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cudicini misses carling cup final chelsea goalkeeper carlo cudicini will miss sunday s carling cup final after the club dropped their appeal against his red card against newcastle. the italian was sent off for bringing down shola ameobi in the final minute of sunday s match. blues boss jose mourinho had promised to pick cudicini for the final instead of first-choice keeper petr cech. the 31-year-old will now serve a one-match suspension commencing with immediate effect. cudicini kept a club record 24 clean sheets last season for chelsea but petr cech has established himself as first choice for mourinho since moving to stamford bridge in summer 2004. the 22-year-old czech republic international has set a new premiership record of 961 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal a mark which is still running. but mourinho has used cudicini regularly in the carling cup and the italian has only let in one goal in his four appearances during chelsea s run to the final.

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.

games maker fights for survival one of britain s largest independent game makers argonaut games has been put up for sale. the london-based company behind the harry potter games has sacked about 100 employees due to a severe cash crisis. the administrators told bbc news online that selling argonaut was the only way to save it as it had run out of cash. argonaut warned that it was low on cash 10 days ago when its shares were suspended from trading on the london stock exchange. argonaut has been making games for some 18 years and is one the largest independent games developers in the uk. along with its headquarters in north london it operates studios in cambridge and sheffield. argonaut was behind the harry potter games which provided a healthy flow of cash into the company. but like all software developers argonaut needed a constant flow of deals with publishers. signs that it was in trouble emerged in august when it warned it was heading for losses of £6m in the financial year due to delays in signing new contracts for games. those new deals were further delayed leading argonaut to warn in mid-october that it was running out of cash and suspend trading of its shares on the london stock exchange. as part of cost-cutting measures some 100 employees were fired. when the news about the £6m loss came out we knew there were going to be redundancies said jason parkinson one of the game developers sacked by argonaut. a lot of people suspected that argonaut had been in trouble for some time he told bbc news online. mr parkinson said staff were told the job losses were necessary to save argonaut from going under. at the start of the year the company employed 268 people. after the latest round of cuts there are 80 staff at argonaut headquarters in edgware in north london with 17 at its morpheme offices in kentish town london and 22 at the just add monsters base in cambridge. argonaut called in administrators david rubin & partners on friday to find a way to rescue the company from collapse. it spent the weekend going over the company s finances and concluded that the only way to save the business was to put it up for sale. the administrator told bbc news online that the costs of restructuing would be too high partly because of the overheads from the company s four premises across the uk. it said it was hopeful that it could save some 110 jobs by selling the business saying it had had expressions of interest from several quarters and were looking for a quick sale. the administrator said it would ensure that staff made redundant would receive any wages redundancy or holiday pay due to them hopefully by christmas.

mystery surrounds new yukos owner the fate of russia s yuganskneftegas - the oil firm sold to a little-known buyer on sunday - is the subject of frantic speculation in moscow. baikal finance group emerged as the auction winner agreeing to pay 260.75bn roubles (£4.8bn; $9.4bn). russia s newspapers claimed that baikal was a front for gas monopoly gazprom which had been expected to win. the sale has destroyed yukos once the owner of yuganskneftegas said founder mikhail khodorkovsky. yuganskneftegas has been sold in the best traditions of the 90s. the authorities have made themselves a wonderful christmas present - russia s most efficient oil company has been destroyed the interfax news agency quoted mr khodorkovsky as saying via his lawyers. gazprom had been expected to win the auction but is thought to have failed to get finance for the deal after a us court injunction barred it from taking part. last week yukos filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the us in a last-ditch attempt to hang on to yuganskneftegas which accounts for 60% of its output. a us judge banned gazprom from taking part in the auction and barred international banks from providing the firm with cash. they screwed up the financing said ronald smith an analyst at renaissance capital in moscow. and gazprom doesn t have this sort of money lying around. gazprom has denied that it is behind the purchase. it is a front for somebody but not necessarily for gazprom said oleg maximov an analyst at troika dialog in moscow. we don t know if this company is linked 100% to gazprom. we tried to find it but we couldn t and as far as i know the papers had the same result. the sale has however bought time for gazprom to raise the money needed for the purchase analysts said. one scenario is that baikal will not pay when it is supposed to in two weeks time putting yuganskneftegas back in the hands of bailiffs and back within the reach of gazprom. yukos is not planning on letting go of its unit without a fight and has threatened legal action against any buyer. menatep yukos main shareholders group has also threatened legal action. yukos claims that it is being punished for the political ambitions of its founder mikhail khodorkovsky who is now in jail facing separate fraud charges. it has been hit with more than $27bn in taxes and fines and many observers now say that the break up of the firm that accounts for 20% of russia s oil output is inevitable.

dj double act revamp chart show dj duo jk and joel are taking over bbc radio 1 s flagship chart show on sunday adding showbiz news celebrity interviews and between-song banter. they hope to boost ratings for the long-running show which has been overtaken in popularity by independent radio s hit 40 uk rundown. radio 1 s chart show is an institution and remains the station s single most popular show says jk also known as jason king. for years people have been tuning in at four o clock with their tape recorders ready to record their favourite tunes. not that i ever did that. but things have moved on a lot now so it was time for a change. that change involved ejecting previous host wes butters and relocating king and dj partner joel ross from their weekend afternoon radio 1 slot. the pair have worked together for a decade - meeting on viking radio in hull before moving to manchester station key 103 and winning two sony radio awards. they also presented gadget series playboyz and car show motor maniacs for cable tv channel granada men and motors and pure soap on bbc three. on the revamped chart show their cheeky laddish banter will punctuate star interviews and competitions film and dvd charts plus a look at future single releases in addition to the singles chart itself. the chart rundown is no longer the only point of the programme says ross. the show used to be the only way to discover who was in the top 40. now you can just click on the internet to find that out so the show has plenty of extra items too. the show s reduced reliance upon the top 40 also reflects the fact that music fans are now more likely to download songs in digital format rather than buy them on compact disc vinyl or cassette. i personally buy downloads rather than cd singles says 27-year-old ross. even my grandma can download songs now. jk is still struggling with the technology though. but it s premature for people to say that the singles chart is dead ross adds. while sales of singles on traditional formats are down interest in songs has been revived by download sales which will be incorporated into our main chart rundown from april. music fans still want to know what is the most popular song of the week. ross will be plumping for chart success from rapper verbalicious and the stereophonics on sunday while king is more of an r&b and dance music fan. so listeners will get the advantage of both our music tastes says king 30 who describes outgoing host butters as an extremely professional and competent broadcaster . the advantage joel and i have is that we re a double act with a rapport between us that makes the show much more interactive king says. wes has a great broadcasting career ahead of him. and if not i could always use a cleaner he jokes. ross says the pair have done their best to ignore the weight of expectation placed upon the revamped show. other people can worry about that we are going to continue doing what we do well he says. at the end of the day this is a radio show that is meant to be entertaining. nobody died.

stars pay tribute to actor davis hollywood stars including spike lee burt reynolds and oscar nominee alan alda have paid tribute to actor ossie davis at a funeral in new york. veteran star ossie davis a well-known civil rights activist died in miami at the age of 87 on 4 february 2005. friends and family including actress ruby dee his wife of 56 years gathered at the riverside church on saturday. also present at the service was former us president bill clinton and singer harry belafonte who gave the eulogy. he would have been a very good president of the united states said mr clinton. like most of you here he gave more to me than i gave to him. the 87-year-old was found dead last weekend in his hotel room in florida where he was making a film. police said that he appeared to have died of natural causes. davis made his acting debut in 1950 in no way out starring sidney poiter. he frequently collaborated with director spike lee starring in seven lee films including jungle fever do the right thing and malcolm x. attallah shabazz the daughter of activist malcolm x recalled the famous eulogy delivered by davis at her father s funeral. harlem has come to bid farewell to one of its finest hopes she said quoting the man she knew as uncle ossie. ditto. ossie was my hero and he still is said aviator star alan alda a family friend for over forty years. ossie was a thing of beauty. i want so badly someday to have his dignity - a little of it anyway added burt reynolds davis s co-star in the 90s tv comedy evening shade. before the midday funeral scores of harlem residents formed a queue outside the church to pay their respects to davis. it is hard to fathom that we will no longer be able to call on his wisdom his humour his loyalty and his moral strength to guide us in the choices that are yet to be made and the battles that are yet to be fought said belafonte himself an ardent civil rights activist who had been friends with davis for over 60 years. but how fortunate we were to have him as long as we did.

steel firm to cut 45 000 jobs mittal steel one of the world s largest steel producers could cut up to 45 000 jobs over the next five years its chief executive has said. the netherlands-based company is due to complete its $4.5bn acquisition of us firm isg next month making it one of the largest global firms of its kind. however lakshmi mittal has told investors the combined company will have to shed thousands of jobs. the indian-born magnate did not say where the job losses would fall. mr mittal told us investors that once the acquisition of international steel group was completed the company would aim to reduce its workforce by between 7 000 and 8 000 annually. this could see its workforce trimmed from 155 000 to 110 000 staff by 2010. we are investing in modernisation so employees will go down mr mittal told the conference in chicago. mittal steel was formed last year when mr mittal s lnm holdings merged with dutch firm ispat. a combination of mittal steel and isg would have annual sales of $32bn (£16.7bn; 24.1bn euros) and a production capacity of 70 million tonnes. a mittal steel spokeman said that no decisions on job cuts have been made yet. we are trying to create a sustainable steel industry and if we want to do that we have to invest in new technology a spokesman said. mittal steel has operations in 14 countries. many of its businesses - particularly those in eastern europe - were previously state owned and have huge workforces. it employs 50 000 staff in kazakhstan alone and has large operations in romania the czech republic south africa and the united states.

us budget deficit to reach $368bn the us budget deficit is set to hit a worse-than-expected $368bn (£197bn) this year officials said on tuesday. the cost of military operations still needs to be factored in with analysts saying the deficit could end up a further $100bn in the red. past congressional budget office (cbo) forecasts said there would be a $348bn shortfall in the 2005 fiscal year. in recent months the dollar has weakened amid market jitters about the size of the budget and trade deficits. in november the gap between us exports and imports widened to more than $60bn a record figure. the cbo says it envisages a further orderly decline in the greenback over the next two years as the twin deficit drives dollar investors away. but the non-partisan fiscal watchdog notes the declines will help exporters and boost us economic growth. the budget deficit hit a record $412bn in the 12 months to 30 september 2004 after reaching $377bn in the previous fiscal year. the cbo also forecast a total shortfall of $855bn for the years from 2006 to 2015 an improvement on previous projections. however analysts say the new figures fail to take into account the potential $2-$3.8 trillion costs of the president s plan to revamp state pensions and extend tax cuts. the figure could also be worsened by any further military costs. republicans have blamed the size of the deficit on slow economic conditions after the 11 september attacks and ongoing military operations in iraq and afghanistan. one of president george w bush s election pledges was to halve the budget deficit within five years. but democrats have accused the president of excluding iraq-related costs from previous budgets to meet the aim of reducing the deficit a charge which the administration denies. on tuesday the us administration asked congress for additional funds for military operations.

spam e-mails tempt net shoppers computer users across the world continue to ignore security warnings about spam e-mails and are being lured into buying goods a report suggests. more than a quarter have bought software through spam e-mails and 24% have bought clothes or jewellery. as well as profiting from selling goods or services and driving advertising traffic organised crime rings can use spam to glean personal information. the business software alliance (bsa) warned that people should stay alert . many online consumers don t consider the true motives of spammers said mike newton a spokesperson for the bsa which commissioned the survey. by selling software that appears to be legitimate in genuine looking packaging or through sophisticated websites spammers are hiding spyware without consumers knowledge. once the software is installed on pcs and networks information that is given over the internet can be obtained and abused. the results also showed that the proportion of people reading - or admitting to reading - and taking advantage of adult entertainment spam e-mails is low at one in 10. the research which covered 6 000 people in six countries and their attitudes towards junk e-mails revealed that brazilians were the most likely to read spam. a third of them read unsolicited junk e-mail and 66% buy goods or services after receiving spam. the french were the second most likely to buy something (48%) with 44% of britons taking advantage of products and services. this was despite 38% of people in all countries being worried about their net security because of the amount of spam they get. more than a third of respondents said they were concerned that spam e-mails contained viruses or programs that attempted to collect personal information. both industry and the media have helped to raise awareness of the issues that surround illegitimate e-mail helping to reduce the potential financial damage and nuisance from phishing attacks and spoof websites said william plante director of corporate security and fraud protection at security firm symantec. at the same time consumers need to continue exercising caution and protect themselves from harm with a mixture of spam filters spyware detection software and sound judgement.

india calls for fair trade rules india which attends the g7 meeting of seven leading industrialised nations on friday is unlikely to be cowed by its newcomer status. in london on thursday ahead of the meeting india s finance minister lashed out at the restrictive trade policies of the g7 nations. he objected to subsidies on agriculture that make it hard for developing nations like india to compete. he also called for reform of the united nations the world bank and the imf. palaniappan chidambaram india s finance minister argued that these organisations need to take into account the changing world order given india and china s integration into the global economy. he said the issue is not globalisation but the terms of engagement in globalisation. mr chidambaram is attending the g7 meeting as part of the g20 group of nations which account for two thirds of the world s population. at a conference on developing enterprise hosted by uk finance minister gordon brown on friday he said that he was in favour of floating exchange rates because they help countries cope with economic shocks. a flexible exchange rate is one more channel for absorbing both positive and negative shocks he told the conference. india along with china brazil south africa and russia has been invited to take part in the g7 meeting taking place in london on friday and saturday. china is expected to face renewed pressure to abandon its fixed exchange rate which g7 nations in particular the us have blamed for a surge in cheap chinese exports. some countries have tried to use fixed exchange rates. i do not wish to make any judgements mr chidambaram said. separately the imf warned on thursday that india s budget deficit was too large and would hamper the country s economic growth which it forecast to be around 6.5% in the year to march 2005. in the year to march 2004 the indian economy grew by 8.5%.

talks aim to avert pension strike talks aimed at averting a series of national strikes over pensions reforms will take place this weekend. five public sector unions will hold private talks with deputy prime minister john prescott at labour s spring conference in gateshead. they want the government to withdraw regulations - due to be introduced in weeks - which would raise the pension age for council workers from 60 to 65. up to 1.4m workers could take part in a strike already earmarked for 23 march. however all sides are anxious to avoid a major confrontation in the run up to the general election said bbc labour affairs correspondent stephen cape. in four days britain s biggest union unison will start balloting 800 000 local government workers on strikes. other public sector unions have pledged to follow. it is just weeks before new regulations are introduced to raise the pension age of local government workers. the five unions meeting mr prescott want the government to withdraw these regulations. this would allow months of tough negotiations to follow said our correspondent. but a spokesman for mr prescott warned that the changes to the local government pension scheme would have to go ahead in april. privately ministers believe this will be the less painful option our correspondent added. the public and commercial services union (pcs) will co-ordinate any industrial action with up to six other public sector unions. pcs leader mark serwotka warned last week that there could be further walkouts unless there was a government rethink. for a government that lectures everyone on choice - choice on public service choice on this and choice on that - isn t it ironic that they re saying to public sector workers there is no choice he said. if you want the pension you were promised when you started you must work for an extra five years - that is working until people drop. in the 20th century it s completely unacceptable. unison s 800 000 workers the transport and general workers union s 70 000 and amicus 20 000 are among those being balloted about a 23 march walkout. mr prescott held a private meeting with senior union figures last week. it is understood no deal was offered in that meeting but there was room for further negotiations.

lacroix label bought by us firm luxury goods group lvmh has sold its loss-making christian lacroix clothing label to a us investment group. the paris-based firm has been shedding non-core businesses and focusing on its most profitable brands including moet & chandon champagne and louis vuitton. lvmh said the french designer s haute couture and ready-to-wear labels had been purchased by the falic group for an unspecified sum. the falic group bought two cosmetics labels from lvmh in 2003. the sale of the lacroix label comes as many fashion houses are struggling to make money from their expensive haute couture ranges. the florida-based falic group which also runs a chain of 90 duty free stores in the us said it planned to expand the brand by opening new stores. mr lacroix said he planned to stay at the label he founded in 1987 although exact details are still to be confirmed.

hotspot users gain free net calls people using wireless net hotspots will soon be able to make free phone calls as well as surf the net. wireless provider broadreach and net telephony firm skype are rolling out a service at 350 hotspots around the uk this week. users will need a skype account - downloadable for free - and they will then be able to make net calls via wi-fi without paying for net access. skype allows people to make free pc-based calls to other skype users. users of the system can also make calls to landlines and mobiles for a fee. the system is gaining in popularity and now has 28 million users around the world. its paid service - dubbed skype out - has so far attracted 940 000 users. it plans to add more paid services with forthcoming launches of video conferencing voice mail and skype in a service which would allow users to receive phone calls from landlines and mobiles. london-based software developer connectotel has unveiled software that will expand the sms functions of skype allowing users to send text messages to mobile phones from the service. broadreach networks has around two million users and hotspots in places such as virgin megastores the travelodge chain of hotels and all london s major rail terminals. the company is due to launch wi-fi on virgin trains later in the year. skype s success at spreading the world about internet telephony is well-known and we are delighted to be offering free access to skype users in our hotspots commented broadreach chief executive magnus mcewen-king.

wenger rules out new keeper arsenal boss arsene wenger says he has no plans to sign a new goalkeeper during the january transfer window. wenger has brought in manuel almunia for the last three games for the out-of-form jens lehmann - but the spaniard himself has been prone to mistakes. there have been suggestions that wenger will swoop for a high-quality shot-stopper in the new year. but he told the evening standard: i don t feel it will be necessary to bring in a new goalkeeper in january. the gunners manager refused to comment on the difficult start that 27-year-old almunia has made to his career at highbury. and he would not be drawn on whether lehmann would return for the top-of-the table clash with chelsea on sunday. almunia was at fault for rosenborg s goal in arsenal s 5-1 champions league win on tuesday and had some hairy moments in last week s win over birmingham. but wenger said earlier this week that his indifferent form was down to pressure caused by being under scrutiny from the media. the debate has gone on too long. everyone has an opinion and i do not have to add to it wenger added. arsenal have been linked with middlesbrough keeper mark schwarzer fulham s edwin van der sar and parma s sebastien frey. and wenger has no immediate plans to recall former england under-21 international stuart taylor from his loan spell at leicester.

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.

volcano drama erupts on bbc one supervolcano a docu-drama about a volcanic eruption in yellowstone national park in the us is among the highlights on the bbc one this winter. the £178m winter schedule also includes the return of doctor who and a drama about angela cannings who was wrongly convicted of killing two of her babies. sarah lancashire and timothy spall will star in the real-life drama cherished. itv also unveiled their festive season on tuesday which includes stephen fry in a remake of tom brown s schooldays. supervolcano follows in the footsteps of last year s pompei which drew 10 million viewers to bbc one in october 2003. the programme merges science drama and computer imagery to reveal what could happen if yellowstone - home to the only currently active supervolcano in the world - were to erupt again. bbc two will run a two-part documentary the science behind supervolcano in conjunction with the transmission. other educational highlights include a documentary about infamous mongolian warrior genghis khan and grandchild of the holocaust. grandchild of the holocaust part of the bbc commitment to holocaust memorial day follows adrian 13 on a journey to uncover the truth about what happened to his grandmother in auschwitz and belsen. new drama includes archangel an adaptation of the robert harris best-seller which stars daniel craig on the trail of stalin s diaries in communist russia. and sarah waters gets her second adaptation on bbc one with imelda staunton and charles dance lined up to star in fingersmith. the adaptation about a conman in victorian england will make an interesting contrast to julie burchill s sugar rush - a lesbian teenage drama part of channel four s winter season. on a lighter note jessica stevenson will star in new bbc one sitcom the world according to bex penned by my family creator fred barron and the two ronnies return for a celebration of their classic comedy series. fry s portrayal of headmaster dr arnold dominates a muted christmas schedule on itv1 which sees the channel retreat from broadcasting blockbuster movies in favour of extended soap episodes and popular quiz shows. sir paul mccartney wife heather mills and manchester united manager sir alex ferguson will join a celebrity edition of who wants to be a millionaire on christmas day. also on christmas day john nettles will return in a one-off edition of midsomer murders while two episodes of the new miss marple drama will air over the festive period. films on itv1 include gus van sant s finding forrester starring sean connery and classics such a mary poppins star wars and the good the bad and the ugly. in contrast bbc s christmas season includes terrestrial debuts of the first harry potter film shrek and steven spielberg s ai as well as new epipsodes of the vicar of dibley and the final auf wiedersehen pet.

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.

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 private magnetic bubble around the user which is picked up by the headset. the range is only about one metre so it is only suitable for personal use. a single aaa battery is said to last up to 30 hours. creative expects it to hit the market in its final form later this year. even clothing is likely to be part of the convergence trend. adidas has a trainer which according to susanne risse from the company can sense understand and adapt to your running style . it has a battery processor and motor embedded in the sole. buttons on the side allow you to set the amount of cushioning you would like by adjusting the tension on a cable running through the heel. the processor then monitors the surface you are running on and adjusts the tension accordingly. it is being billed as the world s first intelligent shoe .

worldcom director ends evidence the former chief financial officer at us telecoms firm worldcom has finished giving evidence at the trial of his ex-boss bernie ebbers. scott sullivan admitted to jurors he was willing to commit fraud to meet wall street earnings projections. mr ebbers is on trial for fraud and conspiracy in relation to worldcom s collapse in 2002. he pleads not guilty. mr sullivan has spent two days being cross-examined by lawyers for former worldcom chief executive mr ebbers. attorney reid weingarten has attempted to portray mr sullivan as a liar and on thursday quizzed him about his decision to commit fraud to meet analysts profit estimates. at that point in time mr sullivan said referring to the first false entries in late 2000 i knew it was wrong and i knew it was against the law but i thought we would get through it in the short term. mr sullivan 42 has already pleaded guilty to fraud and will be sentenced following mr ebbers trial where he is appearing as a prosecution witness. mr ebbers 63 has always insisted that he was unaware of any hidden shortfalls in worldcom s finances. the former finance officer said mr ebbers knew about the improper accounting entries that were made between 2000 and 2002 to conceal soaring expenses and inflate revenue. mr ebbers could face a sentence of 85 years if convicted of all the charges he is facing. worldcom s problems appear to have begun with the collapse of the dotcom boom which cut its business from internet companies. prosecutors allege that the company s top executives responded by orchestrating massive fraud over a two-year period. worldcom emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2004 and is now known as mci. on monday mci agreed to a buyout by verizon communications in a deal valued at $6.75bn.

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.

rocker doherty in on-stage fight rock singer pete doherty has been involved in a fight with his band s guitarist at their biggest gig to date. babyshambles played for 5 000 fans at london s brixton academy on tuesday. the former libertines singer traded blows with guitarist patrick walden. they were separated and bundled off stage before returning to end the set. the show was earlier held up due to audience overcrowding. on monday doherty faced blackmail and robbery charges in court which he denies. he is out on £50 000 bail and the judge agreed to extend his 2200 gmt curfew deadline by two hours so he could play the brixton gig. babyshambles which he formed after his acrimonious departure from the libertines played a warm-up show at the garage north london on monday. on tuesday doherty and his three bandmates were introduced to the crowd by mick jones the former clash guitarist who produced the libertines second album. babyshambles took the stage to a frenzied reception at 2200 gmt launching into their last single killamangiro which reached number eight in december. but the group had to stop during the next song to persuade fans not to push forward and allow security guards to pull people out of the crush. doherty appealed to fans to calm down saying: there s a few people getting hurt down the front you ve got to move back. the music resumed minutes later but after several more songs the singer appeared to accidentally disconnect walden s guitar leading the pair to trade kicks and punches. bouncers stepped in and the band left the stage but returned after five minutes and finished their 50-minute performance with no further trouble. doherty 25 had to be home by midnight to observe the curfew which is one of the conditions of his bail. on monday the judge agreed to allow him to perform on condition that requests for changes to his bail terms were not too regular an occurrence . the singer was arrested with fellow musician alan wass on 2 february after an alleged dispute with documentary-maker max carlish at a london hotel. they are next due in court on 18 april.

brazil plays down varig rescue the brazilian government has played down claims that it could step in to save the country s biggest airline. brazil s airport authority chief carlos wilson had claimed the government was on the brink of stepping in to save varig brazil s flagship airline. however the country s vice president jose alencar has said the government still is looking for a solution. varig is struggling under a huge debt burden of an estimated debt of 6.5 billion reais ($2.3bn or £1.2bn). asked whether a rescue was on the cards following a meeting of the country s congress to discuss the airline s crisis mr alencar replied: no i don t think so. we will see. earlier mr wilson had said that president luiz inacio lula da silva has decided to step in and a decree of some kind of intervention could be signed this week. in practice it will be an intervention although this is not the technical name used he said. an intervention means that the government would take administrative control of the company and its finances. for that to happen varig s main shareholder the non-profit ruben berta foundation which represents the airline s employees would have to be removed mr wilson said. however no jobs would be lost and the airline would keep on flying he added. varig which operates in 18 countries apart from brazil has been driven to the brink of collapse because of the country s economic downturn. the depreciation of brazil s currency has had a direct impact on the airline s dollar debt as well as some of its costs. business has improved recently with demand for air travel increasing and a recovery in the brazilian economy. the airline could also win a sizeable windfall from a compensation claim against the government. on tuesday the courts awarded varig 2bn reais ($725m) after ruling in favour of its compensation claim against the government for freezing tariffs from 1985 to 1992. but the government can appeal the decision.

