kournikova popstars britney spears and avril lavigne as well as arnold schwarzenegger have all been used in the past to try to con people into opening infected files. the huge amount of interest in mr beckham and his private life and the large number of messages posted to discussion groups on the net might mean that the malicious program catches a lot of people out. the public s appetite for salacious gossip about the private life of the beckhams might lead some into an unpleasant computer infection said graham cluley from anti-virus firm sophos. simply opening the message will not infect a user s pc. but anyone visiting the website it mentions who then downloads and opens the fake image file stored on that site will be infected. the program that installs itself is called the hackarmy trojan and it tries to recruit pcs into so-called bot networks that are often used to distribute spam mail messages or to launch attacks across the web. computers running microsoft windows 95 98 2000 nt and xp are vulnerable to this trojan. many anti-virus programs have been able to detect this trojan since it first appeared early this year and have regularly been updated to catch new variants.,tech
414,586,football manager scores big time for the past decade or so the virtual football fans among us will have become used to the annual helping of championship manager (cm). indeed it seems like there has been a cm game for as many years as there have been pcs. however last year was the final time that developers sports interactive (si) and publishers eidos would work together. they decided to go their separate ways and each kept a piece of the franchise. si kept the game s code and database and eidos retained rights to the cm brand and the look and feel of the game. so at the beginning of this year fans faced a new situation. eidos announced the next cm game with a new team to develop it from scratch whilst si developed the existing code further to be released with new publishers sega under the name football manager. so what does this mean well football manager is the spiritual successor to the cm series and it has been released earlier than expected. at this point cm5 looks like it will ship early next year. but given that football manager 2005 is by and large the game that everybody knows and loves how does this new version shape up a game like fm2005 could blind you with statistics. it has an obscene number of playable leagues an obscene number of manageable teams and a really obscene number of players and staff from around the world in the database with stats faithfully researched and compiled by a loyal army of fans. but that does not do justice to the game really. what we are talking about is the most realistic and satisfying football management game to ever grace the earth. you begin by picking the nations and leagues you want to manage teams from for instance england and scotland. that will give you a choice not just of the four main scottish leagues but the english premiership all the way down to the conference north and south. of course you might be looking for european glory or to get hold of abramovich s millions in which case you can take control at chelsea or even barcelona real madrid ac milan ... the list goes on a very long way. once in a team you will be told by the board what they expect of you. sometimes it is promotion or a place in europe sometimes it is consolidation or a brave relegation battle. it might even be a case of champions or else. obviously the expectations are linked to the team you choose so choose wisely. then it is time to look at your squad work out your tactics seeing how much cash if any you have got to splash having a look at the transfer market sorting out the training schedule and making sure your backroom staff are up to it. then bring on the matches which are once more available in the ever-improving top down 2d view. with the exception of the improved user interface on the surface not much else seems to have changed. however there have been a lot of changes under the bonnet as well - things like the manager mind-games which let you talk to the media about the opposition bosses. the match engine is also much improved and it is more of a joy than ever to watch. in fact just about every area of the game has been tweaked and it leads to an ever more immersive experience. with a game that is so complex and so open-ended there are of course a few glitches but nowhere near the sorts of problems that have blighted previous releases. with so many calculations to perform the game can take some time to process in between matches though there have been improvements in this area. and a sport like football which is so high profile and unpredictable itself can never be modelled quite to everybody s satisfaction. but this time around a great deal of hard work has been put in to ensure that any oddities that do crop up are cosmetic only and do not affect gameplay. and if there are problems further down the line sports interactive have indicated their usual willingness to support and develop the game as far as possible. in all there are many more tweaks and improvements. if you were a fan of the previous cm games then fm2005 might make y
415,868,johnson accuses british sprinters former olympic champion michael johnson has accused britain s top sprinters of lacking pride and ambition. at the moment the biggest factor on the mind of british sprinters is to be number one in britain the world 200m and 400m record holder told five live. athletics at the moment is all about international competitions and they need to show a little more pride. however linford christie countered: it s easy to criticise when you haven t gone through the system here. johnson was involved in a verbal spat with britain s darren campbell earlier this year. the american had cast doubt on campbell s claims he had torn a hamstring in the wake of his failure to reach the olympic 100m and 200m finals. and the american remains highly critical of aspects of british sprinting. the only time you see british sprinters getting upset or riled is when there is a debate as to which one is better than the other he claimed. athletes here have to compete more outside the uk. their focus has to be on being the best in the world and not just on being the top british sprinter. speaking at an elite coaches conference in birmingham johnson also argued that although there has been more investment in the sport in britain it had not necessarily reaped the rewards. you can t fix everything with money he admitted. you contrast the situation here to that of some us athletes who have no funding. those who aren t funded might be hungrier and more motivated because their road to success is a lot more difficult and challenging. so when they get to the top they are more appreciative.,sport
416,1698,army chiefs in regiments decision military chiefs are expected to meet to make a final decision on the future of scotland s army regiments. a committee of the army board which is made up of the most senior defence figures will discuss plans for restructuring regiments on monday. the proposals include cutting scotland s six single-battalion regiments to five and merging these into a super regiment. the plans have faced stiff opposition from campaigners and politicians alike. the committee s decision must be ratified by defence secretary geoff hoon and prime minister tony blair. it is expected that it will be made public next week. when ministers announced a reorganisation of the army it drew a question mark over the futures of the black watch the kings own scottish borderers the royal scots the royal highland fusiliers and the argyll and sutherland highlanders. in october the council of scottish colonels proposed the merger of the royal scots and the king s own scottish borderers into a single battalion. under their vision it would be one of five in the new super regiment. the proposals to either merge or amalgamate the six regiments into a super regiment sparked a political outcry with labour backbenchers and opposition politicians opposing the plan. they felt the timing was insensitive because the black watch was in the frontline in iraq suffering casualties. the save the scottish regiments campaigners were so angered they threatened to stand against labour at the next general election. speaking ahead of the expected army board meeting a spokesman said: the government and the army board have spent the past four months attempting to trick serving soldiers and the public into thinking their planned changes for the scottish regiments are for the good of the army and for that of the serving soldier. they are very much not for the good and will destroy scotland s regiments by moulding them into a single super regiment which will lead to severe recruitment problems a loss of local connections to those regiments and a loss to scotland of an important part of her heritage and most importantly her future - the regiments are the envy of armies around the world. an alternative blueprint had been put forward by labour mp eric joyce who proposed going ahead with the merger while preserving the other regiments. for a brief time there was speculation the prime minister might consider the plan but that now seems unlikely. speaking in scotland last week mr blair said the aim was to preserve tradition but introduce a more effective structure and hinted that a super regiment was likely. he said: they don t want to get rid of the history or the traditions of the regiment or the local connections - far from it all they want to do is make sure they can transfer people easily across regiments and deploy them more flexibly. the prime minister said he hoped campaigners concerns would be taken into account but the need for effective change had to be paramount.,politics
417,452,mg rover china tie-up delayed mg rover s proposed tie-up with china s top carmaker has been delayed due to concerns by chinese regulators according to the financial times. the paper said chinese officials had been irritated by rover s disclosure of its talks with shanghai automotive industry corp in october. the proposed deal was seen as crucial to safeguarding the future of rover s longbridge plant in the west midlands. however there are growing fears that the deal could result in job losses. the observer reported on sunday that nearly half the workforce at longbridge could be under threat if the deal goes ahead. shanghai automotive s proposed £1bn investment in rover is awaiting approval by its owner the shanghai city government and by the national development and reform commission which oversees foreign investment by chinese firms. according to the ft the regulator has been annoyed by rover s decision to talk publicly about the deal and the intense speculation which has ensued about what it will mean for rover s future. as a result hopes that approval of the deal may be fast-tracked have disappeared the paper said. there has been continued speculation about the viability of rover s longbridge plant because of falling sales and unfashionable models. according to the observer 3 000 jobs - out of a total workforce of 6 500 - could be lost if the deal goes ahead. the paper said that chinese officials believe cutbacks will be required to keep the mg rover s costs in line with revenues. it also said that the production of new models through the joint venture would take at least eighteen months. neither rover nor shanghai automotive commented on the reports.,business
418,600,anti-spam screensaver scrapped a contentious campaign to bump up the bandwidth bills of spammers by flooding their sites with data has been dropped. lycos europe s make love not spam campaign began in late november but its tactics proved controversial. lycos has shut down the campaign saying it had been started to stimulate debate about anti-spam measures and had now achieved this aim. the anti-spammer screensaver came under fire for encouraging vigilante activity and skirting the edge of the law. through the make love not spam website users could download a screensaver that would endlessly request data from the net sites mentioned in many junk mail messages. more than 100 000 people are thought to have downloaded the screensaver that lycos europe offered. the company wanted to keep the spam sites running at near total capacity to make it much less financially attractive to spammers to operate the sites. but the campaign was controversial from the moment it kicked off and many net veterans criticised it for using spamming-type tactics against the senders of junk mail. some net service firms began blocking access to the lycos europe site in protest at the action. monitoring firm netcraft found that the anti-spam campaign was proving a little too successful. according to response-time figures gathered by netcraft some of the sites that the screensaver targeted were being knocked offline by the constant data requests. in a statement from lycos europe announcing the scrapping of the scheme the company denied that this was its fault. there is nothing to suggest that make love not spam has brought down any of the sites that it has targeted it said. at the time that netcraft measured the sites it claims may have been brought down they were not in fact part of the make love not spam attack cycle it added. the statement issued by lycos also said that the centralised database it used ensured that traffic to the target sites left them with 5% spare capacity. the idea was simply to slow spammers sites and this was achieved by the campaign the company said. many security organisations said users should not participate in the lycos europe campaign. the closure comes only days after the campaign was suspended following the outbreak of criticism.,tech
419,354,pearce keen on succeeding keegan joint assistant boss stuart pearce has admitted he would like to succeed kevin keegan as manager at manchester city. keegan has decided to step down as city manager when his contract comes to an end in 18 months. you don t have to be einstein to realise there will be a manager s job available at a really good club pearce told bbc gmr. i will certainly be applying for it although whether the board deem me good enough to take it i do not know. pearce initially joined city as a player under keegan in 2001 before becoming part of the coaching staff. he was promoted to joint assistant-manager following the departure of arthur cox last summer. the former england defender had a year as player-boss with nottingham forest eight seasons ago but has made no secret of his desire to have another crack at the job. he was linked with the manager s job at oldham and keegan has stated he would not get in the way if pearce wanted to leave. but it now appears pearce is keen to wait for his chance at city. he added: by that time i will have been here for five years so at least they will have had a good look at me and they are aware of my feelings with regard to being kevin s successor. obviously the issue is out of my hands but it is a fantastic job for anybody - i just hope it will be me.,sport
420,1281,lords wrong on detainees - straw jack straw has attacked the decision by britain s highest court that detaining foreign terrorist suspects without trial breaks human rights laws. the foreign secretary said the right to life was the most important liberty and the government had a duty to protect people from terrorism. law lords were simply wrong to imply the men were being held arbitrarily. new home secretary charles clarke vowed the nine men would remain in prison while the law was being reviewed. the house of lords ruled by an eight to one majority in favour of appeals by the men - dealing a major blow to the government s anti-terror policy. but mr straw denied it amounted to a constitutional crisis . he said those held had a right of appeal to the special immigration appeal tribunal and the decision to hold the suspects was upheld by that court. the law lords are simply wrong to imply that this is a decision to detain these people on the whim or the certificate of the home secretary he told bbc radio 4 s today programme. the foreign secretary insisted it was for parliament and not judges to decide how best britain could be defended against the threat of terrorism. but liberal democrat peer lord carlile the government s independent reviewer of anti-terrorism laws said it was possible some of the detainees could now be released. he said the law lords ruling was an embarrassment for the government and major changes were needed to the law. the ruling came on charles clarke s first day as home secretary following david blunkett s resignation. in a statement to mps mr clarke said: i will be asking parliament to renew this legislation in the new year. in the meantime we will be studying the judgment carefully to see whether it is possible to modify our legislation to address the concerns raised by the house of lords. the detainees took their case to the house of lords after the court of appeal backed the home office s powers to hold them without limit or charge. the government opted out of part of the european convention on human rights concerning the right to a fair trial in order to bring in anti-terrorism legislation in response to the 11 september attacks in the us. any foreign national suspected of links with terrorism can be detained or can opt to be deported. but those detained cannot be deported if this would mean persecution in their homeland. on thursday lord bingham - a senior law lord - said the rules were incompatible with the european convention on human rights as they allowed detentions in a way that discriminates on the ground of nationality or immigration status by justifying detention without trial for foreign suspects but not britons. lord nicholls of birkenhead in his ruling said: indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial is anathema in any country which observes the rule of law. in a statement detainee a in woodhill prison said: i hope now that the government will act upon this decision scrap this illegal law and release me and the other internees to return to our families and loved ones. the case was heard by a panel of nine law lords rather than the usual five because of the constitutional importance of the case. solicitor gareth pierce who represents eight of the detainees claimed the detention had driven four of the detainees to madness saying two were being held in broadmoor hospital.,politics
421,914,police detain chinese milk bosses chinese police have detained three top executives at milk firm yili with reports suggesting that they are being investigated for embezzlement. yili - full name inner mongolia yili industrial - confirmed its chairman chief financial officer and securities representative were all in custody. the company china s third-largest milk producer is to hold an emergency meeting to debate the issue. a yili spokesman said it may now move to oust chairman zheng junhuai. the spokesman did not say why the three had been detained by the police. the official xinhua news agency said the arrest was linked to alleged embezzlement. yili has recently been the subject of intense media speculation over its financial operations. executives are suspected of wrongly using 417m yuan ($50.4m; £26m) of company funds to support a management buyout back in july 2003. yili s shares were suspended on tuesday having fallen by 10% on monday. the company and its two main rivals - market leader mengniu dairy and second place bright dairy - dominate a chinese milk market that has grown by almost 30% over the past five years. analysts wondered if the scandal at yili - the latest to befall chinese companies this year - could be followed by further revelations of corporate wrongdoing. investors wonder if yili s scandal one of a slew to be uncovered this year isn t just the tip of the iceberg said chen huiqin an analyst at huatai securities.,business
422,1430,bt offers equal access to rivals bt has moved to pre-empt a possible break-up of its business by offering to cut wholesale broadband prices and open its network to rivals. the move comes after telecom regulator ofcom said in november that the firm must offer competitors real equality of access to its phone lines . at the time ofcom offered bt the choice of change or splitting into two. ofcom is carrying out a strategic review aimed at promoting greater competition in the uk telecom sector. bt s competitors have frequently accused it of misusing its status as the former telecoms monopoly and controller of access to many customers to favour its own retail arm. this latest submission was delivered to the watchdog ahead of a deadline for the second phase of its review. central to the proposals are plans by bt to offer operators lower wholesale prices faster broadband services and transparent highly-regulated access to bt s local network the former monopoly said in a statement. the united kingdom has the opportunity to create the most exciting and innovative telecoms market in the world bt chief executive ben verwaayen said. bt has a critical role to play and today we are making a set of far-reaching proposals towards that framework he said. bt wants lighter regulation in exchange for the changes as well as the removal of the break-up threat. the group is to set up a new access services division - with a separate board which would include independent members - to ensure equal access for rivals to the local loop the copper wires that run between telephone exchanges and households. the company also unveiled plans to cut the wholesale prices of its most popular broadband product by about 8% from april in areas of high customer demand. it added that it plans to invest £10bn in the next five years to create a 21st century network . to meet the growing demand for greater bandwidth bt said it would begin trials in april with a view to launching higher-speed services nationally from the autumn. telecom analysts ovum welcomed the move saying bt had given a lot of ground . the big question now is whether the industry and particularly ofcom feels bt s proposals go far enough ...now the real negotiation begins director of telecoms research tony lavender said. internet service provider (isp) plus.net also backed the proposals saying we will be entirely happy if ofcom accepts them . bt has been challenged to play fair and its plans will introduce a level playing field. the scenario now is how well people execute their business plans as a service provider chief executive lee strafford said. chris panayis managing director of isp freedom2surf said that it would make the situation clearer for business. i think it s the first productive thing we ve had from bt he said. aol backed the price cuts but said regulation was still needed to ensure a level playing field. this is a reminder to ofcom that as long as bt can change the dynamics of the whole broadband market at will the process of opening up the uk s local telephone network to infrastructure investment and competition remains fragile a spokesman said. ofcom needs to return to regulation of the wholesale broadband service [ipstream] and provide more robust rules for local loop unbundling if consumers are to see the benefits of increased competition and infrastructure investment. more than 100 telecom firms consumer groups and other interested parties are expected to make submissions to the regulator during this consultation phase. ofcom is expected to spend the next few weeks examining the proposals before making an announcement within the next few months.,business
423,554,games win for blu-ray dvd format the next-generation dvd format blu-ray is winning more supporters than its rival according to its backers. blu-ray backed by 100 firms including sony is competing against toshiba and nec-backed hd-dvd to be the format of choice for future films and games. the blu-ray association said on thursday that games giants electronic arts and vivendi would both support its dvd format. the next generation of dvds will hold high-definition video and sound. this offers incredible 3d-like quality of pictures which major hollywood studios and games publishers are extremely keen to exploit in the coming year. in a separate press conference at the consumer electronics show in las vegas toshiba announced that dvd players for its technology would be on the market by the end of 2005. as we move from standard definition video images to high-definition images we have a much greater need for storage richard doherty from panasonic s hollywood laboratories one of the pioneers of blu-ray told the bbc news website. so by utilising blue laser-based technology we can make an optical laser disc that can hold six times as much as today s dvd. a blu-ray disc will be able to store 50gb of high-quality data while toshiba s hd-dvd will hold 30gb. mr doherty added that it was making sure the discs could satisfy all high-definition needs including the ability to record onto the dvds and smaller discs to fit into camcorders. both toshiba and blu-ray are hopeful that the emerging dvd format war akin to the betamax and vhs fight in the 1980s can be resolved over the next year when next-generation dvd players start to come out. when players do come out they will be able to play standard dvds too which is good news for those who have huge libraries of current dvds. but the support from vivendi and electronics arts is a big boost to blu-ray in the battle for supremacy. gaming is a $20 billion industry worldwide so is as crucial as the film industry in terms of money to be made. the technical requirement for game development today demands more advanced optical-disc technologies said michael heilmann chief technology officer for vivendi universal. blu-ray offers the capacity performance and high-speed internet connectivity to take us into the future of gaming. ea a leading games developer and publisher added that the delivery of high-definition games of the future was vital and blu-ray had the capacity functionality and interactivity needed for the kinds of projects it was planning. sony recently announced it would be using the technology in its next generation of playstations. mr doherty said gamers were ravenous for high-quality graphics and technology for the next generation of titles. gamers especially those working on pcs are always focused on more capacity to deliver textures deeper levels for delivering higher-resolution playback. he added: the focus for games moving forward on increased immersion. gaming companies really like to focus on creating a world which involves creating complicated 3d models and textures and increasing the resolution increasing the frame rate - all of these are part of getting a more immersive experience. fitting these models on current dvd technologies means compressing the graphics so much that much of this quality is lost. as games move to more photo-real capability the current technology is limiting. they are thrilled at the advanced capacity to start to build these immersive environments said mr doherty. currently graphics-intensive pc games also require multiple discs for installation. high-definition dvds will cut down on that need. likewise consoles rely on single discs so dvds that can hold six times more data mean much better high-resolution games. blu-ray has already won backing from major hollywood studios such as mgm studios disney and buena vista as well as top technology firms like dell lg samsung and phillips amongst others. while toshiba s hd-dvd technology has won backing from paramount universal and warner bros
424,1659,labour pig poster anti-semitic the labour party has been accused of anti-semitism over a poster depicting michael howard and oliver letwin - who are both jewish - as flying pigs. prospective tory candidate andrew mennear whose finchley constituency contains a large jewish community branded it tasteless and offensive. the poster shows the two men s faces superimposed on winged pigs and says the day the tory sums add up . labour said the poster was not anti-jewish but anti-tory . it is one of four designs e-mailed to labour members who were asked to vote for their favourite. mr mennear who was sent the e-mail by a friend said he had been shocked by the image and had shown it to friends who were similarly horrified. he said there was nothing more distasteful for a jewish person than to be associated with a pig. i am not suggesting there is any deliberate intent but these sort of things can cause great offence. it clearly wasn t thought through. it is possible the posters were designed for maximum impact but this one clearly overstepped the mark and should be withdrawn. the campaign was particularly insensitive as it had come out at the same time as holocaust day a difficult time for many jewish people mr mennear added. a labour spokesman denied the campaign was anti-semitic. as we said at the time the james report (the tory backed inquiry into possible public spending savings) was published pigs will fly before the tory s sums will add up. this poster is making a serious point he said. a conservative party spokesman said: while the conservatives are concentrating on the issues that matter to people such as lower taxes and controlled immigration it is clear to see that the labour party is not. people will not be fooled.,politics
425,1727,computer grid to help the world your computer can now help solve the world s most difficult health and social problems. launched this week the world community grid will use idle computer time to test solutions to these problems. the donated processor cycles will help the wcg create virtual supercomputers via the net. the idea follows the success of other similar projects that have used the untapped processing power of millions of desktop pcs. one of the most successful collaboration projects was seti@home run by the search for extra terrestrial life project which sorted through radio signals looking for signs of alien communication. anyone can volunteer to donate the spare time of their computers by downloading a special screensaver from the wgc website. once installed the virtual terminal gets a chunk of the computational task to process and reports back after completing that task. the first wcg problem being tackled will be the human proteome folding project which hopes to identify the ways that the proteins in our body fold. the subjects of study are being selected by an international advisory board of experts specializing in health sciences and technology. the body will evaluate proposals from leading research public and not-for-profit organizations and is expected to oversee up to six projects a year. organisations also represented on the board include the united nations development programme and the world health organisation. the world community grid will enable researchers around the globe to gather and analyze unprecedented quantities of data to help address important global issues said elain gallin program director for medical research at the doris duke charitable foundation. [it] will inspire us to look beyond the technological limitations that have historically restricted us from addressing some of our most intractable problems she added. ibm has donated the hardware software technical services and expertise to build the basic infrastructure for the grid. the computer company working with united devices previously developed the smallpox research grid which linked together more than two million volunteers from 226 countries to speed the analysis of some 35 million drug molecules in the search for a treatment for smallpox.,tech
426,640,asia shares defy post-quake gloom thailand has become the first of the 10 southern asian nations battered by giant waves at the weekend to cut its economic forecast. thailand s economy is now expected to grow by 5.7% in 2005 rather than 6% as forecast before tsunamis hit six tourist provinces. the full economic costs of the disaster remain unclear. in part this is because of its scale and because delivering aid and recovering the dead remain priorities. but indonesian indian and hong kong stock markets reached record highs on wednesday suggesting that investors do not fear a major economic impact. the highs showed the gap in outlook between investors in large firms and individuals who have lost their livelihoods. investors seemed to feel that some of the worst-affected areas - such as aceh in indonesia - were so under-developed that the tragedy would little impact on asia s listed companies according to analysts. obviously with a lot of loss of life a lot of time is needed to clean up the mess bury the people and find the missing. but it s not necessarily a really big thing in the economic sense said abn amro chief asian strategist eddie wong. india s bombay stock exchange inched slightly above its previous record close on wednesday. expectations of strong corporate earnings in 2005 drove the indonesian stock exchange in jakarta to a record high on wednesday. in hong kong the hang seng index may be benefiting in part from the potential for its listed property companies to gain from rebuilding contracts in the tsunami-affected regions of south east asia. in sri lanka some economists have said that as much as 1% of annual growth may be lost. sri lanka s stock market has fallen about 5% since the weekend but it is still 40% higher than at the start of 2004. thailand may lose 30bn baht (£398m; $768m) in earnings from tourism over the next three months according to tourism minister sontaya kunplome. in the affected provinces he expects the loss of tourism revenue to be offset by government reconstruction spending. thailand intends to spend a similar sum - around 30bn baht - on the rebuilding work. it will take until the fourth quarter of next year before tourist visitors in phuket and five other provinces return to their normal level said naris chaiyasoot director general at the ministry s fiscal policy office. in the maldives the cost of reconstruction could wipe out economic growth according to a government spokesman. our nation is in peril here said ahmed shaheed the chief government spokesman. he estimated the economic cost of the disaster at hundreds of millions of dollars. the maldives has gross domestic product of $660m. it won t be surprising if the cost exceeds our gdp he said. in the last few years we made great progress in our standard of living - the united nations recognised this. now we see this can disappear in a few days a few minutes. shaheed noted that investment in a single tourist resort - the economic mainstay - could run to $40m. between 10 and 12 of the 80-odd resorts have been severely damaged and a similar number have suffered significant damage. however many experts including the world bank have pointed out that it is still difficult to assess the magnitude of the disaster and its likely economic impact.,business
427,691,mp attacked by muggers in kenya an mp has had more than £600 and his passport stolen after being mugged by six men in a park in kenya. quentin davies the mp for grantham and stamford was attacked in a notoriously dangerous park in the capital nairobi. he was not hurt in the mugging on saturday evening. several people are being questioned over the attack. he was in kenya before travelling to sudan with the parliamentary committee. local police were said to be surprised he was in the area. mr davies 60 said the mugging occurred 100 yards from the nairobi serena hotel and equally close to the anglican cathedral in the centre of the city at dusk. he said in a statement: it was a frightening experience. six men managed to steal up on me and grab me from behind. i knew i had to stay very calm and passive - you cannot fight six men . he had to spend an extra 24 hours in nairobi before rejoining the rest of the house of commons international development committee in dafur after the mugging. naturally i was afraid they would use a knife or gun though they never produced any weapon he said. two of them held me from behind and two others held my legs and another one expertly rifled all my pockets.,politics
428,1531,ford gains from finance not cars ford the us car company reported higher fourth quarter and full-year profits on thursday boosted by a buoyant period for its car loans unit. net income for 2004 was $3.5bn (£1.87bn) - up nearly $3bn from 2003 - while turnover rose $7.2bn to $170.8bn. in the fourth quarter alone ford reported net income of $104m compared with a loss of $793m a year ago. but its auto unit made a loss. fourth quarter turnover was $44.7bn compared to $45.9bn a year ago. though car and truck loan profits saved the day ford s auto unit made a pre-tax loss of $470m in the fourth quarter (compared to a profit of £13m in the year-ago period) and its us sales dipped 3.8%. yesterday general motor s results also showed its finance unit was a strong contributor to profits. however ford is working hard to revitalise its product portfolio unveiling the fusion and zephyr models at the international motor show in detroit. it also brought out a number of new models in the second half of 2004. in 2004 our company gained momentum delivering...more new products and more innovative breakthroughs such as the escape hybrid the industry s first full-hybrid sport utility vehicle said chairman and chief executive officer bill ford. we also confronted operating challenges with our jaguar brand and high industry marketing costs he added. but ford declined to provide guidance for first quarter 2005. it will do so at a presentation in new york on 26 january. in addition the company said 2004 net income was affected by a fourth-quarter pre-tax charge taken to reduce the value of a receivable owed to ford by visteon a former subsidiary. recent new models introduced by ford include the ford five hundred and mercury montego sedans the ford freestyle crossover the ford mustang the land rover lr3/discovery and volvo s40 and v50 in north america and europe. total company vehicle unit sales in 2004 were 6 798 000 an increase of 62 000 units from 2003. fourth-quarter vehicle unit sales totalled 1 751 000 a decline of 133 000 units. for the full year ford s worldwide automotive division earned a pre-tax profit of $850m a $697m improvement from $153m a year ago.,business
429,1389,jungle tv show ratings drop by 4m the finale of itv1 s i m a celebrity... get me out of here drew an average of 10.9m viewers - about four million fewer than the previous series. the fourth series of the show peaked on monday at 11.9m and 49.2% of the audience just before joe pasquale won. this compared with a peak of 15.3m at and a record 62.2% of the tv audience when kerry mcfadden won in february. comic pasquale beat former royal butler paul burrell who came second nightclub owner fran cosgrave who was third. pasquale follows kerry mcfadden phil tufnell and tony blackburn as winners of the show. singer and tv presenter mcfadden was the show s first female winner. when cricketer phil tufnell won in may 2003 12.3 million people - 50% of the viewing public - tuned in to watch. and when tony blackburn won the first show in 2002 10.9 million people saw the show. pasquale had been the show s hottest ever favourite to win and its hosts anthony mcpartlin and declan donnelly known as ant and dec said monday s deciding vote was the closest in the programme s history. pascuale has been flooded with offers of tv work according to his management company but one of his first jobs on his return is pantomime. before joining i m a celebrity he had signed up to play jack in jack and the beanstalk in birmingham and tickets for the show have become increasingly popular since he joined the tv show. his manager robert voice said: we ve had interest from different tv producers. some are for comedy shows some are new-type projects. there are a number of things joe wants to do. he is very ambitious. he wants to play the west end and do different things other than straightforward comedy. we are talking to a couple of west end producers about a musical.,entertainment
430,1545,jobs go at oracle after takeover oracle has announced it is cutting about 5 000 jobs following the completion of its $10.3bn takeover of its smaller rival peoplesoft last week. the company said it would retain more than 90% of peoplesoft product development and product support staff. the cuts will affect about 9% of the 55 000 staff of the combined companies. oracle s 18-month fight to acquire peoplesoft was one of the most drawn-out and hard-fought us takeover battles of recent times. the merged companies are set to be a major force in the enterprise software market second only in size to germany s sap. in a statement oracle said it began notifying staff of redundancies on friday and the process would continue over the next 10 days. by retaining the vast majority of peoplesoft technical staff oracle will have the resources to deliver on the development and support commitments we have made to peoplesoft customers over the last 18 months oracle s chief executive larry ellison said in a statement. correspondents say 6 000 job losses had been expected - and some suggest more cuts may be announced in future. they say mr ellison may be trying to placate peoplesoft customers riled by oracle s determined takeover strategy. hours before friday s announcement there was a funereal air at peoplesoft s headquarters reported ap news agency. a peoplesoft sign had been turned into shrine to the company with flowers candles and company memorabilia. we re mourning the passing of a great company the agency quoted peoplesoft worker david ogden as saying. other employees said they would rather be sacked than work for oracle. the new company is going to be totally different said anil aggarwal peoplesoft s director of database markets. peoplesoft had an easygoing relaxed atmosphere. oracle has an edgy aggressive atmosphere that s not conducive to innovative production. on the news oracle shares rose 15 cents - 1.1% - on nasdaq. in after-hours trading the shares did not move.,business
431,462,poppins musical gets flying start the stage adaptation of children s film mary poppins has had its opening night in london s west end. sir cameron mackintosh s lavish production which has cost £9m to bring to the stage was given a 10-minute standing ovation. lead actress laura michelle kelly soared over the heads of the audience holding the nanny s trademark umbrella. technical hitches had prevented mary poppins flight into the auditorium during preview performances. a number of celebrities turned out for the musical s premiere including actress barbara windsor comic graham norton and sir richard attenborough. the show s director richard eyre issued a warning earlier in the week that the show was unsuitable for children under seven while under-threes are barred. mary poppins was originally created by author pamela travers who is said to have cried when she saw disney s 1964 film starring julie andrews. travers had intended the story to be a lot darker than the perennial family favourite. theatre impresario sir cameron mackintosh has said he hopes the musical is a blend of the sweet-natured film and the original book.,entertainment
432,2101,us casino tricks face ban in uk controversial new uk casinos will be banned from using american tricks of the trade to ensure they are socially responsible it has been suggested. culture secretary tessa jowell said proposed super-casinos will be different from their us counterparts. in america pheromones have reportedly been released from machines to encourage aggressive gambling and clocks are often removed from walls. eight super-casinos are proposed from 2010 if the gambling bill becomes law. ms jowell said the legislation would ban psychological trickery. she told the times: british casinos will be quite different to those overseas. they will have to act in a socially responsible way and will be tightly regulated. they will be run according to british rules and we ll simply not allow any tricks which people are subjected to unawares and which increase the risk of problem gambling. one tactic used in the us is simulating daylight during night-time to lull players into remaining at the tables and slot machines. casinos also frequently offer free food drink and hotel accommodation to keep punters betting. a spokesman for the british casino association which represents the uk industry said the government was trying to allay fears over a uk las vegas . he said the way the licences were being awarded meant uk firms were at a massive disadvantage and foreign companies would be certain to win the contracts. the uk industry is one of the world s most respected he said. we have the lowest level of problem gambling in the world. we certainly don t use pheremones. the uk gambling industry is being totally frozen in time and the foreign companies will take over.,politics
433,1907,brits return keane to number one brits success has helped return keane s award-winning album hopes and fears back to the top of the uk album chart. the debut album which took the best british album title at the brits on tuesday moved up seven places from number eight to number one. also capitalising on brits success were the scissor sisters whose eponymous album moved three places to number two. u2 s latest single sometimes you can t make it on your own took the top spot in the singles chart ahead of elvis. the track from their current album how to dismantle an atomic bomb pushed eminem s like toy soldiers from number one to number three. elvis wooden heart which entered the chart at number two is the sixth in a series of 18 reissues to mark the 70th anniversary of presley s birth. there are currently six re-released elvis tracks occupying spots in the top 40 singles chart including are you lonesome tonight at number 20 it s now or never at number 27 and jailhouse rock at number 37. soldier by destiny s child ti and lil wayne debuted at number four while almost here the duet from former westlife star brian mcfadden and delta goodrem fell from number three to number five. there was more follow up to brits success for franz ferdinand won best rock act and best british group last week. their self-titled album moved from 13 to number four. last week s number one album tourist by athlete fell to number three.,entertainment
434,1373,costin aims for comeback in 2006 jamie costin should be paralysed. he says so himself in a matter-of-fact way as he recalls the car accident which occurred nine days before he was scheduled to step out into the olympic stadium in athens for the 50k walk. there is an ironic chuckle as he talks of his immediate thoughts after a lorry driving on the wrong side of the road had ploughed into his rental car. i was in a lot of pain and i guessed that one of my toes was broken says the waterford man. but i was thinking maybe with a cortisone injection you never know. in my back it felt as though all the muscles had been ripped off my pelvis but i was thinking maybe we could do something with laser therapy and ultra sound and hopefully i d be able to race. it took over 10 hours before jamie knew with certainty that he would not be competing in his second olympics. my back had been broken in two places and with one of my vertebrae the bottom part had exploded so i m fierce lucky not be paralysed. i d fractured my big toe as well which was on the brake. jamie didn t finally arrive at hospital in athens until some nine and a half hours after the accident. for the first nine hours i had no pain killers which was ridiculous in 35 degrees heat. but once i got the scans and saw them it was a case of moving on and thinking: ok i ve got a different set of circumstances now . within three days he was arriving back in ireland by air ambulance. doctors in athens had wanted to operate on jamie s back immediately but he insisted on delaying any surgery until he arrived back home - something he is now very relieved about. the greek doctors were going to put three or four inch titanium rods either side of my spinal cord up through my vertebrae. that would have fused all my lower back and i would never have been able to race again. they were really putting a lot of pressure on me to agree to the surgery. but when i got to the mater in dublin they said it was possible for it to heal totally naturally which is giving me the chance to get back into competition which is very important to me. the people at the mater have been absolutely fantastic. jamie had to wear a body cast for three and a half months after the accident and spent most of that time flat on his back. he then progressed to crutches for six weeks until he was finally able to walk unaided on 10 january. walking without the crutches seemed like something finally really measurable in terms of my recovery. physio sessions with johnston mcevoy in limerick have been a vital part of his recovery. johnston uses an advanced type of acupuncture and it s very effective. needles get put right close up to my spine. a two and a half inch needle went in yesterday and i m fairly incapacitated today as a result. jamie has also travelled to receive treatment at the polish training centre in spala where he has trained with triple olympic champion robert korzeniowski over the past five years. i was there for over a fortnight earlier this month and underwent a fair extreme treatment called cryotherapy. basically there s a small room which is cooled by liquid nitrogen to minus 160 degrees centigrade and it promotes deep healing. jamie heads to poland again on sunday where he will be having daily cryotherapy in addition to twice-daily physio sessions and pool-work. all these sessions are small steps on the way to what jamie hopes will be a return to racing in 2006. it s all about trying to get mobility in my back. lying down for three and a half months didn t really help with the strength. there s a lot of work involved in my recovery. i m doing about six hours a day between physio and pool work. i m also going to the gym to lift very light weights to try and build up my muscles. i m fairly full on with everything i do. i d hope to be training regularly by march. but training is just part of the process of getting back. at the moment every time i go and do a big bit of movement my whole pelvic area all down my lower back just tightens up. it s a case of wa
435,1787,algeria hit by further gas riots algeria suffered a weekend of violent protests against government plans to raise gas prices local press reports. demonstrators in a number of regions blocked roads attacked public buildings and overturned vehicles newspapers including el watan reported. the price of butane gas a vital fuel for cooking has risen to 200 dinars ($2.77) per canister from 170 dinars. even before the hike failing economic conditions had been fanning resentment in some of algeria s poorest regions. demonstrators took to the streets last week when the cost change was first announced but police seemed to have restored order. according to local press reports trouble flared up again on saturday and carried on into sunday. el watan said that a number of hot spots centred on the villages and towns close to bouira about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of the capital algiers. among the other main areas affected were the western tiaret region and sidi ammar in the east of the country agence france presse (afp) reported. riots also flared up in the maghnia region close to the border with morocco in the west afp said. butane gas and fuel oil are used as the main source of fuel to heat homes and cook food in algeria s remote mountain areas.,business
436,2202,ban on forced retirement under 65 employers will no longer be able to force workers to retire before 65 unless they can justify it. the government has announced that firms will be barred from 2006 from imposing arbitrary retirement ages. under new european age discrimination rules a default retirement age of 65 will be introduced. workers will be permitted to request staying on beyond this compulsory retirement age although employers will have the right to refuse. trade and industry secretary patricia hewitt said people would not be forced to work longer than they wanted saying the default age was not a statutory compulsory retirement age. she said employers would be free to continue employing people for as long as they were competent. under age discrimination proposals from the department of trade and industry last year workers were to be allowed to work on till 70 if they wished. business leaders had opposed the plan as they said it would be too costly and cumbersome. the british chambers of commerce welcomed the latest proposal. this move today is the best of both worlds it said. employers have the ability to define the end point of the employer-employee relationship and employees have flexibility with a right to request to work past the age of 65. but age concern said imposing a retirement age of 65 was cowardly and a complete u-turn . this makes a mockery of the government s so-called commitment to outlawing ageism leaving the incoming age discrimination law to unravel said gordon lishman director general of age concern england . it is now inevitable that older people will mount legal challenges to the decision using european law. the decision will have no impact on the age at which workers can collect their state pension the government has said.,business
437,961,fed warns of more us rate rises the us looks set for a continued boost to interest rates in 2005 according to the federal reserve. minutes of the december meeting which pushed rates up to 2.25% showed that policy-makers at the fed are worried about accelerating inflation. the clear signal pushed the dollar up to $1.3270 to the euro by 0400 gmt on wednesday but depressed us shares. the markets are starting to fear a more aggressive fed in 2005 said richard yamarone of argus research. the dow jones index dropped almost 100 points on tuesday with the nasdaq also falling as key tech stocks were hit by broker downgrades. the dollar also gained ground against sterling on tuesday reaching $1.8832 to the pound before slipping slightly on wednesday morning. the release of the minutes just three weeks after the 14 december meeting was much faster than usual indicating the fed wants to keep markets more apprised of its thinking. this too is being taken in some quarters as a sign of aggressive moves on interest rates to come. the key fed funds rate has risen 1.25 percentage points during 2004 from the 46-year low of 1% reached not long after the 9/11 attacks in 2001. that long trough might be contributing to signs of potentially excessive risk-taking in financial markets said the federal open markets committee (fomc) which sets interest rates. the odds now favour a further boost to rates at the next meeting in early february economists said. but the respite for the dollar which spent late 2003 being pushed lower against other major currencies by worries about massive us trade and budget deficits may be short-lived. you can t rule out a further correction... but we don t think it s a change in direction in the dollar said jason daw at merrill lynch. nothing fundamental has changed.,business
438,680,davenport puts retirement on hold lindsay davenport has put any talk of retirement on hold after having a largely injury-free 2004 campaign. the 28-year-old world number one had said that she would quit at the end of last year but after a successful season she has had a change of heart. finally i felt i put myself in a position to try and win grand slams again said davenport. it would be tough to walk away when i feel like i can contend so there s no point in hanging it up quite yet. davenport has won three grand slams the 2000 australian open wimbledon in 1999 and the 1998 us open. her career has been hit by a series of injuries but last year she started hitting top form and won seven titles. she was due to take part in this week s hopman cup in perth but decided she wanted to rest her knee. i just really wanted to make sure my right knee was going to be able to really withstand all the rigours of the whole year coming up she said.,sport
439,1059,howl helps boost japan s cinemas japan s box office received a 3.8% boost last year with ticket sales worth 211bn yen (£1.08bn). the surge was led by animated movie howl s moving castle which took 20bn yen (£102m) to become the biggest film in japan in 2004. it is expected to match the 30.7bn yen (£157m) record of hayao miyazaki s previous film spirited away. japan motion picture producers figures showed that 170 million cinema admissions were made in japan in 2004. the last samurai starring tom cruise was the biggest foreign movie hit in japan last year taking 13.8bn yen (£70.7m). it was followed by harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban finding nemo and the lord of the rings: the return of the king. the second highest-grossing japanese film was romantic drama crying out love in the centre of the world followed by be with you and pocket monsters advanced generation. japanese films accounted for 37.5% of japan s box office total last year with foreign films taking the remaining 62.5%. this represented a 4.5% gain for the proportion of japanese films in 2004 compared to 2003. the number of japanese films released rose to 310 in 2004 from 287 the previous year. sales of movies on dvd and video amounted to 497bn yen (£2.54bn) for the year.,entertainment
440,626,nigeria to boost cocoa production the government of nigeria is hoping to triple cocoa production over the next three years with the launch of an ambitious development programme. agriculture minister adamu bello said the scheme aimed to boost production from an expected 180 000 tonnes this year to 600 000 tonnes by 2008. the government will pump 154m naira ($1.1m; £591 000) into subsidies for farming chemicals and seedlings. nigeria is currently the world s fourth-largest cocoa producer. cocoa was the main export product in nigeria during the 1960s. but with the coming of oil the government began to pay less attention to the cocoa sector and production began to fall from a peak of about 400 000 tonnes a year in 1970. at the launch of the programme in the south-western city of ibadan mr bello explained that an additional aim of the project is to encourage the processing of cocoa in the country and lift local consumption. he also announced that 91m naira of the funding available had been earmarked for establishing cocoa plant nurseries. the country could be looking to emulate rival ghana which produced a bumper crop last year. however some farmers are sceptical about the proposals. people who are not farming will hijack the subsidy said joshua osagie a cocoa farmer from edo state told reuters. the farmers in the village never see any assistance he added. at the same time as nigeria announced its new initiative ghana - the world s second largest cocoa exporter - announced revenues from the industry had broken new records. the country saw more than $1.2bn-worth of the beans exported during 2003-04. analysts said high tech-production techniques and crop spraying introduced by the government led to the huge crop pushing production closer to levels seen in the 1960s when the country was the world s leading cocoa grower.,business
441,1961,usher leads billboard nominations r&b singer usher is leading the race for the billboard awards with nominations in 13 categories including best male. alicia keys has 12 nominations for the awards which will be held on 8 december at the mgm grand in las vegas. other multiple nominees include maroon5 outkast kanye west r kelly gretchen wilson hoobastank and jay-z. soul singer stevie wonder will receive billboard s century award the magazine s highest honour for creative achievement at the ceremony. the awards will be hosted by american idol presenter ryan seacrest and will feature performances by usher gwen stefani nelly and green day. usher and keys will be battling it out for prizes including artist of the year hot 100 songwriter of the year and billboard 200 album of the year for their respective albums confessions and the diary of alicia keys. maroon5 and outkast are also up for artist of the year while outkast s speakerboxxx/the love below is a finalist for billboard 200 album of the year alongside josh groban s closer. the awards honour the year s leading artists and songs as determined by their performance on billboard s weekly charts.,entertainment
442,1048,uk directors guild nominees named martin scorsese and clint eastwood are among the nominees for the top prize at the directors guild of great britain awards now in their second year. the oscar rivals will compete for the international film prize at the ceremony to be held at the curzon mayfair cinema in london on 20 march. other nominees include bill condon for kinsey and michel gondry for eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. mike leigh s vera drake is among the nominees for best british film. the awards will see eastwood and scorsese once again competing for the directing prize following last weekend s oscars. clint eastwood won best director for million dollar baby beating scorsese who was nominated for a fifth time for the howard hughes biopic the aviator. mike leigh will compete for the british film prize with shane meadows for dead man s shoes roger michell for enduring love and my summer of love director pawel pawlikowski. nominees for best foreign film include spain s pedro almodovar for bad education and hong kong director wong kar-wai for 2046. in the tv categories comedy series early doors and the alan clark diaries will compete for the best directing award for a 30-minute television show while the directors of shameless hustle and bodies are all nominated for the 60-minute television prize. the directors of omagh and sex traffic are among the nominees for a television movie or mini-series. american beauty s sam mendes will receive a lifetime achievement award for his work in film and theatre while theatre director simon mcburney will be given an award for outstanding directorial achievement.,entertainment
443,336,white admits to balco drugs link banned american sprinter kelli white says she knowingly took steroids given to her by bay area lab co-operative (balco) president victor conte. conte faces a federal trial next year on charges of distributing steroids and tax evasion and white said at first he tried to cover up what he was doing. he s the one who told me that it wasn t what he said it was white said in the san francisco chronicle. but she added: it was my decision to go to him not anybody else s. white said conte at first told her the substance was flaxseed oil only to change his story later. white failed a drugs test after winning the 100m and 200m titles at the 2003 world athletics championships. she was subsequently handed a two-year ban in may this year and has admitted taking the stimulant modafinil. at first white claimed she took the drug to combat narcolepsy but she now takes full responsibility for her actions. my whole belief about victor is that he was selling a product white said in the la times. whether it be a good product or a bad product he was selling a product. white was introduced to conte through her coach remy korchemy who is also a defendant in the balco case. the 27-year-old believes doping is so common in sport she felt compelled to cheat herself if she was to have any chance of winning. i have no clue what it s going to take to change that said white. i would say i made a mistake and i would never ever go back. i would never recommend anyone to take that route.,sport
444,719,apple attacked over sources row civil liberties group the electronic frontier foundation (eff) has joined a legal fight between three us online journalists and apple. apple wants the reporters to reveal 20 sources used for stories which leaked information about forthcoming products including the mac mini. the eff representing the reporters has asked california s superior court to stop apple pursuing the sources. it argues that the journalists are protected by the american constitution. the eff says the case threatens the basic freedoms of the press. apple is particularly keen to find the source for information about an unreleased product code-named asteroid and has asked the journalists e-mail providers to hand over communications relevant to that. rather than confronting the issue of reporter s privilege head-on apple is going to the journalist s isps for his e-mails said eff lawyer kurt opsahl. this undermines a fundamental first amendment right that protects all reporters. if the court lets apple get away with this and exposes the confidences gained by these reporters potential confidential sources will be deterred from providing information to the media and the public will lose a vital outlet for independent news analysis and commentary he said. the case began in december 2004 when apple asked a local californian court to get the journalists to reveal their sources for articles published on websites appleinsider.com and powerpage.org. apple also sent requested information from the nfox.com the internet service provider of powerpage s publisher jason o-grady. as well as looking at how far corporations can go in preventing information from being published the case will also examine whether online journalists have the same privileges and protections as those writing for newspapers and magazines. the eff has gained some powerful allies in its legal battle with apple including professor tom goldstein former dean of the journalism school at the university of california and dan gillmor a well-known silicon valley journalist. apple was not immediately available for comment.,tech
445,1563,manics in charge of bbc 6 music the manic street preachers are to take over the helm of bbc digital radio station 6 music for a week in december. the welsh band whose hits include design for life and if you tolerate this have already chosen which records to play between 6 and 12 december. their albums of the day include who s next by the who and u2 s joshua tree. the group will also perform their own live session. they follow in the footsteps of radiohead who took over the station for a week last year. bass player nicky wire will join phil jupitus on his morning show on monday 6 december while vocalist and guitarist james dean bradfield will appear on andrew collins afternoon show on thursday 9. the group have also chosen documentaries to air such as the leonard cohen story and guitar greats - jimmy page. the live concert session tracks they have picked include the specials rat race recorded at hammersmith odeon in london and public enemy s fight the power and rebel without a pause. the band will also answer questions e-mailed in by 6 music listeners.,entertainment
446,963,german music in a zombie state the german music business - the third largest in the world - is in the state of a zombie because it has failed to respond to the challenge posed by downloading and piracy a leading industry figure has said. tim renner the head of universal music germany until last year told bbc world service s the music biz programme that the country s music industry was now struggling to survive. renner warned that unless the industry accepted new realties - such as downloading - its decline could become irreversible. the problem the music industry has got is that they aren t willing to accept that the classic way of doing business is over and out he stated. so the music industry in its current form over here is pretty much in the state of a zombie. the music market in germany peaked in 1997 with sales of 2.6bn euros (£1.8bn). since 2000 sales have plummeted to just 1.6bn euros (£1.1bn) in 2003. in the space of one year - between 2002 and 2003 - cd album sales fell by 13.8%. but a study by the society for consumer research found that at the same time more than twice as many recordable cds had music recorded on them than cd albums were sold. mr renner pointed out that because profit comes mainly from the longevity of a good-selling record this was particularly damaging. you need time he added. however peter zombic the managing director of the international federation of phonographic industry in germany said he did not feel the situation was as dramatic as mr renner believed. it s quite true that we have severe problems in germany - but that s true in other parts of the world and in most developed markets too he argued. we have a severe problem with piracy especially internet piracy and we also have a severe problem of private copying. i don t agree that the music industry lost control over the music market - in fact especially in regard to germany talent the market is quite successful. he did however admit that copyright owners have partly lost control of their copyright due to piracy and copying. but he refuted suggestions that the industry had been too slow to respond to digital downloading. we were the first to implement a download service - back in 1997 he argued. at that time it was not successful because of the advent of piracy - it was the napster time when p2p services became popular. it still is quite difficult for the music industry to compete with a price that is zero as far as the illegal product is concerned. mr zombic also called for a change to the perception in germany that private copying of music is not a problem. german law does allow people to make copies of cds for their family and close friends without fear of breaking copyright. mr zombic said that this legal framework was a huge problem . there is a widespread attitude that private copying is a hobby it s nice it s fun he added. we try to make clear it s not nice and it s not fun - it s endangering the creativity in our country.,entertainment
447,179,yukos owner sues russia for $28bn the majority owner of embattled russian oil firm yukos has sued the russian government for $28.3bn (£15.2bn). the kremlin last year seized and sold yukos main production arm yugansk to state-run oil group rosneft for $9.3bn to offset a massive back tax bill. group menatep the gibraltar-based holding company which controls 51% of yukos says this was illegal. menatep has already asked rosneft to repay a $900m loan that yugansk had secured on its assets. the russian government s argument for selling yuganskneftegaz - the unit s full name - was that yukos owed more than $27bn in back taxes for the years from 2000 onwards. it accused the firm of using a web of offshore firms to avoid its tax liabilities and the courts sent in bailiffs to freeze yukos accounts and seize yugansk. but critics say the sell-off and the assault on yukos finances are part of an attempt to bring the energy industry back under state control. according to menatep the government s actions were contrary to the 1994 energy charter treaty which was designed to regulate disagreements over energy investments. we have warned the russian government about their continuing attacks against yukos its personnel and its shareholders and we have warned any buyer of yuganskneftegaz that they would face a lifetime of litigation said tim osborne a director of group menatep. the time for warning is over and actions to recover the value of our losses begin in earnest today. menatep said the value of its yukos shareholding had gone from $17.8bn to virtually nothing since 2003 as a result of the russian government s action as its shares have fallen 97%. according to its paris lawyer emmanuel gaillard of shearman and sterling the overall claim is based on that figure with a 60% addition for the share gains that could have accrued since then. arbitration of the lawsuit could take place in stockholm or the hague mr gaillard said. while russia has signed the charter it has never ratified it - which some experts say could make it difficult for menatep to press its case. but mr gaillard told bbc news that the charter came into effect on signature not ratification. russia has said in the past that it is bound by it so as to attract foreign investors he said. yukos is still waiting to see what will happen to its filing in a us court for bankruptcy protection. it took the action to try to prevent the forced sale of yugansk - first to a little-known shell company which in turn was bought by rosneft. yukos claims its downfall was punishment for the political ambitions of its founder mikhail khodorkovsky. mr khodorkovsky currently facing fraud and tax evasion charges of his own was one of the founders of menatep. he has since signed over his shareholding to one of his fellow investors.,business
448,1438,police chief backs drinking move a chief constable has backed the introduction of 24-drinking saying police had a responsibility to ensure people could benefit from a law change. however norfolk police chief andy hayman also warned that a great deal of preparatory work was still needed. i don t subscribe to the views of some of my colleagues who are coming out and objecting to it he said. his comments come after the liberal democrats backed tory demands that the government s plans be put on hold. andy hayman said he did not agree with politicians and senior police officers who have objected to the plans which come into force on 7 february. i feel that is a premature position to be taking he said. among those who have criticised the plans are the uk s top policeman sir john stevens. the metropolitan police chief said last week that the plans for 24-hour drinking should be re-examined because of a binge drinking epidemic . however mr hayman said: it would be totally unacceptable in my view for a chief constable to say i m very sorry . he said that police should make sure that responsible people who wanted a change could benefit from more liberal legislation. my view is that i have got a responsibility to create an environment where that can happen he said. however he believes a lot of preparatory work is still needed to be done by police local authorities and the drinks industry before the nation was ready for 24-hour drinking. but he is confident problems in the early days can be ironed out . he believed the majority of people favoured this law change and we have to accept that lifestyles are changing . but aspects such as transport and basic things such as making sure public toilets are open all night had to be taken into account. prime minister tony blair has defended the licensing act saying it is wrong to deny people the relaxed hours enjoyed elsewhere in europe because of a tiny minority of violent binge drinkers. a six-month transitional period starts on 7 february during which time venues can apply for extended licences. the conservatives have called for 24-hour drinking to be shelved until the problems of binge drinking are solved. on monday the lib dems also called for a delay. lib dem home affairs spokesman mark oaten said: it would clearly be prudent to allow the police and local authorities more time to prepare for flexible drinking hours. chief constable mr hayman acknowledged that binge drinking did cause problems. if you come to norwich on a friday or saturday night you will see things going on that will you make you feel ashamed. however i want industry to succeed in norwich and i want norwich to be the recognised nightspot of east anglia. there is no way i want to say we cannot manage it or police it. we can.,politics
449,1189,belle named best scottish band belle & sebastian have been named the best scottish band of all time after a three month-long public poll. the group beat travis and idlewild into second and third place respectively. franz ferdinand who recently picked up five brit award nominations ended up in 15th place while the eurythmics wound up at a lowly 38. other scottish acts such as the mull historical society who also featured in the top 50 performed at a party in glasgow where the result was announced. scottish-based band snow patrol who finished 14th in the vote and have been nominated for a pair of brit awards were among the performers who covered well-known scottish pop songs at the party on wednesday night. indie stalwarts belle & sebastian have enjoyed a chart career stretching back to 1997. they were the surprise winners of the brit award for best breakthrough act two years later. scottish bands from earlier musical eras also made it into the final list including 1970s tartan boy band the bay city rollers and goth favourites the jesus and mary chain. scottish magazine the list recently compiled a list of the top 50 scottish bands of all time but left the final decision to the public. the magazine s music editor mark robertson said: the idea behind the project was simple - to rediscover the very best of scottish music from the finest musical talent spanning from the age of 70s rock through to 80s pop right up to today s international stars. everyone has strong opinions about this and we wanted to open it up to the public to decide he added. bbc radio scotland presenter vic galloway who has been involved in the project said it had been great fun to look back at scotland s musical heritage and take note of up-and-coming scottish acts.,entertainment
450,2126,analysis: no pain no gain he called it his masochism strategy in the run-up to the iraq war and now tony blair has signed up for another dose of pain. the idea is simple - the prime minister goes head to head with an often hostile group of real voters in the full spotlight of the television cameras. the theory is that talking to the great british public even if they are the great unwashed is better than having the media filter what voters hear from politicians. it is also the most effective way of showing that he is aware of real people s concerns and - on occasions - of their outright fury. mr blair used the tactic before the iraq war to try to show he really was engaging with public concerns and you can expect to see it much more in the run-up to the election. labour knows it has been damaged by accusations of spin control freakery and over-slick presentation - sometimes from within the ranks of its own mps. tony blair himself has said people complain he does not listen. mr blair s latest bout of flagellation came with a series of questions sessions on five television throughout wednesday. the trouble began on the wright stuff show with maria hutchings marching up to him saying tony that s rubbish as she tried to complain about her autistic son s school being threatened with closure. a few don t worries as mrs hutchings was led back to the audience averted a public slanging match - he spoke to her privately after the show. but that was only the start and later sessions produced the type of grilling not even the toughest television interviewer could produce. writer neil coppendale from west sussex asked of the iraq war: tens of thousands of innocent men women and children died - how do you manage to sleep at night on immigration london teacher diane granger said: where are you going to put everyone and can you imagine even jeremy paxman putting the question posed by brighton nurse marion brown: would you wipe somebody s backside for £5 mr blair tried to use the questioners first names - and sometimes threw them off their stride by asking what they would do about the problems. many of the newspapers have branded the exercise a pr stunt which backfired. indeed there is a danger mr blair simply ends up looking embattled . conservative michael howard and liberal democrat charles kennedy are to be offered chances to appear in similar slots on the channel next month. labour strategists believe more of the sessions will mean the hecklers no longer become a story and the real issues take prominence. james humphreys ex-head of corporate communications at number 10 says the strategy shows frustration with the media. they feel they don t get their voice across and going direct to people is clearly their game on this occasion he says. there are risks but the prize is tackling the trend of lower turnouts at the polls he argues. the prime minister knows full well the potential hazards . he must remember with gritted teeth his confrontation with sharron storer the birmingham woman who harangued him over the state of her local hospital in the 2001 election campaign. all you do is walk around and make yourself known you don t do anything to help anybody she told mr blair before stomping off refusing his pleas to discuss the issue privately. former downing street media chief alastair campbell has described the episode as a bit of a disaster as it meant the launch of labour s election manifesto received little coverage. but it was seen as one of the few moments when that election campaign came alive not least because it coincided with john prescott s even more direct contact - when he punched an egg-throwing protester. former prime ministers too have come to grief at the hands of a persistent member of the public. the undoubted highlight of years of election phone-in shows was margaret thatcher discomfort on nationwide in 1983 when viewer diana gould put her on the spot about the sinking of the belgrano in the falklands war. john major reaped the benefits of street camp
451,895,brown ally rejects budget spree chancellor gordon brown s closest ally has denied suggestions there will be a budget giveaway on 16 march. ed balls ex-chief economic adviser to the treasury said there would be no spending spree before polling day. but mr balls a prospective labour mp said he was confident the chancellor would meet his fiscal rules. he was speaking as sir digby jones cbi director general warned mr brown not to be tempted to use any extra cash on pre-election bribes. mr balls who stepped down from his treasury post to stand as a labour candidate in the election had suggested that mr brown would meet his golden economic rule - with a margin to spare . he said he hoped more would be done to build on current tax credit rules. he also stressed rise in interest rates ahead of an expected may election would not affect the labour party s chances of winning. expectations of a rate rise have gathered pace after figures showed house prices are still rising. consumer borrowing rose at a near-record pace in january. if the mpc (the bank of england s monetary policy committee) were to judge that a rate rise was justified before the election because of the strength of the economy - and i m not predicting that they will - i do not believe that this will be a big election issue in britain for labour he told a parliamentary lunch. this is a big change in our political culture. during an interview with bbc radio 4 s today programme mr balls said he was sure mr brown s budget would not put at risk the stability of the economy. i don t think we ll see a pre-election spending spree - we certainly did not see that before 2001 he said. his assurances came after sir digby jones said stability was all important and any extra cash should be spent on improving workers skills. his message to the chancellor was: please don t give it away in any form of electioneering. sir digby added: i don t think he will. i have to say he has been a prudent chancellor right the way through. stability is the key word - british business needs boring stability more than anything. we would say to him don t increase your public spending don t give it away. but if you are going to anywhere just add something to the competitiveness of britain put it into skilling our people . that would be a good way to spend any excess. mr balls refused to say whether mr brown would remain as chancellor after the election amid speculation he will be offered the job of foreign secretary. i think that gordon brown wants to be part of the successful labour government which delivers in the third term for the priorities of the people and sees off a conservative party that will take britain backwards mr balls told today. prime minister tony blair has yet to name the date of the election but most pundits are betting on 5 may.,politics
452,2005,johansson takes adelaide victory second seed joachim johansson won his second career title with a 7-5 6-3 win over taylor dent at the australian hardcourt championships in adelaide. the swede was made to graft american dent surviving three break points in the fifth game of the match. but johansson got the breakthrough with a sublime backhand return winner and won the second set with more ease. his first tournament win was at memphis in 2004 helping him leap from 113th in the world rankings to number 11. afterwards dent said he rated us open semi-finalist johansson as a top contender at the australian open which starts on 17 january. i believe men s tennis is all about holding serve and if he s playing like that on his own serve i don t see how guys are going to break him said dent. johansson was more restrained in his assessment: i have to improve my serve if i m going to go all the way in melbourne.,sport
453,819,parmalat boasts doubled profits parmalat the italian food group at the centre of one of europe s most painful corporate scandals has reported a doubling in profit. its pre-tax earnings in the fourth quarter were 77m euros (£53m; $100m) up from 38m in the same period of 2003. less welcome was the news that the firm had been fined 11m euros for having violated takeover rules five years ago. the firm sought bankruptcy protection in december 2003 after disclosing a 4bn-euro hole in its accounts. overall the company s debt is close to 12bn euros and is falling only slowly. its brands well-known in italy and overseas have continued to perform strongly however and have barely lost revenue since the scandal broke. but a crucial factor for the company s future is the legal unwinding of its intensely complex financial position. on tuesday the company s administrator turnaround expert enrico bondi sued morgan stanley its former banker to return 136m euros relating to a 2003 bond deal. that brought to 49 the number of banks that mr bondi has sued a mass of legal action that could bring in as much as 3bn euros. the company has also sued former auditors and financial advisors for damages. and criminal cases against the company s former management are proceeding separately.,business
454,23,bates seals takeover ken bates has completed his takeover of leeds united. the 73-year-old former chelsea chairman sealed the deal at 0227 gmt on friday and has bought a 50% stake in the club. he said: i m delighted to be stepping up to the mantel at such a fantastic club. i recognise leeds as a great club that has fallen on hard times. we have a lot of hard work ahead to get the club back where it belongs in the premiership and with the help of our fans we will do everything we can. bates bought his stake under the guise of a geneva-based company known as the forward sports fund. he revealed that part of his plan is to buy back leeds elland road stadium and thorp arch training ground in due course. it s going to be a tough jon and the first task is to stabilise the cash flow and sort out the remaining creditors bates added. but there is light at the end of a very long tunnel. for the past year it has been a matter of firefighting - now we can start running the club again. outgoing leeds chairman gerald krasner said: this deal ensures the medium to long term survival of the club and i believe mr bates proposals are totally for the benefit of the club. we are content that under mr bates leeds united will continue to consolidate and move forward. when we took over leeds united in march 2004 the club had a debt of £103m since that date my board has succeeded in reducing the debt to under £25m. we worked tirelessly to solve all of the problems at leeds united. eighty percent of the problems have already been overcome and we came to this agreement with mr bates to secure its ongoing success. krasner revealed that his consortium has been asked to remain in the background at the club for an undisclosed period to help ensure a smooth hand-over. he will stay on in an unpaid capacity while peter lorimer will continue in his role as director and point of contact for the fans and peter mccormick will serve as a consultant to the incoming board. the other outgoing directors have agreed to leave their loans of £4.5m in the company for the next four years. on leeds new-look board it is understood that lorimer will be joined by former chelsea finance director yvonne todd and bates lawyer mark taylor. krasner refused to give any details of the finances involved in the takeover. he told bbc five live: i am not going into the figures. if ken wants to give them up that is up to him. i can not tell you what the money will be used for. this dea l is not about money for the current board. in the last four months i never saw any cheques until this week from one person. i am not stretching figures we don t discuss internal arrangements. bates stepped down as chelsea chairman in march last year following roman abramovich s £140m takeover at stamford bridge. in may he made a proposal to invest £10m in sheffield wednesday but this was rejected by the club. sebastien sainsbury had been close to a takeover of leeds but withdrew his £25m offer last week. his efforts failed after he revealed it would take £40m to stage a takeover and that the club will also lose £10m over the next six months. the club was on the brink of administration - and the deduction of 10 points by the football league - before bates arrival but his investment has spared them that prospect.,sport
455,457,boothroyd calls for lords speaker betty boothroyd has said the house of lords needs its own speaker and that peers should lead the way on reforming the upper chamber. baroness boothroyd who was the first woman to be commons speaker said she believed tony blair initiated reforms without a clear outcome in mind. now we have to take care of it ourselves and make the best of it she told the bbc s breakfast with frost. in 1999 labour removed all but 92 of the lords 750 hereditary peers. that was billed as the first stage of reform of the institution. the lord chancellor hinted further reforms could be unveiled in the next labour manifesto. i think we need to look very carefully at the relationship between the lords and the commons lord falconer told bbc1 s breakfast with frost. how it interacts with the commons is a very very important issue. we need to address the issue in the manifesto but you will have to wait for when the manifesto comes. the lord chancellor currently has the role of house of lords speaker. he is also head of the judiciary and a member of the cabinet as constitutional affairs secretary. lady boothroyd said she believed it was unacceptable for the lord chancellor to have the role of speaker. i would really like to see a speaker of the house of lords she said. i don t go for the idea of somebody - a lord chancellor - who is head of the judiciary a senior cabinet minister and speaker of the lords. i want somebody there who is going to look after that house and do a job there.,politics
456,1423,star trek fans fight to save show star trek fans have taken out a full-page ad in the los angeles times in an attempt to persuade tv executives not to scrap star trek: enterprise. made by the upn tv network the latest spin-off from the hit sci-fi show is due to end in may after four series. but fans around the world have pitched in to pay for the advert which had the headline save star trek . they are also asking the sci-fi channel to pick it up from upn and will stage a rally in los angeles on 25 february. the advert described the star trek franchise as a cultural icon . enterprise stars former quantum leap actor scott bakula as captain archer and is set before the original 1960s star trek series. captain archer and the crew of the nx-01 need your help to continue their journeys! the advert said. it also included a cut-out coupon for fans to send to upn s parent companies paramount and viacom plus the sci-fi channel. it also urged supporters to join the rally outside the paramount studios. fan website trek united is hoping to raise $32m (£17m) from donations by the end of march to pay for a fifth series. more than $23 000 (£12 000) has been pledged so far according to the site. the 98th and final episode of star trek: enterprise will air in the us on 13 may. the fourth series has averaged 2.9 million viewers per episode - half the amount it got in its first series. star trek: enterprise began in 2001 following other star trek spin-off series the next generation deep space nine and voyager.,entertainment
457,100,rapper kanye west s shrewd soul us hip-hop star kanye west - who leads the race for this year s grammys with 10 nominations - rose to prominence by producing songs for artists such as jay-z and alicia keys. he then emerged from his behind-the-scenes role to become an artist as well as a producer. but his solo career almost ended before it began after a near-fatal car crash left west with his jaw wired shut in 2002. the resulting song through the wire became west s first uk hit in april 2004 and subsequent album the college dropout became a transatlantic success both critically and commercially. west 26 began rapping as a teenager at his chicago school inspired by the beats and rhymes of 1980s pioneers run dmc. hip-hop producer no id encouraged west to sample old soul and r&b hits then revive them with an updated sound an approach that would become his trademark. i feel like a lot of the soul that s in those old records that i sample is in me he said. so when i hear them and i put them with the drums and i bring them to the new millennium it s just like god s doing that. i m one with them records right there. it s a blessing. leaving his chicago art school after only one year - a move which would later inspire the title of his album - west began his music career co-producing songs for artists mase and the madd rapper. this drew the attention of superstar rapper jay-z who signed west up to his roc-a-fella record label to produce numerous artists on his roster. west s work gained mainstream recognition when he produced the singles takeover and izzo (hova) on jay-z s own 2001 album blueprint. incorporating samples of five to one by the doors and the jackson five s i want you back respectively the hits were credited with injecting soul back into hip-hop. as their success attracted further production work for jay-z ( 03 bonnie & clyde) and artists such as ludacris (stand up) and alicia keys (you don t know my name) west announced plans for a solo album. driving home from a late-night los angeles recording session in october 2002 he was involved in the car crash that left his jaw fractured in three places. anytime i hear about any accident my heart sinks in and i just thank god that i m still here he later said. that steering wheel could have been two inches further out and that would have been it. west s account of the accident sampled chaka khan s hit through the fire to become the heart of his completed solo album the college dropout. released last year it was by turns smooth humorous and sharp and largely avoided the clichéd hip-hop preoccupation with guns girls and jewellery. through the wire was quickly joined in the uk and us charts by slow jamz on which west collaborated with rapper twista and ray actor jamie foxx. the college dropout spawned two further uk hits and a string of award nominations. west was shortlisted for 10 grammys - including nominations for artist and album of the year - and took the best hip-hop artist producer and album titles at last year s music of black origin (mobo) awards. now a respected rapper and producer in the influential field of hip-hop kanye west is unlikely to regret his decision to leave college early.,entertainment
458,1448,trial begins of spain s top banker the trial of emilio botin the chairman of spain s most powerful bank santander central hispano has started in madrid. mr botin is accused of misusing the bank s funds after he approved the payment of 160m euros ($208m; £111m) in bonus and pension payouts to two former executives. however the trial was suspended when mr botin s lawyer introduced a new set of documents on the day testimony was set to begin. a three-judge panel gave prosecution lawyers until monday to study the documents when the trial will be reconvened. the high-profile case began after two santander shareholders filed a criminal complaint about the payments to jose maria amusategui and angel corcostegui who stepped down in 2001. both executives helped mr botin orchestrate spain s biggest bank merger between santander and banco central hispano in 1999. as he arrived at spain s high court earlier on wednesday mr botin greeted the waiting media saying: i have full faith in justice. santander s board of governors strongly reject the charges against their chairman saying the payouts were legal and made with their unanimous support. but if convicted mr botin could face a prison term of up to six years. mr corcostegui a former ceo at santander also asked the court for new evidence to be admitted. in spite of the allegations against him mr botin continues to lead santander and was instrumental in the £8.5bn takeover last november of the british bank abbey national. since taking over the chairmanship in 1986 he has turned santander into one of the top ten biggest banks in the world.,business
459,97,oil rebounds from weather effect oil prices recovered in asian trade on tuesday after falling in new york on milder winter weather across the us. with winter temperatures staying relatively high in the northern us a barrel of light crude ended monday down $1.33 to $42.12. however crude prices have rebounded in asia rising to $42.30 a barrel for february delivery. in london trading of brent crude was suspended for a public holiday but the price fell to $39.20 in the far east. with milder temperatures expected to continue in the northern parts of the us over the next few days at least analysts have said the price of oil may fall further - even if the decline was only temporary. weather has been the achilles heel of this market said abn amro analyst john brady. but it is winter in the northeast. eventually we ll get another cold blast. despite a fall of more than $12 a barrel from the record highs reached in late october the price of crude oil remains almost 30% higher than year-ago levels. prices rose last week after militant attacks in riyadh the capital of saudi arabia briefly renewed fears that the supply chain might be broken in the world s leading crude exporter. the market was panicked but fears essentially evaporated... since there was no follow-up said deborah white senior economist for energy at sg securities in paris.,business
460,172,reds sink 10-man magpies titus bramble s own goal put liverpool on the comeback trail as injury-hit newcastle were well beaten at anfield. patrick kluivert s close-range finish put newcastle ahead after 31 minutes but they were pegged back as bramble headed in steven gerrard s corner. neil mellor gave liverpool the lead before half-time from milan baros pass before the czech added a third after rounding shay given on the hour. newcastle then had lee bowyer sent off for two bookable offences. liverpool brought back luis garcia after a hamstring injury while newcastle were forced to draft in kluivert after craig bellamy was a late withdrawal with a back injury sustained in the warm-up. and garcia should have crowned his return with a goal inside the opening minute when he took a pass from baros but shot wildly over the top from eight yards. olivier bernard was only inches away from giving newcastle the lead after 20 minutes when he fired just wide from a free-kick 25 yards out. but souness s side did go ahead 11 minutes later in highly controversial circumstances. kluivert looked suspiciously offside when kieron dyer set bowyer free but the dutchman was then perfectly placed to score from six yards. the lead lasted three minutes with liverpool back on terms as bramble headed gerrard s corner into his own net under pressure from sami hyypia. and liverpool were ahead after 37 minutes when baros slid a perfect pass into mellor s path for the youngster to slip a slide-rule finish into given s bottom corner. garcia s finishing was wayward and he was wasteful again in first-half injury time shooting tamely at given after good work by xabi alonso. any hopes of a newcastle recovery looked to be snuffed out on the hour when a brilliant turn and pass by harry kewell set baros free and he rounded given to score. jermaine jenas then missed a glorious chance to throw newcastle a lifeline shooting over from just eight yards out from shola ameobi s cross. then bowyer who had already been booked for a foul on alonso was deservedly shown the red card by referee graham poll for a wild challenge on liverpool substitute florent sinama-pongolle. dudek finnan hyypia carragher riise luis garcia (nunez 73) gerrard alonso kewell (traore 85) baros mellor (sinama pongolle 75). subs not used: hamann harrison. bramble 35 og mellor 38 baros 61. given andrew o brien elliott bramble bernard bowyer dyer (ambrose 80) jenas milner (n zogbia 72) kluivert (robert 58) ameobi. subs not used: harper. bowyer (77). bowyer elliott bernard. kluivert 32. 43 856. g poll (hertfordshire).,sport
461,1918,tory leader unveils spending plan tory leader michael howard says his party can save £35bn in government spending by tackling waste. the money would be ploughed back into frontline services like the nhs and schools with the rest used to cut government borrowing and reduce taxes. the tory leader has also shrugged off the defection of one of his mps robert jackson a former minister to labour. mr howard said that these things happened in politics and it would not affect the outcome of the election. let s be realistic - the election is not going to be decided on the basis of what mr jackson did he told bbc 1 s breakfast with frost programme. however the defection on saturday has cast a shadow over the launch of the conservatives spending plans. fuller details are due to be unveiled on monday. the bulk of the £35bn saved by tackling bureaucracy and inefficient systems will go back into frontline services mr howard said. the £12bn left over would then be spent on reducing government borrowing he added. however the remainder would deal with some of the unfair taxes . almost every independent expert says if you get another labour government you are going to have to pay higher taxes mr howard insisted. because borrowing is going up it is out of control that is bound to lead to higher taxes or higher interest rates or both. so part of the £12bn we are going to apply to filling the government s black hole reducing the borrowing. the rest will be used to reduce these unfair taxes which are bearing so heavily on the people of our country today. mr howard is expected to say that around £6bn will be available for tax cuts when he makes his announcement on monday. the cuts will be paid for out of the savings identified by business trouble-shooter david james. home office spending could be cut by £1.6bn according to the final instalment of his year-long review. savings of £153m at the foreign office and £336m at the department for culture media and sport have also been identified. in all almost a quarter of a million jobs and 168 public bodies would go under mr james proposals. mr howard said: all this adds up to a bottom line and the bottom line is at this election people will have a clear choice between mr blair who will waste more and tax more and a conservative government that will give them value for money and tax less. however chief treasury secretary paul boateng said: none of the tories figures add up so they can t make these savings and can t pay for any tax cuts which means the only guaranteed cut from the tories is £35bn of cuts hitting frontline public services hard. liberal democrat leader charles kennedy added: people will not be taken in by michael howard s claims of £35bn worth of savings. this can t be achieved without drastic cuts in local services in their own communities. a poll for the news of the world newspaper suggests the conservatives are on course for their worst election defeat in a century. labour will hold key marginal constituencies winning a majority of 160 the populus survey suggests. and the liberal democrats will take three key seats from the conservatives leaving the tories with just 163 mps two less than they returned atlabour s 1997 landslide and their worst showing since 1906.,politics
462,938,the force is strong in battlefront the warm reception that has greeted star wars: battlefront is a reflection not of any ingenious innovation in its gameplay but of its back-to-basics approach and immense nostalgia quotient. geared towards online gamers it is based around little more than a series of all-out gunfights set in an array of locations all featured in or hinted at during the two blockbusting film trilogies. previous star wars titles like the acclaimed knights of the old republic and jedi knight have regularly impressed with their imaginative forays into the far corners of the franchise s extensive universe and their use of weird and wonderful new characters. battlefront on the other hand wholeheartedly revisits the most recognisable elements of the hit movies themselves. the sights sounds and protagonists on show here will all be instantly familiar to fans who may well feel that the opportunity to relive star wars most memorable screen skirmishes makes this the game they have always waited for. the mayhem can be viewed from either a third or first-person perspective and you can either fight for the forces of freedom or join darth vader on the dark side depending on the episode and type of campaign as well as the player s personal propensity for good or evil. there is ample chance to be a wookie shoot ewoks and rush into battle alongside a fired-up luke skywalker. in each section the task is simply to wipe out enemy troops seize strategic waypoints and move on to the next planet. it really is no more complicated than that. locations include the frozen wastes of hoth the ice planet from the empire strikes back complete with massive mechanical at-ats on the march. there are also the dusty sinister deserts of tatooine and geonosis as well as the forest moon of endor where return of the jedi s much-maligned ewoks lived. the feel of those places is well and truly captured with both backdrops and characters looking good and very authentic. it is worth noting though that on the playstation 2 the game s graphics are a curiously long way behind those of the xbox version. the pivotal element behind battlefront s success is that it successfully gives you the feel of being of being plunged into the midst of large-scale war. the number of combatants noise and abundance of laser fire see to that and the sense of chaos really comes over. speaking of noise battlefront is a real testament to the strength of the star wars galaxy s audio motifs. the multitude of distinctive weapon and vehicle noises are immensely familiar as are the stirring john williams symphonies that never let up. there is also a particularly snazzy remix of one of his themes in the menu section. it has to be said if the game did not have the boon of being star wars it would not stand up for long. the gameplay is reliable bog-standard stuff short on originality. there are also odd annoyances like the game s insistence on re-spawning you miles away from the action an irritating price to pay for not getting blown up the second you appear. and some of the weapons and vehicles are not as responsive and fluid to operate as they might be. that said it is still great fun to pilot a scout walker or speeder bike however non user-friendly they prove. whilst it is firmly designed with multiplayer action in mind battlefront is actually perfectly good fun as an offline game. the above-average ai of the enemy sees to that although given the frenetic environments they operate in their strategic behaviour does not need to be all that sophisticated. battlefront s novelty value will doubtless wear off relatively fast leaving behind a slightly empty one-trick-pony of a game. but for a while it is an absolute blast and one of the most immediately satisfying video game offerings yet from george lucas stable.,tech
463,752,us blogger fired by her airline a us airline attendant suspended over inappropriate images on her blog - web diary - says she has been fired. ellen simonetti known as queen of the sky wrote an anonymous semi-fictional account of her life in the sky. she was suspended by delta in september. in a statement she said she was initiating legal action against the airline for wrongful termination . a delta spokesperson confirmed on wednesday that ms simonetti was no longer an employee. delta has repeatedly declined to elaborate on what it calls internal employee matters . a spokesperson reiterated this position on wednesday confirming only that ms simonetti was no longer with the company. the spokesperson also confirmed that there were very clear rules attached to the unauthorised use of delta branding including uniforms. ms simonetti announced on her blog she had been fired on 1 november. she said in an official statement: as a result of my suspension and subsequent termination without cause by delta airlines i am moving forward with filing a discrimination complaint with the federal government eeoc [us equal employment opportunity commission]. she added she had also hired a texas-based law firm to initiate legal action for wrongful termination defamation of character and lost future wages. ms simonetti told the bbc news website she had received no warning or further explanation when she was suspended on 25 september. queen of the sky has received a lot of support and advice from the global blogging community since news of her suspension was brought to light on the bbc news website and others. her story has highlighted concerns amongst the growing blogging community about conflicts of interest employment law and free speech on personal websites. the blog which she started in january as a way of getting over her mother s death contains a mix of fictional and non-fictional accounts. queen of the sky developed over the months as a character in her own right according to ms simonetti. in the postings she made up fictional names for cities and other companies she mentioned to protect anonymity. but some postings contained images of herself in uniform. of the 10 or so images only one showed ms simonetti s flight wings . she removed them as soon as she was informed of her suspension. i never meant it as something to harm my company and don t understand how they think it did harm them ms simonetti said. a legal expert in the us speculated that delta might be concerned that the fictional content on the blog may be linked back to the airline after the images were posted. delta has been hit recently by pressures of rising fuel costs and fierce competition. it has said it needs to cut between 6 000 and 7 000 jobs and reduce costs by $5bn (£2.7bn) a year. analysts had warned recently that the airline might have to seek chapter 11 bankruptcy prevention. last week it struck a $1bn cost-cutting deal with its pilots which could save it from bankruptcy. the deal would see pilots accept a 32% pay cut in return for the right to buy 30 million delta shares unions said. and on monday it negotiated a deal to defer about $135m in debt which was due next year until 2007. the airline also said it had agreed the terms of a $600m loan from american express.,tech
464,2222,kilroy unveils immigration policy ex-chatshow host robert kilroy-silk has attacked uk policy on immigration saying britain s open door approach is hitting low wage indigenous workers. the veritas leader said the only people to benefit from immigrants from places like poland were employers landlords members of the metropolitan elite . the mep said his party would only admit foreigners who were required because they had specific skills to offer. and he argued asylum cost £2bn a year for 14 000 successful applicants. mr kilroy-silk said that worked out at £143 000 per successful asylum seeker. he said veritas wanted to grant an amnesty for all those in britain claiming asylum and who have children and deport everyone else. britain should take its fair share of asylum seekers under the united nations convention on human rights he argued. and mr kilroy-silk said he wanted to spend an extra £500m a year to help provide for refugees abroad.,politics
465,2038,bmw reveals new models pipeline bmw is preparing to enter the market for car-style people carriers the firm s chief has told bbc news. speaking at a bmw event ahead of the geneva motor show helmut panke predicted demand for such crossover vehicles would soar in europe. in contrast he said the popularity of van-style seven-seat vehicles and traditional saloon cars would fade. customers are moving out of the mini-van (and) traditional concepts are not as attractive anymore he said. we have decided that bmw will enter the [crossover] segment he said in the clearest indication yet about the car maker s intentions. mr panke praised the honda accura as the best execution yet of a crossover vehicle. we have decided that the bmw brand will enter the segment he said. a decision on just how bmw will manage its entry into the new market is due in the first half of 2005. typically it takes about three years from when a decision is taken before a new model hits the streets mr panke said implying that a bmw crossover could be on the market by 2008. the coming switch is driven in part by the need for successful carmakers to stay aware of trans-atlantic differences in the car market mr panke insisted. while in the us drivers tend to prefer sports utility vehicles (suvs) such as the bmw x5 and its sibling x3 in europe demand for crossover vehicles is likely to be considerable mr panke said. there s a growing market here he said. we are going to go that way.,business
466,24,cole faces lengthy injury lay-off aston villa s carlton cole could be out for six weeks with a knee injury. the striker who is on a season-long loan from chelsea picked up the knock in an england under-21 match against holland earlier this month. carlton will be out of action for four to six weeks after a bad challenge said villa boss david o leary. i won t be able to tell you whether he will need an operation until maybe next week. whether he has an operation has got to be left to chelsea. cole who also struggled with an ankle problem earlier in the season was unable to rest because o leary had a shortage of strikers. the return to fitness of darius vassell after four months out with a broken ankle and the emergence of luke moore has alleviated some of the villa s manager s problems in that department.,sport
467,1325,harinordoquy suffers france axe number eight imanol harinordoquy has been dropped from france s squad for the six nations match with ireland in dublin on 12 march. harinordoquy was a second-half replacement in last saturday s 24-18 defeat to wales. bourgoin lock pascal pape who has recovered from a sprained ankle returns to the 22-man squad. wing cedric heymans and ludovic valbon come in for aurelien rougerie and jean-philippe grandclaude. rougerie hurt his chest against wales while grandclaude was a second-half replacement against both england and wales. valbon capped in last june s tests against the united states and canada was a second half replacement in the win over scotland. france coach bernard laporte said harinordoquy had been axed after a poor display last weekend. imanol has been dropped from the squad because the least i can say is that he didn t make a thundering comeback against wales said laporte. we know the ireland game will be fast and rough and we also want to be able to replace both locks during the game if needed and gregory lamboley can also come on at number seven or eight. the grand slam is gone but we ll go to ireland to win. it will be a very exciting game because ireland have three wins under their belt have just defeated england and have their eyes set on a grand slam. france who lost to wales last week must defeat the irish to keep alive their hopes of retaining the six nations trophy. ireland are unbeaten in this year s tournament and have their sights set on a first grand slam since 1948. dimitri yachvili (biarritz) pierre mignoni (clermont) yann delaigue (castres) frederic michalak (stade toulousain) damien traille (biarritz) yannick jauzion (stade toulousain) ludovic valbon (biarritz) christophe dominici (stade francais) cedric heymans (stade toulousain) julien laharrague (brive) sylvain marconnet (stade francais) nicolas mas (perpignan) olivier milloud (bourgoin) sebastien bruno (sale/eng) william servat (stade toulousain) fabien pelous (stade toulousain capt) jerome thion (biarritz) pascal papé (bourgoin) gregory lamboley (stade toulousain) serge betsen (biarritz) julien bonnaire (bourgoin) yannick nyanga (béziers),sport
468,409,terror powers expose tyranny the lord chancellor has defended government plans to introduce control orders to keep foreign and british terrorist suspects under house arrest where there isn t enough evidence to put them on trial. lord falconer insists that the proposals do not equate to a police state and strike a balance between protecting the public against the threat of terrorism and upholding civil liberties. but thriller writer frederick forsyth tells bbc news of his personal response to the move. there is a mortal danger aimed at the heart of britain. or so says home secretary charles clarke. my reaction so what it is not that i am cynical or just do not care. i care about this country very much. but in the 66 years that i have been alive there has not been one hour of one day of one month of one year when there has not been a threat aimed at us. my point is the british have always coped without becoming a dictatorship. we have coped with fear without becoming a state based on fear; we have coped with threat without turning our country into a land of state threat. but that is what the blair government now seeks to do - create a tyranny to defend us from the al-qaeda tyranny. i was born on 25 august 1938. the mortal threat back then was a scruffy little austrian called adolf hitler. a week after my first birthday the threat had become reality. we were at war. my father wore a uniform for five years. after 1945 we yearned for peace at last. but in 1946 winston churchill told us - from the baltic to the adriatic an iron curtain has descended across europe. behind the iron curtain another genocidal psychopath another threat. josef stalin triggered the cold war with the berlin blockade in 1948. my whole generation was blighted by it. we were threatened by the nuclear holocaust the nuclear wind the nuclear winter. we built shelters that would have sheltered nothing. we spent our treasure on weapons instead of hospitals. we took silly precautions. some fought it; some marched futilely against it. some pretended it was not there. the cold war lasted 43 years but we remained a parliamentary democracy. by the early seventies it was terrorism as well. al fatah black september red brigades but most of all for us the ira and the inla. thirty more years; 300 policemen and women over 600 soldiers more than 3 000 civilians dead but we won because even ira bombs could not force us to become a tyranny. that was why the tyrants lost. civil rights were infringed as little as humanly possible. evidence had to be taken in secret to protect covert sources; yes and one judge no-jury courts had to be instituted when juries were terrorised. informants had to be given immunity from their own crimes to win the bigger battle. but habeas corpus did not die; right of appeal was not abolished. now the threat is islamic fundamentalism. its leaders want to destroy our society; so did the ira. it is based and funded abroad; so was the ira. it has sleeper fanatics inside our society; so did the ira. it is extremely hard to penetrate with our agents; so was the ira. the prime movers are not easy to bring to trial; neither were the ira. but we did. and without becoming a tyranny. now the blair government proposes the law system of fascism and communism. the citizen can be arrested and held without charge or trial not even on the careful consideration of an experienced judge but the whim of a political activist called a government minister. to be protected from terror the government says we must become a tyranny. but a tyranny is based on the citizen s terror. this is not victory; this is defeat before a shot is fired. an interesting article - its good to see widening participation in the debate - but i suggest we move one step further. our own bombs and bullets will can only shatter peace because invading foreign nations imprisoning the innocent and hunting in the shadows cannot destroy an evil of the mind and hatred within the heart. rather than focusing upon effect we should consider the cause
469,624,bryan twins keep us hopes alive the united states kept the davis cup final alive with victory in saturday s doubles rubber leaving spain 2-1 ahead going into the final day. masters cup champions mike and bob bryan thrashed juan carlos ferrero and tommy robredo 6-0 6-3 6-2 in front of a partisan crowd in seville. victory would have given spain the title but they were outclassed. in sunday s reverse singles carlos moya takes on andy roddick before rafael nadal faces mardy fish. it feels good but it s not going to be as good if we don t win two tomorrow said mike bryan. it feels good to give those guys another shot and spain has to go to sleep on that. bob bryan added: i m really confident in andy winning that first match and then anything can happen. spain coach jordi arrese chose to rest 18-year-old nadal in the doubles after his epic singles win over roddick on friday. he was replaced by former world number one ferrero but the spanish pair were out of their depth against one of the world s best doubles teams. the 26-year-old bryan twins have won all four of their davis cup matches this year. and they quickly silenced the huge crowd at the olympic stadium racing through the opening set to love. the spaniards then twice surrendered breaks of serve at the start of the second before the bryans broke to go 5-3 ahead and served out. when robredo dropped serve in the opening game of the third set the match was all but over and the unflappable bryan brothers powered on to an impressive win. ferrero who was upset to be dropped for friday s singles hinted at further dissatisfaction after the defeat. it was a difficult game against the best doubles players he said. they have everything calculated and we had very little to do. i was a bit surprised that i was named to play the doubles match because i hardly play doubles. arrese said: juan carlos hasn t played at all badly. he played the right way but the bryans are great doubles players.,sport
470,1367,broadband in the uk growing fast high-speed net connections in the uk are proving more popular than ever. bt reports that more people signed up for broadband in the last three months than in any other quarter. the 600 000 connections take the total number of people in the uk signing up for broadband from bt to almost 3.3 million. nationally more than 5 million browse the net via broadband. britain now has among the highest number of broadband connections throughout the whole of europe. according to figures gathered by industry watchdog ofcom the growth means that the uk has now surpassed germany in terms of broadband users per 100 people. the uk total of 5.3 million translates into 7.5 connections per 100 people compared to 6.7 in germany and 15.8 in the netherlands. the numbers of people signing up to broadband include those that get their service direct from bt or via the many companies that re-sell bt lines under their own name. part of the surge in people signing up was due to bt stretching the reach of adsl - the uk s most widely used way of getting broadband - beyond 6km. asymmetric digital subscriber line technology lets ordinary copper phone lines support high data speeds. the standard speed is 512kbps though faster connections are available. this breakthrough led to a dramatic increase in orders as we were suddenly able to satisfy the pent-up demand that existed in many areas said paul reynolds chief executive of bt wholesale which provides phone lines that other firms re-sell. bt retail which sells net services under its own name also had a good quarter and provided about 30% of the new broadband customers. this was a slight increase on the previous three months. despite the good news about growth in broadband figures from telecommunications regulator ofcom show that bt faces increasing competition and dwindling influence in other sectors. local loop unbundling (llu) in which bt rivals install their hardware in exchanges and take over the line to a customer s home or office is growing steadily. cable & wireless and ntl have announced that they are investing millions to start offering llu services. by the end of september more than 4.2 million phone lines were using so-called carrier pre-section (cps) services such as talktalk and one.tel which route phone calls across non-bt networks from a local exchange. there are now more than 300 different firms offering cps services and the percentage of people using bt lines for voice calls has shrunk to 55.4%.,tech
471,621,israel looks to us for bank chief israel has asked a us banker and former international monetary fund director to run its central bank. stanley fischer vice chairman of banking giant citigroup has agreed to take the bank of israel job subject to approval from parliament and cabinet. his nomination by prime minister ariel sharon came as a surprise and led to gains on the tel aviv stock market. mr fischer who speaks fluent hebrew will have to become an israeli citizen to take the job. the us says he will not have to give up us citizenship to do so. previous incumbent david klein who often argued with the finance ministry steps down on 16 january. mr fischer will face a delicate balancing act - both in political and economic terms - between mr sharon and finance minister binyamin netanyahu who also backed his nomination. but his appointment has also raised hopes that it could bring in fresh investment - and perhaps even an improvement in the country s credit rating mr fischer first went to israel for six months in 1973 and almost emigrated there before deciding finally to return to the us. while teaching at the massachussetts institute of technology he spent a month seconded to the bank of israel in 1979 beginning a long-time involvement in studying israel s economy. in 1983 mr fischer became adviser on israel s economy to then-us secretary of state george shultz. at the world bank in 1985 he participated in drawing up an economic stabilisation package for israel.,business
472,1302,short attacks us over tsunami aid former cabinet minister clare short has criticised the us-led tsunami aid coalition saying the un should be leading efforts. president bush has announced that an alliance of the us india australia and japan will co-ordinate a humanitarian drive. but ms short said the effect of the parallel coalition would be to undermine the un. she said only the un had the moral authority to lead the relief work. ms short resigned as international development secretary over the iraq war. i think this initiative from america to set up four countries claiming to co-ordinate sounds like yet another attempt to undermine the un when it is the best system we have got and the one that needs building up she said. only really the un can do that job she told bbc radio four s pm programme. it is the only body that has the moral authority. but it can only do it well if it is backed up by the authority of the great powers. ms short said the countries involved could not boast good records on their response to major disasters. the us was very bad at coordinating with anyone and india had its own problems ms short said. i don t know what that is about but it sounds very much i am afraid like the us trying to have a separate operation and not work with the rest of the world through the un system she added.,politics
473,505,kerr frustrated at victory margin republic of ireland manager brian kerr admitted he was frustrated his side did not score more than one goal in their friendly win over croatia. robbie keane took his republic record to 24 with a first-half goal which proved enough for victory. we had more good chances. it is just a shame we did not take them against such a technically gifted team said kerr. but given the conditions and the standard of the croatian team we should be very happy with the win. the republic side kept a clean sheet for the eighth time in 11 matches and are unbeaten in 14 home games since kerr succeeded mick mccarthy. kerr applauded the decisive move which earned the victory. it was a brilliant goal fantastic skill by damien duff. robbie might have scuffed it a little but it was a good goal. matchwinner keane was another full of praise for duff s role in the goal. it was great play from damien said the tottenham striker. i always try to be sniffing around because you know nine times out of 10 duffer is going to get it in the box. playing three up was something different. brian kerr wanted to try it out and it was good to see young stephen elliott getting a run-out. the conditions were difficult but he did well and is definitely one for the future. it is nice to see young players coming through. man-of-the-match duff explained what went wrong when he fluffed a chance to make it 2-0 midway through the second half. he opted to bring steve finnan s cross down and shoot against the bar when a close-range header looked the best option. i would have headed that every time but i completely lost it in the lights said the chelsea star. i was desperate to get on the scoresheet myself but the result is the important thing. we have had a good year and are going nicely in the qualifiers. hopefully that can continue in 2005.,sport
474,2057,student inequality exposed teenagers from well-off backgrounds are six times more likely to go to university than those from the most deprived areas a report says. the higher education funding council for england said more people went to university between 1994 and 2000. but the percentage of poorer students hardly changed at all said its chief executive sir howard newby. increasingly more women than men went to university while tuition fees and student loans made no major difference. the hefce report drawing on child benefits data said teenagers in the richest areas could expect a better than 50% chance of going to university while in the poorest neighbourhoods it was 10%. participation at constituency level ranged from 69% in kensington and chelsea 65% in the city of london and westminster and 62% in sheffield hallam down to 10% in bristol south and leeds central and 8% in nottingham north and sheffield brightside. sir howard said the report highlighted the entrenched divisions between rich and poor areas but added it was a social as much as an educational problem. he told bbc news: we know once children from deprived backgrounds get into university they do very well. in fact surprisingly more go into postgraduate study than those from more affluent backgrounds. the issue is i think one of raising aspirations amongst those families and those communities that university is something for them and not for other people. he said by the time universities traditionally dealt with pupils between the ages of 16 and 18 it was too late. instead they should be reaching out to communities and schools much earlier even down to primary school level to persuade them a university education was something they could aspire to he said. but while the report revealed stark inequalities and exposed the extent of the challenge there were some encouraging findings he added. tuition fees and student loans in england and wales - and the different fee regime in scotland - did not seem to have affected the choices of young people even the poorest. the report also showed women were 18% more likely than men to enter higher education in 2000 - up from 6% in 1994. in the poorest areas the gap was 30% in women s favour and growing faster than anywhere else. the higher education minister kim howells said: we are working in schools to raise the attainment and aspiration of young people in disadvantaged areas. higher standards in schools would lead to greater participation in higher education. from 2006 upfront tuition fees in england would be removed with grants for the less well off. the shadow education secretary tim collins said: it is clear from this report that children from disadvantaged areas are far more likely to have encountered poor standards in their secondary education. tackling these must be the top priority for any government looking to improve university access. the group which represents university vice-chancellors universities uk said the new system of deferred fees in england due to start in 2006 with grants and bursaries for poorer students would encourage more of them to go into higher education. the national union of students argued the opposite - that the situation was likely to get much worse with poorer students being restricted in choice and having to make decisions based on their financial situation rather than aspiration . the tables below show the participation rate for each parliamentary constituency in britain:,politics
475,265,tough rules for ringtone sellers firms that flout rules on how ringtones and other mobile extras are sold could be cut off from all uk phone networks. the rules allow offenders to be cut off if they do not let consumers know exactly what they get for their money and how to turn off the services. the first month under the new rules has seen at least ten firms suspended while they clean up the way they work. the rules have been brought in to ensure that the problems plaguing net users do not spread to mobile phones. in the last couple of years ringtones wallpapers screensavers and lots of other extras for phones have become hugely popular. but fierce competition is making it difficult for firms to get their wares in front of consumers said jeremy flynn head of third party services at vodafone. if you are not on the operator s portal you are going to have quite heavy marketing costs because it s a problem of how people discover your services he said. to combat this many ringtone and other mobile content sellers started using a new tactic to squeeze more cash out of customers. this tactic involved signing people up for a subscription to give them for instance several ringtones per week or month instead of the single track they thought they were getting. mr flynn said that the move to using subscriptions happened over the space of a few weeks at the end of 2004. websites such as grumbletext.co.uk started getting reports from customers who were racking up large bills for phone content they did not know they had signed up for. what made us uncomfortable was that these services were not being marketed transparently said mr flynn. people did not know they were being offered a subscription service. we saw potential for substantial consumer harm here he added. the swift adoption of subscription services led to the creation of a new code of conduct for firms that want to sell content for mobile phones. the drafting of the new rules was led by the mobile entertainment forum and the uk s phone firms. everyone is required to conform to this code of conduct said andrew bud regulatory head of the mef and executive chairman of messaging firm mblox. it s all about transparency he said. consumers have to be told what they have got themselves into and how to get out of it. the consumer has a right to be protected he said. christian harris partnership manager of mobile content firm zed said the new system was essential if consumers were to trust companies that sell ringtones and other downloads. the groundrules must be applied across the whole industry and if that s done effectively we will see the cowboys driven out he said. the new rules came in to force on 15 january and the first month under the new regime has seen many firms cautioned for not honouring them. some have been told to revamp websites so customers know what they get for their money and what they are signing up for said mr flynn. also said mr flynn vodafone has briefly cut off between eight and ten content sellers flouting the rules. we have quite draconian contracts with firms he said. we do not have to say why. we can just cut them off. under the rules consumers must be able to switch off the services by using a universal stop command sent via text message. he said the system had been designed to limit how much a consumer will pay if they inadvertently signed up for a service. the mobile is so personal that people really resent the abuse of what is effectively part of their personality said mr flynn.,tech
476,262,burren awarded egyptian contracts british energy firm burren energy has been awarded two potentially lucrative oil exploration contracts in egypt. the company successfully bid for the two contracts granted by government owned oil firms covering onshore and offshore areas in the gulf of suez. burren energy already has a presence in egypt having been awarded an exploration contract last year. the firm which floated in 2003 recently announced a deal to buy 26% of indian firm hindustan oil exploration. the £13.8m deal gives burren energy access to the indian oil and gas industry. this latest contract expands burren energy s global exploration and production portfolio - it also holds contracts in turkmenistan and the republic of congo. these assets significantly increase our exploration portfolio in egypt and we continue to investigate further opportunities in this region said chief executive finian o sullivan.,business
477,2176,conservative mp defects to labour a conservative mp and former minister has defected to labour. robert jackson 58 mp for wantage in oxfordshire said he was disillusioned with the party s leadership and its dangerous views on europe. prime minister tony blair declared himself delighted saying mr jackson would be warmly welcomed by labour mps. mr jackson who has clashed with his leaders over tuition fees and europe in the past served as higher education minister between 1987 and 1990. in a letter to his constituency chairman he wrote: it is in the country s best interest that tony blair rather than michael howard should form the next government. while saying he admired mr blair s courageous leadership of the country he bitterly criticised the conservatives stance on europe. the conservative party s hostility to europe has now hardened to the point at which it advocates the unilateral denunciation of britain s treaty obligations he wrote. mr blair said mr jackson was a decent fair-minded and dedicated public servant... who will be warmly welcome by labour mps and members . as he rightly says [the conservatives] have learned nothing from their two election defeats and are if anything drifting further rightwards he added. a spokesman for michael howard said mr jackson s views on policy issues were very different from those of the party leadership. he believes students should pay tuition fees that tony blair should not be criticised over his handling of the iraq war and that more powers should be given to europe the spokesman said. he added that it was not surprising mr jackson had chosen to leave the conservatives. mr jackson is due to stand down at the next election. he is the third conservative mp to defect to labour since 1997.,politics
478,1304,gamer buys $26 500 virtual land a 22-year-old gamer has spent $26 500 (£13 700) on an island that exists only in a computer role-playing game (rpg). the australian gamer known only by his gaming moniker deathifier bought the island in an online auction. the land exists within the game project entropia an rpg which allows thousands of players to interact with each other. entropia allows gamers to buy and sell virtual items using real cash while fans of other titles often use auction site ebay to sell their virtual wares. earlier this year economists calculated that these massively multi-player online role-playing games (mmorpgs) have a gross economic impact equivalent to the gdp of the african nation of namibia. this is a historic moment in gaming history and this sale only goes to prove that massive multi-player online gaming has reached a new plateau said marco behrmann director of community relations at mindark the game s developer. the virtual island includes a gigantic abandoned castle and beautiful beaches which are described as ripe for developing beachfront property. deathifier will make money from his investment as he is able to tax other gamers who come to his virtual land to hunt or mine for gold. he has also begun to sell plots to people who wish to build virtual homes. this type of investment will definitely become a trend in online gaming said deathifier. the entopia economy lets gamers exchange real currency into ped (project entropia dollars) and back again into real money. ten peds are the equivalent to one us dollar and typical items sold include iron ingots ($5) and shogun armour ($1.70) gamers can theoretically earn money by accumulating peds through the acquisition of goods buildings and land in the entropia universe. mmorpgs have become enormously popular in the last 10 years with hundreds of thousands of gamers living out alternate lives in fantasy worlds. almost 200 000 people are registered players on project entropia.,tech
479,1539,no election tv debate says blair tony blair has said he will not take part in a tv debate with his political rivals ahead of the next election. we answer this every election campaign and for the reasons i have given before the answer is no he said at his monthly news conference. in october tory leader michael howard said mr blair would be running scared if he refused calls to go head-to-head. in recent years the leader of the opposition has always called for a debate although it has never happened. before the 2001 election plans for a debate between mr blair william hague and charles kennedy collapsed. in 1997 a debate between mr blair and john major was also cancelled when a format could not be agreed. televised debates have become the high point of the us presidential election campaigns.,politics
480,700,eu china arms ban to be lifted the eu embargo on arms exports to china is likely to be lifted in the next six months despite us objections uk foreign secretary jack straw has said. the 15-year-old ban was imposed in the aftermath of china s crackdown on protesters in tiananmen square. mr straw told a commons select committee human rights concerns over china remained. but he said it was wrong to put china under the same embargo as countries such as zimbabwe and burma. in december the eu pledged to work towards lifting the ban but said it was not ready to do so yet. the eu s move was welcomed at the time by beijing which described the embargo as a product of the cold war . german chancellor gerhard schroeder and french president jacques chirac have repeatedly called for the embargo to be lifted. britain has been more cautious on the issue but on wednesday mr straw said he also wanted it to end. i have long understood china s argument that to lump them in with say burma and zimbabwe is not appropriate and i don t think it is he told the joint committee on strategic export controls. he said it is more likely than not that the ban would be lifted before britain takes over the presidency of the eu from luxembourg in july. but he said an eu code of conduct would prevent an increase in the number of arms being exported to the country. if it is lifted we will end up with as effective arms controls in relation to china as we have now. mr straw said the us government was suspicious of the motives of some other countries within the eu in wanting the ban lifted. but he said many of washington s objections were based on a lack of information and understanding of how export control guidelines worked in eu countries. and intense discussions were taking place with us officials to convince them it was the right thing to do. washington is thought to fear it would lead to a buying spree for arms that could be used by china to threaten its diplomatic rival taiwan. us officials say they are not satisfied the mechanisms in the eu code of conduct are robust enough to prevent abuses. us undersecretary of state john bolton is meeting british officials this week to press the case for keeping the embargo.,politics
481,2124,rock band u2 break ticket record u2 have smashed irish box office records with ticket sales for their dublin concerts after more than 150 000 were sold within 50 minutes. tickets for the two concerts at the city s croke park stadium were released at 8am on friday morning. nothing like it has ever been seen in ireland before said justin green spokesman for organisers mcd promoters. we could have sold a million tickets. the dublin dates on june 24 and 25 form part of the worldwide vertigo tour. the tour begins in san diego on 28 march and will cover 13 us cities. the band will also play 24 european gigs finishing in lisbon in august. mr green said that ticket outlets had been bombarded by u2 fans. unfortunately there s thousands and thousands of disappointed fans all over the country which is disappointing but there s only two dates confirmed he said. many fans camped on the streets of the irish capital for three days to ensure they were first in line at ticketmaster in st stephen s green shopping centre where the tickets went on sale on friday. however the majority of tickets priced at between 59.50 and 80 euro each were sold online. earlier this week bono announced that the band would play two shows at the venue which holds almost 80 000 people due to the phenomenal demand for tickets.,entertainment
482,2203,local net tv takes off in austria an austrian village is testing technology that could represent the future of television. the people of engerwitzdorf are filming editing and producing their own regional news channel. the channel covers local politics sports events and anything that residents want to film and are prepared to upload for others to watch on pcs. the pilot has been so successful that telekom austria is now considering setting up other projects elsewhere. it s growing unbelievably fast said rudolf fischer head of telekom austria s fixed line division. the trial of buntes fernsehen (multi-coloured tv) was started in late 2004 and creates a net-based tv station run by the 8 000 residents of engerwitzdorf. the hardware and software to turn video footage into edited programmes has been provided by telekom austria but this equipment following training has been turned over to the villagers. any video programme created by the villagers is uploaded to a buntes fernsehen portal that lets people browse and download what they want to watch. most people watch the tv on their home pc and a broadband connection is needed to get broadcast quality programmes. in the first four months of the project villagers have created 60 films and put together regular reports on local news items. they have adopted it very quickly said mr fischer. they like the possibility to create their own content and see what s going on in the area. it s kind of the democratisation of local tv he said because none of the bigger broadcasters would ever do anything like this for that region. the buntes fernsehen project has been such a success that telekom austria is now considering setting up other schemes in similarly rural areas. mr fischer said it was taking the roll-out to other areas slowly because of the work involved in setting up the scheme getting backers from local government and educating people how to make programmes. the engerwitzdorf scheme is an outgrowth of telekom austria s online tv channel aon which lets people watch programmes on their pc. aon streams a couple of live channels plus sports news and music programmes on to the net and has a pay-for-download section that lets people watch what they want when they want to watch it. in october a larger tv-on-demand project is due to launch in vienna that will let people download many programmes from the net.,tech
483,781,london irish 19-33 wasps wasps made light of the absence of several internationals to sink london irish with a trio of second-half tries. rob hoadley returned to haunt his old club at the madejski stadium scoring the opening try in the 43rd minute. tom voyce powered through the irish defence for wasps second try before richard birkett went over unchallenged. mark van gisbergen added 18 points. irish replied with three penalties and a mark mapletoft drop goal before scott staniforth ran in a consolation try. barry everitt who replaced mapletoft late in the game added the conversion to become the fourth premiership player to reach 1 000 points. he joins jonny wilkinson tim stimpson and paul grayson in achieving that target. wasps piled on the pressure in an attempt to grab a fourth try which would have secured them a bonus point but they were denied by some desperate defending from irish. director of rugby warren gatland revealed that harsh words at half-time inspired his wasps side to raise their game after the restart. they got a roasting and it was a good second-half performance when they came out and played to instructions he said. gatland also singled out stand-in flankers tom rees and john hart for special praise. they did very well. the back row played some fantastic rugby he added. london irish coach gary gold felt the result exposed his side s lack of consistency. irish trailed by just two points at the break and gold said: for 55 minutes we lived with the best but we have got to get back for the full 80 minutes. gold will now turn his attention to next week s powergen cup semi-final at struggling leeds. we ve got a good chance but with leeds facing possible relegation they re going to come out firing he added. horak staniforth penney nordt bishop; mapletoft edwards; hatley van der walt hardwick; kennedy casey; gustard dawson murphy. replacements: everitt for mapletoft (53) hodgson for edwards (77) wheatley for hatley (71) paice for van der walt (60) strudwick for kennedy (60) danaher for gustard (66) reid for murphy (47) van gisbergen; voyce erinle hoadley roberts; king richards; payne greening dowd; shaw purdy; hart rees dallaglio. replacements: priscott for roberts (71) green for dowd (71) skivington for shaw (71) birkett for hart (57) gotting for rees (39). not used: fury brooks,sport
484,1558,real in talks over gravesen move real madrid are closing in on a £2m deal for everton s thomas gravesen after the dane s agent travelled to spain to hold talks about a move. john sivabaek told bbc sport: i m here to listen to what real have to say. nothing has been agreed but this is a big opportunity for any player. the 28-year-old s contract expires in the summer but real want a quick deal. sivabaek added: i will be meeting real on wednesday. there is serious interest but it is everton s hands. everton must decide whether to cash in now on the denmark midfield man or risk losing him for nothing in the summer. manager david moyes has defiantly claimed that he expects gravesen to still be at everton when the transfer window closes at the end of january. moyes said: i speak to tommy regularly and we know where we are at. there s been no contact. we don t want to lose him. real madrid general manager arrigo sacchi is the driving force behind the move convincing vice-president emilio butragueno and new coach wanderley luxemburgo that gravesen is the right man for the bernabeu. everton must weigh up whether it is worth taking the money on offer for real and risk their own ambitions for european football. gravesen has been outstanding as everton have established themselves in the premiership s top four this season.,sport
485,1419,clarke faces id cards rebellion charles clarke faces his first real test as home secretary on monday with a possible backbench rebellion over the controversial id cards bill. up to 30 labour mps could oppose the scheme during a commons debate. mr clarke who took on the post on thursday after david blunkett quit has rejected calls to pause on the bill. tory leader michael howard also faces a possible rebellion after deciding to back identity cards. the liberal democrats oppose the plans. mr clarke writing in the times accused some critics of liberal woolly thinking and spreading false fears by claiming id cards would erode civil liberties. he writes that it is actually a profoundly civil libertarian measure because it promotes the most fundamental civil liberty in our society - which is the right to live free from fear crime and fear . mr clarke is expected to try and win over opponents to the scheme by saying officials who secretly accessed information they were not allowed to see would face up to two years in jail. he is also expected to cut the £85 cost of the card and passport for the elderly and those on lower incomes. mr howard last week said his front bench team had reached a collective view to back id cards after holding a good discussion but admitted it was not an easy issue . he had decided to support the plans as the police said they would help fight terror crime and illegal immigration. but former shadow attorney general bill cash said there was still very deep disquiet about the plan among senior tories. he told bbc radio 4 s today the government was intensely authoritarian and was creating increasingly a big brother society . critics argue that introducing the cards would be a costly scheme with no specific aim. ministers say it would help the fight against terrorism illegal immigration and organised crime. but opponents say that similar schemes in other countries have not prevented attacks like the madrid rail bombing. on sunday lib dem leader charles kennedy repeated his call for a pause in considering the legislation. he told bbc s breakfast with frost programme that mr clarke had a real opportunity on monday following the departure of mr blunkett. if you were running a family or a business would you have the second reading of the identity cards bill tomorrow or would you pause to reflect and see what you might do about it in the new year that is the sensible way to go about it but i think this government has got itself so much into tram lines now that it is not behaving sensibly at all. the first cards would be issued in 2008 and when he was introducing the bill mr blunkett suggested parliament could decide in 2011 or 2012 whether to make it compulsory for everybody to own the cards although not to carry them. the new bill would also create new criminal offences on the possession of false identity documents.,politics
486,1311,fosters buys stake in winemaker australian brewer fosters has bought a large stake in australian winemaker southcorp sparking rumours of a possible takeover. fosters bought 18.8% of southcorp the global winemaker behind the penfolds lindemans and rosemount brands for 4.17 australian dollars per share. a bid at that price would value the company at a$3.1bn ($2.4bn; £1.25bn ). fosters said it was currently in discussions which may lead to a major corporate announcement . in a separate statement southcorp confirmed the brewer had asked for talks. both firms asked the sydney stock market to suspend trading in their shares until monday. southcorp s shares were suspended at a$4.25. fosters bought the 18.8% stake from reline investments the family investment firm for the oatleys who founded the rosemount estates label and sold it to southcorp in 2001. robert oatley and his son sandy oatley have both resigned from southcorp s board following the share deal. southcorp employs 2 700 people and is the largest single investor in rural australia according to its website. the prospect of fosters launching a major acquisition startled investors as the brewer said last summer that it was not looking to expand through a big buy in the near future. it has cash available after getting a$846m from selling property business lensworth but it has been widely expected to return cash to shareholders. people will scratching their heads over this one. fosters has done a back-flip said shawn burns a fund manger at deutsche asset management. southcorp s shares have risen in recent months on speculation that it could become a takeover target. it spent two years in the red returning to profit in 2004. consolidation in the wine industry is being driven by constellation the world s biggest winemaker. it seized the top spot when it bought australian firm brl hardy for just over $1bn in 2003. since then it has paid $1bn for us wine maker robert mondavi bought last month. fosters main wine business is beringer blass wine estate. its best known brand is fosters lager though it makes a clutch of beer brands and spirits. analysts were divided on thursday about whether fosters was more likely to go for a takeover or merely wanted to take a big enough chunk of southcorp to prevent it falling to a rival. currently i think the strategic position is more sensible rather than an outright takeover said one analyst quoted by the agence france presse news agency. however matt williams a fund manager at perpetual trustees said taking the stake is definitely a precursor to a takeover .,business
487,124,screensaver tackles spam websites net users are getting the chance to fight back against spam websites internet portal lycos has made a screensaver that endlessly requests data from sites that sell the goods and services mentioned in spam e-mail. lycos hopes it will make the monthly bandwidth bills of spammers soar by keeping their servers running flat out. the net firm estimates that if enough people sign up and download the tool spammers could end up paying to send out terabytes of data. we ve never really solved the big problem of spam which is that its so damn cheap and easy to do said malte pollmann spokesman for lycos europe. in the past we have built up the spam filtering systems for our users he said but now we are going to go one step further. we ve found a way to make it much higher cost for spammers by putting a load on their servers. by getting thousands of people to download and use the screensaver lycos hopes to get spamming websites constantly running at almost full capacity. mr pollmann said there was no intention to stop the spam websites working by subjecting them with too much data to cope with. he said the screensaver had been carefully written to ensure that the amount of traffic it generated from each user did not overload the web. every single user will contribute three to four megabytes per day he said about one mp3 file. but he said if enough people sign up spamming websites could be force to pay for gigabytes of traffic every single day. lycos did not want to use e-mail to fight back said mr pollmann. that would be fighting one bad thing with another bad thing he said. the sites being targeted are those mentioned in spam e-mail messages and which sell the goods and services on offer. typically these sites are different to those that used to send out spam e-mail and they typically only get a few thousand visitors per day. the list of sites that the screensaver will target is taken from real-time blacklists generated by organisations such as spamcop. to limit the chance of mistakes being made lycos is using people to ensure that the sites are selling spam goods. as these sites rarely use advertising to offset hosting costs the burden of high-bandwidth bills could make spam too expensive said mr pollmann. sites will also slow down under the weight of data requests. early results show that response times of some sites have deteriorated by up to 85%. users do not have to be registered users of lycos to download and use the screensaver. while working the screensaver shows the websites that are being bothered with requests for data. the screensaver is due to be launched across europe on 1 december and before now has only been trialled in sweden. despite the soft launch mr pollmann said that the screensaver had been downloaded more than 20 000 times in the last four days. there s a huge user demand to not only filter spam day-by-day but to do something more he said before now users have never had the chance to be a bit more offensive.,tech
488,664,muslim police stops more likely uk muslims should accept that people of islamic appearance are more likely to be stopped and searched by police a home office minister has said. hazel blears said innocent muslims would be targeted because of the search for islamic extremists. qualifications for religious leaders to enter the uk could also be made tougher she told a commons inquiry. her comments have been described as irresponsible and outrageous by the islamic human rights commission (ihrc). the threat is most likely to come from those people associated with an extreme form of islam or who are falsely hiding behind islam the salford mp told the commons home affairs committee. it means that some of our counter-terrorism powers will be disproportionately experienced by the muslim community. it was a reality that should be recognised she said. if a threat is from a particular place then our action is going to be targeted at that area she added. on ministers of religions such as imams she said faith groups would be asked what other qualifications and skills such as civic knowledge and ability to engage the community should be demanded. last year ministers introduced a requirement that ministers should speak english to a certain level. ihrc chairman massoud shadjareh accused ms blears of playing an islamophobia card in the run-up to a general election. she is demonising and alienating our community he said. it is a legitimisation for a backlash and for racists to have an onslaught on our community. this sort of comment is just music to the ears of racists. later the prime minister s official spokesman urged people to put ms blears comments into context. the minister had been saying she understood there was a perception that stop and search was aimed at one community but that was not what was happening the spokesman said. what is happening is that those powers are aimed at those who are suspected of carrying out or planning certain activity who happen to come from one community. it is not aimed at a particular community it is not police policy to aim these powers at a particular community he added. statistics showed that of the 17 people found guilty of terrorist acts in the uk since the 11 september attacks only four of the 12 whose ethnic backgrounds were known were muslim he added figures published last week showed that people from ethnic minorities were increasingly likely to be targeted by police stop and search tactics. figures showed that for 2003/2004 asians were 1.9 times more likely to be stopped and searched compared with 1.7 times more likely in the previous year. separate figures on police searches in england and wales carried out under the terrorism act 2000 showed that ethnic minorities were more likely to be targeted. muslim groups have repeatedly claimed that their communities are being victimised under terror laws. in 2003/2004 12.5% searches under the laws were on asian people even though they make up 4.7% of the population. last july the police were accused of islamophobia by muslim groups after stop and search figures showed the numbers of asians targeted had risen by 300% since the introduction of anti-terror laws.,politics
489,282,thanou bullish over drugs hearing katerina thanou is confident she and fellow sprinter kostas kenteris will not be punished for missing drugs tests before the athens olympics. the greek pair appeared at a hearing on saturday which will determine whether their provisional bans from athletics ruling body the iaaf should stand. after five months we finally had the chance to give explanations. i am confident and optimistic said thanou. we presented new evidence to the committee that they were not aware of. the athletes lawyer grigoris ioanidis said he believed the independent disciplinary committee set up by the greek athletics federation (segas) would find them innocent. we are almost certain that the charges will be dropped said ioanidis. we believe that we have presented [a case] that the charges are unreasonable. thanou the 2000 olympic women s 100m silver medallist and sydney 200m champion kenteris were suspended by the iaaf for missing three drugs tests. the third was supposed to take place on the eve of the athens games last august but the pair could not be found in the athletes village. they were later taken to hospital after claiming to have been involved in a motorcycle accident. thanou s coach christos tzekos was also suspended by the iaaf. we were asked [by the disciplinary committee] all kinds of questions about the night of 12 august said tzekos. we did not leave any gaps. as far as i am concerned there is no such issue [of refusing to be tested] and i am very optimistic. tzekos thanou and kenteris who have all denied the charges can expect a decision within a month. deliberations will start after some additional documents are brought in by thursday said committee chairman kostas panagopoulos. i estimate that the final ruling will be issued by the end of february.,sport