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 .

xbox power cable fire fear microsoft has said it will replace more than 14 million power cables for its xbox consoles due to safety concerns. the company said the move was a preventative step after reports of fire hazard problems with the cables. it affects xboxes made before 23 october 2003 for all regions but mainland europe - and consoles in that region made before 13 january 2004. microsoft said it had received 30 reports of minor injury or property damage due to faulty cables. the firm said fewer than one in 10 000 consoles had experienced component failures. the recall affects almost three quarters of all xboxes sold around the world since its launch in 2001. in a statement it added: in almost all instances any damage caused by these failures was contained within the console itself or limited to the tip of the power cord at the back of the console. but in seven cases customers reported sustaining a minor burn to their hand. in 23 cases customers reported smoke damage or minor damage to a carpet or entertainment centre. this is a preventative step we re choosing to take despite the rarity of these incidents said robbie bach senior vice president microsoft home and entertainment division. we regret the inconvenience but believe offering consumers a free replacement cord is the responsible thing to do. consumers can order a new cable from the xbox website or by telephoning 0800 028 9276 in the uk. microsoft said customers would get replacement cords within two to four weeks from the time of order. it advised users to turn off their xboxes when not in use. a follow-up to xbox is expected to released at the end of this year or the beginning of 2006.

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.

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.

ad firm wpp s profits surge 15% uk advertising giant wpp has posted larger-than-expected annual profits and predicted that it will outperform the market in 2005. pre-tax profits rose 15% from a year ago to reach £546m ($1.04bn) ahead of average analysts forecasts of £532m. revenues were £4.3bn while the firm s operating margins were 14.1% which it said could reach 14.8% by 2006. during the year wpp bought us rival grey global creating a giant big enough to rival sector leader omnicom. chief executive martin sorrell on friday told reuters news agency that wpp had submitted a proposal for united business media s nop world market research unit. analysts say the unit sell could sell for up to £350m. wpp in recent years has also bought firms such as ogilvy & mather and cordiant communications. it also includes the firms young & rubicam and j walter thompson. events such as the olympics helped boost wpp s profits in 2004. the company said the us congressional elections and the fifa world cup are likely to present advertising opportunities in the near future. the long-term outlook looks very favourable because of media and technology developments and the strength of the us economy wpp said.

new browser wins over net surfers the proportion of surfers using microsoft s internet explorer (ie) has dropped to below 90% say web analysts. net traffic monitor onestat.com has reported that the open-source browser firefox 1.0 released on 9 november seems to be drawing users away from ie. while ie s market share has dropped 5% since may to 88.9% mozilla browsers - including firefox - have grown by 5%. firefox is made by the mozilla foundation which was set up by former browser maker netscape in 1998. although there have been other preview versions of firefox version 1.0 was the first complete official program. it seems that people are switching from microsoft s internet explorer to mozilla s new firefox browser said niels brinkman co-founder of amsterdam-based onestat.com. mozilla browsers - including firefox 1.0 - now have 7.4% of the market share the figures suggest. mozilla said that more than five million have downloaded the free software since its official release. supporters of the open-source software in the us managed to raise $250 000 (£133 000) to advertise the release of firefox 1.0 in the new york times and support the mozilla foundation. there was a flurry of downloads on its first day of release. the figures echo similar research from net analyst websidestory which suggested that ie had 92.9% of users in october compared to 95.5% in june. microsoft ie has dominated the browser market for some time after taking the crown from netscape and its share of users has always stayed at around the 95% mark. firefox is attractive to many because it is open-source. that means people are free to adapt the software s core code to create other innovative features like add-ons or extensions to the program. fewer security holes have also been discovered so far in firefox than in ie. paul randle microsoft windows client product manager responded to the figures: we certainly respect that some customers will choose alternative browsers and that choosing a browser is about more than a handful of features. microsoft continues to make significant investments in ie including service pack 2 with advanced security technologies and continues to encourage a vibrant ecosystem of third party add-ons for internet explorer. firefox wants to capture 10% of the market by the end of 2005. other browser software like opera and apple s safari are also challenging microsoft s grip on the browser market. opera is set to release its version 7.60 by the end of the year. onestat.com compiled the statistical measurements from two million net users in 100 countries.

british stars denied major oscars british hopes of winning major oscars were dashed as uk stars failed to win acting and directing prizes. despite three nominations mike leigh s vera drake failed to take the director or screenplay awards and there was no prize for star imelda staunton. kate winslet also lost to best actress hilary swank while clive owen and sophie okonedo failed to win best supporting actor awards. the uk s andrea arnold won the short film award for her gritty drama wasp. arnold who presented children s television shows number 73 and motormouth in the 1980s said it was totally overwhelming to win. wasp tells the story of a single mother living on the breadline beating films by fellow uk nominees gary mckendry and ashvin kumar. everyone worked extremely hard - they know who they are arnold said as she accepted the prize. the beers are on me when we get home. earlier british costume designer sandy powell won the oscar for the aviator beating finding neverland s uk designer alexandra byrne in the process. i m very thrilled for the film and all the people who worked with me said ms powell. hopefully i ll be staying up to celebrate - i ve been sick for three days and want to make it through the night. the british visual effects team behind harry potter and the prisoner of azkaban were less fortunate however losing the oscar in that category to spider-man 2. before sunday s ceremony owen was bookmakers favourite for his role in romantic drama closer that had already clinched him a golden globe award. it was the first time actress okonedo had been shortlisted chosen for her performance in hotel rwanda about the 1994 rwandan genocide. it was also a debut nomination for staunton 49 who played abortionist vera drake in mike leigh s film. leigh had previously received three oscar nominations for secrets and lies and topsy turvy. winslet said she was ecstatic about the fourth oscar nomination of her career this time for her lead role in eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. among other british talent nominated for oscars composer andrew lloyd webber and lyricist charles hart were nominated for best original song for learn to be lonely from the phantom of the opera movie. that award was won by al otro lado del rio from the motorcycle diaries. cinematographer john mathieson who was nominated for gladiator in 2001 was also up for the phantom of the opera but lost to the aviator. finding neverland garnered another nomination for british talent with gemma jackson shortlisted for the art direction prize. she lost in that category to the aviator. a spokesman for the uk film council said: it is disappointing not to have more british winners. he added: it was extraordinary to have 24 british nominees in the initial list of nominees.

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.

shark tale dvd is us best-seller oscar-nominated animation shark tale has raked in $80m (£42.4m) in the first week of its us dvd release becoming the year s best-selling home video so far. the tally for its dvd and video sales soared past the film s opening week us box office takings of $56m (£29.7m). shark tale is now the sixth-highest earning dvd for first week sales. the all-time first-week record is held by 1995 s lion king followed by shrek 2 finding nemo the original shrek and monster s inc. shark tale whose voice cast includes will smith robert de niro renee zellweger and martin scorsese sold more than 6 million dvds and videos across the united states and canada. it becomes the highest first-week earner for february outshining my big fat greek wedding which sold four million units in 2003. films which are expected to earn strong home video returns are usually timed for release in the busiest retail season which falls before christmas. the best-selling home video of last year was the dreamworks hit shrek 2 which took an estimated $458 m (£242.7m) in north america alone.

burglar defence guidelines issued householders who injure or even kill intruders are unlikely to be prosecuted - providing they were acting honestly and instinctively new guidelines say. the law also protects those who use something to hand as a weapon. the leaflet published by police and prosecutors aims to combat confusion about current legislation which lets people use reasonable force . the guidance relating to england and wales follows a recent decision by ministers not to change the law. doing what you honestly and instinctively believed was necessary would be the strongest evidence of acting lawfully the guidance said. and the law protects those who use something to hand as a weapon said the leaflet published jointly by the crown prosecution service (cps) and association of chief police officers (acpo). as a general rule the more extreme the circumstances and fear felt the more force can be used lawfully in self-defence it said adding that householders do not have to wait to be attacked before defending themselves. but knocking someone unconscious then killing them or hurting them further or setting a trap for an intruder without involving the police were given as examples of excessive and gratuitous force. the tories have called for a change in the law so householders are only prosecuted if they use grossly disproportionate force. their demands have been backed by former metropolitan police commissioner sir john stevens. tory frontbencher patrick mercer is now pursuing the proposal through a private member s bill in parliament. the government instead mounted a publicity campaign to clear up public uncertainty after a review concluded no law change was necessary. home secretary charles clarke said: i believe in that old adage an englishman s home is his castle . that s exactly what should be the case and i believe the current law provides that. an informal trawl of cps records found 11 people had been prosecuted after attacking intruders in the past 15 years five of whom were convicted. they included a man who laid in wait for a burglar on commercial premises in cheshire before beating him up throwing him into a pit and setting him on fire. a cps spokesperson said the figures were not definitive because prosecutions are not listed according to whether they were committed by a householder on an intruder. in one of britain s highest profile cases norfolk farmer tony martin was jailed for life for murdering 16-year-old burglar fred barras in 1999. the conviction was later reduced to manslaughter on appeal and the sentence cut to five years. mr martin was freed from prison in july 2003. the guidance published on tuesday said the police had a duty to investigate all incidents involving a death or injury. in cases involving householders attacking intruders prosecutors and police were determined they would be dealt with as swiftly and as sympathetically as possible it said.

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.

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.

hearts of oak 3-2 cotonsport hearts of oak set up an all ghanaian confederation cup final with a 3-2 win over cameroon s cotonsport garoua in accra on sunday. the win for hearts means they will play asante kotoko in the two-leg final after the kumasi team qualified from group a on saturday. in the other group b game cameroon s beat of south africa 3-2 in douala neither side could have qualified for the final. hearts of oak started the game needing a win to qualify for the final while cotonsport only needed to avoid defeat to go through. louis agyemang scored the first two goals for hearts either side of half time before ben don bortey scored the third. hearts looked set for a comfortable win but cotonsport staged a late fight back scoring twice late on. first of all boukar makaji scored in the 89th minute and then 3 minutes into injury time at the end of the game andre nzame iii was on target. but it was too little too late for the cameroonians and hearts held on to win the game and a place in the final. the first leg of the final will be played in accra on the weekend of 27-28 november and the second leg two weeks later on the 11 december in kumasi. in the other group b game cameroon s sable batie took the lead in the 35th minute through kemadjou before santos equalised on the hour mark thanks to thokozani xaba . bernard ngom put sable ahead just five minutes later and then ernest nfor settled the game on 68 minutes. ruben cloete scored the south african sides consolation with just three minutes left on the clock.

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.

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.

bbc leads interactive bafta wins the bbc and the national theatre have led the field at this year s interactive bafta awards. the national theatre s stagework website picked up the prize for best learning as well as top factual site. the bbc collected three awards including best online entertainment for the hitchhiker s guide to the galaxy adventure game. spooks interactive took the best interactive tv prize. the annual awards recognise the best in digital media. bbc sport interactive fought off competition from cbbc newsround and the guardian to take home the best news and sport trophy for its coverage of england s exit from euro 2004. it was recognised for its groundbreaking use of animation. bafta s grant dean chair of bafta s interactive entertainment committee said all the entrants had been of outstanding quality and that judging had been enormously difficult . without a doubt 2005 has been a landmark year for the bafta interactive awards he added. many of the top awards this year have gone to the companies we most commonly associate with traditional entertainment showing how the gap between new media film and television is closing. awards were given out in 12 different categories including interactive tv film music design as well as technical and social innovation at a london ceremony. the top music award was given to sseyo minimixa a mobile music sequencer designed to let people write edit and share compositions. warner bros was given two prizes for its inspiring efforts in film and dvd interactivity. the chaplin collection beat oasis really bend it like beckham shaun of the dead and the day today in the dvd category and trauma won best film. elsewhere fashionista and clothes designer alexander mcqueen took the accolade for the best-designed website. the awards have been running since 1997 but in 2002 the british academy of film and television decided to split them into separate games and interactive ceremonies. on tuesday half-life 2 dominated the games prizes. it collected six baftas including best game and best online game.

tories plan migrant health checks non-european union citizens wanting to work in the uk will have to undergo tests for tuberculosis and hiv under plans unveiled by the conservatives. a positive test for tb would mean visa applications being turned down while hiv would be dealt with case by case. leader michael howard said the checks on new arrivals would help protect public health and the nhs. labour said many tests were already done. the lib dems warned both parties against pandering to prejudice . the proposals which would be brought in if the conservatives won the general election would not apply to people coming to the uk for less than six months unless they intended to work in health or childcare or teaching. mr howard said the plans were based on policies already in action in canada new zealand and australia. it s very important that we should safeguard the good standards of public health that britain enjoys he told bbc radio 4 s today programme. government figures suggest tb in england has increased by 25% over the past 10 years. nearly two thirds of people with tb are born abroad said mr howard. i don t think a responsible government can stand aside and do nothing in the face of this problem. but mr howard said the plans would not affect asylum applicants claims. the proposals include: - people coming to the uk from outside the eu for between six and 12 months from a high incidence tb country will have to undergo a chest x-ray. - people coming to settle in the uk permanently from outside the eu will have to demonstrate they have an acceptable standard of health . - they will also have to show they are unlikely to be a danger to public health and are unlikely to impose significant costs or demands on the nhs. - the tests will include a health check chest x-rays for tb (except for children and pregnant women) and tests for hepatitis and hiv for over 16-year-olds. only the discovery of tb will mean people will be automatically denied a visa other conditions will be dealt with on a case by case basis . there is already some screening in place. last year 185 000 people were tested for tb at heathrow and gatwick airports only about 200 were found to be infected. and dr john moore-gillon of the british lung foundation said: tb is not simply imported we are seeing a rise in many sections of the uk-born population as well. the government says the tories are a bit late to the issue. immigration minister des browne quoted its five-year plan for immigration and asylum as saying: we are implementing our existing powers by targeted health screening for tb in high-risk areas at the entry clearance stage. those who are diagnosed would then need to seek treatment at home before being allowed to enter the uk. meanwhile mark oaten liberal democrat home affairs spokesman said: this is another worrying step in the war of words over asylum and immigration between labour and the conservatives. michael howard knows perfectly well what bigger game he is playing and history proves it is a very dangerous one. lisa power head of policy at aids charity the terrence higgins trust said the policy was prejudice-based rather than evidence-based. in fact it would be more likely to drive people with health conditions to falsify tests while others gain entry by simple dint of their eu status she said.

uk broadband gets speed injection broadband s rapid rise continues apace as speeds gear up a notch. an eight megabit service has been launched by internet service provider uk online. it is 16 times faster than the average broadband package on the market and will pave the way for services such as video-on-demand and broadband tv. the service is possible due to a new regime which allows other operators to use bt s exchanges and will initially only be available in towns. it represents a big leap forward for broadband said chris stening uk online general manager. the service comes with a hefty £39.99 monthly price tag but will mean users can download mp3s in seconds and offers tv-quality video streaming. the service includes wifi as standard meaning users can connect multiple pcs laptops and game consoles from any room in the house. not everybody will be able to take advantage of the service as it will be restricted to metropolitan areas. the service will initially be available to users within 2km radius of 230 telephone exchanges in areas such as london birmingham glasgow and cambridge. that represents about 4.4 million households. the service is possible due to a decision to loosen bt s strangle-hold on telephone exchanges. the process known as local loop unbundling was put in motion by the now defunct telecoms watchdog oftel but has only proved popular in recent months due to falling costs. uk online is looking at the possibility of bundling services such as cheap net telephone calls video-on-demand and tv by 2005 if the service proves popular. the service is twice as fast as any other service on offer in the uk and 16 times faster than most broadband services said mr stening. it takes a big leap for broadband and we are very excited about it he said. countries such as south korea and france have found the advantage of upping the speeds of broadband. in south korea video-on-demand over the net is cheaper than renting a dvd and online gaming is huge. mr stening believes the service will appeal to people in multi-occupancy buildings as well as easing family arguments. a typical family with two adults and two children is currently sharing a 512 kilobit service. this will basically give them 2 megabits each he said.

us top of supercomputing charts the us has pushed 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 under the us department of energy. ibm test results show that blue gene/l has managed speeds of 70.72 teraflops. the previous top machine japan s nec earth simulator clocked up 35.86. the top 500 list was announced on monday and 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. once completed in 2005 blue gene/l will be more powerful than its current prototype. next year with the final blue gene four times what it is this year it is going to be a real step up and will be hard to beat said erich strohmaier one of the co-founders of the top500 list. it 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. it will also cut down on the amount of heat generated by the massive power a big problem for supercomputers. in second place was silicon graphics columbia supercomputer based at the us space agency s (nasa) ames research center in california. the linux-based machine was reported to have reached a top speed of 42.7 trillion calculations per second (teraflops) in october. it will be used to model flight missions climate research and aerospace engineering. the defeated japanese contender the earth simulator which was listed in third place losing the top spot it had held since june 2002. it is dedicated to climate modelling and simulating seismic activity. since the first supercomputer the cray-1 was installed at los alamos national laboratory us in 1976 computational speed has leaped 500 000 times. the cray-1 was capable of 80 megaflops (80 million operations a second). the blue gene/l machine that will be completed next year will be five million times faster. started in 1993 the top 500 list is decided by a group of computer science academics from around the world. it is presented at the international supercomputer conference in pittsburgh.

eu referendum could cost £80m it could cost £80m to run a uk referendum on the european constitution ministers have revealed. in a written parliamentary answer constitutional affairs minister chris leslie said the poll was likely to cost the same as a general election. mr leslie said the cost could not be compared with the only previous british referendum held 30 years ago. ministers say the constitution would make the european union work better but critics fear creating a super state . labour mp john cryer whose question revealed the price estimate said the cost surprised him but was not a central factor as it was important people had their say. but he said it would have been better to have rejected the constitution so avoiding the need for a referendum. the 2001 election cost £80m. no date for the vote has been set but foreign secretary jack straw has suggested it is unlikely to be held until early 2006 - after the predicted date for the next election. most voters said the uk should stay in the common market in the 1975 referendum.

parmar ruled out of davis cup tie a knee injury has forced arvind parmar out of great britain s davis cup tie in israel and left alex bogdanovic in line to take the second singles place. parmar picked up the injury last week and has failed to recover in time for the europe/africa zone i tie which begins in tel aviv on friday. bogdanovic looks set to take the second singles place alongside greg rusedski. gb captain jeremy bates could use 17-year-old andrew murray and david sherwood in the doubles rubber. bogdanovic and murray both pulled out of tournaments last week through injury but are expected to be fit. jamie delgado and lee childs have been called into the squad in tel aviv as designated hitters for team practice but bates has no plans to call either of them into his squad at present. the unheralded sherwood was the surprise inclusion when the squad was announced last week and bates said: david has earned his place in this squad on the merit of his form and results over the last 12 months. the 6ft 4in sherwood is ranked 264th in the world and the lta have high hopes for him after futures tournament wins in wrexham and edinburgh. the sheffield-born right-hander aged 24 also reached another final in plaisir france a week after making the semi-final in mulhouse. bates is glad to have rusedski available after tim henman s retirement from davis cup tennis. his wealth of experience is invaluable particularly to the younger players and i know he will lead by example bates said. we are looking forward to the tie. the squad are all in excellent form.