490,1700,record fails to lift lacklustre meet yelena isinbayeva may have produced another world pole vault record but her achievement could not hide the fact it was not the best meet we have ever seen in birmingham. and hey there are not many meets that go by without the russian breaking a world record. apparently isinbayeva has cleared five metres in training and i would just love her to put us out of our misery and have a go at it rather than extending the indoor record by one centimetre at a time. athletics to me is all about pushing the barriers and being the best you can and i would like to see her have a go at 5m in competition. mind you every time she breaks the record she gets $30 000 so she can afford to be deliberate about it. world records aside i thought it was a very encouraging evening s work for kelly holmes. she looked good and was very positive. agnes samaria who came second is in very good shape and is in the world s top three 800m runners this season. yes samaria let kelly get away but there was no coming back over the last 200m as kelly dominated the race so beating samaria is a bit of a benchmark for kelly. my gut feeling is that kelly would like to run in the european indoor championships but she just hasn t convinced herself she is fit enough to do so. on the other hand i think jason gardener is struggling to come near what is going to be required to win the men s 60m in madrid. he started well in the final but still could not stay with the front-runners. jason has a lot of experience indoors but for some reason he is struggling to maintain his pace through to the finish. it would have been nice to see what mark lewis-francis could have done in the final if only he hadn t got himself disqualified. he was blatantly playing the false-start game to his advantage but it tripped him up and made him look a bit silly. my view is you re meant to go when the gun goes and not before. and if you try to unsettle your rivals by employing the false-start tactic you have to remember not to false start yourself again. having said that mark is looking in much better shape. but i haven t seen anything from mark or jason yet which suggests france s ronald pognon - who has run 6.45 seconds - will be under threat at the europeans. from a british point of view sarah claxton s victory in the 60m hurdles was the best thing to come out of the meet. something else that probably went unnoticed was melanie purkiss winning the women s national 400m race in a new personal best of 52.98 seconds. aaas champion kim wall came second in another lifetime best so we have a very strong 4x400m squad going to the european championships. scotland s lee mcconnell is probably going to run too so we have a real prospect of a medal. from an international perspective i thought meseret defar was disappointing in the 3 000m but i don t think the pace-making was great. canadian heather hennigar set a fast early pace but could not maintain it and if jo pavey had been in last year s shape she would have given defar a real run for her money. she had a go but just could not hang in there. we were also expecting a bit more from bernard lagat in the men s 1500m. but he has only just come over from the usa so he may not be that sharp and i still think he is in great shape. as for kenenisa bekele he was well beaten by markos geneti. but we only had half expectations for bekele as he has been struggling this season. it was very hot in the national indoor arena and i felt uncomfortable in the commentary box. i think those conditions affected the distance runners and in fact defar complained to her coach after the race that she could not get her breath properly.,sport
491,1107,tarantino to make friday sequel director quentin tarantino is in talks to write and direct a new instalment in the friday the 13th horror franchise according to the hollywood reporter. the film-maker will reportedly meet executives from new line cinema this week to discuss the 12th film in the long-running stalk and slash series. the original film released in 1980 has spawned ten sequels based around mask-wearing murderer jason voorhees. the most recent freddy vs jason was released in summer 2003. that film saw jason battle freddy krueger star of the nightmare on elm street franchise. according to the industry newspaper new line had been trying to make another sequel involving ash the hero of the evil dead movies but was unable to agree terms with director sam raimi. tarantino is said to be intrigued by the prospect of building a new film around one of the horror genre s most recognised figures. first however he is scheduled to direct the season finale of us television series csi: crime scene investigation. filming is due to start in early april. tarantino s episode for which he also wrote the original story will be broadcast in the us on 19 may.,entertainment
492,922,french boss to leave eads the french co-head of european defence and aerospace group eads philippe camus is to leave his post. mr camus said in a statement that he has accepted the invitation to return full-time to the lagardere group which owns 30% of eads. i will give up my role as soon as the board of directors asks me to do so he said. airbus head noel forgeard is now set to replace mr camus bringing the company s power struggle to an end. fighting between mr camus and mr forgeard has hit the headlines in france and analysts feared that this fighting could destabilise the defence and aerospace group. french finance minister herve gaymard is on record as saying that he deplored the infighting at the company. the company should now be able put this dispute behind it with the departure of mr camus and with the clear support given to mr forgeard by the lagardere group the main french shareholder of eads. the other main shareholders of eads are the french government (15%) who also support mr forgeard and germany s daimlerchrysler (30%). rainer hertrich the german co-head of eads will also step down when his contract expires next year. mr camus recently came under pressure as it became clear that the a380 superjumbo was running over budget. eads - airbus majority owner - admitted earlier this week that the project was running 1.45bn euros (£1bn; $1.9bn) over budget. but mr forgeard has denied this telling french media that there is no current overrun in the budget. but for the sake of transparency we told our shareholders last week that if we look at the forecast for total costs of the project up to 2010 there is a risk that we will go over by around 10% which is about 1bn euros (£686m; $1.32bn) he told france s lci television. due to enter service in 2006 the a380 will replace the boeing 747 jumbo as the world s biggest passenger aircraft.,business
493,652,wife swap makers sue us copycat the british producers of us wife swap are taking legal action against a show they claim is a blatant and wholescale copycat of their programme. rdf media which makes the show for us network abc has filed a damages claim for $18 million (£9.25 million) against fox s trading spouses. abc bought the rights to the british show which was first aired in 2003 and became a hit on channel 4. the us network is not part of the claim but has supported rdf s action. we respect our producing partners right to protect their intellectual property in whatever manner they deem most appropriate said abc in a statement. a spokesman for fox said it had not seen the details of the legal action and could not comment. their show was first screened in june and was criticised in the press for its similarities to wife swap. abc originally planned to call their programme trading moms but changed it to avoid confusion with the fox version. earlier this year the nbc network claimed that fox s boxing show the next great champ had been hurriedly produced to ensure its programme was the first to be screened. nbc alleged that boxing regulations had been violated but failed in their attempt to have the show pulled. the fox show proved a ratings flop while nbc s the contender is due to begin in february.,entertainment
494,713,blue beat u2 to top france honour irish band u2 have been honoured at france s biggest music awards but were beaten to a prize by boy band blue. u2 received a special achievement prize at the nrj music awards but blue beat them to the international group award. us band maroon 5 was named best new international artist and took the best international song title for this love. more than five million radio listeners voted in the awards. the international male and female prizes went to usher and avril lavigne respectively. collecting his band s award from model naomi campbell at the cannes ceremony u2 frontman bono said in french: i m not from this country but i ll make a little confession to you - it s at the cote d azur i feel at home. hosted by radio group nrj the ceremony featured performances from usher and jennifer lopez who was accompanied by dancers clad in schoolgirl outfits. us pop act black eyed peas picked up the best international album gong for elephunk. singer jenifer also took home two awards for best french female singer and best french album. french-canadian pop star roch voisine was named best francophone male artist.,entertainment
495,1068,ethiopia s crop production up 24% ethiopia produced 14.27 million tonnes of crops in 2004 24% higher than in 2003 and 21% more than the average of the past five years a report says. in 2003 crop production totalled 11.49 million tonnes the joint report from the food and agriculture organisation and the world food programme said. good rains increased use of fertilizers and improved seeds contributed to the rise in production. nevertheless 2.2 million ethiopians will still need emergency assistance. the report calculated emergency food requirements for 2005 to be 387 500 tonnes. on top of that 89 000 tonnes of fortified blended food and vegetable oil for targeted supplementary food distributions for a survival programme for children under five and pregnant and lactating women will be needed. in eastern and southern ethiopia a prolonged drought has killed crops and drained wells. last year a total of 965 000 tonnes of food assistance was needed to help seven million ethiopians. the food and agriculture organisation (fao) recommend that the food assistance is bought locally. local purchase of cereals for food assistance programmes is recommended as far as possible so as to assist domestic markets and farmers said henri josserand chief of fao s global information and early warning system. agriculture is the main economic activity in ethiopia representing 45% of gross domestic product. about 80% of ethiopians depend directly or indirectly on agriculture.,business
496,1116,blunkett sorry over murder plan david blunkett has apologised to mps after the home office announced prematurely via press release a review of murder laws. the home secretary confirmed the review was to get under way in the wake of a law commission report which branded the current murder law as a mess . he said the review would look at partial defences to murder including provocation and at mandatory sentences. the home office has already said the review will begin next year. on wednesday a home office spokeswoman said the terms of reference for the review had not been established but it was likely to include only england and wales. news of the review was released because it was thought mr blunkett would make the official announcement in a commons debate on wednesday. but the announcement never came with the home secretary saying the debate had never reached that stage. amid opposition anger mr blunkett had to answer an emergency question in parliament on thursday. he said he had taken steps to ensure the incident was not repeated. shadow home secretary david davis welcomed his gracious apology and the review itself. but he argued the minister should have volunteered a formal statement instead of having to be dragged to face mps. in its report the law commission said it had found wide support among criminal justice professionals for an end to the mandatory life sentence for murder. the panel suggested different kinds of murders could be graded to recognise the seriousness of the offence. but the home office said mandatory life sentences would not be abolished and argued courts already had flexibility. the commission an independent body including two judges a senior barrister and sentencing experts had been asked to consider reforms to the defence of provocation in murder cases. but it said its proposals were unlikely to work without a far wider review of the law. results of a consultation exercise showed 64 respondents out of 146 - among them 21 judges - believed a mandatory life sentence for every murder was indefensible and should cease . a key question was whether one category should continue to cover all types of murder from mercy killings to serial or contract killings. the commission found support for the idea of grading murders so that the sentence reflected the seriousness of the offence. but speaking after the report was published home office minister baroness scotland said: murder is the most serious of crimes and we have no intention of abolishing the mandatory life sentence. where an offender is convicted of murder the court must pass a life sentence. the commission also recommended tightening the law so that the provocation defence cannot be used in cases where someone has killed for revenge such as a jealous husband who murders an unfaithful wife.,politics
497,869,moody joins up with england lewis moody has flown to dublin to join england s camp ahead of their rbs six nations game against ireland on sunday. despite joining the squad the leicester flanker only has a slim chance of playing because of an infection in his finger. a decision will be taken on saturday as to whether the 26-year-old will be declared fit. if he fails to recover in time for the game his place at the back of the pack will be taken by andy hazell. chris jones will then start the game on the bench. the chances of him playing are very slim said coach andy robinson. the infection is deeper than was thought. moody had to be put on a drip in an attempt to force antibiotics through his infected finger. he suffered the cut playing against france at twickenham and it became infected during a 10-minute outing as a replacement for leicester against newcastle last saturday. the mud got into it robinson added. he has had a big course of antibiotics but they haven t done the job we hoped they would. robinson has already been forced to make one change to the starting line-up with bath prop matt stevens coming in for the injured phil vickery. the 22-year-old has only made 10 starts for his club but has made 49 appearances from the bench. it can be frustrating but i ve had a lot more game time this season and i m ready for it stevens said. i ve been on tour with these boys and i ve been in the england set-up for two years so i know the calls and the way they play. stevens will be winning his third cap on sunday after coming on twice as a replacement on the tour to new zealand last year. robinson has confirmed that fly-half charlie hodgson will be the first-choice kicker despite his three missed penalties and a drop goal against france. charlie s state of mind is very good said robinson. obviously we are all disappointed we lost the french game and the circumstances in which we did. but he responded well last week in his goalkicking for sale and he will be our first-choice kicker this week. robinson also admits his side must improve their line-out work against irish duo malcolm o kelly and paul o connell one of the most effective partnerships in the game. in each game we ve missed a number of line-outs he added. it cost us the game against wales but it has improved. it was better against france and will have to go up another notch against ireland. it will be a huge battle. look at the way they tore us apart last year. if it doesn t function we will be in for a torrid time.,sport
498,1703,call to overhaul uk state pension the uk pension system has been branded inadequate and too complex by a leading retirement think-tank. the pensions policy institute (ppi) said replacing the state pension with a citizen s pension would help tackle inequality and complexity. the change would see pensions being calculated on length of residency in the uk rather than national insurance (ni) contributions. reform could reduce poverty by aiding people with broken employment records. the ppi added that once the state system was reformed the government should look at options to overhaul private and workplace pensions. the think tank s proposals were made in response to the recent publication of the pensions commission s initial report into uk retirement savings. according to the pensions commission s report 12 million working people are not saving enough for their retirement. as a result living standards could fall for the next generation of uk pensioners. the report added that a combination of higher taxes higher savings and/or a higher average retirement age was needed to solve the uk pension crisis.,business
499,1668,broadband in the uk gathers pace one person in the uk is joining the internet s fast lane every 10 seconds according to bt. the telecoms giant said the number of people on broadband via the telephone line had now surpassed four million. including those connected via cable almost six million people have a fast always-on connection. the boom has been fuelled by fierce competition and falling prices as well as the greater availability of broadband over the phone line. the take-up rate for broadband is accelerating at a terrific pace said ben verwaayen bt s chief executive. we will be in a very strong position to hit our five million target by summer 2006 much earlier than we had previously expected. the last million connections were made over the past four months with thousands of people being added to the total every day of the week. those signing up to broadband include those that get their service direct from bt or via the many companies that re-sell bt lines under their own name. part of the surge in people signing up was due to bt stretching the reach of adsl - the uk s most widely used way of getting broadband - beyond six kilometres. asymmetric digital subscriber line technology lets ordinary copper phone lines support high data speeds. the standard speed is 512kbps though faster connections are available. according to bt more than 95% of uk homes and businesses can receive broadband over the phone line. it aims to extend this figure to 99.4% by next summer. there are also an estimated 1.7 million cable broadband customers in the uk.,tech
500,501,global digital divide narrowing the digital divide between rich and poor nations is narrowing fast according to a world bank report. the world bank questioned a united nation s campaign to increase usage and access to technology in poorer nations. people in the developing world are getting more access at an incredible rate - far faster than... in the past said the report. but a spokesman for the un s world summit on the information society said the digital divide remained very real. the digital divide is rapidly closing the world bank report said. half the world s population now has access to a fixed-line telephone the report said and 77% to a mobile network. the report s figures surpass a wsis campaign goal that calls for 50% access to telephones by 2015. the un hopes that widening access to technology such as mobile phones and the net will help eradicate poverty. developing countries are catching up with the rich world in terms of access [to mobile networks] the report said. africa is part of a worldwide trend of rapid rollout... this applies to countries rich and poor reformed or not african asian european and latin american. a spokesman for the world summit for the information society (wsis) which is meeting this week in geneva told the bbc news website: the digital divide is very much real and needs to be addressed. some financing has to be found to help narrow the divide. on tuesday a meeting of the wsis in geneva agreed to the creation of a digital solitary fund. the fund is voluntary and will help finance local community-based projects said the wsis spokesman. under the proposals agreed voluntary contribution of 1% on contracts obtained by private technology service providers could be made to the digital solidarity fund. the exact financing mechanism of the fund is to be ironed out in the coming days said the wsis. sixty percent of resources collected by the fund will be made available for projects in least developed countries 30% for projects in developing countries and 10% for projects in developed countries.,tech
501,2053,renault boss hails great year strong sales outside western europe helped renault boost its profits by more than 40% in 2004 although the firm warned of lower margins this year. france s second largest carmaker enjoyed a healthy 43% rise in net profits to 2.4bn euros ($3.1bn; £2.9bn) as sales rose 8% to 40.7bn euros. the firm said strong demand outside western europe and the good performance of its megane range lifted its results. chairman louis schweitzer said 2004 had been a great year for the firm. renault sold more than 2.4 million vehicles in 2004 an increase of 4% on the previous year. growth came mainly from outside western europe with particularly strong sales in turkey russia and north africa. in total sales outside western europe - renault s core market - rose 16.5%. japanese carmaker nissan - in which renault owns a 44% stake - contributed 1.7bn euros in net income over the year. nissan chairman carlos ghosn is to succeed mr schweitzer at the head of renault later this year. renault said the outlook for the industry in europe this year was stable with small growth forecast in other regions. the firm will benefit from the launch of a new clio model in the coming year and the roll-out of the logan in many markets. however the firm said it expected operating margins to be lower in 2005 at 4% of sales as opposed to 5%. in a sluggish market and an environment impacted by the rise in raw material prices renault intends to continue to grow its global sales the company said in a statement.,business
502,908,butler launches attack on blair former civil service chief lord butler has criticised the way tony blair s government operates accusing it of being obsessed with headlines. he also attacked the way the iraq war was sold to the public with important warnings on the strength of the intelligence left out. tory leader michael howard said lord butler had given the most damaging testimony he could remember. but downing street said mr blair should be judged by results not his style. lord butler said mr blair bypassed the cabinet and relied instead on small informal groups of advisers to help him make decisions. the prime minister s official spokesman said the cabinet was still used to achieve a consensus on important issues. but he added: you cannot in a modern government take every decision in cabinet. it s just not possible. lord butler said the government had too much freedom to bring in bad bills and to do whatever it likes and it relied too much on the advice of political appointees. the former cabinet secretary said in an interview with the spectator magazine: i would be critical of the present government in that there is too much emphasis on selling there is too much central control and there is too little of what i would describe as reasoned deliberation which brings in all the arguments. mr howard described lord butler s intervention as very important . this is from someone who was an insider at the very heart of the blair government. it is certainly the most damaging testimony i can ever remember from someone in such an eminent position. lord butler s report earlier this year into iraq intelligence said the government s september 2002 weapons dossier did not make clear intelligence about claims that saddam hussein had stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons was very thin . the reason for this is that it would have weakened ministers case for war lord butler said in his spectator interview which was conducted by the magazine s editor conservative mp boris johnson. he said: when civil servants give material to ministers they say these are the conclusions we ve drawn but we ve got to tell you the evidence we ve got is pretty thin. similarly if you are giving something to the united nations and the country you should warn them. asked why he thought the warnings were not there lord butler said: one has got to remember what the purpose of the dossier was. the purpose of the dossier was to persuade the british why the government thought iraq was a very serious threat. when asked whether he thought the country was well-governed on the whole he replied: well. i think we are a country where we suffer very badly from parliament not having sufficient control over the executive and that is a very grave flaw. we should be breaking away from the party whip. the executive is much too free to bring in a huge number of extremely bad bills a huge amount of regulation and to do whatever it likes - and whatever it likes is what will get the best headlines tomorrow. all that is part of what is bad government in this country. lord butler s assessment was backed by his predecessor as cabinet secretary lord armstrong. lord armstrong told bbc two s newsnight: i agree ... there doesn t appear to be the sort of informed collective political judgement brought to bear on decision-making that those affected by decisions are entitled to expect. liberal democrat deputy leader menzies campbell said he thought lord butler s comments were well justified and mr blair s style of leadership was corrosive of the whole system of government . but labour former minister jack cunningham accused lord butler of basing his comments on the first eight months of the incoming labour administration when he was cabinet secretary. mr cunningham told bbc radio 4 s today programme: taken together robin butler s comments are partial inaccurate and cannot be taken as anything other than politically biased against the labour government.,politics
503,1306,parry relishes anfield challenge bbc sport reflects on the future for liverpool after our exclusive interview with chief executive rick parry. chief executive parry is the man at the helm as liverpool reach the most crucial point in their recent history. parry has to deliver a new 60 000-seat stadium in stanley park by 2007 amid claims of costs spiralling above £120m. he is also searching for an investment package of a size and stature that will restore liverpool to their place at european football s top table. but it is a challenge that appears to sit easily with parry who has forged a reputation as one of football s most respected administrators since his days at the fledgling premier league. liverpool have not won the championship since 1990 a fact that causes deep discomfort inside anfield as they attempt to muscle in on the top three of chelsea manchester united and arsenal. throw in the small matter of warding off every top club in world football as they eye captain steven gerrard and you can see parry is a man with a lot on his plate. but in the comfort of a conference room deep inside liverpool s heartbeat - the kop end - parry spoke to us with brutal honesty about the crucial months ahead. he only dodged one question - when asked to reveal the name of the mystery investor currently courting liverpool a polite smile deflected the inquiry. but to his credit he met everything else head on in measured tones that underscore the belief that liverpool still mean business. by business he means becoming title challengers again and locking the pieces together that will help return the trophy to liverpool is parry s mission. parry has already successfully put one of those planks in place in the form of new manager rafael benitez. and his enthusiasm for the spaniard s personality and methods is an indication of his clear feeling that he has struck gold. benitez s early work has given parry renewed optimism about the years ahead. but it remains a massive task at a club with a unique history and expectations. this will not come as news to parry a lifelong liverpool supporter but his quiet determination suggests he is no mood to be found wanting... captain gerrard is central to liverpool s plans and parry s insistence that all offers will be refused is a firm statement of intent. as ever the player will have the final say and parry acknowledges that but he is determined to provide the framework and environment for liverpool and gerrard to flourish. in terms of the search for new investment hawkpoint were appointed as advisors to flush out interest in march 2004. thailand prime minister thaksin shiniwatra came and went while the most serious statement of intent came from tycoon and lifelong fan steve morgan. morgan had a succession of bids rejected having come close in the summer only for talks to break down over potential costs for the new stadium. bbc sport understands morgan is still ready and willing to invest in liverpool and parry has kept the door ajar despite currently seeking investment elsewhere. morgan however has had no formal contact with liverpool or their advisors since last december blaming indecision at board level as he publicly withdrew his £70m offer. he was also convinced his interest was being used to lure in others so any new approach would now have to come from liverpool. morgan will certainly not be making another call. so speculation continues about the new benefactor with trails leading to the middle east and america but all met with an understandable veil of secrecy from anfield. parry meanwhile sees the new ground as crucial to liverpool s future but is refusing to become emotionally attached to the idea. he is determined the ground will only be built on an affordable basis and will not make future liverpool management hostages to the new stadium. parry will pull back the moment the figures do not stack up but there has been a vital new development in north london that has re-shaped liverpool s thinking. liverpool have publicly refused to entertain the ide
504,348,healthsouth ex-boss goes on trial the former head of us medical services firm healthsouth overstated earnings and assets to boost the company s share price it was claimed in court. richard scrushy 52 is accused of directing a $2.7bn (£1.4bn) accounting fraud at the company he co-founded in alabama in 1984. prosecutors said he was motivated by wealth - spending about $200m between 1996 and 2002 while earning much less. defence lawyers said mr scrushy had been deceived by other executives. several former healthsouth employees have already pleaded guilty to fraud and are expected to give evidence against mr scrushy. we will present evidence that richard scrushy knew about the conspiracy that he participated in the conspiracy and that he profited prosecutor alice martin told the court. mr scrushy is the first chief executive to be tried for breaching the sarbanes oxley act - a law introduced in the wake of the enron and worldcom frauds which obliges corporate bosses to vouch for the accuracy of their companies results. among the charges he faces are conspiracy to commit fraud filing false statements and money laundering. after federal agents raided healthsouth s offices in march 2003 the company said none of its past financial statements could be relied on. the firm has since reorganised its board and management team and currently operates about 1 400 health clinics.,business
505,149,moya emotional at davis cup win carlos moya described spain s davis cup victory as the highlight of his career after he beat andy roddick to end the usa s challenge in seville. moya made up for missing spain s 2000 victory through injury by beating roddick 6-2 7-6 (7-1) 7-6 (7-5) to give the hosts an unassailable 3-1 lead. i have woken up so many nights dreaming of this day said moya. all my energy has been focused on today. what i have lived today i do not think i will live again. spain s only other davis cup title came two years ago in valencia when they beat australia. and moya nicknamed charly admitted: the davis cup is my dream and i was a bit nervous at the outset. some people have said that i am obsessed but i think that it is better this way. it helps me reach my goals if i am obsessed. it s really incredible - to get the winning point is really something. spanish captain jordi arrese said: charly played a great game. it was his opportunity and he hasn t let us down. he had lost three times to roddick and this was his day to beat him. he had been waiting years to be in this position. spain s victory was also remarkable for the performance of rafael nadal who beat roddick in the opening singles. aged 18 years and 185 days the mallorcan became the youngest player to win the davis cup. what a great way to finish the year said nadal afterwards. us coach patrick mcenroe wants roddick and the rest of his team to play more tennis on clay and hone their skills on the surface. i think it will help these guys even on slow hard courts to learn how to mix things up a little bit and to play a little bit smarter and tactically better. obviously it s unrealistic to say that we re going to just start playing constantly on clay with the schedule. but certainly i think we can put the work in at the appropriate time and play a couple more events and play against these guys who are the best on this stuff said mcenroe. roddick was left frustrated after losing both his singles on the slow clay of seville s olympic stadium. it s just tough because i felt like i was in it the whole time against one of the top three clay-courters in the world said the american. i had my chances and just didn t convert them. the bottom line is they were just better than us this weekend. they came out took care of business and they beat us. it s as simple as that.,sport
506,1173,yukos bankruptcy not us matter russian authorities do not have to abide by any us court decisions taken with regard to troubled oil giant yukos a houston court has been told. legal expert william butler said there was no treaty between the us and russia to recognise the other s legal rulings. that meant moscow would not have to adhere to us rulings in the yukos case. yukos says a us court was entitled to declare it bankrupt before its yugansk unit was sold since it has a us subsidiary and local bank accounts. yukos made its surprise chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in houston in december in an unsuccessful attempt to halt the auction of yugansk its main oil producing unit by russian authorities. yugansk was sold to help pay off a $27.5bn (£14.5bn) back tax bill. it was bought for $9.4bn by a previously unknown group which was in turn bought by state-controlled oil company rosneft. the us court s jurisdiction has been challenged by deutsche bank and gazpromneft a former unit of russian gas monopoly gazprom which is due to merge with rosneft. deutsche bank maintains the case has no place in a us court because yukos has no assets in the us apart from two bank accounts and a house in houston owned by its chief finance officer bruce misamore. deutsche bank is involved in the case because it is itself being sued by yukos. it had agreed to loan gazpromneft the money to bid for yugansk. us bankruptcy judge letitia clark who issued an injunction in december to try and prevent the yugansk sale has said she will rule pretty promptly however i do not anticipate ruling on it before next tuesday . yukos has claimed it sought help in the us because other forums - russian courts and the european court of human rights - were either unfriendly or offered less protection. it has claimed that russia imposed the huge tax bill and forced the sale of yugansk as part of a campaign to destroy yukos and its former owner mihkail khodorkovsky who is facing a 10-year prison term in russia for fraud and tax evasion. yukos parent company the gibraltar-based menatep group is suing russia in europe for $28.3bn in financial damages. the company is also seeking $20bn in a separate us lawsuit against rosneft and gazprom for their role in the sale of yugansk.,business
507,6,howard hits back at mongrel jibe michael howard has said a claim by peter hain that the tory leader is acting like an attack mongrel shows labour is rattled by the opposition. in an upbeat speech to his party s spring conference in brighton he said labour s campaigning tactics proved the tories were hitting home. mr hain made the claim about tory tactics in the anti-terror bill debate. something tells me that someone somewhere out there is just a little bit rattled mr howard said. mr hain leader of the commons told bbc radio four s today programme that mr howard s stance on the government s anti-terrorism legislation was putting the country at risk. he then accused the tory leader of behaving like an attack mongrel and playing opposition for opposition sake . mr howard told his party that labour would do anything say anything claim anything to cling on to office at all costs . so far this year they have compared me to fagin to shylock and to a flying pig. this morning peter hain even called me a mongrel. i don t know about you but something tells me that someone somewhere out there is just a little bit rattled. environment secretary margaret beckett rejected mr howard s comment telling radio 4 s pm programme that labour was not rattled . we have a very real duty to try to get people to focus on michael howard s record what the proposals are that he is trying to put forward to the country and also the many examples we are seeing now of what we believe is really poor judgement on his behalf. mr howard said tory policies on schools taxes immigration and crime were striking a chord with voters. since the beginning of this year - election year - we ve been making the political weather he told the party conference. mr howard denied he had been playing politics by raising the case of margaret dixon whose operation had been cancelled seven times which grabbed headlines for the party two weeks ago. and he hit back at labour claims he had used mrs dixon as a human shield . she s not a human shield mr blair she s a human being. mr howard said his party plans for immigration quotas which have also been the focus of much media coverage were not racist - just common sense . he pledged cleaner hospitals and better school discipline with a promise to get rid of political correctness in the national curriculum and give everyone to the same chance of a decent state education as he had. i come from an ordinary family. if the teenage michael howard were applying to cambridge today gordon brown would love me. and he stressed his party s commitment to cut taxes and red tape and increase the basic state pension in line with earnings. he finished with a personal appeal to party activists to go out and win the next election. one day you will be able to tell your children and grandchildren as i will tell mine i was there. i did my bit. i played my part. i helped to win that famous election - the election that transformed our country for the better . labour election co-ordinator alan milburn said: michael howard s speech today confirms what we have always said - that his only strategy is opportunism but he has no forward vision for the country. in reference to the appearance of mr howard s family on the conference stage with him mr milburn said: michael howard is perfectly entitled to pose with his family today. but it is the hard working families across britain that will be damaged by his plan to cut £35bn from public spending.,politics
508,1180,wal-mart to pay $14m in gun suit the world s largest retailer wal-mart has agreed to pay a total of $14.5m (£7.74m) to settle a lawsuit over gun sales violations in california. the lawsuit alleged wal-mart committed thousands of gun sales violations in california between 2000 and 2003. the total payment includes $5m in fines and more than $4m to fund state compliance checks with gun laws and prevent ammunition sales to minors. wal-mart agreed to suspend firearms sales in its california stores in 2003 the alleged violations included the sale of guns to 23 people who were not allowed to possess them and delivering 36 guns to customers who acquired them for people not allowed to own firearms. although wal-mart has suspended firearms sales in the state california attorney general bill lockyer said he wanted to be sure the giant supermarket chain would follow state rules in future. wal-mart s failure to comply with gun safety laws put the lives of all californians at risk by placing guns in the hands of criminals and other prohibited persons said mr lockyer. although wal-mart has suspended gun sales in california this settlement will ensure that it follows state law if it renews sales and will also provide valuable public education about the importance of gun safety. the world s largest retailer has not yet decided whether to resume firearms sales in california company spokesman gus whitcomb said.,business
509,107,mcclaren eyes uefa cup top spot steve mcclaren wants his middlesbrough team to win their uefa cup group by beating partizan belgrade. boro have already qualified for the knockout stages alongside partizan and villareal at the expense of lazio. but boss mcclaren is looking for a victory which would mean they avoid a team that has played in the champions league in friday s third-round draw. to need a win to finish top is fantastic but it is going to be a tough one mcclaren said. when the draw was made i thought it was the toughest group of them all - and so it has proved. lazio were favourites villarreal have been semi-finalists and partizan have fantastic experience in europe. the pleasing thing is we did the business in the first two games. winning those two has put us in a great position and it has been a fantastic experience playing these teams.,sport
510,1629,malik rejects all-black mp lists a call for ethnic minority shortlists to boost the number of black and asian mps has been rejected by one of labour s most senior asians. shahid malik who is on labour s ruling nec accepted people s frustration but said there should be targets not lists to boost representation of minorities. just 13 of britain s 659 mps are from ethnic minority groups he added. commission for racial equality chief trevor phillips argued on sunday the time had come for such shortlists. that came after it emerged that one of britain s most ethnically diverse constituency west ham was to get a women-only shortlist for the next election following an nec ruling. mr phillips said changes to the race relations legislation might allow political parties to reserve seats for under-represented groups. for example in west ham this might allow only women and minorities to seek to be candidates. if we get to the other side of the general election and find that minorities are not represented we have to say that after 20 or 30 years of talking about this we cannot go on the same way he said. he added: it would be terribly disappointing if in the least white constituency [west ham] in the whole of europe we didn t have a minority candidate. appearing on bbc radio 4 s today programme mr malik who is himself running for the seat of dewsbury acknowledged that so far women-only shortlists had failed to deliver a boost in the number of ethnic minority candidates. but he argued: i do think that there currently things that parties can do and which they aren t doing... for example setting targets to ensure that existing democratic structures are more reflective. labour mp diane abbot who backs mr phillips proposal of shortlists said she had been elected along with three other ethnic minority mps - keith vaz paul boateng and bernie grant - in 1987 but it took another 10 years before another black woman was able to win a seat. that was a rate of progress ms abbott described as painful . i am a little older than shahid and served on the national executive committee in the 1990s - i was the first black person on the nec ... crossing our fingers and hoping we are going to get more black and asian mp hasn t worked she said. the shortlist strategy works for women and i believe that it can be made to work for black and asian people. on tuesday labour chairman ian mccartney said his party was ambitious to improve black and asian representation. we haven t ruled out all-black shortlists and welcome a debate in the party about this he said.,politics
511,131,seamen sail into biometric future the luxury cruise liner crystal harmony currently in the gulf of mexico is the unlikely setting for tests of biometric technology. as holidaymakers enjoy balmy breezes their ship s crew is testing prototype versions of the world s first internationally issued biometric id cards the seafarer s equivalent of a passport. along with the owner s picture name and personal details the new seafarers identity document incorporates a barcode representing unique features of its holder s fingerprints. the cards are due to be issued in february next year in line with the revised un convention on seafarers identity documents of june 2003. tests currently under way in the caribbean are designed to ensure that new cards and their machine readers produced by different companies in different countries are working to interoperable standards. results of the current tests which involve seafarers from a wide range of occupations and nationalities will be published by the international labour organisation (ilo) by the end of november. crystal cruises which operates the crystal harmony is exploring the use of biometrics but has not yet committed to the technology. authenti-corp the us technology consultancy has been working with the ilo on its technical specifications for the cards. if you re issued a seafarer s id in your country you want to be sure that when the ship lands in a port in say my country you can validate yourself using whatever equipment we have installed authenti-corp s ceo cynthia musselman told the bbc s go digital programme. she said french jordanian and nigerian nationals would be the first seafarers to get the new id cards since their countries have already ratified the convention. it aims to combat international terrorism whilst guaranteeing the welfare the one million seafarers estimated to be at sea. the convention highlights the importance of access to shore facilities and shore leave as vital elements to a sailor s wellbeing and therefore it says to safer shipping and cleaner oceans. by increasing security on the seas as well as border control and protection the cards will hopefully reduce the number of piracy problems around the world said ms musselman. it should be a safer environment for seafarers to work in and will allow people protecting their borders to have confidence that the people getting off the ship are in fact seafarers.,tech
512,1046,italy 17-28 ireland two moments of magic from brian o driscoll guided ireland to a workmanlike victory against italy. a pair of classic outside breaks from the ireland captain set up tries for geordan murphy and peter stringer. italy led 9-8 early in the second half but stringer s try gave ireland a lead they never lost. the hosts cut the gap to 18-12 with 10 minutes left and nearly scored through ludovico nitoglia but denis hickie s try ensured an irish victory. italy came flying out of the blocks and took the lead through a luciano orquera penalty after seven minutes. it could have been better for the hosts but the fly-half missed two kickable penalties and ireland drew level with a ronan o gara penalty midway through the first half. the italians were driving at the heart of the irish defence and for the first quarter the irish pack struggled to secure any ball for their talented backs. when they finally did just before the half-hour mark o driscoll promptly created a sparkling try for murphy. the ireland captain ran a dummy scissors and made a magical outside break before drawing the full-back and putting the diving murphy in at the corner. o gara missed the twice-taken conversion and the visitors found themselves trailing once again. roland de marigny took over the kicking duties for italy from the hapless orquera and he landed a penalty either side of the break to edge italy into a 9-8 lead. the only ireland player offering a real threat was o driscoll and it was his break that set up the second try for the visitors. shane horgan threw an overhead pass as he was about to be forced into touch and stringer scooted over with o gara landing the tricky conversion. a penalty apiece saw ireland leading 18-12 as the game entered the final quarter but they were lucky to survive when italy launched a series of attacks. winger nitoglia dropped the ball as he reached for the line and italy nearly rumbled over from a driving maul. an o gara penalty put ireland more than a converted try ahead and they made the game safe when hickie latched onto an inside pass from murphy and crossed for a converted try. o driscoll limped off late on joining centre partner gordon d arcy on the sidelines and the final word went to italy. prop martin castrogiovanni powered over for a try which was fitting reward for an italian pack which had kept the irish under pressure throughout. de marigny; mi bergamasco canale masi nitoglia; orquera troncon; lo cicero ongaro castrogiovanni; dellape bortolami; persico ma bergamasco parisse. perugini intoppa del fava dal maso griffen pozzebon robertson. murphy horgan o driscoll d arcy hickie o gara stringer corrigan byrne hayes o kelly o connell s easterby leamy foley. sheahan horan o callaghan miller g easterby humphreys dempsey. p o brien (new zealand),sport
513,698,tory leader urges harry apology prince harry should personally make clear how sorry he is about wearing a nazi uniform to a friend s fancy dress party says tory leader michael howard. mr howard whose grandmother died in auschwitz said many people would be offended by the prince s actions clarence house has issued a statement saying the prince has apologised and realised it had been a poor costume. number 10 said an error was made but now harry had apologised the matter should be left to the palace. that was a message repeated by home secretary charles clarke who said the matter should now be left to lie. but lib dem leader charles kennedy said harry was in a privileged position and said he should apologise in person. there is a reservoir of goodwill for prince harry and prince william with him in this country but i think he needs to remember that it can t last forever. he added that sandhurst would probably be good for harry as it would teach him some self discipline. former labour mp lord janner who is a high profile member of britain s jewish community branded harry s action s stupid and evil . he told itv: the time has come for him to make a public apology. it is about common decency of respect to the people who fought the nazis to the families of those who were killed by the nazis and to people who suffered during the holocaust. he added: i would send him in the army as fast as possible. i hope that would teach him not to behave like that. a photograph of prince harry wearing a swastika armband and german desert uniform at the party appears in thursday s sun newspaper under the headline: harry the nazi. mr howard acknowledged the prince s apology and said he had no doubt the prince s father and family would have much to say to him privately about the incident. but he told bbc radio 4 s today programme: it might be appropriate to tell us himself just how contrite he is. mr howard declined to say what form the statement should take. but former buckingham palace press spokesman dicky arbiter said the prince should make a personal broadcast apology. mr clarke said he recognised people s concerns about the costume but argued: he has apologised and i think we should leave the matter there.,politics
514,751,s korean consumers spending again south korea looks set to sustain its revival thanks to renewed private consumption its central bank says. the country s economy has suffered from an overhang of personal debt after its consumers credit card spending spree. card use fell sharply last year but is now picking up again with a rise in spending of 14.8% year-on-year. the economy is now heading upward rather than downward said central bank governor park seung. the worst seems to have passed. mr park s statement came as the bank decided to keep interest rates at an all-time low of 3.25%. it had cut rates in november to help revive the economy but rising inflation - reaching 0.7% month-on-month in january - has stopped it from cutting further. economic growth in 2004 was about 4.7% with the central bank predicting 4% growth this year. other indicators are also suggesting that the country is inching back towards economic health. exports - traditionally the driver for expansion in asian economies - grew slower in january than at any time in 17 months. but domestic demand seems to be taking up the slack. consumer confidence has bounced back from a four-year low in january and retail sales were up 2.1% in december. credit card debt is falling with only one in 13 of the 48 million cards now in default - down from one in eight at the end of 2003. one of its biggest card issuers lg card was rescued from collapse in december having almost imploded under the weight of its customers bad debts. the government last year tightened the rules for card lending to keep the card glut under control.,business
515,1501,smartphones suffer skulls attack owners of some nokia smartphones are being warned to watch out for malicious wallpaper. those downloading the software could find all the icons on their 7610 phone swapped for images of skulls. when installed the malicious program also locks many of the 7610 s functions making it hard to use and harder to repair. the program is only the latest in a series of viruses produced to attack mobile phones. the file nicknamed skulls is thought to have surfaced on shareware sites where people can pick up free add-ons such as wallpaper games and ringtones for their phones symbian said that it was not sure if the damage skulls does was intentional or simply a result of bad programming. soon after being discovered the file is thought to have been removed from the sites that were unwittingly harbouring it. the program is masquerading as software that creates new background images and themes for the main screen of the 7610 phone. the skulls program is labelled as a file called: 7610.extended.theme.manager.zip. once installed the program replaces all the icons on the main page with skulls and replaces all the working applications such as contacts calendar notebook etc with non-working versions so the phone becomes almost useless. the only thing the phone can do is make and take calls. a statement by symbian played down the significance of the malicious program and said few people would fall victim to it as users have to go through several steps to install it one of which includes ignoring a security warning. symbian said that the spread of the skulls program was likely to be limited as the program cannot travel from one phone to another by itself. despite this finnish anti-virus lab f-secure said it had sporadic reports of 7610 owners being caught out by it. the firm has produced guidance for users caught out to help them remove the program and get their phone working again. the skulls program is thought to have been written by a malicious hacker using the alias tee-222. symbian phones produced by sony ericsson motorola benq arima and fujitsu are unaffected by the skulls program.,tech
516,73,parties build up poll war chests the labour party received more than £5m in donations in the final quarter of 2004 new figures show. this is nearly half of the £11 724 929 received by 16 political parties listed by the electoral commission. the conservatives were in second place with donations totalling £4 610 849 while the liberal democrats received just over £1m. the majority of labour s donations came from affiliated trade unions. there were also large sums from individuals. lord drayson whose company powderject won multi-million pound contracts to provide smallpox vaccine to the government after the 11 september terror attacks gave £500 000 to the party just days before christmas. this followed an earlier donation of the same amount earlier in 2004. he was made a lord by tony blair last year. other significant donations came from retired millionaire businessman and philanthropist sir christopher ondaatje who gave the party a sum of £500 000 and refrigerator magnate william haughey obe who gave £330 000. the totals for the fourth quarter were well up on the same period of 2003 as the parties built up their war chests for the general election campaign. the largest donation to the conservatives was a bequest from ruth beardmore of nearly £400 000. the joint founder of merchant bank hambro magan gave £325 417. there were also donations topping £250 000 for the conservatives from scottish business groups focus on scotland and the institute of international research the world s largest independent conference company. also among the gifts to the tories were 24 donations totalling £161 840 from bearwood corporate services. this company is controlled by the party s former treasurer lord ashcroft which has directed almost £300 000 to specific marginal constituencies over the past two years. the liberal democrats largest donor was the joseph rowntree reform trust ltd a company which promotes political reform and constitutional change which gave a sum of £250 000. and fast food giants mcdonald s are listed as donating a sum of £10 575. this was a fee the firm paid for a room for an event held with the work and skills foundation during the party s conference. the uk independence party which lost its main donor paul sykes amid the row over robert kilroy-silk s bid for the leadership last autumn took in £63 081. just £8 170 of this was cash and the remainder came in gifts in kind such as office space and printing. registered political parties are required to set out each quarter all donations over £5 000 to their headquarters and over £1 000 to local constituency parties they receive. it is an offence for a person to knowingly or recklessly make a false declaration about party donations.,politics
517,1463,redknapp s saints face pompey tie new southampton manager harry redknapp faces an immediate reunion with his old club portsmouth after they were drawn together in the fa cup fourth round. exeter city face a home tie against middlesbrough if they can see off holders manchester united in a replay. oldham s reward for beating manchester city is a home tie with bolton while yeovil will be away to charlton. chelsea host birmingham tottenham travel to west brom and arsenal will entertain championship side wolves. saints boss redknapp was upbeat about the draw despite having to face the club he walked out on just six weeks ago. i ve said before i can walk away from portsmouth with my head held high i m proud of what i did there and no one can take that away from me said redknapp. maybe i ll be in for some stick there s always some of that but we ll get on with it and it s only a game of football. birmingham manager steve bruce admitted their trip to stamford bridge to face premiership leaders chelsea was the toughest draw possible. bruce said: i m still in shock. we ve given good accounts of ourselves against chelsea in the past and played well when we lost 1-0 at home at the start of the season - but that s the past. but it s the best competition in the world as far as i am concerned and we will give it our best shot. brentford boss martin allen remained cautious despite his side s favourable draw - a home tie with either hartlepool or boston. the best thing is it s a home game. however we know that whoever we play it is going to be a really tough game said allen. but it s not about the opposition it s about us. we all want to get through to the next round and face a massive team that s the way it is. meanwhile the bbc has confirmed it will be televising exeter s replay with man utd live on wednesday 19 january from 1930 on bbc one. derby v watford or fulham man utd or exeter v middlesbrough cardiff or blackburn v colchester chelsea v birmingham west ham v sheff utd oldham v bolton arsenal v wolverhampton everton v sunderland nottm forest v peterborough brentford v hartlepool or boston reading or swansea v leicester or blackpool burnley or liverpool v bournemouth southampton v portsmouth west brom v tottenham newcastle v coventry charlton v yeovil,sport
518,1856,nuclear strike key terror risk the uk and us must realise they cannot prevent all terror attacks and should focus on making sure they are not nuclear strikes says a top academic. amitai etzioni a key influence on new labour thinking says the us emphasis on an axis of evil is misplaced. the priority should instead be on failing states including russia and pakistan who cannot properly control their nuclear material he argues. his report demands a major overhaul of world rules on nuclear technology. professor etzioni was a senior adviser to president carter s white house and is the guru behind communitarian ideas which influenced the development of blairite third way politics. in a report for the foreign policy centre think tank he says a nuclear terrorist attack is the main danger faced by many nations. attempts to defend against it by hardening domestic targets cannot work nor can one rely on pre-emption by taking the war to the terrorists before they attack he says. that means there is an urgent need to curb terrorists access to nuclear arms and the materials used to make them. we must recognise that we will be unable to stop all attacks and thus ensure terrorists will not be able to strike with weapons of mass destruction prof etzioni continues. he suggests so-called rogue states such as iran and north korea are less of a problem than failed and failing states which are more likely to be a source of nuclear materials. he names russia as the failing state of gravest concern as it has an estimated 90% of all fissile material outside america. and he is also worried about pakistan after one of its top nuclear scientists abdul qadeer khan admitted leaking nuclear secrets. prof etzioni criticises the us for overlooking those reports suggesting it was done in return for pakistani help in hunting osama bin laden. this is like letting a serial killer go because he promised to catch some jay-walkers he says. - upgrading security at nuclear arms stores as a temporary measure - creating a new global safety authority to tackle nuclear terrorism using the intelligence links established in the wake of 11 september - backed by the united nations authority - encouraging pressuring and using all available means to persuade countries to switch their highly-enriched uranium for less dangerous less-enriched uranium - when possible taking fissile material away from failing states to safe havens where it can be blended down or converted - compelling failing and rogue states and eventually all states to destroy their nuclear bombs.,politics
519,1074,sundance to honour foreign films international films will be given the same prominence as us films at next year s sundance film festival with movies dominated by the theme of war. the independent film festival will feature two new international cinema competitions during its 20-30 january season in utah. forty-two films will debut at sundance including the liberace of baghdad by british director sean mcallister. the prestigious festival was founded by actor robert redford in 1981. we have always had an international component but from next year they will enter a jury competition festival director geoffrey gilmore said. we wanted to give world cinema more emphasis and have now put it on par with the american dramatic and documentary competitions. twelve films competing in the new world cinema documentary category focus on countries and people under siege. the liberace of baghdad features an iraqi pianist hiding in a hotel as he waits for a visa while finnish film the three rooms of melancholia looks at the war in chechnya. shake hands with the devil: the journey of romeo dallaire tells of a un mission to rwanda during the 1994 genocide while french-israeli production wall looks at israel s controversial security wall separating it from the palestinian territories. the 16 films competing in the new world cinema dramatic category include works from germany south korea angola china denmark and australia. several hollywood stars feature in the festival s american independent drama category including keanu reeves and benjamin bratt. vince vaughn stars in quirky movie thumbsucker while 21 grams actress naomi watts plays a budding hollywood actress in ellie parker. the top grand jury prize at this year s festival went to low budget sci-fi thriller primer written and directed by shane carruth. morgan spurlock earned the directing award for super size me which became an international box office hit.,entertainment
520,2225,souness delight at euro progress boss graeme souness felt newcastle were never really in danger of going out of the uefa cup against heerenveen. an early own goal followed by an alan shearer strike earned them a 2-1 win and a place in the uefa cup last 16. obviously with winning in the first leg it gave us a great advantage he said after the 4-2 aggregate victory. we got our goals early and in the minds of some players the job was done but then they got a goal and perhaps made us a bit nervous. shearer s goal moved him within 12 of jackie milburn s club scoring record of 200 for the magpies. but souness said he did not think beating the record would have any bearing on his decision to retire at the end of the season. i think if he got it this year he would want to stay next year anyway he added. he struck the ball very well - he always has done - and i think it was the power and pace that beat the goalkeeper. souness also paid tribute to laurent robert who was at the heart of much of united s attacking play. in the first half he did really well and did everything you want from a wide player. more of the same in future please he said.,sport
521,1313,protect whistleblowers tuc says the government should change the law to give more protection to employees who raise health and safety concerns about their workplaces the tuc has said. it said data from employment tribunals suggested 1 500 safety whistleblowers had lost their jobs since 1999. some firms found it cheaper to sack a worker than to improve buildings or change working conditions it said. the health and safety executive said it was trying to get workers more involved in helping to make workplaces safer. the tuc figures were drawn from unfair dismissal cases at tribunals were health and safety were the main issue. safety representatives were often ignored when raising concerns because there was no legal duty to respond claimed the union organisation. general secretary brendan barber said: it shouldn t be a firing offence to object to unsafe work. workers should not be placed in the situation where they are forced to choose between risking their job or risking their personal health and safety. mr barber who said the problem is far worse than official statistics show called for a legal system that protects safety whistleblowers . he added that workers who are not in a union as well as casual and migrant workers stand little chance of redress. rory o neill editor of union-backed hazards magazine which conducted the research said: giving union safety reps more rights in more workplaces is the ultimate win-win. death and injuries at work increased last year for the second time since the turn of the century. it would be a fatal mistake not to take full advantage of the union safety effect. the tuc has called on the government to appoint roving safety reps and to increase spending on health and safety work inspections. the health and safety executive had said that it had launched an initiative to make factories and offices safer with more worker involvement.,politics
522,933,strong quarterly growth for nike nike has reported its best second-quarter earnings helped by strong demand for its athletic shoes and converse sneakers. the global sports giant said it posted a profit of $261.9m (£135.6m) for the three months to 30 november up from $179.1m in the same period last year. revenues increased 11% to $3.1bn from $2.8bn for the same period in 2003. nike whose products are endorsed by tiger woods among other sports stars said demand continues to grow . the results came after a strong first quarter of the year for the firm based in beaverton oregon. philip knight chairman and chief executive said: nike s second-quarter revenues and earnings per share reached all-time high levels as a result of solid performance across our global portfolio. our businesses in the united states and emerging markets such as china russia and turkey combined with favourable european exchange rates helped drive much of this growth. he added: with the first half of our fiscal year in the books we remain confident that our business strategy and consistent execution will allow us to deliver on our goals of healthy profitable growth. the firm reported worldwide futures orders for athletic footwear and gear scheduled for delivery from december 2004 to april 2005 of $4.9bn. that is 9.1% higher than such orders reported for the same period last year.,business
523,1136,mixed christmas for us retailers us retailers posted mixed results for december - with luxury retailers faring well while many others were forced to slash prices to lift sales. upscale department store nordstrom said same store sales were 9.3% higher than during the same period last year. trendy youth labels also sold well with sales jumping 28% at young women s clothing retailer bebe stores and 32.2% at american eagle outfitters. but wal-mart only saw its sales rise after it cut prices. the company saw a 3% rise in december sales less than the 4.3% rise seen a year earlier. customers at the world s biggest retailer are generally seen to be the most vulnerable to america s economic woes. commentators claim many have cut back on spending amid uncertainty over job security while low and middle-income americans have reined in spending in the face of higher gasoline prices. analysts said wal-mart faced a stand-off with shoppers stepping up its discounts as the festive season wore on as consumers waited longer to get the best bargains. however experts added that if prices had not been cut across the sector christmas sales - which account for nearly 23% of annual retail sales - would have been far worse. so far we are faring better than expected but the results are still split ken perkins an analyst at research firm retailmetrics llc told associated press. stores that have been struggling over the last couple of months appear to be continuing that trend. and for stores that have been doing well over the last several months december was a good month. overall december sales are forecast to rise by 4.5% to $220bn - less than the 5.1% increase seen a year earlier. one discount retailer to fare well in december was costco wholesale which continued a recent run of upbeat results with a better-than-expected 8% jump in same store sales. however the losers were many and varied. home furnishings store pier 1 imports saw its same store sales sink by a larger-than-forecast 8.8% as it battled fierce competition. leading electronics chain best buy meanwhile missed its sales target of a 3-5% rise in sales turning in a 2.5% increase over the christmas period. accessory vendor claire s stores also suffered as an expected last minute shopping rush never materialised leaving its same store sales 5% higher compared to a 6% rise last year. jeweller zale also felt little christmas cheer with december sales down 0.7% on the same month last year. this was not a good period for retailers or shoppers. we saw a dearth of exciting new items kurt barnard president of industry forecaster retail consulting group said. however one beneficiary of the desertion of the high street is expected to be online stores. according to a survey by goldman sachs & co harris interactive and neilsen/net ratings sales surged 25% over the holiday season to $23.2bn.,business
524,779,s korea spending boost to economy south korea will boost state spending next year in an effort to create jobs and kick start its sputtering economy. it has earmarked 100 trillion won ($96bn) for the first six months of 2005 60% of its total annual budget. the government s main problems are slumping consumption and a contraction in the construction industry . it aims to create 400 000 jobs and will focus on infrastructure and home building as well as providing public firms with money to hire new workers. the government has set an economic growth rate target of 5% for next year and hinted that would be in danger unless it took action. internal and external economic conditions are likely to remain unfavourable in 2005 the finance and economy ministry said in a statement. it blamed continuing uncertainties such as fluctuating oil prices and foreign exchange rates and stagnant domestic demand that has shown few signs of a quick rebound . in 2004 growth will be between 4.7% and 4.8% the ministry said. not everyone is convinced the plan will work. our primary worry centres on the what we believe is the government s overly optimistic view that its front loading of the budget will be enough to turn the economy around consultancy 4cast said in a report. the problem facing south korea is that many consumers are reeling from the effects of a credit bubble that only recently burst. millions of south koreans are defaulting on their credit card bills and the country s biggest card lender has been hovering on the verge of bankruptcy for months. as part of its spending plans the government said it will ask firms to roll over mortgage loans that come due in the first half of 2005 . it also pledged to look at ways of helping families on low incomes. the government voiced concern about the effect of redundancies in the building trade. given the economic spill over and employment effect in the construction sector a sharp downturn in the construction industry could have other adverse effects the ministry said. as a result south korea will give private companies also will be given the chance to build schools hospitals houses and other public buildings. it also will look at real estate tax system. other plans on the table include promoting new industries such as bio-technology and nano-technology as well as offering increased support to small and medium sized businesses. the focus will be on job creation and economic recovery given that unfavourable domestic and global conditions are likely to dog the korean economy in 2005 the ministry said.,business
525,1315,ea to take on film and tv giants video game giant electronic arts (ea) says it wants to become the biggest entertainment firm in the world. the us firm says it wants to compete with companies such as disney and will only achieve this by making games appeal to mainstream audiences. ea publishes blockbuster titles such as fifa and john madden as well as video game versions of movies such as harry potter and the james bond films. its revenues were $3bn (£1.65bn) in 2004 which ea hoped to double by 2009. ea is the biggest games publisher in the world and in 2004 had 27 titles which sold in excess of one million copies each. nine of the 20 biggest-selling games in the uk last year were published by ea. gerhard florin ea s managing director for european publishing said: doubling our industry in five years is not rocket science. he said it would take many years before ea could challenge disney - which in 2004 reported revenues of $30bn (£16bn) - but it remained a goal for the company. we will be able to bring more people into gaming because games will be more emotional. mr florin predicted that the next round of games console would give developers enough power to create real emotion. it s the subtleties the eyes the mouth - 5 000 polygons doesn t really sell the emotion. with ps3 and xbox 2 we can go on the main character with 30 000 to 50 000 polygons he said. with that increased firepower the finding nemo video game looks just like the movie but it will be interactive. mr florin said that more than 50% of all ea s games were sold to adults and played by adults but the perception remained that the video game industry was for children. our goal is to bring games to the masses which bring out emotions. ea said the video game industry was now bigger than the music industry. nobody queues for music anymore. you can t ignore an industry when people queue to buy a game at midnight because they are so desperate to play it he said referring to demand for titles for such as grand theft auto: san andreas and halo 2. jan bolz ea s vice president of sales and marketing in europe said the firm was working to give video games a more central role in popular culture. he said the company was in advanced stages of discussions over a reality tv show in which viewers could control the actions of the characters as in its popular game the sims. one idea could be that you re controlling a family telling them when to go to the kitchen and when to go to the bedroom and with this mechanism you have gamers all over the world playing the show said mr bolz. he also said ea was planning an international awards show similar to the oscars and the grammys which would combine video games music and movies. mr bolz said video games firm had to work more closely with celebrities. people will want to play video games if their heroes like robbie williams or christina aguilera are in them. mr florin said the challenge was to keep people playing in their 30s 40s and 50s. there s an indication that a 30 year old comes home from work and still wants to play games. if that s true that s a big challenge for tv broadcasters - because watching tv is the biggest pastime at present.,tech
526,1628,blair s hope for blunkett return the events leading to david blunkett s resignation must not swept under the carpet the tories have warned. on wednesday tony blair said he hoped the former home secretary would serve again in government in the future. mr blunkett quit in december after a probe linked him to the visa application of his ex-lover s nanny. mr blair said he left without a stain on his character but tory dominic grieve branded the way mr blunkett s office operated as scandalous . mr blair told bbc radio 4 s today programme: i know david very well and i believe him to be a man of real integrity and real ability and i was very sad for him as to what happened. he said mr blunkett still had an immense amount to offer the country but he was not making any guarantees or definitive statements about future jobs. but shadow attorney general mr grieve said: while i don t rule out the possibility that mr blunkett may return as a minister i don t think it s something that can simply be brushed under the carpet. senior labour backbencher martin o neill who chairs the commons trade committee said he believed the prime minister would want one of his praetorian guard - a reference to the elite body guard of roman emperors - back alongside him. but colleague ian gibson who chairs the science and technology committee said there was a question mark as to whether mr blunkett could serve at cabinet level again.,politics
527,432,blair backs pre-election budget tony blair has backed chancellor gordon brown s pre-budget report amid opposition claims he was too bullish about the state of the uk economy. in a speech in edinburgh the prime minister said thursday s report reinforced stability and opportunity. and that would be central to labour s next election campaign planning for which was already well advanced. mr brown earlier denied his economic forecasts were too optimistic - but refused to rule out future tax rises. he told bbc radio 4 s today programme: no politician should make the mistake that john major and his colleagues made in 1992 of saying no matter what the circumstances are they can make all sorts of guarantees on every individual thing. that is not what politicians should do it would not be responsible to do. mr brown insisted his spending plans were affordable and he could afford to be optimistic because britain was now a stable low-inflation economy and house prices were now stabilising. mr blair praised his chancellor for his role in creating economic stability which he said was the cornerstone of labour s programme. in a speech at edinburgh s napier university he said labour would publish over the next few months a rich agenda for future policy in any possible third term . in every area of work there is a detailed plan for the future much clearer than those in 1997 or 2001. all of it fits together around common themes of opportunity security and stability for all mr blair said. in his pre-budget report mr brown surprised some city experts by forecasting uk growth at between 3% and 3.5% for next year. many believe the figure is more likely to be under 3% - and fear tax rises or spending cuts saying tax receipts have been overestimated. carl emmerson from the institute for fiscal studies told bbc news: he thinks everything will come out in the wash and it will in fact be ok. we re not so sure. david page of investec securities said: his forecast that he will meet the golden rule with a margin of £8bn is way too optimistic. it s going to take a significant turnaround in the economy to meet these targets. conservative shadow chancellor oliver letwin said: i can t find a single economic forecaster from the imf to the institute of fiscal studies who believes anything other than the chancellor has got a black hole in his finances. in order to deal with that he will have to raise taxes after the next general election. mr letwin accused the chancellor of using fancy statistics to hide public service failures. vincent cable for the liberal democrats called on mr brown to open up the government s books to the national audit office to see if he had met his golden rule . it is very clear that there are some serious loose ends in government public spending mr cable told mps.,politics
528,546,rusedski forced out in marseille greg rusedski was forced to withdraw from the open 13 in marseille on thursday with a rib injury. the british number two had been scheduled to play qualifier sebastien de chaunac who beat world number five guillermo coria 6-4 7-5 in round one. but rusedski was unable to take to the court because of a problem with the left-hand side of his rib-cage. american taylor dent caused a shock with a 7-6 6-2 victory over second seed david nalbandian. but third seed joachim johansson made it through after beating frenchman gilles simon 7-6 6-3 while in the first match of the day sixth seed feliciano lopez defeated ivo karlovic. there were also wins for slovakia s karol beck and croatian duo ivan ljubicic and mario ancic.,sport
529,1779,water firm suez in argentina row a conflict between the argentine state and water firm aguas argentinas controlled by france s suez is casting doubt on the firm s future. the firm which serves the province of buenos aires wants a tariff rise of 60% to fund water-supply improvements. the government has rejected the 60% rise and wants aguas argentinas to make an annual investment of 400m pesos ($136m; £72.3m) in improvements. planning minister julio de vido has offered state help but not for free . mr de vido said that the argentine state would not make a contribution in the form of a subsidy . he has said a contribution could be made in return for a seat on the company s board. he added that the government is in discussions with aguas argentinas about what role it might take in the event that a state contribution is agreed. however aguas argentinas told the argentine newspaper clarin it would not accept any change to its legal structure and in practice this rules out state participation on its board. the planning minister didn t rule out the possibility of cancelling aguas argentinas water concession. yet he added that he didn t like to do futurology . but last week argentine economic minister roberto lavagna told the french media in paris that the government was considering allowing a 16% increase in tariffs and the possibility of a state contribution to aguas argentinas infrastructure investments. speaking in buenos aires mr de vido later denied the possibility of any tariff increase and insisted that the annual investment in water infrastructure was at the centre of the discussions. he added that in the coming weeks the future of aguas argentinas would be decided. suez owns 40% of aguas argentinas (39.9%) while spain s aguas de barcelona is its second biggest shareholder with 25.01%. recently suez lost a water concession in bolivia after mass protests in the city of el alto (the poorest in the country) with citizens complaining of unfair water charges. this forced the government to cancel the contract. in argentina suez s subsidiary which has been fined for cutting the supply of water during a recent heat wave and allegedly failing to keep up investment to meet the demand for water has maintained a tense relationship with the argentine government. during the last financial crisis in argentina the firm sued the state alleging that converting its tariffs from us dollars to pesos and then freezing them during devaluation had affected the company and made it difficult for it to meet its contractual obligations. when president nestor kirchner of argentina arrived in power he began to negotiate a solution to the disagreements with international utilities operating in argentina. but he has rejected any tariff increases alleging this will impoverish citizens further. he has also asked for more investments to meet the growing demand for water. on may 2004 aguas argentinas and the government signed an agreement to renegotiate its buenos aires water-concession contract. the firm agreed to invest 242m pesos. the issue has attracted european interest. last week in paris president kirchner discussed this problem and other issues with french president jacques chirac. the argentine government is also under pressure from european union countries and the international monetary fund (imf) to raise utilities tariffs because most of the utilities operating in argentina are european.,business
530,1514,robotic pods take on car design a new breed of wearable robotic vehicles that envelop drivers are being developed by japanese car giant toyota. the company s vision for the single passenger in the 21st century involves the driver cruising by in a four-wheeled leaf-like device or strolling along encased in an egg-shaped cocoon that walks upright on two feet. both these prototypes will be demonstrated along with other concept vehicles and helper robots at the toyota stand at the expo 2005 in aichi japan in march 2005. the models are being positioned as so-called personal mobility devices which have few limits. the open leaf-like i-unit vehicle is the latest version of the concept which the company introduced last year. built using environmentally friendly plant-based materials the single passenger unit is equipped with intelligent transport system technologies that allow for safe autopilot driving in specially equipped lanes. the model allows the user to make tight on-the-spot turns move upright amongst other people at low speeds and can be easily switched into a reclining position at higher speeds. body colours can be customized to suit individual preferences and a personal recognition system offers both information and music. also on display at the show will be the egg-shaped i-foot . this is a two-legged mountable robot like device that can be controlled with a joystick. standing at a height of well over seven feet (2.1 metres) the unit can walk along at a speed of about 1.35km/h (0.83mph) and navigate staircases into the bargain. mounting and dismounting is accomplished with the aid of the bird-like legs that bend over backwards. they are clearly what we call concept vehicles innovative ideas which have yet to be transformed into potential products and which are a few years away from actual production said dr david gillingwater from the transport studies group at loughborough university. they clearly have eye-catching appeal which is in part the name of the game here and are linked to the imac and ipod-type niche which apple have been responsible for developing and leading in recent years - new different hi-tech image conscious products. as always with these concept vehicles it is difficult to see who they would appeal to and what their role would be in the personal transport marketplace. the personal transport arena is taking on a new dimension though with futuristic devices that augment human capabilities. toyota s prototypes represent the latest incarnation of wearable exoskeletons in a vehicular form that is specially focused on transport. powered robotic exoskeletons have been the focus of much us military research over the years and japan seems to have jumped onto the bandwagon with a wave of products being developed for specific applications. with an emerging range of devices targeted towards the ageing world population care giving and the military wearable exoskeletons seem to represent a new line of future technologies that meet an individual s particular mobility needs. while toyota s prototypes are geared towards mass transport the company says that the vehicles will allow the elderly and the disabled to achieve independent mobility. experts though are a bit sceptical of their acceptance in this area. those with arguably the greatest needs for this sort of assistance now and certainly in the future are the elderly and infirm people dr gillingwater told the bbc news website. you have to ask whether these sorts of vehicles will appeal to these groups. design considerations also exist. dr erel avineri of the centre for transport and society at the university of the west of england in bristol said: the design of the introduced mobility devices is not completely adjusted to the specific needs of the elderly and the disabled. for example one problem that many older passengers experience is limited ability to rotate the neck and upper body making it difficult to look to the side and back when backing up. it looks like the visual design of the device inte
531,1365,evil twin fear for wireless net people using wireless high-speed net (wi-fi) are being warned about fake hotspots or access points. the latest threat nicknamed evil twins pose as real hotspots but are actually unauthorised base stations say cranfield university experts. once logged onto an evil twin sensitive data can be intercepted. wi-fi is becoming popular as more devices come with wireless capability. london leads the global wi-fi hotspots league with more than 1 000. the number of hotspots is expected to reach 200 000 by 2008 according to analysts. users need to be wary of using their wi-fi enabled laptops or other portable devices in order to conduct financial transactions or anything that is of a sensitive or personal nature said professor brian collins head of information systems at cranfield university. users can also protect themselves by ensuring that their wi-fi device has its security measures activated he added. bt openzone which operates a vast proportion of public hotspots in the uk told the bbc news website that it made every effort to make its wi-fi secure. naturally people may have security concerns said chris clark chief executive for bt s wireless broadband. but wi-fi networks are no more or less vulnerable than any other means of accessing the internet like broadband or dial-up. he said bt openzone as well as others have sophisticated encryption from the start of the login process to the service at a hotspot. this means that users personal information and data logon usernames and passwords are protected and secure said mr clark. in the vast majority of cases base stations straight out of the box from the manufacturers are automatically set up with the least secure mode possible said dr nobles. cybercriminals who try to glean personal information using the scam jam connections to a legitimate base station by sending a stronger signal near to the wireless client. anyone with the right gear can find a real hotspot and substitute it with an evil twin. cybercriminals don t have to be that clever to carry out such an attack said dr phil nobles a wireless net and cybercrime expert at cranfield. because wireless networks are based on radio signals they can be easily detected by unauthorised users tuning into the same frequency. although wi-fi is increasing in popularity as more people want to use high-speed net on the move there have been fears over how secure it is. some companies have been reluctant to use them in large numbers because of fears about security. a wireless network that is not protected can provide a backdoor into a company s computer system. public wi-fi hotspots offered by companies like bt openzone and the cloud are accessible after users sign up and pay for use. but many home and company wi-fi networks are left unprotected and can be sniffed out and hi-jacked by anyone with the correct equipment. bt advises that customers should change all default settings make sure that their security settings on all equipment are configured correctly said mr clark. we also advocate the use of personal firewalls to ensure that only authorised users can have access and that data cannot be intercepted. dr nobles is due to speak about wireless cybercrime at the science museum s dana centre in london on thursday.,tech
532,1776,china blocks google news site china has been accused of blocking access to google news by the media watchdog reporters without borders. the paris-based pressure group said the english-language news site had been unavailable for the past 10 days. it said the aim was to force people to use a chinese edition of the site which according to the watchdog does not include critical reports. google told the bbc news website it was aware of the problems and was investigating the causes. china is believed to extend greater censorship over the net than any other country in the world. a net police force monitors websites and e-mails and controls on gateways connecting the country to the global internet are designed to prevent access to critical information. popular chinese portals such as sina.com and sohu.com maintain a close eye on content and delete politically sensitive comments. and all 110 000 net cafes in the country have to use software to control access to websites considered harmful or subversive. china is censoring google news to force internet users to use the chinese version of the site which has been purged of the most critical news reports said the group in a statement. by agreeing to launch a news service that excludes publications disliked by the government google has let itself be used by beijing it said. for its part the search giant said it was looking into the issue. it appears that many users in china are having difficulty accessing google news sites in china and we are working to understand and resolve the issue said a google spokesperson. google news gathers information from some 4 500 news sources. headlines are selected for display entirely by a computer algorithm with no human editorial intervention. it offers 15 editions of the service including one tailored for china and one for hong kong. google launched a version in simplified chinese in september. the site does not filter news results to remove politically sensitive information. but google does not link to news sources which are inaccessible from within china as this would result in broken links.,tech
533,109,hong kong in 2011 world cup bid hong kong is hoping to join japan as co-host of the 2011 rugby world cup. japan has applied to host the tournament on its own with the aim of taking it outside rugby s traditional strongholds for the first time. but hong kong rugby football union (hkrfu) chairman john molloy has called for the territory to host one of the pools and a quarter-final. the japanese rugby football union (jrfu) says it has yet to receive a formal presentation from the hkrfu. at this stage we are only considering hosting the event by ourselves said jrfu secretary koji tokumasu. we cannot examine any proposal unless we get it in a definitive form. japan faces stiff competition in the form of south africa and new zealand to host the event in seven years time. until now the world cup has been held in countries from the six nations or tri-nations said tokumasu. we think and the irb thinks that it is time for rugby to go global. japan is ready to host the tournament and we are looking forward to welcoming the world of rugby to japan. tokumasu added that the 2002 football world cup co-hosted by japan and south korea had been a huge success. as well as having the infrastructure in place japan also has the commercial clout to host one of sport s top competitions he said. last year japan launched its first professional rugby league and it has the fourth largest number of registered players (125 508) in the world after england south africa and france.,sport
534,235,itunes user sues apple over ipod a user of apple s itunes music service is suing the firm saying it is unfair he can only use an ipod to play songs. he says apple is breaking anti-competition laws in refusing to let other music players work with the site. apple which opened its online store in 2003 after launching the ipod in 2001 uses technology to ensure each song bought only plays on the ipod. californian thomas slattery filed the suit in the us district court in san jose and is seeking damages. apple has turned an open and interactive standard into an artifice that prevents consumers from using the portable hard drive digital music player of their choice the lawsuit states. the key to such a lawsuit would be convincing a court that a single brand like itunes is a market in itself separate from the rest of the online music market according to ernest gellhorn an anti-trust law professor at george mason university. as a practical matter the lower courts have been highly sceptical of such claims prof gellhorn said. apple has sold more than six million ipods since the gadget was launched and has an 87% share of the market for portable digital music players market research firm npd group has reported. more than 200 million songs have been sold by the itunes music store since it was launched. apple has unlawfully bundled tied and/or leveraged its monopoly in the market for the sale of legal online digital music recordings to thwart competition in the separate market for portable hard drive digital music players and vice-versa the lawsuit said. mr slattery called himself an itunes customer who was also forced to purchase an apple ipod if he wanted to take his music with him to listen to. a spokesman for apple declined to comment. apple s online music store uses a different format for songs than napster musicmatch realplayer and others. the rivals use the mp3 format or microsoft s wma format while apple uses aac which it says helps thwart piracy. the wma format also includes so-called digital rights management which is used to block piracy.,tech
535,162,howard s unfinished business he s not finished yet whispered the conservative party person as your reporter attempted to slip quietly from the hall. and indeed he wasn t. michael howard had already broken away from the printed text of his speech at his party s spring conference in brighton to deliver a smart rebuff to peter hain s description of him as an attack mongrel claiming such personal abuse meant labour was rattled by the tory challenge. and here he was again moving to the front of the stage as the party faithful rose to their feet in applause to make a personal ad-libbed appeal to them to go out and fight for victory. one day you will be able to tell your children and grandchildren as i will tell mine i was there. i did my bit. i played my part. i helped to win that famous election - the election that transformed our country for the better . the speech which was peppered with references to mr howard s humble beginnings as the child of immigrants had been introduced by his son nick a trainee vicar who praised his father s honesty. i always know where i am with him because all my life he has meant what he has said to me he said. mr howard was also joined on stage by his wife sandra daughter larissa and stepson sholto. the audience s reaction to all of this was a little muted by party conference standards. but mr howard s overall message - that the tories have labour on the run and that they can win the next election - did not sound quite as hollow as it might have done six months ago. mr howard claimed with some justification that the tories campaign has got off to a great start . they have had labour on the back foot over immigration with tony blair hastily adding a sixth promise on the issue to his latest pledge card and have even managed to score points in traditional labour territory such as health and education. the stunts involving margaret dixon with her postponed operation and maria hutchings with concerns about her son s special needs education may not have been to everyone s taste but they succeeded in bringing the issues alive and forcing labour to react. senior tories believe they are at long last starting to tap into the public mood cutting through the background noise to connect with the ordinary voter. their latest poster campaign flags up a range of policies from better school discipline cleaner hospitals ( i mean how hard is it to keep a hospital clean ) and immigration ( it s not racist to impose limits on immigration ) - under the headline are you thinking what we are thinking this they say contrasts with labour s negative campaigning such as its now infamous flying pigs poster. oliver letwin one of the men lampooned in the labour poster affects bewilderment at what he believes is labour s loss of its once sure footing on the campaign trail. the peter hain mongrel attack he says is just the latest example of the party getting the tone wrong - a by-product he claims of the tories setting the agenda. i have to say i don t understand what they are doing. the labour machine appears to be in some kind of state of shock it doesn t seem to know what to do. a few weeks of positive headlines have also done wonders for tory activists morale - likely to be a crucial factor at an election which most analysts seem to agree will hinge on which party can get their core support out. it has been a fantastic few weeks said 20-year-old politics student nick vaughan. our policies have been getting in the media and there is a sense that we can win. i wouldn t be here if i didn t think we could. some delegates even spoke of the next election being like 1970 when ted heath behind in the polls and written off by the pundits snatched victory from harold wilson s labour party. they all insisted it was not going to be a re-run of 2001. we thought in 2001 we were going to dent that massive majority but it just didn t happen said john murray of aldridge browhills conservatives. it was very disappointing. this time it really is different
536,2071,electronics firms eye plasma deal consumer electronics giants hitachi and matshushita electric are joining forces to share and develop technology for flat screen televisions. the tie-up comes as the world s top producers are having to contend with falling prices and intense competition. the two japanese companies will collaborate in research & development production marketing and licensing. they said the agreement would enable the two companies to expand the plasma display tv market globally. plasma display panels are used for large thin tvs which are replacing old-style televisions. the display market for high-definition televisions is split between models using plasma display panels and others - manufactured by the likes of sony and samsung - using liquid-crystal displays (lcds). the deal will enable hitachi and matsushita which makes panasonic brand products to develop new technology and improve their competitiveness. hitachi recently announced a deal to buy plasma display technology from rival fujitsu in an effort to strengthen its presence in the market. separately fujitsu announced on monday that it is quitting the lcd panel market by transferring its operations in the area to japanese manufacturer sharp. sharp will inherit staff manufacturing facilities and intellectual property from fujitsu. the plasma panel market has seen rapid consolidation in recent months as the price of consumer electronic goods and components has fallen. samsung electronics and sony are among other companies working together to reduce costs and speed up new product development.,business
537,412,dutch bank to lay off 2 850 staff abn amro the netherlands largest bank is to cut 2 850 jobs as a result of falling profits. the cuts - amounting to 3% of the bank s workforce - will result in a one-off charge of 790m euros ($1.1bn). about 1 100 jobs will go in investment banking while 1 200 and 550 will go in it and human resources respectively. abn amro is the third large european bank to announce cutbacks in the past month following deutsche bank and credit suisse group. its profitability has been hit by a fall in mortgage lending in the united states - the bank s largest single market - following recent interest rate rises. abn amro s operations in the netherlands and the united kingdom will be hardest hit. jobs will also be lost in the us - which accounted for 46% of profit in the first half of 2004 - and across its operations in the americas and asia-pacific regions. the restructuring is designed to improve efficiency by reducing administrative costs and increasing focus on client service. the bank said it was on course for a 10% rise in net income this year but operating profits are set to fall because of a fall in us revenues. abn amro currently has more than 100 000 staff. to get any profit growth in the coming years they will have to lower costs so shedding jobs makes total sense ivo geijsen an analyst with bank oyens & van eeghen told bloomberg. europe s leading banks seem set for a period of retrenchment. deutsche bank said earlier this month it would reduce its german workforce by 1 920 while as many as 300 jobs will be lost at credit suisse first boston.,business
538,1092,laporte tinkers with team france coach bernard laporte has made four changes to the starting line-up that beat england for saturday s six nations clash with wales. he opted for yannick nyanga in the back row instead of grand slam winner imanol harinordoquy who is back in the squad. other changes see julien laharrague win his first cap at full-back aurelien rougerie return after injury on the wing and yannick jauzion in at centre. but laporte has resisted fan pressure to start frederic michalak at fly-half. the dependable yann delaigue keeps the number 10 jersey despite clamours for the flair of michalak. the 26-year-old laharrague gets his chance despite playing on the wing for his club brive. we are launching him into the great international level said team manager jo maso. he is young and this is a great opportunity for us and above all for him. there are 25 matches left before the world cup so we must see as many players as possible. the competition is very high and open. jauzion france s player of the year in 2004 would probably have played in the first two matches instead of the south african-born liebeneberg had he been fit. the stade toulousain star wins his 23rd cap and is reunited with damien traille with whom he forged an effective midfield in 2004. the return of jauzion is going to be a plus for us said laporte. we are going to test him at an international level. julien laharrague (brive) aurelien rougerie (clermont) yannick jauzion (stade toulousain) damien traille (biarritz) christophe dominici (stade francais) yann delaigue (castres) dimitri yachvili (biarritz) julien bonnaire (bourgoin) yannick nyanga (beziers) serge betsen (biarritz) jerome thion (biarritz) fabien pelous (stade toulousain capt) nicolas mas (perpignan) sebastien bruno (sale) sylvain marconnet (stade francais) replacements: william servat (stade toulousain) olivier milloud (bourgoin) gregory lamboley (stade toulousain) imanol harinordoquy (biarritz) pierre mignoni (clermont) frederic michalak (stade toulousain) jean-philippe grandclaude (perpignan),sport
539,1352,ethnic producers face barriers minority ethnic led (mel) production companies face barriers in succeeding in the film and television industries research has suggested. the study commissioned by pact and the uk film council included interviews with industry experts and individuals. they indicated that career progression and a lack of role models are among the main problems within such companies. the research indicated that about 10% of independent production companies in the uk are minority ethnic led. a minority ethnic led company is defined as one in which the majority of decision-making power rests with an individual or individuals from a minority ethnic group. the report also explored the problems faced by such companies when attempting to compete within the film and tv industries. it said they are often smaller than other companies and lack the resources so are often squeezed out of the market by bigger firms. the research recommended that minority ethnic led companies could benefit from such positive actions as career training and business advice plus improved communication within the film and tv sectors. the uk has a rich and diverse culture and it is essential that it is reflected on film and television said arts minister estelle morris of the findings. i welcome this report which i hope will lead to more doors being opened and all businesses in our film and television industries being given the same opportunities.,entertainment
540,294,tory stalking horse meyer dies sir anthony meyer the tory backbencher who challenged margaret thatcher for the party leadership in 1989 has died. he was 84 had been suffering from cancer for many months and died at his london home. that failed stalking horse leadership challenge made it easier for michael heseltine to mount his own bid. that in turn paved the way for john major to move into 10 downing street after the second ballot. meyer s constituency party clwyd north west which he had represented as an mp for more than 20 years deselected him as a result of that challenge. sir anthony john charles meyer was born on 27 october 1920. educated at eton and at new college oxford he served in the scots guards from 1941 to 1945 and was wounded in tanks in normandy. he worked under edward heath on europe at the foreign office and subsequently won the eton and slough seat for the tories in 1964 - by 11 votes. labour regained the seat two years later and meyer had to wait until 1970 before he could re-enter parliament. his prospects of a front bench slot remained remote because he tended to defy the party line.,politics
541,1973,bat spit drug firm goes to market a german firm whose main product is derived from the saliva of the vampire bat is looking to raise more than 70m euros ($91m; £49m) on the stock market. the firm paion said that it hoped to sell 5 million shares - a third of the firm - for 11-14 euros a share. its main drug desmoteplase is based on a protein in the bat s saliva. the protein stops blood from clotting - which helps the bat to drink from its victims but could also be used to help stroke sufferers. the company s shares go on sale later this week and are scheduled to start trading on the frankfurt stock exchange on 10 february. if the final price is at the top of the range the company could be valued at as much as 200m euros. the money raised will be spent largely on developing the company s other drugs since desmoteplase has already been licensed to one manufacturer forest laboratories.,business
542,493,sony psp tipped as a must-have sony s playstation portable is the top gadget for 2005 according to a round-up of ultimate gizmos compiled by stuff magazine. it beats the ipod into second place in the top ten essentials list which predicts what gadget-lovers are likely to covet this year. owning all 10 gadgets will set the gadget lover back £7 455. that is £1 000 cheaper than last year s list due to falling manufacturing costs making gadgets more affordable. portable gadgets dominate the list including sharp s 902 3g mobile phone the pentax optio sv digital camera and samsung s yepp yh-999 video jukebox. what this year s essentials shows is that gadgets are now cheaper sexier and more indispensable than ever. we ve got to the point where we can t live our lives without certain technology said adam vaughan editor of stuff essentials. the proliferation of gadgets in our homes is inexorably altering the role of the high street in our lives thinks mr vaughan. take digital cameras who would now pay to develop an entire film of photos or legitimate downloads who would travel miles to a record shop when they could download the song in minutes for 70p he asks. next year will see a new set of technologies capturing the imaginations of gadget lovers stuff predicts. the xbox 2 high-definition tv and mp3 mobiles will be among the list of must-haves that will dominate 2006 it says. the spring launch of the psp in the uk is eagerly awaited by gaming fans.,tech
543,45,pandas benefit from wireless net the world s dwindling panda population is getting a helping hand from a wireless internet network. the wolong nature reserve in the sichuan province of southwest china is home to 20% of the remaining 1 500 giant pandas in the world. a broadband and wireless network installed on the reserve has allowed staff to chronicle the pandas daily activities. the data and images can be shared with colleagues around the world. the reserve conducts vital research on both panda breeding and bamboo ecology. using the network vets have been able to observe how infant pandas feed and suggest changes to improve the tiny cubs chances of survival. digital technology has transformed the way we communicate and share information inside wolong and with the rest of the world said zhang hemin director of the wolong nature reserve. our researchers now have state-of-the-art digital technology to help foster the panda population and manage our precious surroundings. the network has been developed by intel working closely with the staff at wolong. it includes a 802.11b wireless network and a video monitoring system using five cameras to observe pandas around the clock. before the new infrastructure arrived at the panda park staff walked or drove to deliver floppy disks across the reserve. infant panda health was recorded on paper notebooks and research teams in the field had little access to the data. to foster cultural links across the globe a children s learning lab has been incorporated in the network in collaboration with globio (federation for global biodiversity education for children) an international non-profit organisation. it will enable children at local primary schools to hook up with their peers in portland oregon in the us. digital technology brings this story to life by enabling a global dialogue to help bridge cultures around the world said globio founder gerry ellis.,tech
544,2189,mexicans tracking unhappy juninho mexican outfit red sharks veracruz hope to sign juninho if the brazilian decides to leave celtic frustrated at his lack of first-team action. their president gustavo parente sanchez says juninho does not wish to remain in scottish football anymore . agent brian hassell insists that the 31-year-old brazilian midfielder is determined to win back his place. but if the manager is not going to pick him that s a different ball game he told the sun. that s something we d have to look at. juninho deserves respect. he is not a little kid. hassell warns that juninho could reconsider his future at celtic unless he is given a run of games by the end of the january transfer window. juninho was signed from middlesbrough during the summer but he has failed to live up to high expectations and has lost his place to 18-year-old aiden mcgeady. he has 50 caps for brazil and he s the best signing celtic ever made insisted hassell. he wants to play for martin o neill but does martin o neill want to play him juninho is not someone who has come through the celtic ranks. he deserves much more respect. sanchez is bullish about his hopes of prising juninho from the scottish champions although hassell believes mexico would not be his preferred destination. we have already spoken with juninho and he said if he has no firm offer from a club in spain veracruz will be his destination sanchez told his club s official website. celtic manager o neill is no respecter of reputations. the onus is on juninho to force his way into the team he said. players get a game on merit. that s the way it has always been and that is certainly the case at celtic park.,sport
545,1417,web helps collect aid donations the web is helping aid agencies gather resources to help cope with the aftermath of the tsunami disaster. many people are making donations via websites or going online to see how they can get involved with aid efforts. high-profile web portals such as google yahoo ebay and amazon are gathering links that lead people to aid and relief organisations. so many were visiting some aid-related sites that some webpages were struggling to cope with the traffic. an umbrella organisation called the disasters emergency committee (dec) has been set up by a coalition of 12 charities and has been taking many donations via its specially created website. it urged people to go online where possible to help because donations could be processed more quickly than cash donated in other ways meaning aid could be delivered as quickly as possible. the site has so far received almost £8 million with more than 11 000 donations being made online every hour. telco bt stepped in to take over the secure payments on the dec site and provided extra logistical support for phone and online appeals after it was initially crippled with online donations. it has also provided space in london s bt tower for one of the call centres dealing with donations. some of the web s biggest firms are also helping to channel help by modifying their homepages to include links to aid agencies and organisations collecting resources. on its famously sparse homepage google has placed a link that leads users to a list of sites where donations can be made. among the 17 organisations listed are oxfam medecins sans frontieres (doctors without borders) and network for good. many of the sites that google lists are also taking online donations. online retailer amazon has put a large message on its start page that lets people donate money directly to the american red cross that will be used with relief efforts. auction site ebay is giving a list of sites that people can either donate directly to divert a portion of their profits from anything they sell on ebay to the listed organisations or simply buy items that direct cash to those in the list. yahoo is proving links direct to charities for those that want to donate. the auction drop website is asking people to donate old digital cameras computers and other gadgets they no longer want that can be auction to raise cash for the aid effort. sadly the outpouring of goodwill has also encouraged some conmen to try to cash in. anti-fraud organisations are warning about e-mails that are starting to circulate which try to convince people to send money directly to them rather than make donations via aid agencies. those wanting to give cash were urged to use legitimate websites of charities and aid agencies.,tech
546,2140,barclays profits hit record level barclays the uk s third-biggest bank has seen annual pre-tax profits climb to record levels boosted by a sharp rise in business at its investment arm. profits for the year to 31 december rose 20% to £4.6bn ($8.6bn). barclays chief john varley said the bank had caught the winds of a very strong world economy. earnings at barclays capital investment bank rose 25% to £1.04bn but investment in branch operations held back growth in its uk retail business. the group is the first of britain s five big banks to report 2004 results. according to analysts forecasts hsbc the biggest uk bank by stock market valuation will report profits of £9.4bn later this month. barclays results were in line with market expectations. its global investors wing made £347m an 82% jump on 2003 figures. profits at barclaycard rose by 5% to £801m but were said to have been affected by a series of interest rate rises and investment to grow its customer base. the bank also blamed margins pressure on its mortgage business and spending on its branches over the past year for a 1% fall in profits in its uk retail division to £1.13bn. the outlook for 2005 is good as a result of balance sheet growth and investments made in 2004 mr varley said. barclays cautioned that growth this year may be slower than in 2004 on the back of softer us and chinese economies and the impact of interest rate rises on household spending in the uk. it added its bid to acquire a controlling stake in south africa s leading retail bank absa was being considered by regulatory authorities. speaking on bbc radio 4 mr varley declined to be drawn on reports that barclays had held merger talks with us bank wells fargo. a tie-up between barclays and california-based wells fargo would create the world s fourth biggest bank valued at $180bn. at 1405 gmt shares in barclays were trading down 0.67% at 590 pence. the headline numbers are in line but the story is costs said analyst alex potter at lehman brothers. they are a bit more aggressive than we had expected. the cost overshoot is not in barclays capital but in the uk bank.,business
547,1265,poll explains free-kick decision referee graham poll said he applied the laws of the game in allowing arsenal striker thierry henry s free-kick in sunday s 2-2 draw with chelsea. keeper petr cech was organising his defensive wall when henry s quick free-kick flew in which angered chelsea. the whistle doesn t need to be blown. i asked henry do you want a wall . he said can i take it please he was very polite. i said yes said poll. i deal with the laws of the game. i deal with fact. poll added: i gave the signal for him to take it. that s what he did. the same thing happened when i refereed chelsea against west ham in an fa cup replay two years ago - when jimmy floyd hasselbaink scored - and i don t remember them complaining about that. henry explained why he paused before striking the ball for the goal which put arsenal 2-1 ahead. henry told bbc radio five live: the ref asked me if i wanted 10 yards or if i wanted to take it straight away and i said that i wanted to take it straight away. he said to me go . it looks a bit strange because i took my time. i was waiting for eidur gudjohnsen to move and give me some space. at one point he turned and that s when i tried it. former referees chief philip don backed poll s decision to allow the strike. the advantage should go to the non-offending team. on this occasion it was arsenal don told bbc radio five live. referees have been told to ask the player do you want to take the quick free-kick or do you want me to get the wall back 9.15 metres if they say quick the referee tends to move away and allow the kick. don was head of the referees for the premier league and revealed all clubs were informed of free-kick options. we spoke to all the premier league clubs as well as all the football league clubs in the summer of 2003 explaining what the situation was he added we gave them the option of either the quick free-kick or the ceremonial free-kick. players and clubs were aware of what referees were doing.,sport
548,1353,india and russia in energy talks india and russia are to work together in a series of energy deals part of a pact which could see india invest up to $20bn in oil and gas projects. on the agenda are oil and gas extraction as well as transportation deals to be led by russian energy giant gazprom and india s ongc. the indian firm is also expected to hold talks on tuesday about buying a stake in assets once owned by yukos. it is reported to be keen on buying a 15% stake in oil unit yuganskneftegas. the former yukos subsidiary was controversially sold off last year and eventually acquired by state-owned energy giant rosneft. russian media reported that india and russia signed a memorandum of understanding on energy co-operation on tuesday during a meeting between oil and natural gas corporation chairman subir raha gazprom chairman aleksey miller and india s petroleum minister mani shankar aiyar. the agreement is likely to see the two companies develop refining facilities in russia india and elsewhere and organise delivery of oil gas and petrochemicals from russia to india and other countries across asia. ongc could invest in gas and oil fields in sakhalin in the far east of russia and may also take part in joint tender bids for projects in eastern siberia and the caspian sea. india is urgently searching for fresh energy supplies - particularly liquefied natural gas - as domestic demand is growing at more than 5% a year. ongc s mr raha said the two could work together on joint bids from next year. at current oil and gas prices our cash flow situation is good he told reuters. what we are saying is - gazprom has a huge amount of gas and we have the money. the investment may go up to $20bn or more for a period of five years or so. russian news agencies reported that india s petroleum minister mr aiyar and russian energy minister viktor khristenko would discuss the future of yugansk at a meeting on tuesday. ongc s mr raha declined to be drawn on his firm s reported interest in the company. however he stressed that ongc was not interested in a loan-for-oil deal in connection to yugansk similar to that concluded recently between rosneft and china s national petroleum corporation. china s problem is it has immediate demand and they needed the oil for their coastal refineries. we do not. we would like long-term security through equity participation. it is thought that any decision over yugansk will be delayed until a us court has decided whether to grant yukos bankruptcy protection. yukos is suing a host of companies involved in the sale of yugansk auctioned off to pay a huge back-tax bill. it has also threatened legal action against any business which has future commercial dealings with its former subsidiary.,business
549,830,daimlerchrysler s 2004 sales rise us-german carmaker daimlerchrysler has sold 2.1% more cars in 2004 than in the previous year as solid chrysler sales offset a weak showing for mercedes. sales totalled 3.9 million units worldwide during 2004 the company said at the detroit motor show. a switch to new models hit luxury marque mercedes-benz with sales down 3.1% at 1.06 million. chrysler avoided the fate of us rivals ford and general motors both of whom lost ground to japanese firms. its sales rose 3.5% to 2.7 million units. similarly on the up was the smart brand of compact cars with the division s sales jumping by 21.1% during 2004 to 136 000. the future of the brand - which is controlled by the mercedes group within daimlerchrysler - remains in question however. smart has consistently lost money since it started trading in 1998 and new model launches are now on hold said mercedes chief executive eckhard cordes. in europe the smart will now go on sale through regular mercedes dealerships as well as its own dealer network mr cordes said.,business
550,448,weak data buffets french economy a batch of downbeat government data has cast doubt over the french economy s future prospects. official figures showed on friday that unemployment was unchanged at 9.9% last month while consumer confidence fell unexpectedly in october. at the same time finance minister nicolas sarkozy warned that high oil prices posed a threat to french growth. [oil prices] will weigh on consumer spending in the short term and potentially on confidence he said. world oil prices have risen by more than 60% since the start of the year as production struggles to keep pace with soaring demand. analysts said french companies keen to protect their profit margins at a time of rising energy costs were reluctant to take on extra staff. [the unemployment figures] show the main problem of the french economy: we have growth but without an improvement in employment said marc touati an economist at natexis banques populaires. politicians must have the will and guts to solve structural unemployment with thorough reforms otherwise in five or ten years it will be too late. obligatory employer contributions to worker welfare programmes mean that it costs more to hire staff in france than in many other european economies. many economists have urged the government to stimulate employment by reducing non-wage payroll costs and by scrapping restrictions on working hours. the french statistics agency insee expects the economy to grow by about 2.4% this year buoyed by strong consumer spending and business investment. that is above the projected eurozone average of just above 2%.,business
551,535,scots smoking ban details set out smoke-free areas will save lives and improve scotland s health first minister jack mcconnell has insisted. he told the scottish parliament on wednesday that a comprehensive ban on smoking in public places would be introduced by the spring of 2006. mr mcconnell said the country s health rates were lamentable not least because of smoking. he said fines of up to £2 500 would be levied on employers and licences would be removed for non-compliance. earlier the scottish executive considered a range of options but agreed unanimously to introduce an all-out ban on smoking in public places. in a statement to parliament mr mcconnell said that the licensed trade would be asked to join an expert committee prior to the ban coming into force. the health arguments far outweighed lingering public disquiet about a complete ban and claims by the licensed trade that jobs would be lost he told msps. he said there would be an international marketing campaign whereby tourists can enjoy smoke free environment and the sick man of europe image becomes a thing of the past . there are still national habits which hold us back - the time has come for this parliament to accelerate improvements in health he declared. health rates are lamentable because of a lack of exercise drugs abuse excessive drinking and over-eating. they all make us one of the most unhealthy countries in europe and too many smoke. it is clear that scotland must not be held back by poor public health - the single biggest contribution devolved government can make is to reduce the toll of preventable death caused by smoking. the legislation will be introduced as part of the health service (miscellaneous provisions) bill which will be considered by parliament before christmas. main points of the plan: - a comprehensive ban on smoking in all enclosed public places in scotland - the legislation will be enforced by environmental health and local licensing officers - licensees or employers who fail to enforce the law will face fines up to a maximum of £2 500 - licensees who persistently refuse to comply with the law will face the ultimate sanction of losing their liquor licence - a system of issuing fixed penalty notices for those individuals who break the law will be examined - individuals who persistently break the law will face a maximum fine of £1 000. mr mcconnell claimed there was evidence that smoking bans had helped smokers to either give up quicker or smoke less. he said there had been falling cigarette sales of 13% in new york and 16% in ireland. mr mcconnell added that there had been a near nine per cent rise in tax revenues from new york bars and restaurants and in ireland only a one point three per cent volume sales fall where they were declining before the ban. the afternoon announcement following a cabinet meeting on wednesday morning won broad support from opposition parties. the scottish national party s holyrood leader nicola sturgeon welcomed the move but added that the public should be consulted as the clock ticked towards the ban date. she said: the time has come for a ban on smoking in public places. there is evidence a ban can cut deaths from passive smoking and makes it easier for the 70% of smokers who desperately want to give up the habit. but we must also recognise that some people have concerns and reservations - there are people who are yet to be persuaded. the scottish conservative party leader david mcletchie questioned what would be exempted from the ban. he was keen to know if inmates in scottish prisons would continue to be allowed to smoke. mr mcletchie asked: would it not be ironic and perhaps entirely typical of the first minister s brave new scotland that the criminals can be smokers but the smokers will become criminals the scottish green party s health spokeswoman eleanor scott said she was pleased scotland would be following the success stories of new york and ireland . she believed the majority of people in scotland wanted to go out without ha
552,1656,retirement age could be scrapped the myth that ageing is a barrier to contributing to society needs to be exploded the work and pensions minister has said. this was why the government was considering scrapping the retirement age entirely alan johnson said. it was also committed to stamping out age discrimination and would outlaw it he told a conference on ageing. all three parties have been wooing older voters with both the tories and lib dems pledging higher pensions. mr johnson told age concern s age agenda in london the government was seriously considering introducing pensions based on residency rather than national insurance contributions. this idea has been adopted by the lib dems as policy while the tories have pledged to boost pensions by restoring the link between earnings and pensions. mr johnson s speech comes after he last week unveiled plans to find a consensus on how to reform the country s pension system. this would be based on a series of principles including tackling pensioner poverty and fairer pensions for women he said. speaking at the london conference he said: generalised stereotypes of people past state pension age as dependant incapable and vulnerable are a particularly pernicious form of age discrimination . the government wanted to tackle this by moving to a culture where retirement ages were increasingly consigned to the past . we re sweeping them away entirely for people under 65 and we re giving those above that age a right to request to work past 65 which their employers will have to engage with seriously. and the review in 2011 which will look at whether it is time to sweep retirement ages away entirely is to be tied to evidence ... showing that retirement ages are increasingly outmoded . mr johnson said his department had a long-term aspiration of moving towards an 80% employment rate. this would involve an extra one million older people joining the work force he said.,politics
553,996,lasting influence of legend charles ray charles who has won a string of posthumous grammy awards belonged to a pioneering generation of artists that had a huge influence on the course of rock and pop music. his sound encompassed so many styles - blues gospel jazz rock n roll even country - and had a real impact on the nascent uk beat and r&b scenes. compared in stature to elvis presley by some commentators charles songs cast their spell on such 1960s stalwarts as joe cocker steve winwood eric burdon and van morrison. his influence has extended to contemporary artists such as norah jones with whom he recently recorded a duet. if james brown was the godfather of soul then ray charles was indisputably one of its founding fathers. along with sam cooke he was instrumental in bringing together the gospel fervour of the deep south baptist church with the devil s music of r&b to pave the way for a new generation of soul artists. without charles it is hard to imagine the tear-stained atlantic r&b sound of aretha franklin otis redding or wilson pickett. he was also a talented jazz composer arranger and band leader playing at the newport jazz festival and carnegie hall and recording with noted jazz musicians such as milt jackson and david fathead newman. unfortunately he also shared another trait common among many jazz artists of the era - that of heroin addiction which led to him being arrested in 1965. his string of 1950s atlantic r&b successes included songs that would be covered by the first-generation rock n roll greats including i ve got a woman (roy orbison elvis presley) and hallelujah i love her so (eddie cochran). after the exuberance of his 1959 signature song what d i say charles turned towards a more pop-oriented style recording hoagy carmichael s sentimental string ballad georgia on my mind and the upbeat hit the road jack. he also won acclaim in the country arena with his interpretations of hank williams standards such as your cheating heart and you win again. more than 40 years after its release his 1962 abc album modern sounds in country and western music is still regarded as a classic. his version of don gibson s i can t stop loving you topped the pop and r&b charts in the us. in 1972 he made a rare foray into protest songs with his album a message from the people. on it he took a stand on poverty and civil rights - echoing similar recordings of the era from progeny such as stevie wonder james brown curtis mayfield and marvin gaye. more than 20 years later he would embrace contemporary production with his 1993 album my world which featured hip-hop beats - although charles claimed at the time not to know what hip-hop was. among the tributes that poured in from all sections of the music world when charles died aged 73 in june 2004 was one from his friend the producer quincy jones who described him as a brother in every sense of the word . there will never be another musician who did as much to break down the perceived walls of musical genres as much as ray charles did he said. former manfred mann singer paul jones who sang on 1960s hits such as come tomorrow and sha la la said charles was one of his heroes. i m quite sure my own writing was influenced by him he told bbc news online. i would put money on the proposition that ray charles will have an influence on music forever.,entertainment
554,1246,howl helps boost japan s cinemas japan s box office received a 3.8% boost last year with ticket sales worth 211bn yen (£1.08bn). the surge was led by animated movie howl s moving castle which took 20bn yen (£102m) to become the biggest film in japan in 2004. it is expected to match the 30.7bn yen (£157m) record of hayao miyazaki s previous film spirited away. japan motion picture producers figures showed that 170 million cinema admissions were made in japan in 2004. the last samurai starring tom cruise was the biggest foreign movie hit in japan last year taking 13.8bn yen (£70.7m). it was followed by harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban finding nemo and the lord of the rings: the return of the king. the second highest-grossing japanese film was romantic drama crying out love in the centre of the world followed by be with you and pocket monsters advanced generation. japanese films accounted for 37.5% of japan s box office total last year with foreign films taking the remaining 62.5%. this represented a 4.5% gain for the proportion of japanese films in 2004 compared to 2003. the number of japanese films released rose to 310 in 2004 from 287 the previous year. sales of movies on dvd and video amounted to 497bn yen (£2.54bn) for the year.,entertainment
555,161,goodrem wins top female mtv prize pop singer delta goodrem has scooped one of the top individual prizes at the first australian mtv music awards. the 21-year-old singer won the award for best female artist with australian idol runner-up shannon noll taking the title of best male at the ceremony. goodrem known in both britain and australia for her role as nina tucker in tv soap neighbours also performed a duet with boyfriend brian mcfadden. other winners included green day voted best group and the black eyed peas. goodrem green day and the black eyed peas took home two awards each. as well as best female goodrem also took home the pepsi viewers choice award whilst green day bagged the prize for best rock video for american idiot. the black eyed peas won awards for best r n b video and sexiest video both for hey mama. local singer and songwriter missy higgins took the title of breakthrough artist of the year with australian idol winner guy sebastian taking the honours for best pop video. the vh1 first music award went to cher honouring her achievements within the music industry. the ceremony was held at the luna park fairground in sydney harbour and was hosted by the osbourne family. artists including carmen electra missy higgins kelly osbourne green day ja rule and natalie imbruglia gave live performances at the event.,entertainment
556,1267,blunkett row should end - blair prime minister tony blair said it was time to draw a line under the controversy surrounding david blunkett. the tories and the lib dems have called for a second inquiry into the fast-tracking of a visa application for mr blunkett s ex-lover s nanny. sir alan budd found a chain of events linked mr blunkett to leoncia casalme s indefinite leave to remain application. at the end of his middle east trip mr blair said he still admired mr blunkett and thought his integrity was intact. on tuesday sir alan said the application for leave to remain in the uk made by kimberly quinn s nanny was processed in 52 days 120 days faster than the average. but he could not find evidence to show whether mr blunkett s intervention was intended to give special help for his then lover s nanny - or if he was raising the case as an example of poor departmental performance. in his first comments since sir alan s announcement mr blair told bbc news he had not yet read the report in detail. but told bbc news: as far as i m concerned we have drawn a line under that. asked if mr blunkett could return to frontline politics at some point he replied: i have made my admiration for david very clear and it remains. he s been a tremendous colleague he s done a great job for us first as home secretary then as education secretary. the future is something we will have to approach in the future. the prime minister shrugged off claims from conservative leader michael howard that he led a grubby government . he said mr blunkett s integrity remained intact: he was the person first of all who asked for this inquiry to be set up. he accepted that what he originally thought had happened had not happened he said. but i think sir alan budd also accepted there wasn t some conspiracy or cover-up and i just think a line should be drawn under now and we should move on. earlier mr howard said: there does need to be another inquiry a judge-led inquiry. there were so many questions that weren t answered. there was deceit at the heart of government which was not limited to the visa affair he argued. lib dem home affairs spokesman mark oaten also said there was a strong case for a judge-led judicial review . he said: next time it happens it may not be about a nanny and their visa. it may be about something even more important than that. mr blunkett quit as home secretary last week after being told in advance of sir alan s findings. in a statement the ex-home secretary said he accepted the inquiry s findings. he said he had told the truth throughout and had raised the nanny case as an example of unacceptable backlogs in the system.,politics
557,138,2d metal slug offers retro fun like some drill sergeant from the past metal slug 3 is a wake-up call to today s gamers molly-coddled with slick visuals and fancy trimmings. with its hand-animated sprites and 2d side-scrolling this was even considered retro when released in arcades four years ago. but a more frantic shooter you will not find at the end of your joypad this year. and yes that includes halo 2. simply choose your grunt and wade through five 2d side-scrolling levels of the most hectic video game blasting you will ever encounter. it is also the toughest game you are likely to play as hordes of enemies and few lives pile the pressure on. players must battle soldiers snowmen zombies giant crabs and aliens not to mention the huge screen-filling bosses that guard each of the five levels. the shoot-anything-that-moves gameplay is peppered with moments of old-school genius. fans of robotic gastropods should note the title refers instead to the vast array of vehicles on offer in a game stuffed with bizarre hardware. tanks jets and submarines can be commandeered as well as cannon-toting camels elephants and ostriches - more weaponry on offer than in an acre of iraq. doling out justice is a joy thanks to ultra responsive controls and while this is a tough nut to crack it is addictive enough to have you gagging for that one last go. and at a mere £20 metal slug 3 is as cheap as sliced fried spuds as the man says. of course most of you will ignore this lacking as it does the visual fireworks of modern blasters. but at a time when blockbuster titles offer only a fresh lick of paint in favour of real innovation metal slug 3 is a fresh gasp of air from an era when the xbox was not even a twinkle in bill gates eye.,tech
558,1575,games deserve a place in class computer games could enhance learning and have a legitimate place in the classroom say researchers. academics from the institute of education at london university found that games literacy was a key skill for youngsters. as well as being used in different areas of the curriculum games are a legitimate area of study in their own right researchers say. pupils should also be able to create their own games they say. like all games computer and video games entertain while promoting social development and playing and talking about games is an important part of young people s lives said project manager caroline pelletier. games literacy is a way of investigating how games are means of expression and representation just like writing or drawing she said. the researchers conducted two studies into the impact of games on education the first looking at how they can be used in different curriculum subjects to enhance learning. researchers found that girls were often excluded from the male-dominated world of game playing. without first-hand experience of how much fun a game can be they have little motivation to play and remain disengaged from an engrossing and sociable activity said research fellow diane carr. the second project looked at how games can be integrated into media education and concluded that writing games should be a core part of studying them. sixth-form teacher barney oram already teaches computer games alongside the more traditional study of film tv and popular music at the a-level course he runs at long road sixth form college in cambridge. for parents the idea that computer games could be brought into the classroom environment could cause controversy. dr andrew burn associate director of the institute of education s centre for the study of children youth and media moved to reassure anxious parents. games are a legitimate cultural form that deserve critical analysis in schools just as film television and literature do he said. but we also want to argue that full understanding only comes when children have the tools to create their own games. the games industry welcomed the report saying it showed how games had a positive impact on children. at a time of hysterical and inaccurate reporting it is heartening to see the cultural social and educational value of computer and video games being assessed intelligently said roger bennett director general of the entertainment and leisure software publishers association. this report is further evidence if it were needed about the excellence and imagination that thrives in gaming. they have much to offer to the education of our children and they have much to offer as a career. the three-year research project which is being presented at a seminar on tuesday in london was partly funded by the department of trade and industry.,tech
559,1810,golden rule intact says ex-aide chancellor gordon brown will meet his golden economic rule with a margin to spare according to his former chief economic adviser. formerly one of mr brown s closest treasury aides ed balls hinted at a budget giveaway on 16 march. he said he hoped more would be done to build on current tax credit rules. any rate rise ahead of an expected may election would not affect the labour party s chances of winning he added. last july mr balls won the right to step down from his treasury position and run for parliament defending the labour stronghold of normanton in west yorkshire. mr balls rejected the allegation that mr brown had been sidelined in the election campaign saying he was playing a different role to the one he played in the last two elections. he rejected speculation that mr brown was considering becoming foreign secretary saying his recent travels had been linked to efforts to boost international development. gordon brown s decision to announce the date of the budget while on a trip to china was a sensible thing to do since he was talking about skills and investment at the time mr balls told the bbc. commenting on speculation of an interest rate rise he said it was not within the remit of the bank of england s monetary policy committee (mpc) to factor a potential election into its rate decisions. expectations of a rate rise have gathered pace after figures showed that house prices are still rising. consumer borrowing rose at a near-record pace in january. i don t believe it would be a big election issue in britain or a problem for labour mr balls said. prime minister tony blair has yet to name the date of the election but most pundits are betting on 5 may as the likely day.,business
560,2065,george michael to perform for bbc george michael is to perform live at london s abbey road studios as part of a bbc radio 2 special next month. the session which will broadcast on 18 december will also see him talk about how his biggest hits came about. michael s appearance is part of the station s sold on song initiative which explores the art of songwriting. the station also confirmed that chris tarrant will be hosting a one-off new year s eve programme. he left london s capital fm this year after 17 years. the former breakfast show host - who attracted some of the highest ratings in britain despite only broadcasting to london - will offer his own individual take on the year in the two-hour show. this should be great fun tarrant said. i ve had a fantastic year and i know that lots of other people have as well. i m definitely looking forward to being on radio 2. other christmas specials from radio 2 include singer jamelia hosting a christmas day concert from the london community gospel choir while actor christopher lee will read fireside tales from the likes of edgar allan poe e nesbit and ambrose bierce. comedian harry hill will host a spoof nostalgia show on christmas day while singer jamie cullum will perform a live concert for the station.,entertainment
561,768,lse doubts boost bidders shares shares in deutsche boerse have risen more than 3% after a shareholder fund voiced opposition to the firm s planned takeover of the london stock exchange. tci which claims to represent owners of 5% of deutsche boerse s (db) shares has complained that the £1.35bn ($2.5bn) offer for the lse is too high. opposition from tci has fuelled speculation that the proposed takeover could fail. rival exchange operator euronext has also said it may bid for the lse. euronext operates the paris amsterdam brussels and lisbon bourses while deutsche boerse runs the frankfurt exchange. bbc news spoke to a number of analysts on monday morning about shareholder worries over deutsche boerse s bid for lse. although none were prepared to speak on the record most thought it was unlikely that tci s opposition would halt the deal obviously we ll have to wait and see but i don t think it will make much difference. deutsche boerse appears very committed said one london-based broker. he forecast the takeover bid would succeed and was more concerned to see improvements in the daily running of the lse. in voicing its opposition to the planned takeover tci said it would prefer to see deutsche boerse return $500m (£350m) to shareholders. the deutsche boerse was prepared to pay for the lse exceeds the potential benefits of this acquisition said tci. another deutsche boerse shareholder on monday also appeared to back tci s call. another investor in deutsche boerse has supported the view that a payout to shareholders would be preferable to deutsche boerse overpaying for the lse reuters news agency reported. we prefer a sensible entrepreneurial solution at a price that is not too high said rolf dress a spokesman for union investment. if that cannot be achieved then we would wish for a distribution of liquid assets to shareholders. the financial times also reported a third deutsche boerse shareholder as opposed to the deal. it quoted a spokesman for us-based hedge fund atticus capital complaining that the planned takeover appeared to be motivated by empire-building rather than the best interests of shareholders. tci has called for deutsche boerse to hold an emergency general meeting to discuss the bid for lse. yet under german business law db does not have to gain shareholder approval before making a significant acquisition. deutsche boerse said tci s opposition would not change its bid approach. deutsche boerse is convinced that its contemplated cash acquisition of the london stock exchange is in the best interests of its shareholders and the company it said. db s shares were up 3.4% to 45.25 euros by 1030 gmt the highest gainer in frankfurt.,business
562,1507,collins banned in landmark case sprinter michelle collins has received an eight-year ban for doping offences after a hearing at the north american court of arbitration for sport (cas). america s former world indoor 200m champion is the first athlete to be suspended without a positive drugs test or an admission of drugs use. collins ban is a result of her connection to the federal inquiry into the balco doping scandal. the 33-year-old was found guilty of using performance-enhancing drugs. the us anti-doping agency (usada) decided to press charges against collins in the summer. the sprinter has consistently protested her innocence but the cas has upheld usada s findings. the usada has proved beyond a reasonable doubt that collins took epo the testosterone/epitestosterone cream and thg said a cas statement. collins used these substances to enhance her performance and elude the drug testing that was available at the time. so far a total of 13 athletes have been sanctioned for violations involving drugs associated with the balco doping scandal. world record holder tim montgomery is also facing a lifetime ban after being charged by the usada. his hearing before the csa has been rescheduled for june next year. drug enforcement chiefs in the us have vowed to crack down on cheats. usada chief executive officer terry madden said the action taken against collins was further proof of that. the cas panel s decision confirms that those who violate the rules will be sanctioned as part of usada s ongoing efforts to protect the rights of the overwhelming majority of us athletes that compete drug-free said madden. the usada has built its cases on verbal evidence given to the federal investigation into balco rather than test results. the san francisco-based balco laboratory faces steroid distribution and money laundering charges. the trial is expected to open next march.,sport
563,1520,vickery out of six nations england tight-head prop phil vickery has been ruled out of the rest of the 2005 rbs six nations after breaking a bone in his right forearm. vickery was injured as his club side gloucester beat bath 17-16 in the west country derby on saturday. he could be joined on the sidelines by bath centre olly barkley who sat out the derby due to a leg injury. barkley will have a scan on sunday and might miss england s trip to six nations leaders ireland next weekend. the news is just the latest blow for coach andy robinson who has seen his side lose their opening two matches in the 2005 six nations. robinson is already without world cup winners jonny wilkinson will greenwood mike tindall richard hill and trevor woodman through injury. vickery has broken the radius a large bone in his forearm. he only returned to the england side last weekend after a long-term back injury which was followed by a fractured eye socket. and the gloucester prop was only recalled after leicester tight-head julian white suffered a neck injury which has already seen him ruled out of the ireland game. bath prop matt stevens is the only remaining tight-head in england s training squad and could be involved against ireland. but he has to play second fiddle at club level to duncan bell who excelled for england a against france and may now be called into the squad. the extent of barkley s injury is not yet clear but bath boss john connolly rates him no better than 50-50 to face ireland. barkley played at inside cente in england s defeat by france and if he is unable to play england s constantly-changing midfield will once again have to be altered. robinson could choose to recall mathew tait or henry paul although tait endured a nightmare for newcastle against leicester on saturday and paul limped off with an ankle injury against bath. in-form leicester centre ollie smith is the other outstanding candidate and two tries against newcastle will have boosted his chances. fly-half andy goode is also a strong contender for the match-day 22 after an immaculate kicking display on saturday. england fourth in the six nations table with zero points play ireland top of the table in dublin on 27 february kick-off 1500 gmt.,sport
564,71,wales must learn health lessons the new health minister for wales says there are lessons to learn from england in tackling waiting lists. dr brian gibbons on his first full day in the job after jane hutt was sacked admitted big challenges but insisted the essentials were in place. but both plaid cymru and the liberal democrats said dr gibbons needed to change policy. meanwhile ms hutt defended her record saying waiting times and lists were only 10% of the health agenda. dr gibbons who was a gp in blaengwynfi in the upper afan valley before becoming am for aberavon said nhs staff wanted a period of consolidation after tremendous change and reform . one of the biggest problems which had faced ms hutt during her five-and-a-half years as the assembly s first health minister was the length of waiting lists in wales. in november the british medical association said nhs staff were weeping with despair as figures showed 311 000 people were waiting for treatment in wales up by 2 400 on the previous month. in the same month lists in england were at their lowest for 17 years with 856 600 people waiting for treatment. dr gibbons told radio wales: there is no doubt that in managing waiting lists england has done a lot of very very useful work and we do need to learn from that. but he said the nhs in wales also needed to create a healthier population rather than respond only to ill health and a balanced view of priorities was important. we do need a consistent across-the-board approach recognising the patients experience of how they use the service is going to be at the end of the day the main test of how the service is working. he said nhs staff wanted a period of consolidation after tremendous change and reform . later dr gibbons praised the work of ms hutt saying he agreed with everything she s done to change the health service in wales. dr gibbons said he accepted there was a problem but his job now was to build on the foundations put in place by his predecessor. he also acknowledged that until the waiting list issue was sorted out the rest of the assembly government s health policy would be overshadowed. opposition members and some labour mps had long called for ms hutt s removal after sustained criticism over extended hospital waiting times. first minister rhodri morgan told bbc wales he had agreed with ms hutt in 2003 that she would not be health minister in the run-up to the 2007 elections. she s been doing the job for five years and eight months and apart from nye bevan himself (architect of the nhs) i don t think anybody has ever done the job for so long. mr morgan said he had only told ms hutt of the reshuffle on monday morning and said the nhs in wales was dr gibbons baby now. in response to dr gibbons comments ieuan wyn jones leader of the plaid cymru group in the assembly said: it is apparent that this reshuffle by the first minister was just changing the deckchairs on a sinking titanic. kisrty williams for the lib dems added: if the underlying policy is going to continue then changing the minister will serve no purpose other than to deflect flak from labour s mps she said. meanwhile ms hutt said she hoped that the people of wales would benefit from my investment of the past five years and eight months asked about waiting lists she said that waiting times and lists were only 10% of the health agenda and that the welsh assembly government had turned the corner on the issue.,politics
565,1484,oasis star fined for german brawl oasis singer liam gallagher has been fined 50 000 euros (£35 000) after a fight in a german hotel two years ago. gallagher was arrested along with drummer alan white and three other members of the band s entourage after the brawl in munich in december 2002. the band said they were victims of an unprovoked attack in a nightclub. but police said gallagher kicked an officer in the chest and had large amounts of alcohol and drugs - possibly cocaine - in his blood. gallagher lost two front teeth in the fight which led to the band abandoning their german tour. his brother and bandmate noel was in bed at the time. the process has stopped by paying 50 000 euros said anton winkler spokesman for the munich prosecutor. at the time police said a physical altercation broke out among the musicians at about 0200 local time. that led to one of the group being jostled and falling onto the table of five italian guests - causing the fight they said. the fight continued outside where one of the officers was kicked in the chest with full force by liam gallagher... and suffered minor injuries they said.,entertainment
566,163,custody death rate shocks mps deaths in custody have reached shocking levels a committee of mps and peers has warned. the joint committee on human rights found those committing suicide were mainly the most vulnerable with mental health drugs or alcohol problems. members urged the government to set up a task force to tackle deaths in prisons police cells detention centres and special hospitals. there was one prison suicide every four days between 1999 and 2003 mps said. the report which followed a year-long inquiry by the committee found the high death rate amounts to a serious failure to protect the right to life of a highly vulnerable group . many of those who ended up taking their own lives had presented themselves to the authorities with these problems before they even offended the report said. it questioned whether prison was the most appropriate place for them to be kept and whether earlier intervention would have meant custody could have been avoided. increased resources and a reduction in the use of imprisonment was needed to address the issue in the longer term the report said. committee chairman labour mp jean corston said: each and every death in custody is a death too many regardless of the circumstances. yet throughout our inquiry we have seen time and time again that extremely vulnerable people are entering custody with a history of mental illness drug and alcohol problems and potential for taking their own lives. these highly vulnerable people are being held within a structure glaringly ill-suited to meet even their basic needs. crime levels are falling but we are holding more people in custody than ever before. the misplaced over-reliance on the prison system for some of the most vulnerable people in the country is at the heart of the problems that we encountered. until we change our whole approach to imprisoning vulnerable people we cannot begin to meet our positive obligations under article 2 of the european convention on human rights and meet our duty of care to them. the committee also highlighted deeply worrying cases of children and young people taking their own lives. between 1990 and 2004 25 children have taken their own lives in prison and two have died in secure training centres. it picked out the case of joseph scholes who hanged himself from the bars of his cell in stoke heath young offender institution in march 2002 and urged the home secretary to hold a public inquiry. it revealed that two weeks before his court appearance for a series of robberies the 16-year-old was depressed exhibiting suicidal tendencies and slashed his face with a knife about 30 times. even though the trial judge had been alerted to his experience of sexual abuse and mental illness he was sentenced to a two-year detention and training order. nine days into his sentence joseph hung himself from the bars of his cell window with a sheet.,politics