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.

parker misses england clash tom shanklin will start in the centre for wales against england in cardiff on saturday after sonny parker failed to recover from a trapped neck nerve. shanklin was first-choice wing in the autumn tests but prefers centre and will face england debutant mathew tait. dragons three-quarter hal luscombe takes shanklin s wing berth. up front mefin davies plays at hooker open-side martyn williams is fit to start and lock rob sidoli replaces veteran gareth llewellyn. davies wins the vote ahead of robin mcbryde who sits on the bench having recently returned to action for the scarlets following a neck injury. sidoli is back for the first time since last season s six nations the blues second row back to form after a niggling groin problem. williams sidoli s team-mate at cardiff is set to win his 50th cap replacing the injured colin charvis after making a quicker-than-expected recovery from a neck disc problem. initially when i had the diagnosis it was a case of trying to get fit for the italy game next week but fortunately my recovery has been a lot quicker than we all hoped williams told bbc sport wales. i haven t started a game since 1 january and would have preferred to have a couple of games in the lead-up to this but the good thing with the injury is that i have kept up my fitness levels. i feel quite fresh and i just can t wait to play again. williams says he expects a torrid time from an england loose-forward trio of lewis moody joe worsley and andy hazell. they are three top-class players especially worsley and moody. they have been there and done it williams added. they were back-ups behind richard hill neil back and lawrence dallaglio but now they have come forward and proved what good players they are - there are no weaknesses there. luscombe gets the nod on the wing ahead of dragons team-mate kevin morgan who wins a place on the bench alongside uncapped blues prop john yapp. g thomas (toulouse (capt); h luscombe (dragons) t shanklin (blues) g henson (ospreys) s williams (ospreys); s jones (clermont auvergne) d peel (scarlets); g jenkins (blues) m davies (gloucester) a jones (ospreys) b cockbain (ospreys) r sidoli (blues) d jones (scarlets) m williams (blues) m owen (dragons). r mcbryde (scarlets) j yapp (blues) j thomas (ospreys) r jones (ospreys) g cooper (dragons) c sweeney (dragons) k morgan (dragons).

gadgets galore on show at fair the 2005 consumer electronics show in las vegas is a geek s paradise with more than 50 000 new gadgets and technologies launched during the four-day event. top gadgets at the show are highlighted in the innovations showcase which recognises some of the hottest developments in consumer electronics. the bbc news website took an early pre-show look at some of those technologies that will be making their debut in 2005. one of the key issues for keen gadget users is how to store all their digital images audio and video files. the 2.5gb and 5gb circular pocket hard drive from seagate might help. the external usb drive won a ces best innovations design and engineering award and is small enough to slip into a pocket. it is the kind of storage that appeals to people who want their pcs to look cool said seagate. it is all about style but it also has lots of functionality. it is the first time you can say a hard drive is sexy it said. in the centre of the device is a blue light that flashes while data is being written to ensure users do not unplug it when it is busy saving those precious pictures. universal electronics nevosl is a universal controller that lets people use one device to get at their multimedia content such as photos no matter where it is in their house. it can also act as a remote for home theatre and stereo systems. working with home broadband networks and pcs the gadget has built-in wireless and a colourful simple interface. paul arling uei chief said consumers face real problems when trying to get at all the files they own that are typically spread across several different devices. he said the nevo gave people a simple single way to regain some control over digital media in the home. the nevo won two awards at ces one as a girl s best friend award and another for innovation design and engineering. the gadget is expected to go on sale before the summer and will cost about $799 (£425). hotseat is targeting keen gamers with money to spend with its solo chassis gaming chair. the specially-designed chair lets gamers play in surround-sound while stretching out in their own space . it is compatible with all the major games consoles dvd players and pcs. we found that kids love playing in surround sound said jay leboff from hotseat. we are looking at offering different types of seats depending on the market success of this one. the chair also lets people experience surround sound while watching videos with wireless control for six surround sound speakers. and a drinks holder. the chair which looks like a car seat on a skeletal frame should go on sale in april and is expected to cost $399 (£211). satellite radio is big business in the us. in the uk the digital radio technology is known as dab and works on slightly different technology. eton corporation s porsche designed p7131 digital radio set will be launched both as a dab radio in the uk as well as a satellite radio set in the us. dab sets have been slow to take-off in the uk but this one concentrates on sleek looks as much as technology. it is for the risqué consumer said an eton spokesperson. we are proud of it because it has the sound quality for the audiophile and the looks for the design-conscious consumer. the porsche radio is set to go on sale at the end of january in the us and in the first quarter of 2005 in the uk. in the us is it expected to cost $250 (£133). the average person has a library of 600 digital images estimates the consumer electronics association the organisation behind ces. this is expected to grow to a massive 3 420 images - or 7.2gb - in five years time. one gadget that might help swell that collection is sanyo s tiny handheld vpc-c4 camcorder which is another innovation in design and engineering award winner. it combines high quality video and stills in a very small device. it takes mpeg4 video quality at 30 frames a second and has a four megapixel still camera. images and video are stored on sd cards which have come down in price in recent months. a 512mb card will store about 30 minutes of video and 420 stills. the device is so tiny it can be controlled with one thumb. because images and video are stored on sd memory it is portable to other devices and means other data like audio can be stored on the card too. wearable technology has always promised much but failed to deliver because of lack of storage capability and poor design. mpio s tiny digital usb music players come in an array of fashionable colours taking a leaf out of the apple ipod mini book of design and reflecting the desire for gadgets that look good. slung on a cord the player would not look too geeky dangling discreetly from the neck. although the pendant design was launched three months ago the device emphasises large storage as well as good looks for fashion-conscious gadget fiends. an even dinkier model the fy500 comes out in may and will store about 256mb of music. the range of players recently won an international forum design award 2005.

chelsea hold arsenal a gripping game between arsenal and chelsea ended with the honours finishing even at highbury. thierry henry produced a sublime strike to put arsenal ahead but john terry levelled with a powerful header. henry s quickly-taken free-kick put arsenal back in front but eidur gudjohnsen equalised with a header from william gallas knockback. henry missed a golden chance when he blazed a shot high late on and arsenal also had a penalty appeal rejected. henry s opener had given arsenal the perfect start and set up an enthralling affair. the french striker headed a long cesc faregas ball back to jose antonio reyes from the edge of the chelsea area and immediately saw it headed back into his path from the spaniard. and with his back to goal henry finished with aplomb when he took one touch turned and struck an angled strike past the despairing dive of keeper petr cech. henry epitomised a determination about the arsenal side but chelsea appeared unruffled and equalised after 16 minutes. gunners keeper manuel almunia who got the nod ahead of jens lehmann did well to save a well-struck frank lampard shot. but he could not keep out terry s powered header from the resultant corner as arsenal s weakness at set-pieces was again exposed. almost immediately henry went close and chelsea gathered the loose ball before going straight up the other end where gudjohnsen fluffed an effort. gudjohnsen did not make the same error minutes later when he struck a sweet shot only for almunia to be equal to the task and save. the homes side regained the lead in controversial fashion when robert pires won a dubious free-kick. and given the option to take the 25-yard set-piece quickly henry curled in a shot with cech still organising his wall. this time arsenal did not allow chelsea to level so soon as they went into the break ahead. chelsea brought striker didier drogba on to partner gudjohnsen up front after the interval and the move reaped immediate reward. lampard swung in a cross which gallas knocked back across goal and a deft header from gudjohnsen levelled matters again. chelsea s main threat was coming from crosses and lampard missed a great opportunity as he headed wide when left unmarked at the far post. the second half failed to live up to the thrilling pace of the opening period but there were flashes of brilliance. one of them came from the enigmatic robben when he jinked his way through two arsenal defenders only to see his poked shot saved by almunia. arsenal ended the match the stronger and worked a excellent chance for henry who put a left-foot shot high from eight yards. subtitute robin van persie could also have nicked a win for the highbury outfit but frustratingly sidefooted just wide. matthieu flamini had a late penal appeal waved away before the final whistle which maintained chelsea five-point premiership lead over arsenal. almunia lauren toure campbell cole pires flamini fabregas reyes (clichy 82) bergkamp (van persie 82) henry. subs not used: senderos hoyte lehmann. cole. henry 2 29. cech paulo ferreira ricardo carvalho (drogba 45) terry gallas duff tiago (bridge 45) makelele lampard robben gudjohnsen (parker 77). subs not used: kezman cudicini. robben drogba lampard. terry 17 gudjohnsen 46. 38 153 g poll (hertfordshire).

hewitt falls to dent in adelaide lleyton hewitt suffered a shock defeat to taylor dent in the quarter-finals of the australian hardcourt championships in adelaide on friday. the top seed was a strong favourite for the title but went down 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to the american. dent will face juan ignacio chela next after the fourth seed was too strong for jurgen melzer. olivier rochus beat third seed nicolas kiefer 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 and will take on second seed joachim johansson. the swede reached the last four by beating compatriot thomas enqvist 6-3 4-6 6-1. i felt like i was striking the ball much better said johansson. i felt like i had a lot of break chances i didn t take care of them all but i broke him four times and he only broke me once. i felt that was the key to get up in the set early. hewitt played down his defeat and insisted he is focused solely on the australian open which starts on 17 january. when you ve been number one in the world for a couple of years and won a couple of slams you look at the big picture and what motivates you said hewitt. that s the grand slams and melbourne s as big for me as any of the four. even if i don t win sydney next week it s no big deal.

deal to ban homophobic reggae the reggae industry is to refuse to release or stage concerts featuring homophobic songs under a global deal struck with gay rights groups. a damaging campaign against stars such as beenie man and sizzla has been waged over lyrics that allegedly call for gay people to be killed or assaulted. the campaign which led to gigs being scrapped and a uk police investigation will now be dropped under the truce. brett lock of gay group outrage! said they were wiping the slate clean . the protests had been led by the stop murder music coalition an umbrella group including outrage! the black gay men s advisory group and jamaican movement j-flag. that coalition has reached a verbal agreement with major dancehall reggae record labels and concert promoters covering eight of the scene s biggest stars. but the artists themselves were not involved in the negotiations and have not directly signed up. instead the record companies have pledged not to release or re-release any offensive songs - many of which date back a number of years. and it is believed promoters will make stars agree not to perform such tunes on stage. the reggae industry will work with the artists while still maintaining their freedom of speech and artistic freedom according to media and pr strategist glen yearwood who is representing the reggae industry. the industry would halt any attempt by an artist to perform or release a song inciting violence against any group or gender he said. we ll advise them this is not the way forward in a civilised society. the stop murder music campaign saw protesters picket gigs resulted in sizzla s uk tour being cancelled in november forced mobo award organisers to drop artists from nominations and saw beenie man dropped from an mtv show in august. police have also been investigating whether lyrics incite the assault and murder of gay people. the campaign was a blow to the reggae industry mr yearwood admitted. if you can t have major stars touring then you don t sell many albums he said. but the artists - beenie man sizzla elephant man buju banton bounty killer tok capleton and vybz kartel - will not have to apologise for past songs or comments. outrage! s mr lock said: the main players in the dancehall reggae industry will attempt to regulate the industry themselves to ensure that there aren t any violently homophobic or gay-bashing lyrics in the future. as a gesture of good faith the stop murder music coalition has agreed to suspend our aggressive campaigning against murder music. so we shall not be picketing concerts or calling for prosecutions to give the industry the space to regulate and reform itself. record companies vp and greensleeves distributor jet star and concert promoters including jammins and apollo entertainment are all on board.

us trade gap hits record in 2004 the gap between us exports and imports hit an all-time high of $671.7bn (£484bn) in 2004 latest figures show. the commerce department said the trade deficit for all of last year was 24.4% above the previous record - 2003 s imbalance of $496.5bn. the deficit with china up 30.5% at $162bn was the largest ever recorded with a single country. however on a monthly basis the us trade gap narrowed by 4.9% in december to £56.4bn. the us consumer s appetite for all things from oil to imported cars and even wine and cheese reached record levels last year and the figures are likely to spark fresh criticism of president bush s economic policies. democrats claim the administration has not done enough to clamp down on unfair foreign trade practices. for example they believe china s currency policy - which us manufacturers claim has undervalued the yuan by as much as 40% - has given china s rapidly expanding economy an unfair advantage against us competitors. meanwhile the bush administration argues that the us deficit reflects the fact the america is growing at faster rate than the rest of the world spurring on more demand for imported goods. some economists say this may allow an upward revision of us economic growth in the fourth quarter. but others point out that the deficit has reached such astronomical proportions that foreigners many choose not to hold as many dollar-denominated assets which may in turn harm growth. for all of 2004 us exports rose 12.3% to $1.15 trillion but imports rose even faster by 16.3% to a new record of $1.76 trillion. foreign oil exports surged by 35.7% to a record $180.7bn reflecting the rally in global oil prices and increasing domestic demand. imports were not affected by the dollar s weakness last year. we expect the deficit to continue to widen in 2005 even if the dollar gets back to its downward trend said economist marie-pierre ripert at ixis.

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.

new rules tackle sham weddings new rules on marriage for foreign nationals living in the uk are coming into force. from tuesday most non-eu citizens will need home office approval to marry. the home office says the new rules are aimed at reducing the number of sham marriages of which there are estimated to be up to 15 000 a year. but immigrants group the joint council for the welfare of immigrants (jcwi) says the rules breach human rights law and it may mount a legal challenge. when the changes were unveiled last year immigration minister des browne said: our aim is to avoid unnecessary disruption of genuine marriages while providing firm controls to prevent abuse. under the previous regulations anybody wishing to get married in the uk only had to produce evidence they had been resident in the country for a week and give 15 days notice of the wedding at the local register office. but from tuesday all non-eu nationals apart from citizens of switzerland liechtenstein iceland or norway intending to wed in the uk must either obtain a visa allowing them to get married before they enter the country or apply for a home office certificate of marriage approval . to get a certificate costing £135 applicants will have to send proof that they have a legal right to be in the uk. those without a settled status such as asylum seekers awaiting a decision on their application will have no right to marry in the uk. once they have the necessary documentation those subject to immigration controls wishing to get married in england or wales must register their intention to marry at one of 76 specially-designated register offices. they can however marry at the register office or church of their choice. rhian beynon of the jcwi said the new rules were not proportionate and discriminatory . these rules means in some cases the home secretary is going to be a marriage registrar of last resort. we re currently taking a legal opinion on this. we ll be looking for people whose right to marry is breached and we ll be looking at taking a case on this to the human rights court ms beynon said. the new rules have also been called into question by the parliamentary joint committee on human rights. in a report published last july the cross-party committee stated there was a significant risk the new procedures were incompatible with the right to marry because they introduced restrictions which were disproportionate . the committee believed the new laws might be incompatible with the human rights act on the grounds of religion belief and nationality the report added. over the last year immigration service operations against marriages of convenience have been stepped up resulting in a growing number of convictions. in january 25 people who took part in a sham marriage network based in leicester were jailed for a total of 35 years. and last november samuel amoah a belgian national who set up two sham weddings for couples who wanted to remain in the uk was jailed for three years. several other cases are currently going through the courts. the role of registrars who under the asylum and immigration act 1999 were obliged to report suspected sham marriages to the home office has been key in many prosecutions. registrars spokesman mark rimmer said they welcomed the new marriage regulations and believed they would be an significant deterrent. they will effectively remove most of the blatant cases. certainly those who are illegals in this country of which we had quite a few will no longer be getting married mr rimmer said. mr rimmer the service director for registrations of marriages at brent council in north-west london said he did not consider the new law to be an infringement of civil liberties. it may be seen to be far more draconian than it has been but certainly it s still not as difficult to marry in the uk than it is to marry for example in holland germany or france. i think it s a proportionate response by government to what was a very large problem mr rimmer said.

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.

ajax refuse to rule out jol move ajax have refused to reveal whether tottenham s boss martin jol is on the dutch champions shortlist to become the amsterdam club s new coach. jol who has coached in his native holland has guided spurs to the premiership s top eight. an ajax spokesman told bbc sport: the coach must fit our profile - a coach who understands the dutch league and offensive and distinctive football. we need to find a solution soon so someone is in place for next season. ronald koeman quit as ajax boss last week after their exit from the uefa cup. jol has been linked with the vacant post at ajax with reports saying he has fallen out with spurs sporting director frank arnesen. but in a statement on spurs website jol said: i m happy here i m not in discussion with anyone else i don t want to go elsewhere. ajax have enlisted the help of dutch legend johann cruyff currently a consultant at barcelona to help find a new head coach. cruyff has admitted he has been impressed by the way former rfc waalwijk coach jol has turned round spurs fortunes since taking over from jacques santini. tonny bruins slot and ruud krol are currently in charge of ajax who are third in the dutch league.

hereford 1-1 doncaster hereford win 3-1 on penalties. rovers took the lead on 59 minutes as michael mcindoe s corner found adriano rigoglioso whose stunning volley soared into the top right of the net. danny williams equalised for the hosts after 72 minutes with a crisp finish from just insist the penalty box. mcindoe saw an extra-time penalty saved giving mills the chance to net the winning penalty. mawson travis mkandawire james robinson daniel williams stanley hyde (pitman 105) purdie (mills 83) brown stansfield (green 102). subs not used: smith scott. james. daniel williams 72. ingham mulligan fenton morley priet (ryan 79) mcindoe ravenhill (price 90) rigoglioso tierney (jackson 79) beardsley coppinger. subs not used: warrington maloney. rigoglioso 59. 1 375 t parkes (w midlands).

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.

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.

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 trade deficits how the us europe and japan can act to boost global economic growth and hiv/aids. g7 ministers called for more flexibility in international exchange rates and said excess volatility would impede economic growth. representatives from china india russia south africa and brazil were invited to attend some of the sessions. a g8 summit is set to take place in july.

uk interest rates held 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.

format wars could confuse users technology firms sony philips matsushita and samsung are developing a common way to stop people pirating digital music and video. the firms want to make a system that ensures files play on the hardware they make but also thwarts illegal copying. the move could mean more confusion for consumers already faced by many different and conflicting content control systems experts warned. they say there are no guarantees the system will even prevent piracy. currently many online stores wrap up downloadable files in an own-brand control system that means they can only be played on a small number of media players. systems that limit what people can do with the files they download are known as digital rights management systems. by setting up the alliance to work on a common control system the firms said they hope to end this current fragmentation of file formats. in a joint statement the firms said they wanted to let consumers enjoy appropriately licensed video and music on any device independent of how they originally obtained that content . the firms hope that it will also make it harder for consumers to make illegal copies of the music movies and other digital content they have bought. called the marlin joint development association the alliance will define basic specifications that every device made by the electronics firms will conform to. marlin will be built on technology from rights management firm intertrust as well as an earlier drm system developed by a group known as the coral consortium. the move is widely seen as a way for the four firms to decide their own destiny on content control systems instead of having to sign up for those being pushed by apple and microsoft. confusingly for consumers the technology that comes out of the alliance will sit alongside the content control systems of rival firms such as microsoft and apple. in many ways the different drm systems are akin to the different physical formats such as betamax and vhs that consumers have seen in the past said ian fogg personal technology and broadband analyst at jupiter research. the difference is that it is very fragmented he said. it s not a two-horse race it s a five six seven or even eight-horse race mr fogg said consumers had to be very careful when buying digital content to ensure that it would play on the devices they own. he said currently there were even incompatibilities within drm families. although initiatives such as microsoft s plays for sure program could help remove some of the uncertainty he said life was likely to be confusing for consumers for some time to come. shelley taylor analyst and author of a report about online music services said the locks and limits on digital files were done to maximise the cash that firms can make from consumers. apple s itunes service was a perfect example of this she said. although itunes has been hugely successful apple could not justify its existence if it did not help sell all those ipods she said. she said rampant competition between online music services of which there are now 230 according to recent figures could drive more openness and freer file formats. it always works out that consumer needs win out in the long run she said and the services that win in the long run are the ones that listen to consumers earliest. ms taylor said the limits legal download services place on files could help explain the continuing popularity of file-sharing systems that let people get hold of pirated pop. people want portability she said and with peer-to-peer they have 100% portability. cory doctorow european co-ordinator for the electronic frontier foundation which campaigns for consumers on many cyber-rights issues expressed doubts that the marlin system would achieve its aims. not one of these systems has ever prevented piracy or illegal copying he said. he said many firms readily admit that their drm systems are little protection against skilled attackers such as the organised crime gangs that are responsible for most piracy. instead said mr doctorow drm systems were intended to control the group that electronics firms have most hold over - consumers. the studios and labels perceive an opportunity to sell you your media again and again - the ipod version the auto version the american and uk version the ringtone version and so on.

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.

google s toolbar sparks concern search engine firm google has released a trial tool which is concerning some net users because it directs people to pre-selected commercial websites. the autolink feature comes with google s latest toolbar and provides links in a webpage to amazon.com if it finds a book s isbn number on the site. it also links to google s map service if there is an address or to car firm carfax if there is a licence plate. google said the feature available only in the us adds useful links . but some users are concerned that google s dominant position in the search engine market place could mean it would be giving a competitive edge to firms like amazon. autolink works by creating a link to a website based on information contained in a webpage - even if there is no link specified and whether or not the publisher of the page has given permission. if a user clicks the autolink feature in the google toolbar then a webpage with a book s unique isbn number would link directly to amazon s website. it could mean online libraries that list isbn book numbers find they are directing users to amazon.com whether they like it or not. websites which have paid for advertising on their pages may also be directing people to rival services. dan gillmor founder of grassroots media which supports citizen-based media said the tool was a bad idea and an unfortunate move by a company that is looking to continue its hypergrowth . in a statement google said the feature was still only in beta ie trial stage and that the company welcomed feedback from users. it said: the user can choose never to click on the autolink button and web pages she views will never be modified. in addition the user can choose to disable the autolink feature entirely at any time. the new tool has been compared to the smart tags feature from microsoft by some users. it was widely criticised by net users and later dropped by microsoft after concerns over trademark use were raised. smart tags allowed microsoft to link any word on a web page to another site chosen by the company. google said none of the companies which received autolinks had paid for the service. some users said autolink would only be fair if websites had to sign up to allow the feature to work on their pages or if they received revenue for any click through to a commercial site. cory doctorow european outreach coordinator for digital civil liberties group electronic fronter foundation said that google should not be penalised for its market dominance. of course google should be allowed to direct people to whatever proxies it chooses. but as an end user i would want to know - can i choose to use this service how much is google being paid can i substitute my own companies for the ones chosen by google . mr doctorow said the only objection would be if users were forced into using autolink or tricked into using the service .

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.

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 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.

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.

dallaglio eyeing lions tour place former england captain lawrence dallaglio still harbours hopes of a place on the british and irish lions tour to new zealand. lions coach sir clive woodward has made it clear he will pick his squad to tour next summer based on form shown in the six nations championship. but dallaglio who called time on england earlier this year said: i assure you i wouldn t let anyone down. i know what it takes and what i have to offer he told the daily telegraph. dallaglio toured south africa with the lions in 1997 but was forced home early with a knee injury from the trip to australia three years ago. the 32-year-old also felt concentrating on club rugby could have prolonged his international shelf-life. he said: i ll be in good shape and fresh without another 10 tests on the clock. from what i witnessed at close quarters on sunday in our heineken cup match against leicester i certainly didn t feel out of place alongside those players many of whom will be on the trip. if i m fit and playing well then i m most certainly available. if clive feels he has no need to look outside the international crop then fine. if he does then he won t need to look too far will he

howard attacks pay later budget tory leader michael howard has dismissed gordon brown s budget as vote now pay later spending plans. the simple fact was that under a new labour government taxes would go up after the election to plug a financial black hole mr howard said. everyone could see the chancellor s sweeteners but these hid tax rises for hard working families he said. labour s faltering election campaign would not be helped by the package of measures mr howard added. mr brown s budget was not about what was good for the country but all about the interests of the labour party the tory leader said after mockingly welcoming the chancellor back to the election campaign. he went on to accuse mr brown of giving with one hand while taking away with the other. he urged the chancellor to admit he had been responsible for dragging millions of people in to the net to pay stamp duty and inheritance tax. we can all see the sweeteners but they hide the crippling tax rises for hard-working families that are inevitable if labour wins. he also accused the government and the chancellor of running out of solutions to the problems britain faced. their only answer is to tax to spend and to waste - to get people to vote now and pay later. mr brown liked to rattle off magical balances conjured out of thin air in a bid to convince people there was no black hole in the nation s finances the tory leader said. this dodgy government that brought us the dodgy dossier is now publishing a dodgy budget based on dodgy numbers he said. you now propose to borrow over the next six years no less than £168 billion; so much for prudence. the chancellor s forecasts of surpluses are no better than the prime minister s forecasts of weapons of mass destruction. mr brown s council tax rebate for pensioners was £300 less than what the tories were offering mr howard said. there was nothing in the budget that would put more police on the streets make hospitals cleaner or give parents and teachers the discipline and skills they wanted in schools. people would face a clear choice at the election either more waste and higher taxes under labour or lower taxes and value for money with the conservatives he said. that s the battleground of this election. that s what this election is going to be all about and i say bring it on he concluded to loud tory cheering.

stam spices up man utd encounter ac milan defender jaap stam says manchester united know they made a mistake by selling him in 2001. the sides meet at old trafford in the champions league game on wednesday and the 32-year-old s dutchman s presence is sure to add spice to the fixture. united made a mistake in selling me stam told uefa s champions magazine. i was settled at manchester united but they wanted to sell me. if a club want to sell you there is nothing you can do. you can be sold like cattle. sir alex ferguson surprised the football world - and stam - by selling the dutchman to lazio for £16.5m in august 2001. the decision came shortly after stam claimed in his autobiography that ferguson had tapped him up when he was at psv eindhoven. but ferguson insisted he sold the defender because the transfer fee was too good to refuse for a player past his prime. the affair still rankles with the dutchman. i was settled at manchester united i had even just ordered a new kitchen but they wanted to sell me he said. in what other industry can a good employee be ushered out the door against their wishes of course you can refuse to go but then the club have the power to put you on the bench. i don t agree that players control the game. there have been opportunities to confront them in the newspapers but i have turned them down. what s the point wednesday s game at old trafford will provide an intriguing confrontation between united s young attackers wayne rooney and cristiano ronaldo and milan s veteran defence of stam paolo maldini cafu and alessandro costacurta. stam says rooney s teenage stardom is in stark contract to his own start in the game. we can t all be wayne rooneys - at his age i was training to be an electrician and thought my chance of becoming a professional footballer had gone he said. starting late can be a good thing. some kids who start early get bored. i had my youth - having fun drinking beers blowing up milk cannisters. it sounds strange but it s a tradition where i grew up in kampen - and i had done all the things i wanted to do.

mps criticise child access system divorced parents seeking access to their children are often disadvantaged by the legal system mps have said. the constitutional affairs select committee said parents with custody could exploit delays in the system to stop former partners gaining access. courts should be used as a last resort but where they are their orders should be enforced more rigorously mps said. but they rejected the claim made by some campaign groups that there should be a legal presumption of equal access. currently the presumption is that the interests of the child are paramount. an arbitrary template imposed on all families whatever the needs of the child would relegate the welfare of individual children to a secondary position the mps said. they said the law should be changed to require family courts specifically to take account of the importance of sustaining the relationship between the child and the non-resident parent in contested cases. this would reassert the rights of non-resident parents to contact with their children as well as the rights of children to contact with both their parents while maintaining sufficient flexibility to cope with issues of safety they said. delays in court hearings and the inability to effectively enforce court orders allowed a new status quo arrangement for the children to become established by default they said. although the courts rigorously avoid conscious bias there are considerable grounds for accepting that non-resident parents are frequently disadvantaged by the system as it is administered at present. given the strong animosity between the parties which is common in contested family cases we find it hard to believe that tactical delay is not sometimes used to the advantage of resident parents. committee chairman alan beith said the five-month inquiry had been a complex and emotive one. at the moment far too many contact and residency cases are being dealt with by the courts when they could be better resolved through professional mediation and negotiation he said. this situation has to change. the court system should only be used as a last resort where mediation and negotiation have completely broken down or where issues of abuse or domestic violence need to be dealt with. this will help to reduce delays and improve the lives of many children across the country.