567,1171,brizzel to run aaa s in sheffield ballymena sprinter paul brizzel will be among eight of ireland s european indoor hopefuls competing in this weekend s aaa s championships. us-based alistair cragg and mark carroll are the only irish athletes selected so far for the europeans who will not run in sheffield. brizzel will defend his 200m title in the british trials. in-form james mcilroy will hope to confirm his place in the british team for madrid by winning the 800m title. mcilroy has been in tremendous form on the european circuit in recent weeks. he is one of the fastest 800m runners in the world this winter and already seems assured of a place in madrid. corkman mark carroll confirmed in midweek that he would join cragg in the european championships. carroll is ranked number three in the world 3000m ranking at the moment with cragg occupying top spot. meanwhile nine-times champion dermot donnelly will not be coming out of retirement to compete in the northern ireland cross country championships in coleraine on saturday. an injury crisis in the annadale striders squad led to donnelly being entered by coach john mclaughlin but the athlete told bbc sport on friday evening that he would not be running. willowfield s paul rowan will go in as individual favourite but annadale could have a tough job holding on to their team title as andrew dunwoody and noel pollock are unlikely to run.,sport
568,769,us insurer marsh cuts 2 500 jobs up to 2 500 jobs are to go at us insurance broker marsh & mclennan in a shake up following bigger-than-expected losses. the insurer said the cuts were part of a cost-cutting drive aimed at saving millions of dollars. marsh posted a $676m (£352m) loss for the last three months of 2004 against a $375m (£195.3m) profit a year before. it blamed an $850m payout to settle a price-rigging lawsuit brought by new york attorney general elliot spitzer. under the settlement announced in january marsh took a pre-tax charge of $618m in the october-to-december quarter on top of the $232m charge from the previous quarter. clearly 2004 was the most difficult year in mmc s financial history marsh chief executive michael cherkasky said. an ongoing restructuring drive at the group also led to a $337m hit in the fourth quarter the world s biggest insurer said. analysts expect its latest round of cuts to focus on its brokerage unit which employs 40 000 staff. the latest layoffs will take the total number of jobs to go at the firm to 5 500 and are expected to lead to annual savings of more than $375m. as part of its efforts to cut costs the company said it was halving its dividend payment to 17 cents a shares from 34 cents a move which should enable it to save $360m. looking ahead mr cherkasky forecast profitable growth for the year ahead with an operating margin in the upper-teens and with the opportunity for further margin expansion . meanwhile the company also announced it would spin-off its mmc capital private equity unit which manages the $3bn trident funds operation to a group of employees. marsh did not say when the move would take place but said it had signed a letter of intent. the insurer hit the headlines in october last year when it faced accusations of price rigging. new york attorney general elliot spitzer sued the company accusing it of receiving illegal payments to steer clients to selected firms as well as rigging bids and fixing prices. in january marsh agreed to pay $850m to settle the suit - a figure in line with the placement fees it collected in 2003 - and agreed to change its business practices. in february a former senior executive pleaded guilty to criminal charges in a wide-ranging probe of fraud and bid-rigging in the insurance industry. in january a former senior vice president also pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to the investigation. in an effort to reform its business practises marsh said it has already introduced new leadership new compliance procedures and new ways of dealing with customers. as a result we are ready to put these matters behind us and move ahead in 2005 to restore the trust our clients have placed in us and to rebuild shareholder value mr cherkasky said.,business
569,77,yukos sues four firms for $20bn russian oil firm yukos has sued four companies for their role in last year s forced state auction of its key oil production unit yuganskneftegas. yukos is claiming more than $20bn (£11bn) in damages after yugansk was sold in december to settle back taxes. the four companies named in the law suit are gas giant gazprom its unit gazpromneft investment company baikal and state oil firm rosneft. yukos submitted the suit in houston where it filed for bankruptcy. as well as suing for damages yukos has asked the us court to send its tax dispute with the russian government to an international arbitrator. it also has submitted a reorganisation plan as part of its chapter 11 bankruptcy filing. the clash between yukos and the kremlin came to a head last year when yukos was hit with a bill of more than $27bn in back taxes and unpaid fines. to settle the bill russia forced yukos to sell off yuganskneftegas. yukos called the sale illegal and has turned to courts in the us in an effort to regain control of the oil production business. it also has vowed to use all legal means at its disposal to go after any firm that tries to buy or take control of its assets. earlier this month it sued the russian government for $28.3bn. analysts have questioned whether a us court has any jurisdiction over russian companies while moscow officials have dismissed yukos legal wrangling as meaningless. in houston bankruptcy judge letitia clark will start a two-day hearing on 16 february to hear arguments on whether a us court is the proper forum for the case. the threat of legal action from yukos and its bankruptcy filing in houston did have an effect on last year s auction however. concerned that it would be caught up in a court battle gazprom and gazpromneft withdrew from the auction and yuganskneftegas was sold to little-known investment firm baikal finance group. a few days later baikal gave control of the company to state-run oil group rosneft for $9.3bn. rosneft meanwhile has agreed to merge with gazprom bringing a large chunk of russia s very profitable oil business back under state control. yukos claims that the rights of its shareholders have been ignored and that is has been punished for the political ambitions of its founder mikhail khodorkovsky. mr khodorkovsky once russia s richest man is in prison having been charged with fraud and tax evasion and repeatedly denied bail.,business
570,1252,china bans new tobacco factories the world s biggest tobacco consumer china has said it will not allow any new tobacco factories to be built. china already has more than enough cigarette-making capacity according to a spokesman for the tobacco industry regulator quoted in china daily. the ban threatens to reignite tensions between the regulator and british american tobacco which plans to become china s first foreign cigarette maker. a spokeswoman for bat declined to comment on the report. china won t allow any new tobacco factories to be built including joint ventures said xing wangli a spokesman for the state tobacco administration monopoly quoted in china daily. he also said that the state would retain its monopoly on cigarette distribution. china has 350 million smokers who consumer 1.7 trillion cigarettes a year. smoking is fashionable in china where it is seen as an essential - and manly - sociable touch for some jobs such as salesmen. more young urban woman are taking up smoking too. in july 2004 bat announced it had won approval for to build a $1.5bn (£800m) joint venture factory in china which would make it the first foreign cigarette maker to manufacture there. the state tobacco monopoly administration said a week later that it had not approved the deal leading to an embarrassing public row. bat told the bbc at that time that it had not negotiated with the stmc and secured approval from the highest levels of government . since then the row has flared occasionally most recently at a forum in november. bat consistently declines to comment. xing s statement comes as especially bad news for british american tobacco the china daily newspaper said of the latest development. the bat spokeswoman said: there is nothing for us to add...since our announcement in july last year. the central government of china is the authority that approved our strategic investment. the decision to ban further tobacco factories does not apply to deals made before 2005 according to the french news agency afp. the joint venture factory was expected to take till 2006 to build. the bat spokeswoman would not comment on its progress. however if the stma continues to take a tough stance expansion opportunities could be limited. china s tobacco market is increasingly valuable as anti-smoking campaigners target public smoking in the west. china daily said the market was currently enjoying steady growth making more than 210bn yuan ($25.4bn) in pre-tax profits last year almost double the figure in 2000. the paper made no mention of health concerns. the stma is trying to restructure the domestic tobacco industry closing some factories though such moves can be unpopular with local governments.,business
571,532,rapper films music video in jail a us rapper awaiting trial for murder has filmed part of a music video in jail angering a sheriff who says he was tricked into letting tv crews in. c-murder a former member of rap group tru was filmed in his orange prison suit for the video for his y all heard of me single in a new orleans jail. he is awaiting a second trial after an original conviction was thrown out. i m not pleased jefferson parish sheriff harry lee said. he will not make another video in my jail. footage for the video was filmed by two crews who had permission to interview c-murder - one from court tv and one from a local cable show. but mr lee said he did not know the rapper had filmed the video and made an album behind bars and said he was fooled into letting the cameras in. the rapper s lawyer ron rakosky said: the bottom line is we didn t do anything wrong. mr rakosky said it was better than c-murder real name corey miller just sitting there wasting away . here s a guy in jail making constructive use of his time instead of withering away he said. he s lost more than three years of his life locked up for a crime he did not commit. but local group victims and citizens against crime said he should not be working behind bars. he is a suspect in a murder case. i don t think he should be allowed these privileges especially earning money until his name is totally cleared the group s president beverly siemssen said. in 2003 c-murder was found guilty of killing a 16-year-old in a nightclub but that decision was thrown out last april. he is now facing a second trial on a charge of second-degree murder. with two brothers in the group tru he had two us top 10 albums in the late 1990s before going solo when he scored another three top 10 albums.,entertainment
572,1975,multi-purpose tv aids india two-thirds of the world s population 4 billion people live on $2 000 a year or less. you might think that the last thing on their minds would be getting a television set or a computer. but that s not the case. many people in the developing world give up one of their daily meals so they can afford to buy a tv. and now an indian-born computer engineer thinks he s come up with a way to give them cheap access to the internet. carnegie mellon professor raj reddy has spent the bulk of his professional career trying to find ways to make technology accessible to poor people. the first step is to figure out why poor people would want a personal computer and professor reddy thinks he has a pretty good idea of why they might. i come from a village says prof reddy i know what the population is like many of them are illiterate and many of them have other concerns. there nobody will use it for the conventional uses of a pc word processing and powerpoint he said. so it s clear to me that if people wanted to use pcs in a village - it has to usable by illiterate people and it must be primarily for entertainment education telemedicine and access to expert advice. prof reddy also thinks that tying it into some kind of aid package was the wrong approach. after all he asked -- what aid group could possibly give expensive computers to 250 million less fortunate indians let alone the billions of poor people around the world instead prof reddy decided to think of those 250 million indians as a potential market. the problem then becomes one of making the product compelling enough. it must be so compelling that you would give up your third meal in order to have this prof reddy says. people do this today with television sets. if you go to india and many other countries they will first go get a television set before they worry about one more meal. why because personalized entertainment has become very important. this hatched a completely new idea. he calls it a pctvt - a personal computer television and telephone all in one that runs on a normal desktop machine. literate users can surf through the applications with a keyboard and mouse but illiterate users can use what looks like a television remote control. on the screen pictures - not words - designate applications like tv voice mail and video e-mail. this dependence on graphics video and audio means that a computer for an illiterate person needs 100 times more power and more memory than one for a phd. prassana rambathla one of prof reddy s graduate students says that when you re talking illiterate you re talking audio and video and that demands exponentially high bandwidth. it can t choke at any point in time and it has to withstand anything no matter what you re pressing. the major part is making it foolproof very tough so that it never breaks he says. the carnegie mellon team says this project is only possible because pcs are now so much cheaper and have built-in audio and video hardware and software. limited trials of the pctvt are due to start this month in the indian state of andhra pradesh. although andhra pradesh has a fairly good infrastructure but work has to be done to ensure reliable connections to the net. prof reddy has teamed up with eric brewer at the university of california at berkeley. the answer says prof brewer is wi-fi. we re looking at the thing you ll see in starbuck s or many other hotspots he says. we re doing a lot of work on long-distance wireless and how to make the network work better in the presence of intermittency when the power goes up and down and the links go up and down and the computers you re connected to just get turned off for no reason. prof reddy says he hopes to lease the pctvts for about $10 a month and thinks indians will rent the units for the television and dvd capabilities. reddy says he can then introduce the pctvt s other technologies - such as video mail. for example a farmer could use the pctvt s webcam to send a picture of a harmful insec
573,178,gb quartet get cross country call four british athletes have been pre-selected to compete at the world cross country championships in march after impressive starts to the season. hayley yelling jo pavey karl keska and adam hickey will represent team gb at the event in france. yelling clinched the women s european cross country title last month and pavey followed up with bronze. keska helped the men s team to overall third place while hickey finished in 10th place on his junior debut. winning the european cross country title meant so much to me said yelling. and being pre-selected for the worlds means that i can focus on preparing in the best way possible. the 32-year-old will race alongside olympic 5 000m finalist pavey in the women s 8km race on 19 march. keska who has made a successful return from a long-term injury lay-off contests the men s 12km race on 20 march while 16-year-old hickey goes in the junior men s 8km on the same day. the rest of the team will be named after the trials at wollaton park in nottingham which take place on 5 march.,sport
574,1237,malaysia lifts islamic bank limit malaysia s central bank is to relax restrictions on foreign ownership to encourage islamic banking. banks in malaysia will now be able to sell up to 49% of their islamic banking units while the limit on other kinds of bank remains at 30%. rhb malaysia s third-biggest lender is already scouting for a foreign partner for its new islamic banking unit the firm told reuters. the moves put malaysia ahead of a 2007 deadline to open up the sector. the country s deal to join the world trade organisation set that year as a deadline for liberalisation of islamic banking. also on tuesday the central bank released growth figures showing malaysia s economy expanded 7.1% in 2004. but growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter to 5.6% and the central bank said it expected 6% expansion in 2005. malaysia changed the law to allow islamic banking in 1983. it has granted licences to three middle eastern groups which - along with local players - mean there are eight fully-operational islamic banking groups in the country. islamic banks offer services which permit modern banking principles while sticking to islamic law s ban on the payment of interest. most of the malays which make up half the country s population are muslims.,business
575,1899,blair dismisses quit claim report tony blair has dismissed reports he told gordon brown he would quit before the next general election. you don t do deals over jobs like this the prime minister told bbc one s breakfast with frost programme. according to a new book brown s britain mr blair went back on a pledge to make way for mr brown after cabinet allies intervened in june 2004. mr blair said the claims were reheated from six months ago and that he was concentrating on running the country. mr blair said: i ve dealt with this six months ago. i said then you don t do deals over jobs like this - you don t. what both of us are actually concentrating on are the issues that concern the country. the book by sunday telegraph journalist robert peston and serialised in the newspaper said the pair had mutual animosity and contempt for each other. it claims tony blair felt by november 2003 he had lost voters trust because of the iraq war and that he was no longer an asset to the labour party. and that at a dinner hosted by deputy prime minister john prescott he told mr brown of his intention to stand down. according to mr peston the prime minister said: help me to get through the year and i will then stand down. but he then changed his mind in june 2004 following intervention from allies in the cabinet and the suspicion that the chancellor was deliberately manoeuvring against him according to the book. mr peston told bbc news: my understanding is that they are not nearly as close or as friendly as they once were. what the book says is there is now a pretty profound mutual mistrust mutual animosity. i think in public you see this double-act pretending everything is alright but in private i don t think the relationship is good because brown understandably feels deeply betrayed - particularly over this issue of the leadership. but in a wide-ranging bbc interview covering issues such as the asian tsunami disaster the middle east peace process and northern ireland mr blair said: when you get to the top in politics you get this huge swell around you. all sorts of people make all sorts of claims and counter-claims. he admitted to a sense of frustration about the allegations which he said had been made countless times . there has been fresh speculation of a rift recently following their separate responses to the asian tsunami. these rumours were fuelled by mr blair s decision to hold his monthly media conference at the same time as a long-planned speech by mr brown on uk plans to tackle global poverty with a new marshall plan for africa. there was speculation the pair were trying to outdo each other s response to the disaster. but the prime minister said he had discussed these claims with the chancellor and dismissed them as a load of nonsense . former welfare minister frank field mp said the prime minister should sack mr brown but did not believe mr blair was strong enough to do so. tory leader michael howard accused the prime minister and mr brown of squabbling like schoolboys . he told sky news sunday with adam boulton: this is the politics of the playground and britain really does deserve better. the liberal democrat parliamentary chairman matthew taylor said the personal ambition of mr blair and mr brown was getting in the way of good government . either they need to grow up and put their squabbles to one side or they cannot expect the electorate to support a divided government at the next election. during the interview mr blair also said the former home secretary david blunkett would play a big role at the general election.,politics
576,676,kilroy launches veritas party ex-bbc chat show host and east midlands mep robert kilroy-silk has said he wants to change the face of british politics as he launched his new party. mr kilroy-silk who recently quit the uk independence party said our country was being stolen from us by mass immigration. he told a london news conference that veritas - latin for truth - would avoid the old parties lies and spin . ukip leader roger knapman says he was glad to see the back of mr kilroy-silk. mr kilroy-silk promised a firm but fair policy on immigration and said they hoped to contest most seats at the forthcoming general election. he said veritas would also announce detailed policies on crime tax pensions health and defence over the next few weeks. and he announced the party would be holding a leadership election. on thursday he is due to announce which constituency he will run in at the next general election - that will come amid speculation he has his sights set on defence secretary geoff hoon s ashfield seat. he was joined in the new venture by one of ukip s two london assembly members damien hockney who is now veritas deputy leader. ukip s chairman petrina holdsworth has said the group will just be a parody of the party the men have left. mr kilroy-silk announced his decision to quit ukip at a public meeting in hinckley leicestershire last week. it came after months of tension as he vied unsuccessfully for the leadership of that party. he said he was ashamed to be a member of a ukip whose leadership had gone awol after the great opportunity offered by its third place at last june s european elections. while ukip has turned its back on the british people i shall not he said. i will be standing at the next general election. i shall be leading a vigorous campaign for the causes i believe in. and unlike the old parties we shall be honest open and straight. mr hockney also left ukip saying mr kilroy-silk would deliver better as the leader of a eurosceptic party. a spokesman for ukip called on mr hockney to quit the london assembly. the party asserts that mr hockney has a moral obligation if not a legal one to stand down. its leader roger knapman has said he is glad to see the back of mr kilroy-silk. he has remarkable ability to influence people but sadly after the [european] election it became clear that he was more interested in the robert kilroy-silk party than the uk independence party so it was nice knowing him now goodbye he said. ukip officials also argue mr kilroy-silk has not been straightforward in attacking the party he once wanted to lead. this is just what the europhiles pray for. as the main eurosceptic party ukip should try to resolve its differences with kilroy to show a united front and give the uk public a serious political voice against europe. having multiple parties with the same view point just splits the vote further. thank goodness that kilroy-silk has gone - now ukip at least has a chance in the election! it is very sad to see the cause of britain regaining its proper relationship with europe damaged by this split within ukip. robert kilroy-silk could have a lot to offer. instead we have a split party and a damaged cause. under the present electoral system people must work together and small parties have no hope of representation. last summer ukip achieved a major advance partly and only partly due to kilroy-silk. it is a great shame this has been dissipated in in-fighting. ukip has a wide platform of policies not just withdrawal from the eu. this kilroy-silk conveniently ignores in the comments surrounding the launch of his own party. neither the english democrats nor the new party were interested in letting him join them and take over their leadership speaks volumes. veritas is the beginning of the end for kilroy-silk. if he believes in truth and democracy then he and the two assembly members should resign and force a by-elections to stand on their own platform rather than this backdoor approach to politics of being elected for one
577,2008,new delay hits eu software laws a fresh delay has hit controversial new european union rules which govern computer-based inventions. the draft law was not adopted by eu ministers as planned at a brussels meeting on monday during which it was supposed to have been discussed. the fresh delay came after polish officials had raised concerns about the law for the second time in two months. critics say the law would favour large companies over small ones and could impact open-source software innovation. there was at one point the intention to put the item on today s agenda. but in the end we could not put it on an eu spokesman told the reuters agency. he added that no date had been chosen for more discussion of the law. in december poland requested more time to consider the issue because it was concerned that the law could lead to the patenting of pure computer software. its ministers want to see the phrasing of the text of the directive on the patentability of computer-implemented inventions changed so that it excludes software patenting. poland is a large eu member so its backing for the legislation is vital. the eu says the law would bring europe more in line with how such laws work in the us but this has caused some angry debate amongst critics and supporters. in the us the patenting of computer programs and internet business methods is permitted. this means that the us-based amazon.com holds a patent for its one-click shopping service. critics say a similar model in europe would hurt small software developers which do not have the legal and financial might of larger companies. but supporters say current law does not let big companies protect inventions which they have spent years developing.,tech
578,1807,clarke to unveil immigration plan new controls on economic migrants and tighter border patrols will be part of government plans unveiled on monday. home secretary charles clarke wants to introduce a points system for economic migrants and increase deportations of failed asylum seekers. tony blair has said people are right to be concerned about abuses of the system but there is no magic bullet . the tories say labour is acting too late while the lib dems say the plans may not produce an efficient system. the government s new five-year plan is designed to show how labour would reform immigration and asylum controls if it wins the election expected to be held in may. ministers deny they have been spurred into action by tory campaigning or because the prime minister is worried too little has been done. instead they say the plans are part of an evolving process aimed at winning public confidence. mr clarke is expected to announce an end to the automatic right to settle for immigrants families and the introduction of fingerprinting for all visa applicants. the prime minister on sunday said immigration would be toughened up to ensure only those immigrants with skills the uk really needs will be granted work permits. but he rejected the tories call for a quota on economic migrants saying no arbitrary figure could reflect the uk s needs. mr blair told bbc radio 4 s westminster hour: we should cut the number or increase it depending on the country s needs... the public are worried about this they are worried rightly because there are abuses of the immigration and asylum system. but he defended the uk s current regime saying all systems around the world were subject to abuse. tory proposals to cap the number of asylum seekers and process all claims abroad would not work argued mr blair. he said: we will not be... pretending there is some simple easy way of processing britain s asylum seekers in some other country because no such other country exists. conservative shadow home secretary david davis said the government had failed to remove 250 000 failed asylum seekers from the uk and limits on economic migrants had been a shambles . what we are seeing today is a rather panicky response from the government after eight years of failure he said. liberal democrat home affairs spokesman mark oaten said labour was right to reject the tories idea of quotas on asylum. but he said it was yet to be seen if mr clarke could deliver a fair and efficient asylum system .,politics
579,481,edwards tips idowu for euro gold world outdoor triple jump record holder and bbc pundit jonathan edwards believes phillips idowu can take gold at the european indoor championships. idowu landed 17.30m at the british trials in sheffield last month to lead the world triple jump rankings. it s all down to him but if he jumps as well as he did in sheffield he could win the gold medal said edwards. his ability is undoubted but all his best performances seem to happen in domestic meetings. idowu made his breakthrough five years ago but so far has only a commonwealth silver medal to his name. edwards himself kept idowu off top spot at the manchester games. but he believes the european indoors in madrid represent a chance for the 26-year-old to prove his credentials as britain s top triple jumper. he has to start producing at international level and here is the beginning said edwards. phillips still needs to be much more consistent. i m sure a victory in madrid will build up his confidence and self-belief that he can be best in the world. the qualifying round of the men s triple jump in madrid takes place on friday with the final scheduled for saturday. olympic champion christian olsson will not be taking part as he is out for the entire indoor season with an ankle injury.,sport
580,17,howard backs stem cell research michael howard has backed stem cell research saying it is important people are not frightened of the future. the controversial issue was a feature of the recent us presidential election where george bush opposed extending it. but the tory leader argued there was a moral case for embracing science which could help victims of alzheimer s parkinson s and motor neurone disease. i believe we have a duty to offer hope to the millions of people who suffer devastating illnesses he said. the use of embryonic stem cells in the uk is already allowed. stem cells are master cells that have the ability to develop into any of the body s tissue types. scientists hope that by growing such cells in the laboratory they can programme them to form specific tissue such as kidney heart or even brain tissue. mr howard acknowledged there were genuine concerns about stem cell research. but he argued: we mustn t be frightened of change or nostalgic about the past - we must be optimistic about the future. politicians must create the right framework so that the great potential of science can be harnessed for the benefit of mankind. with the life expectancy of the average briton now around the mid-70s society has a responsibility to enhance the quality of people s lives as they grow older. i know many people are concerned about stem-cell research. they are fearful of meddling with what they see as the stuff of souls. i respect those concerns. but i also believe we have a duty to offer hope to the millions of people who suffer devastating illnesses like parkinson s multiple sclerosis motor neurone disease alzheimer s and - as we saw in the papers today - now possibly heart problems. mr howard acknowledged there were no easy answers over such an issue but it was necessary to have the courage to do what we know to be morally right . he added: of course stem cells are still a recent discovery. more research needs to be done. but we must look at their potential in a responsible and grown-up way. the hopes of millions of people rest on what could be achieved. former superman actor the late christopher reeve was an advocate for the research after he was paralysed in a horse riding accident. mr howard made his remarks during a speech in westminster to the conservative national women s committee on ambitions and values.,politics
581,837,tsunami cost hits jakarta shares the stock market in jakarta has seen its biggest slide in a month after the country doubled the likely cost of rebuilding from the asian tsunami. the fall came as indonesia said it expected debt repayments of up to 30 trillion rupiah ($3.2bn; £1.7bn) to be frozen to help pay for the recovery. by monday s close the jakarta stock exchange was down 2.1% at 1 011.15. bar a slight dip at the new year the jse had risen steadily by 4.7% since the tsunami hit on 26 december. construction and property companies in particular have gained ground although banks were among the main fallers on monday. so far more than 100 000 people are believed to have been killed in indonesia the country closest to the earthquake which triggered the great wave. on friday the government said its five-year estimate of rebuilding costs for banda aceh province - much of which was flattened by the quake and the tsunami - was 20 trillion rupiah ($2.2bn; £1.1bn) twice what it had previously estimated. that cost could be defrayed by temporary debt relief. on monday indonesian economy minister aburizal bakrie told reporters that the paris club group of creditor countries was expected to freeze 20-30bn rupiah in payments due in 2005 and 2006. we hope we can resume the repayments at least from 2007 mr bakrie said. french finance minister herve gaymard said on sunday that the paris club had already agreed to a moratorium on repayments for tsunami-hit countries ahead of its meeting on 12 january.,business
582,523,mobiles double up as bus tickets mobiles could soon double up as travel cards with nokia planning to try out a wireless ticket system on german buses. early next year travellers in the city of hanau near frankfurt will be able to pay for tickets by passing their phone over a smart-card reader already installed on the buses. passengers will need to own a nokia 3220 handset which will have a special shell attached to it. the system would reduce queues and make travelling easier said nokia. transport systems around the world are seeing the advantage of using ticketless smartcards. using a mobile phone is the next step said gerhard romen head of market development at nokia. the ticketless trial will start early in 2005 and people will also be able to access transport information and timetables via their phones. nokia has worked with electronics giant philips to develop a shell for the mobile phone that will be compatible with hanau s existing ticketing system. the system opens up possibilities for mobile devices to be interact with everyday environments said mr romen. it could be used in shops to get product information at bus-stops to get information about the next bus or for example by being passed over an advert of a rock star to find out details of concerts or get ringtones he told the bbc news website. he is confident that the trial being run in germany could be extended to transport systems in other countries. the technology offers access to a lot of services and makes it easy to get the information you want he said.,tech
583,2099,irish company hit by iraqi report shares in irish oil company petrel resources have lost more than 50% of their value on a report that the firm has failed to win a contract in iraq. reuters news agency reported that iraq s oil ministry has awarded the first post-war oilfield contracts to a canadian and a turkish company. by 1700 gmt petrel s shares fell from 97p ($1.87) to 44p ($0.85). petrel said that it has not received any information from iraqi authorities to confirm or deny the report. iraq is seeking to award contracts for three projects valued at $500m (£258.5m). turkey s everasia is reported by reuters to have won a contract to develop the khurmala dome field in the north of the country. a canadian company named iog is reported to have won the contract to run the himrin field. ironhorse oil and gas has denied to reuters that it is the company in question. these two projects aim to develop khurmala field to produce 100 000 barrels per day and raise the output of himrin. the winners of the contract are to build new flow lines and build gas separation stations. the contract to develop the suba-luhais field has not yet been awarded as iraq s oil ministry is studying the offers. if iraq s cabinet approves the oil ministry s choice of companies then this will be the first deal that iraq has signed with a foreign oil company. iraq is still trying to boost its production capacity to match levels last seen in the eighties before the war with iran. oil officials hope to double iraq s output by the end of the decade.,business
584,1957,trial date is set for balco case a us judge has set a preliminary trial date for the balco steroid distribution case which has rocked athletics. us district court judge susan ilston rejected an attempt by the defence team to have the case dismissed at a pre-trial hearing in san francisco. and she set a march date for the case of the four men accused of distributing illegal performance-enhancing drugs to elite athletes to be heard. a firm decision on whether the trial takes place is expected in january. the judge said that she may conduct hearings in january into whether federal agents illegally searched the balco headquarters and wrongfully obtained statements from the company s founder victor conte and its vice-president james valente. the two men - along with personal trainer greg anderson and athletics coach remy korchemny - were all indicted earlier this year but have pleaded their innocence. the outcome of those hearings could result in some or all of the charges being dismissed. conte said that he would be telling his side of the story on an american tv show on friday. the world deserves to know the truth about performance-enhancing drugs he said. balco (the bay area laboratory cooperative) is the company at the centre of the scandal. the company has been accused by the united states anti-doping agency (usada) of being the source of the banned steroid thg and modafinil. the usada claims that 10 athletes have received sanctions for testing positive for thg and modafinil. former double world champion kelli white and olympic relay star alvin harrison have both been banned on the basis of materials discovered during the balco investigation. britain s former european 100m champion dwain chambers is currently serving a two-year ban after testing positive for thg in an out-of-competition test in 2003.,sport
585,1470,legendary dutch boss michels dies legendary dutch coach rinus michels the man credited with developing total football has died aged 77. referred to in the netherlands as the general michels led the dutch at the 1974 world cup - when they reached the final only to lose 2-1 to germany. however he guided his side to the 1988 european championship title with a 2-0 win over the soviet union in the final. michels played for ajax and coached the side to four national titles between 1965-71 and a european cup in 1971. his 1970s dutch team was built around johan cruyff and johan neeskens and introduced the concept of total football to the world. the strategy was to foster team coherence and individual imagination - with all players possessing the skills to play in any part of the pitch. cruyff was the on-field organiser of a team whose players rotated in and out of defence at will and was encouraged to play creative attacking football. michels had recently undergone heart surgery and dutch football federation (knvb) spokesman frank huizinga said: he was one of the best coaches we had in history. the no-nonsense coach also enjoyed spells at barcelona who he took to a spanish title in 1974 fc cologne and bayer leverkusen. michels named coach of the century by world football s governing body fifa in 1999 also won five caps for the netherlands as a bruising centre forward. dutch sports minister clemence ross-van dorp said: he was the man who together with cruyff made dutch football big.,sport
586,1151,intel unveils laser breakthrough intel has said it has found a way to put a silicon-based laser on a chip raising hopes of much faster networks. scientists at intel have overcome a fundamental problem that before now has prevented silicon being used to generate and amplify laser light. the breakthrough should make it easier to interconnect data networks with the chips that process the information. the intel researchers said products exploiting the breakthrough should appear by the end of the decade. we ve overcome a fundamental limit said dr mario paniccia director of intel s photonics technology lab. writing in the journal nature dr paniccia - and colleagues haisheng rong richard jones ansheng liu oded cohen dani hak and alexander fang - show how they have made a continuous laser from the same material used to make computer processors. currently says dr paniccia telecommunications equipment that amplifies the laser light that travels down fibre optic cables is very expensive because of the exotic materials such as gallium arsenide used to make it. telecommunications firms and chip makers would prefer to use silicon for these light-moving elements because it is cheap and many of the problems of using it in high-volume manufacturing have been solved. we re trying to take our silicon competency in manufacturing and apply it to new areas said dr paniccia. while work has been done to make some of the components that can move light around before now silicon has not successfully been used to generate or amplify the laser light pulses used to send data over long distances. this is despite the fact that silicon is a much better amplifier of light pulses than the form of the material used in fibre optic cables. this improved amplification is due to the crystalline structure of the silicon used to make computer chips. dr paniccia said that the structure of silicon meant that when laser light passed through it some colliding photons rip electrons off the atoms within the material. it creates a cloud of electrons sitting in the silicon and that absorbs all the light he said. but the intel researchers have found a way to suck away these errant electrons and turn silicon into a material that can both generate and amplify laser light. even better the laser light produced in this way can with the help of easy-to-make filters be tuned across a very wide range of frequencies. semi-conductor lasers made before now have only produced light in a narrow frequency ranges. the result could be the close integration of the fibre optic cables that carry data as light with the computer chips that process it. dr paniccia said the work was the one of several steps needed if silicon was to be used to make components that could carry and process light in the form of data pulses. it s a technical validation that it can work he said.,tech
587,489,pavey focuses on indoor success jo pavey will miss january s view from great edinburgh international cross country to focus on preparing for the european indoor championships in march. the 31-year-old was third behind hayley yelling and justyna bak in last week s european cross country championships but she prefers to race on the track. it was great winning bronze but i m wary of injuries and must concentrate on the indoor season she said. because of previous injuries i don t even run up hills in training. pavey who came fifth in the 5 000m at the athens olympics helped the british cross country team win the team silver medal in heringsdorf last week. she is likely to start her 3 000m season with a race in either boston or stuttgart at the end of january.,sport
588,823,johnny depp: the acting outlaw johnny depp whose latest role was peter pan creator jm barrie in finding neverland is celebrated as one of hollywood s most maverick talents. depp has become an unlikely major star given his preference for taking dark and idiosyncratic roles instead of surefire box office hits. he has had a long-running working relationship with the equally unconventional director tim burton. depp was born in kentucky in 1963 and at first wanted to be a rock star playing in a number of bands and supporting acts such as iggy pop and the b-52s in florida. on a visit to los angeles his former wife introduced him to actor nicolas cage. in 1984 he started his film career playing a doomed teenager in horror film nightmare on elm street. two years later he played a soldier in oliver stone s vietnam epic platoon. but it was tv that first made depp a star. he played undercover cop tommy hanson in the us series 21 jump street for three years from 1987. in 1990 he began his partnership with burton in the dark fairy tale edward scissorhands about a young man with blades for hands. he won plaudits in 1993 for the downbeat film what s eating gilbert grape where he played a sensitive youth looking after an overweight mother and a retarded younger brother played by leonardo dicaprio. another role under burton ed wood starred depp as the crazed cult film-maker wood in 1994. he played a much more serious sensitive role in his next major film donnie brasco where he portrayed an undercover cop infiltrating a mafia ring. in 1997 he directed his only film to date - the brave the story of an indian man offered money to appear in a snuff film. two years later he played hunter s thompson in terry gilliam s ambitious but poorly-received big screen adaptation of fear and loathing in las vegas. he worked again with tim burton in the 1999 horror film sleepy hollow and appeared opposite dame judi dench and juliette binoche in chocolat. his performance in pirates of the caribbean which earned him golden globe and bafta nominations had many critics thinking he based it upon the mannerisms of his friend rolling stones guitarist keith richards. his latest role in finding neverland explored jm barrie s relationship with sylvia (kate winslet) and her children. depp s charismatic performance drew an audience of adults and children alike into barrie s vivid imagination and he was called the fifth child of the group by the film s director marc forster. he has two children of his own with french singer vanessa paradis having previously been in a long-term relationship with british model kate moss. the theme of children s literature in depp s career - and his long association with tim burton - are set to continue in his next role playing willy wonka in a remake of roald dahl s classic charlie and the chocolate factory. british tv comedy fans might also remember depp s guest role in the final episode of bbc sketch programme the fast show cited as his favourite show. it was another surprise move in depp s varied and intriguing career.,entertainment
589,1743,technology gets the creative bug the hi-tech and the arts worlds have for some time danced around each other and offered creative and technical help when required. often this help has come in the form of corporate art sponsorship or infrastructure provision. but that dance is growing more intimate as hi-tech firms look to the creative industries for inspiration. and vice versa. uk telco bt is serious about the idea and has launched its connected world initiative. the idea says bt is to shape a 21st century model which will help cement the art technology and business worlds together. we are hoping to understand the creative industry that has a natural thirst for broadband technology said frank stone head of the bt s business sector programmes. he looks after several centres of excellence which the telco has set up with other institutions and organisations one of which is focused on creative industries. to mark the initiative s launch a major international art installation is to open on 15 april in brussels with a further exhibit in madrid later in the summer. they have both been created using the telco s technology that it has been incubating at its research and development arm including a sophisticated graphics rendering program. using a 3d graphics engine the type commonly used in gaming bafta-winning artists langlands & bell have created a virtual story-based 3d model of brussels coudenberg cellars. they have recently been excavated and are thought to be the remnants of coudenberg palace an historical seat of european power. the 3d world can be navigated using a joystick and offers an immersive experience of a landscape that historically had a river running through it until it was bricked up in the 19th century. the river was integral to the city s survival for hundreds of years and it was equally essential to the city that it disappeared said the artists. we hope that by uncovering the river we can greater understand the connections between the past and the present and appreciate the flow of modernity once concealing but now revealing the river senne. in their previous works they used the quake game graphics engine. the game engine is the core component of a video game because it handles graphics rendering game ai and how objects behave and relate to each other in a game. they are so time-consuming and expensive to create the engines can be licensed out to handle other graphics-intensive games. bt s own engine tara (total abstract rendering architecture) has been in development since 2001 and has been used to recreate virtual interactive models of buildings for planners. it was also used in 2003 in encounter an urban-based pervasive game that combined both virtual play in conjunction with physical on-the-street action. because the artists wanted video and interactive elements in their worlds new features were added to tara in order to handle the complex data sets. but collaboration between art and digital technology is by no means new and many keen coders designers games makers and animators argue that what they create is art itself. as more tools for self-expression are given to the person on the street enabling people to take photos with a phone and upload them to the web for instance creativity will become an integral part of technology. the orange expressionist exhibition last year for example displayed thousands of picture messages from people all over the uk to create an interactive installation. technology as a way of unleashing creativity has massive potential not least because it gives people something to do with their technology. big businesses know it is good for them to get in on the creative vein too. the art world is fantastically rich said mr stone with creative people and ideas which means traditional companies like bt want to get in with them. between 1997 and 2002 the creative industry brought £21 billion to london alone. it is an industry that is growing by 6% a year too. the partnership between artists and technologists is part of
590,1035,jackson film absolute disaster a pr expert has told the michael jackson child abuse trial that the tv documentary at the heart of the case was an absolute disaster . ann kite told the court in the californian town of santa maria she was hired to crisis manage the fallout after the programme had aired in 2003. jurors saw the film in which the pop star held hands with the alleged victim on tuesday. mr jackson denies 10 charges of child abuse and false imprisonment. if convicted he could face up to 21 years in prison. ms kite suggested jackson s associates had been intent on launching a smear campaign against the accuser s family after the airing of martin bashir s film living with michael jackson. she told the court that in the aftermath of the broadcast a jackson lawyer had told her the boy s mother would be made to look like a crack whore . jackson s defence questioned ms kite s credibility pointing that she worked for the singer s team for less than a week before being fired and had never met or spoken to the star. ms kite said she received a phone call on 13 february 2003 from a jackson associate marc schaffel who said the boy and his family had left the neverland ranch where they had been staying. ms kite told the court she had later asked jackson s lawyer david legrand what had happened. i said `don t make me believe that these people were hunted down like dogs and brought back to the ranch she said. ms kite began to work for mr jackson in february 2003 after the controversial film was televised in the us and europe. the documentary sparked a media storm and the subsequent investigation into mr jackson s relationship with the boy. in the film the singer said he did not see anything wrong with sharing a bed with a child. questioned by the prosecution ms kite said her plan had been to move media coverage of the star away from a focus on his human frailties to concentrate more on his musical genius. ms kite said that an additional problem was the release of documents relating to a previous allegation of child abuse against mr jackson. the smoking gun website publication was beyond disaster ms kite said. correspondents say the reference is important because it was unclear whether the prosecution would be able to bring up the previous case in front of the jury. the judge is studying whether the prosecution s first witness reporter martin bashir is in contempt of court. the defence protested after mr bashir who interviewed jackson for the tv documentary refused to answer nearly all their questions citing a california shield law intended to allow journalists to protect their sources. in the prosecution s opening statement on monday tom sneddon told the court that mr jackson had shown the boy porn and plied him with wine in order to molest him. he said the singer had visited sexually explicit websites and showed the boy - who was 13 at the time - and his younger brother pornography at his ranch.,entertainment
591,2103,hacker threat to apple s itunes users of apple s music jukebox itunes need to update the software to avoid a potential security threat. hackers can build malicious playlist files which could crash the program and let them seize control of the computer by inserting trojan code. a new version of itunes is now available from the apple website which solves the problem. security firm idefence which notified users of the problem recommended that users upgrade to itunes version 4.7.1. the problem affects all users of itunes - windows and mac os - running versions 4.7 and earlier. users can automatically upgrade itunes by opening the look for updates window in the program. the security firm says users should avoid clicking on or accessing playlist files - which have the file extension of .pls or .m3u - which have come from unknown sources. itunes is the world s most popular online music store with more than 200 million songs downloaded since it launched in 2003.,tech
592,1230,newcastle 2-1 bolton kieron dyer smashed home the winner to end bolton s 10-game unbeaten run. lee bowyer put newcastle ahead when he fed stephen carr on the right flank then sprinted into the area to power home a header from the resultant cross. wanderers hit back through stelios giannakopoulos who ended a fluid passing move with a well-struck volley. but dyer had the last word in a game of few chances pouncing on a loose ball after alan shearer s shot was blocked and firing into the top corner. neither side lacked urgency in the early stages of the game with plenty of tackles flying in but opportunities in front of goal were harder to come by. bolton keeper jussi jaaskelainen had to make two saves in quick succession midway through the first-half - keeping out shearer s low shot and dyer s close-range header - but that was the only goalmouth action of note. and it was almost out of nothing that the magpies took the lead on 35 minutes. bowyer found space with a neat turn on the half-way line and striding forward picked out carr to his right. he then continued his run and with perfect timing made his way into the box where he met carr s cross with a downward header into the far corner. bolton had produced little going forward at this point but they responded well. they were level within six minutes thanks to a smart finish from giannakopoulos. jay-jay okocha twisted and turned on the edge of the area and after a neat exchange of passes involving kevin davies and gary speed the greek striker found the bottom corner with a first-time strike. the magpies were opened up again before half-time as davies set giannakopoulos in space and given had to block at his near post. but the home side survived and they should have re-taken the lead with the first meaningful attack of the second half. fernando hierro cynically chopped down dyer on the edge of the area with the midfielder clean through. but the veteran defender escaped with a booking as there were other defenders nearby and from the resultant free-kick laurent robert curled the ball just wide. bolton were creating little going forward and they seemed content to frustrate the magpies. their strategy seemed to be working until the 69th minute. alan shearer s snap-shot was charged down and dyer reacted first to smash the ball past the despairing jaaskelainen from six yards. - bolton boss sam allardyce i am bitterly disappointed with the result but i am probably more disappointed with the second-half performance. in the first half we had put them under a lot of pressure and our goal matched theirs in quality. i thought it would lift us and that they might be tired after playing a lot of games but unfortunately we were not up for the battle in the second half. we allowed them to heap too much pressure on us and in the end we cracked. - newcastle boss graeme souness we deserved the win. we had a really good second half. bolton are a difficult side to play. you have to match them physically first but we did that and then we played some football. we had a slow first 45 minutes when we looked a bit tired but we got going after that. the scoreline flattered them and we could have had one or two more goals. newcastle: given carr boumsong bramble babayaro dyer faye bowyer robert (jenas 77) ameobi shearer. subs not used: butt harper milner hughes. goals: bowyer 35 dyer 69. bolton: jaaskelainen hunt (fadiga 14) n gotty ben haim candela giannakopoulos okocha (vaz te 77) hierro (campo 64) speed gardner davies. subs not used: jaidi poole. booked: ben haim hierro. goals: giannakopoulos 41. att: 50 430 ref: s dunn (gloucestershire).,sport
593,1636,super union merger plan touted two of britain s big trade unions could merge to form a super union of two million members. the move by amicus and the transport and general workers union (tgwu) would be a seen as a bid to carry more weight with ministers and employers. amicus has 1.2 million members and the tgwu has 800 000. any merger would have to be approved by the unions executives and their membership. it is understood meetings will be held on wednesday about the proposal. along with the gmb and unison the tgwu and amicus worked closely together in the last year to hammer out a 56-point deal with labour s leadership over equality at work holidays and pensions - the warwick agreement. both unions are remaining tight-lipped about the merger rumours but one insider pointed out to the bbc news website that nobody is denying suggestions a merger could be on the agenda when the two unions executives hold their meetings on wednesday. amicus s executive was due to meet in any case although the tgwu is holding specially scheduled talks.,politics
594,103,why few targets are better than many the economic targets set out at the lisbon summit of european union leaders in 2000 were meant to help europe leapfrog its way past the united states to become the world s leading economy by 2010. but the lisbon targets are about much more than just economic prestige. for many economists and analysts they are about ensuring europe doesn t become a global economic laggard. they are also about ensuring europe can continue to compete as an equal with the growing economic giants of asia india and china as well as with the economic might of the united states. that s why there was a tone of urgency in the report out on wednesday by the former dutch prime minister wim kok. mr kok was commissioned by the european commission in march this year to assess how far the eu has come towards meeting the lisbon targets five years on from their inception. his conclusion was simple: too many of the targets will be seriously missed. lisbon risks becoming a synonym for missed objectives and failed promises his report said. the status quo is not an option. at risk in the medium to long run is nothing less than the sustainability of the society europe has built it said. the report comes at a time when europe s competitive position is waning. the eu s economic growth rate is projected to be 2% this year and 2.4% next. while there has been growth in overall employment rates in europe productivity lags behind that of the us. but meeting the lisbon targets requires a political commitment that no eu member state has volunteered so far. that has in part been due to the state of the global economy in the past few years. as mr kok s report noted: the ink had scarcely dried on the [lisbon] agreement before the worldwide stock market bubble imploded. the us suffered two years of economic slowdown and recession and the european economy followed suit. the circumstances weren t conducive to creating the 20 million new jobs promised by eu leaders in lisbon in 2000. neither were they conducive to getting governments to spend more on research and development money needed if the eu was to meet its target of becoming a so-called knowledge-based economy . the [lisbon] vision is a compelling one but in order to do it society has to change said paul hofheinz of the lisbon council a brussels-based citizen action group. what you find is that a lot of people have been fighting change. you find trade unions fighting change. but also the employers associations. even though they tell you they re in favour of change many are actually pushing for less competition more subsidy and less free market activity. but part of the problem was also linked to the original targets set out in lisbon five years ago. targets have a habit of coming back to haunt you and in the lisbon case they covered too much according to the wim report. economic growth and job creation were linked to issues ranging from environmental protection to social inclusion and even safety at sea. the agenda was just too broad and as a result nothing was prioritised. lisbon is about everything and thus about nothing the kok report said. everybody is responsible and thus no one. that s why the kok report recommends that the lisbon targets be narrowed down to 14 key indicators with an emphasis on creating jobs and economic growth. it also recommends that the european commission draw up a league table which ranks countries according to the steps they re taking towards meeting the targets effectively naming shaming and faming . rhetoric and delivery don t necessarily go hand in hand mr kok said in a press conference alongside the publication of his report. we don t have the luxury anymore just to exchange politeness with one another. on one point mr kok was very clear: the european union should not try to emulate the us economy. the european economic and social model needs to change but not so much so that social and environmental issues take a backseat to economic growth. in that sense the lisbon agenda is sailing
595,927,microsoft makes anti-piracy move microsoft says it is clamping down on people running pirated versions of its windows operating system by restricting their access to security features. the windows genuine advantage scheme means people will have to prove their software is genuine from mid-2005. it will still allow those with unauthorised copies to get some crucial security fixes via automatic updates but their options would be limited . microsoft releases regular security updates to its software to protect pcs. either pcs detect updates automatically or users manually download fixes through microsoft s site. those running pirated windows programs would not have access to other downloads and add-ons that the software giant offers. people who try to manually download security patches will have to let microsoft run an automated checking procedure on their computer or give an identification number. microsoft s regular patches which it releases for newly-found security flaws are important because they stop worms viruses and other threats penetrating pcs. some security experts are concerned that restricting access to such patches could mean a rise in such attacks and threats with more pcs left unprotected. but graham cluley senior consultant at security firm sophos told the bbc news website that it was a positive decision. it sounds like their decision to allow critical security patches to remain available to both legitimate and illegitimate users of windows is good news for everyone who uses the net he said. windows genuine advantage was first introduced as a pilot scheme in september 2004 for english-language versions of windows. microsoft s windows operating system is heavily exploited by virus writers because it is so widespread and they are constantly seeking out new security loopholes to take advantage of. the company is trying to tackle security threats whilst cracking down on pirated software at the same time. software piracy has cost the company billions it says. the company announced earlier in january that it was releasing security tools to clean up pcs harbouring viruses and spyware which 90% of pcs are infected with. the virus-fighting program updated monthly is a precursor to microsoft s dedicated anti-virus software. last year it introduced the windows xp counterfeit project a uk-based pilot scheme which ran from november to december. the scheme meant that anyone with pre-installed copies of the operating system in pcs bought before november could replace counterfeit versions of windows xp with legal ones for free. it is also increasing efforts to squash software piracy in china norway and the czech republic where pirated software is a huge problem by offering discounts on legitimate software to users of pirated copies windows. china in particular is a problem with piracy estimated at 92% said mr cluley.,tech
596,379,parents face video game lessons ways of ensuring that parents know which video games are suitable for children are to be considered by the games industry. the issue was discussed at a meeting between uk government officials industry representatives and the british board of film classification. it follows concerns that children may be playing games aimed at adults which include high levels of violence. in 2003 britons spent £1 152m on games more than ever before. and this christmas parents are expected to spend millions on video games and consoles. violent games have been hit by controversy after the game manhunt was blamed by the parents of 14-year-old stefan pakeerah who was stabbed to death in leicester in february. his mother giselle said her son s killer warren leblanc 17 - who was jailed for life in september - had mimicked behaviour in the game. police investigating stefan s murder dismissed its influence and said manhunt was not part of its legal case. the issue of warnings on games for adults was raised on sunday by trade and industry secretary patricia hewitt. this was the focus of the talks between government officials representatives from the games industry and the british board of film classification. adults can make informed choices about what games to play. children can t and they deserve to be protected said culture secretary tessa jowell after the meeting. industry will consider how to make sure parents know what games their children should and shouldn t play. roger bennett director general of entertainment and leisure software publishers association said: a number of initiatives were discussed at the meeting. they will be formulated to create specific proposals to promote greater understanding recognition and awareness of the games rating system ensuring that young people are not exposed to inappropriate content. among the possible measures could be a campaign to explain to parents that many games are made for an adult audience as well as changes to the labelling of the games themselves. according to industry statistics a majority of players are over 18 with the average age of a gamer being 29. academics point out that there has not been any definitive research linking bloodthirsty games such as manhunt with violent responses in players. in a report published this week for the video standards council dr guy cumberbatch said: the research evidence on media violence causing harm to viewers is wildly exaggerated and does not stand up to scrutiny. dr cumberbatch head of the social policy think tank the communications research group reviewed the studies on the issue. he concluded that there was an absence of convincing research that media violence caused harm.,tech
597,1789,muslim group attacks tv drama 24 a british muslim group has criticised the new series of us drama 24 which is about to be aired on sky one claiming it portrays islam unfairly. the muslim council of britain has complained to broadcasting watchdog ofcom. it says the programme breaches editorial guidelines. the group s members met with sky executives on tuesday after viewing previews of the first five episodes. the drama now in its fourth series begins on sunday evening. the new series portrays a muslim family as a sleeper terrorist cell. the muslim council of britain said in a statement: we are greatly concerned by the unremittingly hostile and unbalanced portrayal of muslims in this series of 24 based upon a preview of the first five episodes that we have seen. there is not a single positive muslim character in the storyline to date. at a time when negative stereotypes of muslims are on the increase we feel that sky - as a major uk broadcaster - has a responsibility to challenge these insidious views not help to reinforce them. but sky denied the programme breached broadcasting guidelines. a spokesperson said: during a useful meeting yesterday sky listened to the concerns raised by representatives of the council. sky does not believe that the episodes that it has reviewed to date breach ofcom s programme code. fox tv which shows the series in the us is broadcasting public service announcements showing muslims in a positive light after complaints about the series.,entertainment
598,278,band aid retains number one spot the charity single by band aid 20 has held on the chart top spot for a second week strengthening its chances of becoming the christmas number one. do they know it s christmas featuring artists including chris martin and jamelia held off kylie minogue to remain the week s biggest single. next week s chart will reveal who will have the festive chart-topper minogue s latest release i believe in you went in at number two pushing down ice cube s you can do it to three. destiny s child also slipped one place to four with lose my breath followed by girls aloud at five with the children in need record i ll stand by you. the only other new entry in the top 10 came from robbie williams track misunderstood a new track written for his greatest hits album. there were no new releases in the entire top 40 album charts as record companies put out all the big releases early hoping to cash in on the lucrative christmas market. u2 s how to dismantle a bomb remains at number one for a third week in a row followed by williams greatest hits. opera band il divo have moved up one place with their eponymous album to number three. maroon 5 s album songs about jane has moved up to number seven despite being released 47 weeks ago. and the abba gold greatest hits album has crept back into the top 40 more than nine years after it was first released.,entertainment
599,887,blair backs pre-election budget tony blair has backed chancellor gordon brown s pre-budget report amid opposition claims he was too bullish about the state of the uk economy. in a speech in edinburgh the prime minister said thursday s report reinforced stability and opportunity. and that would be central to labour s next election campaign planning for which was already well advanced. mr brown earlier denied his economic forecasts were too optimistic - but refused to rule out future tax rises. he told bbc radio 4 s today programme: no politician should make the mistake that john major and his colleagues made in 1992 of saying no matter what the circumstances are they can make all sorts of guarantees on every individual thing. that is not what politicians should do it would not be responsible to do. mr brown insisted his spending plans were affordable and he could afford to be optimistic because britain was now a stable low-inflation economy and house prices were now stabilising. mr blair praised his chancellor for his role in creating economic stability which he said was the cornerstone of labour s programme. in a speech at edinburgh s napier university he said labour would publish over the next few months a rich agenda for future policy in any possible third term . in every area of work there is a detailed plan for the future much clearer than those in 1997 or 2001. all of it fits together around common themes of opportunity security and stability for all mr blair said. in his pre-budget report mr brown surprised some city experts by forecasting uk growth at between 3% and 3.5% for next year. many believe the figure is more likely to be under 3% - and fear tax rises or spending cuts saying tax receipts have been overestimated. carl emmerson from the institute for fiscal studies told bbc news: he thinks everything will come out in the wash and it will in fact be ok. we re not so sure. david page of investec securities said: his forecast that he will meet the golden rule with a margin of £8bn is way too optimistic. it s going to take a significant turnaround in the economy to meet these targets. conservative shadow chancellor oliver letwin said: i can t find a single economic forecaster from the imf to the institute of fiscal studies who believes anything other than the chancellor has got a black hole in his finances. in order to deal with that he will have to raise taxes after the next general election. mr letwin accused the chancellor of using fancy statistics to hide public service failures. vincent cable for the liberal democrats called on mr brown to open up the government s books to the national audit office to see if he had met his golden rule . it is very clear that there are some serious loose ends in government public spending mr cable told mps.,politics
600,1300,troubled marsh under sec scrutiny the us stock market regulator is investigating troubled insurance broker marsh & mclennan s shareholder transactions the firm has said. the securities and exchange commission has asked for information about transactions involving holders of 5% or more of the firm s shares. marsh has said it is co-operating fully with the sec investigation. marsh is also the focus of an inquiry the new york attorney-general into whether insurers rigged the market. since that inquiry was launched in october marsh has replaced its chief executive and held a boardroom shake-out to meet criticism by lessening the number of company executives on the board. prosecutors allege that marsh - the world s biggest insurance broker - and other us insurance firms may have fixed bids for corporate cover. this is the issue at the heart of the inquiry by new york s top law officer eliot spitzer and a separate prosecution of five insurers by the state of california. the sec s investigation into so-called related party transactions includes dealings in the trident funds managed by mmc capital the company s private equity firm. marsh s new chief executive michael cherkasky is trying to negotiate a settlement with mr spitzer. mr spitzer has built up a reputation as a fierce critic and campaigner against corporate america s misdeeds. the uncertainty unleashed by the scandal has prompted three credit rating agencies - standard & poor s moody s and fitch - to downgrade marsh in recent weeks. according to the financial times insurance analysts are now questioning whether marsh will be able to maintain its strong record of earning growth as they draw up forecasts for the first quarter of next year. doubts also exist over how much the company may have to pay regulators and lawyers to put the scandal behind.,business
601,394,markets signal brazilian recovery the brazilian stock market has risen to a record high as investors display growing confidence in the durability of the country s economic recovery. the main bovespa index on the sao paolo stock exchange closed at 24 997 points on friday topping the previous record market close reached the previous day. the market s buoyancy reflects optimism about the brazilian economy which could grow by as much as 4.5% in 2004. brazil is recovering from last year s recession - its worst in a decade. economic output declined 0.2% in 2003 and president luiz inacio lula da silva - elected as brazil s first working-class president in 2002 - was strongly criticised for pursuing a hardline economic policy. investors have praised his handling of the economy as foreign investment has risen unemployment has fallen and inflation has been brought under control. analysts believe the stock market will rise above the 25 000 mark for the first time before too long. there should be more space for gains until the end of the year somewhere up to 27 000 points said paschoal tadeu buonomo head of equities trading at brokers tov. brazil s currency the real also rose to its highest level against the dollar in more than two years on friday. although interest rates still stand at a punitive 17.25% inflation has fallen from 9% to 7% while exports are booming particularly of agricultural products. for the first time in decades we have all three economic policy pillars in line during a recovery finance minister antonio palocci told the associated press news agency. government accounts are in surplus we have a current account surplus and inflation is under control. investors were deeply suspicious of president da silva a former trade union leader who campaigned on a programme of extensive land redistribution and a large rise in the minimum wage. however mr da silva has stuck to an orthodox monetary policy inherited from his predecessor even in the face of last year s economic crisis. this has earned him the disapproval of rural farm workers thousands of whom who took to the streets of brasilia on thursday to protest against government policies. president da silva has defended his policies arguing that brazil cannot afford to continue the cycle of boom and bust which afflicted it in recent decades.,business
602,625,games enter the classroom video games could soon be transplanted from their natural habitat to the more academic atmosphere of the classroom. with violent titles continuing to top the charts gaming and learning have not always sat well together but the tide could be beginning to turn. recent research by the london institute of education concluded that games have a valid place in the classroom. games teach life skills such as decision making problem solving said martin owen at futurelab. mr owen said games could also help children make quick assessments of situations and learning by trial and error. futurelab is a non-profit organisation looking at ways of using technology for innovative learning. most game firms are too busy turning a profit in the lucrative commercial market to consider developing games for use in schools but liverpool-based games firm lateral visions saw a gap in the market. learning games were somewhat old-fashioned and we didn t see anyone else doing what we wanted to do said dr carl gavin managing director of lateral visions. the company set out to write something that had all the look and feel of a commercial game but with an educational and learning element. the result is racing academy a massively multiplayer car racing game which requires not only a thirst for speed but a working knowledge of physics and engineering as well. it is being used by futurelab to test the viability of using gaming in the classroom. we are keen to find out whether alongside learning a game we can also learn something that the rest of the world can understand as being educational said mr owen. players will have to understand how a car works in order to win races and the knowledge of physics and engineering that they gather along the way will be done in a way that no text book can teach. the game requires users to build and maintain their vehicles and to monitor and analyse performance using data from a variety of outputs before and after racing. teamwork is essential and a chat area allows students to exchange information and data work collaboratively and review their own performances. this fusion of chatrooms and gaming is of special interest to futurelab as it is through talking to others that much of the learning can be achieved thinks mr owen. the game has been trialled in two secondary schools in bristol and feedback from students has been positive. pupils used the statistics to work out the best way to build their cars and the online message board to share ideas and support each other said ben williamson a researcher at futurelab charged with testing the game in real schools. dr gavin thinks the game satisfies both teachers need for learning outcomes and the children s desire to rise to a challenge. games in the classroom need to support the teacher. it is not about giving children free rein to play game but recognising that games attract attention and offer a challenge he said. professor angela macfarlane based at bristol university has spent several years researching how games can be incorporated into classrooms. use of games in schools has been patchy she found with sim city proving the most popular. traditionally schools have eschewed mainstream games in favour of used so-called edu-tainment software in a belief that such packages help to make learning fun she found in her research. it is perhaps in a compromise between edutainment and mainstream games that the greatest potential for classroom useable games lies she wrote in a paper entitled games and learning. lite versions of existing games could be the way forward and would overcome one of the biggest hurdles - persuading developers to write for the educational market. this would appeal to developers because of the low costs involved in adapting them as well as offering a new opportunity for marketing. already there are games on the market such as civilisation and age of empire that have educational elements said mr owen. even in grand theft auto it is not just the violence that engages people he said.