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.

benitez deflects blame from dudek liverpool manager rafael benitez has refused to point the finger of blame at goalkeeper jerzy dudek after portsmouth claimed a draw at anfield. dudek fumbled a cross before lomana lualua headed home an injury-time equaliser levelling after steven gerrard put liverpool ahead. benitez said: it was difficult for jerzy. it was an unlucky moment. he was expecting a cross from matthew taylor and it ended up like a shot so i don t blame him for what happened. benitez admitted it was a costly loss of two points by liverpool who followed up their derby defeat against everton with a disappointing draw. he said: we had many opportunities but didn t score and in the end a 1-0 lead was not enough. if you don t have any chances you have to think of other things but when you are creating so many chances as we are there is nothing you can say to the players. it was a pity. we lost two points but we have one more point in the table. now we have another difficult game against newcastle and we have to recover quickly from that.

winter freeze keeps oil above $50 oil prices carried on rising on wednesday after cold weather on both sides of the north atlantic pushed us crude prices to four-month highs. freezing temperatures and heavy snowfalls took crude oil prices past $50 a barrel on tuesday for the first time since november. declines in the dollar have also contributed to the rising oil price. us crude was trading at $51.39 at 0710 gmt in asian electronic trade on wednesday. a barrel of us crude oil closed up $2.80 at $51.15 in new york on tuesday. opec members said on tuesday that given such high prices the cartel 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 primary factor is the weak dollar said victor shum a singapore-based analyst with purvin and gertz. expectations that a rebound in the dollar would halt the oil price rise were not immediately borne out on wednesday morning as oil prices carried on upwards as the dollar strengthened against the euro the pound and the yen. several opec members said on tuesday that 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.

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.

disney settles disclosure charges walt disney has settled charges from us federal regulators that it failed to disclose how family members of directors were employed by the company. the media giant was not fined by the securities and exchange commission but has agreed to refrain from any future violations of securities law. disney failed to tell investors that between 1999 and 2001 it employed three adult children of three then directors. the firm has neither admitted nor denied wrongdoing in the settlement. the three disney directors in question in the central matter of the sec s investigation - reveta bowers stanley gold and raymond watson - have all since left the company with ms bowers and mr watson both retiring and mr gold quitting in 2003. their children were paid between $60 000 (£30 800) and $150 000 a year with shareholders not being informed. the sec also found that disney did not disclose that a 50% disney-owned subsidiary company - lifetime - employed the wife of current disney director john bryson and that she earned more than $1m a year. louise bryson remains with lifetime. disney also failed to disclose payments to air shamrock an airline owned by mr gold and fellow former disney directors roy disney. finally disney also did not reveal that it provided more than $200 000 annually for office space secretarial services and a leased car and driver to former director thomas murphy. shareholders have a significant interest in information regarding relationships between the company and its directors said sec deputy enforcement director linda thomsen. failure to comply with the sec s disclosure rules in this area impedes shareholders ability to evaluate the objectivity and independence of directors.

blair stresses prosperity goals tony blair says his party s next manifesto will be unremittingly new labour and aimed at producing personal prosperity for all . the prime minister is trying to draw a line under speculation over the state of his relationship with gordon brown with the speech in chatham kent. he is saying that prosperity means both individual wealth and ensuring radically improved public services. he is also claiming labour is more ideologically united than ever. mr brown is currently touring africa after a week of facing questions about reports of his splits with downing street. with the election widely predicted for may angry labour mps this week warned mr blair and mr brown about the dangers of disunity. now mr blair is trying to put the focus on the substance of labour s platform for a third term in government. labour made low inflation unemployment and mortgage rates the centrepiece of a new poster campaign this week. and on thursday mr blair is saying: i want to talk about the central purpose ofnew labour - which is to increase personal prosperity and well-being not justfor a few but for all. by prosperity i mean both the income and wealth of individuals and theirfamilies and the opportunity and security available to them through radicallyimproved public services and a reformed welfare state. the tories are trying to capitalise on the apparent feud at the top of government. on wednesday they unveiled a poster which pictured the prime minister and mr brown under the words how can they fight crime when they are fighting each other michael howard and frontbencher john redwood on thursday launched new plans to abolish hundreds of quangos. they say government is spending too much and lower taxes are needed to make britain more competitive. the liberal democrats have also claimed infighting its obstructing good government. the latest speculation about relations between new labour s two most powerful figures came after the publication of a new book brown s britain by robert preston. in it he alleges that mr blair told mr brown in 2003 he would step down as prime minister before the coming general election. the book claims the premier went back on his pledge after support from cabinet allies and suspicion that mr brown was manoeuvring against him. mr peston s book claimed that mr brown told mr blair: there is nothing you could ever say to me now that i could ever believe. on wednesday mr blair directly denied mr brown made that quote and before he left for africa on tuesday the chancellor told reporters: of course i trust the prime minister.

low-budget film wins cesar a film that follows a group of alienated youth in a paris suburb as they prepare to perform an 18th century play has won france s top cinema award. l esquive earned a cesar prize for its director tunisian-born abdellatif kechiche and its young star the 18-year-old actress sara forestier. it saw off competition from big-budget french epic a very long engagement and the box-office hit the chorus. us film lost in translation won the award for best foreign feature. the wistful romantic comedy directed by sofia coppola has already won several awards including an oscar for best screenplay in 2004. its late release in france made it a contender for this year s cesars. the low-budget l esquive depicts the travails of a group of youth getting ready to perform a school play by the 18th-century dramatist marivaux. the actors are mostly amateurs and the action is set in the impoverished suburbs of paris home to thousands of immigrants from north africa and their children. kechiche said he made the film because he wanted to show people we don t normally see at the cinema . a very long engagement a world war i drama featuring audrey tautou won five cesar awards. the chorus a film about a schoolteacher who introduces an unruly classroom to the pleasures of classical singing won two awards - for best music and best sound. us actor will smith who won an honorary award at the ceremony thanked his family and his hero nelson mandela in his speech.

campbell to extend sprint career darren campbell has set his sights on running quicker than ever after deciding not to retire from sprinting. campbell who won olympic 4x100m relay gold had been unsure about his future. but he told five live s sportsweek: i had to get back into training before i could decide because if i didn t have the same hunger i d have to walk away. i ve started back and i m thoroughly enjoying it. i m looking forward to it. i ve got to run under 10 seconds (for 100m) and under 20 seconds (for 200m). campbell was part of the british quartet who shocked the americans to win relay gold in athens in august. the newport-based athlete and team-mates jason gardener marlon devonish and mark lewis-francis were rewarded with mbes in the new year honours list. campbell s relay triumph made up for his disappointing displays in the individual 100m and 200m events in athens when he failed to reach the finals. the 31-year-old who won olympic 200m silver in sydney in 2000 said during the games that a hamstring injury had stopped him from running at his best. he was criticised at the time by former olympic champion michael johnson who cast doubt on campbell s injury claims. to go to athens and finally get the gold i ve been trying to get for 24 years was a big relief said campbell. it was a chance for me to prove that if i d been fit i would have been challenging for the (individual) medals. every season i go and challenge for the medals so why would last season have been any different it s just unfortunate that i picked up that injury just before the olympics. campbell set his 100m personal best of 10.04secs when he won the european title in budapest in 1998. and he ran 20.13secs in the quarter-finals of the 200m in sydney on the way to olympic silver.

legendary music studio to close the new york music studio where john lennon spent his final hours is to close next month. the hit factory which opened 37 years ago has played host to some of the biggest stars in music including paul simon madonna and david bowie. however the rise in digital recording has affected business at the studio which is relocating to smaller premises in miami. lennon recorded his final album double fantasy at the studio in 1979. the studio was founded by jerry ragovoy in 1968. in 1975 it was sold to fellow producer edward germano who turned it into a 100 000 square foot studio with seven recording rooms and live mastering suites. his first client was stevie wonder who recorded part of his classic album songs in the key of life there. other well-known albums to be recorded or partially recorded at the studio include bruce springsteen s born in the usa the rolling stones emotional rescue and paul simon s graceland. michael jackson billy joel jay-z and beyonce are also among artists who have used the hit factory in the past as well as 50 cent who survived an attempt on his life as he left the premises in 2000. the studio made history in 1994 when it won a record 41 grammy nominations for songs recorded mastered or mixed there including the soundtrack to the whitney houston film the bodyguard.

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.

lions blow to world cup winners british and irish lions coach clive woodward says he is unlikely to select any players not involved in next year s rbs six nations championship. world cup winners lawrence dallaglio neil back and martin johnson had all been thought to be in the frame for next summer s tour to new zealand. i don t think you can ever say never said woodward. but i would have to have a compulsive reason to pick any player who is not available to international rugby. dallaglio back and johnson have all retired from international rugby over the last 12 months but continue to star for their club sides. but woodward added: the key thing that i want to stress is that i intend to use the six nations and the players who are available to international rugby as the key benchmark. my job along with all the other senior representatives is to make sure that we pick the strongest possible team. if you are not playing international rugby then it s still a step up to test rugby. it s definitely a disadvantage. i think it s absolutely critical and with the history of the lions we have got to take players playing for the four countries. woodward also revealed that the race for the captaincy was still wide open. it is an open book he said. there are some outstanding candidates from all four countries. and following the all blacks impressive displays in europe in recent weeks including a 45-6 humiliation of france woodward believes the three-test series in new zealand will provide the ultimate rugby challenge. their performance in particular against france was simply awesome said the lions coach. certain things have been suggested about the potency of their front five but they re a very powerful unit. with his customary thoroughness woodward revealed he had taken soundings from australia coach eddie jones and jake white of south africa following their tour matches in britain and ireland. as a result woodward stressed his lions group might not be dominated by players from england and ireland and held out hope for the struggling scots. scotland s recent results have not been that impressive but there have been some excellent individual performances. eddie in particular told me how tough they had made it for australia and i will take on board their opinions. and scotland forward simon taylor looks certain to get the call provided he recovers from knee and tendon problems. i took lessons from 2001 in that they did make a mistake in taking lawrence dallaglio when he wasn t fit and went on the trip. every player has to be looked at on their own merits and simon taylor is an outstanding player and i have no doubts that if he gets back to full fitness he will be on the trip. i am told he should be back playing by march and he has plenty of time to prove his fitness for the lions - and there are other players like richard hill in the same boat.

german growth goes into reverse germany s economy shrank 0.2% in the last three months of 2004 upsetting hopes of a sustained recovery. the figures confounded hopes of a 0.2% expansion in the fourth quarter in europe s biggest economy. the federal statistics office said growth for the whole of 2004 was 1.6% after a year of contraction in 2003 down from an earlier estimate of 1.7%. it said growth in the third quarter had been zero putting the economy at a standstill from july onward. germany has been reliant on exports to get its economy back on track as unemployment of more than five million and impending cuts to welfare mean german consumers have kept their money to themselves. major companies including volkswagen daimlerchrysler and siemens have spent much of 2004 in tough talks with unions about trimming jobs and costs. according to the statistics office destatis rising exports were outweighed in the fourth quarter by the continuing weakness of domestic demand. but the relentless rise in the value of the euro last year has also hit the competitiveness of german products overseas. the effect has been to depress prospects for the 12-nation eurozone as a whole as well as germany. eurozone interest rates are at 2% but senior officials at the rate-setting european central bank are beginning to talk about the threat of inflation prompting fears that interest rates may rise. the ecb s mandate is to fight rising prices by boosting interest rates - and that could further threaten germany s hopes of recovery.

bad e-mail habits sustains spam the bad behaviour of e-mail users is helping to sustain the spam industry a new study has found. according to a survey conducted by security firm mirapoint and market research company the radicati group nearly a third of e-mail users have clicked on links in spam messages. one in ten users have bought products advertised in junk mail. clicking on a link in a spam message can expose people to viruses and alert spammers to live e-mail accounts. the fact that one in ten e-mail users are buying things advertised in spam continues to make it an attractive business especially given that sending out huge amounts of spam costs very little the report concludes. this preliminary data is surprising and somewhat shocking to us said marcel nienhuis market analyst at the radicati group. it explains why e-mail security threats including spam viruses and phishing scams continue to proliferate he said accusing users of bad e-mail behaviour . spammers are increasingly hooking into whatever happens to be flavour of the month according to security firm clearswift. it has recently seen a rise in the number of spam messages offering phoney sony psp giveaways. and in perhaps a nod to the popularity of the american drama series desperate housewives it has also seen a dramatic rise in junk mails purporting to give details of women looking for casual sex. but rather than finding a companion users who click on such mail will find themselves redirected to porn sites where they run the risk of downloading spyware on to their pc. clearswift has seen a 180% rise in sex-related spam over the course of the last month. without casting aspersions those likely to respond to these kind of adverts will be invariably hoping that one thing leads to another but aside from the fact that these mails are bogus clicking on any link within a spam mail can lead to a whole host of unwanted problems said alyn hockey clearswift s director of research. sexually explicit terms make up 14% of security firm sophos top 50 word that spammers most commonly try to disguise in order to beat anti-spam filters. spammers will deliberately misspell a word or use digits instead of letters in an attempt to by-pass anti-spam software said graham cluley senior technology consultant for security firm sophos. the list of words most commonly hidden by the spammers from anti-spam software reveals that most spam is about the old favourites: money drugs and sex said mr cluley. but anti-spam filters can only be part of the solution to the menace of junk e-mail. people must resist their basic instincts to buy from spam mails. spammers are criminals plain and simple. if no-one responded to junk e-mail and didn t buy products sold in this way then spam would be as extinct as the dinosaurs he said.

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.

bt offers free net phone calls bt is offering customers free internet telephone calls if they sign up to broadband in december. the christmas give-away entitles customers to free telephone calls anywhere in the uk via the internet. users will need to use bt s internet telephony software known as bt communicator and have a microphone and speakers or headset on their pc. bt has launched the promotion to show off the potential of a broadband connection to customers. people wanting to take advantage of the offer will need to be a bt together fixed-line customer and will have to sign up to broadband online. the offer will be limited to the first 50 000 people who sign up and there are limitations - the free calls do not include calls to mobiles non-geographical numbers such as 0870 premium numbers or international numbers. bt is keen to provide extra services to its broadband customers. people already using bt communicator have found it by far the most convenient way of making a call if they are at their pc said andrew burke director of value-added services at bt retail. as more homes get high-speed access providers are increasingly offering add-ons such as cheap net calls. broadband and telephony are attractive to customers and bt wants to make sure it is in the first wave of services said ian fogg an analyst with jupiter research. bt communicator had a quiet launch in the summer and now bt is waving the flag a bit more for it he added. bt has struggled to maintain its market share of broadband subscribers as more competitors enter the market. reports say that bt has lost around 10% of market share over the last year down from half of broadband users to less than 40%. bt is hoping its latest offer can persuade more people to jump on the broadband bandwagon. it currently has 1.3 million broadband subscribers.

labour mp praises tory campaign the conservatives have been a lot smarter in the way they have conducted the general election campaign a labour backbencher has said. derek wyatt said having a five month campaign turned off voters and suggested people were already rather bored of the thing . he wants a greater campaigning role for chancellor gordon brown. labour said the economy was at the heart of the campaign and mr brown therefore had a prominent role. but mr wyatt argued: by some way he is currently the figure in all of the polls that people trust and see that has delivered over eight years an economy unmatched anywhere in the world. so it would be a tad foolish of the labour party if we did not use him as we have done over the past three elections. labour s election chief alan milburn denied there was an attempt to sideline mr brown after facing criticism for letting the tories set the agenda. however mr wyatt predicted the campaign would get under way properly once the chancellor delivered his budget. the mp for sittingbourne and sheppey said prime minister tony blair had been trying very hard to improve his own standing with the electorate through a sort of campaign of trust . but mr blair had been hurt by the iraq controversy he added. a labour party spokesman played down differences with mr wyatt and said mr brown already had a prominent campaign role. this election is a choice between labour taking britain forward and the conservatives taking us back.

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.

film production falls 40% in uk the number of british films produced in the uk fell 40% in 2004 with movies starring johnny depp and jude law among those affected screen daily has said. twenty-seven british films were made in the uk last year following a drop in funding compared with 45 in 2003 according to the trade weekly. it attributed the drop to tighter tax laws and reduced funding from sources such as the national lottery. uk and us co-productions in britain fell from 102 in 2003 to 81 last year. last year the government closed tax loopholes that many film investors had taken advantage of to fund films in the uk. several projects were shelved as they faced the implications of this clampdown coupled with the reduction in movie funding from traditional sources including the lottery and miramax films. shooting on period drama tulip fever which was to star jude law and keira knightley was postponed indefinitely while shooting of the libertine starring johnny depp was moved to the isle of man. there isn t anything coming in to replace (the funds) said the libertine s executive producer marc samuelson. we are in a hiatus. films with medium budgets of up to £9m a similar level to box office hits vera drake calendar girls and enduring love are expected to be worst hit by the tax clampdown. the strength of the pound against the dollar is expected to have resulted in a fall in the number of us films shot in the uk during 2004 screen international added. big budget co-productions such as the harry potter series continued to be shot in the uk however. the uk film council said the drop was partly due to 2003 being an especially good year for british film production when bridget jones: the edge of reason wimbledon and thunderbirds were all filmed in the uk. the drop was expected as there was no way 2003 s record level of production could be bettered the council s spokesperson said. the reduction in indigenous film production in 2004 was due to a variety of factors including the continuing long-term trend towards co-production of films in more than one country and changes to financing arrangements. it was too early to predict whether the downward trend in uk production would continue throughout 2005 the uk film council said. in september the government introduced subsidies worth up to £4m per film for medium budget films under new treasury measures. it is also due to announce a replacement for uk film tax relief scheme section 48 in july.

bank set to leave rates on hold uk interest rates are set to remain on hold at 4.75% following the latest meeting of the bank of england. the bank s rate-setting committee has put up rates five times in the past year but rates have been on hold since september amid signs of a slowdown. economic growth slowed in the previous quarter as manufacturing output fell while consumer confidence has slipped. there is also growing evidence that the previously booming uk housing market is now cooling. house prices fell 0.4% in october according to the nationwide their biggest monthly fall since february 2001. last month bank of england governor mervyn king said that the economy had hit a softer patch after rapid economic growth in the first half of 2004. richard jeffrey chief economist at bridgewell securities said it was very unlikely that the bank of england would put rates up again this time around. there have been sufficient signs in the economy of a slowdown to stay the bank of england s hand he told bbc radio 4 s today programme. however mr jeffrey said he believed the slowdown in economic activity was temporary and it was dangerous to assume that rates had peaked. i still think interest rates are going up he said. we are not out of the woods.

davenport dismantles young rival top seed lindsay davenport booked her place in the last 16 of the australian open with a convincing 6-2 6-4 win over nicole vaidisova of the czech republic. the american had too much power for her 15-year-old opponent breaking twice in the first set and once in the second. the german-born vaidisova rallied well at times but was unable to find a way back after falling behind 3-2 in the opening set. davenport who closed out with an ace plays karolina sprem in the next round. i was fully expecting a tough opponent and was able to play well enough to get through it said davenport. i think she hits some great shots. she made some errors but probably some inexperience played a role in that. but she s so young and obviously has a big game and has many many years to improve on that. sprem the croatian 13th seed saw off russia s elena likhovtseva 6-3 6-2. former world number one powered her way into the fourth round with a straight sets win over anna smashnova. the 27th seed from israel stuck with williams until 3-3 in the first set before it became one-way traffic. the american made 26 unforced errors but was still good enough to romp through the contest in exactly an hour. she reeled off nine straight games to finish a 6-3 6-0 winner. remains on course to become the first australian to win her home title since chris o neil in 1978. the 10th seed equalled her best performance at a grand slam event when she beat unseeded russian nadia petrova 6-3 6-2 to reach the fourth round. after a tough first set molik grew in confidence and won in just 56 minutes. she will now meet venus williams. bring it on said the 23-year-old. i played pretty well and it was nice to get through in straight sets. we were destined to meet i guess williams said referring to her match with molik. it will be a huge match for her in australia. i can tell she s probably very motivated by that so i need to get out there and play well. beat slovakia s daniela hantuchova in a rollercoaster match. dementieva came through 7-5 5-7 6-4 becoming the seventh russian woman to reach the last 16 in melbourne. the match lasted almost three hours and featured 13 service breaks including three in the final set when dementieva held her nerve to seal the win. she now faces after the swiss 12th seed beat american abigail spears 7-6 6-3. french open champion received a free ride into the last 16 after lisa raymond was forced to withdraw. raymond the 25th seeded american was ruled out after sustaining a left abdominal muscle tear in the doubles. myskina the third seed now plays france s who beat francesca schiavone of italy 6-3 6-3. i m extremely disappointed because i couldn t have asked to play better in my first two matches raymond said.

kennedy looks to election gains they may not know quite how to describe their position in british politics - the real opposition the valid opposition the effective opposition or the authentic opposition. but the liberal democrats are entering the expected 2005 election campaign determined to prove it is they not the tories who are now the real threat to labour. as tory leader michael howard kicked off his election campaign the lib dem leader charles kennedy dismissed the conservatives as a fading force. and he insisted there was no limit to his party s ambitions in the coming poll. and he can produce some pretty impressive recent election results to back up his optimism for an election which he believes might just see his party doing big things. sensible third party leaders are usually cautious about making any predictions about how they will do come the big test. and mr kennedy was not falling into that trap when he fired up his campaign from the party s westminster hq. he would make no predictions other than that he expected the lib dems to increase both their votes and their commons seats at the election. the gap between labour and the tories was now so narrow - as proved he claimed by the defection to labour of robert jackson - that only his party offered a genuine alternative. on the war on iraq identity cards student fees and the council tax there was nothing to chose between the two big parties whereas the liberal democrats offered costed sensible alternatives. he was also happy to break the two party consensus on taxation by promising to increase income tax on those earning more than £100 000 a year to pay for the scrapping of student fees the introduction of free personal care for the elderly and replacing the council tax with a local income tax. he was also happy to offer a pledge that he would be doing no deals to prop up either of the other big parties after the election. there was a time when such optimistic sounds coming from the third party could be dismissed as self-delusion. that is no longer the case with the liberal democrats. the other parties will still insist that the lib dems are no hopers whose greatest effect on the poll will be to boost the hopes of their opponents by denying them otherwise winnable seats. labour in particular fears that disillusioned supporters may switch to the lib dems allowing the tories to win some seats. but mr kennedy is clearly hoping for a more significant outcome than that. he will not talk about the big breakthrough although there are those who believe this could well be the election that sees his party crossing some sort of symbolic threshold. they would argue that by the time of the election after next the liberal democrats may genuinely have replaced the tories as the party challenging labour for power. the lib dems will hope to have made advances because of their consistent stand against the war on iraq. but mr kennedy believes his new manifesto will also offer sensible costed and achievable policies on things like the council tax crime and asylum that will underpin his claim that his party really is the only opposition worth the name.

pension hitch for long-living men male life expectancy is much higher than originally estimated leading pension researchers have said. the pensions policy institute (ppi) said life expectancy for unskilled and professional men has been understated. life expectancy at birth is 71 years for a manual worker and 79 years for a professional - a gap of eight years. but if measured at age 65 instead the ppi said a manual worker will live to 81 years and a professional worker to 86 years - a gap of just five years. the ppi s estimate is higher because it excludes people who have died before they reach 65 years of age and also takes into account ongoing improvements in life expectancy. the government has ruled out raising the state pension age because it says it would penalise lower-skilled workers who generally have lower life expectancies. chris curry ppi research director said its calculations suggested there could be more pressure on state pension spending than originally envisaged. even people in social class v [unskilled manual workers] who are widely likely to have the lowest life expectancy can still expect to live 16 years after state pension age he said. researchers have not updated life expectancy projections for women who on average live longer than men.

shark tale dvd is us best-seller oscar-nominated animation shark tale has raked in $80m (£42.4m) in the first week of its us dvd release becoming the year s best-selling home video so far. the tally for its dvd and video sales soared past the film s opening week us box office takings of $56m (£29.7m). shark tale is now the sixth-highest earning dvd for first week sales. the all-time first-week record is held by 1995 s lion king followed by shrek 2 finding nemo the original shrek and monster s inc. shark tale whose voice cast includes will smith robert de niro renee zellweger and martin scorsese sold more than 6 million dvds and videos across the united states and canada. it becomes the highest first-week earner for february outshining my big fat greek wedding which sold four million units in 2003. films which are expected to earn strong home video returns are usually timed for release in the busiest retail season which falls before christmas. the best-selling home video of last year was the dreamworks hit shrek 2 which took an estimated $458 m (£242.7m) in north america alone.