603,1770,eu ministers to mull jet fuel tax european union finance ministers are meeting on thursday in brussels where they are to discuss a controversial jet fuel tax. a levy on jet fuel has been suggested as a way to raise funds to finance aid for the world s poorest nations. airlines and aviation bodies have reacted strongly against the plans saying they would hurt companies at a time when earnings are under pressure. the eu said a tax would only be passed after full consultation with airlines. it was keen to point out earlier this week that any new tax on jet fuel should not hurt the competitiveness of the airlines . ministers will also be discussing reforms to regulations governing european public spending. global leaders have focused attention on poverty reduction and development at recent meetings of the g7 group and world economic forum. the world s richest countries have said they want to boost the amount of aid they give to 0.7% of their annual gross national income by 2015. many eu ministers are thought to support the plan to tax jet fuel - tabled by france and germany following the recent g7 meeting. at present the fuel used by airlines enjoys either a very low tax rate or is untaxed in eu member states.,business
604,1959,irish duo could block man utd bid irishmen jp mcmanus and john magnier who own a 29% stake in manchester united will reportedly reject any formal £800m offer for the club. the sunday times and the sunday telegraph say they will oppose any formal £800m takeover bid from us tycoon malcom glazer. mr glazer got permission to look at the club s accounts last week. irish billionaires mr mcmanus and mr magnier are said to believe that an £800m bid undervalues club prospects. mr magnier and mr mcmanus who hold their stake through their cubic expression investment vehicle have the power to block a bid. mr glazer s financial backers including jp morgan the us investment bank have said they won t back a bid unless it receives backing from the owners of at least 75% of the club s shares. however there has been much speculation that the irish duo simply do not think the price offered - 300p a share - is high enough. mr glazer has been stalking the premier league football club since 2003. mr magnier and mr mcmanus issued a statement late on friday saying that they remained long-term investors in man utd. the sunday telegraph says the board of manchester united also considered a management buyout at just over 300p but did not go ahead with it.,business
605,1371,markets fall on weak dollar fears rising oil prices and the sinking dollar hit shares on monday after a finance ministers meeting and stern words from fed chief alan greenspan. the london ftse fell 0.8% while tokyo s nikkei 225 dropped 2.11% its steepest fall in three months. g20 finance ministers said nothing about supporting the dollar whose slide could further jeopardise growth in japan and europe. and mr greenspan warned asian states could soon stop funding the us deficit. on monday afternoon the euro was close to an all-time high against the dollar at above $1.30. oil pushed higher too on monday as investors fretted about cold weather in the us and europe and a potential output cut from oil producers group opec although prices had cooled by the end of the day. in london the benchmark brent crude price closed down 51 cents at $44.38 a barrel while new york light sweet crude closed down 25 cents at $48.64 a barrel. the slide comes as the us has been attempting to talk up the traditional strong dollar policy. the latest to pitch in has been president george w bush himself who told the asia pacific economic co-operation (apec) summit in chile that he remained committed to halving the budget deficit. together with a $500bn trade gap the red ink spreading across america s public finances is widely seen as a key factor driving the dollar lower. and last week us treasury secretary john snow told an audience in the uk that the policy remained unaltered. but he also said that the rate was entirely up to the markets - a signal which traders took as advice to sell the dollar. some had looked to the g20 meeting for direction. but mr snow made clear exchange rates had not been on the agenda. for the us government letting the dollar drift is a useful short-term fix. us exports get more affordable helping perhaps to close the trade gap. in the meantime the debt keeps getting bigger with congress authorising an $800bn rise in what the us can owe - taking the total to $8.2 trillion. but in a speech on friday federal reserve chairman alan greenspan warned that in the longer term things are likely to get tricky. at present much of gap in both public debt is covered by selling bonds to asian states such as japan and china since the dollar is seen as the world s reserve currency. similarly asian investment helps bridge the gap in the current account - the deficit between what the us as a whole spends and what it earns. but already they are turning more cautious - an auction of debt in august found few takers. and mr greenspan said that could turn into a trend if the fall of the dollar kept eating into the value of those investments. it seems persuasive that given the size of the us current account deficit a diminished appetite for adding to dollar balances must occur at some point he said.,business
606,1359,player burn-out worries robinson england coach andy robinson says english rugby has to act now to prevent injury destroying players careers. he will be without a host of big names for the six nations as the intensity of professional rugby union hits players. injuries are part of the sport but we have to have a look at the amount of injuries that occur in the english season robinson told bbc sport. i think players are probably going to have three or four years taken off their careers. robinson will be missing an entire midfield for the six nations with the likes of jonny wilkinson mike tindall and will greenwood injured. rugby union has become far more physically demanding since the game went professional nearly 10 years ago. as a result three of the major stakeholders in english rugby have launched an injury audit to find out how players are coping. the audit is jointly funded by the professional rugby players association the rugby football union and premier rugby. as far as robinson is concerned its findings must not be ignored. i think there s an injury audit coming out in march that s got some great information in there that i think everybody in the english game has got to look at he said. if we don t the situation is going to get worse and not better so i think rugby as a whole has got to look at this.,sport
607,921,oscar nominees lack pulling power this year s clutch of oscar nominees have been the least popular for 20 years according to box office figures. in the us the five nominated for best film have been seen by 50% fewer people than movies in previous years. while the awards are not based on box office popularity there is concern for the ratings of the televised ceremony. we don t have a titanic or a lord of the rings out there. i think it s fair to say it does concern us a bit said academy executive director bruce davis. about 51 million people in the us have seen this year s nominees compared with between 100 million and 118 million in recent years. the last time combined attendance was so low was in 1984 when amadeus beat the killing fields a passage to india places in the heart and a soldier s story to best picture when 41 million saw the five films. last year s ceremony attracted the highest audience in four years as viewers tuned in to see lord of the ring: return of the king sweep the board. and the show reaped its biggest audience in 1997 when titanic took home 11 oscars. the film had taken $500m (£264m) worldwide before the ceremony and eventually took $1.8bn (£952m). eyeballs starring at the movie screen translates to eyeballs staring at the tv screen said paul dergarabedian of box office tracker exhibitor relations. people like to have a vested interest in what they re watching. when titanic does $1.8bn in worldwide box office you ve got a lot of people with a vested interest. past years have also seen blockbusters such as saving private ryan forrest gump and ghost compete for oscars. the biggest box office hitter among this year s nominees is the aviator which has taken $90m (£48m) in the us although takings in the uk have reached only £7m so far. low-budget move sideways and finding neverland have so far grossed about $45m (£24m) each. the year s biggest blockbusters do actually feature in the oscar nominees but in the animation category. shrek 2 and the incredibles took $436m (£231m) while the incredibles took $259m (£137m). mel gibson s the passion of the christ which took $370m (£196m) in the us was largely ignored by academy voters. but many in the film industry do not equate award and box office success. i have never equated the academy awards with how much money a movie takes in said nikki rocco head of distribution at universal which released nominee ray. that s the people s choice awards. this is not about the public. this is about the industry bestowing awards on what they think are the best films of the year.,entertainment
608,404,russian oil merger excludes yukos the merger of russian gas giant gazprom and oil firm rosneft is to go ahead but will not include yugansk which was controversially bought last year. the merger backed by russian authorities will allow foreigners to trade in gazprom shares. gazprom chief alexei miller confirmed rosneft-owned yugansk was not part of the deal and will instead be spun off. under the agreement the state will get a controlling share of gazprom in exchange for rosneft. the state wanted to control gazprom before allowing foreigners to trade. speaking on ntv television which is controlled by gazprom mr miller added that yugansk which was swallowed up by rosneft late last year will operate as a separate state-owned oil firm headed by current rosneft chief sergei bogdanchikov. according to reports from russian news agency interfax the deal should go through in the next two to three months. obtaining majority control over gazprom is the beginning of the liberalisation of the market in gazprom shares mr miller added. by opening up trading in gazprom to foreigners the firm will become a top emerging market play for traders. currently foreigners can only trade in gazprom via a small issue of london-listed proxy shares. this is positive news for the international investment community global asset management investment chief david smith said. the majority of investors are going to be happy he added. however analysts were disappointed that yugansk would not be included in the deal. yugansk is a heavy cashflow generator and would have been a much better asset for gazprom renaissance capital energy analyst adam landes told reuters news agency. but he said the latest development was simply an interim step to allow foreigners to trade in gazprom. ultimately and industrially gazprom needs yugansk he added. analysts said the deal would give gazprom control of 8% of russia s total oil production an improvement on its current 2.5% but still far less than the 20% share it would have gained had it also taken over yugansk. however the merged group will still remain outside russia s top five oil producers - led by lukoil with 11% of the market followed by tnk-bp which is half owned by bp and surgutneftegaz. instead the merged gazprom-rosneft group will rank alongside sibneft with 7% of the market. yugansk was sold to a little-known shell company in a disputed auction in december following what many thought was a politically-motivated attack on yukos. the shell company was then snapped up by rosneft. yukos unsuccessfully sought to halt the auction by applying for bankruptcy through the us courts. the unit was auctioned by russian authorities to help pay off a $27.5bn back-tax bill.,business
609,422,spurs to sign iceland u21 star tottenham are primed to snap up iceland under-21 international emil hallfredsson after he impressed on trial at white hart lane. the 20-year-old midfielder who plays for fh hafnarfjordur also starred in the uefa cup match against scottish side dunfermline earlier this season. spurs have agreed a fee for the player who has yet to agree personal terms. he had offers from two other clubs but he decided to come to tottenham said spurs sporting director frank arnesen. he is a left-sided player a position we have been looking at and he showed so much talent in his time here that we decided to take him. it s down the road of bringing in talent good prospects and giving them a place at tottenham where they can improve.,sport
610,503,kraft cuts snack ads for children kraft plans to cut back on advertising of products like oreo cookies and sugary kool-aid drinks as part of an effort to promote healthy eating. the largest us food maker will also add a label to its more nutritional and low-fat brands to promote the benefits. kraft rival pepsico began a similar labelling initiative last year. the moves come as the firms face criticism from consumer groups concerned at rising levels of obesity in us children. major food manufacturers have recently been reformulating the content of some calorie-heavy products. kraft s new advertising policy which covers advertising on tv radio and in print publications is aimed at children between the ages of six and 11. it means commercials for some of its most famous snacks and cereals shown during early morning cartoon shows on tv will now be replaced by food and drink qualifying for kraft s new sensible solution label. but the firm said it would continue to advertise all its products in media seen by parents and all family audiences. we re working on ways to encourage both adults and children to eat wisely by selecting more nutritionally balanced diets said lance friedmann kraft senior vice president.,business
611,1773,athens memories soar above lows well it s goodbye to another olympic year and as usual there were plenty of highs and lows in athens. obviously there s no getting away from the differing fortunes of kelly holmes and paula radcliffe. but i want to remind you of a few more events that made 2004 another year to remember - or forget - for athletics. one of my favourite olympic moments was kelly s success in the 800m. winning that race was the key to her success because if she won that then the 1500m would be a bit of a formality. kelly had been full of should i shouldn t i thoughts about going for the double in athens. i thought why wouldn t you do the 800m it s your best event it was such good fun to commentate on her 1500m and it was nice to be able to be part of her athens story. the victory for the british men s 4x100m relay team was a bit of a surprise but a great climax to the games. i think the four of them - jason gardener darren campbell marlon devonish and mark lewis-francis - knew deep down that it was their best chance of a medal. the lads had run poorly in the individual sprints so maybe they did lift their game when they knew something was really at stake. hicham el guerrouj s olympic double is a much bigger achievement than kelly s on a global scale. he was the first man since for 80 years to win both the 1500m and 5 000m titles. as soon as he had added the 5 000m crown and i had finished commentating i jumped up ran down the stairs pushed everyone out the way and just gave him a big hug. he is one of the few african runners who has embraced the tradition of the mile and he loves to hear all the roger bannister stories. hicham is someone i enjoy having a bit of time with even though my french and his english are not very good. what happened to paula in athens this year is the obvious low on a personal level and for the expectations of the nation as well. there were a set of circumstances around athens that conspired to produce a very dramatic ending which i think has been greatly misunderstood. dropping out of the marathon was the right thing to do but starting in the 10 000m five days later was not wise. that was her heart and not her head reacting. paula had a lot of little things going wrong in her preparation and on the day. things like niggling injuries not being able to do all her running sessions and feeling the pressure of the race looming ahead of her. i think she came to the start line in athens physically and emotionally drained. and if even the smallest thing doesn t feel right when you are preparing to race a marathon 10 miles down the road it will hit you like a brick wall. the positive thing to take from paula s olympics it that she will have learned a lot from it and so will a lot of people - including me. purely as a race paula s victory in the new york marathon has to go down as one of the most thrilling. it was so nip-and-tuck between her and kenya s susan chepkemei and you don t usually get that kind of excitement in marathons. it was also a real delight for all athletics fans because to use one of my favourite words paula showed real bouncebackability . and it was a bit of a rarity for me too because i genuinely did not have an inkling how the race was going to pan out. kelly and the 4x100m boys victories papered over the cracks in the general performance of the british team. we should be concerned that we re not producing enough people who are capable of reaching finals at senior level. the only individual men s finalist on the track was michael east in the 1500m. i am beginning to look down and wonder where are the new breed and that s where things begin to look even gloomier for british athletics as we did not win any medals at the world junior championships in italy. dani barnes came fourth in the 1500m and she was the highest finisher for team gb. the thing is if we don t have athletes getting into the finals at junior level then it really doesn t look good for the beijing olympics and beyond. i tell you what i re
612,2174,mobile tv tipped as one to watch scandinavians and koreans two of the most adventurous groups of mobile users are betting on mobile tv. anders igels chief executive of nordic operator teliasonera tipped it as the next big thing in mobile in a speech at the 3gsm world congress a mobile trade fair in cannes this week. nokia the finnish handset maker is planning a party in singapore this spring to launch its tv to mobile activities in the region. consultancy strategy analytics of boston estimates that mobile broadcast networks will have acquired around 51 million users worldwide by 2009 producing around $6.6bn (£3.5bn) in revenue. sk telecom of south korea which is launching a tv to mobile service (via satellite) in may plans to charge a flat fee of $12 a month for its 12 channels of video and 12 channels of audio. it will be able to offer an additional two pay tv channels using conditional access technology. mr shin-bae kim chief executive of sk telecom also at 3gsm said: we have plans to integrate tv with mobile internet services. this will enable viewers to access the mobile internet to get more information on adverts they see on tv. there will be 12 handsets available for the launch of the korean service. lg electronics of south korea was demonstrating one at 3gsm that could display video at 30 frames a second. footage shown on the handset was clear and watchable. a speech on mobile tv by angel gambino of the bbc also drew a large crowd suggesting that even those mobile operators and equipment vendors which are not particularly active in mobile tv yet are starting to look into it. but all is not simple and straightforward in the mobile tv arena. there is a battle for supremacy between two competing standards: dvb-h for digital video broadcasting for handsets and dmb for digital multimedia broadcasting. dr chan yeob yeun vice president and research fellow in charge of mobile tv at lg electronics said: dmb offers twice the number of frames a minute as dvb-h and does not drain mobile batteries as quickly. the japanese koreans and ericsson of sweden are backing dmb. samsung of south korea has a dmb phone too that will be one of those offered to users of the tu media satellite mobile tv service to be launched in korea in may. nokia by contrast is backing dvb-h and is involved in mobile tv trials that use its art-deco style media phone which has a larger than usual screen for tv or visual radio (a way of accompanying a radio programme with related text and pictures). mobile operators o2 and vodafone are among the operators trialling mobile tv. but even if the standards battle is resolved there is the thorny issue of broadcasting rights. ms gambino says the bbc now negotiates mobile rights when it is negotiating content. for those not convinced mobile users will want to watch tv on their handsets digital audio broadcasting may provide a good compromise and better sound quality than conventional radio. developments in this area are continuing. at a dab conference in cannes several makers of dab chips for mobiles announced smaller lower- cost chips which consume less power. among the chip companies present were frontier silicon and radioscape. the jury is still out on whether tv and digital radio on mobiles will make much money for anyone. but with many new services going live soon it won t be long before the industry finds out.,tech
613,1086,sluggish economy hits german jobs the number of people out of work in europe s largest economy has risen for the tenth straight month as growth remains stubbornly slow. german unemployment rose 7 000 in november to 4.464 million people or 10.8% of the workforce. the seasonally adjusted rise showed a smaller rise than expected as government measures to encourage job creation began to take effect. but officials said stagnant growth was still stifling the job market. there are clear signs of a revival in domestic demand said frank-juergen weise head of the federal labour agency in a statement. but growth of 0.1%... in the third quarter is still insufficient to deliver positive momentum to the labour market. high oil prices and the soaring euro - which damages the competitiveness of exporters - were also having a negative effect he said. the brunt of the unemployment is still being felt in the eastern part of germany where the rate is 18.8%. with unemployment stuck above 4 million for years the government of chancellor gerhard schroeder has put job creation at the top of the agenda. a controversial package of measures to shake up incentives to get back to work paid for by cutting some cherished benefits has sparked anger among some german workers. strikes in a number of industries notably among the country s iconic carmakers have demonstrated the displeasure - as well as fears about further job losses as outsourcing takes hold. among the new initiatives are the so-called one-euro jobs which top up unemployment benefit. the scheme s formal launch is january but hirings for these positions are already taking place and affecting the unemployment statistics economists said. the deterioration of the labour market does not come as a surprise said isabelle kronawitter at hypovereinsbank. job creation measures probably prevented a stronger increase in the seasonally adjusted numbers.,business
614,1986,ban on hunting comes into force fox hunting with dogs is now illegal in england and wales after a ban on the activity came into force overnight. the law faces a stiff test this weekend with the countryside alliance saying many hunts will be out in force. chief police officers spokesman nigel yeo said he expected most people would obey the law - by drag hunting or chasing foxes then shooting them. he said police would challenge the one of two isolated hunts which are threatening to break the law. but simon hart of the countryside alliance has questioned how police will ensure there are no violations. the definitions of legal and illegal hunting are so blurred that the police are being asked to make impossible judgements. you can hunt a rat but not a mouse a rabbit but not a hare an artificial scent but not a real one he said. the attorney general lord goldsmith has so far issued no instructions to police on how they should deal with hunters who violate the law. he said he will consult the director of public prosecutions and the police in the near future to decide what measures to take with regards to hunting prosecutions. he has rejected a blanket policy of not enforcing the ban until the house of lords has considered its legality. john cooper a barrister and chairman of the league against cruel sports said the anti-hunting lobby expects the authorities to prosecute wherever there is clear evidence of illegal hunting practices. he said police had acknowledged their duty to investigate allegations of hunting offences . the beaufort hunt had one pack out on thursday and has promised a hunt this weekend. under the new law hunters have a number of legal options available to them. as well as being able to mount a hunt for an artificial scent it will still be legal for the hunts to flush out foxes as long as they shoot their quarry rather than set the hounds on them. we are not going away. we will keep these hounds going we will keep this community going and in the end we will come back and hunt when hunting is legal again hunt master captain ian farquhar said. but tony banks labour mp for west ham said the issue would soon disappear and that people in a few years time will be wondering what it was all about . he said had the government not prevaricated since 1997 in introducing the ban hunting with dogs would have passed into history like other former country pursuits such as otter hunting and badger baiting. let the election decide this because the conservatives have made clear that if they get elected into government they will restore hunting he said.,politics
615,2007,mirza shocks kuznetsova sania mirza continued her remarkable rise with victory over us open champion svetlana kuznetsova at the dubai championships on tuesday. the 18-year-old indian who is already a huge star in her home country won 6-4 6-2 in front of a delirious crowd. it was mirza s sixth straight victory following her first wta tournament win in hyderabad last month. earlier daniela hantuchova built on her improving form with a 7-6 6-2 win over sixth seed alicia molik. mirza needed attention to an ankle injury after the second game against kuznetsova. she quickly slipped 4-0 down but staged a dramatic comeback that thrilled the large indian contingent in the crowd. i really didn t expect that after my ankle turn said mirza. i played a great match and i think (the crowd) did it again. i knew that i had to play an all-round game and that s what happened. i did everything well but i wasn t missing the ball - i don t know how that happened. mirza plays silvia farina elia or jelena jankovic next. hantuchova has risen from 31 in the world at the turn of the year to number 22 having reached the quarter-finals and semi-finals at her last two events. it was such a tough first-round match and i am glad to come through said hantuchova. she was serving so well. i just decided to hang in there and keep fighting. the slovakian will meet elena likhovtseva in the second round after the russian struggled past tunisian wild card selima sfar 2-6 6-2 7-6. likhovtseva needed nine match points before seeing off sfar who got a point penalty for swearing in the third set. seventh seed nathalie dechy and elena bovina were among other first-round winners on tuesday.,sport
616,13,crude oil prices back above $50 cold weather across parts of the united states and much of europe has pushed us crude oil prices above $50 a barrel for the first time in almost three months. freezing temperatures and heavy snowfall have increased demand for heating fuel in the us where stocks are low. fresh falls in the value of the dollar helped carry prices above the $50 mark for the first time since november. a barrel of us crude oil closed up $2.80 to $51.15 in new york on tuesday. opec members said on tuesday that it saw no reason to cut its output. although below last year s peak of $55.67 a barrel which was reached in october prices are now well above 2004 s average of $41.48. brent crude also rose in london trading adding $1.89 to $48.62 at the close. much of western europe and the north east of america has been shivering under unseasonably low temperatures in recent days. the decline in the us dollar to a five-week low against the euro has also served to inflate prices. the dollar moved sharply overnight and oil is following it said chris furness senior market strategist at 4cast. if the dollar continues to weaken oil will be obviously higher. several opec members said a cut in production was unlikely citing rising prices and strong demand for oil from asia. i agree that we do not need to cut supply if the prices are as much as this fathi bin shatwan libya s oil minister told reuters. i do not think we need to cut unless the prices are falling below $35 a barrel he added. opec closely watches global stocks to ensure that there is not an excessive supply in the market. the arrival of spring in the northern hemisphere will focus attention on stockpiles of us crude and gasoline which are up to 9% higher than at this time last year. heavy stockpiles could help force prices lower when demand eases.,business
617,796,desailly backs blues revenge trip marcel desailly insists there is no chance of history repeating itself when chelsea take on barcelona on wednesday. the french star was part of the chelsea side crushed 5-1 at the nou camp in the champions league quarter-final second leg in 2000. things will be totally different this time he told bbc sport. now everyone knows about chelsea and is a little bit afraid of them. they are one of the major clubs in europe and the pressure will be on barcelona. chelsea have not played barcelona since that quarter-final tie five years ago. the blues had looked destined to progress after winning the first leg at stamford bridge 3-1 courtesy of two goals from tore andre flo and one by gianfranco zola. but they collapsed in the second leg going down to strikes from rivaldo (2) luis figo dani and patrick kluivert. former chelsea captain desailly who is now playing for al-gharafa in qatar says there is no comparison between that side and the current blues team who are top of the premiership. mentally they are much stronger even though a lot of their players are young the 36-year-old said. we made some mistakes at the nou camp in 2000 - a lot of them were individual mistakes. it would not happen now. this team has a new motivation and a different mentality. world cup winner desailly saw huge changes during his time at stamford bridge. he was signed for £4.6m from ac milan in 1998 by ruud gullit and went on to play under gianluca vialli and claudio ranieri. but the biggest change occurred when billionaire roman abramovich bought the club in 2003. desailly says the russian s arrival helped to instil a winning mentality at the club as well as a demand for success. the whole of chelsea is different now - the chairman the manager and all the players he said. everything is new and there is a huge determination to win. since that game in 2000 chelsea have gained more experience in europe and were very close to reaching the champions league final last season. desailly is one of the most decorated players in the history of football. he won the 1998 world cup and 2000 european championship with france the champions league in 1993 with marseilles and 1994 with ac milan two serie a titles and the fa cup in 2000 with chelsea. he is now winding down his career in qatar alongside the likes of frank lebeouf josep guardiola titi camara gabriel batistuta and christophe dugarry. so he is full of admiration for two of his colleagues from the great milan side of the mid-90s who are likely to line up against manchester united on wednesday - paolo maldini and alessandro costacurta. i m happy that they have managed to play so long at a high level he said. i made a vow to costacurta that as long as he plays i will continue to play. and it s amazing that paolo has managed to play at such a high level for such a long time.,sport
618,585,fa decides not to punish mourinho the football association will take no action against chelsea boss jose mourinho following his sending-off in sunday s carling cup final. mourinho who was sent from the touchline for appearing to taunt liverpool fans has been reminded of his responsibilities to the game . but the fa confirmed: there will be no further action taken in this matter. mourinho claimed his silence gesture was aimed at the media although they were on the other side of the ground. the former porto coach was forced to watch the climax of his side s 3-2 victory over liverpool on television after being ushered away from the touchline by fourth official phil crossley. his gesture came after chelsea s equaliser on 79 minutes courtesy of a steven gerrard own goal. mourinho still faces an fa investigation into his allegation that manchester united s players cheated during january s carling cup semi-final at stamford bridge. and uefa could also launch disciplinary action following mourinho s failure to attend a compulsory post-match press conference after chelsea s champions league defeat at barcelona last week. in addition some time this month chelsea must also answer a charge of failing to control their players during the premiership win at blackburn in february. and a charge of failing to control their supporters following a carling cup meeting with west ham earlier this season is still to be heard. the premier league is also continuing investigations into allegations chelsea officials tapped up arsenal defender ashley cole in january.,sport
619,1200,church anger over bollywood film roman catholic organisations in india have demanded the withdrawal of a film that depicts a priest having an affair with a girl half his age. indian television channels are now refusing to run the promotional material for the film sins ahead of its release on friday. the director of the film vinod pande says the movie is not offensive and has refused to withdraw it. catholics are planning a protest in mumbai (bombay) on wednesday. the president of one of mumbai s main catholic organisations dolphy d souza says the portrayal of an ordained priest as a man of loose moral character has hurt the religious sentiments of india s catholic community. he called the film pornographic and sensational . mr d souza who is also the vice-president of the catholics national body has accused the director of the film of portraying a priest in bad light for commercial gains. catholics have urged mr pande to withdraw the film to show respect to the christian community s hurt sentiments. religion needs to be a personal affair and should not be a subject for entertainment or for commercial use joseph dias general secretary of the catholic secular forum said in a statement. but mr pande said that if the critics were to see the film they would not protest against it and would not insist on its withdrawal. he says he has no plans to cancel the film ahead of its scheduled screening on friday. it s about forbidden love. there was no agenda whatsoever to hurt anyone he said. the bbc s zubair ahmed in mumbai says that the controversial film shows a priest in steamy scenes with a girl half his age. she apparently goes to him for help but he falls in love with her. it takes place in the picturesque southern indian state of kerala. the film has already been cleared by the censor board with an a (adults only) certificate. mr d souza says he is shocked at the censor board s decision to clear the film. our correspondent says that india s tv channels have so far refused to be dragged into the controversy and have not screened the film s promotional material. most of the catholic community s anger has come after watching newspaper advertisements and hoardings of the film. christians make up about two per cent of india s population of more than a billion people.,entertainment
620,642,kennedy predicts bigger turnout voters pent up passion could confound predictions of a low turnout in the coming general election charles kennedy has said. the liberal democrat leader predicted concerns over iraq and other international and domestic issue would express themselves during the campaign. his comments come as an inquiry looks at how best to boost voter turnouts. ex-foreign secretary robin cook said people were not apathetic but fed up of pager politics and not being heard. he like mr kennedy pointed to the hundreds of thousands of people who demonstrated against plans for the iraq war. mr cook who is giving evidence to the power inquiry into voter turnout rates told bbc radio 4 s today programme it was not fair to blame the public who were more interested in politics than ever before . they are turned off by the way we do politics in britain. there s a message there for politicians. he urged politicians to avoid negative campaigning and to speak more from the heart . we should be not so afraid to say what we stand for. he also criticised the cult of personality politics: there s far too much interest in celebrities. politics are in danger of becoming another branch of the celebrity industry. the government has tried a number of things in an attempt to boost voter turnout which fell to 59% in the last general election in 2001. this has included bringing in directly elected mayors to head local authorities and trialling postal voting.,politics
621,237,kenyan school turns to handhelds at the mbita point primary school in western kenya students click away at a handheld computer with a stylus. they are doing exercises in their school textbooks which have been digitised. it is a pilot project run by eduvision which is looking at ways to use low cost computer systems to get up-to-date information to students who are currently stuck with ancient textbooks. matthew herren from eduvision told the bbc programme go digital how the non-governmental organisation uses a combination of satellite radio and handheld computers called e-slates. the e-slates connect via a wireless connection to a base station in the school. this in turn is connected to a satellite radio receiver. the data is transmitted alongside audio signals. the base station processes the information from the satellite transmission and turns it into a form that can be read by the handheld e-slates. it downloads from the satellite and every day processes the stream sorts through content for the material destined for the users connected to it. it also stores this on its hard disc. the system is cheaper than installing and maintaining an internet connection and conventional computer network. but mr herren says there are both pros and cons to the project. it s very simple to set up just a satellite antenna on the roof of the school but it s also a one-way connection so getting feedback or specific requests from end users is difficult. the project is still at the pilot stage and eduvision staff are on the ground to attend to teething problems with the linux-based system. the content is divided into visual information textual information and questions. users can scroll through these sections independently of each other. eduvision is planning to include audio and video files as the system develops and add more content. mr herren says this would vastly increase the opportunities available to the students. he is currently in negotiations to take advantage of a project being organised by search site google to digitise some of the world s largest university libraries. all books in the public domain something like 15 million could be put on the base stations as we manufacture them. then every rural school in africa would have access to the same libraries as the students in oxford and harvard currently the project is operating in an area where there is mains electricity. but mr herren says eduvision already has plans to extend it to more remote regions. we plan to put a solar panel at the school with the base station have the e-slates charge during the day when the children are in school then they can take them home at night and continue working. maciej sundra who designed the user interface for the e-slates says the project s ultimate goal is levelling access to knowledge around the world. why in this age when most people do most research using the internet are students still using textbooks the fact that we are doing this in a rural developing country is very exciting - as they need it most.,tech
622,1826,robertson out to retain euro lure hearts manager john robertson hopes a place in the knock-out stages of the uefa cup could help keep some of his out-of-contract players at the club. it could help. if we get through and have another european tie it may encourage players to stay at least until the end of the season he said. if we manage to get through it shows how well the club s progressing. they have to think whether they are going to get other clubs like that should they decide to move on. a win for robertson s side against ferencvaros would put them through to the last 32 if basle fail to beat feyenoord. it s very much the player s prerogative but the fact that we ve been playing european football for the last three or four years is obviously an incentive added robertson. but we want players who want to play for the football club who are committed and a run in europe always helps a little bit. with the game being played at murrayfield instead of tynecastle because of uefa regulations robertson sees both positive and negative aspects to the change of venue. the pitch is not in the greatest condition. the heineken cup game was there at the weekend and the pitch is a bit threadbare he said. it s not ideal but it s the same for both teams so we just have to go out and there and perform. that s the most important thing. but he added: if tynecastle could have hosted 30 000 it would have been fantastic but that s one of the benefits of murrayfield - it allows us to bring even more of our supporters into it. there will be a good atmosphere and the hearts fans have an important role to play. we need their encouragement we need them to get right behind the side and make it as good an atmosphere as possible. hopefully the players will respond to that and i know they will because it s a fantastic european night for the club.,sport
623,43,house prices show slight increase prices of homes in the uk rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in february says the nationwide building society. the figure means the annual rate of increase in the uk is down to 10.2% the lowest rate since june 2001. the annual rate has halved since august last year as interest rises have cooled the housing market. at the same time the number of mortgage approvals fell in january to a near 10-year low official bank of england figures have shown. nationwide said that in january house prices went up by 0.4% on the month and by 12.6% on a year earlier. we are not seeing the market collapsing in the way some had feared said nationwide economist alex bannister. there have been a number of warnings that the uk housing market may be heading for a downturn after four years of strong growth to 2004. in november barclays which owns former building society the woolwich forecast an 8% fall in property prices in 2005 followed by further declines in 2006 and 2007. and last summer economists at pricewaterhousecoopers (pwc) warned house prices were overvalued and could fall by between 10% and 15% by 2009. the price of an average uk property now stands at £152 879. homeowners now expect house prices to rise by 1% over the next six months mr bannister said. he said if the growth continued at this level then the bank of england may increase interest rates from their current 4.75%. i think the key is what the bank expects to happen to the housing market. we always thought we would see a small rise they thought they would see a small decline. house prices have risen 0.9% this year nationwide said and if this pace of increase persists prices would rise by just under 6% in the year to december. this is slightly above the 0-5% range nationwide predicts. further evidence of a slowdown in the housing market emerged from bank of england lending figures released on tuesday. new mortgage loans in january fell to 79 000 from 82 000 in december the bank said. the past few months have seen approvals fall to levels last seen in 1995. the bank revealed that 48 000 fewer mortgages were approved in january than for the same month in 2004. overall mortgage lending rose by £7.2bn in january marginally up on the £7.1bn rise in december.,business
624,1594,farrell saga to drag on - lindsay wigan chairman maurice lindsay says he does not expect a quick solution to the on-going saga of captain andy farrell s possible switch to rugby union. leicester and saracens are leading the chase for the player but lindsay told the bbc it was not yet a done deal. as well as the rugby football union the league the individual club and the england coaching team have a say so it s not a quick decision he said. he s given us 12 years service so if he wants to go we d support him. the prospect of farrell switching codes has been the main talking point of the super league season so far. it came as a bolt out of the blue to us admitted lindsay. but he s a very loyal friend to the club so there s no question that he s deserting us. he just fancies a challenge. although the move would be a lucrative one for both farrell and wigan lindsay said money was not a motivating factor for the club. the money side of things hasn t been concluded but it s not the point for wigan he told radio five live. a shortage of money has never been a problem for us. even if we did have it under the salary cap we can t spend a penny of it anyway - we d rather have the player. lindsay also said he understood why rugby union was so interested in signing up farrell. it d be a great loss for us but a great boost for them said the warriors chief. this guy is an absolute sporting icon. he s been at the top for so long and has demonstrated so many attributes that you need to make it in a tough contact sport. athletes like him - ellery hanley and martin johnson - don t come along very often. you re very lucky to have them whilst you ve got them.,sport
625,594,share boost for feud-hit reliance the board of indian conglomerate reliance has agreed a share buy-back to counter the effects of a power struggle in the controlling family. the buy-back is a victory for chairman mukesh ambani whose idea it was. his brother anil the vice-chairman said had not been consulted and that the buy-back was completely inappropriate and unnecessary . the board hopes the move will reverse a 13% fall in reliance s shares since the feud became public last month. the company has been fractious since founder dhirubhai ambani died in 2002 leaving no will. today s round has gone to [mukesh] there is no doubt about it said nanik rupani president of the indian merchants chamber a bombay-based traders body. the company plans to buy back 52 million shares at 570 rupees (£6.80; $13) apiece a premium of more than 10% to its current market price.,business
626,1084,off-colour gardener storms to win britain s jason gardener shook off an upset stomach to win the 60m at sunday s leipzig international meeting. gardener clocked 6.56 seconds to equal the meeting record and finished well ahead of germany s marc blume who crossed the line in 6.67 secs. the world indoor champion said: i got to the airport and my stomach was upset and i was vomiting. i almost went home. i felt a little better sunday morning but decided i d only run in the main race. then everything went perfectly. gardener part of the great britain 4x100m quartet that won gold at the athens olympics will now turn his attention to next weekend s norwich union european indoor trials in sheffield. given i am still off-colour i know there is plenty more in the tank and i expect to get faster in the next few weeks he said. it s just a case of chipping away as i have done in previous years and the results will come. scotland s ian mackie was also in action in leipzig. he stepped down from his favoured 400m to 200m to finish third in 21.72 secs. germany s alexander kosenkow won the race in 21.07 secs with dutchman patrick van balkom second in 21.58 secs. there were plenty of other senior british athletes showing their indoor form over the weekend. promising 60m hurdler clocked a new uk record of 7.98 seconds at a meeting in norway. the 24-year-old reached the mark in her heat but had to settle for joint first place with former aaa champion diane allahgreen in the final. who broke onto the international scene at the olympic games last season set an indoor personal best of 16.50m in the triple jump at a meeting in ghent. that leap - 37cm short of brazilian winner jadel gregorio s effort - was good enough to qualify for the european indoor championships. at the same meeting finished third in 7.27 seconds in a high-class women s 60m. the event was won by european medal favourite christine arron of france while belgium rival kim gevaert was second. britain s joice maduaka finished fifth in 7.35. olympic bronze heptathlon medallist made a low-key return to action at an indoor meeting in birmingham. the 28-year-old cleared 1.76m to win the high jump and threw 13.86m in the women s shot put.,sport
627,1859,bristol city 2-1 milton keynes leroy lita took his goal tally to 13 for the season as his double earned city an ldv vans trophy win. the striker finished off scott murray cross from close range just seconds before half-time. lita then made it 2-0 on 52 minutes but dons substitute serge makofo then netted a great volley to make it 2-1. the visitors almost took the tie to extra time with a late 30-yard bullet from richard johnson which was well held by steve phillips. phillips amankwaah coles hill fortune murray (anyinsah 59) doherty (harley 45) dinning bell lita (cotterill 72) gillespie. subs not used: orr brown. hill. lita 45 52. bevan oyedele ntimban-zeh crooks puncheon kamara (makofo 64) chorley herve (mckoy 45) tapp (johnson 45) mackie pacquette. subs not used: martin palmer. pacquette chorley johnson mckoy. makofo 66. 3 367 j ross (essex).,sport
628,524,tory leader cleared over work scottish conservative party leader david mcletchie claims he has been cleared over a potential conflict of interest. the edinburgh msp earns up to £30 000 a year from the law firm tods murray where he is a partner. mr mcletchie said he has taken advice from holyrood officials about what details he needs to declare. he was advised to exercise judgement to avoid the perception of a conflict and said he had done nothing wrong. as an msp mr mcletchie signed a parliamentary motion questioning expansion plans for edinburgh airport. it then emerged tods murray has a client which opposes the development. mr mcletchie then sought guidance from the standards committee to clarify his position. bbc scotland s political correspondent glenn campbell said no complaint had been made against mr mcletchie but questions were raised about his dual role. glenn said msps are advised to guard against a conflict of interests and a perception of a conflict. mr mcletchie said: i m quite clear that no conflicts of interest arise in my case that the judgement i took has effectively been vindicated when you look at the advice that has been given to me and that these allegations are unfounded. he said nothing had changed in respect of his work with the law firm and it was a matter he would have to discuss with the other partners at tods murray. the firm and i have a very good working relationship and we have done for the last six years said mr mcletchie. i don t suppose i ll be working forever as a lawyer or a politician. i deserve to retire from both but i m not willing to put time limits on them.,politics
629,463,musical future for phones analyst bill thompson has seen the future and it is in his son s hands. i bought my son max a 3g phone partly because they are so cheap and he needed a phone and partly because i am supposed to know about the latest technology and thought i should see how they work in real life. after using it for a while i am not at all tempted to get rid of my sonyericsson p800 smart phone. that has a relatively large screen even if it does only have slower gprs access to the network. i can read my e-mail surf the web using a proper browser and write stuff using the stylus on its touch screen. last week someone e-mailed me a document that had been compressed into a zip file and i was pleasantly surprised to discover that my phone even knew how to decompress it for me. by contrast the confusing menus complicated keyboard and truly irritating user interface of max s 3g phone simply get in the way and i did not see much value in the paid-for services especially the limited web access. the videos of entertainment news horoscopes and the latest celebrity gossip did not appeal and i did not see how the small screen could be useful for any sort of image never mind micro-tv. but then max started playing and i realised i was missing the point entirely. it is certainly not a great overall experience but that is largely due to the poor menu system and the phone layout: the video content itself is compelling. the quality was at least as good as the video streaming from the bbc website and the image is about the same size. max was completely captivated and i was intrigued to discover that i had nearly missed the next stage of the network revolution. it is easy to be dismissive of small screens and indeed anyone of my generation with failing eyesight and the view that there s never anything worth watching on tv is hardly going to embrace these phones. but just as the world wide web was the killer application that drove internet adoption music videos are going to drive 3g adoption. with vodafone now pushing its own 3g service and 3 already established in the uk video on the phone is clearly going to become a must-have for kids sitting on the school bus adults waiting outside clubs and anyone who has time to kill and a group of friends to impress. this will please the network operators who are looking for some revenue from their expensively acquired 3g licences. but it goes deeper than that: playing music videos on a phone marks the beginning of a move away from the download and play model we have all accepted for our ipods and mp3 players. after all why should i want to carry 60gb of music and pictures around with me in my pocket when i can simply listen to anything i want whenever i want streamed to my phone oh - and of course you can always use the phone to make voice calls and send texts something which ensures that it is always in someone s pocket or handbag available for other uses too. i have never really approved of using the internet protocol (ip) to do either audio or video streaming and i think that technically it is a disaster to make phone calls over the net using voice over ip . but i have to acknowledge that the net at least here in the developed western countries is fast and reliable enough to do both. i stream radio to my computer while i work and enjoy hearing the bizarre stations from around the world that i can find online but nowhere else. i am even playing with internet telephony despite my reservations and i appear on go digital on the world service streamed over the web each week. but 3g networks have been designed to do this sort of streaming both for voice and video which gives them an edge over net-based ip services. the 3g services aren t quite there yet and there is a lot to be sorted out when it comes to web access and data charges. vodafone will let you access its services on vodafone live! as part of your subscription cost but it makes you pay by the megabyte to download from other sites - this one for example. this will not matter
630,1085,gsk aims to stop aids profiteers one of the world s largest manufacturers of hiv/aids drugs has launched an initiative to combat the smuggling of cheaper pills - supplied to poorer african countries - back into europe for resale at far higher price. the company glaxosmithkline is to alter the packaging and change the colour of the pills currently provided to developing nations under a humanitarian agreement. it is estimated that drugs companies are losing hundreds of millions of dollars each year as a result of the diversion of their products in this way. this is a very sensitive area for the big drugs companies. they want to maintain their profits but have been put under tremendous pressure to provide cheap anti-aids drugs to the world s poorest nations. the result is that drugs supplied to africa are now more than thirty times cheaper than those sold in europe; bringing these medicines within the reach of millions of hiv-positive africans through their government s health care systems. but the wide difference in price also means that there are big gains to be made from illegally diverting these cheaper drugs back into wealthier countries and re-selling them at a higher price. glaxosmithkline believes that by coating the pills destined for africa in a red dye and adding new identification codes both onto the pills and on the packaging then this trade can be substantially reduced. the company says that it will then be possible to identify specific distributors in africa who have re-sold humanitarian drugs for profit as well as those suppliers in europe that have also been involved in the trade. glaxo says distribution of the new-look drugs has already begun and that their chemical content is identical to those currently being sold in europe.,business
631,668,dvd copy protection strengthened dvds will be harder to copy thanks to new anti-piracy measures devised by copy protection firm macrovision. the pirated dvd market is enormous because current copy protection was hacked more than five years ago. macrovision says its new ripguard technology will thwart most but not all of the current dvd ripping (copying) programs used to pirate dvds. ripguard is designed to... reduce dvd ripping and the resulting supply of illegal peer to peer said the firm. macrovision said the new technology will work in nearly all current dvd players when applied to the discs but it did not specify how many machines could have a problem with ripguard. some bbc news website users have expressed concerns that the new technology will mean that dvds will not work on pcs running the operating system linux. the new technology will be welcomed by hollywood film studios which are increasingly relying on revenue from dvd sales. the film industry has stepped up efforts to fight dvd piracy in the last 12 months taking legal action against websites which offer pirated copies of dvd movies for download. ultimately we see ripguard dvd... evolving beyond anti-piracy and towards enablement of legitimate online transactions interoperability in tomorrow s digital home and the upcoming high-definition formats said steve weinstein executive vice president and general manager of macrovision s entertainment technologies group. macrovision said ripguard would also prevent against rent rip and return - where people would rent a dvd copy it and then return the original. ripguard is expected to be rolled out on dvds from the middle of 2005 the company said. the new system works specifically to block most ripping programs - if used those programs will now most likely crash the company said. macrovision has said that rip guard can be updated if hackers find a way around the new anti-copying measures.,tech
632,2132,millions go missing at china bank two senior officials at one of china s top commercial banks have reportedly disappeared after funds worth up to $120m (£64m) went missing. the pair both worked at bank of china in the northern city of harbin the south china morning post reported. the latest scandal at bank of china will do nothing to reassure foreign investors that china s big four banks are ready for international listings. government policy sees the bank listings as vital economic reforms. bank of china is one of two frontrunners in the race to list overseas. the other is china construction bank. both are expected to list abroad during 2005. they shared a $45bn state bailout in 2003 to help clean up their balance sheets in preparation for a foreign stock market debut. however a report in the china-published economic observer said on monday that the two banks may have scrapped plans to list in new york because of the cost of meeting regulatory requirements imposed since the enron scandal. bank of china is the country s biggest foreign exchange dealer while china construction bank is the largest deposit holder. china s banking sector is burdened with at least $190bn of bad debt according to official data though most observers believe the true figure is far higher. officially one in five loans is not being repaid. attempts to strengthen internal controls and tighten lending policies have uncovered a succession of scandals involving embezzlement by bank officials and loans-for-favours. the most high-profile case involved the ex-president of bank of china wang xuebing jailed for 12 years in 2003. although he committed the offences whilst running bank of china in new york mr wang was head of china construction bank when the scandal broke. earlier this month a china construction bank branch manager was jailed for life in a separate case. china s banks used to act as cash offices for state enterprises and did not require checks on credit worthiness. the introduction of market reforms has been accompanied by attempts to modernise the banking sector but links between banks and local government remain strong. last year china s premier wen jiabao targeted bank lending practices in a series of speeches and regulators ordered all big loans to be scrutinised in an attempt to cool down irresponsible lending. china s leaders see reforming the top four banks as vital to distribute capital to profitable companies and protect the health of china s economic boom. but two problems persist. first inefficient state enterprises continue to receive protection from bankruptcy because they employ large numbers of people. second many questionable loans come not from the big four but from smaller banks. another high profile financial firm china life is facing shareholder lawsuits and a probe by the us securities and exchange commission following its 2004 new york listing over its failure to disclose accounting irregularities at its parent company.,business
633,1970,juninho demand for o neill talks juninho s agent has confirmed that the player is hoping for talks with martin o neill as the brazilian midfielder comes closer to departing celtic. brian hassell says no official approach has been received from manchester city but that the english club had been earmarked as a possible destination. but it was being stressed to bbc sport that juninho would prefer to remain with the scottish champions. juninho wants assurances that he will return to o neill s first-team plans. he has become frustrated with his lack of first-team action since his move from middlesbrough in the summer. hassel says juninho who has just bought a new home would desperately like to stay at celtic but will seek a move if it is made clear that he is not wanted. the agent also stressed that nothing should be read into the 30-year-old s father being in scotland and talk of a move back to botafogo in brazil. juninho s father was simply in the country to see his son and grandchildren. i know there is interest from a brazilian club but i know juninho doesn t want to go there said hassel. he wants to stay in britain. in fact he wants to stay at celtic. hassall made it clear that a move to manchester city who are badly in need of a midfield play-maker was more of a possibility than botafogo or mexican outfit red sharks veracruz who also expressed an interest. it was a thought at one stage he said. if you are not going to get a game under one manager you look for another whose style of play suits you. he is a fan of kevin keegan s style of play. it would not be a bad move for him. juninho had earlier told the daily record: the manager has had a lot of chances to put me in his team but it hasn t happened. if that is the case then this is the opportunity for me to go. that would be good for the club and good for me. if i have no part in his plans there is no point in remaining here waiting for a chance that never comes. the attacking midfielder also claims he has not had the backing of boss martin o neill since his move to celtic park. i can t understand why i am in this situation he continued. when a manager brings a new player to the club he gives that player support.,sport
634,260,podcasters look to net money nasa is doing it 14-year-old boys in bedrooms are doing it couples are doing it gadget lovers - male and female - are definitely doing it. it is podcasting - diy radio in the form of downloadable mp3 audio files. they can done by anyone who has a microphone simple software the net and something to say. some liken them to talking audioblogs because many complement text-based weblogs - diary-like sites where people share their thoughts. they are essentially amateur radio shows on the net on demand and the movement is at very early stages. it s about real people saying real things and communicating says adam curry former mtv vj and the pied piper of podcasting. he was one of a community of people who created ipodder a small computer program known as an aggregator . it collects and automatically sends mp3 files to any digital music-playing device that can play wmp formats. those with digital music players can select which podcasts they like and subscribe - for free - to that show s feed . when a new podcast is available it is automatically sent to the device when connected to a computer. it is totally going to kill the business model of radio thinks curry. i just did a tour of madison avenue where all the big brands and advertising agencies of the world are he says. and they are scared to death of the next generation - like my daughter who is 14 - who don t listen to radio. they are on msn they ve got their ipod their mp3 player they ve got their xbox - they are not listening to radio. so how are they going to reach these audiences it is the distribution that is changing and the barriers are being brought down so everyone can be part of it. it is a fledgling movement but it is gaining momentum now that people have started thinking about how to make a business from it. ian fogg jupiter research analyst thinks there could be potential for business but it could take an interesting turn if big companies like apple and microsoft get involved. it is a nascent area but quite exciting. it is yet another area that demonstrates the move to a digital lifestyle and digital home is not over he says. podcasting is one of those interesting areas that bridges what you do at home and what you do out and about - a classic hybrid. it is another aspect of the time-shifting of content - the latest industry buzzword for being able to listen to what you want when and wherever you want. audiences are in the 10s 100s and 1 000s rather than millions. more than 4 300 podcasts are currently listed. curry s daily source code - which he committed to doing daily to inspire the community - has 10s of thousands of listeners. but dave winer is doubtful. he designed the format called rss (really simple syndication) which gives web users an easy way to keep updated automatically on sites they like. podcasts rely on his technology because it is the way they are distributed. he is also writer of the longest-running weblog on the net scripting news. he thinks its power lies in its democratising potential not in its over-hyped business promise. we re the sources the people doing stuff and podcasting is a way to tell people who care what we re doing. no matter how you look at it commercialising this medium isn t going to make very much money he says. podcasting is going to be a medium of niches with audiences measured in the single digits like e-mail or blogs. maybe in a few years maybe six or seven digits. but it will have to sustain interest beyond the hype balloon. curry and associate ron bloom s new venture called podshow is to help ordinary people produce post distribute and market their podcasts. because of the way podcasts work based on rss the latest podcasts which people can select mean that they are ready-made targets. when you look at podcasting - wow this is a pretty interesting audience. the audience is pre-selected. they have decided to subscribe to your program explains curry. advertising in his eyes can be tailored to podc
635,141,disaster claims less than $10bn insurers have sought to calm fears that they face huge losses after an earthquake and giant waves killed at least 38 000 people in southern asia. munich re and swiss re the world s two biggest reinsurers have said exposure will be less than for other disasters. rebuilding costs are likely to be cheaper than in developed countries and many of those affected will not have insurance analysts said. swiss re has said total claims are likely to be less than $10bn (£5.17bn). swiss re believes that the cost would be substantial but that it is unlikely to be in double-digit billions the financial times reported. munich re the world s largest reinsurance company said that its exposure is less than 100m euros (£70m; $136m). at least 10 countries have been affected with sri lanka indonesia india and thailand among the worst hit. the region s resorts and western tourists are expected to be among the main claimants. lloyds of london told the financial times it expected its exposure to be limited to holiday resorts personal accident travel insurance and marine risks . a spokeswoman for hanover re europe s fifth-largest reinsurance firm estimated tsunami-related damage claims would be in the low double-digit millions of euros. the company has paid out about 300 million euros (£281m; $400m) to cover damage caused recently by four major hurricanes in the us. but insurers have not had long to assess the economic impact of the damage and reports of more casualties and destruction are still coming through. so many things are unclear it is just too early to tell said serge troeber deputy head of swiss re s natural disasters department. you need very complicated processes to estimate damages. unlike the hurricanes you can t just run a model. he anticipated that his own company s total claims would be less then those from the hurricanes which the company put at $640m. allianz a leading german insurer said it did not know yet what its exposure would be. however it said the tidal waves were unlikely to have a significant impact on its business. zurich financial said they could not yet assess the cost of the disaster. the impact on us insurance companies is not expected to be heavy analysts said. most us insurers have relatively little exposure to asia and those that do pass on a lot of the risk to reinsurance companies or special catastrophe funds. insured damage could be a fraction of the billions of dollars worth of destruction in sri lanka india thailand indonesia the maldive islands and malaysia said prudential equity group insurance analyst jay gelb. us insurers are likely to have only minimal to no exposure. it s more likely the bermuda-based reinsurance [companies] might have some exposure said paul newsome an insurance analyst at ag edwards & co. many of the affected countries such as indonesia sri lanka or the maldives do not usually buy insurance for these kinds of disasters said a us-based insurance expert. early estimates from the world bank put the amount of aid needed for the worst affected countries including sri lanka india indonesia and thailand at about $5bn (£2.6bn) similar to the cash offered to central america after hurricane mitch. mitch killed about 10 000 people and caused damage of about $10bn in 1998. but the cost of the tsunamis on the individuals involved is incalculable. we cannot fathom the cost of these poor societies and the nameless fishermen and fishing villages ... that have just been wiped out. hundreds of thousands of livelihoods have gone said jan egeland head of the un office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs. tourists cutting short their holidays in affected areas may suffer a financial impact too. the association of british insurers warned that travel insurance does not normally cover cutting short a holiday. it said loss of possessions will usually be covered but the association stressed the importance of checking the wording of travel policies.,business
636,468,dirty den s demise seen by 14m more than 14 million people saw dirty den watts killed off on friday marking eastenders 20th anniversary according to unofficial figures. den s death came 16 years after he was supposedly shot in 1989. but he came back to the show in september 2003. the audience for bbc one s one-hour special averaged 13.7 million and peaked at 14.2 million in the last 15 minutes overnight figures showed. den died after being confronted by zoe chrissie and sam in the queen vic. if the ratings are confirmed the episode will have given the soap its highest audience for a year. the overnight figures showed almost 60% of the viewing public tuned into eastenders between 2000 and 2100 gmt leaving itv1 with about 13%. we are very pleased with the figures a bbc spokesman said. it shows viewers have really enjoyed the story of den s demise. the show s highest audience came at christmas 1986 when more than 30 million tuned in to see den played by leslie grantham hand divorce papers to wife angie. two years later 24 million saw him apparently shot by a man with a bunch of daffodils by a canal. more than 16 million viewers watched his return in 2003. the show s ratings have since settled down to about 12 million per episode. grantham hit the headlines in may after a newspaper printed photographs of him apparently exposing himself via a webcam from his dressing room. he also allegedly insulted four co-stars. he apologised for his deplorable actions and a moment s stupidity .,entertainment
637,269,ex-boeing director gets jail term an ex-chief financial officer at boeing has received a four-month jail sentence and a fine of $250 000 (£131 961) for illegally hiring a top air force aide. michael sears admitted his guilt in breaking conflict of interest laws by recruiting darleen druyun while she still handled military contracts. ms druyun is currently serving a nine month sentence for favouring boeing when awarding lucrative contracts. boeing lost a $23bn government contract after a pentagon inquiry into the case. the contract to provide refuelling tankers for the us air force was cancelled last year. the pentagon revealed earlier this week that it would examine eight other contracts worth $3bn which it believes may have been tainted by ms druyun s role in the procurement process. boeing sacked mr sears and ms druyun in november 2003 after allegations that they had violated company recruitment policy. ms druyun had talks with mr sears in october 2002 about working for boeing while she was still a top procurement official within the pentagon. she subsequently joined the company in january 2003. ms druyun admitted that she had steered multi-billion dollar contracts to boeing and other favoured companies. in documents filed in a virginia court ahead of mr sears sentencing prosecutors blamed boeing s senior management for failing to ask key questions about the legal and ethical issues surrounding ms druyun s appointment. mr sears told prosecutors that no other boeing officials were aware that ms druyun was still responsible for major procurement decisions at the time she was discussing a job with boeing. however analysts believe boeing may yet face civil charges arising from the scandal. the pentagon has investigated 400 contracts dating back to 1993 since the allegations against ms druyun came to light. boeing s corporate ethics have come under scrutiny on several occasions in recent years. boeing was sued by lockheed martin after its rival accused it of industrial espionage during a 1998 contract competition. boeing apologised publicly for the affair - although it claimed it did not gain any unfair advantage - and pledged to improve its procedures. the pentagon subsequently revoked $1bn worth of contracts assigned to boeing and prohibited the seattle-based company from future rocket work.,business
638,414,artists secret postcards on sale postcards by artists including damien hirst and tracey emin have sold just hours after the opening of the royal academy of arts annual secrets sale. the identity of the artist remains unknown until each work is bought and the signature is revealed on the back. there are still some big names left such as mario testino said rca spokeswoman sue bradburn. all postcards are priced at £35. the sale opened at 8am on friday and will close at 6pm on saturday. ms bradburn said there was a big queue at the start of the sale but it had now gone down. she said the people that had bought the famous name postcards had arrived early and had spent time studying each work. they would have known what to look for. the exhibition has been open for viewing since 19 november. film director ken loach fashion designer hussein chalayan and former blur guitarist graham coxon have all designed postcards for the sale. some of the contributing artists are students or recent graduates of the royal college of art and other leading art colleges. money raised from the sale will go towards the rca s fine art student award fund which supports students with grants and bursaries. the famous sale is now in its 11th year.,entertainment
639,2097,kewell waits as injury drags on liverpool winger harry kewell is struggling to recover from his achilles tendinitis problem and may not recover until march claims his agent. kewell 26 had hoped to play against fulham last weekend and to be ready for the champions league tie against bayer leverkusen on 22 february. but bernie mandic said: he s had scans which don t show anything substantial. but despite his best efforts at the moment he simply can t shake off the discomfort and get back on the park. mandic continued in the sydney morning herald: harry s struggling a bit but the club are doing everything they can to get him right. harry was desperate to be fit for the fulham game as part of his plan to play himself in for the leverkusen match. kewell has not played since december 19 and misses out on international duty this week with australia facing south africa in durban on wednesday.,sport
640,1420,millions buy mp3 players in us one in 10 adult americans - equivalent to 22 million people - owns an mp3 player according to a survey. a study by the pew internet and american life project found that mp3 players are the gadget of choice among affluent young americans. the survey did not interview teenagers but it is likely that millions of under-18s also have mp3 players. the american love affair with digital music players has been made possible as more and more homes get broadband. of the 22 million americans who own mp3 players 59% are men compared to 41% of women. those on high income - judged to be $75 000 (£39 000) or above - are four times more likely to have players than those earning less than $30 000 ( £15 000). broadband access plays a big part in ownership too. almost a quarter of those with broadband at home have players compared to 9% of those who have dial-up access. mp3 players are still the gadget of choice for younger adults. almost one in five us citizens aged under 30 have one. this compares to 14% of those aged 30-39 and 14% of those aged 40-48. the influence of children also plays a part. sixteen percent of parents living with children under 18 have digital players compared to 9% of those who don t. the ease of use and growth of music available on the net are the main factors for the upsurge in ownership the survey found. people are beginning to use them as instruments of social activity - sharing songs and taking part in podcasting - the survey found. ipods and mp3 players are becoming a mainstream technology for consumers said lee rainie director of the pew internet and american life project. more growth in the market is inevitable as new devices become available as new players enter the market and as new social uses for ipods/mp3 players become popular he added.,tech
641,1472,glazer makes new man utd approach malcolm glazer has made a fresh approach to buy manchester united which could lead to a bid valuing the premiership club at £800m. the us tycoon who has been wooing the club for the last 12 months has approached the united board with detailed proposals it has confirmed. mr glazer who owns the tampa bay buccaneers team hopes this will lead to a formal bid being accepted. his new offer is expected to contain substantially less debt. mr glazer has already had one takeover attempt turned down by the red devils and responded by using his 28.1% shareholding to vote off three board members last november. man united had turned down the bid because it was based on a high level of borrowing. but newspapers have speculated recently that the tycoon had gained the support of leading banks to come up with a stronger and less debt-laden bid. last week however mr glazer issued a statement to the stock exchange distancing himself from a new bid. meanwhile united s chief executive david gill said in december that talks would not resume unless glazer came up with definitive proposals . now the board has confirmed that the us bidder is back with a statement issued on sunday reading: the board can confirm it has now received a detailed proposal subject to various preconditions which may form the basis of an offer. a further announcement will be made in due course. to succeed malcolm glazer will still need the approval of major shareholders john magnier and jp mcmanus who own 28.9% of the club. but the irish duo have cut off talks with glazer over the proposed sale of their stake and have so far made no comment on his latest approach. united fans have reacted with anger at the announcement. they have vehemently opposed any proposed takeover by glazer since he first showed interest in the club in september 2003 and after sunday s announcement they vowed to fight on. we will fight tooth and nail to stop him whatever his offer says. we do not want him or anybody else taking over united said mark longden of the independent manchester united supporters association. the campaign against this proposed takeover will continue as it has done since glazer first showed interest in the club.,business
642,1757,laura ashley chief stepping down laura ashley is parting company with its chief executive ainum mohd-saaid. the clothing and home furnishing retailer said ms mohd-saaid had resigned for personal reasons. her departure will come into effect on 1 february and follows the departure of co-chief executive rebecca navarednam on 1 january. ms mohd-saaid is to be replaced by lillian tan presently a non-executive director of the company and head of a malaysian retailer. in a statement issued on thursday laura ashley thanked ms mohd-saaid for her services to the company. its shares were down 8.51% to 10.75p in late thursday morning trading on the london stock exchange. since 2002 ms tan has been managing director and chief executive of metrojaya one of the largest retail groups in malaysia. laura ashley which is due to issue its next trading statement in the next few weeks has in recent months been hit by reports of poor sales. in october last year it announced the closure of one of its two welsh factories. in september the company had said that its half-year clothing sales had been below expectations . in recent times it has put renewed focus on home furnishings rather than clothing but last september it reported that interim six month losses had risen from £1m to £1.2m while sales had fallen from £138m to £118m. laura ashley which floated on the london stock exchange for £200m ($376m) in 1995 is majority-owned by malaysia entrepreneur dr khoo kay peng. in 1996 its share price was more than 200p. it has long been reported that dr khoo intends to take the company private but he has always denied this. laura ashley is a bit of a shrivelled husk of a company said retail analyst nick bubb of evolution securities. it is all pretty odd with its malaysian owners seemingly just shuffling the deckchairs. laura ashley was founded by its late namesake in kent in 1955 before moving to mid wales in 1961 where it still has its main uk factory.,business
643,243,china now top trader with japan china overtook the us to become japan s biggest trading partner in 2004 according to numbers released by japan s finance ministry on wednesday. china accounted for 20.1% of japan s trade in 2004 compared with 18.6% for the us. in 2003 the us was ahead with 20.5% and china came second with 19.2%. the change highlights china s growing importance as an economic powerhouse. in 2004 japan s imports from and exports to china (and hong kong) added up to 22 201bn yen ($214.6bn;£114.5bn). this is the highest figure for japanese trade with china since records began in 1947. it compares with 20 479.5bn yen in trade with the us. trade with the us during 2004 was hurt by one-off factors including a 13-month ban on us beef imports following the discovery of a cow infected with mad cow disease (bse) in the us. however economists predict china will become an even more important japanese trading partner in the coming years. on tuesday figures showed china s economy grew by 9.5% in 2004 and experts say the overall growth picture remains strong. analysts see two spurs to future growth as being china s membership of the world trade organisation and lower trade tariffs. during 2004 japan s trade surplus grew 17.9% to 12.011 trillion yen with more than half the surplus 6.962 trillion yen accounted for by its trade with the us. in december the surplus grew 1.8% on a year ago to 1.14 trillion yen thanks to stronger-than-expected exports.,business
644,1142,mandelson warns bbc on campbell the bbc should steer away from demonising ex-downing street media chief alastair campbell peter mandelson has said. the european commissioner and former labour minister was speaking amid claims that mr campbell is part of a labour dirty tricks campaign. that charge was denied by mr mandelson who said the tories were afraid of mr campbell s campaigning skills. he warned the bbc that attacking mr campbell had brought it trouble before. that was a reference to the hutton inquiry following a bbc story claiming downing street sexed up iraq s weapons of mass destruction dossier. the affair prompted the resignation of bbc chairman gavyn davies director-general greg dyke and reporter andrew gilligan. labour has attracted media criticism for using new freedom of information laws to dig up information about tory leader michael howard s past. mr mandelson a former labour communications director told bbc radio 4 s today programme: i understand why the tories will be gunning for alastair campbell because they fear his campaigning skills. what i understand less is why the bbc should be joining with the tories in driving that agenda. in my experience of these things parties which shout about dirty tricks and the like tend to do so because they fear a direct hit in some vulnerable part of their political anatomy. i suggest the bbc concentrates on the issues and helps the public to understand the policies and the choices that are at stake in the election rather than engages in the process politics the trivialisation of the campaign. i think the bbc would be much better advised to leave all this stuff well alone concentrate on the issues as i say not resume their demonisation of alastair campbell - we all know where that led before. mr campbell is acting as an adviser for labour which denies engaging in personal campaigning. conservative co-chairman liam fox said mr campbell s return and labour poster plans attacking mr howard - recently withdrawn from the party s website - were a sign of abusive politics . the government despite the fact that they would say want to go forward not back seem intent on talking about history rather than their own record or even more importantly about the future he said on sunday. labour peer baroness kennedy who is chairing the power inquiry into political disengagement said people already thought politicians engaged in dirty tricks. this feeling of distrust is going to be enlarged if this campaigning on all sides is conducted in the way that it looks as if it just might she said.,politics
645,1295,o driscoll/gregan lead aid stars ireland s brian o driscoll will lead the northern hemisphere team in the irb rugby aid match at twickenham. o driscoll heads a star-studded cast for the contest to raise funds for the tsunami appeal. the south will be led by george gregan one of four wallabies alongside five springboks and four all blacks including captain tana umaga. south african flanker schalk burger has shaken off a leg injury to take his place in the starting line-up. he will join fellow springboks john smit cobus visagie and victor matfield in the south pack with jacque fourie among the centres. the north side have been hit by the withdrawals of scotland duo gordon bulloch and chris cusiter plus france captain fabien pelous. but leicester s england centre ollie smith has been added to the squad giving him an opportunity to impress lions coach sir clive woodward who takes charge of the north side. i think it s fantastic for ollie tigers coach john wells told bbc radio leicester. he was probably going to have the weekend off this week and i hope clive gets the chance to see the qualities that leicester and england have been seeing all year. woodward will also assess other potential lions candidates such as scotland pair simon taylor and chris paterson wales scrum-half dwayne peel and ireland lock paul o connell. i m looking forward to working with such outstanding players woodward said. both teams are fielding top-quality sides and i really hope that the rugby public and community get behind this game to raise as much money as possible for such a deserving cause. despite the withdrawal of wales wing rhys williams who is required for the blues celtic league match with munster three other members of their six nations squad - ceri sweeney john yapp and jonathan thomas - will also play. not only it is for a good cause but it gives these players the opportunity to play with and against some of the best players in the world said wru general manager steve lewis. supporters can watch the teams train for free at twickenham on friday 4 march. woodward will put his north team through their paces at 1030 gmt with the south side coached by former wallabies coach rod macqueen due at the stadium at 1330. c paterson (scotland) b cohen (england) b o driscoll (ireland capt) d traille (france) o smith (england) c sweeney (wales) d humphreys (ireland) d peel (wales); a lo cicero (italy) p de villiers (france) j yapp (wales) r ibanez (france) p o connell (ireland) m bortolami (italy) j thomas (wales) s taylor (scotland) l dallaglio (england) s parisse (italy) others to be added. c latham (australia); b lima (samoa) j fourie (sa) t umaga (new zealand) s bobo (fiji); a mehrtens (nz) g gregan (aus capt); c hoeft (nz) j smit (sa) c visagie (sa) s maling (nz) v matfield (sa) s burger (sa) p waugh (aus) t kefu (aus). e taukafa (tonga) e guinazu (argentina) s sititi (samoa) o palepoi (samoa) m rauluni (fiji) t delport (sa) a n other.,sport
646,1660,beatles suits sell for $110 000 four suits worn by the beatles on their please please me album cover have sold for $110 00 (£59 000) at a us auction. but some of elvis presley s earliest recordings - including takes of all shook up - failed to sell at the bonhams and butterfields two-day sale. a private collection of six tape recordings of presley valued at between $30 000 (£16 000) and $50 000 (£27 000) did not meet their reserve price. a signed presley photograph managed to fetch $2 115 (£1 140). auction spokesman erik simon said the presley tapes were withdrawn because they did not meet the minimum price set by the owners . he said the family of sound engineer thorne nogar did not want to divulge the price they had set or the offers they had received. the rca tapes date from september 1956 to september 1957. the pre-masters include a take of jailhouse rock religious songs material for his first christmas album and banter between presley members of his band and mr nogar. we ve had them for a lot of years and i think the people should enjoy them. and frankly we could use the money mr nogar s son stephen 57 said before the auction. mr nogar who died in 1994 aged 72 always used to make two tapes of sessions as a back-up in case rca producers wanted to make late changes to songs. he called them his ass-saver tapes his son said. the quality is said to be noticeably crisper than that of a new vinyl record. because the family does not own the copyright to the music the tapes could only be sold for personal enjoyment and cannot be copied for commercial gain. the auction made a total of $1.1m (£600 000).,entertainment