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.

consumers drive french economy france s economic growth accelerated in the last three months of 2004 driven by consumer spending a report shows. gross domestic product (gdp) rose by 0.8% in the fourth quarter compared with the previous three month period the statistical office insee said. that expansion pushed annual growth to 2.3% the fastest rate in two years. consumer spending was up by 1.2% in the fourth quarter and there also was a rebound in business investment that gave the recovery an extra shove. analysts warned that france still was facing challenges and was unlikely to keep expanding at its current pace. france still has a strong economic growth said marc toutai an economist at natexis banques populaires. but if we check the figures in detail there s a problem. consumer spending is still high. but french households have spent their savings to consume. france can t sustain a high growth rate without an improvement in the job market. there s too much of a gap between growth and employment. unemployment levels are currently stuck at about 10% and is proving difficult to bring down despite government efforts. another worry is that demand in germany and italy two of france s main trading partners is sluggish. despite the concerns analysts pointed out that france was outperforming the majority of its european counterparts and that its economy was looking more robust than in previous years. as well as strong domestic demand exports climbed by 1.3% in the fourth quarter - the biggest increase in foreign sales for a year. it s an economic growth that seems well balanced said nicolas claquin an analyst at ccf. in the beginning of 2004 growth was mainly driven by consumer spending. here it gets contributions from investment and exports though household consumption is still strong. but we expect overall economic growth to fall to 2.0 percent in 2005.

india power shares jump on debut shares in india s largest power producer national thermal power corp (ntpc) have risen 13% on their stock market debut. the government s partial sell-off of ntpc is part of a controversial programme to privatise state-run firms. the 865 million share offer a mix of new shares and sales by the government raised 54bn rupees($1.2bn). it was india s second $1bn stock debut in three months coming after the flotation by software firm tata. the share offer was eleven times oversubscribed. it is a good investment bet said suhas naik an investment analyst from ing mutual fund. power needs in india are set to rise and ntpc will benefit from that. analysts say the success of the ntpc flotation would encourage the government to reduce stakes in more power companies. ntpc has said it will use the money from the share sale to feed the growing needs of the country s energy-starved economy. the firm is the largest utility company in india and the sixth largest power producer in the world.

t in the park sells out in days tickets for scotland s biggest music festival have sold out in record time five months before the event is held. the 12th annual t in the park festival which takes place at balado near kinross in july sold out just four days after the line-up was announced. green day the foo fighters and keane are among the acts that had already been lined up to appear at the event. however the organisers have revealed scots favourites travis as well as soulman james brown will also appear. last year tickets sold out 10 weeks before the festival but organisers confirmed that all 130 000 for the two-day event had been sold. geoff ellis ceo of festival organisers big day out ltd said this year s event promises to be the best yet. after last year s sell-out we did think this year s event would sell slightly earlier however this is way beyond our expectations mr ellis said. we are extremely proud that fans are so excited about t in the park that they have made absolutely sure that their place at balado is booked for 2005 and we will deliver one of the greatest events yet for them in july. more than 120 acts will play on eight stages over the weekend of 9 and 10 july. brit award winners keane and the streets are among the main attractions while the killers and dance act the prodigy are also on the bill. both green day and the foo fighters last played at the festival in 2002 the same year oasis and basement jaxx were among the headline acts.

iranian misses israel match iranian striker vahid hashemian will not travel to israel for bayern munich s champions league match against maccabi tel aviv on wednesday. the german club said the player had pulled out because of a back injury. iran refuses to recognise israel s right to exist and does not allow its citizens to travel to the country. a bayern spokesman said on monday that the decision not to take hashemian to israel had been motivated only by his physical condition. he s got back pain and he couldn t train the spokesman said. it would have made no sense for him to go. iran gave judo world champion arash miresmaeili a $125 000 reward when he refused to fight an israeli at the athens olympics. the international judo federation considered taking action against miresmaeili but concluded he had been overweight for the fight and could not have taken part.

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.

glastonbury fans to get id cards fans who buy tickets for this year s glastonbury festival will be issued with photo id cards in an attempt to beat touts it has been confirmed. the cards will include a photograph of the ticket-holder plus an electronic chip with their details to prevent tickets being sold on or forged. tickets for the june event are expected to go on sale in april. there is only one place in the world where you will be able to get tickets festival organiser michael eavis said. that will be the official source. if you get them anywhere else you won t get in. fans not wanting to carry the entrance card could present their passport or driving licence instead he added. more than 153 000 people are expected to travel to mr eavis somerset farm from 24-26 june but the event s rising popularity has meant an extremely high demand for tickets in recent years. when the id card idea was floated mr eavis daughter emily said it would be quite a big step in terms of ticketing for events if implemented and they were going as far as we can to cut touting. as long as it s approached in the right way it might really work it might really change the system she said. in 2004 all 112 000 tickets for the public sold out in 24 hours. they were personalised with the names of purchasers who were asked to bring identification such as a driving licence passport or household bill. but some forgot to take the right information while some touts simply offered to supply their own bills along with the ticket bearing their name. no details of this year s line-up have been confirmed but rumours have suggested u2 and coldplay may be among the headliners.

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.

microsoft releases bumper 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.

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.

old firm pair handed suspensions celtic s henri camara and nacho novo of rangers have both been suspended for offences missed by the referee in a recent old firm game. both were given automatic one-match bans and 12 additional disciplinary points for their actions. that means novo will miss a further two games because of his prior record. camara will miss one additional game. novo was found guilty of stamping on celtic s stephen pearson. camara was punished for kicking gregory vignal. i m extremely disappointed. i don t know if there s a lot to add to that said rangers manager alex mcleish of novo s punishment. but what i will say is that i m at a loss as to why that incident should be picked up and highlighted when there were so many other incidents during the game. both players will miss this weekend s games when celtic host dundee united and rangers visit kilmarnock unless they decide to appeal. the additional bans come into effect from 28 december meaning camara will also be unavailable for the home game against livingston while novo will miss the meetings with dundee united and dunfermline. an sfa spokesman said: they have seven days to appeal but with matches coming along at the weekend they would need to do so before friday. but if they do appeal it won t be heard before this weekend because it takes a bit of time to seat up an appeals tribunal. meanwhile bob malcolm and rangers have been informed by letter as to the outcome of the hearing regarding his reaction to rangers being awarded a penalty in the same game. malcolm a substitute on the day was taken from the rangers dug-out and spoken to by police about an alleged gesture he made. but the sfa would not detail what if any punishment malcolm would receive. once rangers receive our letter we will be in a position to make a comment on the findings added the spokesman.

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.

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.

wenger offers mutu hope arsenal boss arsene wenger would consider signing adrian mutu once the striker has served his drugs ban. mutu was sacked by chelsea on friday after testing positive for cocaine - a move wenger has backed. but he said: i don t even wonder if that could happen because i think he will be suspended for a long period. but once he has served his suspension he has the right again to start from zero. i would then meet the player and see what he tells me. mutu faces a ban of between six months and two years when the football association decides on his punishment. chelsea decided to act before his case was heard and sacked the striker on grounds of gross misconduct after it was revealed that he had failed a drug test. but mutu has hit out at the club s decision saying: chelsea have destroyed me. he told the sunday mirror: i don t know what i m going to do. i am shocked and surprised by their decision. i didn t expect them to pay me while i was suspended but i never thought they would sack me either. why didn t they wait to do this now my career is in ruins. i might as well walk away from football. what is there left for me chelsea have been criticised for their stance with the professional footballers association accusing the club of failing in their duty of care to the player. and mutu agreed adding: it is unfair. if they were going to sack me they should have done it afterwards. why did they go public to make an example of me it makes it very difficult for me now.

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.

arthur hailey: king of the bestsellers novelist arthur hailey who has died at the age of 84 was known for his bestselling page-turners exploring the inner workings of various industries from the hotels to high finance. born in luton bedfordshire on 5 april 1920 hailey was the only child of working class parents they could not afford to keep him in school beyond the age of 14. he served as a pilot with the royal air force during world war ii flying fighter planes to the middle east. it was an occupation that was later to feature in his authorial debut the television screenplay flight into danger. hailey emigrated to canada in 1947 where he eventually became a citizen. he wanted to be a writer from an early age but did not take it up professionally until his mid-thirties when he was inspired to write his first screenplay while on a return flight to toronto. i fell to daydreaming. i visualised the pilots at the controls and wondered what would happen if they both got sick. could i fly the airplane i was a rusty wartime pilot who hadn t flown for nine years... hailey later recalled. the canadian broadcasting corporation bought flight into danger for $600 (£318) and it was shown on tv in april 1956. it was later memorably spoofed in the 1980 comedy airplane! starring leslie nielsen. hailey worked as a screenwriter for a couple of years before turning to novels. he went on to produce 11 best-selling books which were published into 38 languages in 40 countries. flight into danger was adapted to become hailey s first novel runaway zero-eight in 1958. the final diagnosis and in high places followed both achieving a popular following. but it was not until hotel in 1965 that hollywood came calling. the hit novel took four years to write and stayed on national best-seller lists for a full year. it was turned into a movie in 1967 and later adapted into a glossy soap in the 1980s starring james brolin. airport (1968) arguably remains hailey s best-loved work and prompted the disaster movie genre. the thriller follows events in the sky and on the ground at a snow-logged airport when a terrorist boards an airplane with a bomb. the book was adapted into a hit film in 1970 starring burt lancaster as the harassed aiport manager and dean martin as a womanising pilot alongside jean seberg and jacqueline bisset. in a testament to the popularity of the fledgling disaster genre - three sequels followed. the writer was known for his painstaking research into the professions around which each novel was centred drawing his characters from real life and taking up to three years to produce each book. i have never been able to write quickly or easily. i am too self-critical for that. i am never satisfied he once said. in 1969 he moved to nassau in the bahamas with his wife sheila. wheels (1971) the moneychangers (1975) and overload (1979) followed. despite a lukewarm response from critics and few literary accolades hailey was at the height of his fame in the seventies and continued to attract the attention of hollywood producers. strong medicine hailey s blockbuster focusing on the pharmaceutical industry was turned into a film in 1986 starring sam neill douglas fairbanks jr and a panoply of former soap stars. the 1997 novel detective proved to be hailey s final book when at the age of 77 he decided to retire. hailey s health began to deteriorate in recent years twice undergoing heart surgery. he suffered a stroke just two months ago. he died in his sleep on wednesday after dinner with his wife and two of his six children at his home in new providence island. he had a wonderful life. his greatest ambition was to see his name on a book and he certainly achieved that said his wife sheila.

child access law shake-up planned parents who refuse to allow former partners contact with their children could be electronically tagged under plans being considered by ministers. curfews and community service orders were other options which could be used if court orders to allow parental access were defied lord falconer said. the constitutional affairs secretary outlined some of the plans on tuesday. he denied fathers activists had forced the changes telling the bbc there is a recognition that something is wrong . between 15 000 and 20 000 couples go to court to resolve access disputes each year although in nine out of 10 separations there is no court intervention. lord falconer told bbc radio 4 s today programme he hoped voluntary mediation could help solve disputes before they reached court. but he opposed compulsory mediation saying that it would lead to many people taking part with the wrong attitude. other plans include: - parenting plans to give advice on access arrangements based on real-life examples that have worked in the past - extending in-court conciliation - more informal hearings before contested court cases - better access to legal emotional and practical advice by telephone and internet - legal aid changes to give incentives for early resolution of disputes. judges can already jail parents who breach contact orders but that was a nuclear option which was rarely used as it was not seen as being in the child s interests a spokesman said. the aim of the new legislation was to provide a medium range of penalties such as fines community service orders compulsory anger management or parenting classes or curfews. failure to comply with these measures could result in offenders being electronically tagged. on the possibility of tagging uncooperative parents lord falconer said: tagging may be going too far but let s have a debate about that. full details of the new powers will not be revealed until a bill is published in the next two weeks a spokesman said. the government s proposals have met with disapproval from fathers rights groups. john ison from the controversial group fathers 4 justice said: it is very disappointing. what we have got is a cynical case of recycling existing legislation. jim parton from families need fathers said the new proposals lacked compulsion . we would like to see couples develop a plan and then have it as a source of a court order - then you know where you stand you know what the minimum access is. otherwise you see people make agreements which then fall apart. mr parton said he had been told by children s minister margaret hodge there was not enough time to pass the bill through parliament before the general election which is likely to take place in may. the conservatives have called for an equal split between parents on access to be made law. theresa may shadow secretary for the family told bbc radio 4 s today programme that the government s plans were inadequate and were papering over the cracks of the current system . she said a conservative government would bring a radical reform of the family courts as well as enforcing a legal presumption of co-parenting and compulsory mediation . we want to make courts the last resort rather than the first resort she added. the government says children cannot simply be divided up like property when a marriage collapses. the liberal democrats have argued for flexibility in deciding access rules rather than having rigid targets .

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.

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.

bbc denies blackadder tv comeback the bbc has said there are no plans in the pipeline for a new series of hit comedy blackadder which ended in 1989. tony robinson who played the servant baldrick told itv1 s this morning the show s star rowan atkinson was more keen than he has been in the past . robinson added he would love to do another series each of which was set in a different era ranging from the 15th century to world war i. but the bbc said on thursday there were no plans for a comeback. in the final series all the main characters were killed off charging towards german lines after being ordered out of their trench. the poignant finale was later voted the best farewell episode of a tv series. a host of other uk actors including hugh laurie stephen fry and miranda richardson also appeared in the show. blackadder returned for a one-off special filmed to celebrate the arrival of the millennium in 1999. it was shown at the millennium dome in greenwich before being screened on bskyb.

us budget deficit to reach $368bn the us budget deficit is set to hit a worse-than-expected $368bn (£197bn) this year officials said on tuesday. the cost of military operations still needs to be factored in with analysts saying the deficit could end up a further $100bn in the red. past congressional budget office (cbo) forecasts said there would be a $348bn shortfall in the 2005 fiscal year. in recent months the dollar has weakened amid market jitters about the size of the budget and trade deficits. in november the gap between us exports and imports widened to more than $60bn a record figure. the cbo says it envisages a further orderly decline in the greenback over the next two years as the twin deficit drives dollar investors away. but the non-partisan fiscal watchdog notes the declines will help exporters and boost us economic growth. the budget deficit hit a record $412bn in the 12 months to 30 september 2004 after reaching $377bn in the previous fiscal year. the cbo also forecast a total shortfall of $855bn for the years from 2006 to 2015 an improvement on previous projections. however analysts say the new figures fail to take into account the potential $2-$3.8 trillion costs of the president s plan to revamp state pensions and extend tax cuts. the figure could also be worsened by any further military costs. republicans have blamed the size of the deficit on slow economic conditions after the 11 september attacks and ongoing military operations in iraq and afghanistan. one of president george w bush s election pledges was to halve the budget deficit within five years. but democrats have accused the president of excluding iraq-related costs from previous budgets to meet the aim of reducing the deficit a charge which the administration denies. on tuesday the us administration asked congress for additional funds for military operations.

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.

carry on star patsy rowlands dies actress patsy rowlands known to millions for her roles in the carry on films has died at the age of 71. rowlands starred in nine of the popular carry on films alongside fellow regulars sid james kenneth williams and barbara windsor. she also carved out a successful television career appearing for many years in itv s well-loved comedy bless this house. rowlands died in hove on saturday morning her agent said. born in january 1934 rowlands won a scholarship to the guildhall school of speech and drama scholarship when she was just 15. after spending several years at the players theatre in london she made her film debut in 1963 in tom jones directed by tony richardson. she made her first carry on film in 1969 where she appeared in carry on again doctor. rowlands played the hard-done-by wife or the put-upon employee as a regular carry on star. she also appeared in carry on at your convenience carry on matron and carry on loving as well as others. in recent years she appeared in bbc mini-series the cazalets and played mrs potts in the london stage version of beauty and the beast. agent simon beresford said: she was just an absolutely favourite client she never complained about anything particularly when she was ill she was an old trouper. she was of the old school - she had skills from musical theatre and high drama that is why she worked with the great and the good of directors. she didn t mind always being recognised for the carry on films because she thoroughly enjoyed making them. she was a really lovely person and she will be much missed. her last appearance on stage was as mrs pearce in the award-winning production of my fair lady at the national theatre. previously married she leaves one son alan. her funeral will be a private family occasion with a memorial service at a later date.

blair told to double overseas aid tony blair is being urged to use all his negotiating powers to end poor countries debt and double aid. some 45 million children will die needlessly before 2015 and aid budgets are half their 1960 levels oxfam says in a report paying the price. the call comes as the prime minister prepares to assume the presidency of the g8 of top industrialised nations. as rich countries get richer they re giving less and less. this scandal must stop oxfam s barbara stocking said. the world s poorest children are paying for rich countries policies in aid and debt with their lives. 2005 offers the chance for an historic breakthrough but unless world leaders act now the year will end in shameful failure the charity s director added. the report said: for rich countries providing aid to help to end global poverty is an obligation and a matter of justice not an act of charity. it also points out that in 1970 the g8 of top industrialised nations agreed to spend 0.7% of their incomes on aid. but 34 years later none of the organisations members have reached this target and many have not yet set a timetable the report says. it argues that the price of not investing in poor countries sustainable development will be felt across the world. the report said: global poverty threatens our shared prosperity and security. environmental crises and natural disasters disease and drug trafficking know no national borders. poverty heightens the likelihood of conflict and unrest. new threats to the peace and security of rich nations arise from poverty and gross inequalities. criminal and terrorist networks are more likely to operate where state institutions are weak. both the prime minister and chancellor gordon brown have called for urgent action to fight world poverty. mr blair who has described africa as a scar on the world s conscience has already said tackling world poverty would be one his g8 priorities along with climate change and the aids epidemic. mr brown has also pledged to write off the debt owed to britain by the world s poor nations. a spokeswoman for the department for international development said: the government had made a clear commitment to reaching 0.7% of gross national income for overseas development aid by 2013. if britain s proposal for an international finance facility were adopted the objective of 0.7% could be achieved earlier by 2008-09. these additional resources will be used to increase uk bilateral aid to africa to at least £1.25bn a year by 2008 and spend at least £1.5bn on hiv/aids related work over the next three years.

isinbayeva claims new world best pole vaulter yelena isinbayeva broke her own indoor world record by clearing 4.89 metres in lievin on saturday. it was the russian s 12th world record of her career and came just a few days after she cleared 4.88m at the norwich union grand prix in birmingham. the olympic champion went on to attempt 5.05m at the meeting on france but failed to clear that height. in the men s 60m former olympic 100m champion maurice greene could only finish second to leonard scott. it was greene s second consecutive defeat at the hands of his fellow american who also won in birmingham last week. i ran my race perfectly said scott who won in 6.46secs his best time indoors. i am happy even if i know that maurice is a long way from being at his peak at the start of the season.

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.

england to launch ref protest england will protest to the international rugby board (irb) about the referee s performance in the defeat by ireland reports the daily mail. england coach andy robinson has called on ex-international referees colin high and steve lander to analyse several of jonathan kaplan s decisions. i want to go through the tape with colin and steve robinson told the daily mail. i want to speak to the irb about it. i think only one side was refereed. high the rugby football union s referees manager claimed kaplan made three major errors which changed the outcome of sunday s match. england were beaten 19-13 by the irish in dublin their third straight defeat in the 2005 six nations. the international rugby board will be disappointed high told the daily mail. jonathan kaplan is in the top 20 in the world but that wasn t an international performance. it would not have been acceptable in the zurich premiership. if one of my referees had done that i would have had my backside kicked for making the appointment. if any english referee refereed like that in a european match there would be an inquest. no question about that. if someone had performed like that he would have been pulled from the next game.

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).

worldcom director ends evidence the former chief financial officer at us telecoms firm worldcom has finished giving evidence at the trial of his ex-boss bernie ebbers. scott sullivan admitted to jurors he was willing to commit fraud to meet wall street earnings projections. mr ebbers is on trial for fraud and conspiracy in relation to worldcom s collapse in 2002. he pleads not guilty. mr sullivan has spent two days being cross-examined by lawyers for former worldcom chief executive mr ebbers. attorney reid weingarten has attempted to portray mr sullivan as a liar and on thursday quizzed him about his decision to commit fraud to meet analysts profit estimates. at that point in time mr sullivan said referring to the first false entries in late 2000 i knew it was wrong and i knew it was against the law but i thought we would get through it in the short term. mr sullivan 42 has already pleaded guilty to fraud and will be sentenced following mr ebbers trial where he is appearing as a prosecution witness. mr ebbers 63 has always insisted that he was unaware of any hidden shortfalls in worldcom s finances. the former finance officer said mr ebbers knew about the improper accounting entries that were made between 2000 and 2002 to conceal soaring expenses and inflate revenue. mr ebbers could face a sentence of 85 years if convicted of all the charges he is facing. worldcom s problems appear to have begun with the collapse of the dotcom boom which cut its business from internet companies. prosecutors allege that the company s top executives responded by orchestrating massive fraud over a two-year period. worldcom emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2004 and is now known as mci. on monday mci agreed to a buyout by verizon communications in a deal valued at $6.75bn.

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.

paraguay novel wins us book prize a novel set in 19th century paraguay has won the $10 000 (£5 390) fiction prize at the us national book awards. lily tuck s the news from paraguay is a fictionalised tale about paraguayan leader francisco solano lopez and his irish mistress. but the annual awards which were presented in new york on wednesday were not without controversy. children s author judy blume who was given an honourary medal used the ceremony to speak out over censorship. sales of blume s books have exceeded 75 million but her work - which features frank narratives about families religion and sexuality - is closely watched by the censors. blume said: the urge to ban is contagious. it spreads like wildfire from community to community. please speak out. censors hate publicity. her medal marks the second year in a row the honourary prize went to someone as notable for popular success as literary greatness. last year s honorary winner stephen king accused the industry during the 2003 ceremony of snobbery against popular writers. but his argument that the award should help sell books instead of honouring excellence is not shared by everyone. this year s fiction panel overlooked high-profile works such as philip roth s the plot against america and instead chose five little-known books all by new york-based women. one fiction judge stewart o nan carried around a note written on a napkin that said: i would hope that our caring more for the quality of a work than its sales figures make us a friend of books not an enemy. the national book awards non-fiction prize was awarded to kevin boyle s for arc of justice which focuses on a black family s fight to live in a white detroit neighbourhood in the 1920s. the award had created a lot of interest this year after the surprise inclusion of the of the 9-11 commission report looking into the events of the 11 september terrorist attacks on the us. pete hautman won the young people s literature prize for his novel godless. the winner in the poetry category was jean valentine for door in the mountain: new and collected poems 1965-2003.

bid to cut court witness stress new targets to reduce the stress to victims and witnesses giving evidence in courts in england and wales have been announced by the lord chancellor. lord falconer wants all crown courts and 90% of magistrates courts to have facilities to keep witnesses separate from defendants within four years. more video links will also be made available so that witnesses do not have to enter courtrooms. it is part of a five-year plan to help build confidence in the justice system. ministers say the strategy is aimed at re-balancing the court system towards victims and increasing the number of offenders brought to justice. launching the department for constitutional affairs plan lord falconer said: one of the top priorities will be a better deal for victims. the needs and safety of victims will be at the heart of the way trials are managed. courts judges magistrates prosecutors police and victim support - all working together to ensure the rights of victims are put first without compromising the rights of the defendant. he went on: giving evidence is a nerve-wracking experience especially when you re a victim. yet with a will and with support it can be done. lord falconer told bbc radio 4 s today programme it was impossible for some elderly people to go to court to give evidence. other witnesses could be intimidated by sitting alongside defendants outside courts. you are never going to get rid of some element of the trauma of giving evidence he said. but you can make people believe that the courts understand the problem it s not some kind of alien place where they go where they are not thinking about them. the plan comes as the lord chancellor also considers allowing cameras into courts for the first time since 1925 as long as they were used for cases that did not involve witnesses. another feature of the strategy is constitutional reform with a government bill to set up a supreme court and a judicial appointments commission returning to the house of lords on tuesday. ministers had proposed getting rid of the title of lord chancellor but the lords have over-ruled this. lord falconer said it was right for the highest court to be completely distinct from parliament. the person in charge of the court system should not also be speaker of the house of lords he said and should be the best person chosen from either house of parliament. what they did not what they were called was the critical issue he added.

parmar ruled out of davis cup tie a knee injury has forced arvind parmar out of great britain s davis cup tie in israel and left alex bogdanovic in line to take the second singles place. parmar picked up the injury last week and has failed to recover in time for the europe/africa zone i tie which begins in tel aviv on friday. bogdanovic looks set to take the second singles place alongside greg rusedski. gb captain jeremy bates could use 17-year-old andrew murray and david sherwood in the doubles rubber. bogdanovic and murray both pulled out of tournaments last week through injury but are expected to be fit. jamie delgado and lee childs have been called into the squad in tel aviv as designated hitters for team practice but bates has no plans to call either of them into his squad at present. the unheralded sherwood was the surprise inclusion when the squad was announced last week and bates said: david has earned his place in this squad on the merit of his form and results over the last 12 months. the 6ft 4in sherwood is ranked 264th in the world and the lta have high hopes for him after futures tournament wins in wrexham and edinburgh. the sheffield-born right-hander aged 24 also reached another final in plaisir france a week after making the semi-final in mulhouse. bates is glad to have rusedski available after tim henman s retirement from davis cup tennis. his wealth of experience is invaluable particularly to the younger players and i know he will lead by example bates said. we are looking forward to the tie. the squad are all in excellent form.

cairn shares slump on oil setback shares in cairn energy a uk oil firm have closed down 18% after a disappointing drilling update and a warning over possible tax demands. the company said tests had shown no significant finds in one of its indian oil fields but was upbeat about the potential of other areas. it also said the indian government had told it to pay a production tax for which cairn argues it is not liable. cairn s shares have jumped by almost 400% this year. investors had piled into cairn after the company announced significant oil finds in india this year. chief executive bill gammell said on friday he was disappointed with exploration in the so-called n-c extension area in rajasthan. investors had held high hopes of major oil finds in this area. but cairn said estimates had been revised in what was a significant downgrade of the initial expectation . cairn also said that the government believed the company was liable to pay taxes under its production-sharing contract. the company said the rate would be about 900 rupees ($20.40; £10.50) per tonne or seven barrels of oil. a spokesman for the firm said that the tax would wipe 5% of the field s current value. cairn refutes the government s position mr gammell said. he insisted that the contract made it clear that the tax should be shouldered by the licensee - india s state-run oil & natural gas corp (ongc) - and not the contractor. we have a pretty strong legal case here he added saying it would only become an issue once the firm started production. investors took a dim view of the statements though. the shares closed down 247p or 18% at 1115 pence. i think people were slightly over-ambitious for how quickly cairn would be able to develop and potentially offload these reserves said analyst jason kenney at ing. the disappointments overshadowed increased production targets for cairn s existing oilfields. the company raised targets for its mangala and aishwariya fields in india from 60 000 barrels a day to between 80 000 and 100 000 barrels a day. its mangala field thought to contain a billion barrels is its biggest find to date. these two fields will provide the core of the future developments in rajasthan mr gammell said. cairn added that it would be appraising another field early next year. mr gammell set up the company in the 1980s and has successfully switched its focus to south asia from interests in the us and europe. cairn which also operates in nepal and bangladesh was catapulted into the ftse 100 index of leading uk shares earlier this year after the sharp rise in its share price.

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.

bank set to leave rates on hold uk interest rates are set to remain on hold at 4.75% following the latest meeting of the bank of england. the bank s rate-setting committee has put up rates five times in the past year but rates have been on hold since september amid signs of a slowdown. economic growth slowed in the previous quarter as manufacturing output fell while consumer confidence has slipped. there is also growing evidence that the previously booming uk housing market is now cooling. house prices fell 0.4% in october according to the nationwide their biggest monthly fall since february 2001. last month bank of england governor mervyn king said that the economy had hit a softer patch after rapid economic growth in the first half of 2004. richard jeffrey chief economist at bridgewell securities said it was very unlikely that the bank of england would put rates up again this time around. there have been sufficient signs in the economy of a slowdown to stay the bank of england s hand he told bbc radio 4 s today programme. however mr jeffrey said he believed the slowdown in economic activity was temporary and it was dangerous to assume that rates had peaked. i still think interest rates are going up he said. we are not out of the woods.

no uk apology for colonial past the days of britain having to apologise for its colonial past are over gordon brown has said. the chancellor speaking during a week-long tour of africa said it was time to talk about enduring british values of liberty and tolerance. mr brown has signed a debt relief deal with tanzania which could cost the uk £1 billion. south african president thabo mbeki has attacked british imperialists saying they treated africans like savages. mr brown said that missionairies had come to africa because of their sense of duty. he added that the history of internationalism and enterprise had given britain a greater global reach than any other country. bbc political correspondent mark mardell said britishness had long been a theme of the chancellor s but never before has he been so outspoken in defending britain s past history . the uk has pledged to pay 10% of the developing world s foreign debt bill in an attempt to fight poverty. on top of the relief deal with tanzania mr brown said the uk would make similar offers to 70 poorer nations around the world. under the plan - which could cost the uk £1bn - countries must spend the cash saved on health education and welfare. we make this offer unilaterally but we are now asking other countries to join us the chancellor said. mr brown on a week-long tour of africa spent two days in tanzania before heading on friday evening to mozambique a country where more than half of the 17-million population lives below the poverty line. there he is expected to strike a similar debt relief pact. the chancellor said he hoped other g8 and european countries would follow suit. the uk has already cancelled its bilateral debts - money the uk alone is owed - with the world s poorest nations including tanzania. former international development secretary clare short questioned the effectiveness of debt relief as a means of tackling poverty.

chelsea sack mutu chelsea have sacked adrian mutu after he failed a drugs test. the 25-year-old tested positive for a banned substance - which he later denied was cocaine - in october. chelsea have decided to write off a possible transfer fee for mutu a £15.8m signing from parma last season who may face a two-year suspension. a statement from chelsea explaining the decision read: we want to make clear that chelsea has a zero tolerance policy towards drugs. mutu scored six goals in his first five games after arriving at stamford bridge but his form went into decline and he was frozen out by coach jose mourinho. chelsea s statement added: this applies to both performance-enhancing drugs or so-called recreational drugs. they have no place at our club or in sport. in coming to a decision on this case chelsea believed the club s social responsibility to its fans players employees and other stakeholders in football regarding drugs was more important than the major financial considerations to the company. any player who takes drugs breaches his contract with the club as well as football association rules. the club totally supports the fa in strong action on all drugs cases. fifa s disciplinary code stipulates that a first doping offence should be followed by a six-month ban. and the sport s world governing body has re-iterated their stance over mutu s failed drugs test maintaining it is a matter for the domestic sporting authorities. fifa is not in a position to make any comment on the matter until the english fa have informed us of their disciplinary decision and the relevant information associated with it said a fifa spokesman. chelsea s move won backing from drug-testing expert michelle verroken. verroken a former director of drug-free sport for uk sport insists the blues were right to sack mutu and have enhanced their reputation by doing so. chelsea are saying quite clearly to the rest of their players and their fans that this is a situation they are not prepared to tolerate. it was a very difficult decision for them and an expensive decision for them but the terms of his contract were breached and it was the only decision they could make. it is a very clear stance by chelsea and it has given a strong boost to the reputation of the club. it emerged that mutu had failed a drugs test on october 18 and although it was initially reported that the banned substance in question was cocaine. the romanian international later suggested it was a substance designed to enhance sexual performance. the football association has yet to act on mutu s failed drugs test and refuses to discuss his case.

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.

little britain two top comic list little britain stars matt lucas and david walliams have been named the most powerful people in tv comedy in a poll by listings magazine radio times. the duo kept phoenix nights creator peter kay at number two and the office star ricky gervais in third place. a radio times panel compiled the list taking the comedians critical acclaim and financial success into account. newcomers to the annual list included nighty night star julia davis at seven and black books tamsin greig at 19. lucas and walliams won numerous awards for little britain in 2004 including national television royal television society and british comedy awards. more than 1.8 million people watched the first episode of the latest series of little britain on bbc three in october giving the digital channel its highest rating ever. they topped the radio times list after rising from 10th position last year. other big risers over the past year included presenting duo ant and dec at five up from 13 in 2004 stephen fry rising nine places to 15 and bbc three controller stuart murphy who moves to number 18 from 32 last year. last year s winner chat show host graham norton fell to number 16 following relatively few television appearances in 2004. production companies also featured in the top 50 including steve coogan s baby cow which created nighty night among others hat trick - behind the kumars at number 42 - and the vicar of dibley production company tiger aspect.

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.

godzilla gets hollywood fame star movie monster godzilla has received a star on hollywood s walk of fame honouring both his 50th birthday and the launch of his 28th film. an actor dressed as the giant creature breathed smoke over photographers on monday as godzilla received the 2 271st star on hollywood boulevard. godzilla should thank you for this historical and monumental star said final wars producer shogo tomiyama. but unfortunately he cannot speak english he added. hollywood s honorary mayor johnny grant said: i do hereby proclaim this godzilla day in hollywood. he s loose he s wild and i m getting the hell out of here he added. the premiere of godzilla: final wars at grauman s chinese theatre followed the ceremony on hollywood boulevard. the monster was joined by co-stars including japanese pop star and actor masahiro matsuoka. director ryuhei kitamura said it may not be godzilla s final outing as it has been billed. that s what the producers say. but the producer s a liar he said. [godzilla s] been working for the last 50 years. so i think godzilla just deserves a vacation. and producer shogo tomiyama added: so long as godzilla can fascinate people i believe he will be resurrected by new generations of filmmakers in the future. godzilla first appeared in 1954 as a prehistoric lizard woken by atomic bomb tests.

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.

bmw cash to fuel mini production less than four years after the new mini was launched german car maker bmw has announced £100m of new investment. some 200 new jobs are to be created at the oxford factory including modernised machinery and a new body shell production building. the result of the investment could be to raise output to more than 200 000 cars from 2007. the rise from 189 000 last year is a response to rapidly-rising demand and could help wipe out waiting lists. before wednesday s announcement bmw had invested some £280m in mini production. since its launch during summer 2001 the new mini has gone from strength to strength. last year almost one in six cars sold by the bmw group was a mini. the company admits that the success of the brand came despite scepticism from many in the industry. our decision to produce a new mini was not received well right away said norbert reithofer a member of the bmw management board. initially bmw said it would produce 100 000 mini models a year at its vast cowley factory on the outskirts of oxford but the target was quickly reached then raised time and time again. not everyone is convinced that the boom can continue. the risk is that after they ve invested massively in the brand demand tapers off like it did with the new vw beetle said brad wernle from automotive news europe. the price of the car has also gone up. when it was launched the cheapest mini cost just more than £10 000. these days buyers will have to fork out almost £11 500 to own a new mini one or even more for the cooper s which costs up to £17 730. the mini convertible which was launched last spring costs up to £15 690 for the top model and there is even a waiting list. second-hand minis are not cheap either. a mini one bought when the model was launched should still fetch at least £8 000 for the cheapest model while a used cooper s is likely to be priced from £12 556 according to the-car buying website parker s. the consumers association which operates with slightly different numbers yet it confirms that the mini cooper 1.6 depreciates slower than any other car other than the mercedes benz c180 se and the bmw 1 series 116i se. the cowley factory which initially seemed far too large a production plant for just 100 000 minis is increasingly being put to good use. there are plans to tear down old buildings and build new ones and there are rumours that a new paint shop could be included in the plans. bmw s mini adventure has made good much of what went wrong during its stewardship of the uk car maker rover which it sold for £10 five years ago to the phoenix consortium. in 1999 when bmw still owned rover the oxford factory was producing the award-winning rover 75. during that year 3 500 people produced 56 000 cars. last year in the same factory almost four times as many vehicles were produced by just 4 500 mini-workers. the mini factory s current output is equally impressive when compared with the main rover factory in longbridge which in 1999 produced 180 000 rover cars. last year mg rover which employs more than 6 000 people produced just 110 000 cars though it hopes to land a deal with shanghai automotive industry corporation (saic) that could help double the number of cars produced at longbridge. indeed mini is not only producing more cars than mg rover does; it remains ahead even when the current sales of land rovers and range rovers (which are made by the former rover unit that bmw sold to ford) are taken into account.

chris evans back on the market broadcaster chris evans has begun selling thousands of his possessions from a stall in camden market london. evans perched on a stool as shoppers wandered around the open-fronted shop packed with his furniture. among the items from his homes in los angeles and london were countless sofas chairs pictures beds and memorabilia from his past tv shows. asked the reason for the sale evans said: i just want to get rid of it all it s just a headache. he added: it feels good to be selling this stuff it s a weight off my mind. look at it all there s so much clutter. i ve enjoyed every bit of furniture and every poster but it s not important anymore. the normally gregarious evans cut a peculiarly unshowbusiness-like figure as he sipped coffee and smoked cigarettes wrapped in a big coat and scarf in front of his aladdin s cave. however the ostentation of some of the items on sale painted a picture of the eccentricity that endeared him to the british public in shows such as channel 4 s gameshow don t forget your toothbrush. the most striking thing about many of the pieces was their sheer size. sofas looked like they could seat a small party and a bed seemed big enough for four. the elaborate nature of the pieces many custom-made had to be admired particularly a huge red and gold upholstered throne and a stripy deckchair from the queen mary liner. to help people in their browsing evans had given the pieces labels with not only the price but a helpful often comic aside. isn t it great was the comment on the £1 950 throne and bob dylan s old sofa - honest was written on a dark wood couch priced £4 250. the prices were steep by a lot of people s standards but evans said it was not deterring shoppers. i ve sold quite a lot already. everything here is on sale for less than i bought it for but it s not really about the money. it s about getting rid of it all. we ve all been bartering that s what it s all about. he added that he was not going to reveal what he was going to do with the money he was making. vintage tv and film posters also lined the walls including a rare portrait of raquel welch and an original advertising print from the benny hill show. and almost hidden at the back of the lock-up were the two giant toothbrushes from his former channel 4 show although these were not for sale. despite the sheer curiosity value of the sale there was a healthy trickle of interest from the public rather than the perhaps expected crowds. some wandered in just to browse as they would any of the other stalls not knowing that it belonged to evans. paul burgess said: i didn t realise. i thought it was just a load of junk. i should go back and have a better look. but local resident francesca detakats came specially to the stall and left happy with her purchase of an original 1960s photograph of the who by david wedgburg. ms detakats said she was a collector and did not mind paying £350 for the print. if you like something you don t really count it like that she said. martin hellewell who had also made a point of visiting evans shop said he thought it was a great idea. why not if you ve got stuff to get rid of it s a good place to do it said mr hellewell. evans has taken out the stall with business partner pete winterbottom. they plan to open every day if possible although evans did not know how often he would be there. we ll stay definitely until christmas and then maybe a week after that said evans.

uk firm faces venezuelan land row venezuelan authorities have said they will seize land owned by a british company as part of president chavez s agrarian reform programme. officials in cojedes state said on friday that farmland owned by a subsidiary of the vestey group would be taken and used to settle poor farmers. the government is cracking down on so-called latifundios or large rural estates which it says are lying idle. the vestey group said it had not been informed of any planned seizure. the firm whose agroflora subsidiary operates 13 farms in venezuela insisted that it had complied fully with venezuelan law. prosecutors in the south of the country have targeted hato el charcote a beef cattle ranch owned by agroflora. according to reuters they plan to seize 12 900 acres (5 200 hectares) from the 32 000 acre (13 000 hectare) farm. officials claim that agroflora does not possess valid documents proving its ownership of the land in question. they also allege that areas of the ranch are not being used for any form of active production. the legal boundaries did not match up with the actual boundaries and there is surplus state prosecutor alexis ortiz told reuters. as a consequence the government has taken action. controversial reforms passed in 2001 give the government the right to take control of private property if it is declared idle or ownership cannot be traced back to the 19th century. critics say the powers - which president chavez argues are needed to help the country s poorest citizens and develop the venezuelan economy - trample all over private property rights. the vestey group said it had owned the land since 1920 and would co-operate fully with the authorities. but a spokesman added: agroflora is absolutely confident that what it has submitted will demonstrate the legality of its title to the land. the company pointed out that the farm which employs 300 workers provides meat solely for the venezuelan market. last month the government said it had identified more than 500 idle farms and had yet to consider the status of a further 40 000. the authorities said landowners whose titles were in order and whose farms were productive had nothing to fear . under president chavez the venezuelan government has steadily expanded the state s involvement in the country s economy. it recently said all mining contracts involving foreign firms would be examined to ensure they provided sufficient economic benefits to the state.

uk risks breaking golden rule the uk government will have to raise taxes or rein in spending if it wants to avoid breaking its golden rule a report suggests. the rule states that the government can borrow cash only to invest and not to finance its spending projects. the national institute of economic and social research (niesr) claims that taxes need to rise by about £10bn if state finances are to be put in order. the treasury said its plans were on track and funded until 2008. according to niesr if the government s current economic cycle runs until march 2006 then it is unlikely the golden rule will be met. should the cycle end a year earlier then the chances improve to 50/50 . either way fiscal tightening is needed niesr said. the report is the latest to call into question the viability of government spending projections. earlier this month accountancy firm ernst & young said that chancellor of the exchequer gordon brown s forecasts for tax revenues were too optimistic. it claimed revenues were likely to be £6bn below estimates by the end of the tax year despite the economy growing in line with forecasts. a treasury spokesperson dismissed the latest claims saying it was on track to meeting spending rules and the golden rule in the current cycle and beyond . spending plans have been set out until 2008 and they are fully affordable. other than its warning on possible tax hikes the niesr report was optimistic about the state of the uk and global economy. it said the recent record-busting surge in oil prices would have a limited effect on worldwide expansion saying that if anything the world economy will continue to grow strongly . global gross domestic product (gdp) is tipped to be 4.1% this year dipping to 4% in 2005 before picking up again to 4.2% in 2006. the us will continue to drive expansion until 2006 albeit at a slightly slower rate as will be the case in japan. hinting at better times for uk exporters niesr said the euro zone is expected to pick up speed . growth in britain also is set to accelerate it forecast. despite weak growth in the third quarter the forces sustaining the upswing remain intact and the economy will expand robustly in 2005 and 2006 niesr said adding that the economy will become better balanced over the next two years as exports stage a recovery . gdp is expected at 3.2% in 2004 and 2.8% in both 2005 and 2006. the main cloud on the horizon niesr said was the uk s much analysed and fretted over property market.

tv debate urged for party chiefs broadcasters should fix a date for a pre-election televised debate between the three main political leaders according to the hansard society. it would then be up to tony blair michael howard and charles kennedy to decide whether to take part the non-partisan charity said. chairman lord holme argued that prime ministers should not have the right of veto on a matter of public interest . the broadcasters should make the decision to go ahead he said. lord holme s proposal for a televised debate comes just four months after millions of viewers were able to watch us president george w bush slug it out verbally with his democratic challenger john kerry. he said it was a democratically dubious proposition that it was up to the incumbent prime minister to decide whether a similar event takes place here. if mr blair did not want to take part the broadcasters could go ahead with an empty chair or cancel the event and explain their reasons why lord holme said. what makes the present situation even less acceptable is that although mr howard and mr kennedy have said they would welcome a debate no-one has heard directly from the prime minister he said. it has been left to nudges and winks hints and briefings from his aides and campaign managers to imply that mr blair doesn t want one but we haven t heard from the prime minister himself. lord holme who has campaigned for televised debates at previous elections said broadcasters were more than willing to cooperate with the arrangements . opinion polls suggested that the idea had the backing of the public who like comparing the personalities and policies of the contenders in their own homes he said. lord holme argued that as part of their public service obligations broadcasters should make the decision to go ahead as soon as the election is called. an independent third-party body such as the hansard society or electoral commission could work out the ground rules so they were fair to participants and informative to the public he said. it would be up to each party leader to accept or refuse said lord holme. if the prime minister s reported position is true and he does want to take part he would then be obliged to say why publicly. the broadcasters would then have the option of cancelling the event for obvious and well-understood reasons or going ahead with an empty chair. either way would be preferable to the present hidden veto. the hansard society has long campaigned for televised debates and has published reports on the issue in 1997 and 2001. tony blair has already ruled out taking part in a televised debate during the forthcoming election campaign. last month he said: 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.

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.

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.

everton s weir cools euro hopes everton defender david weir has played down talk of european football despite his team lying in second place in the premiership after beating liverpool. weir told bbc radio five live: we don t want to rest on our laurels and say we have achieved anything yet. i think you start taking your eye off the ball if you make statements and look too far into the future. if you start making predictions you soon fall back into trouble. the only thing that matters is the next game. he said: we are looking after each other and hard work goes a long way in this league. we have definitely shown that. also injuries and suspensions haven t cost us too badly and we have a lot of self-belief around the place.

russia wto talks make progress talks on russia s proposed membership of the world trade organisation (wto) have been making good progress say those behind the negotiations. but the chairman of the working party ambassador stefan johannesson of iceland warned that there was still a lot of work has to be done . his comments came as president george w bush said the us backed russian entry. but he said for russia to make progress the government must renew a commitment to democracy and the rule of law . his comments come three days before he is due to meet president vladimir putin. russia has been waiting for a decade to join the wto and hopes to finally become a member by early 2006. a decision could be reached in december when the wto s 148 current members gather for a summit in hong kong. that would allow an earliest date for membership of january 2006 if the hong kong summit gave its approval. while pinpointing several areas in which there are difficulties in the bilateral and multilateral work with russia the us said the meeting was much more efficient than we ve seen for some time . and australia said it was one of the best (meetings) we can recall in terms of substance . mr johannesson also said progress on the bilateral market access side is accelerating . sticking points to membership have included limits on foreign ownership in the telecommunications and life insurance businesses as well as issues surrounding counterfeiting piracy and data protection. some wto members also dislike russia s energy price subsidies which competitors say give russian businesses an unfair advantage.

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.

qwest may spark mci bidding war us phone company qwest has said it will table a new offer for mci after losing out to larger rival verizon setting the scene for a possible bidding war. mci accepted a $6.75bn (£3.6bn) buyout from telecoms giant verizon on monday rejecting a higher offer from qwest. qwest chairman richard notebaert sent a letter to mci s board on thursday saying that it plans to submit a new offer after examining verizon s bid. formerly known as worldcom mci is a long-distance and corporate phone firm. snapping up mci would give the buyer access to a global telecommunications network and a large number of business-based subscribers. shares of mci were up more than 4% in electronic trading after the close of new york markets. qwest said on wednesday that mci had rejected a deal worth $8bn. we would like to advise you that once we have completed our review of the verizon merger agreement we do intend to submit a modified offer to acquire mci the letter from qwest said. verizon s offer is made up of cash shares and dividends and a number of investors have said that it undervalues mci. verizon plans to swap 0.41 of its shares and $1.50 in cash for each mci share as well as offering special dividends of $4.50 a share. both company boards have backed the deal but regulators will still need to give their approval. as well as trying to lure investors with the promise of better returns qwest also reckons that its offer will face less regulatory scrutiny than verizon s. the takeover would be the fifth billion-dollar telecoms deal since october as companies look to cut costs and boost client bases. earlier this month sbc communications agreed to buy its former parent and phone trailblazer at&t for about $16bn. there may be concerns other than cash however especially as mci only emerged from bankruptcy protection last april. verizon is far bigger than qwest has fewer debts and has built a successful mobile division. also mci while trading under the name worldcom became the biggest corporate bankruptcy in us history after admitting that it illegally booked expenses and inflated profits. former worldcom boss bernie ebbers is currently standing trial accused of overseeing an $11bn fraud. qwest meanwhile had to pay the securities and exchange commission $250m in october to settle charges that it massaged earnings to keep wall street happy.