647,1635,sony psp handheld console hits us the latest handheld gaming gadget sony s playstation portable goes on sale in the us on thursday. the entertainment device which also stores images music and video is intended to compete with nintendo s ds released earlier this month in the uk. gamers have been queuing outside shops across the us to get their hands on the gadget which costs $250 (about £132). the first million sold will come with the spider-man 2 film on umd sony s own disc format for the device. the psp can be linked up with others for multiplayer gaming via a wireless connection. sony has touted the machine as the walkman of the 21st century and has sold more than 800 000 units in japan since its launch there last year. but it faces stiff competition from the nintendo ds which sold more than the gamecube in its first few days on release in europe. it too allows for multiplayer gaming over the air. nintendo dominates the handheld market with more than a 90% share of the market in the us alone. the gizmondo combined media player phone and gaming gadget also went on sale in the uk last week. it hopes to take a share of the handheld gaming market too. the story of the psp is it s not a gaming device as much as it is a portable entertainment device said michael pachter analyst at wedbush morgan securities. he told the reuters news agency that he expected sony to sell about 10 million psps in enough time to rival apple s ipod. there is no date for the psp s release in europe yet. sony has promised to have a million units ready for its us launch but there are fears demand may not be met. it also said it expected to ship three million psps worldwide by the end of its fiscal year ending 31 march. the machine s european launch was put back a few months last week in order to make sure enough of the devices were ready for its us launch as well as satisfying the japanese market. the psp has almost as much processing power in it as the playstation 2 console. hundreds of gamers gathered at us shops some waiting for more than 36 hours to be the first to get their hands on the gadget. a spokesman for one us shop said it expected the device to sell out on its first day. the 24 games for the mini console include ape academy formula one wipeout pure and fired up. movie studios including lions gate entertainment and disney have also announced forthcoming film titles that will be made available on the umd format.,tech
648,2200,wall street cool to ebay s profit shares in online auction house ebay fell 9.8% in after-hours trade on wednesday after its quarterly profits failed to meet market expectations. despite seeing net profits rise by 44% to $205.4m (£110m) during october to december from $142m a year earlier wall street had expected more. ebay stock fell to $92.9 in after-hours trade from a $103.05 end on nasdaq. ebay s net revenue for the quarter rose to $935.8m from $648.4m boosted by growth at its paypal payment service. excluding special items ebay s profit was 33 cents a share but analysts had expected 34 cents. i think wall street has gotten a bit ahead of ebay this quarter and for the 2005 year. said janco partners analyst martin pyykkonen. for 2004 as a whole ebay earned $778.2m on sales of $3.27bn. ebay president and chief executive meg whitman called 2004 an outstanding success that generated tremendous momentum for 2005. i m more confident than ever that the decisions and investments we re making today will ensure a bright future for the company and our community of users around the world she said. ebay now forecasts 2005 revenue of $4.2bn to $4.35bn and earnings excluding items of $1.48 to $1.52 per share. analysts had previously estimated that ebay would achieve 2005 revenues of $4.37bn and earnings of $1.62 per share excluding items.,business
649,2146,wales coach elated with win mike ruddock paid tribute to his wales side after they came from 15-6 down to beat france 24-18 in the six nations. after going two tries down in 12 minutes we had to show character said the national team coach. i didn t have to tell them anything at half-time because those players have stared down the barrel of a gun before. they decided they didn t want to do that again and came out fighting. it was a great team effort and we showed great character to come back. man-of-the-match stephen jones who kicked three penalties a drop goal and conversion was ecstatic following after the win at stade de france. it s just a special moment. two years ago we didn t win a single game in the six nations. but we re a very happy camp now he said. we worked hard as a squad and i m a proud welshman. we ve got hard matches to come so we re just happy with the start. double try scorer martyn williams was keen not to talk about a possible grand slam for wales. we ve got more self-belief these days. two or three years ago we might have collapsed after going behind so early. there s no mention of a grand slam among the players. we ve got a tough game against scotland at murrayfield. they could bring us crashing down to earth.,sport
650,5,ocean s twelve raids box office ocean s twelve the crime caper sequel starring george clooney brad pitt and julia roberts has gone straight to number one in the us box office chart. it took $40.8m (£21m) in weekend ticket sales according to studio estimates. the sequel follows the master criminals as they try to pull off three major heists across europe. it knocked last week s number one national treasure into third place. wesley snipes blade: trinity was in second taking $16.1m (£8.4m). rounding out the top five was animated fable the polar express starring tom hanks and festive comedy christmas with the kranks. ocean s twelve box office triumph marks the fourth-biggest opening for a december release in the us after the three films in the lord of the rings trilogy. the sequel narrowly beat its 2001 predecessor ocean s eleven which took $38.1m (£19.8m) on its opening weekend and $184m (£95.8m) in total. a remake of the 1960s film starring frank sinatra and the rat pack ocean s eleven was directed by oscar-winning director steven soderbergh. soderbergh returns to direct the hit sequel which reunites clooney pitt and roberts with matt damon andy garcia and elliott gould. catherine zeta-jones joins the all-star cast. it s just a fun good holiday movie said dan fellman president of distribution at warner bros. however us critics were less complimentary about the $110m (£57.2m) project with the los angeles times labelling it a dispiriting vanity project . a milder review in the new york times dubbed the sequel unabashedly trivial .,entertainment
651,1256,britannia members £42m windfall more than 800 000 britannia building society members are to receive a profit share worth on average £52 each. members of the uk s second largest building society will share £42m with 100 000 receiving a windfall of more than £100. depending on how much they borrow or invest members earn reward points which entitle them to a share of the society s profits. the payouts are bigger than last year because of stricter eligibility rules. last year britannia members shared £42m but the average payment was only £38. to qualify for this year s payment customers must have been members for at least two years on 31 december 2004. britannia has also stopped making payments to members if they are worth less than £5. to qualify for the profit share members must have either a mortgage or an investment account other than a deposit account. customers can also qualify if they have permanent interest bearing shares (pibs). the profit share scheme was introduced in 1997 and has paid out more than £370m. britannia will unveil its results on wednesday.,business
652,2090,little britain vies for tv trophy bbc hits little britain and strictly come dancing are among numerous british shows nominated for the prestigious golden rose television awards. homegrown reality programmes dominated that category including channel 4 s supernanny and itv1 s hell s kitchen. eastenders and coronation street were overlooked in the soap category but doctors and family affairs gained nods. the festival which honours the best tv from around the globe will take place in lucerne switzerland from 3-8 may. little britain which is now in its second series faces competition from bbc two s the catherine tate show and sacha baron cohen s creations borat and bruno. in the separate sitcom category dark comedy nighty night - which began life on bbc three - will do battle with mainstream bbc one show my family. bbc one s strictly come dancing which saw celebrities compete against each other to become champions of the dancefloor is among five british nominations in the varirty category. lenny henry who won a golden rose for his in pieces series in 2001 picks up another nomination for his recent bbc show. british television music shows have picked up six nominations with bbc three s flashmob - the opera up against the uk music hall of fame series which was screened on channel 4. british television has performed very well in the arts and specials category gaining a total of 11 nominations. the bbc leads the way with its programmes on the sound of music agatha christie and rolf on art - the big event - which saw harris lead an effort to produce a life-size painting in london s trafalgar square. british shows - which picked up a total of 48 nominations - will have to overcome competition from a host of other countries including the us canada japan and across europe. uk nominee tv diaries which is shown around the world is owned by a british company but has yet to be screened in this country. previous uk winners have included ant & dec s saturday night takeaway pop idol channel 4 show faking it and comedy duo french and saunders who became the first winners to receive and honorary golden rose. individual performers will also be rewarded with prizes for best comics best sitcom actor and actress and best gameshow host. last year actor shane richie won an award for his portrayal of alfie moon in eastenders.,entertainment
653,1816,weak end-of-year sales hit next next has said its annual profit will be £5m lower than previously expected because its end-of-year clearance sale has proved disappointing. clearance rates in our end-of-season sale have been below our expectations the company said. the high street retailer said it now expected to report annual profits of between £415m and £425m ($779m-798m). next s shares fell more than 3% following the release of the trading statement. next chief executive simon wolfson admitted that festive sales were below where we would expect a normal christmas to be but said sales should still top analyst expectations. among areas where next could have done better mr wolfson said menswear ranges were a little bit too similar to the previous year . mr wolfson also said that disappointing pre-christmas sales were more to do with the fact that we went in with too much stock rather than (the fact that) demand wasn t there for the stock . next s like-for-like store sales in the five months from 3 august to 24 december were up 2.9% on a year earlier. this figure is for existing next stores which were unaffected by new next store openings. like-for-like sales growth at the 49 next stores directly affected by new store openings in their locality was 0.5%. overall sales across both its retail and mail order divisions were up 12.4% next said. its next directory mail order division saw sales rise 13.4% during the five-month period. in terms of all the worries about their trading pre-christmas it s a result said nick bubb an analyst at evolution securities. profits of around £420m would be well within the comfort zone. however one dealer who asked not to be named told reuters the seasonal sales performance was not what people had hoped for . christmas has been tough for the whole sector and this is one of the best retailers he said. next s trading statement comes a day after house of fraser and woolworths disappointed investors with their figures.,business
654,1991,tories opposing 24-hour drinking the tories say plans to extend pub opening times should be put on hold until binge drinking is under control despite backing a law change last year. spokesman david davis said ministers had failed to make his party aware of concern among senior police that plans would cause more anti-social behaviour. notts police chief steve green said innocent people would suffer. but culture secretary tessa jowell said a delay would be disastrous and she accused the tories of opportunism. the government would go ahead with the changes which would give police more power to tackle excessive drinking she added. earlier chief constable green questioned how his officers would be able to practically apply powers allowing them to shut down problem premises. if you look at the market square in nottingham if a fight takes place which licensed premises do you go and lay the responsibilty at the door of he asked on bbc radio 4 s world at one programme. he warned that if drinking establishments were allowed to open until three or four in the morning the police would have to take officers off day shifts in order to do their job effectively at night. earlier this year the royal college of physicians said it opposed the plan to extend drinking hours when there was already an epidemic of binge drinking. minister richard caborn said the government was tackling the causes and the symptoms of the problem by allowing more powers to close down problem premises. it is hoped that allowing pubs and clubs to stay open longer will stagger closing times and end the current situation where drinkers spill on to the streets all at once. earlier tony blair defended the plans against criticism from one of his own backbenchers. my view of this is very clear: we should have the same flexibility that other countries have and then we should come down really hard on those who abuse that freedom and don t show the responsibility he told mps. the law-abiding majority who want the ability after going to the cinema or theatre say to have a drink at the time they want should not be inconvenienced we shouldn t have to have restrictions that no other city in europe has just in order to do something for that tiny minority who abuse alcohol who go out and fight and cause disturbances. to take away that ability for all the population - even the vast majority who are law abiding - is not in my view sensible. this week a judge claimed easy access to drink was breeding urban savages and turning town centres into no go areas. judge charles harris qc made his remarks as he sentenced three men for assaults carried out while drunk and high on drugs after a night out.,politics
655,1310,owen determined to stay in madrid england forward michael owen has told the bbc he is happy in spain and has no plans to quit real madrid to return to the premiership in the near future. but the 25-year-old who has spent much of his time coming off the bench in la liga did not rule out a return to the premiership at some stage. i m pleased with the start i ve made here he told bbc radio five live. england is my country. it s definitely part of me but who knows whether if or when i ll be playing there again. owen who moved to the bernabeu from liverpool last summer has grabbed 11 goals for real but has been unable to replace raul or ronaldo in the starting line-up. however he said he was delighted with the way his time in spain was going and dismissed criticism of his decision to join real. when i first came there was a lot of scepticism back in england any maybe some out here he said. people were saying fourth-choice striker what are you going there for you ll be sat on the bench all the time . but as much as our press like to build it up as if i ve permanently had my backside on the bench i ve played as many games as anyone else in the team this year. for a fourth-choice striker at the start i m more than happy with the way i ve settled in. recent speculation has linked owen with a move back to england with newcastle expressing their interest but the england striker said he is not ready to return home. he added: i ve got nothing against the premiership i mean that s where i first performed that s where i made my name. i can t keep my eyes off the premiership on television when i m at home. when asked if it would have to be liverpool if he returned owen said: i ve not really given it much thought. i ve got great memories of liverpool. no matter what happens it ll always be a club i have fond memories of and it will always have a place in my heart. it s very flattering to be linked to top clubs in england - i m glad that no-one is forgetting me! but i couldn t have wished for a better start in madrid. - listen to the full interview with garry richardson on bbc radio five live s sportsweek at 0900 gmt on sunday.,sport
656,1162,israeli club look to africa four african players including zimbabwe goalkeeper energy murambadoro are all ready to play for israeli club hapoel bnei sakhnin in the uefa cup. bnei sakhnin are the first arab side ever to play in european competition and will play english premiership side newcastle united in the first round. warriors goalkeeper murambadoro who made a name for himself at the african nations cup finals in tunisia helped bnei sakhnin overcome albania s partizani tirana 6-1 in the previous round. murambadoro moved to israel recently after a brief stint with south african club hellenic. the club won the israeli cup final last season and are based in sakhnin which is near haifa. the club have a strong ethic and are high profile promoters of peace and co-operation within israel. the three other africans at the club are former cameroon defender ernest etchi dr congo s alain masudi and nigerian midfielder edith agoye who had a stint with tunisian side esperance.,sport
657,499,g7 backs africa debt relief plan g7 finance ministers have backed plans to write off up to 100% of the debts of some of the world s poorest countries. uk chancellor gordon brown said the london meeting of the world s seven richest nations would be remembered as the 100% debt relief summit . some 37 countries could benefit after a case-by-case review by bodies including the world bank and the imf he said. but the us says it cannot support mr brown s international finance facility to boost aid to developing countries. bbc correspondents said the meeting had produced some movement towards the uk s ambitions but much work was needed. mr brown said it was a major breakthrough for the international organisations to offer up to 100% multilateral debt relief - the vast bulk of money owed by the poorest countries. we could be at the beginning of the final stage of the process where the debts that were owed by the poorest countries built up over 20 or 30 years debts that are simply unpayable in the real world are finally taken care of he said. he added: it is the richest countries hearing the voices of the poor. but he said they would insist on government reforms and the need for transparency tackling corruption and openness from both the poorest and richest nations. bbc correspondent patrick bartlett said while it was an agreement in principle the organisations involved now have to look at how it would work in practice. oxfam senior policy adviser max lawson welcomed the statement and said g7 ministers had passed the first hurdle of 2005 . but he added: they need to move quickly to turn their proposals into real change for the world s poorest. two million children will die needlessly between now and the next meeting in april. if rich countries are going to keep their promises to tackle obscene poverty they need deliver - and deliver quickly. talks are continuing on how to finance increased overseas development assistance. the international monetary fund (imf) is to look at a proposal to use its gold supplies to help the debt relief effort when it meets in april. mr brown said g7 ministers had agreed to defer debt interest payments and repayments for some countries affected by the tsunami until the end of 2005. but uk plans for an international finance facility (iff) to help deal with debt in the developing world have not been agreed. mr brown wanted to provide $10bn (£5.38bn) a year over a decade using g7 backing so the money could be borrowed up front on financial markets. it is a key element of his proposals for a modern version of the marshall plan which brought us aid to rebuild europe after world war ii for the developing world. mr brown said it was winning support every day and said a programme had been agreed to draw up more details in time for the g8 summit in july. but us treasury under-secretary john taylor said the us could not support the iff because of its legislative process . the us is completely committed to poverty reduction and providing financing to do that he said. but this particular mechanism does not work for the united states. it works for other countries and that is fine. earlier he told bbc radio 4 s today programme the us had increased support for africa in the past four years from $1.1bn per year to $4.6bn per year. but south africa finance minister trevor manuel told the bbc s talking point programme what was needed was one approach with all wealthy nations on board. he said much of the money pledged by the us had not yet been dispensed. the uk has made poverty in the poorest nations a key theme for its 2005 presidency of the group of eight (g8) which comprises the g7 and russia. the g8 countries will meet at gleneagles in scotland. at a dinner on friday night former south african president nelson mandela backed mr brown s plan when he urged the finance chiefs to write-off african debt and provide an extra $50bn (£26.69bn) a year in aid for the next decade. talks also centred on the impact of the rising economies of china and india the us budget and
658,285,anti-tremor mouse stops pc shakes a special adaptor that helps people with hand tremors control a computer mouse more easily has been developed. the device uses similar steady cam technology found in camcorders to filter out shaking hand movements. people with hand tremors find it hard to use conventional mice for simple computer tasks because of the erratic movements of the cursor on the screen. about three million britons have some sort of hand tremor condition said the uk national tremor foundation. using a computer mouse is well known for being extremely hard for people with tremors so we re delighted to hear that a technology has been developed to address this problem said karen walsh from the uk national tremor foundation. most commonly associated with tremors is parkinson s disease but they can also be caused by other conditions like essential tremor (et). tremors more often affect older people but can hit all ages. et for example is genetic and can afflict people throughout their lives. the assistive mouse adapter (ama) is the brainchild of ibm researcher jim levine who developed the prototype after seeing his uncle who has parkinson s disease struggle with mouse control. i knew that there must be way to improve the situation for him and the millions of other tremor sufferers around the world including the elderly. the number of elderly computer users will increase as the population ages and at the same time the need for computer access grows he said. computer users plug the device into a pc and it can be adjusted depending on how severe the tremor is. it is also able to recognise multiple clicking on a mouse button caused by shaky digits. ibm said it would partner up with a small uk-based electronics firm montrose secam to produce the devices which will cost about £70. james cosgrave one of the company s directors said it would make a big difference to those with tremors. i m a pilot and my tremor condition has not limited my ability to fly a plane he said. but using a pc has proven almost impossible simply because everything revolves around using the mouse to accurately manipulate the tiny cursor on the screen. he said a prototype of the gadget had transformed his life. the device could help open up computing to millions more people who have found shaking to be a barrier. last year the office for national statistics reported that for the first time more than half of all households in britain had a home computer. with prices getting cheaper to get online too computer ownership is increasing. but although 62% of british people have tried the internet only 15% of britons aged 65 or over have been online. more than six million uk households now have a broadband net. by the middle of 2005 it is estimated that 50% of all uk net users will be on broadband. there are still millions using the net through dial-up connections too.,tech
659,1216,wru proposes season overhaul the welsh rugby union wants to restructure the northern hemisphere season into four separate blocks. the season would start with the celtic league in october followed by the heineken cup in february and march and the six nations moved to april and may. after a nine week break the wru then proposes a two-month period of away and home international matches. wru chairman david pickering said the structure would end problems of player availability for club and country. he added: we feel sure that spectator interest would respond to the impetus of high intensity rugby being played continuously rather than the fragmented timetable currently in operation. equally we suspect that the sponsors would prefer the sustained interest in a continuous tournament and hopefully the broadcasters would also enjoy increased exposure. moving the six nations from its traditional february beginning should also ensure better weather conditions and stimulate greater interest in the games and generally provide increased skills and competition and attract greater spectator viewing pickering argued. the plan will be put before the international rugby board next month where four other plans drawn up by independent consultants for a global integrated season will also be discussed. pickering added: it s very early days and there are a number of caveats associated with it - not least the revenue from the broadcasters which is extremely important. we ve got a good plan and one which should be judged on its merits.,sport
660,745,wal-mart fights back at accusers two big us names have launched advertising campaigns to set the record straight about their products and corporate behaviour. the world s biggest retailer wal-mart took out more than 100 full page adverts in national newspapers. the group is trying to see off criticism over it pay deals benefits package and promotion strategy. meanwhile drugs group eli lilly is planning a campaign against false claims about its product prozac. wal-mart kicked off the battle with adverts in newspapers like the wall street journal using an open letter from company president lee scott saying it was time for the public to hear the unfiltered truth . there are lots of urban legends going around these days about wal-mart but facts are facts. wal-mart is good for consumers good for communities and good for the us economy mr scott said in a separate statement. its adverts - and a new website - outlined the group s plans to create more than 10 000 us jobs in 2005. wal-mart s average pay is almost twice the national minimum wage of $5.15 (£3.90) an hour while employees are offered health and life insurance company stock and a retirement plan the adverts say. unions accuse wal-mart of paying staff less than its rivals do with fewer benefits. in california the company is fighting opposition to new stores amid allegations it forces local competitors out of business. lawmakers in the state are also examining allegations that the firm burdens the state with an unfair proportion of employee health care costs. i think they are going to have a tough time suddenly overcoming the perceptions of some people said larry bevington chairman of save our community - a group fighting to prevent wal-mart opening a store in rosemead california. wal-mart is also fighting two lawsuits - one accusing it of discriminating against women and another alleging it discriminates against black employees. meanwhile eli lilly is launching a series of adverts in a dozen major newspapers to present what is says are the true facts about its anti-depressant drug prozac. the move is in response to a british medical journal article that claimed missing lilly documents linked prozac to suicide and violent behaviour. in the averts entitled an open letter from chief executive sidney taurel the company says the article continues to needlessly spread fear among patients who take prozac . it was simply wrong to suggest that information on prozac was missing or that important research data on the benefits and possible side effects of the drug were not available to doctors and regulators the letter added. eli lilly s chief medical officer alan breier said that the article was false and misleading as the documents it referred to were actually created by officials at the us food and drug administration (fda) and presented to an fda meeting in 1991. later fda medical advisors agreed the claims were based on faulty data and there was no increased risk of suicide.,business
661,421,small firms hit by rising costs rising fuel and materials costs are hitting confidence among the uk s small manufacturers despite a rise in output business lobby group the cbi says. a cbi quarterly survey found output had risen by the fastest rate in seven years but many firms were seeing the benefits offset by increasing expenses. the cbi also found spending on innovation training and retraining is forecast to go up over the next year. however firms continue to scale back investment in buildings and machinery. the cbi said companies are looking to the government to lessen the regulatory load and are hoping interest rates will be kept on hold. smaller manufacturers are facing an uphill struggle said hugh morgan williams chair of the cbi s sme council. the manufacturing sector needs a period of long-term stability in the economy. the cbi found some firms managed to increase prices for the first time in nine years - but many said increases failed to keep up the rise in costs. of the companies surveyed 30% saw orders rise and 27% saw them fall. the positive balance of plus 3 compared with minus 10 in the previous survey. when firms were questioned on output volume the survey returned a balance of plus 8 - the highest rate of increase for seven years - and rose to plus 11 when looking ahead to the next three months.,business
662,2068,us industrial output growth eases us industrial production continued to rise in november albeit at a slower pace than the previous month. the us federal reserve said output from factories mines and utilities rose 0.3% - in line with forecasts - from a revised 0.6% increase in october. analysts added that if the carmaking sector - which saw production fall 0.5% - had been excluded the data would have been more impressive. the latest increase means industrial output has grown 4.2% in the past year. many analysts were upbeat about the prospects for the us economy with the increase in production coming on the heels of news of a recovery in retail sales. this is very consistent with an economy growing at 3.5 to 4.0%. it is congruent with job growth and consumer optimism comerica chief economist david littman said of the figures. the us economy grew at a respectable annual rate of 3.7% in the three months between july and september while jobs growth averaged 178 000 during the same period. while the employment figures are not spectacular experts believe they are enough to whittle away at america s 5.4% jobless rate. a breakdown of the latest production figures shows mining output drove the increase surging 2.1% while factory output rose 0.3%. but utility output dropped 1.4%. meanwhile the amount of factory capacity in use during the month rose to 77.6% - its highest level since may 2001. many investors think that product market inflation won t be a problem until the utilisation rates are at 80% or higher cary leahy senior us economist at deutsche bank securities said. so there is still a lot of inflation-fighting slack in the manufacturing sector overall i d say manufacturing at least away from autos continues to improve and i would bet that it improves at a faster rate in coming months given how lean inventories are citigroup senior economist steven wieting added.,business
663,1145,mcdonald s to sponsor mtv show mcdonald s the world s largest restaurant chain is to sponsor a programme on music channel mtv as part of its latest youth market promotion. the show advance warning highlights new talent and mtv reckons it will give mcdonald s access to nearly 400 million homes in 162 countries. mcdonald s golden arches name and i m loving it catchphrase will be used throughout the half-hour programme. the move comes amid growing concerns about obesity in europe and the us. the european union has called on the food industry to reduce the number of adverts aimed at young children warning that legislation would be introduced. unless voluntary steps were taken. in the us food group kraft is among firms that already have cut back on promoting sugar and fattening products to the young. mcdonalds has also been taking steps to improve its junk food reputation revamping its menu and providing clients with health-related products such as pedometers. as well as burgers like the big mac and quarter pounder with cheese the company now sells healthier options such as salads and fresh fruit. chief executive jim skinner attributed an 8.3% increase in january worldwide sales to the vitality of our menu among other things. hooking up with mtv is expected to add extra momentum to mcdonald s recent revival. mtv which played a key role in the emergence of the music video is to show advance warning on all 25 of its channels across the world. the programme can at present only been seen in the us where it has featured artists like british stars joss stone and franz ferdinand. mcdonald s has targeted the youth market in the past with its advertisements signing up stars like jelly-legged dancer justin timberlake and all-woman singing group destiny s child.,business
664,681,buyers snap up jet airways shares investors have snapped up shares in jet airways india s biggest airline following the launch of its much anticipated initial public offer (ipo). the ipo for 17.3 million shares was fully sold within 10 minutes of opening on friday. analysts expect jet to raise at least 16.4bn rupees ($375m; £198m) from the offering. interest in jet s ipo has been fuelled by hopes for robust growth in india s air travel market. the share offer representing about 20% of jet s equity was oversubscribed news agency reuters reported. jet which was founded by london-based travel agent naresh goyal plans to use the cash to buy new planes and cut its debt. the company has grown rapidly since it launched operations in 1993 overtaking state-owned flag carrier indian airlines. however it faces stiff competition from rivals and low-cost carriers. jet s ipo is the first in a series of expected share offers from indian companies this year as they move to raise funds to help them do business in a rapidly-growing economy.,business
665,556,the sound of music is coming home the original stage production of the sound of music is to be performed for the first time in the austrian capital 40 years after the film was released. the first full-scale theatrical production of the musical will make its debut in vienna on saturday. julie andrews starred in the 1965 film version of the rogers and hammerstein classic set in the alpine country. but despite being one of the most successful musicals of all time it is barely known inside austria. the film was never shown in any cinema in austria and was not broadcast on television until the early 1990s. the musical is based on the true story of the von trapp family who formed a singing troupe and escaped from nazi-occupied austria in 1938. sensitivities about nazism during wartime austria and issues towards the von trapp family themselves could explain austria s reluctance to embrace the musical. another source of irritation for austrians is the song edelweiss which is considered an traditional folk song by many filmgoers. the song was actually an invention by rodgers and hammerstein. many also consider the film to portray a kitsch image of austria including yodelling goat-herds and lederhosen. the production is being staged at a viennese opera house the volksoper beginning on saturday. maria the novice nun who falls in love with baron von trapp will be played by austro-australian actress and singer sandra pires.,entertainment
666,1063,a question of trust and technology a major government department is without e-mail for a week and technology analyst bill thompson wants to know what happened. a couple of weeks ago i wrote about how my girlfriend had suffered when her cable modem blew up and she was offline for several days. it seems that thousands of civil servants at the uk s department of work and pensions went through the same thing last week. it has emerged that the internal network crashed in a particularly horrible way depriving staff of e-mail and access to the application software they use to calculate people s benefit and pension entitlement or note changes in personal circumstances. senior consultants from eds the computer firm which manage the system and microsoft which supplied the software were running around trying to figure out what had to be done to fix it all while staff resorted to phone fax and probably carrier pigeon to get work done. fortunately the back-office systems which actually pay people their money were still working so only new claims and updates were affected done properly. this is bad enough for those affected but it does mean that the impact is not devastating for millions of pensioners. i am sure regular readers will be expecting one of my usual diatribes against poor software badly specified systems and inadequate disaster recovery plans. although the full story has not yet been told it seems that the problem started when a plan to upgrade some of the computers from windows 2000 to windows xp went wrong and xp code was inadvertently copied to thousands of machines across the network. this is certainly unfortunate but i have a lot of sympathy for the network managers and technology staff involved. today s computer networks are large complex and occasionally fragile. the interconnectedness that we all value also gives us a degree of instability and unpredictability that we cannot design out of the systems. it is the network equivalent of godel s theorem - any system sufficiently complex to be useful is also able to collapse catastrophically. so i will reserve judgment on the technology aspects until we all know what actually happened and whether it was a consequence of software failure or just bad luck. what is really disturbing and cannot be excused is the fact that it took four days for news of this systems failure to leak out into the technical press. it is without a doubt a major story and was the second or third lead item on bbc radio 4 s today programme throughout friday morning. so why did not the prime minister s official spokesman mention it at any lobby briefings before friday why was not the pensions minister in parliament to make an emergency statement on tuesday when it was clear that there was a serious problem if there had been an outbreak of legionnaire s disease in the air conditioning system we would have been told but it seems that major technology problems do not merit the same treatment. while eds and microsoft will no doubt be looking for technical lessons to learn from their week of pain we can learn some political lessons too. and the most important is that in this digital world technology failures are matters of public interest not something that can be ignored in the hope that nobody will notice care or understand. that means we need a full report on what went wrong and what was done to fix it. it would be unacceptable for any of the parties involved to hide behind commercial confidentiality or even parliamentary privilege. a major system has evidently collapsed and we need to know what went wrong and what is being done differently. anything less is a betrayal of public trust. bill thompson is a regular commentator on the bbc world service programme go digital.,tech
667,55,rovers reject third ferguson bid blackburn have rejected a third bid from rangers for scotland captain barry ferguson bbc sport has learnt. it is thought blackburn want £6m for the midfielder but chief executive john williams has confirmed the club are still in dialogue with rangers. the 26-year-old has already handed in a transfer request at ewood park as he seeks a return to ibrox. but the clubs have been unable to reach agreement over a fee for ferguson who moved to lancashire in 2003 for £6.5m. on thursday rangers said they would not be increasing their offer of £4m. blackburn have said all along that they want £6m for the midfielder and williams has rejected proposals from rangers over a player-swap deal. williams said: we are in dialogue with glasgow rangers but we have no agreement. the negotiations will have to be concluded by midnight on monday when the winter transfer window shuts. williams conceded any deal for ferguson was looking unlikely before the close of the transfer window but rangers still had a chance to seal the deal. we have no comment to make other than we have not got an agreement with glasgow rangers he added. the way things are looking i think it is unlikely we are going to. the ball is in their court but we have not got an offer that is acceptable at this moment. it is understood that blackburn accepted a £5m offer for ferguson from everton at the weekend. but the player is determined to return to scotland and rejected a move to goodison park. ferguson did not play in the fa cup win over colchester on saturday despite recovering from a groin injury with rovers boss mark hughes claiming it had been an emotional and difficult time for the player.,sport
668,910,campaign cold calls questioned labour and the conservatives are still telephoning the millions of people who have signed up to make sure they do not get marketing cold calls . the parties say they can stick to the rules by ensuring that their calls are not marketing - for instance by asking about people s voting intentions. the lib dems are asking the watchdog overseeing the rules to stop the calls. the information commissioner s office says surveys are allowed but there is a grey area if personal data is kept. telephone call centres are expected to be used as never before by all the three major parties in the run-up to the general election. but seven million telephone numbers are on the telephone preference service (tps) lists which ban unsolicited sales and marketing calls. both schemes are run by the direct marketing association and backed by eu directives on privacy and electronic communications. the rules on marketing calls apply as much to politicians as to private sector companies. but that does not mean labour and the tories are not calling people signed up to the tps. a labour party spokesman told the bbc news website the party avoided those on tps lists when telephoning people about membership or fundraising. but that did not happen for voter identification calls. when we ask which party they will vote for that is not marketing and we have very clear legal advice that it is not he said. so it is not covered by the telephone preference service. he said the party always asked people if they would be happy to be contacted again and if they said no they were not rung again. a conservative spokeswoman said the party stuck to the rules when it rang tps subscribers. she said: we do apply tps but in line with the law. we would not do things that are not allowed in the law. a spokesman for the information commissioner s office said it would be classed as marketing if political parties telephoned people to encourage them to vote for them. but the rules did allow polling organisations to telephone people about their voting intentions if they recorded them only as part of a bigger set of statistics not person by person. if a political party was doing that than it may be that also would not be marketing he said. the spokesman said it might be considered unsolicited marketing if a party recorded voting preferences with a view to marketing information in the future. the spokesman said there was no yes or no answer and the area was pretty grey . he added: if someone complained then we would investigate that. political parties are aware of the regulations. at the last by-elections we reminded them. lib dem chairman matthew taylor has now written to the watchdog saying: the advice we have received on several previous occasions is that such phone calls are illegal. he says evidence from local lib dem parties around the country suggests there are significant numbers of such calls. i hope you can therefore take swift and efficient action to ensure that this ceases he tells the commissioner. mr taylor argues there should be new guidelines so all parties can act in the same way if the watchdog believes the rules allow parties to ring tps numbers about voting intentions and later urge those people to vote for them.,politics
669,2066,microsoft launches its own search microsoft has unveiled the finished version of its home-grown search engine. the now formally launched msn search site takes the training wheels off the test version unveiled in november 2003. the revamped engine indexes more pages than before can give direct answers to factual questions and features tools to help people create detailed queries. microsoft faces challenges establishing itself as a serious search site because of the intense competition for queries. google still reigns supreme as the site people turn to most often when they go online to answer a query keep up with news or search for images. but in the last year google has faced greater competition than ever for users as old rivals such as yahoo and microsoft and new entrants such as amazon and blinkx try to grab some of the searching audience for themselves. this renewed interest has come about because of the realisation that many of the things people do online begin with a search for information - be it for a particular web page recipe book gadget news story image or anything else. microsoft is keen to make its home-grown search engine a significant rival to google. to generate its corpus of data microsoft has indexed 5 billion webpages and claims to update its document index every two days - more often than rivals. the microsoft search engine can also answer specific queries directly rather than send people to a page that might contain the answer. for its direct answer feature microsoft is calling on its encarta encyclopaedia to provide answers to questions about definitions facts calculations conversions and solutions to equations. tony macklin director of product at ask jeeves pointed out that its search engine has been answering specific queries this way since april 2003. the major search providers have moved beyond delivering only algorithmic search so in many ways microsoft is following the market he said. tools sitting alongside the msn search engine allow users to refine results to specific websites countries regions or languages. microsoft is also using so-called graphic equalisers that let people adjust the relevance of terms to get results that are more up-to-date or more popular. the company said that user feedback from earlier test versions had been used to refine the workings of the finished system. the test or beta version of the msn search engine unveiled in november had a few teething troubles. on its first day many new users keen to try it were greeted with a page that said the site had been overwhelmed.,tech
670,1025,labour attacked on howard poster labour has been accused of using anti-semitic images in posters which critics claim depict tory leader michael howard as fagin. the poster shows mr howard hypnotising people with a pocket watch saying: i can spend the same money twice. the image prompted concern from the editor of the jewish chronicle but labour insists it is simply anti-tory. labour later took the image off its website saying an alternative idea had proved more popular with party members. the party will now use focus groups to test a poster showing mr howard and shadow chancellor oliver letwin with a blackboard reading: 2+2=5 . the hypnotism poster has been compared to the portrayal of the dickens character fagin in the stage version of the musical oliver! there was controversy over another poster choice offered to labour members. it showed mr howard and mr letwin - who are both jewish - as flying pigs. mr howard did not comment on the anti-semitism claims when asked about the poster on monday. instead he pointed to how tony blair had in 1997 complained about personalised abusive campaigning . mr howard told greater manchester radio: it is such a pity that mr blair doesn t practise what he preaches. jewish chronicle editor ned temko said there had been a mixed reaction to the first poster but e-mails from jewish chronicle readers showed deeper concern about the hypnotism image. shylock and fagin are inextricably linked to notions of centuries-old prejudice he told bbc radio 4 s world at one. whatever the idea is i think it s a difficult exercise to use images like that and to argue that you can divorce them from their historical context or meaning. mr temko said he blamed cock-up not conspiracy saying he did not detect inherent anti-semitism in any of the parties election campaigns. the poster is among one of a series of ideas shown to labour members who have been asked to choose which one should be used ahead of the election. labour mp louise ellman said the hypnotism image was insensitive but urged people not to rush to call things anti-semitic when they only challenged tory economic policies. labour campaign spokesman fraser kemp said the poster had been misunderstood. the image simply portrayed mr howard as a hypnotist he argued. concern has been expressed and clearly we have to take those views on board but i would emphasise that if you see the posters the common theme... is that the tories are trying to con you. a labour spokesman later said the timing of removing the controversial image from the party s website was not affected by the row. this has been up on the website for two weeks and there has only been a fuss in the last four days so a substantial number of people voted before there was any fuss he said. but a conservative spokeswoman said: this poster campaign - which was offensive to many people - was a big misjudgement by labour s campaign team.,politics
671,2154,set your television to wow television started off as a magical blurry image. then came the sharpness the colour and the widescreen format. now the tv set is taking another leap forward into a crystal clear future although those in europe will have to be patient. after years of buzz about high-definition tv (hdtv) it is finally taking off in a handful of countries around the world mainly the us and japan. if you believe the hype then hdtv will so wow you that you will never want to go back to your old telly. hdtv is just the latest must-have technology in viewers homes says jo flaherty a senior broadcaster with the cbs network in the us. all television images are made up of pixels going across the screen and scan lines going down. british tv pictures are made up of 625 lines and about 700 pixels. by contrast hdtv offers up to 1 080 active lines with each line made up of 1 920 pixels. the result is a picture which can be up to six times as sharp as standard tv. but to get the full impact programmes need to be broadcast in this format and you need a hdtv set to receive them. most new computer displays are already capable of handling high-resolution pictures. viewers in japan the us australia canada and south korea are already embracing the new tv technology with a selection of primetime programmes being broadcast in the new format which includes 5.1 digital surround sound. but tv viewers in europe will have to wait to enjoy the eye-blasting high-definition images. many high-end european tv programmes such as the recent athens olympics are already being produced in high-definition. but they still reach your screen in the old 625 lines. the prospects for getting sharper images soon do not seem very encouraging. according to consultants strategy analytics only 12% of homes in europe will have tvs capable of showing programmes in high-definition by 2008. but the hdtv hype spilling out of the us and japan has spurred european broadcasters and consumer electronic companies to push for change. big sports and entertainment events are set to help trigger the general public s attention. the 2006 world cup in germany will be broadcast in high-definition. in the uk satellite broadcaster bskyb is planning hdtv services in 2006. there is already a hdtv service in europe called euro1080. other european broadcasters especially in france and germany also aiming to launch similar services. in britain digital satellite and cable are largely seen as the natural home for hdtv at least while a decision is taken regarding terrestrial broadcast options. the communications watchdog ofcom could hand over some terrestrial frequencies freed up when the uk switches off its analogue tv signal. for now broadcasters like the bbc are working on their own hdtv plans although with no launch date in sight. the bbc will start broadcasting in hdtv when the time is right and it would not be just a showcase but a whole set of programming says andy quested from the bbc s high-definition support group. we have made the commitment to produce all our output in high-definition by 2010 which would put us on the leading edge. one of the options under consideration is to offer high-definition pictures on the web. the bbc has already dipped its toe into this including some hdtv content in recent trials of its interactive media player - a video player for pcs. it is planning to offer special releases of selected flagship programmes online in the near future. according to mr quested this could help put europe back into the running in the race to switch to hdtv. this is backed by recent research which suggests that the number of europeans with broadband has exploded over the past 12 months with the web eating into tv viewing habits.,tech
672,64,hingis to make unexpected return martina hingis makes her return to competitve tennis after two years out of the game at the volvo women s open in pattaya thailand on tuesday. she faces german marlene weingartner in the first round. as a competitor and athlete i always want to win. i hope my body will hold up said hingis. you miss being out there in a grand slam final and not competing. it s a big difference between playing and commenting for tv. i miss it a lot. the former world number one was 22 when she retired after having surgery on both ankles and her last wta event was in filderstadt germany in october 2002 when she lost to elena dementieva. only last year she insisted that a comeback was unlikely but speaking in thaliand hingis admitted: i said that because i didn t know what would happen with my body. her appearance will also benefit charities in the region and the swiss star will donate her prize money.,sport
673,2218,rings of steel combat net attacks gambling is hugely popular especially with tech-savvy criminals. many extortionists are targeting net-based betting firms and threatening to cripple their websites with deluges of data unless a ransom is paid. but now deep defences are being put in place by some of the uk s biggest net firms to stop these attacks. increasing numbers of attacks and the huge amounts of data being used to try to bump a site off the web are prompting firms to adopt the measures. net firms are realising that it s not just about anti-virus and firewalls said paul king chief security architect at cisco. there are more things that can be done in the network to protect data centres. mr king said the only way to properly combat these so-called distributed denial-of-service attacks was with intelligent net-based systems. many of the gambling sites suffering ddos attacks are in offshore data and hosting centres so any large scale data flood could knock out access to many more sites than just the one the criminals were targeting said mr king. this overspill effect was only likely to grow as attacks grow in size and scale. malcolm seagrave security expert at energis said the most common types of attacks hit sites with 10 megabytes of data over short periods of time. bigger attacks sending down 200 megabytes of traffic or more were rarely seen he said. it does feel like they are turning the dial because you see this traffic gradually growing he said. so far there have been no attacks involving gigabytes of data said mr seagrave. however he added that it was only a matter of time before such large attacks were mounted. maria capella spokeswoman for net provider pipex said that when ddos attacks were at their height customers were getting hit every four to five days. the defences being put in place constantly monitor the streams of data flowing across networks and pluck out the traffic destined for target sites. it s about understanding what s genuine traffic and keeping attack traffic from going to the site she said. we study the profile of their traffic and as soon as we see an anomaly in the profile that s when we start to get the backbone engineering boys to see if we are going to sustain an attack said ms capella. this traffic can be hard to spot because ddos attacks typically use thousands of computers in many different countries each participating machine only sends a small part of the entire data flood. typically these computers have been infected by a virus or worm which reports its success and the net address of compromised machines back to the malicious hacker or hi-tech criminal that set off the virus. hijacked computers are known as zombies or bots and collections of them are called bot nets. many spammers rent out bot nets to help them anonymously send junk mail. most of the zombies are based outside the country that hosts the target site so getting the attacking pcs shut off can be difficult. often pipex and other net suppliers do get advance notice that an attack is about to happen. the serious players tend to precede an attack with some kind of ransom e-mail said ms capella. we ask as part of the service we provide that customers notify us of anything they have in advance that would give us forewarning. once an attack is spotted dedicated net hardware takes over to remove the attack traffic and ensure that sites stay up. energis took a similar approach said mr seagrave. we have technology out there that allows us to detect attacks in minutes rather than let network engineers spend hours pulling the information together said mr seagrave. also net firms were starting to work more closely together on the problem of ddos attacks and pool information about where they are coming from. information gathered on attacks and where they originated has led to some arrests. he said energis also did its own intelligence work to get in insight into which sites criminal gangs plan to target. we have people in places where they shouldn t be monitoring tech sites
674,2013,boogeyman takes box office lead the low-budget horror film boogeyman has knocked robert de niro thriller hide and seek from the top spot at the uk box office. the film in which a young man is forced to revisit a traumatic childhood experience took £788 439 in its first three days on release. hide and seek which was knocked off the top of the us box office by boogeyman last month fell one place. oscar nominee hotel rwanda was also a new entry in the chart at number five. the film which scored oscar nominations for don cheadle and british actress sophie okonedo made £507 596 in its first week of nationwide release. comedy sequel meet the fockers and shall we dance starring jennifer lopez and richard gere completed the top five. clint eastwood s million dollar baby re-entered the charts at number eight following its recent success at the oscars. the boxing drama which won four awards including best film and best director has made £4.4m to date. two other new entries a remake of the 1965 film flight of the phoenix and the teen comedy harold and kumar get the munchies debuted outside the top 10.,entertainment
675,1105,unilever shake up as profit slips anglo-dutch consumer goods giant unilever is to merge its two management boards after reporting unsatisfactory earnings for 2004. it blamed the poor results on sluggish decision making a rise in discounted retailers and a wet european summer. the company also cited difficult trading conditions and a lack of demand for goods such as its slimfast range. unilever which owns brands including dove soap said annual pre-tax profit fell 36% to 2.9bn euros (£1.99bn). shares fell 1% to 510.75 pence in london and dropped by 1.2% to 50.50 euros in amsterdam. under the restructuring plans patrick cescau the uk-based co-chairman will become group chief executive. dutch co-chairman antony burgmans will take on the role of non-executive chairman. we have recognised the need for greater clarity of leadership and we are moving to a simpler leadership structure that will provide a sharper operational focus mr burgmans said. we are leaving behind one of the key features of unilever s governance but this is a natural development following the changes introduced last year. the company which has had dual headquarters in rotterdam and london since 1930 will announce the location of its head office at a later date. unilever is not alone in trying to simplify its business. oil giant shell last year dismantled its dual-ownership structure after a series of problems relating to the size of its oil reserves that hammered its share price and led to the resignation of key board members. the best part of the news this morning was that the company announced a structure simplification said arjan sweere an analyst at petercam. the company said the organizational changes would speed decision making and it also may make further changes. the company said its main focus will be on improving profits and it is planning to accelerate and increase investment in its 400 main brands. while it is certainly the case that markets have been tougher in the past eighteen months than we had expected we have also lost some market share said mr cescau. we let a range of targets limit our ability flexibility and did not adjust our plans quickly enough to a more difficult business environment. our objective is to reverse the share loss that we experienced in some markets in 2004 and return to growth. unilever said european sales fell 2.8% last year dragged down by below part sales at its beverage division where revenues dipped by almost 4%. sales of ice cream and frozen food dipped by 3.4% in the us last year revenue grew by 1.5% despite disappointing sales in slimfast the company said. in asia leading products came under attack from rivals such as procter & gamble. unilever took a 1.5bn euro one-time charge in the fourth quarter including a 650m euro write-down on slimfast diet foods. sales of slimfast products have been hit in recent years by the popularity of the atkins diet. but looking ahead unilever said it was optimistic about prospects for its slimming products saying that demand is on the wane for rival low-carbohydrate diets. the company also said it planned to spend 500m euros this year buying back shares.,business
676,669,sec to rethink post-enron rules the us stock market watchdog s chairman has said he is willing to soften tough new us corporate governance rules to ease the burden on foreign firms. in a speech at the london school of economics william donaldson promised several initiatives . european firms have protested that us laws introduced after the enron scandal make wall street listings too costly. the us regulator said foreign firms may get extra time to comply with a key clause in the sarbanes-oxley act. the act comes into force in mid-2005. it obliges all firms with us stock market listings to make declarations which critics say will add substantially to the cost of preparing their annual accounts. firms that break the new law could face huge fines while senior executives risk jail terms of up to 20 years. mr donaldson said that although the act does not provide exemptions for foreign firms the securities and exchange commission (sec) would continue to be sensitive to the need to accomodate foreign structures and requirements . there are few if any who disagree with the intentions of the act which obliges chief executives to sign a statement taking responsibility for the accuracy of the accounts. but european firms with secondary listings in new york have objected - arguing that the compliance costs outweigh the benefits of a dual listing. the act also applies to firms with more than 300 us shareholders a situation many firms without us listings could find themselves in. the 300-shareholder threshold has drawn anger as it effectively blocks the most obvious remedy a delisting. mr donaldson said the sec would consider whether there should be a new approach to the deregistration process for foreign firms unwilling to meet us requirements. we should seek a solution that will preserve investor protections without turning the us market into one with no exit he said. he revealed that his staff were already weighing up the merits of delaying the implementation of the act s least popular measure - section 404 - for foreign firms. seen as particularly costly to implement section 404 obliges chief executives to take responsibility for the firm s internal controls by signing a compliance statement in the annual accounts. the sec has already delayed implementation of this clause for smaller firms - including us ones - with market capitalisations below $700m (£374m). a delegation of european firms visited the sec in december to press for change the financial times reported. it was led by digby jones director general of the uk s confederation of british industry (cbi) and included representatives of basf siemens and cadbury schweppes. compliance costs are already believed to be making firms wary of us listings. air china picked the london stock exchange for its secondary listing in its $1.07bn (£558m) stock market debut last month. there are also rumours that two chinese state-run banks - china construction bank and bank of china - have abandoned plans for multi-billion dollar listings in new york later this year. instead the cost of sarbanes-oxley has persuaded them to stick to a single listing in hong kong according to press reports in china.,business
677,827,media seek jackson juror notes reporters covering singer michael jackson s trial in california have asked to see questionnaires completed by potential jurors. lawyers for news organisations said it was really vital for the responses of 250 potential jurors to be made public to serve as a check on the process . santa barbara county superior court is due to consider the request on monday. mr jackson denies child molestation. it is estimated his trial will cost santa barbara county up to $4m (£2.13m). meanwhile michael jackson s mother has said she is 100% certain her son did not commit the child abuse charges he faces. the court is currently selecting 12 jurors and eight stand-by jurors for the trial a process delayed until at least thursday after a member of the star s legal team was hit by family illness. defence lawyers argued against the bid by associated press and other news organisations to have potential jurors responses made public. the release of the completed jury questionnaires does not serve any purpose other than to add to the sensationalist coverage of this case a motion by mr jackson s lawyers stated. the estimated total costs of the trial expected to last five months range from $2.5m (£1.33m) to $4m (£2.13m) of local taxpayers money. those estimates do not include costs to the city of santa maria the superior court or for the investigation and prosecution of the case. the cost of security and other needs around the courthouse has been estimated at $40 000 (£21 000) per day said jason stilwell a special projects manager at the county administrator s office. mr jackson 46 denies plying a boy with alcohol and molesting him. his mother katherine jackson told us tv network fox news on sunday that her pop star son told her he was innocent. i believe that for one reason - i know his character she said. he loves children. you don t molest anything that you love. describing mr jackson as a good person the mother-of-nine said she feared he would not be given a fair trial. i can t sleep thinking about what these wicked people might try to do to him she said.,entertainment
678,1335,clarke defends terror detentions the home secretary has defended his decision not to release foreign terror suspects despite a legal ruling their detention breached human rights laws. house of lords law lords ruled against the detention measures last week. they said it was wrong to have one set of laws for foreign suspects and another for british suspects. new home secretary charles clarke said he would carefully consider the ruling and would return to parliament early in the new year with proposals. he insisted that he would not be rushed into judgement but would examine the law lords findings in detail. my duty is to look at first of all the security of this country and in so doing to consider very carefully the precise legal measures that there are. mr clarke s comments came in response to an emergency question from liberal democrat constitutional affairs spokesman david heath. mr heath said the judgement contained unprecedented condemnation and could not have been more unequivocal . he said he accepted the difficult balance between the nation s security and human rights but questioned why the home office had made no contingency plans for the present circumstances . these detainees should be prosecuted and tried. simply renewing the present deeply unsatisfactory legislation is not an option. shadow home secretary david davis said it was not possible to overstate the importance of the judgment and urged the government to move as fast as competently possible to sort the problem out in the interests of natural justice. if you do we will give you every support. the law lords ruling came on charles clarke s first day as home secretary last thursday following david blunkett s resignation. in a statement on the same day mr clarke said: i will be asking parliament to renew this legislation in the new year. in the meantime we will be studying the judgment carefully to see whether it is possible to modify our legislation to address the concerns raised by the house of lords. but the government was widely criticised for insisting the detentions would continue following the ruling last week. lord bingham - a senior law lord - said the rules were incompatible with the european convention on human rights as they allowed detentions in a way that discriminates on the ground of nationality or immigration status by justifying detention without trial for foreign suspects but not britons. lord nicholls of birkenhead in his ruling said: indefinite imprisonment without charge or trial is anathema in any country which observes the rule of law. the detainees took their case to the house of lords after the court of appeal backed the home office s powers to hold them without limit or charge. the government opted out of part of the european convention on human rights concerning the right to a fair trial in order to bring in anti-terrorism legislation in response to the 11 september attacks in the us.,politics
679,1426,iaaf launches fight against drugs the iaaf - athletics world governing body - has met anti-doping officials coaches and athletes to co-ordinate the fight against drugs in sport. two task forces have been set up to examine doping and nutrition issues. it was also agreed that a programme to de-mystify the issue to athletes the public and the media was a priority. nothing was decided to change things - it was more to have a forum of the stakeholders allowing them to express themselves said an iaaf spokesman. getting everyone together gave us a lot of food for thought. about 60 people attended sunday s meeting in monaco including iaaf chief lamine diack and namibian athlete frankie fredericks now a member of the athletes commission. i am very happy to see you all members of the athletics family respond positively to the iaaf call to sit together and discuss what more we can do in the fight against doping said diack. we are the leading federation in this field and it is our duty to keep our sport clean. the two task forces will report back to the iaaf council at its april meeting in qatar.,sport
680,2196,owen delighted with real display michael owen revelled in his return to the to the real madrid starting line-up and inspired a 3-1 win over real betis on wednesday by scoring the first goal. he said: i am happy i could play a game from the start again. i felt good all though the game and it is obvious that i am happy to have scored another goal. people have talked a lot about my performances and i think i have had some months that were not so good and others that were very good. owen starting his third successive la liga match converted a low cross from santiago solari. robert carlos made it 2-0 at the break smashing home an indirect free-kick. midfielder edu reduced the deficit after half-time but ivan helguera headed past keeper antonio doblas to seal victory for his team. victory took real to within six points of leaders barcelona and owen is confident real can close the gap. he added: we had several chances against betis and i think we can get back in touch with barcelona. it is only six points between barcelona and us and that is nothing. if we can beat them at the bernabeu (on 10 april) then it will be just three. owen has scored nine league goals one behind real s top scorer ronaldo. real had lost their previous two league games.,sport
681,368,safin slumps to shock dubai loss marat safin suffered a shock loss to unseeded nicolas kiefer in round one of the dubai tennis championships. playing his first match since winning the australian open safin showed some good touches but was beaten 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 by the in-form kiefer. the german got on top in the first-set tie-break striking a sweet forehand to win the first point against serve. and he maintained the momentum early in the second set breaking the russian with the help of an inspired volley. spain s feliciano lopez lined up a second round clash with andre agassi by beating thailand s paradorn srichaphan. lopez who lost in three sets to roger federer in last year s final won 6-2 3-6 6-3. former champion fabrice santoro of france was beaten 6-3 6-0 by sixth seeded russian nikolay davydenko. there were also wins for two other russians igor andreev and seventh seed mikhail youzhny.,sport
682,1535,oscar nominees gear up for lunch leonardo dicaprio jamie foxx and hilary swank are among those due to attend this year s oscar nominees luncheon on monday. they will join more than 100 nominees from the 24 oscar categories at the annual event which will take place at the beverly hilton hotel los angeles. british hopefuls including kate winslet imelda staunton and sophie okonedo are also expected to attend. this year s oscar ceremony will be held on sunday 27 february. martin scorsese s the aviator is leading the field at this year s oscars with 11 nominations while other multiple nominees include million dollar baby and sideways. oscar nominees swank and foxx were among the winners at the screen actors guild awards at the weekend one of the many ceremonies held in the run-up to the oscars. swank won best actress for million dollar baby while foxx triumphed for his performance as ray charles in the biopic ray. sideways was also among the winners taking the prize for best cast performance. the next major film award ceremony of the season is the bafta awards which take place at london s odeon leicester square on 12 february. many of those nominated for oscars including dicaprio foxx and staunton - an oscar nominee for her performance in vera drake - have also been nominated for baftas.,entertainment
683,1672,us cyber security chief resigns the man making sure us computer networks are safe and secure has resigned after only a year in his post. amit yoran was director of the national cyber security division within the us department of homeland security created following the 9/11 attacks. the division was tasked with improving us defences against malicious hackers viruses and other net-based threats. reports suggest he left because his division was not given enough clout within the larger organisation. mr yoran took up his post in september 2003 and his first task was to get the cyber security division up and running. the organisation had a staff of about 60 people and a budget of about $80m (£44.54m). the division was charged with thinking up and carrying out action to make us networks more impervious to attack and disruption by the viruses worms and hack attacks that have become commonplace. in the last 12 months mr yoran oversaw the creation of a cyber alert system that sends out warnings about big hitting viruses and net attacks as they occur. the warnings also contained information about how firms and organisations could protect themselves against these attacks. the cyber security division also audited us government networks to discover exactly what was sitting on which network. the next step was to be the creation of a scanning system to identify vulnerabilities that made federal networks and machines susceptible to attack by malicious hackers and virus writers. mr yoran s division was also doing work to identify the networks and machines that had been broken into by cyber criminals. despite this success mr yoran left his post abruptly at the end of last week reportedly only giving one day s notice to bosses at the department of homeland security. amit yoran has been a valuable contributor on cyber security issues over the past year and we appreciate his efforts in starting the department s cybersecurity program said a department of homeland security spokeswoman. some reports have suggested that mr yoran felt frustrated by the lack of prominence given to work to protect against net-based threats in the wider homeland organisation. an attempt by us politicians to pass a law to promote mr yoran and raise the profile of his department s work is now mired in congress.,tech
684,599,teenagers to be allowed to be mps teenagers will be able to become mps under plans unveiled by ministers. in a written statement constitutional affairs minister christopher leslie said the current minimum age of 21 for an mp would be reduced to 18. the proposals follow a recommendation last year by elections watchdog the electoral commission. the government intends to legislate when parliamentary time allows to lower the age said mr leslie who was elected in 1997 at the age of 24. even if the move does go ahead it is unlikely it will be in place before the next general election widely predicted for may. the announcement from mr leslie - who was elected in 1997 in a formerly safe tory seat - prompted calls for a lowering of the voting age to 16. the votes at 16 alliance said it was a good thing to engage people by lowering the candidacy age but argued lowering the voting age would be much more effective. candidacy affects only politicians. the voting age affects millions of younger people said spokesman alex folkes. we would hope that the government will table a bill that is broad enough to allow for amendments to be brought to test support for a reduction in the voting age. currently candidates in both local and national votes must be 21 while the voting age is 18. that is because the age of majority was reduced to 18 in 1969 but laws dating from 1695 which determine the current voting age stayed in place. irish republican bernadette devlin was one of just a handful of 21-year-olds elected to parliament in the 20th century winning a seat in 1969. but the youngest is understood to have been tory edward turnour who won the 1904 horsham by-election aged 21 and 144 days and served in parliament for 47 continuous years. last april s report by the electoral commission said there was no strong argument for leaving the age for standing for election at 21. the commission found the most common approach around the world is for the voting age to be the same as the candidacy age.,politics
685,2085,franz ferdinand s art school lesson scottish rock band franz ferdinand who shot to prominence in 2004 have won two brit awards. with their self-titled debut franz ferdinand have achieved what most rock bands crave - high credibility and critical acclaim while also selling stacks of cds. they have risen to the head of the uk s art rock ranks with an album of songs that are catchy creative and original enough to sound fresh. with a cool spiky fun sound previously associated with bands like talking heads they hit upon a style that had been out of fashion for a while and so was ripe for another airing. their first uk single hit number three last january followed by two more top 20 hits while the album has sold more than 600 000 copies in 11 months on release. in september it was named album of the year winning the prestigious mercury music prize. on the festivals circuit they have been one of the main attractions for huge crowds at glastonbury t in the park and reading/leeds. they have also found success in japan europe and the us. by september the album had sold 500 000 in the states and total sales were pushing two million worldwide. they have been nominated for three grammy awards in the us as well as the us music industry s shortlist award but lost the shortlist prize to us band tv on the radio. nevertheless franz ferdinand were the only uk band to win an mtv video music award this year taking the breakthrough video crown for take me out. the four-piece met two years ago when drummer paul thomson was working at the glasgow art school where bassist bob hardy was studying. singer alex kapranos was studying english at university but had friends at art school and the line-up was completed when guitarist nick mccarthy moved from munich germany to the city. at the turn of the year kapranos told bbc news online the band were fed up with serious bands in that post-rock thing that seemed to be doing its damndest to avoid any bloody tune . we want people to go away from the gigs humming the tunes that we were singing. but at the same time bringing an edge to it. franz ferdinand had a question they asked themselves every time they wrote a song kapranos said. where s the fun in that they pondered at every stage making enjoyment the top priority and ensuring they did not disappear up their own muso posteriors. the band started out with a diy ethic that saw them take over a disused art-deco warehouse in glasgow and rename it the chateau. the venue soon became legendary - so well-known that the police spent a month trying to find it eventually raiding it and arresting kapranos. but the charges of running an illegal bar and contravening health and safety fire hazard and noise abatement laws were dropped. the band took over an abandoned victorian courtroom and jail instead and named that the chateau. the buzz about the band soon spread around the music industry and 40 record labels turned up to one gig in glasgow - which the band thought was totally ridiculous . i m really glad it was almost comical because we weren t overwhelmed by the seriousness of it kapranos said. they signed with independent label domino home of smog sebadoh and four tet in june 2003.,entertainment
686,1577,edgy agassi struggles past dent andre agassi put in an erratic display before edging into the fourth round of the australian open with victory over taylor dent. the 34-year-old american seeded eighth made a poor start dropping serve early on and later needing two chances to serve out the set. having secured the lead agassi still failed to take control as both players forced a succession of breaks. but agassi won the tie-break before wrapping up a 7-5 7-6 (7-3) 6-1 win. fourth seed survived an injury scare as he battled past mario ancic 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-4. the russian turned his right ankle in the third game of the fourth set and called for treatment immediately. but he showed no sign of the problem when he returned to the court to wrap up victory in two hours 45 minutes. ancic wimbledon semi-finalist in 2004 looked set to push safin all the way when he took the second set but safin raised his game to sink the croatian. safin said he was trying to keep his temper under control at this year s tournament. the russian hit himself on the head repeatedly in one second-set outburst but was otherwise largely calm in his victory. i try to stay calm because if you go crazy against players like ancic you might never come back because he s a tough opponent he said. i m a little bit calmer than i was before because i d had enough. the russian added that he was not worried by his ankle injury. i have had a lot of problems with that ankle before - it will be ok he said. s route to the fourth round was made easy when opponent jarkko nieminen was forced to retire from their match. the top seed and defending champion was leading 6-3 5-2 when nieminen pulled out with an abdominal injury. federer had been in patchy form until then - mixing 19 unforced errors with 19 winners. the world number one will play cypriot next after the former world junior champion beat tommy robredo 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 6-1. federer admitted he was under extra pressure after extending his winning streak to a career-best 24. they are so used to me winning but it s not that simple he said. i had a feeling this could be a tough match. i had a bad start but i bounced back. i always want to play better than i am but i thought i was pretty ok. french open champion is out of the tournament after a five-set defeat by dominik hrbaty. hrbaty defeated the 10th seed 7-6 (7-5) 6-7 (8-10) 6-7 (3-7) 6-1 6-3 in a match lasting four hours and 21 minutes. the pair traded 16 service breaks during an exhausting baseline battle with hrbaty taking a decisive advantage in the eighth game of the final set. hrbaty will now play 2002 champion who outlasted american kevin kim 3-6 6-2 6-7 6-2 6-2.,sport
687,724,weir poised for sunderland move larne s teenage star robbie weir is poised to join sunderland after turning down a move to stoke city. the 17-year-old irish league midfielder was also being chased by rangers and fulham but mick mccarthy s side appear to have won the race. but larne boss jimmy mcgeough has yet to confirm that weir is on his way from inver park. i heard on sunday that he has joined sunderland but not from the lad himself he said. robbie has an agreement with larne that he can negotiate with interested clubs. personally i would rather see him making an impact at local level to build up his physique before moving into the full-time game. he has been on trial with a number of clubs. but it would be great to see him making it at sunderland.,sport
688,568,brown hits back in blair rift row gordon brown has criticised a union leader who said conflict between himself and tony blair was harming the workings of government. jonathan baume of the top civil servants union spoke of competing agendas between mr brown and mr blair. but the chancellor said mr baume was never at meetings between himself and the prime minister so could not judge. he said the union leader was trying to block civil service reform which threatened his members jobs. it suited the purpose of mr baume s union the first division association to suggest there were two agendas battling against each other because the union was trying to resist the planned reforms mr brown told bbc radio 4 s today programme. under the plans unveiled in the gershon report some 84 000 civil servants jobs will be axed or changed and the savings ploughed back into frontline services. mr brown said: to be honest i don t think you can rely on his [mr baume s] judgement on this matter when it comes to the decisions that the government are making. mr blair and i are making exactly the same decisions on civil service reforms. we are determined to go on with the gershon reforms. he also said that as mr baume was never present at meetings between himself and the prime minister he was not in a position to judge. on wednesday ahead of the chancellor s pre-budget report mr baume told bbc news there were sometimes conflicting and competing agendas for government between number 10 and the treasury. what the chancellor wanted was not by any means what alan milburn and the prime minister want to see mr baume said. government departments get their money from the treasury on the basis of public service agreements they sign up to but at the same time the prime minister also has an agenda and that s not necessarily the same as the treasury s and the prime minister is of course a very powerful figure in any government. he also sends instructions and messages and directions to departments about how he would like each secretary of state and each department to implement a policy agenda. the problem is that on many occasions these two don t add up and individual cabinet ministers as well as departments have to make sense of this battle. number 10 said ministers were interested in governing and not a soap opera about mr blair and mr brown. tory shadow chancellor oliver letwin said: the battle royal that the top civil servants are now reporting on between the chancellor and tony blair is preventing them both from getting on with the business of getting taxpayers value for money.,politics
689,2018,sony psp console hits us in march us gamers will be able to buy sony s playstation portable from 24 march but there is no news of a europe debut. the handheld console will go on sale for $250 (£132) and the first million sold will come with spider-man 2 on umd the disc format for the machine. sony has billed the machine as the walkman of the 21st century and has sold more than 800 000 units in japan. the console (12cm by 7.4cm) will play games movies and music and also offers support for wireless gaming. sony is entering a market which has been dominated by nintendo for many years. it launched its ds handheld in japan and the us last year and has sold 2.8 million units. sony has said it wanted to launch the psp in europe at roughly the same time as the us but gamers will now fear that the launch has been put back. nintendo has said it will release the ds in europe from 11 march. it has gaming at its core but it s not a gaming device. it s an entertainment device said kaz hirai president of sony computer entertainment america.,tech
690,1543,tories unveil quango blitz plans plans to abolish 162 quangos have been unveiled by the conservatives as part of their effort to show how government red tape can be cut. six government units would also be scrapped under proposals which the tories say would save more than £4.3bn. among the targets are strategic health authorities and the new fair access regulator for universities. tory frontbencher john redwood said britain needed a slimmer government and lower taxes to be competitive. the plans would abolish regional assemblies and other regional bodies such as boards tackling industrial development and housing. their powers would be returned to elected local councils or national government. the tories say the strategic health authorities are not needed as it is better that local people rather than officials run hospitals and surgeries. announcing the plans mr redwood said: mr blair has forgotten the interests of taxpayers and has broken the pledges he made. far from improving public services spending taxpayers money on quangos has led only to more bureaucrats more regulation and higher taxes. his party leader michael howard argued a change in direction was needed to get a grip on spending. labour are creating two britains: the britain of the forgotten majority and bureaucratic britain he said. in the real world people are working harder just to stand still. they ve seen their pensions knocked for six. they re being squeezed by extra taxes. the forgotten majority are paying the price of bureaucratic britain. the government has announced plans to cut 100 000 civil servants as part of its efficiency drive. the liberal democrats have said they would cut the number of whitehall departments to make sure money reaches frontline services.,politics