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.

labour s four little words labour has unveiled the four little words that will form the heart of its general election campaign which for those just returned from the planet galifray is looming . the slogan britain forward not back (no it s not an instruction from one of those inter-planetary time lords) is to become as much a part of our daily lives as the sky - it s always there but we mostly stop noticing. the word britain is cast on a red background - a nod to old labour. forward is in italics and cunningly slopes forward and along with not back is set against a mushy pea green background. as one of the journalists assembled at the unveiling declared it was all very post modern or something. great use of colour. those ad men really do earn their money. and coincidentally the ad men who came up with the abandoned flying pigs and so-called fagin posters which caused tory protests have not been sacked but as election supremo alan milburn declared are doing a very good job . mr milburn in the latest in his series of pre-election-campaign campaigning explained the slogan was the reaction to polling which suggests the public believe labour and tony blair are the future while michael howard and the tories would take the country backwards. not many people talk about the years before 1997 as the good old days he declared. it would be an aggressive campaign because things would inevitably boil down to a choice between labour and the tories. nobody he claimed could picture liberal democrat leader charles kennedy walking up downing street the day after polling. they could however picture michael howard or of course tony blair doing it. so it was only right that the campaign concentrated on rigorously examining the opposition s policies and past record. and tony blair would be in the very front line of that campaign he said. between now and the election the prime minister will be spending more time out of london than in it but in britain not overseas he promised. he will be leading the domestic debate from the front listening taking the flak. so let s get on with it then.

williams battles to aussie title serena williams staged a remarkable recovery to beat lindsay davenport and win her second australian open title. the 2003 champion claimed her seventh grand slam title and her first since wimbledon in 2003 2-6 6-3 6-0. williams had looked close to quitting with a rib injury when she left the court for treatment after five games. she quickly dropped the first set but from 3-3 in the second found another gear as davenport s game collapsed allowing williams to take the title. williams later explained her injury problem saying it was the result of lunging for a ball early in the first set. lindsay had me on the run out wide on my backhand and my back went but eventually i was able to come back thank goodness she said. davenport paid tribute to williams saying: she s had a tough couple of years and she s come back like a champion. the 23-year-old former world number one was in desperate trouble in the early stages as the injury hampered her service action. davenport took advantage to race through the opening set and held six break points in game five of the second. i kept thinking to myself i m not losing this game said williams afterwards. i don t care if my arm falls off i m not losing this game . and i guess that s what happened. i didn t want to lose that particular game because it would have given her a lot of momentum and a lot of confidence. despite letting the break points slip away davenport looked comfortable enough at 3-3 but from 40-0 up she just folded. williams won nine consecutive points for the set and powered through the decider as a lacklustre davenport looked to have run out of energy after a gruelling two weeks. i felt like i was playing well and in control pretty much of the match said davenport. then i just had that horrible lapse i think serving up 40-0 and made a few errors and opened up the door for her and she just kept going through it. at the end i think i was a little bit fatigued but she took advantage of it and kept going - she s a great frontrunner when she gets going.

russian ex-spy on hunger strike an ex-russian intelligence officer who risked his life spying for mi6 is entering the seventh week of a hunger strike near 10 downing street. viktor makarov 50 claims he has been betrayed by the british authorities who promised he would live like an average british citizen . but despite a £65 000 settlement four years ago he says he has been denied defector status and a decent pension. other ex-russian spies have been given civil service pensions. hunger strike is a weapon of last resort. it can work only with determination and of course the realisation of the righteousness of your case - without that it will not work mr makarov told the bbc s newsnight programme. since i came to this country two batches of promises have been made and broken one after the other. oleg gordievsky a senior kgb officer who became a secret agent for the british said he was very happy with the way the government have treated him since him since he defected in 1985. commenting on mr makarov s case he said: the british state is not a fat cow - it is impossible to come here and demand give me more money every week. but mr makarov s case has been backed by david kahn - a former yale historian and a leading expert on code-breaking who has confirmed his information was valuable to the western allies. i believe the government of the united kingdom which in that respect was probably the same as most other power authorities - took the information that victor makarov had wrung him dry and left him to hang out in the cold mr kahn said. mr makarov joined the kgb in 1970s russia as an idealistic 20 year-old. one of his fellow pupils at intelligence school was vladimir putin. at kgb headquarters in moscow he was posted to the secret 16th directorate - which decoded intercepted diplomatic traffic from the west. by the 1980s he had risen to the rank of senior lieutenant - and was privy to the thoughts of western powers. but he had became deeply disenchanted with the soviet regime - fuelled by its repression both at home and in poland. through his english teacher he made an approach to m16 - and then began passing secrets to the british intelligence service. he spied for mi6 for two years before being betrayed by a friend and sent to perm 35 - a soviet hard labour camp in the artic circle. within a week of his release in 1992 he made contact with the british authorities he d been spying for who arranged a meeting between him and an mi6 agent in latvia. he was given a false passport and he says promised that he would be given the chance to live like an average uk citizen. but after arriving in london 13 years ago he feels this promise has not been fulfilled. after long periods of living in bedsits with deteriorating health four years ago he took legal action against the government - and settled for £65 000 to buy a small house. but he says he will remain on hunger strike until he receives a decent pension and the right to work something he feels he has been denied because the authorities do not trust him. government sources told the bbc they had reached a final settlement with the former spy which he has been able to appeal to security and intelligence tribunals.

tech helps disabled speed demons an organisation has been launched to encourage disabled people to get involved in all aspects of motorsport which is now increasingly possible thanks to technological innovations. the motorsport endeavour club left the starting grid yesterday at the autosport international 2005 show at birmingham s nec with several technologies to adapt vehicles on display. motorcycle racer roy tansley from derby developed his electronic sequential gear changer following an accident which resulted in part of his left leg being amputated. i needed to find a way of changing gear and generally you do that with your left leg mr tansley told the bbc news website. in simple terms i needed to invent a left foot - initially it was quite a heath robinson device. mr tansley had to argue his case to be allowed to continue competing with motorcycle racing s governing body the autocycle union. at that time they wouldn t let any amputee race at all but eventually they told me i could have a licence as long as i raced sidecars. mr tansley s invention the pro-shift is designed to work with hewland gearboxes which are widely used in motorcycle racing. in addition to helping disabled riders to compete mr tansley reckons that the pro-shift saves at least 20 seconds per lap when he competes in the isle of man tt. as a result there has been considerable interest in the product from other riders keen to improve their performance. i m not prejudiced i ll sell to able-bodied people if i have to! he joked. another exhibit on the motorsport endeavour stand is a subaru impreza rally car adapted to accommodate a variety of disabilities. the vehicle belongs to pararallying the world s only rally school for disabled drivers which is based in lincolnshire. we use the latest technology supplied by an italian company said rally driver dave hawkins who runs the company. the cars have electronic throttles electronic brakes electronic clutches - we ve yet to turn anybody away. mr hawkins - a paraplegic himself - says his customers have included right or left arm amputees quadriplegics people who have had strokes and a woman who had had all four limbs amputated. pararallying uses a vauxhall astra gsi with an automatic gearbox and manual subaru imprezas. the car on display is fitted with a duck clutch - a switch on the gear stick used instead of the clutch pedal. it also has a second ring behind the steering wheel to operate the throttle and a hand operated brake bar. when joy rainey started competing in motorsport in 1974 she was continuing the family tradition - her father murray is a former australian formula 3 champion. and it was rainey senior who modified a sports racer to accommodate his daughter s small stature so that she could take part in hill climbs. she uses an ordinary road car by putting extensions on the pedals a cushion behind her back and raising the seat. but in a competition car you have to have everything right or you ll lose the balance of the car she said. i bring everything back to me - steering wheel steering column gear lever and pedals. when she recently took part in the london to sydney marathon she shared the driving with her partner trevor who now does the engineering work. he designed a system for their morris minor so that the adaptations could be totally removed in under a minute. the motorsport endeavour club is hoping that putting such technologies on display will result in more disabled people becoming involved in all areas of the sport and at every level.

turkey-iran mobile deal at risk turkey s investment in iran s mobile industry looks set to be scrapped after its biggest mobile firm saw its investment there slashed by mps. iran s parliament voted by a large majority to cut turkcell s stake in a new mobile network from 70% to 49%. the move which was justified on national security grounds follows an earlier vote by mps to give themselves a veto over foreign investments. turkcell said the decision increases the risks attached to the project. although the company s statement said it would continue to monitor developments observers said they thought turkcell was set to pull out of the $3bn deal. the possibility of carrying out this project is next to zero said atinc ozkan analyst at finans investment in istanbul. if turkcell does back out mtn - the south african firm which lost out in the original tender - may well be back in the running. the company has said it is prepared to accept a minority stake if iran will award it the mobile deal. turkcell s mobile deal is the second turkish investment in iran to run into trouble. turkish-austrian consortium tav was chosen to build and run tehran s new imam khomeini international airport - but the army closed it just hours after it opened in may 2004. in both cases the justification has been national security amid allegations that the turkish firms are too close to israel. the hardline posture taken by parliament which is dominated by religious conservatives could yet impact other inward investments.

howard attacks cost of asylum michael howard has launched an attack on the cost of britain s chaotic asylum system under tony blair. the tory leader said english local authorities have spent more than £3bn - or £140 per household - on asylum since labour won power in 1997. mr howard is expected to tell activists in kent that voters tolerance and desire to help others are being abused. other parties and refugee agencies have already attacked tory plans for annual limits on numbers. mr howard said britain should take its fair share of the world s genuine refugees . the anniversary of the liberation of auschwitz - where my grandmother was murdered along with over a million others - has reminded all of us that we have a moral responsibility to those fleeing persecution he was due to say. but if we are to fulfil responsibility we have to get a grip of the system. fair play matters. people want a government that upholds the rules - not one that turns a blind eye when they are bent and abused he said. and let s be clear. our asylum system is being abused - and with it britain s generosity. earlier this week mr howard said his party s plans to cut immigration were not racist arguing they would make the asylum system fairer for genuine refugees. if elected his party would institute an annual limit on asylum and all claims would be processed overseas. that prompted some charities to say the plans would put refugees lives at risk if they were turned away once quotas were filled. if we have a moral responsibility towards people fleeing persecution then these policies will not provide a safe haven said hannah ward of the refugee council. if people turn up in the uk asking for help they will be turned away. michael howard s policy effectively means there is no safe haven in the uk. when it comes to costs then perhaps we should start with how decisions are made on asylum seekers. so many of them are shown to be wrong - one in five decisions that are appealed are successfully overturned rising to half for some nationalities. we need good quality decision-making on asylum applications because it is delays in the system which cost so much. tony blair said labour would set out workable plans for tackling immigration abuse in the next few weeks and attacked the tory plans. by cutting the number of front-line immigration staff at our borders they will actually make the problem worse said mr blair. liberal democrat chairman matthew taylor said there needed to be a quick fair and firm asylum system. but he said it was absolutely disgusting to propose a system which could turn away genuine refugees. the conservatives say there is little risk of this happening as demand for asylum will be considered when quotas are set. on monday mr howard said: it s not racist as some people to claim to talk about controlling immigration far from it.

us composer recreates bach score a us musicologist has recreated a lost musical score by german composer johann sebastian bach. the 1728 composition called wedding cantata bwv 216 was found among the papers of japanese pianist chieko hara who died in japan in 2001 aged 86. the work written for the wedding of a daughter of a german customs official was missing for 80 years. joshua rifkin - a composer and leading interpreter of bach - has recreated the missing instrumental parts. he said he originally wanted to let the lost cantata lie in rest. maybe a fragment should stay a fragment said rifkin. then i thought of palaeontologists from one bone they figure the entire dinosaur. this is my dinosaur. the eight rediscovered pages consist of vocal pieces in german for soprano and alto with the seven movements lasting for a total of between 20 and 25 minutes. the instrumental parts were entirely lost except for two recycled movements a duet and an aria which had been used elsewhere in bach s work. rifkin likened the challenge to a musical rubik s cube . i could not reconstruct what bach wrote but i could give the people of today an idea of what his music was like he said. it sounds like bach s music but the listener should not know which part is bach s and which part is mine.

fox too reliant on reality tv the head of us tv network fox has admitted the broadcaster had relied too heavily on reality tv shows such as the poor-rating who s your daddy. chief executive gail berman said in the case of this fall we drifted to too much on the unscripted side . the series who s your daddy where a young woman tries to pick her natural father for a cash prize caused outrage from adoption groups and rated badly. last season fox s prime-time audience fell by 600 000 to 5.9 million. ms berman said: i think the audience expects loud things from fox. sometimes they work and sometimes they don t. who s your daddy the first episode of which was shown on 3 january pulled in a disappointing audience of 6.3 million according to the nielsen ratings system. five other episodes of the show had also been filmed will be dropped from fox s schedules ms berman said. she was predicting a drop in ratings even for some of the network s established reality shows such as american idol which is due to start its fourth series this week. fox had unveiled a new strategy last year promising to launch new shows every season including the traditionally quiet summer season. though that had met with a poor reception ms berman said there s no question that the audience in our mind is ready willing and able to accept new programming in the summer . fox has changed this plan launching new shows in may instead of june. one of the new shows will be the animated series american dad made by seth macfarlane the creator of family guy. that series after becoming a hit on dvd is also set to return with new episodes.

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.

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.

yangtze electric s profits double yangtze electric power the operator of china s three gorges dam has said its profits more than doubled in 2004. the firm has benefited from increased demand for electricity at a time when power shortages have hit cities and provinces across the country. as a hydroelectric-power generator it has not been hurt by higher coal costs. net income jumped to 3bn yuan in 2004 ($365m; £190m) compared with 1.4bn yuan in 2003. sales surged to 6.2bn yuan from 3bn yuan a year earlier. the figures topped analysts expectations even though the rate of growth has slowed from 2003. analysts forecast that it is likely to decline further this year to a rate of expansion of closer to 20%. yangtze electric has been expanding its output to meet demand driven by china s booming economy. the government has delayed the building of a number of power plants in an effort to rein in growth amid concerns that the economy may overheat. that has led to an energy crunch with demand outstripping supply. earlier this month work was halted on an underground power station and a supply unit on the three gorges dam as well as a power station on its sister xiluodu dam because of environmental worries. a total of 30 large-scale projects have been halted across the country for similar reasons. the three gorges dam project has led to more than half a million people being relocated and drawn criticism from environmental groups and overseas human rights activists. its sister project the xiluodu dam is being built on the jinshajiang - or river of golden sand as the upper reaches of the yangtze are known.

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.

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.

faultless federer has no equal roger federer - nice bloke fantastic tennis player - the ultimate sportsman. when lleyton hewitt shook his hand after getting another thrashing a third in as many months the australian said; you re the best. how right he is. the stats speak for themselves: 11 titles from 11 finals during 2004 - three of them grand slams - and 13 final victories in a row going back to vienna 2003. that s an open-era record. hewitt at times in houston showed form which easily matched his grand slam-winning efforts of 2001 and 2002. but he was outplayed. twice. hewitt along with andy roddick and marat safin is sure to be prominent during 2005. but realistically all three will be fighting for the world number two ranking. according to all those players and even federer himself the swiss star is in a different league. right now i feel that a little bit he told bbc sport. i ve dominated all the top ten players. they say nice things about me because i have beaten them all. i am dominating the game right now and i hope it continues! the number one player in the world is also the main man for promoting the sport off court. he has just been voted by the international tennis writers as the best ambassador for tennis on the atp tour. he has time for everyone. every match from first round to final is followed by a series of press interviews in three languages; english french and swiss-german. after a major win there are extra requests obligations and interviews all seen through to the end with courtesy and most importantly good humour. you guys are funny i have a good time with you guys he said genuinely happy to talk into yet another tape recorder. i see you pretty much every day on the tour so to give away an hour for interviews is really no problem for me. if i can promote tennis and the sport then that is good for me. people say thanks back and that is nice. what a refreshing attitude from someone who could easily dominate the sports pages for a decade. it sums up his modest personality. shortly after collecting a waterford crystal trophy a mercedes convertible and a tasty cheque for $1.5m federer addressed the houston crowd and concluded by saying thanks for having me . now he just needs to find a way of winning the french open the one grand slam to so far elude him.

munster cup tie switched to spain munster s heineken cup quarter-final tie against biarritz on 3 april has been switched to real sociedad s paseo de anoeta stadium in san sebastian. real s ground holds 32 000 whereas the parc des sports aguilera in biarritz has a capacity of just 12 667. the irish province will be given at least 8 000 tickets. the decision to move was a difficult one but as we considered the fans as one of our primary objectives said biarritz chairman marcel martin. we hope we will be rewarded as a huge crowd behaving in the best rugby tradition. the match will be the first heineken cup fixture to be played in spain and is expected to attract the biggest-ever attendance for a rugby match in the country. ulster were the last irish team to play at the paseo de anoeta stadium where they faced a euskarians side during a pre-season tour in 1998.

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.

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.

spam e-mails tempt net shoppers computer users across the world continue to ignore security warnings about spam e-mails and are being lured into buying goods a report suggests. more than a quarter have bought software through spam e-mails and 24% have bought clothes or jewellery. as well as profiting from selling goods or services and driving advertising traffic organised crime rings can use spam to glean personal information. the business software alliance (bsa) warned that people should stay alert . many online consumers don t consider the true motives of spammers said mike newton a spokesperson for the bsa which commissioned the survey. by selling software that appears to be legitimate in genuine looking packaging or through sophisticated websites spammers are hiding spyware without consumers knowledge. once the software is installed on pcs and networks information that is given over the internet can be obtained and abused. the results also showed that the proportion of people reading - or admitting to reading - and taking advantage of adult entertainment spam e-mails is low at one in 10. the research which covered 6 000 people in six countries and their attitudes towards junk e-mails revealed that brazilians were the most likely to read spam. a third of them read unsolicited junk e-mail and 66% buy goods or services after receiving spam. the french were the second most likely to buy something (48%) with 44% of britons taking advantage of products and services. this was despite 38% of people in all countries being worried about their net security because of the amount of spam they get. more than a third of respondents said they were concerned that spam e-mails contained viruses or programs that attempted to collect personal information. both industry and the media have helped to raise awareness of the issues that surround illegitimate e-mail helping to reduce the potential financial damage and nuisance from phishing attacks and spoof websites said william plante director of corporate security and fraud protection at security firm symantec. at the same time consumers need to continue exercising caution and protect themselves from harm with a mixture of spam filters spyware detection software and sound judgement.

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.

visa row mandarin made sir john the top civil servant at the centre of the david blunkett visa affair has been knighted in the new year honours. sir john gieve was home office permanent secretary during the saga which ended with mr blunkett quitting. he and other civil servants were criticised for failing to recall how the visa for mr blunkett s ex-lover s nanny came to be fast-tracked. the outgoing head of the troubled child support agency doug smith also earns an honour in the new year s list. mr smith 57 whose retirement was announced by work and pensions secretary alan smith in november is made a commander of the order of bath. both men were giving evidence to a commons committee on the computer difficulties facing the agency which left thousands of single parents without any maintenance payments when the announcement was made. the knighting of sir john 54 will be received with astonishment by opposition politicians. the liberal democrats said it beggared belief he and fellow officials could not remember how leoncia casalme s application for indefinite leave to remain went from mr blunkett s office to the head of the immigration and nationality department. meanwhile the conservatives accused officials of a collective failure of memory. but sir alan budd who led an inquiry into the affair said he had no reason to believe anyone involved had deliberately withheld information. downing street defended the decision to honour both men with a spokesperson saying: you have to look at their whole career. sir john was made permanent secretary in april 2001 following a civil service career which dates back to 1974. he has also worked in the treasury and the department of employment. a department for work and pensions spokeswoman said of mr smith s honour: the award reflects all that he has achieved in a civil service career principally in the inland revenue spanning over 40 years - not just his role as chief executive of the child support agency. in his career he has personally led a number of successful major change programmes. mr smith is set to stay on at the csa until march. less controversial will be the knighthoods for derek wanless and mike tomlinson who undertook major government reviews on health and education respectively. former natwest chief executive mr wanless 57 has delivered not one but two major reports on the nhs. ex-chief inspector of schools mr tomlinson 62 has recommended replacing a-levels and gcses with a new diploma system in a shake-up of the exams system.

chancellor rallies labour voters gordon brown has issued a rallying cry to supporters warning the stakes are too high to stay at home or protest vote in the next general election. the chancellor said the poll - expected to fall on 5 may - would give a clear and fundamental choice between labour investment and tory cuts. he told his party s spring conference the tories must not be allowed to win. the conservatives and lib dems insisted that voters faced higher taxes and means-testing under labour. to a packed audience at gateshead s sage centre mr brown accused shadow chancellor oliver letwin of plotting cuts that were the equivalent of sacking every teacher gp and nurse in the country. 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 promised to continue economic stability and growth in a third term in power. he also pledged to continue the fight against child and pensioner poverty. and he promised help to get young people on the property ladder. my message to the thousands of young couples waiting to obtain their first home is that housing is rightly now at the centre of our coming manifesto he said. and the next labour government will match our low mortgage rates with a new first-time buyers initiative. in the speech which prompted a standing ovation 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 the creation of a network of children s centres and flexibility in maternity leave. responding to the speech shadow chief secretary to the treasury george osborne said: this was more talk from gordon brown. we ve heard it all before. instead of talking about the future he kept on talking about the past. he completely failed to say which taxes he would put up to fill the black hole in his spending plans. there will be a simple choice at the election - value for money and lower taxes with the conservatives or more waste and higher taxes under tony blair and gordon brown. liberal democrat shadow chancellor vince cable warned the picture was not as rosy as mr brown would like to portray it. for all his trumpeting of labour s management of the economy gordon brown s record is very mixed he said. gordon brown has created a system of massive centralisation and bureaucracy a system which subjects millions of people to means testing and a system of taxation which is extremely complex. for all his positive words gordon brown is faced with economic problems looming on the horizon not least the unprecedented levels of personal debt facing the nation. also in gateshead the prime minister took questions sent in by e-mail text message and telephone as part of labour s attempt to engage the public in their campaign. mr blair told the audience he believed the iraq war would have made britain a safer place if its emerging democracy succeeded and that he wanted to bring troops home as soon as possible but not before the job was done. he also said he wanted to carry on as pm because i still think that there are big changes our country needs .

hewitt falls to dent lleyton hewitt suffered a shock defeat to taylor dent in the quarter-finals of the australian hardcourt championships in adelaide on friday. the top seed was a strong favourite for the title but went down 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 to the american. dent will face juan ignacio chela next after the fourth seed was too strong for jurgen melzer. olivier rochus beat third seed nicolas kiefer 6-7 (4-7) 7-6 (8-6) 7-5 and will take on second seed joachim johansson. the swede reached the last four by beating compatriot thomas enqvist 6-3 4-6 6-1. i felt like i was striking the ball much better said johansson. i felt like i had a lot of break chances i didn t take care of them all but i broke him four times and he only broke me once. i felt that was the key to get up in the set early.

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.

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.