691,308,top gig award for scissor sisters new york band scissor sisters have won a gig of the year award for their performance at this year s v festival. the award was voted for by listeners of virgin radio which compiled a top 10 which was mostly dominated by newcomers on the music scene this year. the quirky disco-rock band beat the red hot chili peppers who came second for their hyde park performance in june. virgin radio dj pete mitchell said: this year has seen an amazing array of talent come into the mainstream. he added: the scissor sisters are one of the most original eccentric bands to come through and it s no surprise the british public are lapping up their performances. newcomers keane came in third place for their august gig at the v festival followed by maroon 5 and snow patrol. music veterans the who and david bowie both earned places on the list at number eight and 10 respectively. at number seven was oxfam s make fair trade gig at london s hammersmith apollo in october which featured performances by rem razorlight and coldplay s chris martin. glasgow s franz ferdinand earned a place at number nine for their home-town performance in april. the annual survey was voted for by nearly 4 000 listeners.,entertainment
692,1356,smith aims to bring back respect scotland manager walter smith says he wants to restore the national team s respectability in world football. smith has joined his first squad for a three-day get-together near manchester in preference to playing a friendly. while qualification for the 2006 world cup appears to be beyond scotland smith is anxious that the remainder of the campaign should be positive. i think we have got to try to get a bit of respectability back in whatever way we can he said. we will have to approach each game differently. obviously we will have to approach the italian game away from home in a different manner to moldova at home. we have to meet the challenge of each match. smith meeting a number of his squad for the first time brought them together on monday to outline his ideas for improving the nation s fortunes. he said: i pointed out how i see the international team going forward and that was the main topic. this is a relaxed gathering and i don t think there is a lot of doom and gloom about the squad that a lot of people think exists. a 25-man squad will spend the next three days based at the mottram hall hotel in cheshire and will train at manchester united s nearby carrington complex. smith will be absent for the final sessions however as he is due to fly out to sardinia on wednesday to watch italy s friendly with russia.,sport
693,573,russian film wins bbc world prize russian drama the return (vozvrashchenie) has been named winner of the bbc four world cinema award. the film tells the story of two adolescent boys who are subjected to a harsh regime when their strict father returns after a 10-year absence. directed by andrey zvyagintsev the return previously won the 2003 golden lion award at the venice film festival. the prize was presented at an awards ceremony held in london on thursday and hosted by jonathan ross. the winner was chosen by a panel which included x files actress gillian anderson critic roger clarke and touching the void director kevin mcdonald. ross who is the presenter of bbc one s film 2005 was also involved in the deliberations. a shortlist of six films from around the world had been drawn up from which the panel chose. other nominees included the motorcycle diaries zatoichi and hero. a viewer poll saw director zhang yimou s martial arts epic hero emerge as the favourite with 32% of votes cast. tragedy struck the production of the return when one of the young stars 15-year-old vladimir girin drowned in a lake where some of the film s scenes were set. the winner of the world cinema award last year was the french animated feature belleville rendezvous,entertainment
694,1746,federer forced to dig deep top seed roger federer had to save two match points before squeezing past juan carlos ferrero at the dubai open. the world number one took two hours 15 minutes to earn his 4-6 6-3 7-6 victory saving match points at 6-4 in the tiebreak before claiming it 8-6. federer made a number of unforced errors early on allowing ferrero to take advantage and claim the first set. but the swiss star hit back to reach the quarter-finals where he will face seventh seed russian mikhail youzhny. the russian beat germany s rainer schuettler 7-5 6-4. federer was not unduly worried despite being taken to three sets for the third consecutive match. the world number one was forced to go the distance against ivan ljubicic in the rotterdam final and against ivo minar in the first round in dubai. i definitely had a slow start again and to come back every time is quite an effort he said. i haven t been playing well but i ve been coming through. i m winning the crucial points and that shows i m on top of my game when i have to be.,sport
695,1290,poles play with gameboy blip-pop a group of artists in poland has taken the cacophony of blips boops and beeps created as players bash buttons on nintendo s handheld gameboy console to a new level. the gameboyzz orchestra project has taken the game sounds to put together music tunes they have dubbed blip-pop. think of it as donkey kong meets norman cook or maybe tetris takes on kraftwerk. any way you slice it the sound is distinct. all the sounds are made by six nintendo gameboys with a mixture of older models and newer advance sp handhelds. the gameboyzz orchestra project tweaks the software a bit and then connects the units through a mixing board. jarek kujda one of the project s founding members has been into electronic music and video games for a while now. i was playing some experimental music and three four years ago when i first used a gameboy in my band as a drum machine said kujda. he realised that the console could be used as a rudimentary synthesizer. he wondered if one gameboy can make music what would happen if he put six of them together kujda found five other people who were interested and the gameboyzz orchestra project was born. gameboyzz orchestra project is more of an improvisational project said kudja. we prepare some patterns before a concert and then improvise during the concert. the group plays maybe four or five shows a year. malgorzata kujda jarek s younger sister and a fellow band member describes a gameboyzz orchestra project concert as a lot of noise. for example i make music with more hard beats and noises she said. but each of us makes another music a different sound. and then in the concert we just improvise and that i think is more fun for us. the gameboyzz orchestra project admits they get mixed reactions from audiences. some love the group s music and others are not quite sure what to make of it. in the world of electronic music these purveyors of blip-pop are not unique. but jarek kujda says they try to be unique. we have lots of people making music on old school stuff electronic old school stuff like commodore atari spectrum he said. we want to play only experimental music not cover songs. we re something like an electronic jam session. the gameboyzz orchestra project s tracks are available online and the group hopes to make a cd next year. and they have sponsorship courtesy of the polish distributor of nintendo products. the members of the gameboyzz orchestra project do not expect serious competition anytime soon. a gameboy advance costs about us $200 in poland these days which is still way beyond the reach of most polish gamers or musicians. clark boyd is technology correspondent for the world a bbc world service and wgbh-boston co-production,tech
696,272,apple unveils low-cost mac mini apple has unveiled a new low-cost macintosh computer for the masses billed as the mac mini. chief executive steve jobs showed off the new machine at his annual macworld speech in san francisco. the $499 macintosh sold for £339 in the uk was described by jobs as the most important mac made by apple. mr jobs also unveiled the ipod shuffle a new music player using cheaper flash memory rather than hard drives which are used in more expensive ipods. the new computer shifts the company into new territory - traditionally the firm is known as a design and innovation-led firm rather than as a mass-market manufacturer. the mac mini comes without a monitor keyboard and mouse and a second version with a larger hard drive will also be sold for $599. the machine - which will be available from 22 january - was described by jobs as byodkm... bring your own display keyboard and mouse . in an attempt to win over windows pc customers mr jobs said it would appeal to people thinking of changing operating systems. people who are thinking of switching will have no more excuses he said. it s the newest and most affordable mac ever. the new computer has been the subject of speculation for several weeks and while few people will be surprised by the announcement many analysts had already said it was a sensible move. in january apple sued a website after it published what it said were specifications for the new computer. ian harris deputy editor of uk magazine mac format said the machine would appeal to pc-owning consumers who had purchased an ipod. they want a further taste of mac because they like what they have seen with ipod. harris added: everybody thought that apple was happy to remain a niche maker of luxury computers and moving into a market dominated by low margin manufacturers like dell is a bold move. but it shows that apple is keen to capitalise on the mass market success it s had with the ipod. the mac mini will appeal to pc users looking for an attractive no fuss computer. the new ipod shuffle comes in two versions - one offering 512mb of storage for $99 (£69 in the uk) and a second with one gigabyte of storage for $149 (£99) - and went on sale tuesday. the music player has no display and will play songs either consecutively or shuffled. the smaller ipod will hold about 120 songs said mr jobs. mr jobs told the delegates at macworld that ipod already had a 65% market share of all digital music players.,tech
697,139,safin relieved at aussie recovery marat safin admitted he thought he was suffering another australian open final nightmare when he lost the opening set to lleyton hewitt. the russian who lost the 2002 and 2004 finals fought back brilliantly to win 1-6 6-3 6-4 6-4. i was nervous and i couldn t play tennis said safin. he started really well. he wasn t as nervous as i was because i was thinking of the two finals that i played and wasn t successful. he added: you really have to deal with the pressure because normally it never happens but when you come to the final you are so tight because you want to win. i tried to play some tennis but i couldn t. he has huge experience he s won two grand slam titles he s won 24 titles he s a great player and he deals with pressure. from 4-1 down in the third set safin played some of his best tennis to reel off seven games and take control of the match. in the third set just all of a sudden it all turn around completely in a way i couldn t expect said safin. because he made a couple of mistakes i was a little bit lucky at some point then the confidence came back and i was back in the game. and the russian revealed that the victory and his semi-final win over world number one roger federer had given him a massive boost for the future. you get huge confidence because roger is a great player said safin. once i beat him and then lleyton it s like you get so much confidence in yourself that you really can play great. you can win big titles and you can beat huge players in the finals and semi-finals.,sport
698,2191,newry to fight cup exit in courts newry city are expected to discuss legal avenues on friday regarding overturning their ejection from the nationwide irish cup. the ifa upheld its original decision to throw newry out of the cup following the andy crawford registration row. a law firm will put a case forward for newry fc and see what the legal implications of all this is are said newry boss roy mccreadie. this is a big issue now that we have an appeal pending on wednesday a fresh ifa hearing into crawford registration saga ruled that last week s original verdict had been correct. it meant that bangor beaten 5-1 by newry on the field will take on portadown in the sixth round. newry had claimed they had uncovered fresh evidence in respect of the dates relating to the registration. but mccreadie is not further annoyed that full details of wednesday s meeting was not relayed to the club. even to this day we have as much information about what happened during the meeting on wednesday as that told to the media. we are being kept in the dark mccreadie told the news letter . we want an explanation. there is no good sending us the same fax message the press people received. it s a real sad case. if we are not back in the irish cup after our appeal and guided by our legal advise we will seek to lodge an injunction in the courts to stop bangor playing portadown.,sport
699,1255,israeli economy picking up pace israel s economy is forecast to grow by 4.2% in 2004 as it continues to emerge from a three-year recession. the main driver of the faster-than-expected expansion has been exports with tourism seeing a strong rebound the statistical office said. the economy is benefiting from a quieter period in palestinian-israeli violence and a pick-up in global demand for technology products. the outlook is better than it has been for a number of years analysts said. many companies have focused on cost cutting and greater efficiency while the government has been trying to trim public spending and push through reforms. the growth figures come about despite a strike earlier this year by about 400 000 public sector worker which closed banks hospitals postal services and transport facilities. growth did slow in the second half but only slightly. exports for the year rose by 14% while tourist revenues were up by 30%. imports gained by 13% signalling that domestic demand has picked up again. in 2003 imports declined by 1.8%. in 2003 the economy expanded by 1.3%,business
700,1699,chip maker backs net phone calls rich templeton the head of giant chip maker texas instruments has given his backing to the growing sector of voice over internet telephony (voip) voip allows pc users and in some cases those with just a broadband connection to make telephone calls via the net. mr templeton said voip would be the next major application to drive broadband connections into homes. internet service provider wanadoo has announced it is launching its own broadband telephony service in the uk. subscribers to wanadoo s broadband service will be able to use the service to make free evening and weekend calls to any uk landline and free calls at any time to other wanadoo users. the service will cost an extra £4 a month and will come with a free livebox the broadband hub which wanadoo plans will be used in future to provide video-on-demand and home security services. the secondary phone line will mean customers can have an extra home phone number and will also provide wireless internet access around the home. eventually the service will replace existing landline services as wanadoo goes head to head with bt. voice-over broadband is a key trend across europe and is set to have a dramatic impact on the telecommunications industry eric abensur wanadoo s chief executive told the bbc news website. mr templeton said he agreed. voice-over-packet is going to be the second killer application after broadband internet access he said. the world s largest maker of chips for mobile phones believes the technology will grow rapidly from the relatively small user base it has currently. almost 83 million people have downloaded the software that powers the skype voip service according to the net telephony firm s website. skype lets people make free calls to other skype users and also make low-cost calls to ordinary phone numbers. us firm vonage also offers a voip service but one which lets people plug an ordinary phone into a broadband router to make calls. bill simmelink general manager of ti s voip business said the technology would only take off when people were making net calls with the ease of making a normal call. it s not about the pipe if you will or the silicon per se it s about the application he said. we want to communicate freely effortlessly and economically wherever we are. in a sign that voip is seeping into the mainstream giant isp aol announced on tuesday that it had plans to launch a net-based phone service for some of its members within the month. customers will continue to use their traditional phones but they will plug them into adapters connected to their broadband source rather than the jack provided by the telephone company. calls are received and placed just like on the old telephone network. we can help mass-market adoption of voip said aol chief executive jonathan miller. we can utilise our national footprint. we can help the entire industry become well known.,tech
701,1616,scissor sisters triumph at brits us band scissor sisters led the winners at the uk music industry s brit awards walking off with three prizes. the flamboyant act scored a hat-trick in the international categories winning the best group best album and best newcomer awards. glasgow group franz ferdinand won two prizes as did keane and joss stone who was voted best urban act by digital tv viewers. robbie williams angels was named the best song of the past 25 years. scissor sisters frontwoman ana matronic collected the best international album prize from singer siouxsie sioux. she told the audience: if you told us a year ago we would be getting these awards today we would have called you crazy. you guys made our dream come true. the band - whose self-titled lp was 2004 s biggest-selling album - thanked all the members of the sisterhood adding: we wouldn t be here without you. the us band who opened the show with take your mama won the best international act and newcomer awards as well as best international album. franz ferdinand who were shortlisted in five categories won best rock act and best british group an award they dedicated to late dj john peel. but they missed out on best british live act which went to muse. keane won best british album and breakthrough act. will young won the best single prize for your game. mcfly won the best pop act prize and gwen stefani picked up the best international female artist award. eminem won the male prize. best british male artist winner mike skinner - aka the streets - does not usually attend award ceremonies but the birmingham hip-hop artist performed his hit dry your eyes at the ceremony. however he did not collect his prize. a bandmate informed the crowd skinner was in the toilet . after beating amy winehouse jamelia natasha bedingfield and pj harvey to the best british female prize joss stone said: i don t know what to say. i don t like doing this at all. i d like to thank my family for being really supportive and everybody that made my record with me. i don t even know what to do right now. thank you all you guys for voting for me i feel sick right now. viewers of digital music tv channel mtv base voted stone the winner in the best urban act category. little britain comedy duo matt lucas and david walliams presented the best song prize to robbie williams dressed as his former take that colleagues gary barlow and howard donald leading him to quip he was always the talented man of the band . williams track beat songs by will young queen kate bush and joy division in a vote by bbc radio 2 listeners to mark 25 years of the uk music industry ceremony. it is his 15th brit award having already received 10 solo awards and four with take that. he told the audience: i m just amazed that my career keeps going. keane frontman tom chaplin thanked fans for enduring rubbish gigs after they won the british breakthrough act prize. he added: a lot of people don t think it s cool that we ve had the guts to be ourselves but it s a vital part of who we are as a band and receiving this is recognition of that. natasha bedingfield - in the running for best british female and best pop act - performed with her brother daniel for the first time at wednesday s event. the chart-topping siblings duetted on the chaka khan hit ain t nobody. meanwhile joss stone performed right to be wrong backed by a gospel choir while lemar and jamelia performed the robert palmer track addicted to love. bob geldof won a prize for his outstanding contribution to music. of the 15 brit awards for achievements in 2004 10 were won by artists tipped in the bbc news website s sound of 2004 list of artists to watch published at the start of last year. scissor sisters franz ferdinand keane joss stone and mcfly were all in the sound of 2004 top 10. the other five brits winners were already established before sound of 2004 was compiled. the ceremony will be televised on itv1 on thursday. i m speechless. best song of the last 25 years yeah right. i very much doubt t
702,1619,diageo to buy us wine firm diageo the world s biggest spirits company has agreed to buy californian wine company chalone for $260m (£134m) in an all-cash deal. although diageo s best-known brands include smirnoff vodka and guinness stout it already has a us winemaking arm - diageo chateau & estate wines. diageo said it expects to get us regulatory approval for the deal during the first quarter of 2005. it said chalone would be integrated into its existing us wine business. the us wine market represents a growth opportunity for diageo with favourable demographic and consumption trends said diageo north america president ivan menezes. in july diageo which is listed on the london stock exchange reported an annual turnover of £8.89bn down from £9.28bn a year earlier. it blamed a weaker dollar for its lower turnover. in the year ending 31 december 2003 chalone reported revenues of $69.4m.,business
703,1032,games firms face tough future uk video game firms face a testing time as they prepare for the next round of games consoles the industry warns. fred hasson head of tiga which represents independent developers said that more uk firms would go under due to greater risks in making new titles. three leading uk video game companies also predicted that more firms would close as they struggled to adapt. microsoft sony and nintendo are expected to release new consoles in the next 18 months. microsoft has said repeatedly that it wants to be first to the market and some analysts predict that xbox 2 will be released in the us before the end of 2005. the new machines will all have much greater processing and graphical power which will have a huge impact on development of next generation games. mr hasson said: in the last four years we have probably lost a third of independent developers. he said there were about 150 independent developers left in the industry and more were likely to close. once the cull has finished its likely to present those still standing with great opportunities he said. mr hasson said the industry was predicting that developments costs and teams were likely to need to double in order to cope with the demands of the new machines. that figure was endorsed by three independent companies contacted by the bbc news website - codemasters climax and rebellion. as consoles get more powerful the content gets more detailed and that means more cost said gary dunn development director at codemasters which develops games in house and also publishes titles. jason kingsley chief executive of rebellion said the transition from the current generation of consoles to the new machines was difficult because the production quality expected by consumers will be that much bigger . he added: we have been through five technology transitions and survived so far. each one has involved the death of some people. all companies said they were investing in new tools - called middleware - in order to try and avoid staff numbers spiralling out of control. simon gardner president of climax s action studio said: we are investing in superior tools and editors. we are investing upfront to generate this content without the need for huge teams. it s vital we avoid huge teams. he said climax was already directing about 20% of its resources to preparation for next generation titles. mr dunn warned that companies could face a short supply of programming development and artistic talent. if companies are hiring bigger and bigger teams at some point the talent is going to run out. mr hasson said games developers were beginning to realise that they had to be more business-like . there are still some developers who were involved in games from the bedroom coding days. some of them are still making games for peer group approval - that has to stop.,tech
704,287,us firm bids for lacroix label a us firm has said it is in final negotiations with luxury goods group lvmh to buy the loss-making christian lacroix haute-couture house. paris-based lvmh has been selling non-core businesses and focusing on its most profitable labels including moet & chandon champagne and louis vuitton. privately-held falic group bought two cosmetics brands hard candy and urban decay from lvmh in early 2003. the florida company also own a chain of 90 duty free stores in the us. lvmh refused to comment on the reports. but one of the three brothers behind the falic group said the firm had also held talks with the designer christian lacroix and wished to retain him. we are buying his name simon falic told the reuters news agency. we have plans to increase the exposure of the brand and increase the volume of business.,business
705,2194,us consumer confidence up consumers confidence in the state of the us economy is at its highest for five months and they are optimistic about 2005 an influential survey says. the feel-good factor among us consumers rose in december for the first time since july according to new data. the conference board survey of 5 000 households pointed to renewed optimism about job creation and economic growth. us retailers have reported strong sales over the past 10 days after a slow start to the crucial festive season. according to figures also released on tuesday sales in shopping malls in the week to 25 december were 4.3% higher than in 2003 following a last minute rush. wal-mart the largest us retailer has said its december sales are expected to be better than previously forecast because of strong post-christmas sales. it is expecting annual sales growth of between 1% and 3% for the month. consumer confidence figures are considered a key economic indicator because consumer spending accounts for about two thirds of all economic activity in the united states. the continuing economic expansion combined with job growth has consumers ending this year on a high note said lynn franco director of the conference board s consumer research centre. and consumers outlook suggests that the economy will continue to expand in the first half of next year. the overall us economy has performed strongly in recent months prompting the federal reserve to increase interest rates five times since june.,business
706,928,wilkinson to lead england fly-half jonny wilkinson has been named as england s new rugby union captain for the three november tests. the 25-year-old newcastle star takes over from lawrence dallaglio who retired from internationals in august. england s acting head coach andy robinson said: he is a natural leader holds the respect of the squad and is a formidable talent on the pitch. and he consistently demonstrates the energy and commitment i feel is essential to be captain of england. robinson added: there are several players in the squad i would feel comfortable in calling upon to be england captain but for me jonny is in every way the right player to take on this challenge. captaincy offers a challenging environment for any player especially following in the footsteps of lawrence dallaglio and before him the world cup captain martin johnson. but i am confident jonny has what it takes to do an outstanding job as we look ahead towards the next rugby world cup in france and i look forward to working with him. wilkinson who has scored 817 points in 52 internationals kicked the winning drop-goal in the final seconds of extra-time in england s 2003 rugby world cup triumph against australia. but he then missed the entire 2004 six nations campaign while recuperating from shoulder surgery before making his comeback for newcastle in the zurich premiership in august. it s the ambition of so many players to one day be captain of england and today i have realised a dream he said. i m honoured andy wants me to be his captain and to follow lawrence and martin means a lot to me as they are inspirational men who have given so much to england rugby over many years. getting my first england cap against ireland six years ago was something i ll never forget because to play for your country is very special. taking on the captaincy is another important step in my career and i do so with immense pride. wilkinson made his international debut in the 1998 six nations championship against ireland when he came off the bench to replace paul grayson. he has been a regular in the england starting line-up ever since played in all three lions tests in 2001 and all but one of england s games in the 2003 world cup. he becomes the 117th captain of england since fred stokes held the position in 1871. england s first autumn test is against canada on 13 november followed by the visit of tri-nations champions south africa a week later and then a world cup re-match with australia.,sport
707,584,triple triumph for little britain top tv cult hit little britain has triumphed over the office at the 15th annual british comedy awards. the bbc show beat the office christmas special in the best tv comedy category and took the people s choice award. matt lucas and david walliams also jointly won best tv comedy actor over the office creator ricky gervais who won a special award for writing. it was also a good night for ant and dec who clinched two awards including best comedy entertainment personality. the geordie duo also secured best comedy entertainment programme for saturday night takeaway beating i m a celebrity... get me out of here! which they also host and the bbc s have i got news for you. the ceremony was presented by jonathan ross from itv s london studios headquarters on the capital s south bank. little britain began life as a radio series on radio 4 with walliams and lucas playing a range of misfit characters from an alternative britain. it was later commissioned for bbc three where it proved a huge success with the second series also shown on bbc one. after receiving his award for best tv comedy actor with walliams lucas said: it s a great honour to be nominated alongside ricky gervais and martin clunes. the show also won the people s choice award which is the only gong on the night voted for by viewers. speaking after receiving the award for best comedy walliams said: it was a real shock but i don t think we deserved to beat the office which is a great show and more than just a comedy. it s a beautiful piece of work. gervais and the office co-writer stephen merchant received a special award for writing presented by noel gallagher and tom stoppard. gervais said: the show has won an awful lot of awards in the last couple of years too much. it s got embarrassing to be honest. other winners at the awards included caroline quentin who took home best tv comedy actress for life begins and von trapped. catherine tate from the catherine tate show was also nominated for the same award but she did walk away with best comedy newcomer over james mcavoy from shameless (channel 4) and julian barratt and noel fielding from the mighty boosh (bbc three). nighty night was named britain s best new tv comedy over itv1 shows doc martin and life begins. but doc martin won best tv comedy drama over jonathan creek (bbc one) and shameless. winner in the best international comedy category was the simpsons beating sex and the city and curb your enthusiasm. the prize was accepted by matt groening creator of the simpsons who also received an outstanding contribution award from scientist stephen hawking who has been featured in the series. school of rock was voted best comedy film beating shaun of the dead and shrek 2. matt lucas & david walliams (little britain bbc three) caroline quentin (life begins/ von trapped itv1) ant & dec (ant & dec s saturday night takeaway/ i m a celebrity get me out of here! itv1) catherine tate (the catherine tate show bbc two) nighty night (baby cow productions bbc three) little britain (bbc three) doc martin (buffalo productions itv1) ant & dec s saturday night takeaway (granada itv1) the simpsons (twentieth century fox bbc two/sky one/channel 4) school of rock,entertainment
708,1722,tory leader quits legal position david mcletchie has resigned from his post as a partner in a legal firm following criticism over his dual role. the scottish conservative leader had insisted that his legal work with tods murray did not influence the causes he supports. but on friday he said: i have tendered my resignation as a partner with immediate effect. mr mcletchie had received advice from holyrood officials about what details he needed to declare. labour said he had cleverly not asked about paid advocacy. a tory spokesman totally refuted any wrongdoing. mr mcletchie received advice from the clerk to the standards committee after concern over him signing a parliamentary motion questioning expansion plans for edinburgh airport. the msp had been a partner for tods murray which has a client opposing the development. mr mcletchie did not have a complaint made against him but when concerns were raised he sought guidance from the standards committee to clarify his position. he was advised to exercise judgement to avoid the perception of a conflict and said he had done nothing wrong. explaining his reason for quitting the post mr mcletchie said: i have been greatly concerned by the recent publicity surrounding my association with tods murray. however i have no wish to see a similar situation arise again. to avoid any misconceptions in the future and be mindful of the good name of tods murray and the confidentiality to which its clients are entitled i have brought forward the date of my retirement from the firm which would otherwise have happened later this year. i am proud to have been a part of tods murray for the last 29 years and wish it well in the future. labour msp christine may had said mr mcletchie was very clever to ask the clerk to consider his conduct in respect of section 5 of the code. he was almost bound to get the answer he wanted from this enquiry since he stands accused of breaching section 6 the section on paid advocacy she said. section 5 of the members interest order legally obliges msps to declare registrable interests before taking part in related parliamentary proceedings where the interest would prejudice or give the appearance of prejudicing their ability to participate in a disinterested manner . however msps code of conduct recognises a wider definition of parliamentary proceedings including a non-statutory requirement to make a declaration in relation to written notices such as motions. but a letter from holyrood s chamber office chief ken hughes also made clear that mr mcletchie did not need to list any of the clients for whom he worked as a solicitor. commenting on mr mcletchie s decision to stand down a scottish labour party spokesman said: this should mean mr mcletchie doesn t breach the paid advocacy rules in future. however it doesn t change the fact that there should be a full investigation into whether he has done this in the past. scottish national party holyrood leader nicola sturgeon accused mr mcletchie of failing to properly serve his constituents. ms sturgeon said: i think this whole episode has been very damaging for mr mcletchie and i m sure he will be reflecting on it. she added that she thought that the tories were an irrelevant party so she would not lose any sleep over it . peter misselbrook executive partner of tods murray said mr mcletchie had been considering retirement later in the year. he added: david has decided that this announcement should be made now and we fully understand and appreciate his reasons for doing so.,politics
709,1685,tautou to star in da vinci film french actress audrey tautou star of hit film amelie will play the female lead in the film adaptation of the da vinci code it has been reported. the movie version of dan brown s best-selling novel is being directed by ron howard and also stars tom hanks. tautou will play hanks code-cracking partner according to various newspapers. she is currently starring in a very long engagement directed by jean-pierre jeunet. jeunet was also responsible for directing tautou in amelie in 2001 which launched the actress into the mainstream. she also starred as the lead role in critically-acclaimed film dirty pretty things in 2002. oscar-winning director ron howard chose tautou for the part preferring a french actress to a big name hollywood star. uk actress kate beckinsale had been widely tipped as a possibility for the role alongside vanessa paradis and juliette binoche. the thriller upon which the movie is based has sold more than 17 million copies and is centred on a global conspiracy surrounding the holy grail mythology. the louvre museum scene of the gruesome murder at the beginning of the novel recently gave permission for filming to take place there showbusiness newspaper variety reported. the $100m movie will be produced by columbia/sony pictures and is due for release on may 19 2006 in the united states and france.,entertainment
710,1828,cash gives way to flexible friend spending on credit and debit cards has overtaken cash spending in the uk for the first time. the moment that plastic finally toppled cash happened at 10.38am on wednesday according to the association for payment clearing services (apacs) apacs chose school teacher helen carroll from portsmouth to make the historic transaction. the switch over took place as she paid for her groceries in the supermarket chain tesco s cromwell road branch. mrs carroll was born in the same year that plastic cards first appeared in the uk. i pay for most things with my debit card with occasional purchases on one of my credit cards said mrs carroll who teaches at peel common infants school in gosport. spending patterns for the year and estimates for december led apacs to conclude that 10.38am was the time that plastic would finally rule the roost. shoppers in the uk are expected to put £269bn on plastic cards during the whole of 2004 compared with £268bn paid with cash apacs said. when the first plastic cards appeared in the uk in june 1966 issued by barclaycard but only a handful of retailers accepted them and very few customers held them. but in less than 40 years plastic has become our most popular way to pay due to the added security and flexibility it offers said apacs spokeswoman jemma smith. the key driver has been the introduction of debit cards which now account for two-thirds of plastic card transactions and are used by millions of us every day.,business
711,692,economy focus for election battle britain s economic future will be at the heart of labour s poll campaign chancellor gordon brown has said. he was speaking after cabinet members held their last meeting at no 10 before the expected election announcement. he said voters would recognise that labour had brought stability and growth and would continue to do so. meanwhile the tories outlined their plans to tackle yob culture and the lib dems gave more details about their proposals to replace council tax. earlier the archbishop of canterbury wrote to all three parties urging them not to fight the election by exploiting people s fears. in an open letter he called on them not to turn the election into a competition about who can most effectively frighten voters about terrorism asylum and crime. he said they should concentrate instead on issues such as the environment international development and the arms trade family policy and the reform of the criminal justice system. shadow foreign secretary michael ancram said: we have fought a very positive campaign. i think he will want to look quite carefully at what jack straw said about michael howard. in a speech to the foreign policy centre mr straw said of the tory leader: he is clever fluent and tactical but he is not wise. he lacks strategy and good judgment and his quick temper and impetuosity too often get the better of him. the foreign secretary told the bbc: i was making the observation that because of michael howard s impetuosity you can get lurches of policy. liberal democrat chairman matthew taylor said: people are already really turned off by the kind of campaign the others are fighting and you will see us putting emphasis on some of these huge issues facing the world particularly the environment. labour s focus on the economy as their key message - came on the day a new report was published by the institute of fiscal studies suggesting that household incomes have fallen for the first time in more than a decade. the ifs says the drop partly reflects measures announced in what it called the chancellor s tax-raising budget of 2002. the treasury dismissed the research as complete rubbish . party election supremo alan milburn said the apparent drop in average incomes was because self-employed people had been affected by a world downturn which hit their profits. since 1997 the reported average take-home income had risen by 20% in real terms if you took out the self-employed mr milburn told bbc radio 4 s today programme. mr brown also dismissed the figures insisting that the typical family has been much better off under labour.,politics
712,1393,wall street cheers bush victory the us stock market has closed higher in response to george w bush s victory in the presidential elections. the benchmark dow jones share index closed more than 1% higher at 10 137 while the nasdaq rose 0.9% to 2 004. many investors believe that mr bush s policies are more business-friendly than those of his democrat challenger john kerry. the higher share prices also reflect relief that a clear winner has emerged from what proved to be a tight poll. investors had worried that the outcome of the poll would be inconclusive paving the way for a repeat of the legal wrangling that marred the 2000 election. the dow lost 5% of its value in the three weeks immediately after that election when it was unclear who would occupy the white house. mr kerry conceded defeat on wednesday abandoning last-ditch hopes of carrying the vote in the swing state of ohio. the relief for the markets may be that we have a decision and can move forward said tim ghriskey chief investment officer of solaris asset management. some analysts predicted that the jump in share prices would be short-lived saying investors would quickly focus once again on the health of the us economy. i would look at the stock market rally for bush as kind of a one-day event said ken mayland at clearview economics. the us recent economic performance has been mixed with solid growth offset by disappointingly low job creation figures and mounting worries over a record budget deficit. elsewhere in the financial markets on wednesday the dollar dipped slightly against the euro and climbed against the yen while us oil prices closed up $1.26 at $50.88 a barrel in new york. the rise in oil prices partly reflects the view that president bush is less likely than mr kerry to release supplies from the us strategic oil reserve. share prices in london frankfurt and paris also closed higher. successive polls in the run-up to tuesday s election had shown the two candidates running neck and neck. economic issues as well as the war in iraq were the forefront of the campaign. in key swing states such as ohio which has suffered substantial job losses in the past four years president bush s handling of the economy became a crucial election issue. senator kerry attacked president bush s economic record during his campaign hammering home the fact that a net 800 000 jobs were lost during his term in office. president bush focused on the fact that two million jobs have been created in the past year claiming that it has vindicated his tax-cutting agenda. as for future policies both candidates pledged to bring america s $422bn federal budget deficit under control. senator kerry planned to increase taxes on those earning more than $200 000 a year. president bush has placed reform of the pensions system at the heart of his economic agenda for a second term. however economists have said both candidates economic programmes rested on questionable assumptions about future growth.,business
713,540,more to do on adult literacy the government will only hit its target for improving adult maths and literacy skills if courses are made more attractive a report says. the national audit office praised ministers for reaching the benchmark of 750 000 adults in england gaining basic qualifications by this year. but a target of 1.5 million more by 2010 needed creative ideas. some 26 million adults lack maths or english skill levels expected of school-leavers. according to the report more than half the qualifications achieved were by learners aged 16 to 18. these are defined as adults by the government for the purpose of compiling these figures. normally adults are defined as being aged over 19. the number of these people gaining qualifications was rising slowly . auditor general sir john bourn said: higher levels of literacy and numeracy will benefit england both socially and economically. more people will have the opportunity to live richer lives. in 2001 the government launched the get on scheme - aimed at reducing illiteracy and innumeracy. sir john said substantial progress had been made since adding that this was only the beginning . the government and its partners would need to be creative and responsive . some £3.7bn will be spent on implementing the programme by 2006. the report recommends gathering more details on the educational needs of areas so courses can be set to meet local demand. existing adult learners could use their enthusiasm commitment and local knowledge to attract other people. the department for education and skills could also use more personalised learning and work with voluntary groups councils and employers. it should also assess adult learners progress at frequent intervals the report adds. when the government announced it had reached its 2004 target earlier this month prime minister tony blair said it was only the start of the journey . an estimated 5.2 million adults have worse literacy than that expected of 11 year olds while 14.9 million have numeracy skills below this level. this is thought to cost the uk economy hundreds of millions of pounds each year. the qualifications achieved by those taking part in the government s scheme range up to gcse equivalents. get on s participation target has been set at 2.25 million by 2010 with an interim figure of 1.5 million by 2007. education minister ivan lewis said: we will continue to use creative ways of involving people with the lowest skill levels and the report shows that our efforts are gathering pace. shadow education secretary tim collins said: this is the third report in two days to highlight labour s failure to ensure young people acquire the necessary levels of literacy and numeracy for their working life. employers and business leaders have repeatedly voiced concern over the number of school-leavers without these basic skills but all the government have offered is more talk. liberal democrat education spokesman phil willis added: far too little has been done to enable adult learners to fit learning into their busy lives.,politics
714,1317,hearts 2-1 livingston hearts wrapped up their scottish cup quarter-final tie against livingston with two goals in the first 10 minutes. lee miller scored inside the opening 60 seconds heading over colin meldrum and into the net from a jamie mcallister free kick. mcallister himself scored the second when he met saul mikoliunas cross at the back post to put the game beyond the visitors. craig easton headed in a controversial goal after an hour but hearts held on. the opening goal came after gus bahoken had clumsily fouled miller 35 yards from goal. mcallister floated the free kick into the livi box and miller outjumped the static visiting defence to loop his header from 10 yards over meldrum. with just 10 minutes on the clock the home side doubled their lead. mikoliunas sprinted down the right crossed to the back post where mcallister raced in to head past meldrum. moments later miller came close to grabbing his second with a first-time drive from 16 yards which skimmed the bar. then mcallister picked up a pass from stephen simmons and drove an angled shot from 20 yards narrowly past meldrum s far post. the impressive mikoliunas twice went close before half time - a low drive was comfortably gathered by meldrum and then he curled a left-footed shot past the keeper s right-hand post. livi manager richard gough made three changes at the interval bringing on defender goran stanic midfielder gabor vincze and striker ferenc horvath for bahoken derek lilley and mark wilson. but in the opening stages of the second period little changed. however the west lothian side gave themselves a lifeline with a controversial goal. eric deloumeaux sent jason dair away on the right and he tried to give the ball to mcpake who looked to be in an offside position. the livi striker ignored the pass however and dair ran on to it and played easton in at the back post and he headed home from close range. the home side called for offside against mcpake but referee alan freeland ignored their claims and pointed to the centre-circle. livi went all out for the equaliser. in the 87th minute burton o brien was hauled back at the edge of the box by neil macfarlane but dair sent his shot just inches wide. gordon webster miller hartley neilson mcallister simmons (macfarlane 64) berra burchill (wyness 82) mikoliunas (cesnauskis 77) wallace. moilanen kizys. berra webster. miller 1 mcallister 10. meldrum mcnamee bahoken (stanic 45) deloumeaux strong dair easton mark wilson (vincze 45) lilley (horvath 45) o brien mcpake. mckenzie hand. : vincze horvath. easton 60. 9 796 a freeland,sport
715,152,slim playstation triples sales sony playstation 2 s slimmer shape has proved popular with uk gamers with 50 000 sold in its first week on sale. sales have tripled since launch outstripping microsoft s xbox said market analysts chart-track. the numbers were also boosted by the release of the ps2-only game grand theft auto: san andreas. the title broke the uk sales record for video games in its first weekend of release. latest figures suggest it has sold more than 677 000 copies. it is obviously very very encouraging for sony because microsoft briefly outsold them last week john houlihan editor of computerandvideogames.com told bbc news. and with halo 2 [for xbox] out next week it really is a head-to-head contest between them and xbox. although xbox sales over the last week also climbed ps2 sales were more than double that. the figures mean sony is reaching the seven million barrier for uk sales of the console. edinburgh-based developer rockstar which is behind the gta titles has seen san andreas pull in an estimated £24m in gross revenues over the weekend. in comparison blockbuster films like harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban took £11.5m in its first three days at the uk box office. the lord of the rings: the return of the king took nearly £10m over its opening weekend although games titles are four to five times more expensive than cinema tickets. gangster-themed gta san andreas is the sequel to grand theft auto vice city which previously held the record for the fastest-selling video game ever. the xbox game halo 2 released on 11 november in the uk is also widely tipped to be one of the best-selling games of the year. the original title won universal acclaim in 2001 and sold more than four million copies. mr houlihan added that sony had done well with the ps2 but it definitely helped that the release of san andreas coincided with the slimline ps2 hitting the shelves. the run-up to christmas is a huge battlefield for games consoles and titles. microsoft s xbox had been winning the race up until last week in sales. the sales figures also suggest that it may be a largely adult audience driving demand since gta san andreas has an 18 certificate. sony and microsoft have both reduced console prices recently and are preparing the way for the launches of their next generation consoles in 2005. both have hit crucial price points at around £100 and that really does open up new consoles to new audience plus the release of two really important games in terms of development are also driving those sales said mr houlihan.,tech
716,650,mobile networks seek turbo boost third-generation mobile (3g) networks need to get faster if they are to deliver fast internet surfing on the move and exciting new services. that was one of the messages from the mobile industry at the 3gsm world congress in cannes last week. fast 3g networks are here but the focus has shifted to their evolution into a higher bandwidth service says the global mobile suppliers association. at 3gsm siemens showed off a system that transmits faster mobile data. the german company said data could be transmitted at one gigabit a second - up to 20 times faster than current 3g networks. the system is not available commercially yet but motorola the us mobile handset and infrastructure maker held a clinic for mobile operators on hsdpa (high speed downlink packet access) a high-speed high bandwidth technology available now. early hsdpa systems typically offer around two megabits per second (mbps) compared with less than 384 kilobits per second (kbps) on standard 3g networks. high-speed downlink packet access (hsdpa) - sometimes called super 3g - will be vital for profitable services like mobile internet browsing and mobile video clips according to a report published by uk-based research consultancy analysys. a number of companies are developing the technology. nokia and canada-based wireless communication products company sierra wireless recently agreed to work together on high speed downlink packet access. the two companies aim to jointly market the hsdpa solution to global network operator customers. while hsdpa theoretically enables data rates up to a maximum of 14mbps practical throughputs will be lower than this in wide-area networks said dr alastair brydon author of the analysys report: pushing beyond the limits of 3g with hsdpa and other enhancements. the typical average user rate in a real implementation is likely to be in the region of one megabit per second which even at this lower rate will more than double the capacity... when compared to basic wcdma [3g] he added. motorola has conducted five trials of its technology and says speeds of 2.9mbps have been recorded at the edge of an outdoor 3g cell using a single hsdpa device. but some mobile operators are opting for a technology called evolution data optimised (ev-do). us operator sprint ordered a broadband data upgrade to its 3g network at the end of last year. we are expanding our network and deploying ev-do technology to meet customer demand for faster wireless speeds said oliver valente sprint s vice president for technology development when the contract was announced. as part of $3bn in multi-year contracts announced late last year sprint will spend around $1bn on ev-do technology from lucent technologies nortel networks and motorola that provides average data speeds of 0.3-0.5 megabits a second and peak download rates of 2.4mbps. mmo2 the uk-based operator with services in the uk ireland and germany has opted for technology based on the high speed downlink packet access (hsdpa) standard. using technology from lucent it will offer data speeds of 3.6mbps from next summer on its isle of man 3g network and will eventually support speeds of up to 14.4mbps. us operator cingular wireless is also adopting hsdpa using technology from lucent alongside equipment from siemens and ericsson. siemens plans for a one gigabit network may be more than a user needs today but christoph caselitz president of the mobile networks division at the firm says that: by the time the next generation of mobile communication debuts in 2015 the need for transmission capacities for voice data image and multimedia is conservatively anticipated to rise by a factor of 10. siemens - in collaboration with the fraunhofer german-sino lab for mobile communications and the institute for applied radio system technology - has souped up mobile communications by using three transmitting and four receiving antennae instead of the usual one. this enables a data transmission such as sending a big file or video to be broken
717,191,kinnock to urge reform in lords neil kinnock has said his acceptance of a seat in the house of lords will allow him to help achieve further progress with substantial democratic reform. on the bbc s breakfast with frost it was put to mr kinnock that he had once referred to lords members as brigands muggers bribers and gangsters . but the outgoing european commissioner said his comments - made some 26 years ago - needed to be put in context. he said advocates for reform needed to be inside the lords to vote for it. it was pointed out to me that if the additional democratic reform is going to take place it is going to require advocates in the lords and people there willing to vote for it. mr kinnock added that the second factor behind his acceptance of the peerage was his appointment as chairman of the british council. history demonstrates that it s immensely useful for the british council to have its chairman in the house of lords and that was a conclusive factor. mr kinnock said he thought about the decision for quite a long time because he had long had reservations about the lords. but he added: the process of reform has developed substantially but not sufficiently and consequently i did take all these factors into consideration because it s not a decision to be made glibly. the former labour leader said he would probably take the title of lord kinnock of bedwellty - his first constituency for which he was selected in 1969.,politics
718,1719,famed music director viotti dies conductor marcello viotti director of venice s famous la fenice theatre has died in germany at 50. viotti director of la fenice since 2002 conducted at renowned opera houses worldwide including milan s la scala and the vienna state opera. his time at la fenice coincided with its reopening in 2003 after it was destroyed by fire in 1996. he fell into a coma after suffering a stroke during rehearsals for jules massenet s manon last week. he conducted some of the best orchestras in the world including the berlin philharmonic and the english chamber orchestra. viotti was born in switzerland and studied the piano cello and singing at the lausanne conservatory. his career breakthrough came in 1982 when he won first prize at the gino marinuzzi conducting competition in italy. viotti established himself as chief conductor of the turin opera and went on to become chief conductor of munich s radio orchestra. at la fenice viotti was widely acclaimed for his production of the french composer massenet s thais and some of his other productions included giuseppe verdi s la traviata and richard strauss s ariadne auf naxos. the last opera he directed at la fenice was massenet s le roi de lahore. viotti s debut at the new york s metropolitan opera came in 2000 with giacomo puccini s madame butterfly followed by la boheme la traviata and fromental halevy s la juive. giampaolo vianello superintendent of the fenice theatre foundation said: i am filled with extreme sadness because other than a great artist he is missed as a friend - a main character in the latest joyous times during the rebirth of our theatre. viotti s last public performance was on 5 february when he conducted vincenzo bellini s norma at the vienna state opera.,entertainment
719,1564,chinese wine tempts italy s illva italy s illva saronno has agreed to buy 33% of changyu the largest wine maker in china. changyu said in a statement to the shenzhen stock exchange that illva will pay 481.42m yuan ($58.16m; £30.7m) once the government approves the deal. the italian liqueur maker will acquire the shares from the yantai state asset management bureau. chinese wine sales are growing the us agriculture department said with wine sales in 2003 up 25% at 61.1bn yuan. china is encouraging state-owned companies to sell shares to foreign investors. anheuser-busch heineken and scottish & newcastle have all invested in the chinese beer industry in the last two years and now illva saronno is betting on the chinese wine market. yantai state asset management bureau - a government agency in the north-eastern city of yantai - owns 55% of changyu. the state agency will also sell 10% of its stake in changyu to another overseas company although it didn t say who. the remaining 12% will be retained by the yantai city government. the consumption of wine in china is still low at just 0.22 litres per capita said the us agriculture department. this compares with 59 litres in france 12 litres in the us and three litres in japan.,business
720,350,speak easy plan for media players music and film fans will be able to control their digital media players just by speaking to them under plans in development by two us firms. scansoft and gracenote are developing technology to give people access to their film and music libraries simply by voice control. they want to give people hands-free access to digital music and films in the car or at home or on the move. huge media libraries on some players can make finding single songs hard. voice command-and-control unlocks the potential of devices that can store large digital music collections said ross blanchard vice president of business development for gracenote. these applications will radically change the car entertainment experience allowing drivers to enjoy their entire music collections without ever taking their hands off the steering wheel he added. gracenote provides music library information for millions of different albums for jukeboxes such as apple s itunes. the new technology will be designed so that people can play any individual song or movie out of a collection just by saying its name. users will also be able to request music that fits a mood or an occasion or a film just by saying the actor s name. speech is a natural fit for today s consumer devices particularly in mobile environments said alan schwartz vice president of speechworks a division of scansoft. pairing our voice technologies with gracenote s vast music database will bring the benefits of speech technologies to a host of consumer devices and enable people to access their media in ways they ve never imagined. the two firms did not say if they were developing the technology for languages other than english. users will also be able to get more information on a favourite song they have been listening to by asking: what is this portable players are becoming popular in cars and a number of auto firms are working with apple to device interfaces to control the firm s ipod music player. but with tens of thousands of songs able to be stored on one player voice control would make finding that elusive track by elvis presley much easier. the firms gave no indication about whether the ipod or any other media player were in mind for the use of the voice control technology. the companies estimate that the technology will be available in the fourth quarter of 2005.,tech
721,116,byrds producer melcher dies at 62 record producer terry melcher who was behind hits by the byrds ry cooder and the beach boys has died aged 62. the son of actress doris day he helped write kokomo for the beach boys which was used in the movie cocktail earning a 1988 golden globe nomination. he also produced mr tambourine man for the byrds as well as other his such as turn turn turn. melcher died on friday night at his home in beverly hills california after a long battle with skin cancer. he joined columbia records as a producer in the mid-1960s and also worked with gram parsons and the mamas and the papas. earlier in his career melcher had hits as part of duo called bruce & terry with future beach boy bruce johnston which evolved into the rip chords group. melcher also worked closely with his mother producing the doris day show and helping to run her charitable activities. in 1969 his name became linked with the charles manson murders which saw the deaths of actress sharon tate and four of her friends at a home which melcher once rented. rumours circulated that melcher - who knew manson - was the killer s real target because he had turned him down for a record contract. but los angeles police discounted the rumours pointing out melcher had moved to malibu and manson knew of his new address.,entertainment
722,1000,buffy creator joins wonder woman the creator of buffy the vampire slayer is to take on a new female superhero after signing up to write and direct the wonder woman movie. joss whedon described the dc comics character as the most iconic female heroine of our time . in a way no one has met her yet he said. what i love most about icons is finding out what s behind them exploring the price of their power. linda carter played the character in the 1970s tv series. the character of wonder woman famed for her red and gold costume was born on paradise island and was blessed with the powers of strength and flight. the film is being produced by joel silver producer of the matrix trilogy. there s no one better than joss to adapt the legendary wonder woman comic book character created in the 1940s into a dynamic feature film for 21st century audiences said silver. wonder woman was the first great female superhero to emerge from comic books and later inspire millions of fans in her television incarnation... but this groundbreaking heroine has yet to be reinvented for the feature film arena. whedon created the character of buffy in the screenplay for the 1992 film. he distanced himself from the movie because of the direction it eventually took and the film bombed. but he did not give up on the slayer and went on to write and executive produce seven seasons of the cult tv series. he also produced the spin-off angel series. he is currently directing the film serenity based on his short-lived sci-fi series firefly.,entertainment
723,36,sayeed to stand down as tory mp tory mp jonathan sayeed is to stand down on the grounds of ill health. the decision comes after mr sayeed survived an attempt to de-select him in a row over allegations he had profited from private tours of parliament. the mid-bedfordshire mp had denied a claim that he was paid for guiding visitors around the palace of westminster. conservative leader michael howard has now accepted the mp s resignation it has been announced. mr sayeed was suspended from parliament for two weeks last month after the commons standards and privileges committee said his conduct had fallen well below the standards expected . the conservative party had already been withdrawn the whip for a month. but his constituency association voted against a move to deselect him with mr sayeed winning 173 of the 299 votes. after the vote mr sayeed said only a fifth of association members had voted against him and he intended to get on with winning the election. but the vote prompted constituency association president sir stanley odell to resign in protest. the standards and privileges committee inquiry was launched after the sunday times alleged english manner limited charged clients for access to westminster through mr sayeed. mr sayeed had denied the claims saying the suspension was unjust and wrong but he made an unreserved apology to mps in the commons chamber. he insisted that the committee s report had contained a few errors of fact . mr sayeed has been mp for mid-bedfordshire since 1997. he represented bristol east from 1983 to 1992.,politics
724,1225,tobacco giants hail court ruling us tobacco companies have welcomed an appeal court s decision to reject the government s $280bn (£155bn) claim for alleged deceit about smoking dangers. tobacco stocks rose sharply on wall street after the 2-1 decision. the court in washington found the case - filed by the clinton administration in 1999 - could not be brought under federal anti-racketeering laws. anti-smoking groups urge the government to fight on but the justice department has not said if it will appeal. among the accused were altria group rj reynolds tobacco lorillard tobacco liggett group and brown and williamson. they were delighted by the decision which sent reynolds shares up 4.5% and altria shares up 5.11%. charles a blixt executive vice-president of rj reynolds tobacco said the ruling dramatically transforms the government s lawsuit. altria group said in a statement the government now must not only prove that the companies have engaged in fraudulent behaviour in the past but that they are likely to do so in the future. the government had claimed tobacco firms - manipulated nicotine levels to increase addiction - targeted teenagers with multi-billion dollar advertising campaigns - lied about the dangers of smoking and ignored research to the contrary. prosecutors wanted the cigarette firms to disgorge $280bn in profits accumulated over the past 50 years and impose tougher rules on marketing their products. they brought the case under racketeering laws which were passed to deny mafia gangs the profits of their crimes. but the tobacco companies denied that they illegally conspired to promote smoking and defraud the public. they also said they had already met many of the government s demands in a landmark $206bn settlement reached with 46 states in 1998. the three-judge panel in the district of columbia s court of appeals ruled on friday that the us government could not sue the firms under the anti-racketeering laws. judge david sentelle in his ruling said such laws were aimed at putting an end to illegal conduct going forward. we hold that the language of (the law) and the comprehensive remedial scheme of (the law) preclude disgorgement as a possible remedy in this case he wrote. the justice department refused to say if it would appeal. all we re saying today is that we have received the ruling and are reviewing it a spokeswoman said on friday. but william corr of the campaign for tobacco-free kids urged the government to continue pressing its case. today s ruling should not be an excuse for this administration to seek a weak settlement that lets the tobacco industry off the hook he said.,business
725,2155,green reports shun supply chain nearly 20% more uk top 250 firms produced non-financial reports on social and environment issues than last year. but of the 145 companies reporting 76% didn t examine their supply chains says the annual directions survey. green groups say putting pressure on supply chains is a major way companies can reduce their environmental impact. the survey is published by corporate social responsibility firm context and branding firm salterbaxter. blake lee-harwood campaigns director at greenpeace in the uk said: it s fairly meaningless to talk about your company s direction in terms of sustainability without having detailed knowledge of your supply chain. it s also important to get some kind of independent assessment of your reporting. less than a quarter of companies (24%) get their corporate social responsibility (csr) reports independently verified to provide assurances they are accurate and complete says the survey. to date there are no set standards for non-financial reporting although the global reporting initiative an independent pro-sustainability institution is planning to establish some. the reports surveyed by directions are published voluntarily. they are usually called corporate social responsibility (csr) reports sustainability reports or social and environmental reports. peter knight director of context says 24 uk top 250 companies reported for the first time this year and in general the quality of reports has improved. the corporate lexicon of homilies generalities and soft assurances - fluff - is on its way out. there are less pictures of smiling children and butterflies. the uk government will soon require all quoted companies to report their social and environmental risks in a chapter in their annual reports called the operating and financial review. the regulation is not expected until 2005 and the first reports under this scheme will not be published before 2006. the us seems to lag europe in producing corporate social responsibility reports. the majority of european top 50 companies (44) publish them and only 27 of the us top 50.,business
726,553,the memory driving brown s mission the memory gordon brown says keeps returning to him - the one that he says is burnt into him - is that of a 12 year-old girl whose parents died of aids and who is hiv positive herself. mr brown seems haunted by her eyes desolate of all hope. and then he talks of those eyes that do inspire optimism: an extraordinary performance by schoolgirls of kenya s largest slum advancing with crowded menace flicking their hips in a manner almost as disturbing before the finale of a clenched fist salute and shout of free education - free education for all . mr brown s message generally that compassion must become action before that hope is squandered. but he is such a pivotal figure in british politics it is almost impossible not to ask him why he is doing this. his answer in part is because of the missionaries that used to come to his father s church. ever since he says africa has been important to him. i ve absolutely no doubt whatsoever this is heartfelt. but he also believes it is time for the world to see a new gordon brown. not the dull reassuring bank manager but a man driven by a moral passion - and it just so happens the labour party feels an awful lot happier ridding the world of debt than ridding the world of dictators. there s also a sense of liberation. if mr blair won t allow him to run the election campaign then he can at least pretend it was all getting tedious and he d much rather be out examining social problems in the raw. it also goes some way to solving one of the overarching problems for all politicians of all parties: scepticism sliding into cynicism about politics itself. if he can help the world s poor just a little then it shows politics isn t worthless. but is his vision for africa too grand can poverty in the continent really be halved brown replies that no one thought the berlin wall would ever come down either. he s still got to overcome - not only the reluctance of other finance ministers in the world - but also the cynicism of experts who wonder whether debt relief will just be squandered by governments that just won t in the end spend wisely.,politics
727,551,labour accused of broken pledge labour has already broken its pre-election promise on immigration before the ink has dried on its new pledge card the tories have claimed. home secretary charles clarke has been quoted as telling labour members he wants more migrants to come to the uk. tory co-chairman liam fox said the comments were at odds with tony blair s prediction of a net cut in immigration. but mr clarke accused him of trying to score cheap political points by muddling immigration with asylum. london s evening standard quoted mr clarke telling labour activists at a question and answer session in gateshead that he wanted britain to offer refuge for those fleeing tyranny. that s not only a moral duty and a legal duty but something which is part of the essence of this country he said. we want more migration more people come to study and to work. we want more people coming to look for refuge. mr blair s was asked last wednesday if the government s new immigration plans including a point system for economic migrants would reduce net migration. the prime minister told mps: the abusers will be weeded out and as a result of the end of chain migration [where families have an automatic right to settle] the numbers will probably fall. on monday dr fox told reporters: the prime minister has broken his word so many times in the past but now his promises do not even last a week. the labour party election pledges even when they are so incredibly vague do not even last four days. the tories want quotas for economic migrants and refugees and on tuesday will outline more details of their plans for health checks on migrants. mr clarke dismissed the latest tory attack. this is simply a scurrilous attempt by the tories to score cheap political points he said. the tories are purposely mixing together two separate issues of immigration and asylum. mr clarke said he had made clear the uk would welcome genuine economic migrants for key jobs on a strict points based system. and only asylum seekers genuinely fleeing death or persecution would be admitted. under our plans we expect unfounded applications to continue to fall he added. earlier dr fox accused mr blair and other cabinet ministers of telling lies about tory policies and then attacking the lies. he told bbc radio: if you are willing to lie about the reasons for going to war i guess you are going to lie about anything at all. the latest pre-election spats come after mr blair told labour members the tories offered a hard right agenda which would take britain backwards. lib dem leader charles kennedy accelerating lib dem election preparations this week as he visits manchester liverpool leicester somerset basingstoke shrewsbury dorset and torbay.,politics
728,1724,pc photo printers challenge pros home printed pictures can be cheaper and higher quality than those from high street developers tests shows. a survey carried out by pc pro magazine looked at which of 100 home photo printers offered a better deal than handing your snaps to a photo lab. the tests found that images from top pc printers kept their colour longer than professionally produced photographs. but using the wrong printer cartridge could means snaps fade in months warned the magazine. the group test of 100 home photo printers for pcs discovered how much it costs to create images using the devices compared to online developers as well as high street names such as jessops boots and snappy snaps. the comprehensive test also revealed how quickly different printers produced images the quality of the finished image and how resistant finished pictures were to smudging or water damage. it found that although some ink for printers now costs more than £2 per millilitre it can still be cheaper to produce prints from photographs at home than it is to send them off to a high street store. if you really like your photos then it s definitely worth printing at home instead of going to the high street but only if you choose the right printer said nick ross top tester at pc pro. mr ross said that a new generation of printers produced images with brighter colours and that were less likely to fade than many high street developers or even some professional wedding photographers. some high street photo shops can be the cheapest when it came to developing prints that were 6x4in said mr ross but the test revealed that images 7x5in and 8x10in in size were cheaper to produce at home. according to pc pro producing a print 8x10in on an epson r800 printer using top quality paper costs £1.87. at jessops the same image would cost £2.50 and at snappy snaps £9.99. a 10x7in snap at boots would cost £4.99. considering how inconvenient it can be to go to the high street and how silver-halide prints can fade in the sun we re adamant that it s now better cheaper and more convenient to print at home he said. ann simpson marketing manager at snappy snaps believes the convenience of high street printing will continue to attract customers. some people will want to do their own thing on their computer but the feedback to us is that customers often have to print two or three pictures at home in order to get a good one she said. many people are not skilled at getting the colour contrast and cropping right and they don t want the hassle she added. the magazine test found that which ink consumers use determined how long their prints lasted before they started fading. it recommended avoiding so-called third-party inks not produced by printer makers because they tended to produce prints that fade the quickest.,tech
729,1512,dogged federer claims dubai crown world number one roger federer added the dubai championship trophy to his long list of successes - but not before he was given a test by ivan ljubicic. top seed federer looked to be on course for a easy victory when he thumped the eighth seed 6-1 in the first set. but ljubicic who beat tim henman in the last eight dug deep to secure the second set after a tense tiebreak. swiss star federer was not about to lose his cool though turning on the style to win the deciding set 6-3. the match was a re-run of last week s final at the world indoor tournament in rotterdam where federer triumphed but not until ljubicic had stretched him all the way. i really wanted to get off to a good start this time and i did and i could really play with confidence while he still looking for his rhythm federer said. that took me all the way through to 6-1 3-1 0-30 on his serve and i almost ran away with it. but he came back and that was a good effort on his side. ljubicic was at a loss to explain his poor showing in the first set. i didn t start badly but then suddenly i felt like my racket was loose and the balls were flying a little bit too much. and with roger if you relax for a second it just goes very quick he said. after those first three games it was no match at all. i don t know it was really weird. i was playing really well the whole year and then suddenly i found myself in trouble just to put the ball in the court. but despite his defeat the world number 14 was pleased with his overall performance. i had a chance in the third and for me it s really positive to twice in two weeks have a chance against roger to win the match. it s an absolutely great boost to my confidence that i m up there and belong with top-class players.,sport
730,1923,eu to probe alitalia state aid the european commission has officially launched an in-depth investigation into whether italian airline alitalia is receiving illegal state aid. commission officials are to look at rome s provision of a 400m euro ($495m; £275m) loan to the carrier. both the italian government and alitalia have repeatedly denied that the money - part of a vital restructuring plan - is state aid. the investigation could take up to 18 months. however transport commissioner jacques barrot said he wanted it to be carried out as swiftly as possible. the italian authorities have presented a serious industrial plan said mr barot. we now have to verify certain aspects to confirm that this plan contains no state aid. i would like our analysis to be completed swiftly. the matter of possible state aid was brought to the commission s attention by eight of alitalia s rivals including germany s lufthansa british airways and spain s iberia. while alitalia needs to restructure to bring itself back to profitability the rival carriers say it has both violated state aid rules and threatened competition. alitalia lost 330m euros in 2003 as it struggled to get to grips with high costs spiralling oil prices competition from budget carriers and reduced demand. it plans to split into az fly and az services which will handle air and ground services respectively. alitalia already enjoyed state aid in 1997. eu rules prevent that from happening again in what is known as the one time last time rule for airlines. otherwise eu regulations on state aid stipulate that governments may help companies financially but only on the same terms as a commercial investor. the airline declined to comment on the commission decision.,business
731,373,u2 to play at grammy awards show irish rock band u2 are to play live at the grammy awards presentation in the us next month organisers have said. other acts to play include soul singer alicia keys country singer tim mcgraw and punk band green day at the event on 13 february in los angeles. u2 are nominated twice for their recent single vertigo including a nomination for best rock song. this year the grammys have been dominated by rap star kanye west who is in contention for 10 awards. us comedian ellen degeneres and singer christine milian will present awards at the event. last week grammy producers announced the show will be hosted by rap star and chicago actress queen latifah. it will be held at the staples center. u2 had number one success in the album charts on both sides of the atlantic in november when their latest studio album how to dismantle an atomic bomb topped the us and uk charts. the band who are also dominated for best international album at this year s brit awards are to undertake a major world tour this year their first for four years.,entertainment
732,1704,sport betting rules in spotlight a group of mps and peers has called for a tightening of regulations controlling betting on sport. the parliamentary group on betting and gaming held a substantial inquiry into betting last year. it followed fears that a massive increase in betting on sport such as that done using the internet and mobile phones has led to more cheating. the all-party group recommended 15 ways to protect punters and improve the integrity of sports betting. they include a proposal for raising the maximum jail sentence for gambling cheats above the current two years. lord condon head of the international cricket council s anti-corruption unit who originally made the call for longer prison sentences said the two-year penalty was derisory . you could get a bigger sentence for failing to pay your hotel bill criminally than you could for corruption in major sports. symbolically a higher penalty perhaps as the bill passes through the two houses might be appropriate. the report recommended the governing bodies of sports have a say in the type of bets offered to punters and for bookmakers to set up audit trails - something the new betting exchanges already do - to allow suspicious betting patterns to be traced. lord faulkner of worcester who chaired the inquiry said: whilst we accept that the greater part of sports betting is neither corrupt nor unfair to punters the evidence convinces us that the growth of betting exchanges - because of the facility they provide to bet against a result - has increased the potential for corruption. it is important that the government works with sporting administrators to review the difficulties faced by governing bodies in convicting the guilty and penalising them appropriately. the panel s aim was to try to define what constitutes cheating assess how much might be going on and suggest what the government might do to put it right. as well as the growth of internet and mobile phone betting there has been the creation of betting exchanges which allow punters to fix odds between themselves. betting exchanges allow punters to back (to win) but also lay (to lose) a horse. this means they can control their odds at winning by placing their money both ways.,politics
733,206,alfa romeos to get gm engines fiat is to stop making six-cylinder petrol engines for its sporty alfa romeo subsidiary unions at the italian carmaker have said. the unions claim fiat is to close the fiat powertrain plant at arese near milan and instead source six-cylinder engines from general motors. fiat has yet to comment on the matter but the unions say the new engines will be made by gm in australia. the news comes a week after gm pulled out of an agreement to buy fiat. gm had to pay former partner fiat 1.55bn euros ($2bn; £1.1bn) to get out of a deal which could have forced it to buy the italian carmaker outright. fiat and gm also ended their five-year alliance and two joint ventures in engines and purchasing but did agree to continue buying each other s engines. powertrain told us today that alfa romeo engines will no longer be made in arese said union leader vincenzo lilliu as reported by the reuters news agency. the assembly line will be dismantled and the six-cylinder alfa romeo motor will be replaced with an engine gm produces in australia. reuters also said that mr lilliu and other union bosses shouted insults at fiat chairman luca di montezemolo following a meeting on tuesday regarding the future of the arese plant. the unions said the end of engine production at the facility would mean the loss of 800 jobs. all alfa romeo models can be bought with a six-cylinder engine - the 147 156 156 sportwagon 166 gtv gt and spider.,business
734,471,citizenship event for 18s touted citizenship ceremonies could be introduced for people celebrating their 18th birthday charles clarke has said. the idea will be tried as part of an overhaul of the way government approaches inclusive citizenship particularly for ethnic minorities. a pilot scheme based on ceremonies in australia will start in october. mr clarke said it would be a way of recognising young people reaching their voting age when they also gain greater independence from parents. britain s young black and asian people are to be encouraged to learn about the nation s heritage as part of the government s new race strategy which will also target specific issues within different ethnic minority groups. officials say the home secretary wants young people to feel they belong and to understand their other cultural identities alongside being british. the launch follows a row about the role of faith schools in britain. on monday school inspection chief david bell accused some islamic schools of failing to teach pupils about their obligations to british society. the muslim council of britain said ofsted boss mr bell s comments were highly irresponsible . the home office started work on its community cohesion and race equality strategy last year and the outcome launched on wednesday is called improving opportunity strengthening society . it is aimed at tackling racism exclusion segregation and the rise in political and religious extremism. it represents a move away from the one-size-fits-all approach to focus on specifics within cultural groups said a home office spokesman. it is not right to say that if you are from a black or ethnic minority group you must be disadvantaged. the spokesman highlighted specific issues that affect particular communities - for example people of south asian origin tend to suffer from a high incidence of heart disease. it is about drilling down and focusing on these sorts of problems the spokesman added. launching the initiative mr clarke said enormous progress had been made on race issues in recent years. he added: but while many members of black and minority ethnic communities are thriving some may still find it harder to succeed in employment or gain access to healthcare education or housing. this strategy sets out the government s commitment to doing more to identify and respond to the specific needs of minorities in our society. some 8% of the uk population described themselves as coming from a non-white ethnic minority in the 2001 census. the downing street strategy unit in 2003 said people from indian and chinese backgrounds were doing well on average often outperforming white people in education and earnings. but those of pakistani bangladeshi and black caribbean origin were significantly more likely to be unemployed and earn less than whites it said. the home office wants more initiatives which try to promote a sense of belonging by encouraging young people to take part in voluntary work. the programmes are designed to support the citizenship lessons already taking place in schools.,politics