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.

swiss cement firm in buying spree swiss cement firm holcim has bid $800m (£429m) to buy two indian cement firms and a holding company in the country. it plans to buy associated cement companies (acc) ambuja cement eastern and the holding firm ambuja cement india ltd a holcim statement said. shares in acc fell 5.5% as investors who thought the offer was underpriced decided to sell. meanwhile uk-based firm aggregate industries said it had agreed a £1.8bn takeover by holcim. the deal with aggregates will give holcim the world s second-biggest cement maker an entry into the uk market and boost its presence in the us. peter tom who will remain as aggregate chief executive said the 138p a share offer provided significant value for shareholders. the markfield leicestershire-based company runs 142 quarries in the uk and the us. it also has 164 ready-mixed concrete plants 90 asphalt plants and 32 pre-cast concrete factories. if the indian deals go ahead it will give holcim a major presence in the world s fastest-growing market behind china. acc is india s second-largest cement maker with an annual capacity of 18.2 million tonnes and a market share of 13%. holcim is looking to buy it (acc) very cheap said kk mittal a fund manager with escorts mutual fund in new delhi. the market is not impressed. if they want a substantial chunk then they should be paying a premium over the market price. shares in holcim rose by 2.3% on thursday following news of the takeover.

uk s useless quangos under fire the uk has 529 quangos financed with billions of pounds of taxpayers cash - many of which are useless or duplicate each other s efforts a report claims. essential guide to british quangos 2005 author dan lewis said at least 111 of the appointed bodies had been set up since labour won power in 1997. he urged a limit on the number of quangos that could be set up by any individual government department. tories and lib dems welcomed the report and called for a slimming down . conservative deregulation spokesman john redwood said: the research endorses our policy of destroying unwanted and unnecessary quangos and slimming down the rest. a conservative government will axe 162 quangos as part of its drive for more efficient and more accountable government. lib dem spokesman ed davey meanwhile said instead of the bonfire of quangos new labour had promised there had been an explosion of them. for over two decades under both tory and labour governments these unaccountable agencies have mushroomed. liberal democrats would abolish many merge others and make any that remain properly accountable. labour representatives were unavailable for comment. the quango guide follows last year s government-commissioned gershon report which recommended significant cuts in bureaucracy across the public sector. mr lewis wants a public inquiry into regional development agencies which cost £1.8bn a year - cash he says which appears to be almost entirely wasted . as well as a departmental limit on quangos he also wants a statutory five-year limit on any such body with executive powers. he also listed what he dubbed the nine most useless quangos . they were the british potato council the milk development council the energy savings trust agricultural wages committees the wine standards board the westminster foundation for democracy the football licensing authority investors in people uk and the economic and social research council. mr lewis branded the existence of the 60-employee potato council set up in 1997 to research and promote overseas potato markets surprising . he said the £80m spent annually on the energy savings trust which promotes renewable energy would be better spent on eight million boiler jackets for british homes. and he argued it was absurd to charge farmers for agricultural wages committees which set working and wage standards in the industry when many were prepared to take advantage of immigrant labour prepared to work for £1 an hour. if a football team can afford to pay £27m for wayne rooney why should the taxpayer - not all of whom like football - be forced to fund the football licensing authority to the tune of over £1.1m a year mr lewis asked. the report is published by the efficiency in government unit - a joint effort by right of centre think tanks the economic research council and the centre for policy studies. it says before a new public body is set up an assessment should be made whether its proposed role is already carried out by an existing charity or other private organisation.

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.

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.

bank set to leave rates on hold uk interest rates are set to remain on hold at 4.75% following the latest meeting of the bank of england. the bank s rate-setting committee has put up rates five times in the past year but rates have been on hold since september amid signs of a slowdown. economic growth slowed in the previous quarter as manufacturing output fell while consumer confidence has slipped. there is also growing evidence that the previously booming uk housing market is now cooling. house prices fell 0.4% in october according to the nationwide their biggest monthly fall since february 2001. last month bank of england governor mervyn king said that the economy had hit a softer patch after rapid economic growth in the first half of 2004. richard jeffrey chief economist at bridgewell securities said it was very unlikely that the bank of england would put rates up again this time around. there have been sufficient signs in the economy of a slowdown to stay the bank of england s hand he told bbc radio 4 s today programme. however mr jeffrey said he believed the slowdown in economic activity was temporary and it was dangerous to assume that rates had peaked. i still think interest rates are going up he said. we are not out of the woods.

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.

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.

kluft impressed by sotherton form olympic heptathlon champion carolina kluft was full of admiration for britain s kelly sotherton as the pair prepared to clash in birmingham. both will be in action on friday in the 60m hurdles and long jump ahead of the european indoor championships later this month in madrid. sotherton finished third behind the swede in athens and kluft said: i knew about her she s a great girl. she looked very good early in the season and was competing really well. kluft showed impressive early-season form on tuesday in stockholm s ge galan meeting winning the sprint hurdles the long jump and the 400m. sotherton has also displayed promise with a new high jump personal best in sheffield at the combined norwich union european trials and aaa championships and a second place in the long jump behind jade johnson.

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.

rocker doherty in on-stage fight rock singer pete doherty has been involved in a fight with his band s guitarist at their biggest gig to date. babyshambles played for 5 000 fans at london s brixton academy on tuesday. the former libertines singer traded blows with guitarist patrick walden. they were separated and bundled off stage before returning to end the set. the show was earlier held up due to audience overcrowding. on monday doherty faced blackmail and robbery charges in court which he denies. he is out on £50 000 bail and the judge agreed to extend his 2200 gmt curfew deadline by two hours so he could play the brixton gig. babyshambles which he formed after his acrimonious departure from the libertines played a warm-up show at the garage north london on monday. on tuesday doherty and his three bandmates were introduced to the crowd by mick jones the former clash guitarist who produced the libertines second album. babyshambles took the stage to a frenzied reception at 2200 gmt launching into their last single killamangiro which reached number eight in december. but the group had to stop during the next song to persuade fans not to push forward and allow security guards to pull people out of the crush. doherty appealed to fans to calm down saying: there s a few people getting hurt down the front you ve got to move back. the music resumed minutes later but after several more songs the singer appeared to accidentally disconnect walden s guitar leading the pair to trade kicks and punches. bouncers stepped in and the band left the stage but returned after five minutes and finished their 50-minute performance with no further trouble. doherty 25 had to be home by midnight to observe the curfew which is one of the conditions of his bail. on monday the judge agreed to allow him to perform on condition that requests for changes to his bail terms were not too regular an occurrence . the singer was arrested with fellow musician alan wass on 2 february after an alleged dispute with documentary-maker max carlish at a london hotel. they are next due in court on 18 april.

candela completes bolton switch bolton boss sam allardyce has signed roma defender vincent candela on a five-month deal. the 31-year-old former france international gave his last press conference as a roma player on monday anouncing his move to bolton. i have signed a five-month contract with bolton said candela who will travel to england on tuesday. in june i will decide whether to continue to play for bolton or retire from professional football. allardyce hopes candela s arrival will relieve bolton s injury crisis after defender nicky hunt limped out injured during oldham s 1-0 win against oldham in the fa cup on sunday. in light of what has happened to nicky hunt with his injury it might be a blessing in disguise that we can bring in a highly-experienced full-back to help with our injuries at the back allardyce said. he has an outstanding pedigree in the game and has won honours at the highest level including the world cup in 1998. he has not played regular football this year but is eager to impress in the premiership. he can play in any position at the back and despite him being predominately right-footed he has played the majority of his career at left-back. candela who was a member of the roma side that won the title in 2001 has made only seven league appearances this season for luigi del neri s side.

hague s six-figure earnings shown the rewards of leaving front-bench politics are shown in the latest annual register of members interests. the register shows former tory leader william hague earning up to £820 000 on top of his mps salary much of it from speaking fees. his former shadow chancellor michael portillo makes up to £560 000 a year - partly because of speeches and tv work. ex-health secretary alan milburn earned up to £85 000 from speeches articles and advice while not in the cabinet. mr milburn was away from the frontbench for just more than a year between stepping down as health secretary and becoming labour s election supremo. his declared interests include £20 000 from newspaper articles and fees of up to £35 000 for four speeches. he also commanded a salary of between £25 000 and £35 000 for being on investment company bridgepoint capital s european advisory committee. his time out of office will however have lost him his £71 433 minister s salary. mr hague s work outside parliament included two one-man shows which with other speaking fees netted him up to £480 000. he also earned up to £195 000 for a weekly column in the news of the world and between £5 000 and £10 000 for presenting bbc 2 s have i got news for you. mr hague was also paid an undisclosed amount for the newspaper serialisation of his biography of william pitt the younger and up to £135 00 for work as an adviser to various companies. former defence secretary michael portillo makes some of his money as a non-executive director of bae systems. he is to stand down as an mp at the next election. and former foreign secretary robin cook was paid between £45 001 and £50 000 for the paperback edition of his book about his resignation from government. his declared income of up to £205 000 also includes payments for being a consultant to the tote and for his regular column in the guardian newspaper. the register also shows former home office minister ann widdecombe declaring a £100 000 advance for her third and fourth novels. she also received up to £30 000 for acting as the guardian s agony aunt and between £5 001 and £10 000 for appearing on itv s celebrity fit club. david blunkett has become a paid adviser to indepen consulting limited now he is not home secretary - he helps them with seminars about the relationship between government and business. he earns between £5 001and £10 000 for the work. tony blair s entry confirms that king abdullah of jordan paid for him to fly from a holiday in egypt to official discussions - and for a sightseeing tour to wadi rum. tory leader michael howard s only fresh entry is a christmas hamper from the sultan of brunei. he also declares a trip to mexico last year to address executives of news international and helicopter and private jet travel paid for by supporters. liberal democrat leader charles kennedy registered donations to his office from supporters a free ticket to last year s bafta awards and rent from a single-bedroom flat in london. the register only contains new information for december 2004 - but monday saw the publication of the annual review of the register with the year s details. the payments are shown in bands of up £5 000 making it difficult to calculate the exact earnings.

moya fights back for indian title carlos moya became the first man to successfully defend the chennai open title by beating four-times finalist paradorn srichaphan 3-6 6-4 7-6 (7/5). the spaniard then donated his £28 000 prize money to relief efforts for the victims of the asian tsunami. the final was close throughout with thai second seed srichaphan - the 2003 winner - closing out the first set. but moya took the second set before bouncing back from 5-2 down in the decider to force and win a tie-break. moya confirmed afterwards: i m donating my prize money from this tournament for the tsunami victims hoping it makes some difference to their lives. his contribution follows pledges by four other players to donate their prize money from the tournament which went ahead after the 26 december disaster which has so far claimed at least 150 000 lives. scrichapan said he would donate an unspecified amount for relief work in thailand where more than 5 000 people were killed. the atp has announced that it would contribute the us$25 000 tournament fee to unicef s emergency relief fund in tamil nadu. the atp tour s sponsor mercedes said it would also contribute increasing the atp donation to us$40 000.

cairn shares slump on oil setback shares in cairn energy a uk oil firm have closed down 18% after a disappointing drilling update and a warning over possible tax demands. the company said tests had shown no significant finds in one of its indian oil fields but was upbeat about the potential of other areas. it also said the indian government had told it to pay a production tax for which cairn argues it is not liable. cairn s shares have jumped by almost 400% this year. investors had piled into cairn after the company announced significant oil finds in india this year. chief executive bill gammell said on friday he was disappointed with exploration in the so-called n-c extension area in rajasthan. investors had held high hopes of major oil finds in this area. but cairn said estimates had been revised in what was a significant downgrade of the initial expectation . cairn also said that the government believed the company was liable to pay taxes under its production-sharing contract. the company said the rate would be about 900 rupees ($20.40; £10.50) per tonne or seven barrels of oil. a spokesman for the firm said that the tax would wipe 5% of the field s current value. cairn refutes the government s position mr gammell said. he insisted that the contract made it clear that the tax should be shouldered by the licensee - india s state-run oil & natural gas corp (ongc) - and not the contractor. we have a pretty strong legal case here he added saying it would only become an issue once the firm started production. investors took a dim view of the statements though. the shares closed down 247p or 18% at 1115 pence. i think people were slightly over-ambitious for how quickly cairn would be able to develop and potentially offload these reserves said analyst jason kenney at ing. the disappointments overshadowed increased production targets for cairn s existing oilfields. the company raised targets for its mangala and aishwariya fields in india from 60 000 barrels a day to between 80 000 and 100 000 barrels a day. its mangala field thought to contain a billion barrels is its biggest find to date. these two fields will provide the core of the future developments in rajasthan mr gammell said. cairn added that it would be appraising another field early next year. mr gammell set up the company in the 1980s and has successfully switched its focus to south asia from interests in the us and europe. cairn which also operates in nepal and bangladesh was catapulted into the ftse 100 index of leading uk shares earlier this year after the sharp rise in its share price.

voters don t trust politicians eight out of 10 voters do not trust politicians to tell the truth a new poll conducted for the bbc suggests. and 87% of the 1 000 adults quizzed by icm for bbc news 24 said politicians did not deliver what they promised. the poll comes after foreign secretary jack straw predicted trust would be the key choice at the next election. both the tories and the lib dems are keen to emphasise a perceived lack of trust in tony blair following his claims over iraqi weapons. but according to the bbc poll 61% said the issue of trust made no difference to whether or not they would vote at the next election widely expected on 5 may. the poll also looked at what lay behind the lack of trust in politicians. some 87% said politicians did not keep the promises they made before elections while 92% said they never gave a straight answer . just under three-quarters of respondents (73%) said politicians had shown themselves to be dishonest too often. mr straw told activists in blackburn on thursday that voters would have to decide at the next election which party best deserves their future trust . that in the end is the key choice at the next election. he acknowledged that the public had lost faith in labour but suggested it could persuade people to reinvest their trust with us if the party could overcome tory attempts to spread cynicism in politics. the conservatives are keen to highlight the trust issue. during his response to gordon brown s budget statement on tuesday michael howard compared the chancellor s figures to the prime minister s claims about iraq s weapons of mass destruction. the lib dems are also keen to highlight the trust issue with charles kennedy has claiming voters had a fundamental lack of trust in the prime minister . and the green party unveiled a billboard opposite the palace of westminster accusing the government of lying over the iraq war. former education secretary estelle morris told bbc news 24 that there was a real problem of trust between the public and the politicians. she said she did not feel her own colleagues could be trusted but suggested the three-cornered relationship between the press politicians and the public had a hand in the issue. the public was often turned off by sitting on the sidelines in the battle of words between the politician and the journalist she added. lib dem foreign affairs spokesman menzies campbell said the iraq war had hit trust in politicians hard. issues of war and peace life and death do have a very damaging effect on the credibility of politicians . martin bell who won the tatton seat from tory neil hamilton on anti-corruption platform said politicians often failed to see themselves as others did. we need public figures we trust to tell the truth and who can see themselves as others see them.

aviator wins top globes accolades the aviator has been named best film at the golden globe awards with its star leonardo dicaprio named best actor. hollywood veteran clint eastwood took the best director prize for million dollar baby while its star hilary swank was best actress. quirky comedy sideways was named best screenplay and best comedy. ray star jamie foxx was best actor in a musical/comedy while briton clive owen and natalie portman won prizes for best supporting roles in closer. the aviator in which dicaprio plays millionaire howard hughes edged ahead of its rivals at the beverly hills ceremony by winning the best original score prize. this give it a total of three awards while million dollar baby sideways and closer took two golden globes each. accepting his best dramatic actor prize dicaprio described director martin scorsese as one of the greatest contributors to the world of cinema of all time . annette bening won best actress in a musical/comedy for being julia while spanish movie the sea inside was named best foreign language film. swank who previously won the golden globe and oscar for boys don t cry paid tribute to million dollar baby director and co-star clint eastwood. you guided us so brilliantly while you also in my humble opinion gave the performance of your career she said. foxx was nominated for three awards but was beaten to the best supporting actor title by owen and the best actor in a tv movie prize by geoffrey rush in the life and death of peter sellers. a bbc co-production the life and death of peter sellers was also named best tv movie. mick jagger and dave stewart won the best original song award for old habits die hard from movie re-make alfie while ian mcshane was named best actor in a tv drama for his lead role in deadwood. other uk hopes kate winslet and imelda staunton went home empty-handed despite lead actress nominations for eternal sunshine of the spotless mind and vera drake respectively. winning a golden globe is said to improve a film or performer s chance of subsequently winning an academy award. unlike the oscars the golden globes split awards by genre - one prize for dramas and the other for musicals and comedies. the globes also honour the best in television with suburban series desperate housewives named best tv comedy show. actress teri hatcher beat fellow desperate housewives stars marcia cross and felicity huffman to the best comedy actress prize. hatcher thanked the show s cast crew and a network who gave me a second chance at a career when i couldn t have been a bigger has been . cosmetic surgery series nip/tuck beat the sopranos and deadwood to the best television drama title. arrested development star jason bateman was named best tv actor in a musical or comedy series. the golden globes are awarded by the hollywood foreign press association comprising film reporters based in los angeles and working for overseas outlets. robin williams a five-time globe winner for such films as the fisher king and good morning vietnam received the cecil b demille award for career achievement. he dedicated his prize to superman actor christopher reeve who died last year.

uk youth interested in politics the majority of young people are interested in politics holding strong opinions on policies and have a keen appetite for direct action. research undertaken for voting watchdog the electoral commission suggests 81% of 16 to 20-year-olds feel strongly about issues like crime and education. the survey findings are being released to coincide with the launch of the y vote mock elections 2005 initiative. mock elections are planned to take place in schools across the uk. electoral commission boss sam younger said: we know that young people often feel disengaged from democratic life and we believe in working creatively to encourage their interest and participation. mock elections can play an extremely valuable role in helping young people understand how the democratic process works and why it matters he said. the survey of a sample of 500 british 16 to 20-year-olds and 500 21 to 25-year olds showed britain s young people are far from apathetic about issues that matter to most of their lives . the y vote initiative is being run jointly by the electoral commission the hansard society and the department for education and skills in the run-up to local elections and the general election possibly on 5 may. michael rafferty who is mock elections project manager at the hansard society said he looked forward to seeing schools and colleges across the uk participating in the mock votes.

fear will help france - laporte france coach bernard laporte believes his team will be scared going into their game with england on sunday but claims it will work in their favour. the french turned in a stuttering performance as they limped to a 16-9 win against scotland in the opening match of the six nations on saturday. we will go to twickenham with a little fear and it ll give us a boost said the french coach. he added: we are never good enough when we are favourites. meanwhile perpignan centre jean-philippe granclaude is delighted to have received his first call-up to the france squad. it s incredible the youngster said. i was not expecting it at all. playing with the france team has always been a dream and now it has come true and i am about to face england at twickenham in the six nations. laporte will announce his starting line-up on wednesday at the french team s training centre in marcoussis near paris.

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.

steel firm to cut 45 000 jobs mittal steel one of the world s largest steel producers could cut up to 45 000 jobs over the next five years its chief executive has said. the netherlands-based company is due to complete its $4.5bn acquisition of us firm isg next month making it one of the largest global firms of its kind. however lakshmi mittal has told investors the combined company will have to shed thousands of jobs. the indian-born magnate did not say where the job losses would fall. mr mittal told us investors that once the acquisition of international steel group was completed the company would aim to reduce its workforce by between 7 000 and 8 000 annually. this could see its workforce trimmed from 155 000 to 110 000 staff by 2010. we are investing in modernisation so employees will go down mr mittal told the conference in chicago. mittal steel was formed last year when mr mittal s lnm holdings merged with dutch firm ispat. a combination of mittal steel and isg would have annual sales of $32bn (£16.7bn; 24.1bn euros) and a production capacity of 70 million tonnes. a mittal steel spokeman said that no decisions on job cuts have been made yet. we are trying to create a sustainable steel industry and if we want to do that we have to invest in new technology a spokesman said. mittal steel has operations in 14 countries. many of its businesses - particularly those in eastern europe - were previously state owned and have huge workforces. it employs 50 000 staff in kazakhstan alone and has large operations in romania the czech republic south africa and the united states.

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.

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.

pountney handed ban and fine northampton coach budge pountney has been fined £2 000 and banned from match-day coaching for six weeks for calling a referee a disgrace . pountney was found guilty of bringing the game into disrepute at a rugby football union disciplinary hearing in london on thursday night. pountney criticised referee steve lander s performance in northampton s defeat by saracens on 5 february. the last two weeks of the six-week ban are suspended. pountney pleaded guilty to the offence before a panel consisting of chairman robert horner nigel gillingham and jeff probyn. the ban means former scotland international pountney cannot enter the playing enclosure technical areas or go near the touchline tunnel or players and officials areas on the day of a game.

india and iran in gas export deal india has signed a $40bn (£21bn) deal to import millions of tonnes of liquefied natural gas from iran. firms led by the oil & natural gas corporation (ongc) will also assist in the development of iranian oil fields. ministers eager to gain access to energy supplies to meet the demands of a booming economy secured a similar deal to one between iran and china. the announcement comes as ongc said it was in talks to buy former assets of troubled russian oil firm yukos. the agreements with iran were sealed after talks in new delhi between middle east producers and asia s biggest energy consumers - china india japan and south korea. iran - opec s second-biggest oil producer and one of the world s top gas producers - has been pursuing a series of deals rewarding lng buyers with participation in development of its oil fields. under the agreement it will supply india with 7.5 million tonnes of lpg annually over a 25 year period from 2009. ongc and the national iranian oil company (nioc) reached a preliminary deal for indian firms to take part in the development of the yadavaran and jufeyr oilfields both countries said in a statement. 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. consumption has jumped to 2.4 million barrels per day compared with 474 000 bpd in 1973.

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.

mido makes third apology ahmed mido hossam has made another apology to the egyptian people in an attempt to rejoin the national team. the 21-year-old told a news conference in cairo on sunday that he is sorry for the problems that have led to his exclusion from the pharaohs since july last year. mido said: there isn t much i have to say today all there is to say is that i came specially from england to egypt to rejoin the national team and to apologise for all my mistakes. mido was axed by former coach marco tardelli after failing to answer a national call-up claiming he had a groin injury. but he then played in a friendly for his club as roma within 24 hours of a world cup qualifying match at home to cameroon last september. mido added: it s not my right to give orders and say when i want to play ... at the same time i will always make sure that i put the national s team s matches as my top priority. i feel that the national players are playing with a new spirit as i saw them play against belgium (egypt won 4-0 on wednesday) and i simply want to add to their success. i do confess that i was rude to the egyptian press at times but now i have gained more experience and know that i will never go anywhere without the press s support. many of the international stars like david beckham and (zinedine) zidane had the press opposing them. so i m now used to the fact that the press can be against me at times and i don t have to overreact when this happens. meanwhile egypt fa spokesman methat shalaby welcomed the apology and said no one had exerted pressure on mido to apologise. mido s apology today does not negatively affect mido in anyway on the contrary it makes him a bigger star and a role model for all football players shalaby said. shalaby earlier said that after an apology mido would be available for the national side if coach hassan shehata chose him. mido joined tottenham in an 18-month loan deal near the end of the january transfer window scoring twice on his debut against portsmouth.

criminal probe on citigroup deals traders at us banking giant citigroup are facing a criminal investigation in germany over a controversial bond deal. the deal saw the sale of 11bn euros ($14.4bn; £7.6bn) of government bonds in a few minutes on 2 august with 4bn euros-worth then bought back later. the move was widely criticised at the time and now the german regulator has said it has found evidence of possible market manipulation. citigroup said it would continue to co-operate fully with the authorities. we are disappointed that the bafin has referred to the prosecutor the question of whether action should be brought against individuals involved citigroup said. if the traders are found guilty they could face a five-year jail term or a fine reuters reported bafin as saying. however under german criminal law prosecutors cannot pursue citigroup itself. germany s financial watchdog bafin told bbc news it had now transferred the investigation to the public prosecutor. i can confirm that bafin has passed through the case to the public prosecutor a bafin spokeswoman said. it is now a criminal investigation. we found clues of possible market manipulation the spokeswoman said which included signs of linked bond trading ahead of the main trades on 2 august. germany s securities trading act says that if bafin finds such clues it has to put the case in the hands of the prosecutor. regulatory investigations are still going on in france the uk and elsewhere. some citigroup operations elsewhere in the world came under regulatory criticism in 2004. its private banking operation in japan was closed down by regulators in tokyo after an aggressive sales culture led the bank to flout anti-money laundering rules.

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.